Fall Of Constantinople Research Articles

Cultural Heritage of Europeism in Georgian Publicist and Artistic Texts

Due to historical ill-fate, Georgia found itself cut off from European civilization and culture for a long time. The catastrophe caused by the fall of Constantinople in the 15th century placed Georgia under an aggressive Islamic siege, posing a mortal threat to the existence of its nation-state and at the same time cutting the spiritual and cultural arteries that historically connected Georgia with Europe. The process of “re-Europeanization” (Siradze, 2008, p. 213) was first systematically revealed in the Georgian writing of the so-called “transitional century” (the turn of the 18th-19th centuries) and spread in all spheres of life throughout the 19th century. It should be emphasized that for our leaders, Europeanism was essentially not a matter of social-cultural orientation or vector, but the return of Georgian culture to its native bosom, native living and mental space, the restoration of the natural path of development. The 19th century saw great interest in Europe and its literature. The term "Europeanism" has been established since the 1850s. As for the content of the term itself, when defining the essence of Europeanism, we rely mainly on the point of view of Friedrich Nietzsche that Europe, as a term denoting culture, refers to those peoples who have a common past with the Greek and Roman civilizations, in the form of the Bible and Christianity. If we take into account Nietzsche’s definition and compare it with the history of Georgia, it is easy to see that we really have reason to call ourselves Europeans. First of all. The present work is aimed at studying and fully presenting the history of European-Georgian relations; the role and significance of translation, journalism and fiction in bringing Georgia closer to Europe; the turning of the viewpoint of Georgian society towards European ideals and the struggle for the establishment of the cultural traditions of Europeanism.

The Decline of the Eastern Empire and the Fall of Constantinople: An Omen for Europe?

There is a theory, already outlined by Toynbee, that empires that have succeeded one another in a dominant position are seeing their centre of gravity shift from east to west. This theory has most recently been evoked in connection with the replacement of the European empire by the American empire, which now seems to be giving way to an Asian empire. If we want to analyse historically the mechanisms that lead an empire to its downfall, the best example to choose is undoubtedly that of the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire in Western terminology. It is a world that has disappeared, but one that is close enough to us to allow us to understand it, and even to learn from its evolution, which only seems inevitable in retrospect. This story with its succession of internal and external causes of decline is summarized in the present study, leading to the disappearance of the Empire at the hands of the Ottoman dynasty. A parallel is drawn with the present situation of Europe.

The Papacy’s Initial Response to the Ottoman Threat and Its Consequences (1453–1464)

Abstract In 1453, the world witnessed the fall of the medieval Christian Empire’s largest capital, Constantinople, at the hands of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (1444–1446/1451–1481). Some scholars have argued that this event encouraged crusades against the Ottomans throughout Europe. Consequently, this research debates the previous studies by discussing both the primary objectives of the papacy and Christian states after the fall of Constantinople and the presence of Muslims in Western Europe. It also considers the Catholic Church’s actions during its attempts to incite Christian countries to wage war against the Ottoman Empire. Lastly, the study analyses various primary sources, including papal sources, and provides deeper insights into various papal responses to Ottoman threats, comparing them with simultaneous, more enthusiastic support for the Iberian Reconquista.

Georgian Literature before the Weltliteratur

The history of Georgian writing starts much earlier than when Goethe introduced the term “Weltliteratur.” It starts from the era of Christianity from the 4th century. Due to the fast spread of Christianity in the Early Medieval period, Georgia was already included in the European net of Christian writing. All branches of Christian spiritual literature were presented. Georgian culture and literature naturally were developing in the frame of the Western European tradition. The period of the 11th-12th centuries was a Golden Era for Georgia, and the heyday of fame for Georgian culture and literature as well. Precisely during this period, “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” was created by Shota Rustaveli. Apart from its aesthetic, philosophical, and worldview depth, it is a first text in Georgian literature as well as in European literature which reflects the clashing of two huge universes in Georgian culture—the West and the East. The Western principles are revealed in the Christian worldview of the text, in the way of thinking of the author and in its genre; however, the 12th century is already a period of strengthening of the influence of Eastern culture and literature in the European part of the Caucasus, and Rustaveli regards with obvious favor the Oriental poetic motifs. Unfortunately, at this stage of European literary history, Georgian literature was separated from the Western European literary process due to tragic political events. As for literature, it was a period of almost three centuries of silence. After the fall of Constantinople, Georgian literature had to move closer to the Eastern area as an historically offered alternative. From the 17th century, the process of the returning of Georgian political and cultural life back within the European frame had been started. Genuine Georgian writers were able to tie Georgian literature to the cultural models of European Classicism and the Enlightenment.

Kardynał Bessarion i jego księgozbiór

Cardinal Bessarion (ca. 1400–1472), a theologian born in Trebizond and educated in Byzantium, made a career in the hierarchy of the Byzantine clergy and attracted the attention of the imperial family. He was one of the most active participants of the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438–1439). Following the failure of the church union in Constantinople, Bessarion came to work for the papal curia in Rome. As a cardinal he used his income and contacts to help Byzantine refugees and Greeks living under the rule of the Republic of Venice, especially after the fall of Constantinople. Fearing that the loss of statehood could mean that the heritage of Greek culture would fall into oblivion, Bessarion created a great library containing the masterpieces of Ancient Greek literature, the classical philosophical works, and the texts of the Eastern Church Fathers. In 1468, he donated this collection to the Republic of Venice, and in such a manner founded one of the first public libraries in Europe.

‘For help and comfort and to resist the enemy of God’: Greek refugees in the Burgundian Low Countries

ABSTRACT It is well known that after the fall of Constantinople, Greek refugees fled to Western Europe. This migration is usually associated with Italy, where it stimulated the further development of the Renaissance. It is sometimes overlooked that the Burgundian Low Countries also exerted a great attraction for the Greeks. The location of the region, its prosperity and the crusading ambitions of the Burgundian dukes may explain this. Unlike other parts of Europe, most refugees did not settle permanently. Despite an interest among a small circle of humanists in their language and culture, the wider population had mixed feelings about the Greeks. Initially they were well received, but after a while their credibility was questioned. Anti-Greek prejudices persisted, which resulted in imprisonment or even execution of some refugees. Using previously unexploited sources, this article provides new insights into the history of the refugees, their motivation and their reception.

Rethinking the Medieval Visual Culture of Eastern Europe: Two Case Studies in Dialogue (Serbia and Wallachia)

This article explores how the visual culture of Eastern Europe has been studied and often excluded from the grander narratives of art history and more specialized conversations due to political and cultural limitations, as well as bias in the field. The history and visual culture of Eastern Europe have been shaped by contacts with Byzantium, transforming, in local contexts, aspects of the rich legacy of the empire before and after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. This study expands and theorizes the eclectic visual cultures of Eastern Europe during the late medieval period by focusing on two ecclesiastical buildings of the 14th century built under princely and noble patronage in regions of North Macedonia and Wallachia, respectively: the Church of St George at Staro Nagoričane, near Skopje, modern-day North Macedonia (1315–17) and Cozia Monastery in Călimănești, Wallachia, modern-day Romania (founded 1388). The 14th century was a transformative period for the regions to the north and south of the Danube River, establishing the contacts that were to develop further during the 15th century and especially after 1453.

ART AND HISTORY OF BYZANTIUM IN THE WORK OF ARTIST-JEWELLER EDUARD NIKITIN

The article is devoted to the work of Moscow artist Eduard Nikitin in the context of Byzantine decorative and applied heritage. Eduard Nikitin was born in Chelyabinsk and was educated as a sculptor. He worked as the chief artist at a factory for the production of art products in Chelyabinsk; afterwards, he became an independent jewellery artist. In modern author’s jewellery, the artist-jeweller rethinks the history of Byzantium, creates jewellery in the Art Deco style, basing on the impressions of Byzantine art. The author has always been attracted by the combination of the East and the West, common features and differences that can be expressed in jewellery plastic art. Eduard Nikitin had lived for two years in Finland and worked for Archbishop Johannes. He created a landmark work, The Fall of Constantinople, which is a rethinking of the fall of a great empire. It is worth paying attention to the set of a brooch and earrings, Evening in Byzantium, where the golden parts represent Hagia Sophia and the central blue topaz - the Bosphorus, as a connection between Europe and Asia. The combination of artistic images of monuments presents the organic syncretism of the entire outlined Asiatic region art. This region’s art was born in the regularity of society’s life and its spiritual culture on the basis of reality. The article compares samples of Byzantine art from museum collections with the works of Eduard Nikitin; the author’s views on his own jewellery work are given. In striving for the possible accuracy in the attribution of a work of art, one should not be confined to the era of its creation. Its content and form are often rooted in the distant past. As a result of a long and complex development, a “layered” semantic and artistic structure of the work appears. The fullness of this or that plot is revealed only in the “long time”, during which it is enriched with new meanings. Owing to the author’s interview, there is a synthesis of an artist and a researcher, which is valuable for the analysis of contemporary works. The features of Byzantine art are considered in the context of influence on contemporary artists; the features of the technology for creating jewellery as well as to what extent they are borrowed in modern times and replaced by new technologies are analysed. The main purpose of the article is to show the diversity of Russian contemporary art using the example of one artist.

Barbarians or Infidels?

After the fall of Constantinople, Pope Nicholas V initiated a crusade against the Ottoman Empire. While several major conferences were assembled to provide backing for the great endeavor, the military campaign was never launched. During these negotiations, the Hungarian standpoint was represented by John Vitez of Zredna, chancellor of King Ladislas V and bishop of Oradea, first to papal legate Giovanni Castiglione, then at the diet of Wiener Neustadt. The present paper examines the stereotypes John of Zredna employed in his depiction of the Turks in the speeches he composed for these events. Careful analysis of the texts shows that the chancellor used the standard ideas about the Ottomans that were immensely popular at the time when the orations were produced. By connecting his message to the newly spread topoi of the alleged limitless bloodshed and cruelty during the Turkish siege of the Byzantine capital and by considering the Ottomans as greedy barbarians, he connected to the cultural attitudes that became truly influential in Western literature just after the fall of Constantinople, while by portraying European–Ottoman relations as a characteristically religious conflict he made connections to the older, but still prominent ideas of the crusading literature.

The Fall of Constantinople and the Rise of the West

The Fall of Constantinople and the Rise of the West

The portrayal of collective identity in the works of Gennadios Scholarios

The paper analyzes the portrayal of collective identity in the works of Gennadios Scholarios, focusing on his autobiographical writings. Tracing his use of the terms Hellene (?????), fatherland (??????), and race (?????), it explores Scholarios? understanding of his collective and political identity before and after the Fall of Constantinople. The portrayal of collective identity of a learned Byzantine and assessment of the elements he used to determine the group with which he identified provide grounds to reconstruct a broader picture of identity questions in the late Byzantine period, especially in the relationship between the terms Rhomaios and Hellene.

New Books across the Disciplines

New Books across the Disciplines

A Timeline of Medieval Universities

Figure 1 presents our timeline of medieval universities, i.e. universities created before the fall ofConstantinople in 1453. To construct this timeline of universities, we used information providedby Frijhoff in his book "A History of the University in Europe" (1996) and by Rashdall in his book”The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages” (1895). We also consulted Hermans and Nelissen(2005) and Verger and Charle (2012). These works attempt to define the dates of the foundation ofthe different universities.

Pantokrator Monastery—Zeyrek Mosque: The Preserved Byzantine Hospital in Istanbul

Istanbul, home to numerous historical treasures, houses one of the oldest fully constructed hospitals. This 50-bed hospital was built in the early 12th century during the Byzantine period by Empress Irene of Hungary and her husband Emperor John II Komnenos inside one of the largest monasteries of its time. The monastery housed one of the first hospitals and schools of medicine and included a nursing home, ophthalmologic health center, library, and cemetery. After the Empress died, her husband continued to enlarge the complex to its current state. Soon after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the complex was renamed after Zeyrek Mehmet, who was ordered by Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Mehmet II or Mehmed the Conqueror) to convert the monastery into a mosque, constructing a Fatih Medrese for a short period of time. The hospital, however, remained untouched, and its rooms were used for Koran lessons. The building was fully restored from 2009 to 2017 and is still used as a mosque today. We would like to introduce the Pantokrator Monastery, maybe the only remaining hospital of the Byzantine era. Although it was built in the 12th century, the monastery is still a modern facility meeting current standards.

Refugees and International Networks after the Fall of Constantinople, 1453–1475

Abstract This article will investigate the extent to which the contacts made by Byzantine envoys to western Europe from 1394 onwards were later used by them and by their families to secure a safe haven following the fall of Constantinople in 1453. It will examine first the case of Italy and some examples which have been addressed by previous scholarship, as well as one less well documented case. It will then consider whether the same link between envoys and refugees can be discerned in other western countries, taking England as a case-study. Byzantine envoys were active there from 1398 and there is also plenty of evidence for the presence of refugees from 1455. The envoys apparently enjoyed very cordial relations with the English court which in turn led to a romanticised view of England in Byzantine literary circles as a place of safety. An attempt will then be made to identify individuals at the English court who might have had contact with the envoys, focusing on the Neville family. Two members of this family were in positions of influence at the time when the Byzantine delegations were in the country, while another was later the patron of a number of refugees. The article will then assess whether the earlier contact with the family could have been a factor in motivating refugees to travel to England, as well as considering other explanations.

Essay on policy of the Jagiellonians toward the Church Union on the eve of fall of Constantinople

Essay on policy of the Jagiellonians toward the Church Union on the eve of fall of Constantinople

Importance of Dynastic and Political Ties for Cross–cultural Connections of Nemanide Serbia with the Mediterranean World and Central Europe around the First Fall of Constantinople, and its Reflections on Visual Culture of Nemanide Serbia

The aim of this text is to draw attention to importance of dynastic ties of the members of Serbian Nemanide dynasty with the Byzantine, Venetian and Hungarian ruling dynasties to cross-cultural connection between medieval Serbia and The Balkans with Mediterranean and Central Europe, and its reflection on visual culture. Special attention will be focused on the period around the first fall of Constantinople, which directly affected on political and dynastic relations of the Nemanide with the ruling and noble families of Byzantium, Hungary and Venice. A unique phenomenon in the visual culture of the Balkans of the period is Stephen Nemanja’s major foundation in Serbia ― Studenica monastery, with its katholikon church dedicated to the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin. This landmark monument of Nemanide Serbia founded, built and decorated with frescoes in the years immediately before and after the first fall of Constantinople is possibly the best example of how the political and dynastic connections of the time reflected on visual culture. It is only the initial step of broader study intended to reassess the visual culture of Nemanide Serbia and The Balkans in view of the concept of premodern globalization characterized by and resulting from a transfer of knowledge, technological change and homogenization of spatial and technological particularities, by the concept of common culture and particular individual and collective identities. Importance of dynastic ties in cross-cultural interaction of medieval Serbia, with Mediterranean world and Central Europe opens a new perspective on the general nature of visual culture of this period. It appears that from this perspective we could better perceive the power and creative life of imagery and visual culture in general in this period as an essential element of an awareness of living in the present and looking towards a future.

Bessarion on Economics and Geopolitics

This paper deals with those aspects of Byzantine intellectual heritage, which belong to the Bessarion’s thought and writing. Bessarion, Cardinal of the Roman-Catholic Church, proposed specific, systematic and analytical measures for a re-organization and recovery of the Despotate of Mistra, while, as it is known, he lived there from the end of 1431 until the end of 1436. Then Вessarion, in his capacity as cardinal, showed his continual and undiminished interest to the advancement of Greek nation, as proven by three famous memoranda of scholar. These are appeals to Constantine Palaiologos, Despot of Mistra, as well as to the doge of Venice. Dated July 13, 1453 the letter to the doge informed him on the Fall of Constantinople and the sufferings of Greek nation! Especially noteworthy is the third (and only surviving) letter of Вessarion, addressed to his friend, Despot Constantine Palaiologos in the spring of 1444. Here Вessarion proposes a specific, specialized program for the economic restructure, social reorganization and military strengthening of the Despotate. The intellectual associates education with economy. Sharing the economic philosophy of ancient Greeks on self-sufficiency and utilization of local means, Вessarion became a forerunner of mercantilism, while also acknowledging the productive contribution of education. The proposal of Вessarion for the transfer of the Despotate’s capital closer to the Isthmus was of great geopolitical importance since, when the guarding of the Hexamilion Wall would be reconstructed and constant and properly updated. These proposals, having been so important for the evolution of Byzantine economic thought, took an appropriate place in its development.

Traditions artistiques byzantines dans les broderies moldaves à usage religieux

This article examines the range of religious embroideries produced in Moldavia during the fifteenth century, and especially in the decades after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. These church embroideries offer iconographies, styles, and techniques that both continued and adapted Byzantine artistic traditions and image types. The objects under consideration consist of liturgical vestments and veils, as well as tomb covers that reveal through their iconography, style, and execution the sophistication of late medieval Moldavian workshops and the aspirations and concerns of the royal patrons who commissioned them. Through visual and technical analyses of select Moldavian religious embroideries from the fifteenth century, this study exposes some of the ways in which Byzantine artistic and iconographic traditions of church embroidery were perpetuated and transformed at the Moldavian court in the crucible of the post‑1453 world.

Serbia and Hungary in Theodore Spandounes’s Work On the Origin of the Ottoman Emperors

Theodore Spandounes was born in the middle of the 15th century to a family of the Greek exiles who had found shelter in Italy after the fall of Constantinople. The Spandounes family had not played any significant role in the history of the Byzantine Empire but his mother Eudotia came from the famous Kantakouzenos family. Members of the Kantakouzenos family played an important political role in Serbia until its annexation by the Ottoman Empire in 1459. Theodore established close relations with popes Clement VII and Paul III, who he advised on the Ottoman affairs. Probably around 1515, Spandounes wrote the first version of the treatise On the Origin of the Ottoman Emperors. In 1538 he dedicated the final version to Henry, Dauphin of France (the future king Henry II).As suggested by the title, the main objective of Spandounes’s treatise was to explain how the Ottomans rose from the humble beginnings to their current mighty status in a relatively short time. In its final version from 1538, the treatise consists of four parts, different in size, composition and content. The most original and creative part, which is also of the greatest importance to the scholars interested in the Ottoman history, is the second part. However, information concerning the history of Serbia and Hungary can only be found in the first part. A detailed analysis of Theodor’s treatise leads to the following conclusions: 1) Spandounes’s remarks concerning Hungary and Serbia are generally infrequent, and the events described were rather accidentally chosen; 2) The author pays more attention to Serbia, with which he was emotionally connected through his ancestors. The information about the genealogy of the ruling family is interesting and reliable; 3) Spandounes is barely credible in his descriptions of events from the 14th and 15th century. His accounts are tendentious and quite often false; 4) Information concerning Hungary becomes more frequent for years 1520–1538, and it is relatively credible.