The Turk, whom I mentioned before, was a wise and valiant prince, but he made more use of his cunning than of his courage. His father[184] also was a valiant prince, who took Adrianople (that is to say, the city of Adrian), and left his son very great; and this son, at the age of twenty-three, took Constantinople[185], or the city of Constantine; I have seen his portrait painted at that age, which represented him vigorous and sprightly. It was a great disgrace to all Christendom to suffer that city to be lost; he took it by assault, and the Emperor of the East[186] (whom we called Emperor of Constantinople) was slain in the breach. Many brave men were killed with him in this assault, many great ladies ravished, and no manner of cruelty was omitted. This was his first exploit, but he continued to perform great actions, and so many, that I heard a Venetian ambassador say once in the presence of Charles, Duke of Burgundy, that this Mahomet had conquered two empires, four kingdoms, and two hundred cities; he meant, indeed, the empires of Constantinople and Trebizond[187]; the kingdoms of Bosnia, Syria, Armenia, and I think Morea was the fourth. He conquered likewise many fair islands in the Archipelago (where the Venetians have two[188] settlements), among others, Negropont and Mitylene; besides which he subdued nearly all Albania and Sclavonia: and as his conquests were great over the Christians, so were they no less considerable over those of his own religion, among whom he destroyed several great princes, as the Prince of Caramania[189], and others.