Editing Constantine XI Palaiologos (section)

=== The Marble Emperor ===
{{See also|King asleep in mountain}}[[File:Constantine XI Palaiologos (4552304506).jpg|thumb|Marble statue of Constantine XI at the [[National Historical Museum, Athens|National Historical Museum]] in [[Athens]]]]
In 15th-century Byzantine historian [[Laonikos Chalkokondyles]]'s ''The Histories'', Chalkokondyles finished his account of Byzantine history with hope for a time when a Christian emperor would rule over the Greeks again. In the late 15th century, a legend originated among the Greeks that Constantine had not actually died, but was merely asleep and was waiting on a call from heaven to come and rescue his people.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=98}} This legend eventually became the legend of the "Marble Emperor" (Greek: ''Marmaromenos Vasilefs'', lit. the "Emperor/King turned into Marble").{{Sfn|Clogg|1992|p=19}} Constantine Palaiologos, hero of the final Christian days of Constantinople, had not died, but had been rescued, turned into marble and immortalized by an angel moments before he was to be killed by the Ottomans. The angel then hid him in a secret cave beneath the Golden Gate of Constantinople (where emperors in the past had marched during [[Roman triumph|triumphs]]), where he awaits the angel's call to awaken and retake the city. The Turks later walled up the Golden Gate, explained by the story as a precaution against Constantine's eventual resurrection: when God wills Constantinople to be restored, the angel will descend from heaven, resurrect Constantine, give him the sword he used in the final battle and Constantine will then march into his city and restore his fallen empire, driving the Turks as far away as the "[[Red Apple Tree]]", their legendary homeland. According to the legend, Constantine's resurrection would be heralded by the bellowing of a great ox.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=|pp=101–102, 104}}

The story can be seen depicted in a series of seventeen miniatures in a 1590 chronicle by Cretan historian and painter [[Georgios Klontzas]]. Klontzas' miniatures show the emperor sleeping beneath Constantinople and guarded by angels, being crowned once more in the Hagia Sophia, entering the imperial palace and then fighting a string of battles against the Turks. Following his inevitable victories, Constantine prays at Caesarea ([[Kayseri]]),  marches on Palestine and returns triumphant to Constantinople before entering [[Jerusalem]]. At Jerusalem, Constantine delivers his crown and the [[True Cross]] to the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] and finally travels to [[Calvary]], where he dies, his mission completed. In the final miniature, Constantine is buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=102}}

In 1625, [[Thomas Roe]], an English diplomat, sought permission from the Ottoman government to remove some of the stones from the walled-up Golden Gate to send them to his friend, [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham]], who was collecting antiquities. Roe was denied permission and observed that the Turks had some sort of superstitious dread of the gate, recording that the statues placed on it by the Turks were enchanted and that if they were destroyed or taken down, a "great alteration" would occur to the city.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=|pp=102–103}}

The prophecy of the Marble Emperor endured until the [[Greek War of Independence]] in the 19th century and beyond. It was fuelled when the King of the Hellenes, [[George I of Greece|George I]], named [[Constantine I of Greece|his firstborn son and heir]] Constantine in 1868. His name echoed the emperors of old, proclaiming his succession not just to the new Greek kings, but to the Byzantine emperors before them as well. Once he acceded to the throne as Constantine I of Greece, many in Greece hailed him as ''Constantine XII'' instead. Constantine I's conquest of Thessaloniki from the Turks in 1912 and his leadership in the [[Balkan Wars]] 1912–1913 seemed to be evidence that the prophecy was about to be realized; Constantinople and the Red Apple Tree were believed to be Constantine's next goals. When Constantine was forced to abdicate in 1917, many believed he had been unjustly removed before completing his sacred destiny. The hope of capturing Constantinople would not be completely dashed until the Greek defeat in the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|Greco-Turkish War]] in 1922.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=|pp=107–108}}