Did a Pacific volcano change Western history?
1453 The 'fall' of Constantinople preceded by heavenly wonders
Did a Pacific volcano change Western history?
On a Tuesday, Constantinople (now Istanbul) fell to the Turks, or, as it is said in the Muslim world, Constantinople was liberated, after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire.
It was a major turning point in world history as Constantinople, founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine, was a seat of learning and the tangible presence of Western civilization in the East. It has been said that the flight of many scholarly refugees from Constantinople to Italy was the single most important mainspring of the European Renaissance. Yet the antagonists of the siege of Constantinople had the minds of the Middle Ages era, and the effect of ‘ominous’ heavenly wonders probably affected the outcome ...
Pip Wilson posted item above at 10:09 AM | Permalink
2 Comments:
Liberated? I am usually open to alternative historical views, but Constantinople had been continuously occupied by Romans (and before them, Greeks) for some 2,000 years before the Turks laid siege to the city.
From whom would the city's inhabitants be liberated?
Why, from the very occupiers that you mention. That would have been the view of the Muslim besiegers, surely.
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