Stairway to Heaven: An interpolation into the Chronicle of 1570

The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans had an indelible impact on the collective consciousness of the Byzantines and of the Christians in general. Yet, as has often been emphasised, Constantine XI’s presence is rather low in practically all the contemporary Greek writings devoted to the 'catastrophe', and almost nothing is said about the imperial insignia, which had disappeared without any trace. Instead, all literary and historical works from that period focused on the holy relics and icons of Orthodoxy — the sacred symbols of an identity that should withstand the power of the “unbelievers”. In the last quarter of the 16th century, however, a new narrative emerged that shifted the focus from faith and its symbols to the holiness of the basileia, as represented precisely by the imperial insignia, which thereby took the place of the liturgical objects as key subjects of the story. This narrative may be found in a brief, and understudied, tale inserted in certain manuscripts of the Chronicle of 1570. The present paper explores the connections between this tale and other contemporary sources (literary, historical, liturgical, visual), with the aim of reconstructing the social actors’ vision of the past and of Byzantine imperial power, and their hopes for the future.