Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

The Second Arab siege of Constantinople in 717–718 (98–100 AH) was a combined land and sea offensive by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate against the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople. The campaign marked the culmination of twenty years of attacks and progressive Arab occupation of the Byzantine borderlands, while Byzantine strength was sapped by prolonged internal turmoil. In 716, after years of preparations, the Arabs, led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, invaded Byzantine Asia Minor. The Arabs initially hoped to exploit Byzantine civil strife and made common cause with the general Leo III the Isaurian, who had risen up against Emperor Theodosius III. Leo, however, tricked them and secured the Byzantine throne for himself.

After wintering in the western coastlands of Asia Minor, the Arab army crossed into Thrace in early summer 717 and built siege lines to blockade the city, which was protected by the massive Theodosian Walls. The Arab fleet, which accompanied the land army and was meant to complete the city's blockade by sea, was neutralized soon after its arrival by the Byzantine navy through the use of Greek fire. This allowed Constantinople to be resupplied by sea, while the Arab army was crippled by famine and disease during the unusually hard winter that followed. In spring 718, two Arab fleets sent as reinforcements were destroyed by the Byzantines after their Christian crews defected, and an additional army sent overland through Asia Minor was ambushed and defeated. Coupled with attacks by the Bulgars on their rear, the Arabs were forced to lift the siege on 15 August 718. On its return journey, the Arab fleet was almost completely destroyed by natural disasters and Byzantine attacks.

Constantinople

Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis or Κωνσταντινούπολη Konstantinoúpoli; Latin: Constantinopolis; Ottoman Turkish: قسطنطینية, Qustantiniyye‎; modern Turkish: İstanbul; Bulgarian: Цариград) was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine (330–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin (1204–1261), and the Ottoman (1453–1924) empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD at ancient Byzantium, as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, and dedicated on 11 May 330. In the 12th century, the city was the largest and wealthiest European city and it was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times. After the loss of its territory, the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire was reduced to just its capital city and its environs, eventually falling to the Ottomans in 1453. Following the Muslim conquest, the former bastion of Christianity in the east, Constantinople, was turned into the capital of the Ottoman Empire, under which it prospered and flourished again. For many centuries the city was popularly called "Istanbul", from a Greek phrase meaning "to the city" (εἰς τὴν πόλιν), while officially it was known under various names, including Constantinople and Dersaadet. Names other than "Istanbul" became obsolete in late Ottoman Empire, and after Turkey switched to Latin script in 1928, it began to urge other countries to use the Turkish name, and "Istanbul" gradually attained international usage.

List of sieges of Constantinople

There were many sieges of Constantinople during the history of the Byzantine Empire. Two of them resulted in the capture of Constantinople from Byzantine rule: in 1204 by Crusaders, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II.

Persian and Arab Sieges of Constantinople

Sieges by Bulgaria and the Rus'

Sieges and attacks during Byzantine civil wars

Muhammad XII of Granada

Abu `Abdallah Muhammad XII (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد الثاني عشر‎ Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad al-thānī ‘ashar) (c. 1460 – c. 1533), known to the Castilians as Boabdil (a Spanish rendering of the name Abu Abdullah), was the twenty-second and last Nasrid ruler of Granada in Iberia.

Sultan

Son of Abu l-Hasan Ali, sultan of the Emirate of Granada, Muhammad succeeded him in 1482.

Muhammad XII soon after sought to gain prestige by invading Castile. He was taken prisoner at Lucena in 1483. Meanwhile, his father returned to power and then in 1485, his uncle Muhammed XIII, also known as Abdullah ez Zagal.

He only obtained his freedom and support to recover his throne in 1487 by consenting to hold Granada as a tributary kingdom under the Catholic monarchs and not to intervene in the Siege of Málaga (1487), in which Málaga was taken by the Christians.

1487 saw the fall of Baza and Málaga. 1489 saw the fall of Almuñécar, Salobreña and Almería. By the beginning of 1491, Granada was the only Muslim-governed city in Spain.

Queen Isabella

Queen Isabella may refer to: