Siege of Constantinople: Did you mean...?

Icons, that is images of holy persons, were an important part of the Byzantine Christian Church from the 3rd century CE onwards. Venerated in churches, public places, and private homes, they were often believed to have protective properties...

The Second Crusade (1147-1149) was a military campaign organised by the Pope and European nobles to recapture the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia which had fallen in 1144 to the Muslim Seljuk Turks. Despite an army of 60,000 and the presence...

The Roman Emperor Constantine founded Constantinople on Byzantium, a strategic site for controlling the Bosphorus by the Greeks and as recently as Septimius Severus. This city was Constantine's "New Rome" with churches, walls, hippodrome...

A 15th century CE painting by Jean Fouquet depicting the Second Crusaders (1147-49 CE), led by Louis VII and Conrad III, as they arrive at Constantinople.

Mehmed II conquering Constantinople, oil on canvas painting by Fausto Zonaro, 1903. Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul.

Four bronze horses which were once part of a chariot group which stood atop the monumental entrance gate of the Hippodrome of Constantinople. They are now in St. Mark's cathedral, Venice, Italy after being taken as booty in 1204 CE during...

Rus army at the walls of Constantinople, miniature from Radziwiłł Chronicle (aka Königsberg Chronicle) fol 14v, early 13th century. Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Manuel I Komnenos was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 1143 to 1180 CE. Manuel continued the ambitious campaigns of his grandfather Alexios I and father John II to aggressively expand the boundaries of his empire. Manuel turned out to...

Zeno was Byzantine emperor from 474 until 491 CE. An ethnic Isaurian, Zeno was repeatedly criticized as an outsider during his reign, which was full of rebellions and attacks by the Ostrogoths. He is best known for his failed attempt to compromise...

Anastasios I ruled the Byzantine empire from 491 to 518 CE. Although his tax and monetary reforms were both popular and successful, the emperor could not repair the damaging split in the Christian Church created by his predecessors. He faced...