Byzantine Empire/Constantinople

• Constantine the Great, the 1st Roman emperor who adopted Christianity moved the capital of his empire from Rome to Byzantium in 324, later changing its name to Constantinople


• Rome left in the hands of the Pope and the Church


• Constantinople was built on 7 hills for defense and military strategies


• Many attempts to destroy or annex the capital and the empire were made by the Western Empire Christians and the Muslims


• Constantinople controlled the Eastern Christian Orthodox Empire


• Byzantium was located in modern day Turkey and Constantinople is modern day Istanbul


• Ub 1069 A.D., the old Western Roman Empire sent 4 crusades to take over Constantinople


• 4th Crusade from 1202 to 1204 established a Latin Empire in the capital, which later fell apart in 1261


• Constantinople existed until the Ottoman Empire seized it and renamed it Istanbul in 1453


• The Ottoman Empire was led by Sultan Mehmed the 2nd


• The Orthodox church moved to Moscow which became the 3rd rome and the city to carry on Orthodox Christiniaty


• "The chief function of Byzantium was to serve for over one thousand years as the bulwark of Christendom against invading infidel hordes and in this capacity to preserve for the world thh literary and philosophic heritage of ancient Greece"