Il racconto del “martirio” subito dal «megaduca» imperiale Luca Notaràs e dai suoi figli per mano dei turchi (30 maggio 1453): cronaca e topos letterario

The episode of the death sentence of the powerful imperial megadux Loukas Notaras and his sons ordered on May 30, 1453, by Mehmed II that had entered in Constantinople only a day before as Fatih, the Conqueror, is described in byzantine and latin sources related to the fall of the Polis with varying interpretations. Some sources portray it as yet another blasphemous act of the personification of Antichrist and therefore cause of a Christian and Roman martyrdom; other sources as a consequence of jealousies among Turkish notables, further fueled by the intrigues of the Latins remained in the city. Other sources, however, link it to previous similar episodes of suppressions of families, like that of Emperor Maurice, finding an archetype in biblical episodes.