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History of Constantinople
Brief history of Constantinople from 330 to 1453 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The history of Constantinople covers the period from the Consecration of the city in 330, when it became the new capital of the Roman Empire, to its conquest by the Ottomans in 1453.
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Constantinople was rebuilt practically from scratch on the site of ancient Byzantium. Within half a century, thanks to the gigantic construction projects of the time, rapid population growth, the development of trade and crafts, its status as a capital city, and the efforts of the first Roman emperors, Constantinople became one of the largest cities in Europe and the Middle East. The rich and prosperous "megalopolis of the Middle Ages" was destined to become the largest political, cultural, and economic center of a vast empire, but it tended to decline. After the fall of Rome in the 5th century, Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, which existed for about ten centuries and tried to maintain its adherence to Roman and Hellenistic traditions.[Note 1] The history of Constantinople in the Byzantine era was filled with tumultuous political events: popular uprisings and palace intrigues, assassinations of emperors and changes of ruling dynasties, months-long sieges and campaigns against powerful western and eastern neighbors. For many centuries (until the 8th century), Constantinople was the greatest center of brilliant culture and science in medieval Europe, far surpassing other world capitals in the level of education, activity of spiritual life and development of material culture.
One of the most characteristic features of political life in Constantinople was the constant struggle for power between different groups of the aristocracy, army, merchants, and clergy. The elite of the capital was an extremely unstable and diverse group, as access to the top of Byzantium was open to natives of all social classes. Many capital nobles were not only not ashamed of their commoner or provincial origins, but were actually proud of the fact that they had been able to work their way up from the bottom of society to the pinnacle of power. Moreover, even the imperial throne could be occupied by a native of the people as a result of a palace conspiracy, a love affair, a successful marriage, a rebellion of the army or the townspeople. Examples of this in Byzantine history was a lot, emperors by fate became even simple soldiers, who served up to the military leaders of medium rank, butcher or peasant, who was later engaged in horseback riding and fist fights. In Constantinople, the contrast between the poverty of the common people and the wealth of the aristocracy, the imperial court, and the clergy was particularly striking. The city was rightly called "the main center of luxury and poverty in the whole East and West".
The capture of Constantinople by the Turks in May 1453 marked the final collapse of Byzantium and the transformation of the Ottoman Empire into one of the most powerful states in the world. The fall of Constantinople made an enormous impression on contemporaries, causing shock throughout Christian Europe and jubilation at the courts of Cairo, Tunis, and Granada. In addition, the destruction of many of the Roman and Byzantine cultural treasures of the once-flourishing city caused irreparable damage to all of European culture. In Europe, the image of the Turks became synonym with all that was cruel and alien to Christianity.