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For Constantinople after 1930, see Istanbul.
Map of Constantinople (1422) by Florentine cartographer Cristoforo Buondelmonte-1-

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman Empire (330–395), the Byzantine Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). The city was called Byzantium from 657 BC until AD 330, and New Rome during AD 330-337, when it was renamed for Emperor Constantine I. Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christian empire, successor to ancient Greece and Rome. Throughout the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city, known as the Queen of Cities (Vasileuousa Polis). The Republic of Turkey succeeded the Ottoman Empire in 1922. In 1930, the city's name was officially changed to Istanbul, the Turkish rendering of the appellation Greek speakers used since the eleventh century to colloquially refer to the city.

Constantinople in Agent of Byzantium[]

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman Empire.

Constantinople in "Coming Across"[]

Constantinople was one of the human cities visited by Lingol in the 13th century, his last visit to Earth until 1979.[1]

Constantinople in "The Emperor's Return"[]

Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453. The last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, prayed for a miracle: that he would see the city back in Christian hands. In a blaze of fire, he sank into the floor of the Hagia Sophia.

On 7 June 2003, Greece and the Soviet Union joined forces to invade Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire. Greece's price for the alliance was the return of Constantinople (now Istanbul) to Greek rule. The Soviet and Greek forces succeeded in capturing Constantinople three days later, resulting in Constantine XI's return.

Constantinople in "The Fake Pandemic"[]

For most of the inhabitants of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople was the city. The quaestor Tribonian thought the same way until he traveled to Florence, Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy.[2] After seeing the modernizations and improvements Martinus Paduei made in Urias' kingdom, Tribonian was less impressed with Constantinople when he returned, now finding the city filthy.[3]

Constantinople in "Islands in the Sea"[]

Following the successful siege of Constantinople by the Umayyad Caliphate under Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik in 717, the Byzantine Empire fell rapidly to Muslim invasions. Consequently, Islam spread into Europe nearly unopposed.

Constantinople in "Last Flight of the Swan of the East"[]

It took from January 1915 to May 1915 for Hellmuth von Mücke and his crew of luftmariners to make their way from Hodeida to Constantinople. From there, it was a matter of weeks for them to get back to Germany.[4]

Constantinople in Southern Victory[]

Constantinople was the capital of the Ottoman Empire.[5]

Constantinople in "Suffer a Sorceress"[]

As capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople saw its share of intrigue and betrayal. In 1118, a duel between witches in the Imperial palaces determined the succession to the throne.

Constantinople in Through Darkest Europe[]

Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire until it was conquered by the Seljuk Empire and renamed Istanbul. The Seljuks made Istanbul their capital.[6][7]

While citizens of the Muslim World usually called the city Istanbul, Europeans, even non-Aquinists, reflexively called the city Constantinople well into the modern era.[8]

Constantinople in "Two Thieves"[]

Late-11th-century Constantinople served as Alexios Komnenos' model for New Constantinople, a city-state on Riverworld.

References[]

  1. Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy, p. 368.
  2. Lest Darkness Fall & Timeless Tales Written in Tribute (second edition), pg. 383, loc. 5013.
  3. Ibid., pg. 392, loc. 5140.
  4. Leviathans: Armored Skies, loc. 5497-5511, ebook.
  5. The Victorious Opposition, pg. 607, tpb.
  6. See Inconsistencies (Through Darkest Europe)
  7. Through Darkest Europe, pg. 25, HC,
  8. Ibid. pg. 289.
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