Page:Destruction of the Greek Empire.djvu/290

 250 DESTEUCTION OF THE GEEEK EMPIEE guarding the entrance to the harbour 1 — Gabriel Trevisano, already mentioned as the Venetian noble who was serving ' per honor de Dio et per honor di tuta la Christianitade ' was in command. 2 There, says Leonard, he did his duty as a shepherd and not as a hireling. Near him for the present were the captains and the crews of the two Cretan ships who kept the Horaia Gate. Cardinal Isidore was at Seraglio Point with a body of two hundred men guarding the walls commencing at the Great Tower of St. Demetrius. James Contarini was stationed at Psamatia and guarded the western portion of the Marmora walls. The Caloyers or Greek monks were also in this part of the city, and near them was a small band of Turkish mercenaries under the command of Orchan. 3 The Grand Duke Notaras with a small reserve of men was near the church of the Apostles, now occupied by the Mahmoudieh Mosque, to render aid wherever it might be required. 4 Lastly, Diedo, who had been made admiral of the fleet, was stationed near the end of the boom. 5 The cannon possessed by the besieged seem to have been few and of little value. Leonard relates that they were short of powder and of arms, and that it was impossible to use the cannon on account of the damage they were found to do to their own walls. Zorzo Dolfin confirms these state- ments and adds that the Venetians were short of saltpetre. 0 1 See Professor Van Millingen as to position of this gate, pp. 230-234. There were probably two Imperial Gates on the Golden Horn. 2 According to Pusculus, Trevisano was from the first at Aivan Serai, the extreme west of the walls on the Horn and close to the Xyloporta. 3 Barbaro, p. 19. 4 Phrantzes states that the reserve was under Cantacuzenus and Nicephorus Palaeologus, and that the Grand Duke was in charge of the region from the Petrion to the Gate of St. Theodosia. 5 Leonard's account hardly varies from that of Phrantzes and others, except that, with his strong religious prejudices, he prefers to name foreigners rather than Greeks. The distributions of the defenders of the city given by Zorzi Dol- fin and Pusculus do vary, however, from those given by Phrantzes and Barbaro. These differences are set out in Dr. Mordtman's Esquisse Topographique, p. 23. See also Krause's Eroberungen von ConstantinopeL p. 169. 6 Dethier's Siege, p. 110. Chalcondylas says that it was found that the big gun of the Greeks did more damage to them by its recoil than to the enemy.