Monthly Archives: May 2025

The Fall of Constantinople and Humanism in the Renaissance

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Map of the Eastern Mediterranean before the Fall of Constantinople.

At the end of the 13th century, the Ottoman Turks became the most powerful empire in the Middle East, and started putting pressure on the Byzantine Empire and took the majority of Asia Minor. Pope Urban V (r. 1361-1370) tried to call a crusade against the Ottomans to assist the Byzantines, but the Western powers refused to help. Under Pope Gregory XI (r. 1370-1378), some eastern European countries such as Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria allied with the Byzantines, but this was only because they were directly threatened by the Ottomans, unlike Western Europe. 

The Christian coalition was severely weakened after the Serbian army’s destruction at the Battle of Maritsa in 1371. After the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, Serbia and much of the Balkans fell under control of the Turks. The Western powers, including the Holy Roman Empire, France, and multiple Italian states agreed to help the Byzantines. Unfortunately their force was annihilated at the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. 

Battle of Nicopolis, 25th of September 1396.

The Ottomans unsuccessfully attempted to take Constantinople on four different occasions: 1391, 1394-1402, 1411, and 1422, with Byzantine Emperor John VIII (r.1422-1428) barely holding off the Turks during the siege in 1422. The West was reluctant to help the Byzantines after this, because they thought if the Byzantines were to regain power again that the Christians of the East would eventually betray the West. 

During the reign of Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI (r. 1449-1453), the Ottomans once again encircled Constantinople and also blocked the city with their navy. Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II’s army was able to overpower the Byzantine defenses rather quickly, and on May 29, 1453, the walls of Constantinople were breached by the Turks. 

Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos.

Emperor Constantine defended the city with his men until he was killed in action, along with most of the Byzantine army. After the Turks took the city, they looted cathedrals and palaces of their values, and converted churches into mosques. During the brutal conquest, the Ottomans murdered, raped, forcibly converted, and enslaved the population of the city, acquiring 50,000 new slaves as a result of their victory. 

The Fall of Constantinople marked the end to the last remnants of the Roman Empire, and made the Ottoman Empire the most powerful empire in Europe. Vicious and persistent, the Ottomans would continue to push further into Europe, but would finally be stopped 200 years later. Sultan Mehmed II would go down in history as one of the most famous Ottoman rulers, and earned a new name: Mehmed the Conqueror. 

Mehmed the Conqueror entering Constantinople.

During the Renaissance, there was a revival of ancient Greek sources and material. This led to a rise in secularism, and made scholars look at the world more through a worldly lens and less of a spiritual one. Francesco Petracra (1304-1374) was one such scholar, and was an early humanist. Petraca claimed that he was living in a barbaric time, adding that the Greeks and Romans of ancient times were more enlightened than barbaric Europeans of the Middle Ages.  

The “Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi,” Part 2

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Saint Francis being visited by an angel.

The followers of Saint Francis of Assisi were called the Fransician Order of Monks. Also known as Friars, these Christians lived in purposeful poverty, and were believed to have more grace than any other monastic community. Francis and his acolytes worked miracles and they reportedly had acquired divine wisdom from God. Francis taught his monks that the way to heaven was by faith along with good works, not just one or the other. 

There are many varied stories of miracles worked by the friars, such as when a illness was spreading throughout the monastery, Saint Francis conducted a mass which healed all the sick. On another occasion, a monk named Anthony is said to have preached to animals, and was able to convert dozens of pagans and heretics to the faith.

The book states that Jesus and Mary allegedly appeared to a friar who was on his death bed, and explained to him that He gave Francis the Holy Spirit to start the orders. A monk named Brother James was headed to purgatory, but his fellow monk Brother John prayed for him to be released. After this, Brother John was able to celebrate mass one more time before perishing. 

Once a mysterious old man stopped by the monastery. While the friars were washing his feet out of respect, the elderly visitor told the friars that Saint Francis would lead them all to heaven within a year. The book claims that Francis did regularly get monks who had died sent to heaven through his prayers, and once even prayed to get a fellow monk released from purgatory. 

The Fransician monks were holy through their asceticism and lived simple lives away from all worldly possessions. Through this, they were able to acquire divine wisdom and also to bring others to Christ through their holy example. 

Early Medieval Hymns

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The Medieval Era — Kaitlin Bove Music
Medieval painting depicting musicians.

The majority of people in Medieval times were illiterate, so their literature could not include reading. Therefore, literature for an illiterate society consisted of: folk songs, liturgical hymns, recited stories (folklore), recited poetry, jokes, proverbs, and limited amounts of theater. Western Church literature was basic to Medieval society and liturgical hymns were the most popular form of this style. These religious songs, as well as, prayers and stories were also passed down through the ages. 

Because there is no widespread reading and writing in an illiterate society, the vast majority of Medieval literature was not preserved in written form other than what monasteries thought was important enough to copy. Folklore may seem like it is easily passed down through the ages, which is true. However it is almost always significantly altered over time, making it nearly impossible to know what was the original. Moreover, It is also difficult to imagine how a church congregation would memorize hymns without change, due to the fact that there was no musical notation and the words were not written down. Monastics, theologians, and scholars were the only chance for preservation. 

The Joys of Paradise was a popular hymn in the Early Middle Ages. Its themes include the unchanging nature of heaven and darkness of history, asserting that there is personal, ethical progress but no historical progress. Seeking to escape the carnal prison of flesh, the soul is always ethically righteous. In heaven, there will be singing, as it is morally and spiritually clean. There will also be endless days, no change, no progress, no privacy, no ambition, and even hunger, but Augustine said that there would always be food to satisfy it. 

Aurelius Clemens Prudentius was an Early Roman Christian poet whose works are still somewhat preserved. Age changed his perspective so he saw the futility of his worldly accomplishments, which will all be annulled by death, and his mind lost the world he loved. He equated morning with redemption, and stated that sin flourished in darkness, whereas light symbolized ethical purity and conquered darkness. Some of Prudentius’s other themes were: God foresees everything and knows all secrets, being a lawyer, involved, and successful, is futile. Instead, Prudentius advised to rejoice with songs of praise, since God’s judgement chases away evil. Pray and God will sanctify you.