On August 7, 626, a ten-day Avar siege of Constantinople ends , in which Slavs, Persians and other peoples participate. This is the first major siege of Constantinople in the Middle Ages and a desperate attempt to conquer the "queen of cities", but the problem of penetrating the Golden Horn has not yet been solved and this does not allow the invaders to capture the city.< /p>
The Slavs made a desperate attempt with their riverboats to penetrate the Byzantine capital through the turbulent and dangerous currents of the Bosphorus.
In the Byzantine literature, a large number of information about the siege of Constantinople in July-August 626 by Avars, Slavs and Persians have been preserved.
Among the most important and valuable sources for this event is an anonymous church word. Based on some data, it can be concluded with high probability that it was pronounced by Theodore Sinkel on August 7, 627, therefore on the first anniversary of the famous siege, specifies the "History of the World".
In accordance with the religious beliefs of the time, the author of the speech explained the failure of the siege with the intercession of the Mother of God.
Consequently, his entire speech is filled with praise and thanks to her. Despite the rhetorical language and numerous quotations and allusions throughout the Scriptures, this word contains extremely detailed news about the entire course of the siege, which was organized by the Avar Hagan with the help of the Slavic tribes and the Persians.
Emperor Flavius Heraclius Augustus (Heraclius I) waged a long and exhausting war with Persia. The Persians successfully conquered Roman territories, including in Asia Minor, and refused Heraclius' proposals for peace negotiations.
To turn the tide of the war, in 622 the emperor personally led his army on a well-prepared march to Armenia. While the Eastern Roman army was on the march and advancing to the east, in July 626 a Persian army arrived near Constantinople and surrounded the city from the Asian side.
The actions of the Persians are coordinated with the Avars, who are waiting for an opportune moment to attack the Eastern Roman Empire, although they have made peace with it.
Avars and Slavs arrive near the capital at the end of June and begin preparations with siege equipment for an attack from the European side. Clashes with the defenders of the city began, whose actions were led by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Sergius I.
The attacks were unsuccessful, and Persian rafts and Slavic monoxyls, which tried to bring a Persian army across the Bosphorus, were destroyed by Byzantine ships.
After their failed attacks, the Avars retreated on August 7 and ended the siege. Although the Persians remained on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus during the winter, the danger to Constantinople had passed.
The failure of the siege saved the empire, the Avars never seriously threatened Constantinople again, and after the victory of Heraclius in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh came the end of the war.