Siege of Constantinople (1411)

Siege of Constantinople
Part of the Ottoman Interregnum and Byzantine-Ottoman wars.
Constantinople in 1422; the oldest surviving map of the city.
Date 1411 Location Constantinople Result Byzantine victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
John VIII Palaiologos de facto co-emperor with his retired Father Manuel II Palaiologos	Musa Çelebi

The Siege of Constantinople of 1411 occurred during the Ottoman Interregnum, or Ottoman Civil War, (20 July 1402 – 5 July 1413), when chaos reigned in the Ottoman Empire following the defeat of Sultan Bayezid I by the Central Asian warlord Timur. Although Mehmed Çelebi was confirmed as sultan by Timur after the Battle of Ankara, his brothers İsa Çelebi, Musa Çelebi, Süleyman Çelebi, and later, Mustafa Çelebi, refused to recognize his authority, each claiming the throne for himself. A civil war was the result. The Interregnum lasted until the Battle of Camurlu on 5 July 1413, when Mehmed Çelebi emerged as victor in the strife, crowned himself sultan Mehmed I, and restored peace to the empire.

Before the Battle of Ankara, the Byzantine Empire was a mere pawn of outside forces for several decades but after the defeat of the Ottomans by Timur, the Empire – for a short while – became a player in Ottoman domestic politics and intrigue.

The Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos supported Süleyman as claimant to the Ottoman throne. They signed the treaty of Gelibolu with the Byzantine regent John VII Palaiologos in 1403, as the emperor Manuel II Palaiologos was traveling in western Europe at the time. By this treaty, Süleyman gave up certain territories along the Marmara coast to the Byzantine Empire in return for Byzantine support during the interregnum and declared himself sultan of the empire in Edirne, the capital in Rumeli of the Ottoman Empire.

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