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The Fall of Constantinople and the Consequences for the West

HISTORY 3001

The Byzantine Empire

Final Exam Essay (No Citations) Written in 3 hours

April 22nd, 2021

The Fall of Constantinople and the Consequences for the West

After the historical final crusade, the footholds the Christian west held started to fall and splinter.

Another crusade was supposed to occur, led by Emperor Rudolph and Pope Gregory in 1277 to reconquer Asia minor. However, Pope Gregory died, and though funding was in place for further campaigning, the funding instead went to petty squabbling of Italian states.

Charles of Anjou fought to control Sicily and then bought Jerusalem, but Sicilians revolted because they did not want to be led by French. The only crusaders left were the Teutonic Knights and they defended the East.

Meanwhile, Mamluks, a force of slave soldiers from Islam frontiers, controlled Egypt and they were the only group in the East powerful enough to defeat the Mongols.

In 1260, the Mongols had been terrorizing Damascus and had destroyed Baghdad, but they were defeated by the Mamluks.

The Latin crusaders were surrounded with Mongols to the north and Mamluks everywhere else. The Greeks retook Constantinople in 1261, kicking the Latins out.

Due to the political upheaval in Italian states, there was a sharp decline in port trade as Venice, Genoa, and Pisa were warring, and a direct result of this was poverty.

The Mamluks were determined to retake the Holy Land and by March 1263, they were able to take a string of Christian footholds and dismantle crusading groups. The last stronghold was Acre, and by 1291, it was taken by the Mamluks.

The Byzantine Empire was at its lowest point here. They had lost almost all the power they had once had, no longer having recruitment lands, a fleet, supplies, crusading states, and no control of the economy with no relationship to speak of with Italy, which had a large control of monetary flow. In 1354, the Turks were able to cross to Thrace and cut off supplies. 

They besieged Constantinople for 8 years. Constantinople got a little breather when the Turks were defeated by Tamburlaine, but it was just prolonging the inevitable. 

At the end of the 14th century, the Byzantine Emperor attempted reconciliation with the West, seeing how dire his situation was. The Turks feared a reconciliation between the East and West and did everything in their power to prevent this.

In 1396 during a brief pause in the Hundred Years War, 8000 Burgundians and other French allies rode to Hungary to join the King at the battle of Nicopolis. They failed to bring siege weapons, but they rode to battle in style and with pride, therefore dying as a direct result of that style and pride. 

Wanting first blood, they disregarded the wisdom of battle strategy and ran headlong into battle, not taking a rest when they had the chance, and split their forces in two to be slaughtered when reinforcements joined their enemy. 

This was the last time the West helped the East and ensured the Turks kept their stronghold.

In the winter of 1400, the Emperor of Constantinople went to Europe and begged for help, but to no avail. The Turks surrounded Constantinople, a dying city with a small population, no allies, no wealth, and little hope. 

A string of sultans, starting with Murad, achieved several successes, and created new laws for Christians living under his rule. Every Christian family was to hand over one male child to be brought up Muslim and trained as a civil servant or soldier.