Johannes Grant

Johannes Grant or Johannis Grandi was a mercenary employed by the Byzantine Empire at the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Contemporary Greek and Latin accounts referred to him as being German, although Runciman has suggested he may actually have been a Scot named John Grant. He appears to have been affiliated with the Genoese contingent of mercenaries at the siege, possibly part of the men commanded by Giovanni Giustiniani. His use of counter-mining tunnels prevented the Turks from weakening or invading Constantinople from under the walls.

Depictions in Fiction

• Grant appears as a minor character in The Dark Angel by Mika Waltari
• John Le Grant, an Aberdonian based on the historical Johannes Grant, appears in The House of Niccolò by Dorothy Dunnett
• John Grant is the central character in the historical novel Porphyry and Ash
• John Grant is featured in S1:E3 Rise Of Empires OTTOMAN