Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter discusses the critical period during the siege of Constantinople when the city’s defenses withstood repeated Ottoman assaults by land and sea, highlighting a dramatic naval victory in which four Christian galleys successfully broke through the Ottoman blockade to deliver crucial supplies. It narrates the subsequent impact on the morale of both defenders and attackers, describing the challenges faced by Mehmed II and his fleet after their failure and the resultant crisis in Ottoman leadership. The chapter examines the ingenuity and resourcefulness displayed on both sides, including the defenders’ use of innovative repairs to the city’s damaged walls, Genoese double-dealing from Pera, and Mehmed’s response with the portage of ships into the Golden Horn and the deployment of mortar-style artillery. It emphasizes the resulting equilibrium in the harbor, the intensification of psychological and material strain within the city, and the recurring cycles of violence and retaliation. Through eyewitness testimony and detailed reconstruction of military and diplomatic maneuvers, the chapter illustrates how the defenders endured repeated setbacks but managed, through skill, courage, and external support, to maintain an effective resistance in the face of mounting pressure until the siege’s final stages.</jats:p>