Re:The Ottoman Empire: Succession, Deposition and Fratricide
by jcranmer on Tuesday May 29, 2018 @08:36PM
(#17183953)
The Ottomans had the men and materiel to besiege Constantinople for an extended period of time, and the Byzantines didn't have much means to bear the siege or relieve it (although the Venetians were en route). Note that Mehmet also pulled off the trick of moving his navy into the Goldern Horn, thus completing the encirclement on sea and on land.
Constantinople would likely have fallen anyways, it was just a matter of how long it would have taken and how many lives would have been lost.
The bombards (muzzle loaded cannons) were widely known and used in Europe, e.g. the famous Mons Meg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mons_Meg); what distinguishes the cannons that Mehmet had Orban built (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orban) were their sheer size and the technological knowledge in casting such massive bronze bombards, that Western Europe lacked at that time. For an informal description of Orban's work see http://www.camrea.org/2017/09/11/orban-the-man-who-brought-d...
Note that just having this massive cannon did not make it a done deal: due to overheating, the bombard had to be cooled for a long period after each shot in which time the Byzantine defenders quickly mended the walls with rubble and any other materials they could find. In the end they just got overwhelmed.