The Story of Constantinople
All rights reserved
Interior of S. Sophia.
Showing the Sultan's pew and the stairs to the pulpit.
Constantinople
The Story of the old Capital
of the Empire by William
Holden Hutton, Fellow of
S. John Baptist College, Oxford.
Illustrated by Sydney Cooper
London: J. M. Dent & Co.
Aldine House, 29 and 30 Bedford Street
Covent Garden, W.C. · · 1900
This superb successor
Of the earth's mistress, as thou vainly speakest,
Stands 'midst these ages as, on the wide ocean,
The last spared fragment of a spacious land,
That in some grand and awful ministration
Of mighty nature has engulfed been,
Doth lift aloft its dark and rocky cliffs
O'er the wild waste around, and sadly frowns
In lonely majesty.
I was the daughter of Imperial Rome,
Crowned by her Empress of the mystic east:
Most Holy Wisdom chose me for her home
Sealed me Truth's regent, and High Beauty's priest.
Lo! when fate struck with hideous flame and sword,
Far o'er the new world's life my grace was poured.
PREFACE
A word of introduction is necessary to explain the nature of this sketch of the history of Constantinople. It is the holiday-task, very pleasant to him, of a College don, to whom there is no city in the world so impressive and so fascinating as the ancient home of the Cæsars of the East.
It is not intended to supersede the indispensable Murray. For a city so great, in which there is so much to see, a guide-book full of practical details is absolutely necessary. For this I can refer the reader, with entire confidence, to Murray's Hand-book—and to nothing else. But I think everyone who visits Constantinople feels the need of some sketch of its long and wonderful history. I have myself often felt the need as I wandered about the city, or spent a long evening, during the cold spring, in the hotel. I have endeavoured, as best I could, to supply what I have myself wanted. I do not pretend to have written a history of the city "from the earliest times to the present day" from the mass of original authorities of which I know something. I have used the works of the best modern writers freely, and I should like here, once for all, to express my obligations. I may venture to say that the list of books I here insert will be found useful by anyone who wishes to go further into the history than my little book is able to take him. The ordinary standard books are Professor Bury's edition of Gibbon; Mr Tozer's edition of Finlay's History of Greece; Professor Bury's History of the Later Empire; Von Hammer's History of the Turks; and the Vicomte de la Jonquière's sketch of the same subject.
The authorities, in detail, for the history and topography of the city are admirably summed up in Herr Eugen Oberhummer's contribution to the Pauly-Wissowas Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, band iv., which can be purchased separately as a "Sonder-Abdruck." Among the books which I have found especially useful I must mention first Professor van Millingen's Byzantine Constantinople, The Walls, etc.; the Broken Bits of Byzantium, by Mrs Walker and the late Rev. C. G. Curtis, to whose kindness I owe very much, a book which is now very rarely to be met with, and ought certainly to be republished; Bayet, L'Art Byzantin; Kraus, Geschichte der Christlichen Kunst; Lethaby and Swainson, S. Sophia; Grosvenor, Constantinople; Paspates, The Great Palace of Constantinople. Among histories of particular periods there are none more useful than Pears' Conquest of Constantinople, and Mijatovich, Constantine the last Emperor of the Greeks. Among a mass of interesting and important articles I should like to note that on Les Débuts du Monachisme à Constantinople, by M. Pargoire in the Revue des questions historiques, Jan. 1899.
The texts of the original authorities may be read in the Bonn edition, and some of them, happily, in Professor Bury's admirable collection of Byzantine texts, of which I have found the three volumes already published most useful. I have referred in Chapter VII. to the work of Gyllius, to whom we owe much of our knowledge of the mediæval city.
I have referred to a great number of books of travel, as may be seen; it is impossible here to particularise them all.
The limits of the series have compelled me to confine myself chiefly to the story of Constantinople as a mediæval town. Thus I have been reluctantly compelled to leave out much that I should have liked to say about Skutari, the Bosphorus and its palaces, and the present social life and religious observances, the Dervishes, the "Sweet Waters," and many familiar names.
For the same reason, I have dwelt very briefly on much that is of great interest. I would gladly, for instance, have said more about Iconoclasm, and something about that great theologian, S. Theodore of the Studium.
Practically, I may add that the advice of Murray's Guide is always to be taken; personally I have always found the Hotel Bristol most comfortable in every way, and I have no occasion to commend any other hotel, because I have never felt tempted to leave it. It has had varied fortunes, but it is at its best, I think, as managed by Herr H. Güllering. I have myself found a dragoman, except for the first day, unnecessary; but I can strongly recommend Eustathios Livathinos as a most pleasant companion. Jacob Moses has also much experience.
I should add that in my spelling of names I have usually adopted, for simplicity, the common use; but I fear I have not even been uniform.
I owe very much to the kind offices of Lord Currie and of Sir Nicholas O'Connor, Her Majesty's Ambassadors in 1896 and 1899, and to several members of the Embassy, with a very special debt of gratitude to Mr Fitzmaurice, C.M.G. I can never forget the kindness of the late Canon C. G. Curtis, whose death in 1896 was so great a loss to the British community in Constantinople, to archæology, and to religion.
In several instances photographs taken by my friend, Mr J. W. Milligan, who was in Constantinople in 1896, have been of not a little use to my friend, the Rev. Sydney Cooper, to whose illustrations this book will owe very much more than half its interest.
W. H. HUTTON.
The Great House, Burford, Oxon,
S. Mark's Day, 1900.
CONTENTS
PAGE CHAPTER IThe History of the City in ancient and mediæval times
Constantinople under the Turks
154 CHAPTER IIIThe Churches
231 CHAPTER IVThe Walls
270 CHAPTER VThe Mosques, Türbehs and Fountains
290 CHAPTER VIThe Palaces
310 CHAPTER VIIAntiquities
320ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE Interior of S. Sophia Frontispiece Seraglio Point after Sunset 2 Therapia 4 The Hippodrome and Mosque of Ahmed 9 Yeri Batan Serai (Cistern) 28 The Imperial Quarter (Plan) 31 The Burnt Column 35 S. Sophia and the Ministry of Justice from the Sea 37 The Golden Gate 42 The Golden Horn from Eyûb 53 The Aqueduct of Valens 67 Roumeli Hissar 139 In the Cemetery at Scutari 154 The Golden Horn from Pera, after Sunset 173 Fountain in the Court of Mosque of Valideh 186 Interior of Mosque of Ahmed I. 191 Houses in the Phanar 207 Street in Galata 223 Capitals from S. Sophia 232 Courtyard of the Church of the Studium 234 Plan of SS. Sergius and Bacchus 237 Plan of S. Sophia 245 In the Gallery of S. Sophia 253 Ornament on the Brazen Lintel above the Principal Door of S. Sophia 257 Bronze Door of Southern Entrance to the Narthex, S. Sophia 258 Ancient Urn in S. Sophia
TABLE OF EMPERORS
Constantine I., the Great 306-337 Constantius II. 337-361 Julian 361-363 Jovian 363-364 Valens 364-378 Theodosius I., the Great 378-395 Arcadius 395-408 Theodosius II. 408-450 Marcian 450-457 Leo I. 457-474 Zeno 474-491 Anastasius I. 491-518 Justin I. 518-527 Justinian I., the Great 527-565 Justin II. 565-578 Tiberius II. 578-582 Maurice 582-602 Phocas 602-610 Heraclius 610-641 Heraclius Constantinus and Heracleonas 641-642 Constans II. 642-668 Constantine IV. 668-685 Justinian II. 685-695 Leontius 695-697 Tiberius III. Apsimarus 697-705 Justinian II. (restored) 705-711 Philippicus 711-713 Anastasius II. 713-715 Theodosius III. 715-717Romanus I., reigned five weeks 944 Romanus II. 958-963 Basil II. Bulgaroktonos 963-1025 Co-Emperors— Nicephorus II. Phocas 963-969 John I. Tzimisces 969-976 Constantine IX. 976-1025 Constantine IX. 1025-1028 Romanus III. Argyrus 1028-1034 Michael IV., the Paphlagonian 1034-1042 Michael V. 1042 Zoe and Theodora 1042 Constantine X. Monomachus 1042-1054 Theodora (restored) 1054-1056 Michael VI. Stratioticus 1056-1057 Isaac I. Comnenus 1057-1059 Constantine XI. Ducas 1059-1067 Michael VII. Ducas 1067-1078 Co-Emperor— Romanus IV. Diogenes 1067-1078 Nicephorus III. Botoniates 1078-1081 Alexius I. Comnenus 1081-1118 John II. Comnenus 1118-1143 Manuel I. Comnenus 1143-1180 Alexius II. Comnenus 1180-1183 Andronicus I. Comnenus 1183-1185 Isaac II. Angelus 1185-1195 Alexius III. Angelus 1195-1203 Isaac II. (restored) } 1203-1204 Alexius IV. Angelus } Alexius V. Ducas, Murtzuphlus 1204 Latin Emperors Baldwin I. 1204-1205 Henry 1205-1216 Peter 1217-1219 Robert 1219-1228 John of Brienne 1228-1237 Baldwin II. 1237-1261 Nicæan Emperors Theodore I. Lascaris 1204-1222 John III. Ducas 1222-1254 Theodore II. Ducas 1254-1259 John IV. Ducas 1259-1260 Empire Restored Michael VIII. Palæologus 1260-1282 Andronicus II. Palæologus 1282-1328 Co-Emperor— Michael IX. 1295-1320 Andronicus III. Palæologus 1328-1341 John VI. Palæologus 1341-1391 Co-Emperors— John V. Cantacuzene 1342-1355 Andronicus IV. Palæologus (usurped
throne) 1376-1379 Manuel II. Palæologus 1391-1425 John VII. Palæologus 1425-1448 Constantine XII. Palæologus 1448-1453 Turkish Sultans Mohammed II., "The Conqueror" 1451-1481 Bayezid II., "The Mystic" 1481-1512 Selim I., "The Great" 1512-1520 Suleiman I., "The Magnificent" 1520-1566 Selim II., "The Sot" 1566-1574 Murad III. 1574-1595 Mohammed III. 1595-1603 Ahmed I. 1603-1617 Mustafa I. } 1617-(1618) Osman II. } 1623 Murad IV. 1623-1640 Ibrahim 1640-1649 Mohammed IV. 1649-1687 Suleiman II. 1687-1691 Ahmed II. 1691-1695 Mustafa II. 1695-1703 Ahmed III. 1703-1730 Mahmûd I. 1730-1754 Osman III. 1754-1757 Mustafa III. 1757-1774 Abdul Hamid I. 1774-1789 Selim III. 1789-1807 Mustafa IV. 1807-1808 Mahmûd II., "The Reformer" 1808-1839 Abdul Mejid 1839-1861 Abdul Aziz 1861-1876 Murad V. 1876
Constantinople
CHAPTER I
The History of the City in ancient and mediæval times
1. Byzantium Before Constantine.
It is impossible to approach Constantinople without seeing the beauty and the wonder of its site. Whether you pass rapidly down the Bosphorus, between banks crowned with towers and houses and mosques, that stretch away hither and thither to distant hills, now bleak, now crowned with dark cypress groves; or up from the Sea of Marmora, watching the dome of S. Sophia that glitters above the closely packed houses, till you turn the point which brings you to the Golden Horn, crowded with shipping and bright with the flags of many nations; or even if you come overland by the sandy wastes along the shore, looking across the deep blue of the sea to the islands and the snow-crowned mountains of Asia, till you break through the crumbling wall within sight of the Golden Gate, and find yourself at a step deep in the relics of the middle ages; you cannot fail to wonder at the splendour of the view which meets your eyes. Sea, sunlight, the quaint houses that stand close upon the water's edge, the white palaces, the crowded quays, and the crowning glory of the Eastern domes and the mediæval walls—these are the elements that combine to impress, and the impression is never lost. Often as you may see again the approach to the imperial city, its splendour and dignity and the exquisite beauty of colour and light will exert their old charm, and as you put foot in the New Rome you will feel all the glamour of the days that are gone by.
SERAGLIO POINT AFTER SUNSET
So of old the Greeks who founded the city dwelt lovingly on the contrast of sea and land here meeting, and hymned the nymphs of wave and spring, the garden by the shore.
"Where ocean bathes earth's footstool these sea-bowers
Bedeck its solid wavelets: wise was he
Who blended shore with deep, with seaweed flowers,
And Naiads' rivulets with Nereids' sea."
Strictly speaking the peninsula on which the city stands is of the form of a trapezium. It juts out into the sea, beating back as it were the fierce waves of the Bosphorus, and forcing them to turn aside from their straight course and widen into the Sea of Marmora, which the ancients called the Propontis, narrowing again as it forces its way between the near banks of the Hellespont, which rise abrupt and arid from the European side, and slope gently away in Asia to the foot of Mount Ida. Northwards there is the little bay of the Golden Horn, an arm as it were of the Bosphorus, into which run the streams which the Turks call the Sweet Waters of Europe. The mouth of the harbour is no more than five hundred yards across. The Greeks of the Empire spanned it by a chain, supported here and there on wooden piles, fragments of which still remain in the Armoury that was once the church of S. Irene. Within is safe anchorage in one of the finest harbours of the world.
South of the Golden Horn, on the narrow tongue of land—narrow it seems as seen from the hills of the northern shore—is the city of Constantine and his successors in empire, seated, like the old Rome, on seven hills, and surrounded on three sides by sea, on the fourth by the still splendid, though shattered, mediæval walls. Northwards are the two towns, now linked together, of Pera and Galata, that look back only to the trading settlements of the Middle Ages.
The single spot united, as Gibbon puts it, the prospects of beauty, of safety, and of wealth: and in a masterly description that great historian has collected the features which made the position, "formed by Nature for the centre and capital of a great monarchy," attractive to the first colonists, and evident to Constantine as the centre where he could best combine and command the power of the Eastern half of his mighty Empire.
THERAPIA
"Situated in the forty-first degree of latitude, the imperial city commanded, from her seven hills, the opposite shores of Europe and Asia; the climate was healthy and temperate, the soil fertile, the harbour secure and capacious, and the approach on the side of the continent was of small extent and easy defence. The Bosphorus and Hellespont may be considered as the two gates of Constantinople, and the prince who possessed those important passages could always shut them against a naval enemy and open them to the fleets of commerce. The preservation of the eastern provinces may, in some degree, be ascribed to the policy of Constantine, as the barbarians of the Euxine, who in the preceding age had poured their armaments into the heart of the Mediterranean, soon desisted from the exercise of piracy, and despaired of forcing this insurmountable barrier. When the gates of the Hellespont and Bosphorus were shut, the capital still enjoyed, within their spacious enclosure, every production which would supply the wants, or gratify the luxury, of its numerous inhabitants. The sea-coast of Thrace and Bithynia, which languish under the weight of the Turkish oppression, still exhibits a rich prospect of vineyards, of gardens, and of plentiful harvests; and the Propontis has ever been renowned for an inexhaustible store of the most exquisite fish, that are taken in their stated seasons without skill, and almost without labour. But when the passages of the straits were thrown open for trade, they alternately admitted the natural and artificial riches of the north and south, of the Euxine, and of the Mediterranean. Whatever rude commodities were collected in the forests of Germany and Scythia, as far as the sources of the Tanais and the Borysthenes; whatsoever was manufactured by the skill of Europe or Asia; the corn of Egypt, and the gems and spices of the farthest India; were brought by the varying winds into the port of Constantinople, which for many ages attracted the commerce of the ancient world."
There is no wonder that legend should surround the beginnings of the imperial city of the East. Men from Argos and Megara under the navigator Byzas founded it about 657 B.C. But mythology made the founder the son of Neptune the sea god, and said that Io, changed into a heifer, swam across the narrow strait that divides Europe from Asia, and so gave it the name of Bosphorus, which means literally Oxford. The Delphic oracle told men to settle "opposite the land of the blind," for blind were those men of Megara who some years before had chosen Chalcedon on the Asiatic shore instead of the matchless site on which rose the city of Byzantium.
The early history can be briefly told. Byzantium was the first of the cities of Europe to fall into the hands of Darius. It was burned to the ground by the Persians, rescued and rebuilt by Pausanias, was threatened by the Ten Thousand on their retreat, and saved by the eloquence of Xenophon. Two years it was besieged by Philip of Macedon, and was saved by the Athenians. When Rome first showed her power in those lands Byzantium was her ally; but her chequered fortunes ended their first epoch with destruction at the hands of Septimius
2. From Constantine to Justinian.
The true history of the city begins with Constantine the Great. It is said that he hesitated at first, like the men of Megara, between Byzantium and Chalcedon, when he came to choose a spot from which to rule the East. But when he chose aright he founded a city which has endured to this day, and which it is inconceivable should ever be deserted again. The site on which he built is about four miles long, broadening from less than a mile where it fronts the Bosphorus to four miles from where the Marble Tower now stands to the Golden Horn. Seven hills and six valleys diversify the ground. The seven hills as we see them now stretch thus from east to west. First is that irregular elevation ending at Seraglio Point, on which stand the buildings of the old Seraglio, S. Irene, S. Sophia, the great mosque of Sultan Ahmed, and the Hippodrome. Second, and north-west of it, is the hill on which stands the column of Constantine himself, now burned and broken. On the third stands the great tower by the War Office (Seraskierat), the mosques of Bayezid and Suleiman. A valley descends northwards to the Golden Horn; and across it runs the Aqueduct of Valens, and on the other side is the hill marked by the mosque of Mohammed the Conqueror. The fifth hill stretches from the fourth almost to the Golden Horn, and on it stands the mosque of Selim. The sixth hill, divided from the fifth by a valley ascending from the Golden Horn, has now the ruins of the palace called by the people "the House of Belisarius," and the seventh extends from the south of the Adrianople Gate to the Sea of Marmora. As the old foundation, so the new planning of Constantine has its legend. It is said that he traced the boundary of his city himself, walking spear in hand and marking the line of the walls; and when his courtiers asked him how far he could go he answered, as though he saw a sacred vision, "Until He tarries Who now goes before." He ascribed in his laws the founding to the command of God.
He did not cover the whole ground of the Seven Hills. It is difficult to trace with certainty the line of the walls, but it would seem probable that they extended from what is now the inner bridge across the Golden Horn to a point on the Sea of Marmora about midway between the gate of Daoud Pasha and the Psamatia Gate. This would exclude part of the fifth, sixth, and seventh hills; but it is improbable that they were left entirely unprotected or completely excluded from the city of Constantine. By the sixth at any rate already stood the Blachernae, later to be the famous palace of the Byzantine emperors. Sycae, across the Golden Horn, was the name of what is now Galata. It was at one time the quarter where the Galatian mercenaries dwelt, and quite early in history it had another division named Pera, or "across the water." The seaward walls remained as they had been in old Byzantium, and they were repaired, and brought forward to the point whence the new land walls started. Of the remains of Constantine's time there are none that are not half destroyed or wholly altered, but the Church of S. Irene still recalls the days of its first founder, and the serpent column from Delphi still stands in the Hippodrome where he placed it.
The divisions of Constantine's city are not easy to recover. For municipal government it had, like Rome, fourteen regions, two of which were outside the walls, those (xiii.) of Sycae and (xiv.) of Blachernae. From the Golden gate, which was not far from the Marmora end of the land walls (the name Isa Kapou Mesjidi still recalls the Holy Name of Jesus which it bore), a road led to the Augusteum. The Forum of Constantine stood outside where the old Byzantine walls had been, and west of the Hippodrome. The Hippodrome extended south-west from the Forum of the Augusteum. North-east at some distance stood the Church of S. Irene. The Augusteum which, as Mr Bury says, we may translate place impériale, had the Church of S. Sophia, begun probably by Constantius, on the north; on the east the Senate house, and some buildings of the Palace; on the south the great Palace itself, built eastwards of the Hippodrome and commanding the magnificent view over the Marmora islands to the shores of Asia and the snows of Olympus.