On May 29th, 1453, A Christian Empire Fell

Constantine the Great, 274 - 337 AD, Founder of New Rome, Now Istanbul, Turkey
On May 29th a Christian Empire Fell

Most people do not recognize May 29th as a special day in history. Everyone in Eastern Orthodoxy (Greek, Russian, Romanian, Serbian Orthodox) mourns the day. May 29, 1453 is when the last remnant of an 1100-year-old empire fell with the loss of Constantinople, the greatest and richest city of the world at one time.

During this Memorial Day weekend we should remember what it meant to those Christians who fought against 10-1 odds as the Ottoman Muslim attacked them without cause. The Ottoman Empire had grown at the expense of the Byzantine Christian Empire, but the Byzantines kept them at bay for centuries. During that time, Europe was reasonably safe from invasion, although Italy suffered many naval attacks.

The last emperor of Constantinople had the same name as the first emperor – Constantine. He died fighting on the city walls, his ranks given away by his purple buskins, which only the emperor wore. He gave a speech to his people the day before the city fell, the day before he died:

He spoke first to his Greek subjects, telling them that there were four great causes for which a man should be ready to die: his faith, his country, his family and his sovereign. They must now be prepared to give their lives for all four. He for his part would willingly sacrifice his own for his faith, his city and his people. They were a great and noble people, the descendents of the heroes of ancient Greece and Rome, and he had no doubt that they would prove themselves worthy of their forefathers in the defense of their city, in which the infidel Sultan wished to seat his false prophet on the throne of Jesus Christ. Turning to the Italians, he thanked them for all that they had done and assured them of his love and trust in the dangers that lay ahead. They and the Greeks were now one people, united in God; with his help they would be victorious. Finally he walked slowly round the room, speaking to each man in turn and begging forgiveness if he ever caused him any offense. Source:The American Spectator

I find it very troubling that people gnash their teeth over the fact that soldiers sacrifice their lives fighting for America. People have forgotten what Jefferson wrote: “The tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots. It is its natural manure.” The nobility of fighting for our country is being forgotten.

When students talk about our loss of lives in Iraq, I ask them how many lives are lost to traffic accidents in Arizona. The figure is about 1,000 per year, the same as our losses in Iraq and other places. I do not have the exact figures, but I know we lose soldiers in similar numbers annually from training and traffic accidents.

I often teach in Yuma, where we have a Marine air station for Harriers, a city that features an air show every day. Helicopters practice their maneuvers over the city. One road is marked because of parachuting soldiers landing there. The Yuma Proving Grounds are using for training in desert warfare. Yuma is hotter than Phoenix.

Many of my students in Yuma are Marines, but some have come from other service branches. Some are just back from Iraq. Some are headed there next. I often think of them when the statistics are announced over TV. I am sorry they have to do their jobs with such wavering and manipulative support from the politicians. Nevertheless, they show us time and again that they are the bravest, best-equipped, and most compassionate military force in history. They stand between us and slavery.

When Constantinople was conquered by Islam, the attractive women, girls, and boys were rounded up for Muslim harems. The strongest boys were put in the elite fighting group, the Janissaries, made up of captured Christians. The rest were slaughtered or sold into slavery.

The year 1453 is significant. The Ottoman Empire began to march against Europe. They were partially successful. The biggest efforts came against Vienna. In 1683 a certain victory for the Ottoman Empire was turned into a rout by a decisive attack. Coffee beans were captured as booty; the coffee house was born in Vienna.

Europe remained free because highly trained soldiers were able to defeat a Muslim army glorying in its past victories.

Our military people, past and present, living and dead, deserve our respect and gratitude.

The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. Douglas MacArthur

Byzantium: The Forgotten Christian Empire

Hagia Sophia, The Church of Holy Wisdom, An Engineering Marvel of the Byzantine Empire, Completed in 537 AD!
Byzantium – The Forgotten Eastern Roman Empire

Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.

The Western Roman Empire began to decline rapidly after Alaric’s sack of Rome in 410 AD. The sack was not so terrible as everyone imagines. The shock to the civilized world came from Roman citizens no longer willing or able to defend the capital of Eternal Rome. Western Christianity had its bishop in Rome, so Christians were tempted to think God had abandoned His own headquarters. Augustine of Hippo wrote his classic City of God to argue that the true City of God is invisible, eternal, and built on the foundations of Christ, not man.

Roman civil officials began to abandon their posts and the Western Empire began to disintegrate into the countries we know as Europe in the coming centuries. In contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire grew in power and importance as the trading center of Europe, Asia, and Africa. This forgotten empire was already in existence before Constantine refashioned his New Rome about 300 AD.

Constantine was a military and political genius. He began his rise in England, with a famous general as a father. He fought his way to Rome to become one of the rulers and then consolidated his power until he alone ruled the entire empire, from England to the outskirts of India. However, he did not like the City of Rome and spent little time there. He made his new city in Byzantium and the building project became Constantinople. He rebuilt it almost overnight, importing Roman nobility with generous bribes of land and fortune. The City of Rome was largely pagan, but Constantine made his new city Christian.

Constantine was baptized as a Christian before his death. He considered himself Equal to the Apostles. His self-fashioned title became a job description of most emperors who followed him (except Julian the Apostate, who tried to reverse trends back to paganism). The Byzantine emperors were highly educated and the Eastern Empire followed their example in literacy and religious devotion. Although the Bishop of Rome tried to emphasize its power over all churches, the Archbishop of Constantinople led Eastern Orthodoxy. There were periods of cooperation but also extended times of mutual excommunication and warfare.

Constantinople was ideally situated for trade between Asia and Europe, with land routes in both directions and access to the Mediterranean Sea. The city also had abundant fresh water, fish, and natural defenses. The city became incredibly wealthy from trade. When Islam grew after the death of Mohammed in 632 AD, Constantinople served as a buffer between Islamic expansion and Europe. Although Byzantium worked with the Ottoman (Moslem) Empire, renting its warriors when needed, the city also tempted the Islamic leaders to capture it, for its wealth and religious symbolism.

Islam whittled away at Byzantium for centuries until Constantinople became a dispirited island in the midst of Moslem forts and armies. Finally the city fell on May 29, 1453, a day of doom still remembered throughout Eastern Orthodoxy. For the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, and other Eastern rites, Constantinople was their religious capital and treasure-house of religious icons, including the True Cross.

Byzantium continued as a Christian empire for eleven centuries, a remarkable achievement. The empire was highly educated and skilled in the arts. They preserved the New Testament in the original Greek and the archives of classical literature. The Moslems often transmitted these masterpieces to Europe, but the main center of learning was Constantinople and other Byzantine cities.

Militarily, the Eastern Empire was not appreciated until it fell. Then the Islamic armies moved on Europe and extended their rule into Europe until 1683, when they were turned back for good at Vienna. The Ottoman Empire peaked after its capture of Constantinople, but the disintegration of their rule was slow, like that of Rome and Byzantium. The Ottoman Empire became the “sick old man” of Europe before World War I and exists today only as Turkey. Constantinople became Istanbul because the victors transformed the Greek for “into the city” as Istanbul.

Some contributions of the Byzantine Empire are:
1. They kept the Islamic armies at bay when Europe was young and weak.
2. They hosted the successful First Crusade, which took Jerusalem back from Islam and established a Christian kingdom there for some years.
3. They were the religious and cultural center of the world for more than a thousand years.
4. They served as a central point for world trade.

No one can do justice to this empire in a few pages, or even in a few volumes. However, we should remember that the last emperor of Byzantium died fighting for his city, his country, his culture. His name was also Constantine.