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The Importance Of The Fall Of Constantinople

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Few singular events in history are pivotal in the course of human history. Most pivot points in history are instead long and drawn out over periods of time for change to occur. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 A.D. is not one of them. The day that Constantinople was captured was a day that would live in infamy in the minds of Europeans for years to come. The siege and the consequential capture by the Ottomans was quite sudden for Europe, considering the great city stood for a millennia and a half, at least in Christian and Roman hands before its capture. Though the capture of Constantinople may have been inevitable from the get-go, this fact does not make the event any less significant to European history. The fall of Constantinople, though it may not have considered to have happened in Europe, was by far the most important event that ever happened to Europe in the Renaissance. Before discussion of the aftereffects of Constantinople’s capture by the Ottomans can begin one must understand the circumstances leading up to the fateful event. For years, the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire had been in decline, especially after the occupation of the Latin Empire in the infamous Fourth Crusade, where the crusaders had completely sacked the city and occupied the Empire for half of a century starting in 1204 A.D.. After the Latin Empire was driven out by a resurgent Byzantine Empire headed by the Palaiologoi Dynasty in 1259 A.D., many steps were made

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