 Already by 1453 the Ottomans were advancing towards the European continent. After vanquishing the Feudal Turkish Beys in Eastern Anatolia and the Serbs in Western Thrace, they laid siege to Constantinople! Totally helpless, Constantine XI, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire turned to the Pope for help. The latter insisted however on the Union of the Churches as a condition for sending support. Both Notaras, the Byzantine Commander and Gennadios the monk, were against this Union. Notaras s daughter Anna falls in love with a mysterious knight George, accused of being the Sultan s spy. The city is under siege . The Italian general Longo tries to defend the city walls, but is wounded. Help never arrives. The Ottoman armies succeed in entering through the gates, the city falls. Sultan Mehmet "the Conqueror" names Gennadios Patriarch of the Orthodox and Istanbul becomes the capital of the Ottoman Empire.