This is the story of Constantinople’s fall, how Europe’s richest city fell to the Turks and became known as Istanbul: the story of the Great Siege of 1453. When history's greatest fortification was ...

The Nika Revolt of 532 AD in Constantinople was one of the bloodiest sports riots in history and nearly led to the toppling ...

On 6 April 1453, the Siege of Constantinople began under the command of Mehmed II, an Ottoman sultan who was just 21 years old but determined to see through his father’s dream of capturing the ...

The Avars rose as a dominant ethnic group in Europe, where their conflicts with the Byzantine Empire reshaped the landscape ...

After I heard Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew say on "60 Minutes" that the primary site of the Orthodox Church has been in Constantinople for 17 centuries, I was inspired to do some research to ...

The city of wonders -- Founding fathers -- Defence -- Palaces and power -- Churches and monasteries -- 'Two thirds of the wealth of this world' -- Democracy -- The beginning of the end -- The ruin of ...

In 1204 the soldiers who had set out to retake Jerusalem in the Fourth Crusade changed course—but why? The result would change medieval Europe forever. THE FINAL ATTACKThis 15th-century miniature, ...

L'Esprit Créateur, Vol. 53, No. 4, The Turk of Early Modern France (Winter 2013), pp. 124-138 (15 pages) Thanks to the Mellon Foundation and to the National Humanities Center for support in ...

They weren’t just walls - they were a message: “Do NOT enter.” Discover how the Walls of Constantinople held back invaders for centuries, and why their engineering still impresses military minds today ...