Did you know that Master Orbán’s cannons brought down the walls of Istanbul for the Ottomans?

By 1453, the Ottoman sultans tried to conquer the capital of the Byzantine Empire many times but without success. Constantinople was protected by three large and thick wall systems which made almost impossible to get into the city before firearms were invented. Mehmet II (1444-1446, 1451-1481) decided to conquer Constantinople at a young age, so he hired Master Orbán to build a massive cannon for him able to destroy the walls.

According to contemporary forces Master Orbán was born in the Szeklerland, in the Hungarian Kingdom, and first, he offered his services for emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine ruler. Constantine gladly hired him, but since the Empire was in a bad financial situation, he could not pay enough or provide fine raw materials for him – index.hu says. Therefore,

Orbán abandoned him and offered his knowledge for the Ottoman emperor, Mehmet II.

The sultan hired him, as well, and was able to provide him with an infinite quantity of gifts, quality material and a lot of money. In return, Mehmet asked him to build a cannon so huge and strong that it can bring down the walls of Constantinople, the city Mehmet wanted to conquer since the beginning of his reign. Mr Orbán lived in Constantinople before and had time to study the walls carefully, so the task was not impossible for him.

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