Siege of Constantinople (717–718)
The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 717–718 was a combined land and sea offensive by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. In 716, after years of preparations, the Arabs, led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, invaded Byzantine Asia Minor. After wintering in the western coastlands of Asia Minor, the Arab army crossed into Thrace in early summer 717 and built siege lines to blockade the city. The Arab fleet, which accompanied the land army and was meant to complete the city’s blockade by sea, was neutralized soon after its arrival by the Byzantine navy through the use of Greek fire. The Arabs were forced to lift the siege on 15 August 718
About Siege of Constantinople (717–718) in brief
The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 717–718 was a combined land and sea offensive by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. The campaign marked the culmination of twenty years of attacks and progressive Arab occupation of the Byzantine borderlands. In 716, after years of preparations, the Arabs, led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, invaded Byzantine Asia Minor. After wintering in the western coastlands of Asia Minor, the Arab army crossed into Thrace in early summer 717 and built siege lines to blockade the city, which was protected by the massive Theodosian Walls. The Arab fleet, which accompanied the land army and was meant to complete the city’s blockade by sea, was neutralized soon after its arrival by the Byzantine navy through the use of Greek fire. The Arabs were forced to lift the siege on 15 August 718. Historians consider the siege to be one of history’s most important battles, as its failure postponed the Muslim advance into Southeastern Europe for centuries. The siege’s failure had wide-ranging repercussions. The rescue of Constantinople ensured the continued survival of Byzantium, while the Caliphate’s strategic outlook was altered. Although regular attacks on Byzantine territories continued, the goal of outright conquest was abandoned. In the words of the Byzantinist Warren Treadgold, \”the Arab attacks would in any case have intensified after the end of their own civil war … Now they threatened to extinguish the empire entirely by capturing its capital.’’ The Arabs initially hoped to exploit Byzantine civil strife and made common cause with the general Leo III the Isaurian.
Leo, however, tricked them and secured the Byzantine throne for himself. The main Byzantine source is the extensive and detailed account of the Chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor and the brief brief account of Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople. For the events of the siege, both authors appear to have used a primary account composed during the reign of Leo III, which contains a favourable depiction of the latter, while apparently relying on an unknown narrative for the events in 716. The 8th-century chronicler of Edessa records the years leading up to the siege and the siege itself in some detail, paying particular attention to the diplomacy between the Arabs and Leo III. The 11th century Kitab al-Uyun al-Mansur wrote a more concise narrative in his History of the Kings and Prophets of Kings of the Arabs. The 12th century chronicler Theophilus al-Abbas wrote a biography of the King of Kings and the Kings of Kings in which he focused on the relations between the Arab and Byzantine dynasties. The 13th century chronicle of the Knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece provides a more detailed narrative of the events leading up and after the siege. The 14th century historian of the Crusades wrote a chronicle in which the Arabs fought a battle with the Bulgars.
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