Nestor Iskander's ''Tale on the Taking of Tsargrad'' (Russian: Повесть o взятии Царьграда) is a late 15th - early 16th-century Russian tale on the

fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...

. It is

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

in two

redaction Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple sources of texts are combined and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent wo ...

s, both of which are thought to be derived from a single original now lost. The so-called 'Iskanderian' redaction, extant in a single copy, is part of an early 16th-century manuscript from the Troitse-Sergiev Monastery ( Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra collection no. 773), and includes a reference to the supposed author, Nestor Iskander. The much more common 'chronicle' redaction forms the final chapter of the Russian

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

of 1512, and differs from the 'Iskanderian' redaction chiefly in having no reference to the author.

Historical accuracy

The tale's historical accuracy, as compared to other accounts of the

, is fairly low. The massive cannons cast by the Hungarian master Orban for the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

are said to be cast by the walls of Constantinople. The Ottoman attempts to storm the city walls, which took place at night to minimize casualties from defensive fire, take place during the day. Arguably the most impressive event of the campaign, the Ottomans' launching of

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

s into the Golden Horn by pulling them overland, is conspicuously ignored. The astronomical and

meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

events that were taken as portents of the city's fall are confounded. Contrary to the account of the tale, the Orthodox Patriarch was not present in the city during the siege, and the Byzantine empress had deceased previously. Also highly suspicious in an account claiming to be by an eyewitness is the fact that topographical details are either lacking or confused, while exact dates are few and unreliable. Nestor Iskander claims to be a Russian ("Iskander" being a Turkified form of "Alexander") who was captured at young age by the Ottomans, circumcised and forced to convert to Islam, though he remained a Christian at heart. He was supposedly in the Ottoman camp during the siege of Constantinople, and afterwards compiled more facts about the event from surviving Byzantine witnesses. The problem with this claim, apart from the historical inaccuracies noted above, is Iskander's command of literary language and style, which show him to be highly erudite and educated, and most probably a monk. Therefore, it is assumed that Nestor Iskander is an imaginary author, and the tale was compiled from Greek and Slavic sources. In view of this and the manifestly fictitious elements in the work, it should not be used as an historical source, particularly where, as often, it tells stories unparalleled in other sources.

Style

The tale is remarkable for its lively narrative and detailed depictions of battle scenes. After an initial part that relates the founding of Constantinople and its significance, the siege itself is narrated in terms of the valiant but tragic defense of the Byzantines against the Ottomans, who are bound to win not because of their military strength, but because God has decided to punish the Byzantines for their former sins. The leading characters are given

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...

depth, and even the Ottoman

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Mehmet II laments his losses. The portrayal of Mehmet II following the city's fall is unusual in terms of medieval religious fanaticism, in that he is merciful to the survivors, and glorifies the Byzantines and their last emperor, Constantine XI. In all, though utterly unreliable, the tale is a masterpiece in the genre of historical fiction.

Significance

The tale ends with reference to a Greek legend that Constantinople will eventually be liberated from heathens by a blond or fair-skinned people, but the Russian translation of this as "''rusii rod''" associates readily with "''russkii rod''," i.e. "Russian people." Thus, Nestor Iskander's tale came to be read as the first text claiming the Russians' destiny to conquer Constantinople, a theme that would become important{{huh, date=June 2022 in the 18th and 19th centuries.

References

* Dmitriev, L. A. et al. ds ''Biblioteka literatury drevnei Rusi: vtoraia polovina XV veka''. Saint Petersburg: Nauka, 1999. * Likhachev, D. S. d ''Drevnerusskaia literatura: istochnikovedenie''. Leningrad: Nauka, 1984. * Runciman, Steven. ''The Fall of Constantinople 1453''. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990. * Terras, Victor d ''Handbook of Russian Literature''. New Haven: Yale UP, 1985. Pseudohistory 15th-century Russian literature Fall of Constantinople East Slavic literature