Constantinople had long been a vital part of the Roman and Byzantine empires, but the inexorable day of May 29, 1453 came when it fell to the odious Ottoman Turks. Until this day, it is part of Turkey. With the collapse of the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire came the end of Roman history. This had a profound impact on world history.
The Ottoman invasion of Constantinople can be traced back to the rivalry between Christians and Muslims, which had existed since the Crusades. The Ottoman Turks were fugitives, escaping the profound strength of Genghis Khan and the Mongols. They settled in the Anatolian peninsula south of the Black Sea. They were named Ottomans after Osman I, their leader. Anatolia was surrounded by Muslims, and the Ottomans were obviously influenced by them, including their rivalry with Christians.
Following the life of Christ on Earth, a missionary named Paul preached around the areas surrounding the future Ottoman Empire, especially around the Balkans. With Ottoman hatred for Christianity on the rise, they had altercations with Christian nations such as Serbia, Bulgaria, and, of course, the Byzantine Empire, which was the bulwark of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Ottomans were successful, and by 1453, only one Christian city remained in the region of Anatolia and the Balkans, which was Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire.
In 1453, the sublime Ottoman sultan, Mehmed II (also known as Mohammed II), launched a campaign in Constantinople. The original plan was to do a naval invasion in the Golden Horn around Constantinople; however, a large underwater iron chain forced Mehmed to adapt. He rolled ships on logs and led them into battle. For 54 days, the Ottomans manifested their strength. Forced converts fought for the Ottomans, known as Janissaries. Then, on May 29, 1453, Constantine XI, the Byzantine emperor, died in battle. This marked the end of the profound altercation between the Ottoman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, with the Ottomans emerging victorious.
The results of the invasion of Constantinople were profound. First, Constantinople was rapidly converted from Christian to Muslim aesthetically (and over time, people were also converted). For example, the Hagia Sophia, a church built in the 6th century by Justinian and Theodora, was turned into a mosque, and the city was renamed to Istanbul, from the Greek word for “the city,” because Constantinople was named after a 4th century Christian emperor named Constantine.
Second, it led to the Renaissance. Renaissance means “rebirth” in French, and it refers to the return of Roman and Greek artistic styles. It was a great time for poetry, art, and architecture. The thinkers of Constantinople moved to the West in refuge. Prominent Renaissance thinkers and artists included Cosimo de Medici, Lorenzo de Medici, and Michelangelo.
Finally, the fall of Constantinople had consequences that continue to this day. Following the Ottoman Empire’s defeat of the Byzantines, Christians were often persecuted. In the 1800s, Slavic and Greek nationalists took much of the Ottoman Empire in stages of revolutions and wars. Ethnic and religious tensions reached a boiling point in 1912 with the outbreak of the First Balkan War. Almost all Ottoman territory in the Balkans was lost. Today, Turkey controls a small part of the Balkans only, but it still holds Istanbul. Christian-Islamic tension continues in Bosnia, populated by many Christians and Muslims, with tension peaking during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s. It can also be found in Kosovo, an ethnically Albanian Muslim region disputed by its independent government and Christian Serbia.
In conclusion, the fall of Constantinople had a profound impact on world history, because it ended the Roman Empire (although it could be argued that Rome collapsed in 476 A.D.), it advanced a religious conversion in the Balkans, and it led to the Renaissance, which profoundly impacted history in its own right.
Works Cited
Hobar, Linda Lacour. The Mystery of History: the early church and the middle ages. 2021.
Inalcik, Halil. "Mehmed II". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mehmed-II-Ottoman-sultan. Accessed 13 May 2025.
