Tag: Byzantine Empire

The Palaiologos family

The Palaiologos family was a Byzantine Greek imperial family that ruled the Byzantine Empire from the 11th century until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. They held the throne for over two centuries. The last reigning member of the Palaiologos dynasty was Constantine XI Palaiologos.

By the 14th century, the Ottoman Turks were rapidly expanding their empire, encroaching upon Byzantine territory. The Byzantines, under the rule of the Palaiologos family, found themselves in a precarious position, struggling to defend their lands against the rising power of the Ottomans.

One of the pivotal moments came in 1354 when the Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos sought Ottoman assistance against rival factions within his own empire. While the Ottomans helped him regain his throne, they gradually gained influence and control over Byzantine affairs.

Over the years, the Byzantine Empire continued to decline, facing internal divisions and external pressures. The Ottomans exploited these weaknesses, launching military campaigns and gradually capturing Byzantine territories.

In 1453, the Ottoman Turks, led by Mehmed II, besieged Constantinople. Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine Emperor, fought bravely during the defense of the city. However, on May 29, 1453, the Ottomans breached the walls of Constantinople, leading to the fall of the city. According to historical accounts, Constantine XI died in battle, fighting on the front lines. The fate of his body is not entirely clear, and there are different accounts of what happened to it.

After the fall of Constantinople, members of the Palaiologos family faced various fates. Some were captured by the Ottomans, while others managed to escape and sought refuge in other parts of Europe. The diaspora of Byzantine nobility contributed to the spread of Greek culture and learning during the Renaissance.

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 marked the end of the Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Empire replaced it as the dominant power in the region. The Palaiologos family’s political influence came to an end with the fall of Constantinople, and its surviving members scattered throughout Europe.

Source: Wikipedi, Patrick S., Britannica

November 23, 2023
Did Ottomans relate themselves to Byzantines or Romans?

The answer to this question comes from Dimitris Almyrantis on Quora:

Yes; but forget the Romans you know. The Ottomans didn’t have the option of seeing Rome through a squeaky clean, faux Latinate veneer, pedantically accurate academic writing, or ripped centurions with a British accent. For the Ottomans, Rome was all they had to compare themselves with; the land they were treading was Roman soil, the peoples they alternately fought and married were Roman peoples, and their ceremonial was in the Rumi style. Their own empire was geographically made up of the ‘Roman and Persian and Arab lands’, and on a personal level all their lives were spent within the first third.

In the most practical sense, for the Ottomans Rome wasn’t part of history but of modernity, a viscerally tribal as well as a cultural reality. The only proper translation in our speech would be to speak of the West, not just Rome, encompassing the associations and content of both. The German Kaiser in Vienna, the Greek peasant on his field, and the Pontic country on the easternmost frontier of his empire were all Rum to the Ottoman.

So of course the relation was underway on all levels. The routine of the divan, the sacred privacy of the imperial person and the rhythm of government’s operation – whom the sovereign would speak with, how he would comport himself at court and on the streets – were all consciously adopted from the Roman ceremonial, and fixed as the centerpiece of the Ottoman conceptual space, for all the empire to arrange itself around. On the popular level, the Crescent and the Cross were juxtaposed against each other on every level of society, and the identities built around them were both opposed and codependent. New Rome had been a point of literary and popular fascination for the Islamic world since the latter’s inception; now that the center of one civilization was identified with the other, the combined mythos of both was the spirit of the age.

Miniature ‘Astanbolu’ by Bülent Özgen

May 23, 2023
Fifth Century Ship Uncovered During Subway Dig in Istanbul

A dig at the construction site of Istanbul’s Marmaray project, an undersea transport system in Yenikapi, Istanbul, has revealed a fully intact Byzantine cargo ship archeologists believe to be from the fifth century.

Archeologist Mehmet Ali Polat reported to Radikal Daily, that the find is the largest yet to be uncovered and that the ship’s cargo is still intact. “There is no other example in the world of a shipwreck where the timber of the ship as well as its load are in such good condition,” he said.

This 1400-year-old ship isn’t the first miracle find located in Yenikapi. Archeologists have been circling the site since 2004.

According to Today’s Zaman, 34 other Byzantine shipwrecks dating back to the fourth century have also been discovered near the site—a silted over harbor—though none are as well preserved as the most recent find. A collection of the discoveries, dubbed “the greatest nautical archaeological site of all time” by archeologists, is now on display at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.

The Marmaray project has uncovered a myriad of archeological sites that have provided snippets of historical information about the Byzantine Empire, including secret passages, tombs, churches, works from the Bronze Age, ports, vessels and city walls. Among those finds is the Port of Theodosius, which dates back to the fourth century and was found alongside the 35 sunken ships.

Zeynep Kiziltan, the leader of the Marmaray-Metro Salvage Excavations, told Radikal Daily that the dig is expected to proceed through the end of summer.

via Fifth Century Ship Uncovered During Subway Dig in Istanbul | World | Epoch Times.

June 27, 2011