Explaining Patterns of Siege Warfare in Late Medieval Europe

• In Event: Poster Session: Politics and History & International History and Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: International History and Politics

Abstract

This paper studies how exposure to information about the Fall of Constantinople affected the frequency of siege warfare in Europe. Employing an original dataset of sieges, I document a decline in the incidence of sieges in Western and Central Europe after the capture of Constantinople in 1453. Furthermore, using a natural experiment, I find that locations exogenously more exposed to information about the Fall of Constantinople experienced a greater decline in sieges. I argue that this decrease can be attributed to the spread of information about the effectiveness of gunpowder artillery revealed by the Siege of Constantinople. Better information about the new technology of gunpowder artillery enabled combatants to better estimate their chances of prevailing in a siege, resulting in more negotiated settlements.

Author

• Denis Tchaouchev, Stanford University