Here is a possible concise summary:
The text is a narration of the fall of Constantinople in 1453, when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II besieged and conquered the city that was the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The text describes the preparations, the forces, the defenses, the battles, and the outcome of the siege, highlighting the courage of the defenders and the determination of the attackers. The text also mentions some historical figures, such as Emperor Constantine XI, the corsair Giustiniani, and the Castilian captain Francisco de Toledo. The text ends with the recognition of Mehmet II as the new Caesar of the Romans and the rise of a new power in Christendom.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. On Tuesday, May 29, 1453, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, after a 59-day siege.
2. Mehmet II was fascinated by Alexander the Great and the ancient Caesar and wanted to turn Constantinople into the capital of a new universal empire.
3. The Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI died in combat defending the city, ending an era of Roman rule that lasted for more than two thousand years.
4. The Ottoman army had about 160,000 combatants, including 12,000 elite janissaries, 15,000 Turkish cavalry and 50,000 professional soldiers, as well as tens of thousands of volunteers and vassals.
5. The Byzantine defenders had about 17,000 men, including 6,000 Roman soldiers, 5,000 recruits and 6,000 allies and mercenaries from various Christian nations such as Venice, Genoa, Naples, Catalonia and Castile.
6. The Ottomans used a gigantic cannon forged by a Hungarian engineer named Orbán to bombard the walls of Constantinople, which were considered impregnable and had resisted six previous sieges.
7. The Ottomans also built a road through the mountain to drag their galleys into the Golden Horn, the inner harbor of Constantinople, and bypass the iron chain that protected it from the sea.
8. The hero of the defense was the Genoese corsair Giovanni Giustiniani Longo, who led 700 men and fought valiantly until he was wounded and retreated, causing panic among the defenders.
9. The Ottomans entered the city through a postern that was left open after an exit and spread chaos and fear among the population.
10. The Ottomans enjoyed three days of looting and devastation in the city, but some neighborhoods such as Fanal were granted peace and some Christian ships managed to escape by breaking the chain of the Golden Horn.