Mehmed II's siege of Constantinople in 1453 was won partly by an unprecedented size of bronze siege cannon. Who designed it, and what happened to him?
Orban had first offered his services to Byzantine emperor Constantine XI in late 1452. Constantine couldn't afford it. Mehmed could. The centrepiece bombard was 8.2 metres long with a 76-cm bore, capable of throwing a 540-kg stone projectile 1.6 km. It took 60 oxen and 200 men to position. Orban cast it on site near Edirne because it was too large to transport assembled. He was killed when one of his own bombards burst during the siege, aged 51.
Read the full story →Mehmed II besieged Constantinople from 6 April to 29 May 1453 with a substantial Ottoman army of approximately 80,000 and a previously unknown size of bronze siege cannon — including the 8.2-metre Orban bombard cast specifically for the siege. The walls held for 53 days. They had held for 1,123 years.
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