ABSTRACT
Cardinal Isidore provides a summary of his experiences in Constantinople before the commencement of the siege in the first paragraph of his report to Pope Nicholas, which he composed soon after the fall of the city and his successful escape from the carnage. The exact activities of Isidore during the period of the siege are not known. He has not reported on these duties and in his surviving writings he appears self-effacing, as he also fails to mention his monetary contributions to the defense and his reinforcement of the walls. Isidore was also assigned another area to defend during the siege. Again our information is derived from his friend and close associate, Leonardo, who informs us that the cardinal defended the area about the Monastery of Saint Demetrios. Isidore had been the abbot of that monastery before his appointment as metropolitan of Kiev and the Rus' Church.
