727. Chroniques Græco-Romaines, pp. 96, 97. Dr. Mordtmann thinks that this point is referred to also in the Treaty of Michael Palæologus with the Venetians in 1265, when that emperor allowed the Venetians to occupy any point from the old Arsenal to Pegæ (ἀπὸ τῆς παλαιᾶς ἐξαρτύσις μέχρι καὶ τῶν Πηγῶν). The passage is ambiguous, for there was an old arsenal and a suburb Pegæ on the northern side of the Golden Horn, and the concession was outside the city.
728. Edition of C. Weseler, Paris, 1874. Cf. Gyllius, De Bosporo Thracio, ii. c. iv.
729. Paschal Chron., p. 720, 721.
730. Itinéraires Russes en Orient, pp. 88, 107, 108. Among its churches was the Church of St. Conon (Paschal Chron., p. 721), memorable in the Sedition of the Nika, as the church of the monks who rescued two of the seven rioters condemned to death from the hands of the clumsy executioner, and carried them across the Golden Horn in a boat to the Church of St. Laurentius for sanctuary (Malalas, p. 473).
731. Desimoni, Giornale Ligustico, anno iii., Genoa, 1876.
732. Lib. i. c. 42; cf. Mordtmann, p. 43.
733. Nicetas Chon., iii. p. 722; Ville-Hardouin, c. 36.
734. Ibid., p. 754; Chroniques Græco-Romaines, p. 96.
735. Ibid., ut supra; Ville-Hardouin, c. 54.
736. Pachymeres, vol. i. p. 365; Tafel und Thomas, ii. p. 284.
737. Tafel und Thomas, ii. pp. 46, 348.
738. Ibid., p. 423. Dr. Mordtmann (pp. 73, 74) identifies the Monastery of Christ the Benefactor with the ruined Byzantine church known as Sinan Pasha Mesdjidi, to the south of St. Theodosia (see Dr. Paspates, pp. 384, 385). But the prominence of the monastery suggests a position nearer the shore. For incidents connected with it, see Pachymeres, vol. ii. p. 579; Cantacuzene, iii. p. 493. A tower near the monastery (“ab ultima turri de Virgioti versus Wlachernam”) marked the eastern limit of certain fishery rights in the Golden Horn granted to the Monastery of St. Giorgio Majore, at Venice (Tafel und Thomas, ii. pp. 47-49).
739. Pusculus, iv. 192; Dolfin, s. 55.
740. Ducas, p. 282.
741. Anonymus, ii. p. 39; Acta Patriarchatus CP., ii. p. 461; Itinéraires Russes en Orient, pp. 104, 105.
742. According to Dr. Paspates (pp. 381-383), respectively, Pour Kouyou Mesdjidi, and Sheik Mourad Mesdjidi.
743. Ducas, ut supra.
745. Notitia, ad Reg. X.
746. Socrates, ii. c. xx.; Theophanes, p. 70.
747. Du Cange, ut supra.
748. Ibid., vi. c. xxi.
749. Miklosich et Muller, iii. p. 88.
750. Ibid., ut supra.
751. According to Du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis, ad vocem, from Drungus, “company of soldiers.” The word is connected with the German “Gedrung” and the English “throng.”
752. Anna Comn., vi. p. 286; cf. Luitprandus, as quoted by Du Cange, in Anna Comn., vol. ii. p. 544.
753. Tafel und Thomas, ii. pp. 27, 28: “Via quæ dicitur De Longaria, extra murum civitatis CP.”
754. Ibid., pp. 11, 60: “Scala de Drongario.”
755. Theophanes, p. 281.
756. Gerlach, p. 454; Smith, Epistolæ Quatuor, p. 88.
757. Mordtmann, p. 46.
758. Pand. Hist. Turc., s. 200.
759. Paspates, p. 166.
760. Heyd, Histoire du Commerce du Levant, vol. i. p. 251.
761. Ibid., p. 251.
762. Theophanes, p. 353; cf. Procopius, De Æd., i. c. vii.
763. Notitia, ad Reg. VI.
764. Novella LIX., c. v.
765. Paschal Chron., p. 618.
766. Notitia, ut supra.
767. Ptochoprodromus, line 113; cf. Paspates, pp. 164, 165.
768. VII. p. 286.
769. Tafel und Thomas, i. p. 50.
770. Tafel und Thomas, i. pp. 55-63.
771. Ibid., ii. p. 4; iii. pp. 133-149.
772. Gyllius, De Top. CP., iii. c. i.; Leunclavius, Pand. Hist. Turc., s. 200.
773. On the subject of the Italian and other foreign colonies settled in Byzantine Constantinople, the reader may consult Paspates, pp. 127-276; Mordtmann, pp. 46-50; Desmoni, Giornale Ligustico, vol. i.; Sui Quartieri dei Genovesi a Constantinopoli nel Secolo XII.; Heyd, Histoire du Commerce du Levant; Sauli, Della Colonia del Genovesi in Galata; Pears, Fall of Constantinople, c. 6; Miklosich et Müller, Acta et Diplomata Græca; Tafel und Thomas, Urkunden zur Älteren Handels und Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig.
774. The Russian pilgrim, Stephen of Novgorod (Itinéraires Russes en Orient, p. 121), who visited Constantinople about 1350, found a gate near the sea, and beside a Church of St. Demetrius, named “Portes Juives,” on account of the many Jews settled in the vicinity. From the connection in which the fact is mentioned, it appears that the gate stood on the Marmora side of the city, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Vlanga; thus showing how the same name might belong to different gates at different periods in the history of the city. Nicolo Barbaro (p. 817) confirms the existence of a Jewish quarter on the Marmora shore of the city, when he says that the Turkish fleet, finding itself unable to force the chain across the harbour, abandoned the attempt, and proceeded to the side towards the Dardanelles (“de la band del Dardanelo”), and there landed to plunder the Jewish quarter (“muntò in tera de la banda de la Zudeca”). It is possible, indeed, to contend that the Russian pilgrim referred to a gate near the Church of St. Demetrius beside the Seraglio Point. This view does not affect the argument presented in the text.
775. Tafel und Thomas, ii. pp. 270-272; cf. Ibid., pp. 4-11.
776. Miklosich et Müller, iii. pp. 12, 16, 19; cf. Ibid., p. 6.
777. Codinus, p. 22; cf. Paspates, p. 158.
778. Constant. Porphyr., De Cer., p. 737.
779. Miklosich et Müller, iii. pp. 19-21.
780. Pachymeres, vol. i. p. 365; Gyllius, De Top. CP., iii. c. i.
781. Miklosich et Müller, iii. pp. 19, 21.
782. Ibid., p. 19.
784. Nicephorus Patriarcha, CP., p. 57; Theophanes, p. 591; Theophanes Cont., p. 391.
785. Anonymus, ii. p. 30; Codinus, p. 52.
786. Miklosich et Müller, iii. p. 6. Such a factory can be seen to-day at Keurekdjilar, in Galata.
787. Paschal Chron., p. 582; Cedrenus, vol. i. pp. 609, 610; ii. p. 529.
788. De Top. CP., iii. c. i.; De Bosporo Thracio, ii. c. ii.
789. Page 454.
790. Pand. Hist Turc., s. 200.
791. Phrantzes, p. 254.
792. Ducas, p. 282. Phrantzes and Ducas are the only Byzantine writers who mention the Beautiful Gate.
793. Gyllius, De Top. CP., iii. c. i.; cf. Paspates, pp. 166, 167. The ground on which Yeni Validè Djamissi stands, near the Stamboul end of the Outer Bridge, belonged, as late as the seventeenth century, to Karaïte Jews, who claimed that the territory had been granted to their ancestors under the Byzantine Empire. In return for the seizure of the ground to build the mosque (1615-1655), the community received houses at Haskeui, and forty members of the community were exempted from taxation for life. As the site of the synagogue could not be sold, the mosque has had to pay the community an annual rent of thirty-two piastres.
794. Patriarch Constantius, Ancient and Modern Consple., p. 12.
795. Page 268.
796. I. c. 18.
797. Page 238.
798. Page 384.
799. Pages 283, 284.
800. Pages 282, 283.
801. Page 263.
802. Page 300.
804. Pages 270, 271.
805. Gyllius’ statement (De Top. CP., III. c. i.) on the subject is: “Portum, quem vocunt Neorion, quod prope portam, quam Græci appellant Oraiam, corruptè quasi Neorii portam, aut non longe ab ea, fuisse existimo. Hodie inter mare et Portam Oraiam, quam Turci appellant Siphont (Tsifout), id est, Judæorum eam accolentium, spatium latum ... videre licet.” Cf. De Bosporo Thracio, II. c. i. “Pro porta quam vulgo vocant Oriam corruptè, quasi olim Neorii portam.”
806. Page 454: “Die Prächtige, itzund die Juden-Pfort.”
807. Pand. Hist. Turc., s. 200. “Porta quæ Græci quotquot vederi peritores volunt Porta Horæa (Ὡραία), vulgo Huræa (Ebraia) dicitur.”
808. Miklosich et Müller, iii. pp. ix., 53; Desimoni, Giornale Ligustico, vol. i. p. 37: Sui Quartieri dei Genovesi a Constantinopoli, nel secolo XII., p. 46.
809. Notitia, ad Reg. V.
810. Paschal Chron., ad ann. 406, 415.
811. Cod. Theod. De Calcis Coctor., Lex V.; Stephanus Byzantius, De Urbibus et Populis, ad vocem; Evagrius, ii. c. xiii.
812. Mordtmann, p. 49.
813. Anonymus, ii. p. 29. The point at Scutari where cattle are embarked to be ferried to the city is called by the Turks “Ukooz-Limani,” the Ox-Port.
814. Notitia, ad Reg. V.
815. Constant. Porphyr., De Cer., p. 699.
816. De Corona, p. 134, Edition Didot.
817. Evagrius, ii. c. xiii.
818. Anonymus, i. p. 2.
819. Cantacuzene, iv. pp. 213, 214.
820. Ibid., iv. pp. 76, 232.
821. Anna Comn., xv. p. 345.
822. Pachymeres, vol. ii. p. 175; Nicephorus Greg., vi. p. 167.
823. Anonymus, i. p. 2; Acta Patriarchatus CP., p. 563.
824. Banduri, Imp. Orient., vii. p. 149.
825. Miklosich et Müller, ii. pp. 467, 564.
826. Notitia, ad Reg. IV.
827. Codinus, De Officiis, pp. 107, 108; cf. Cantacuzene, iv. p. 11.
828. Critobulus, i. c. 18.
829. Leo Diaconus, pp. 78, 79; Anonymus, iii. p. 56. This was probably the tower to which N. Barbaro (p. 733) refers when, speaking of the two towers, on the opposite sides of the entrance to the Golden Horn, which supported the chain, he says, “Etiam una tore per ladi de la zilade, zoè una de la banda de Constantinopoli, l’altra de la banda de Pera, le qual tore vignia a far defexa assai.”
830. N. Barbara, pp. 722, 723.
831. Ville-Hardouin, c. 32.
832. Gyllius, De Top. CP., iv. c. x. “Adhuc Galatæ porta est, quæ appellatur Catena, ex eo, quod ab Acropoli usque ad eam portam catena extenderetur.” Cf. Theophanes, p. 609.
833. Dr. Paspates (Πολιορκία καὶ Ἄλωσις τῆς ΚΠ., p. 63) thinks the tower stood beside the Offices of the Board of Health, between the Galata Bridge and the Galata Custom House. He grounds this opinion on the existence of old ruins at that point. But the chain would never be placed aslant the harbour, as this view implies.
834. Theophanes, p. 609.
835. Cedrenus, vol. ii. p. 80.
836. Leo Diaconus, p. 79.
837. Nicetas Chon., p. 718; cf. Ville-Hardouin, c. xxxii.
838. Phrantzes, p. 251. See below, pp. 241-247, for the discussion regarding the precise route taken by the ships.
839. Acta Patriarchatus CP., ii. p. 467; Anna Comn., xv. p. 345.
840. Procopius, De Æd., i. c. xi. R.
841. Nicephorus Greg., vii. p. 275.
842. Patriarch Constantius, Ancient and Modern Consple., p. 15. With him agree Von Hammer, Paspates, Mordtmann, etc.
843. Gerlach, p. 454; Leunclavius, Pand. Hist. Turc. s. 200.
844. Pages 254, 255, Ἐδόθη φυλάττειν τὸν πύργον τὸν ἐν μέσω τοῦ ῥεύματος, τὸν φυλάσσοντα τὴν εἴσοδον τοῦ λιμένος, καὶ ἦν ἀντικρὺς τῆς πύλης τῆς βασιλικῆς.
845. Page 259. Dr. Paspates, in his work on the siege of the city (Πολιορκία καὶ Ἂλωσις τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, p. 141), represents the Hill of St. Theodore and the battery upon it as commanding the Bay of Cassim Pasha. This, however, is in harmony neither with the statements of Phrantzes, nor with local configuration. The requirements of the case are met by the supposition that the Hill of St. Theodore was the ridge to the north-east of Top Haneh, and that the Sultan’s battery stood nearer the Bosporus than the present Italian Hospital. Cf. Zorzo Dolfin, s. 44: “Acceso el Turcho da disdegno, da i montè orientali de Pera penso a profondar con machine e morteri, o trar quelle de la cathena. Mezzo adonque le bombarde a segno dal occidente” (i.e. aiming towards west), “se sforza con bombardieri profundar le naue.”
846. Page 259.
847. Page 238.
848. XVII., p. 860; cf. Cantacuzene, iv. p. 232.
849. Dr. Paspates (see p. 111 of his work on the siege of the city, cited above) understands Phrantzes in the same way. He identifies the tower with one which stood, until 1817, between the Gate of St. Barbara (Top Kapoussi) and the Gate of Eugenius (Yali Kiosk Kapoussi). It was probably the tower to which Nicolo Barbaro refers (see above, p. 228).
850. Pages 254, 255.
851. See his Epistle to the Pope on the Capture of Constantinople.
852. Pusculus, iv. pp. 179-221.
853. Ducas, p. 275.
854. Acta Patriarchatus CP., vol. ii. p. 391, year 1400; cf. pp. 297, 487.
855. Speaking of the bridge which the Sultan built out into the Golden Horn, and on which he placed cannon to batter the walls in the Kynegon, Leonard of Scio (p. 931) says the bridge was built that the army might advance near the wall, beside the “fanum” of the city: “Decurreret ad murum prope, juxta fanum urbis.” The term is ambiguous. Zorzo Dolfin translates it, “Appresso la giesia” (the church). But more probably the reference is to the Phanar quarter, although the bridge was not exactly opposite to it.
856. How old this church is cannot be precisely determined. It is known to have been in existence, as a small chapel, before 1640, when it was burned down. It was then reconstructed, but was again destroyed by fire, after which it was rebuilt at the expense of the monastery on Mount Sinai. For some time it was the fashionable church of the Phanariotes. See Patriarch Constantius, Ancient and Modern Consple., pp. 104, 105. Mr. Gedeon ascribes it to the 14th century (Proceedings of the Greek Syllogos of Consple., vol. xxvi. p. 148. 1896).
857. Acta Patriarchatus CP., ii. p. 391.
858. Pand. Hist. Turc., s. 200.
859. Page 454, where he styles the first gate west of the Seraglio Point “Die Königliche Pforte.”
861. Acta Patriarchatus CP., ii. pp. 297, 391, 487.
862. Pachymeres, vol. ii. p. 503.
863. Lib. i. c. 65.
864. Lib. i. c. 18.
865. Lib. i. c. 65.
866. If the Basilikè Pylè could be identified with the gate which went by the names Porta Boni, Porta Veteris Rectoris, at Sirkedji Iskelessi, all statements concerning the Imperial Gate might be applied to that single entrance. But this would be to interpret the language of Phrantzes and Leonard of Scio on the subject too loosely. Nor is there any reason apparent for bestowing such an epithet upon that gate, or for regarding that gate important during the last siege.
867. The Basilikè Pylè is mentioned in Byzantine history by the following writers:—
Pachymeres, vol. ii. pp. 178-180.—As the starting-point of a great conflagration, in 1291, which extended far into the interior of the city, and caused immense loss of houses and merchandise.
Ibid., p. 503.—As the gate to which Berenger, in 1306, took his ship from the harbour at Blachernæ, in order to leave Constantinople more readily, as soon as a favourable wind sprang up.
Acta Patriarchatus CP., vol. ii. p. 297. Year 1399.—As the gate beside the shore on which a certain priest had his residence.
Ibid., p. 391. Year 1400.—As the gate before which a Church of St. John the Baptist stood upon the seashore.
Ibid., p. 487. Year uncertain.—As the gate before which there was a hospitium on the sea-shore, near the Church of St. John the Baptist.
Ducas, pp. 184-186.—As the gate guarded by soldiers from Crete during the siege of 1422. At the demand of those loyal troops the Emperor Manuel Palæologus, who had taken up his quarters in the monastery of the Peribleptos (Soulou Monastir), allowed his minister Theologus to be tried on the charge of accepting bribes from the Turks to betray the city. Having been found guilty, Theologus was forthwith dragged by the Cretans along the street to the Basilikè Pylè, and there had his eyes put out, in a manner that resulted in his death three days after the horrible operation.
Chalcocondylas, pp. 285, 286.—As the gate beside which stood the tower injured by the cannon of the Genoese in 1434.
Ducas, pp. 275, 283, 295, 300.—As the gate defended by the Venetians, and by the Grand Duke Notaras, in the siege of 1453.
Phrantzes, p. 255; Leonard of Scio, in his Letter to Pope Nicholas.—As the gate defended, in 1453, by Gabriel of Treviso.
Pusculus, iv. p. 193.—As the gate defended, in 1453, by the Grand Duke Notaras.
Critobulus, i. c. 65.—As the gate attacked by the Turkish fleet which entered the Golden Horn, after forcing the chain across the mouth of the harbour.
868. Lib. i. c. 42.