1453

1453 was a year in the 15th century marked by two decisive military events that altered the balance of power in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. The most consequential was the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, while a separate campaign in Gascony effectively ended the Hundred Years' War between England and France.

In May 1453, Ottoman forces led by Mehmed II captured Constantinople after a siege of about seven weeks. The Byzantine Empire, which had endured since the 4th century, collapsed with the city’s fall. Constantinople, later referred to as Istanbul, became the new capital of the Ottoman state and a gateway for further expansion into the Balkans. The conquest disrupted overland trade routes between Europe and Asia and contributed to a shift in European attention toward maritime exploration.

In July 1453, the Battle of Castillon in Gascony ended English ambitions in most of France. French forces under Jean Bureau defeated the English army, commanded by John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, who was killed in the engagement. The victory left France largely united under a strong central authority and effectively ended the Hundred Years’ War, aside from the English holdout at Calais.

The events of 1453 had lasting repercussions. The Ottoman Empire rose as a dominant power in southeastern Europe, while the fall of Constantinople influenced European trade patterns and intellectual exchange, contributing to the Renaissance through the influx of Greek scholars and texts to Western Europe. In England and France, the war’s conclusion helped shape subsequent national trajectories and state-building efforts.