Constantinople was the last bastion of the Roman civilization. As the crossroads of three continents, the city's diverse population created a unique plural and tolerant setting that fostered the mix of classical knowledge with the ideas of scholars from other cultures. In 1453, Mehmet II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, heavily shelled the city with cannons, a technological innovation that no European power possessed at the time, and conquered the city. After the defeat of Constantinople, the Byzantine world crumbled- and the "place" of thousands of individuals vanished. Empires and their capital cities often vanish. However, the Ottoman Empire and the city of Istanbul emerged. Such is the overwhelming force of history that I have decided to name our APWH Blog after the year in which a city became a historical memory.
15 comments:
I think that naming the AP World History blog as so was a very good idea because Constatinople was a city that stood for many beliefs. these beliefs became part of history and have been a continutity(practicicng for my essays) that has lasted to our times.
Hey wazup everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)This is gaby saying: Constantinople is a fitting name for this blog because it contains a lot of history. From the creation of the city (made possible by Roman Emperor Constantine I)to its many wars and sieges.
I agree also with what you say Gaby
My heart pumps with joy caused by your enthusiastic comments about Constantinople. One just have to imagine the cultural exchange that took place in this "bridge" between the East and the West
how do i post pictures ? i have a painting from 1499 of the seige of constantinople :)
i dont get ut. wat is this? and wats a blog?
hahahahahahaha
I think that we the constantiople 1453 title is relevant to our blog because it is such an important event that altered history and after reading it i was like wooooow :P
p.s.
jose- a blog is like on facebook when you write a wall post but it has to be relevant to the topic given [ mas o menos eso es lo k yo creo q es .. :) ]
eske no me aparece lo de upload ..
lo podemos chekiar en clase ? o @ school por lo mnos ?
That’s pretty neat info to know. It's even cooler that it's the title of our APWH blog (cool title with historical background). To think that a place like constaninople ,a jambalaya of many mixing cultures and influence's with mixed ideas and interpreted knowledge, could function with peace and prosperity (before of course the invasion) right when the roman empire was crumbling, making it the last Bastion, is just amazing. It sucks that had to be overthrown but that just seems to be the way history works. City flourishes from humble begging yet eventually at some point must end. Even though Constantinople seems bright and shiny the fact of the matter is that it was the Roman Empire’s last bastion, so it's demise was destined to happen. Mehmet was just one of histories pon, who did what was necessary at his time (with his more than superior technology). I love the title and it's very interesting to see the importance of this city that I didn't even know of before this blog.
I don't recall the article asking us about whether or not the title was relevant to do the class but since every one else put their input hears mine: I think that it is definitely relevant because Constaninople in 1453 depicts a classic story of economical prosperity and cultural richness within a civilization that inevitably diminished do to conquering, foreigner powers, which is still to this date a continuity and is also relevant to our studies of Mesopotamia and Egypt because they are both spectacular civilizations and wonders of man kind that eventually perished due to neighboring forces.
When looking back at the article I notice that I seem to have a huge misunderstanding when it comes to the time frame. I hope it didn't affect my comment to much. Oh ya and I agree with gaby to.
Gorbi, excellent contribution! I like your analysis on how cities emerge from humble beginnings (lets say simple-scrappy-neolithic-agricultural-simplistic trade) to magnanimous proportions as Constantinople did. And yet, as you explained, they are bound to diminish as the gigantic red stars turn into little dwarf stars. Cities' rise and fall is a continuity in history.
hello fellow friends, frm wat i cn seee sppelling seems to bee prety impurtant, so ill do my best...
I personally love roman history, so i have heard of Constantinople before. I agree with chachi in that all great empires (and cities) fall, and we can see this because if I am not correct, the city Constantinople was built on top of another city, Byzantium. from the decline of one power, another one emerges. The site of Constantinople was one of the major reasons why this city was so important for many empires to conquer, it was located between the land route from Europe and Asia (a route many people used at the time, such as the crusaders) and was between the sea way of the Black sea and the Mediterranean sea. As gaby mentioned earlier, Constantinople was built because of Emperor Constantine 1 (that's why is was first called "Constantine city"), and the empire survived many years after the downfall of Rome. Constantinople has soooo much history, i believe more that a thousand years, which is why its one of the places I want to visit. its was the capital of two great empires. Under the Byzantines is was known as Constantinople, and later is changed name to Istanbul under the Ottoman Empire
If any one knows how to add video's. Please go to you tube or download the song
"Istanbul (not Constaninople)"
it's a really cool and somewhat funny song about constinople. It tells a little history (or foot note) of constaninople and has an awsome violin solo. The band is called "They Might be Giants", and I think the song is perfect for this blog. Mr. Bravo I know for shure that yoo're going to love this song.the site were you can see that song and much more is
http://www.youtube.com/user/ParticleMen
i want to post in a really old blog
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