ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The "Recall of Constantinople" is a lamentable poem about the Fall of Constantinople (1453), preserved in manuscript No. 2873 of the National Library of Paris. It consists of 118 Iambican fifteenayllabic verses.

The title
The word rescind in the title of the poem does not mean "call" (as supported by D.C. Hesseling and Bruno Lavanini) or "memoration", but "threat", as interpreted by the first publisher of Emilios Legran and Krubacher: Even today in Cyprus, Crete and Naxos the verb is recalled means "trout, mourn", and the essential rescindation means "sad".

The text
The poem, written in uneven lyrics, begins with the transmission of its new Salt, announced with the song myth between two boats meeting near Tenedo. It is reported that the emperor, seeing that Turks entered the city, asks that they take his head so that he does not fall alive into their hands (f. 1-56).

Immediately begins the lamentation of the poet, who asks the sun to no longer illuminate the City, so that it does not help the Turks commit their iniquity. Then he gives a picture of the looting of the Queen, with the sacrileges and the snatching of women (p. 57-88).

The poet then likens the City to the moon and the Great Constantine, who founded it, to the sun. She then laments her fate and remembers the temple of Saint Sophia (f. 89-118). He concludes with the verse: "And angels and saints no longer help."

Date and origin
The first publisher of the poem, Emilius Legran, considers the poet of the Revocation modern of the event that he writes, as does Lavanini and Zoras. Krubacher considers the poem later, as does Hesseling. It is generally considered that the poem cannot be placed far from the date of the Malination. Rather, his creator used some municipal song, which we do not need to accept as the main theme the sale of the City. From this song perhaps the poet drew only expressive ways and patterns.

The oldest scholars of the project (Legrand, St. Xerouchakis, A. Papadopoulos-Kerameis, Krubacher, Hesseling, S. Xanthoudidis, No. Kampanis, H. Boutieridis, G.Th. Zoras, Lavanini) considered the origin of Cretan. However, as Emmanuel Kriaras showed and accepted the newest literature (Fr. Doelger, M.I. Manousakas, L. Politis etc., except Gareth Morgan), the work is Cypriot.

Krubacher, like others, was influenced by the lyrics 38 et seq. of the poem, where the emperor begs Cretans to cut off his head and take it to Crete, so that it does not fall alive in the hands of the Turks. But as Kriaras observes:

Publications
The text of the Revocation we have comes from, as stated at the beginning, the Greek manuscript 2873 of the National Library of Paris, which occupies the 5 penultimate leaves (187r-191r). Originally published by Emilio Le