Giovanni Giustiniani

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Giovanni Giustiniani (died 1453) was a Genoese captain during the Middle Ages. He was reputed to be one of the bravest and most effective soldiers of his day. He led 700 men to the defense of Constantinople against the Ottoman army of Sultan Mehmed II in 1453 (See also, Fall of Constantinople). He personally financed, organized and led this expedition on his own initiative, and upon arriving was placed in command of the land defenses by Emperor Constantine Palaiologos XI of the Byzantine Empire.

Giustiniani was wounded by an Ottoman cannon while defending the walls of Constantinople. Some sources say the wound was caused by a crossbow bolt. Sources disagree about whether the wound was to his arm, leg, or chest, but it forced him to withdraw from his station at the land wall.

Seeing the demoralization caused among the defenders by Giustiniani's retreat, Sultan Mehmed II ordered a renewed assault that defeated the Byzantines and Constantinople was taken by the Turks. Although Giustiniani's men managed to escape with their general on board vessels fleeing Constantinople after its fall, the Italian general died of the effects of the wound in the early days of June 1453.