Constantinople (Not Istanbul)

[gnome]

The history of this city, and the Byzantines in general (entwined with the late Roman Empire) has become a fascination for me, partly from my enthusiasm for Civ games. So, a thread.

Part of my interest began as an extension of realizing that the "Byzantine" empire was really just the Eastern Roman Empire, and basically what was left of the Roman Empire after the Western side fell. From there I found out that the emperor Justinian I actually managed to bring Rome back within the empire's borders for a time. This theme of a last holdout managing to persist, and sometimes thrive, appeals to me in some way. A city built so strong it seemed to hold back the inevitable tide of history.

Upon encountering a tidbit about it online I went looking for whether there were any Roman holdouts after Constantinople fell, and there were! The last of these seem to be the Principality of Theodoro, which like Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, but in 1475, which was another 22 years afterwards.

Pictured: artist rendering of Byzantine Constantinople.

https://vividmaps.com/wp-content/upload ... tantin.jpg

[ed]

Can we try to keep this thread on track and not engage in petty bullshit?

[gnome]

Can we not? The SJW thread is that way -->

[Witness]

You'll tell us more, I hope.

Another period I find fascinating is the fallout of Alexander's conquests:

https://i.imgur.com/9agDp63.jpg

There were small Greek-ish (and Buddhist) kingdoms all the way to Afghanistan (if I remember correctly a Stoic text has been found engraved in a wall there), the "Egyptian" rulers, the Ptolemids, were Greeks, &c.

And then the Romans gobbled everybody up, including Greece. :mrgreen:

[gnome]

Can we try to keep this thread on track and not engage in petty bullshit?

I saw what you did there.

Dipshit :D

[ed]

Can we try to keep this thread on track and not engage in petty bullshit?

I saw what you did there.

Dipshit :D

I should know better than to think I could put something past a Floridian.

Went to a gun show in your neighborhood, Hernando.

:shock:

"interesting"

[gnome]

Alright, more slapdash Constantinople history from a C+ history student.

I believe most people think of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantines) as having slowly been ground down by its neighboring Muslim enemies, despite noted waxing and waning. Not quite so. In the the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims, the Crusader army's first target was the Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate. The Pope (Innocent III) had a deal with Venice for warships and transport ships across the Narrow SeaMediterranean. However, the crusade leaders struggled to raise the promised amount, only having just over half the total. Venice said, "Fine, go ahead and pay us what you've got on you, but now go sack these Zadar assholes first."

"But that's a Catholic city," said the crusaders. Venice said, "How bad do you want your ships?"

A lot, it turned out. Some of the crusaders refused to participate. The Pope forbade the attack. The rest of the crusaders said "Fuck it." and invaded anyway. Zara went to the Venetian empire, and the crusader army was excommunicated by the Pope. "Well fuck, what do we do now?" said the crusaders.

Alexios IV Angelos of Constantinople came out of the shadows dramatically and said "Hey--pssst--you guys! My uncle just deposed my father as the Emperor. Come help me kick his ass and we'll send you straight on to Jersusalem with Imperial support."

MedievalFacepalm.png

And so it was that crusaders sent to give the Muslims what-for wound up instead attacking the stronghold of the Greek Catholics, the world's largest Christian city, the capital of what remained of the Roman Empire. They won the city in 1204 and decided after a bit of looting that they liked it there just fine and didn't really need to have Jerusalem after all. Instead they started dividing up pieces of the Eastern Roman Empire amongst themselves. Some portions, including the New RepublicEmpire of Nicaea, were tougher nuts to crack, and managed to nominally restore Byzantine rule after about sixty years.

It was this weakened Byzantine Empire with its savaged capital that ultimately could not stand up to Mehmed II, and so Constantinople got the works.

[gnome]

Can we try to keep this thread on track and not engage in petty bullshit?

I saw what you did there.

Dipshit :D

I should know better than to think I could put something past a Floridian.

Went to a gun show in your neighborhood, Hernando.

:shock:

"interesting"

Yeah Hernando exists so that Pasco county has someone to look down on.

But that's ok, Hernando has Polk county to look down on.

[ed]

As I recall from my reading, the Byzantines had this habit of blinding deposed emperors.
If you are interested in this era (Crusades I mean) you should read Runciman's three volume history. It is very readable and authoritative. Avoid more modern treatments until you have read him.

[gnome]

I'll look for it!

How bad did I fuck up in my summary, BTW?

[shemp]

It's nobody's business but the Turks!

[ed]

Shemp still has fond memories of his time in that Turkish prison

[Giz]

I'll look for it!

How bad did I fuck up in my summary, BTW?

Byzantine summary sounds like an oxymoron