During the 1453 siege of Constantinople, Notaras led the troops along the north-western Sea Wall. Some accounts of the siege have him deserting his post after the Ottoman banner was raised on the tower above the Kerkoporta, but this may have been politically motivated slander. In any case, he was able to hold the Sea Wall—which had been the point of entry of all earlier successful attacks on the city—against the Turks until the breach of the land walls rendered his efforts moot.