THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE

the fall of Constantinople has been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the People, Dates, Places and Events category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the aeternitas and the future of Europe.

The fall of Constantinople is one of the most important event in whole history of european integration and will probably have influence on the future of United Europe, because it signed the end of the Byzantine Empire followed by the establishment of the Islamic Sultanat in Europe in the modern city of Istanbul, nowadays the biggest city of Turkey.

When did Constantinople fall? The the fall of Constantinople happened on the 29th may 1453 A.D. when the christian troops finally surrendered after many monhts of siege of the city, that had been invincible for centuries against any kind of enemies! The last byzantine emperor, Constantine XI of the Paleologo dinasty, disappeared during the battle without descendants, so his nepew Zoe married to Ivan III Zar of Moscow brought the inheritance of the medieval capital of Christianity to the Russians leader city, that immediately pretended the title of 'third Rome' (traslatio imperii Oriensis) as direct heir of the Roman Empire tradition after its fall in 476 A.D., claimed until the firstworldwar and recalled still in these days by the modern Russia Federation.

At middle XV century A.D. the biggest christian regna could not help the byzantine troops: Spain was yet not united and totally involved in the Reconquista, while France and England were enemies hardly fighting the Hundred's War, meantime the Krone of Poland-Lithuania and the Hungary Regnum had been harshly defeated by Turks in the devastating battle of Varna, whereas the Sacer Roman Empire appeared powereless as well as the same Zarade of Russia. The fall of Constantinople was the decisive step of the secular siege of Europe by Turks that suddenly awakened the christians consciousnesses about the risk of being absorbed by the Islam advance threat in VII century A.D. end perured until 1878 A.D..

The ancient greek polys (πόλις) of Bizantium could always preserve good political and diplomatic relations with Ottomans as well as all with the other peoples that tried to conquer it, by defending the political, juridical, civil and cultural wealth of the ancient greek-roman-christian tradition started by the roman emperor Constantine I, who in IV century A.D. established Constantinople as capital of the Christian Empire and designed a model of political-religious integration imitated in the Sultanat regime perdured until 1919 A.D.! But the fall of Constantinople represented the end of the millenary alexandrine-roman tradition of universalistic, escatological, mythological order founded on auctoritas imperaratoris leader of the familia reges christianorum et defensor fidei. Constantinople as 'faro of Christianity' and of the roman civilty fell (as already happened to Rome 1,000 years before) and was elevated as capital of the Sultanat, even if mantained its own place of crucial melting point of cultures, tradings and ideas between Europe and East.

Moreover the fall of Constantinople transformed the the Greek ortodox church that passed the torch of faith to the Church of Kiev leader of Eastern Europe ortodoxy (spreaded in Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Russia). It signed also the end of the 'caesaropapism' model introduced in 457 A.D. with the crowning of the Basileius Romaioi by the Patriarch of Constantinople: the ancient figure of the living demiurge taken from the ellenistic age, the persian 'king of kings', the roman dominus et deus up to the medieval supra legem christian emperor who could emit acta de imperio as caput corpus politicus of whole Christianity Ecumene was put out forever! The Byzantines escaped after the fall of Constantinople carried in Western Europe the raffinated misticism taken from eastern religions and the ancient gnostic/manichean traditions that educated the masonry of jewsih inspiration related to the eastern rites, formed in the Great Orient lodge nowadays in force in France and Italy. But Europe inherited, however, the immense classic greek-roman culture conserved for centuris in Constantinople and the byzantine monastirs and brewed it into the renewed thinking paradigma called 'Humanism' that started the Reinassance age. The ancient university of Constantinople open still today, survived to centuries of Islam dominion and eventhough the cultural transformation running in modern Europe.

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