Civilization · Early Middle Ages · Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

330–1453

The Byzantine Empire was the eastern half of Rome, which survived a thousand years after the west fell. Its capital Constantinople was the richest city in Christendom. Ottoman Turks took it in 1453.

Facts

Founded: 330 CE, Constantine founded Constantinople; the east separated fully in 395.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Byzantine Empire
Ended: 1453, Constantinople fell to Mehmed II.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Byzantine Empire
Heartland: The eastern Mediterranean, capital Constantinople.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Byzantine Empire
Major rulers: Justinian I, lawgiver and builder of Hagia Sophia; Basil II, the Bulgar slayer; Constantine XI, who died on the walls in 1453.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Byzantine Empire

Images

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the great church of the Byzantine emperors. (Wikimedia Commons)

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