There was a Turkish blockbuster in 2012, and Conquest 1453 caused a sensation. This Turkish film tells the story of the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II's capture of Constantinople. In this film, Urban and his cannon appear.
In the film, in order to obtain Urban and his cannon-making skills, the Constantinople side and the Muhammad side are fiercely contested. Eventually, Urban defected to Muhammad.
From these descriptions, we can feel the importance of Urban and his artillery-making techniques for this battle. So, who is Urban? How much of a role did the cannon he built play in the battle?
At the time, Constantinople was the strongest fortress in the world. The part of it facing the sea is a single-layered wall, and facing the land is a three-story wall. The inner floor is 40 feet high and there are 112 towers up to 60 feet tall. The outer layer is a 25-foot-high city wall with watchtowers. Further out is a chest wall, made up of the inner wall of the moat. This moat is 60 feet wide and 15 feet deep.
After The construction of Constantinople, it underwent numerous sieges. However, it was only captured a few times. It served as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and became the last part of the empire.
However, because the Eastern Roman Empire had declined, the city was exhausted. It could only rally an army of eight thousand men to defend it. Faced with Mehmed II's army of 200,000, the only thing they could rely on was the walls of Constantinople.
In order to capture Constantinople, Mehmed II mobilized an army of 200,000. Among these armies was his most elite army, the New Army. More important than his "forces nouvelles", and playing an important role in the campaign, were Muhammad's artillery.
In order to break the strong walls of Constantinople, Muhammad formed his artillery unit. These artillerymen were predominantly Christians. As for the role of these artillerymen, Critobulus once said in the Cambridge Medieval History: it was the artillery that determined everything.
Muhammad had a total of twelve or three "artillery" companies and 14 "small artillery" companies, each with 4 artillery pieces. His largest cannon was cast in Adelaelop, and the casting technician was a Hungarian or Wallazian named Urban. It is said that this Urban initially defected to Constantinople, but because Constantinople could not meet his salary conditions, he transferred to Muhammad's side.
Its barrel is divided into 12 pieces, each 8 inches, with a total circumference of 96 inches. It was calculated that the stone bullets it fired should weigh 1456 pounds. This huge weapon requires 60 cows to pull, with 200 people walking together to keep it in its proper position, and another 200 people to level the way for it. The time to load ammunition is two hours at a time, so it can only be fired 6 to 8 times a day.
On April 12, 1453, the shelling of Constantinople began. The cannon, pushed to the moat, began the first ever organized bombardment. Under prolonged shelling, the walls of Constantinople were greatly damaged.
However, due to the long preparation time for artillery fire, the destroyed walls were quickly repaired by the defenders. In the end, Muhammad took the form of a strong attack, and after a bloody battle, finally captured Constantinople.
Urban cannons played a large role in this siege. It shook the will of the defenders and destroyed the walls of Constantinople. It forced the defenders of Constantinople to fight bloody battles for contention and filling gaps, without rest. The defenders of Constantinople, who had eventually lost their fighting spirit, were defeated. Mehmed II was able to capture the fort, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
And the end of Urban and his cannon, according to Phraates in the "History of the Ottoman Empire", this cannon finally exploded and killed Urban. Together, they found their home in history.