On Tuesday, May 29th 1453, after a seven-week siege, the city of Constantinople, then under the jurisdiction of the Byzantine Empire, fell to Ottoman forces commanded by 21-year old Ottoman Sultan Mehmed. Mehmend defeated the army of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos who was 28 years his senior.
wikipedia.org
The city’s fall marked the end of the Roman Empire which had lasted nearly 1,500 years. The successful campaign by the Ottomans rendered the rest of Christendom vulnerable as Ottomans armies were free to advance further into Europe, making it as far as Vienna. After the conquest of Byzantine, Sultan Mehmed transferred the capital of the empire to Constantinople from its former seat in Adrianople.
twcenter.net
Many historians conclude that the Ottomans conquest of the city marks the end of the Middle Ages. The remaining Greek intellectuals who fled the city settled in Italy and elsewhere, bringing with them their educated perspectives ushering in the beginning of the Renaissance.
wikipedia.org
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