Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/114

108 2. Preliminary Steps Toward the Siege of Constantinople. On the European side of the Bosphorus, about five miles above the city proper, Sultan Mohamet raised a fortress opposite to one on the Asiatic side, which had been erected by one of his predecessors. The Greek Emperor, Constantine Palæologus, heard of the rise of the massive towers in his neighborhood with alarm; and his anxiety increased upon quarrels arising between his subjects and the Turkish workmen. The latter invaded without scruple the surrounding villages and despoiled homes; horses and mules were turned into the tilled fields and the crops destroyed. If resistance was offered, insult was repeated in an aggravated form. Constantine implored the Sultan to observe the courtesies of peace, till, convinced of his hostile intentions, he closed the gates of the capital and prepared himself for the inevitable approach of open war. "My trust," said he, "is in God alone; if it should please him to soften your heart, I shall rejoice in the happy change; if he delivers my city into your hands I shall submit without a murmur. But until the Judge of the whole earth pronounces between us, it is my duty to live and die in defense of my people." In the autumn of that year (1452) Mohamet withdrew to Adrianople, after carefully viewing the grounds about the city and examining its defenses. "Next summer," he said, "I must take up my abode in Constantinople." Both parties during the winter prepared for the approaching struggle.