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167-788: Martyr was instructed by the Catholic Monarchs to deny reports of forced conversions of their Spanish Muslim subjects. He began his voyage in August 1501, reaching Venice in October. The ambassador later sailed for Alexandria and reached the port city on December 23. He toured Alexandria after being initially denied an audience with the Sultan. When the approval finally came, he traveled to Cairo and met with al-Ghuri on February 6, 1502. The Sultan received Martyr well in his Cairo palace, amid local unrest fueled by envoys from other Muslim states. Another secret meeting

334-543: A call for aid from Alexius , the First Crusade assembled at Constantinople in 1096, but declining to put itself under Byzantine command set out for Jerusalem on its own account. John II built the monastery of the Pantocrator (Almighty) with a hospital for the poor of 50 beds. With the restoration of firm central government, the empire became fabulously wealthy. The population was rising (estimates for Constantinople in

501-626: A center of culture and education of the Mediterranean basin, Constantinople came to be known by prestigious titles such as Basileuousa (Queen of Cities) and Megalopolis (the Great City) and was, in colloquial speech, commonly referred to as just Polis ( ἡ Πόλις ) 'the City' by Constantinopolitans and provincial Byzantines alike. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently. The medieval Vikings, who had contacts with

668-611: A city-state until it was annexed by Darius I in 512 BC into the Persian Empire , who saw the site as the optimal location to construct a pontoon bridge crossing into Europe as Byzantium was situated at the narrowest point in the Bosphorus strait. Persian rule lasted until 478 BC when as part of the Greek counterattack to the Second Persian invasion of Greece , a Greek army led by

835-721: A decree of expulsion of Jews, known formally as the Alhambra Decree , which gave Jews in Spain four months to either convert to Catholicism or leave Spain. Tens of thousands of Jews emigrated to other lands such as Portugal, North Africa, the Low Countries, Italy and the Ottoman Empire . Although the Catholic Monarchs pursued a partnership in many matters, because of the histories of their respective kingdoms, they did not always have

1002-561: A double wall lying about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the west of the first wall and a moat with palisades in front. Constantinople's location between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara reduced the land area that needed defensive walls. The city was built intentionally to rival Rome , and it was claimed that several elevations within its walls matched Rome's 'seven hills'. The impenetrable defenses enclosed magnificent palaces, domes, and towers,

1169-797: A dwindling and depopulated city. In 1261, the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos liberated the city, and after the restoration under the Palaiologos dynasty, it enjoyed a partial recovery. With the advent of the Ottoman Empire in 1299, the Byzantine Empire began to lose territories, and the city began to lose population. By the early 15th century, the Byzantine Empire was reduced to just Constantinople and its environs, along with Morea in Greece, making it an enclave inside

1336-478: A few ways. One of those is that they traveled from town to town throughout the kingdom to promote loyalty, rather than possessing any single administrative center. Another is that each community and region was connected to them via loyalty to the crown, rather than bureaucratic ties. Along with the desire of the Catholic Monarchs to extend their dominion to all the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, their reign

1503-406: A heavily decorated marble dais , with a headpiece from which horns were projecting. Once the greeting ceremonial was over, he was invited to sit near the Sultan, irritating North African envoys who were present. Martyr interpreted al-Ghuri's friendly reception of him as awareness by the Sultan of "how powerful you are", referring to Isabella when he later reported back to her. They both agreed to have

1670-504: A letter to his friend, Pedro Fajardo. Martyr left the lagoon for the port city of Pula , from which he embarked for his intended destination aboard a three-masted galeazza , part of a larger Venetian merchant fleet that regularly traveled to the Levant and Egypt. He reached Alexandria on December 23, after a voyage marred by stormy weather and a near collision with rocky formations off the city's coast, which Martyr believed to have constituted

1837-556: A mass performed by a Franciscan friar in a hut near a sycamore tree , under which the Holy Family is believed to have rested during their flight into Egypt . Throughout his stay, Martyr took note of the ruling political establishment and described the Mamluks as "ignoble mountain types." He also observed Egypt's natural sights, including the Nile and the country's flora and fauna. On February 21, he

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2004-631: A new bodyguard known as the Varangian Guard . They were known for their ferocity, honour, and loyalty. It is said that, in 1038, they were dispersed in winter quarters in the Thracesian Theme when one of their number attempted to violate a countrywoman, but in the struggle she seized his sword and killed him; instead of taking revenge, however, his comrades applauded her conduct, compensated her with all his possessions, and exposed his body without burial as if he had committed suicide. However, following

2171-652: A new city wall in his name, the Severan Wall. Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Having restored the unity of the Empire, and, being in the course of major governmental reforms as well as of sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church , he was well aware that Rome was an unsatisfactory capital. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, and it offered an undesirable playground for disaffected politicians. Yet it had been

2338-504: A second meeting, with nothing substantial coming out the first one apart from assurances by al-Ghuri of his willingness to talk. The North African envoys, however, responded negatively to the Sultan's openness to a Christian ambassador by sowing discontent among the masses, reminding them of the forced conversions of fellow Muslims in Granada. They publicly denounced the prospect of reaching any agreement with Spain. Al-Ghuri eventually succumbed to

2505-401: A secret meeting before dawn, during which the Sultan brought up the reports of forced conversions in Spain. Martyr denied this and argued that Granadan Moors had themselves offered to convert from Islam in the wake of a failed rebellion, adding that his Christian faith "openly demands that nobody dare use violence or threats to incite people to change religion." He told the Sultan that his mission

2672-467: A southeastern entrance, while Martyr and the chief guide observed from the outside. The visitors came across a "vaulted, shell-shaped chamber" where small tombs could be found. From this, Martyr was able to confirm the pyramids' funerary nature, discarding the notion that the monuments represented the biblical " granaries of Joseph ", a common perception in Christian Europe at the time. They then visited

2839-633: A traditional rivalry with France , which had been a traditional allies with Castile. Castile's foreign interests were focused on the Atlantic, making Castile's funding of the voyage of Columbus an extension of existing interests. Castile had traditionally had good relations with the neighboring Kingdom of Portugal, and after the Portuguese lost the War of the Castilian Succession , Castile and Portugal concluded

3006-728: A unified viewpoint in foreign policy. Despite that, they did have a successful expansionist foreign policy due to a number of factors. The victory over the Muslims in Granada allowed Ferdinand to involve himself in policy outside the Iberian peninsula. The diplomatic initiative of King Ferdinand continued the traditional policy of the Crown of Aragon, with its interests set in the Mediterranean, with interests in Italy and sought conquests in North Africa. Aragon had

3173-567: Is known about this initial settlement. The site, according to the founding myth of the city, was abandoned by the time Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded Byzantium ( Ancient Greek : Βυζάντιον , romanized :  Byzántion ) in around 657  BC, across from the town of Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. Hesychius of Miletus wrote that some "claim that people from Megara, who derived their descent from Nisos, sailed to this place under their leader Byzas, and invent

3340-476: Is of Thracian origin. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas . The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honor of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was more likely just a play on the word Byzantion . The city was briefly renamed Augusta Antonina in the early 3rd century AD by

3507-597: Is still used by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the title of one of their most important leaders, the Orthodox patriarch based in the city, referred to as "His Most Divine All-Holiness the Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch". In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpoli(s) ( Κωνσταντινούπολις/Κωνσταντινούπολη ) or simply just "the City" ( Η Πόλη ). Constantinople

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3674-446: The de facto unification of Spain . They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile ; to remove the obstacle that this consanguinity would otherwise have posed to their marriage under canon law , they were given a papal dispensation by Sixtus IV . They married on October 19, 1469, in the city of Valladolid ; Isabella

3841-786: The Church of John the Baptist to house the skull of the saint (today preserved at the Topkapı Palace ), put up a memorial pillar to himself in the Forum of Taurus, and turned the ruined temple of Aphrodite into a coach house for the Praetorian Prefect ; Arcadius built a new forum named after himself on the Mese, near the walls of Constantine. After the shock of the Battle of Adrianople in 378, in which Valens and

4008-566: The Church of the Resurrection or the New Church. Chariot-racing had been important in Rome for centuries. In Constantinople, the hippodrome became over time increasingly a place of political significance. It was where (as a shadow of the popular elections of old Rome) the people by acclamation showed their approval of a new emperor, and also where they openly criticized the government, or clamoured for

4175-598: The Council of Castile established in 1480. The Council of Castile was intended "to be the central governing body of Castile and the linch-pin of their governmental system" with wide powers and with royal officials who were loyal to them and excluded the old nobility from exercising power in it. The monarchs created the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 to ensure that individuals converting to Christianity did not revert to their old faith or continue practising it. The Council of

4342-506: The Council of the Indies , the Council of Finance , and the Council of State . The Catholic Monarchs set out to restore royal authority in Spain. To accomplish their goal, they first created a group named the Holy Brotherhood . These men were used as a judicial police force for Castile, as well as to attempt to keep Castilian nobles in check. To establish a more uniform judicial system ,

4509-509: The Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbor. Already then, in Greek and early Roman times, Byzantium was famous for the strategic geographic position that made it difficult to besiege and capture, and its position at the crossroads of the Asiatic-European trade route over land and as the gateway between the Mediterranean and Black Seas made it too valuable a settlement to abandon, as Emperor Septimius Severus later realized when he razed

4676-598: The Granada War . Having settled there, he came under the protection of Queen Isabella I of Castile and may have been assigned the task of tutoring the young nobles of her court. In 1489, Martyr became involved in the Spanish campaign against the Moors, during which he divided his time between the battlefield, as a soldier, and Isabella's court, as a war historian. He accompanied the troops of King Ferdinand II of Aragon , participating in

4843-573: The Holy Roman Empire , a powerful, far-reaching European territory which assured Spain's future political security. Their only son, John , married Margaret of Austria , seeking to maintain ties with the Habsburg dynasty, on which Spain relied heavily. Their fourth child, Maria , married Manuel I of Portugal , strengthening the link forged by Isabella's elder sister's marriage. Their fifth child, Catherine , married Arthur, Prince of Wales and heir to

5010-543: The Nueva Planta decrees of 1707–16. The court of Ferdinand and Isabella was constantly on the move, in order to bolster local support for the crown from local feudal lords . The title of " Catholic King and Queen " was officially bestowed on Ferdinand and Isabella by Pope Alexander VI in 1494, in recognition of their defence of the Catholic faith within their realms. At the time of their marriage on October 19, 1469, Isabella

5177-582: The Pax Romana , for nearly three centuries until the late 2nd century AD. Byzantium was never a major influential city-state like that of Athens , Corinth or Sparta , but the city enjoyed relative peace and steady growth as a prosperous trading city lent by its remarkable position. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean , and had in

Peter Martyr's mission to Egypt - Misplaced Pages Continue

5344-510: The Sphinx , whose size the ambassador measured. Martyr also noticed that day several mound-like structures along the Nile over a 50-mile distance to the southeast of the Giza necropolis. He was told that those were other pyramids and that ruins of an old city stood there, which he assumed to have been the ancient city of Memphis . The following day, Martyr made a pilgrimage to Matareya . There, he attended

5511-518: The Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando . Henry instead recognised Joanna of Castile , born during his marriage to Joanna of Portugal , but whose paternity was in doubt, since Henry was rumoured to be impotent. When Henry died in 1474, Isabella asserted her claim to the throne, which was contested by thirteen-year-old Joanna. Joanna sought the aid of her husband (who was also her uncle), Afonso V of Portugal , to claim

5678-590: The 12th century vary from some 100,000 to 500,000), and towns and cities across the realm flourished. Meanwhile, the volume of money in circulation dramatically increased. This was reflected in Constantinople by the construction of the Blachernae palace, the creation of brilliant new works of art, and general prosperity at this time: an increase in trade, made possible by the growth of the Italian city-states, may have helped

5845-423: The 12th century. Toward the end of Manuel I Komnenos 's reign, the number of foreigners in the city reached about 60,000–80,000 people out of a total population of about 400,000 people. In 1171, Constantinople also contained a small community of 2,500 Jews. In 1182, most Latin (Western European) inhabitants of Constantinople were massacred . In artistic terms, the 12th century was a very productive period. There

6012-517: The 13th and 11th centuries BC. The site, according to the founding myth of the city, was abandoned by the time Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded Byzantium ( Ancient Greek : Βυζάντιον , Byzántion ) in around 657 BC, across from the town of Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. The origins of the name of Byzantion , more commonly known by the later Latin Byzantium , are not entirely clear, though some suggest it

6179-685: The 1485 restoration of a Catalan consulate in the port city of Alexandria, which the Aragonese considered a vital component in their Mediterranean trade network. Well-established commercial ties also existed between Egypt and the Granadan cities and, according to the Mamluk chronicler Muhammad ibn Iyas , the Egyptian public was being regularly updated on the many developments affecting their co-religionists in Iberia, including

6346-551: The Bosporus and plundered the monasteries and other properties on the suburban Princes' Islands . Oryphas , the admiral of the Byzantine fleet, alerted the emperor Michael, who promptly put the invaders to flight; but the suddenness and savagery of the onslaught made a deep impression on the citizens. In 980, the emperor Basil II received an unusual gift from Prince Vladimir of Kiev: 6,000 Varangian warriors, which Basil formed into

6513-658: The Caesar (Emperor)', from the Slavonic words tsar ('Caesar' or 'King') and grad ('city'). This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις ( Vasileos Polis ), 'the city of the emperor [king]'. In Persian the city was also called Asitane (the Threshold of the State), and in Armenian , it was called Gosdantnubolis (City of Constantine). The modern Turkish name for

6680-581: The Catholic Monarchs an efficient army loyal to the Crown was created, commanded by Castilian Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba , known as the Great Captain . Fernández de Córdoba reorganised the military troops on a new combat unit, tercios reales , which entailed the creation of the first modern army dependent on the crown, regardless of the pretensions of the nobles. Through the Capitulations of Santa Fe , navigator Christopher Columbus received finances and

6847-638: The Catholic Monarchs created the Royal Council , and appointed magistrates (judges) to run the towns and cities. This establishment of royal authority is known as the Pacification of Castile and can be seen as one of the crucial steps toward the creation of one of Europe's first strong nation-states. Isabella also sought various ways to diminish the influence of the Cortes Generales in Castile, though Ferdinand

Peter Martyr's mission to Egypt - Misplaced Pages Continue

7014-458: The Catholic Monarchs had used a Muslim uprising in the Alpujarras as an argument against the treaty that guaranteed the Moors' right to freedom of worship. The Mamluk Sultanate, while desiring to maintain friendly ties with the Spanish, also wished to prevent the Ottoman Empire from taking over its status as a center of Islam, since Cairo was the ceremonial seat of the Abbasid Caliphate . The Catholic Monarchs have been receiving information that

7181-411: The Crusade was created under their rule to administer funds from the sale of crusading bulls. In 1498 after Ferdinand had gained control of the revenues of the wealthy and powerful Spanish military orders , he created the Council of Military Orders to oversee them. The conciliar model was extended beyond the rule of the Catholic Monarchs, with their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor establishing

7348-515: The Danube about this time and advanced into Thrace, but he was deserted by many of his followers, who joined with the Romans in driving their king back north of the river. Subsequent to this, new walls were built to defend the city and the fleet on the Danube improved. After the barbarians overran the Western Roman Empire, Constantinople became the indisputable capital city of the Roman Empire. Emperors were no longer peripatetic between various court capitals and palaces. They remained in their palace in

7515-410: The Egyptian court in 1501, describing different forms of persecution in Spain targeting Muslims of all ages. Isabella and Ferdinand, for unknown reasons, chose Martyr as their envoy to Egypt. His mission was to deter the Sultan from possible retaliation, so the Catholic Monarchs instructed him to deny the forced conversions should the Sultan bring up the subject and to further explain that "no [conversion]

7682-433: The Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211), who razed the city to the ground in 196 for supporting a rival contender in the civil war and had it rebuilt in honor of his son Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (who succeeded him as Emperor), popularly known as Caracalla . The name appears to have been quickly forgotten and abandoned, and the city reverted to Byzantium/Byzantion after either the assassination of Caracalla in 217 or, at

7849-411: The Gate of the Droungarios ( Turkish : Odun Kapısı ) on the Golden Horn. Nevertheless, the destruction wrought by the 1197 fire paled in comparison with that brought by the Crusaders. In the course of a plot between Philip of Swabia , Boniface of Montferrat and the Doge of Venice , the Fourth Crusade was, despite papal excommunication, diverted in 1203 against Constantinople, ostensibly promoting

8016-420: The Great City and sent generals to command their armies. The wealth of the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia flowed into Constantinople. The emperor Justinian I (527–565) was known for his successes in war, for his legal reforms and for his public works. It was from Constantinople that his expedition for the reconquest of the former Diocese of Africa set sail on or about 21 June 533. Before their departure,

8183-473: The Islamic east so as to establish itself as protector of Christianity in the Holy Land. In his response to Qaitbay's threat, in 1489, Ferdinand justified the war on the grounds that he was merely reclaiming land that was originally Spain's, explaining that the Spanish motives were political rather than religious. He also assured the Sultan that Aragon never challenged the right of its Mudéjars to freely practice their Muslim faith during his war with Granada, which

8350-400: The Mamluk state is faced with a serious internal rebellion. Al-Ghuri appeared to be convinced by Martyr's arguments. He agreed in principle to a treaty that was drafted by the ambassador with the assistance of monks from Jerusalem. The terms of the agreement granted Christians the right to rebuild or renovate churches and monasteries in the Holy Land, guaranteed their personal safety, and lowered

8517-399: The Mediterranean, particularly in Otranto , which lied close to Italian possessions of the Crown of Aragon. Ferdinand's fears were further aggravated by reports of an alliance between his generally well-armed Mudéjar subjects and the Ottoman Turks, allegedly being formed to assist the Granadans. In 1486–87, another wave of Nasrid embassies was sent to Cairo and Constantinople. Bayezid II ,

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8684-435: The Ottoman Empire. The city was finally besieged and conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1453, remaining under its control until the early 20th century, after which it was renamed Istanbul under the Empire's successor state , Turkey. According to Pliny the Elder in his Natural History , the first known name of a settlement on the site of Constantinople was Lygos , a settlement likely of Thracian origin founded between

8851-495: The Ottoman sultan, reacted to the Granadan appeals later on, in 1490, by dispatching a corsair fleet led by Kemal Reis that based itself in different locations along the Barbary coast to make contact with the Moors and to harass Christian shipping. On the other hand, Qaitbay , the sultan of Egypt, was reluctant to comply with the Nasrids' request that involved sending an army detachment to assist their cause, possibly in fear that this might compromise Mamluk military readiness in

9018-445: The Spanish and the Mamluks lasted from 1488 to 1491, during which Ferdinand supplied the Egyptian state with wheat in order to finance the Granada War and later offered to assist the Mamluks on the naval front with fifty Spanish caravels . It came to an end when Qaitbay allied with the Ottomans at the conclusion of their war. Under Ferdinand, the Crown of Aragon had been observing a policy that involved maintaining diplomatic channels with

9185-491: The Spartan general Pausanias captured the city which remained an independent, yet subordinate, city under the Athenians, and later to the Spartans after 411 BC. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.  150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. This treaty would pay dividends retrospectively as Byzantium would maintain this independent status, and prosper under peace and stability in

9352-447: The Sultan received any tangible concessions in return for agreeing to the ambassador's terms, given that no commercial affairs were discussed in the Legatio . In a separate development, while the document was being drafted, Martyr was given the Sultan's permission to visit the pyramids of Giza, whose silhouettes he could see from Cairo. He left early before dawn on February 7, as part of an expedition of nobles led by an Egyptian guide who

9519-442: The Sultan was threatening retaliatory measures against Christian communities and pilgrims in the Levant. Ferdinand tended to play down such threats, even when one such threat by the Mamluk Sultan was referred to him by the Pope. But they started taking the matter much more seriously following the 1501 suppression of the Alpujarras rebellion, after which the news of forced conversions of Muslims and Granadan appeals for help had spread to

9686-409: The Sultan. Trying to find common ground with the Sultan, Martyr blamed the state of mistrust on the influence of Jews, whom he described to the Mamluk ruler as "a poisonous pest." He also informed him that Spanish fleets and troops based in southern Italy could be quickly dispatched to assist the Sultan militarily, should a war break out with the expansionist Ottoman Empire, their common foe, or in case

9853-440: The Thracian shore at the mouth of the Pontos,     where two pups drink of the gray sea,     where fish and stag graze on the same pasture, set up their dwellings at the place where the rivers Kydaros and Barbyses have their estuaries, one flowing from the north, the other from the west, and merging with the sea at the altar of the nymph called Semestre" The city maintained independence as

10020-448: The Treaty of Alcáçovas. The treaty set boundaries for overseas expansion which were at the time disadvantageous to Castile, but the treaty resolved any further Portuguese claims on the crown of Castile. Portugal did not take advantage of Castile's and Aragon's focus on the reconquest of Granada. Following the reestablishment of good relations, the Catholic Monarchs made two strategic marriages to Portuguese royalty. The matrimonial policy of

10187-407: The Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script. After that, as part of the Turkification movement, Turkey started to urge other countries to use Turkish names for Turkish cities , instead of other transliterations to Latin script that had been used in Ottoman times and the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. The name Constantinople

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10354-419: The Turkish capital then moved to Ankara . Officially renamed Istanbul in 1930, the city is today the largest city in Europe , straddling the Bosporus strait and lying in both Europe and Asia , and the financial center of Turkey . In 324,following the reunification of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, the ancient city of Byzantium was selected to serve as the new capital of the Roman Empire, and

10521-402: The accession of Theodosius I , emperors had been resident only in the years 337–338, 347–351, 358–361, 368–369. Its status as a capital was recognized by the appointment of the first known Urban Prefect of the City Honoratus, who held office from 11 December 359 until 361. The urban prefects had concurrent jurisdiction over three provinces each in the adjacent dioceses of Thrace (in which the city

10688-428: The blue and green factions, innocent and guilty. This came full circle on the relationship within the Hippodrome between the power and the people during the time of Justinian. Fires started by the Nika rioters consumed the Theodosian basilica of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), the city's cathedral, which lay to the north of the Augustaeum and had itself replaced the Constantinian basilica founded by Constantius II to replace

10855-431: The bottom of the coat of arms, were a yoke ( yugo ) and a sheaf of arrows ( haz de flechas ). Y and F are the initials of Ysabel (spelling at the time) and Fernando. A double yoke is worn by a team of oxen, emphasizing the couple's cooperation. Isabella's emblem of arrows showed the armed power of the crown, "a warning to Castilians not acknowledging the reach of royal authority or that greatest of royal functions,

11022-416: The bull is known to be false, it is uncertain who was the material author of the falsification. Some experts point at Carrillo de Acuña , Archbishop of Toledo , and others point at Antonio Veneris. Isabella's claims to it were not secure, since her marriage to Ferdinand enraged her half-brother Henry IV of Castile and he withdrew his support for her being his heiress presumptive that had been codified in

11189-406: The capital of the Roman Empire during the reign of Constantine the Great in 330. Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century, Constantinople remained the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire ; 330–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). Following the Turkish War of Independence ,

11356-432: The capital of the ancient Ptolemaic Kingdom . His trip to Cairo, which he called "Babylon", was delayed by the Sultan's refusal to meet with him. Martyr blamed this on what he perceived to be the influence of Jews who were expelled from Spain . He finished his second letter on January 24. Martyr told the Spanish monarchs in his Legatio that they had a reputation in Egypt of being "violent and perjuring tyrants" because of

11523-455: The capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Nevertheless, Constantine identified the site of Byzantium as the right place: a place where an emperor could sit, readily defended, with easy access to the Danube or the Euphrates frontiers, his court supplied from the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries filled by

11690-457: The cathedral of the Eastern Orthodox Church , which served as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate ; the sacred Imperial Palace , where the emperors lived; the Hippodrome ; the Golden Gate of the Land Walls; and opulent aristocratic palaces. The University of Constantinople was founded in the 5th century and contained artistic and literary treasures before it was sacked in 1204 and 1453, including its vast Imperial Library which contained

11857-479: The city could no longer be supplied from Egypt as a result of the Persian wars: the population fell substantially as a result. While the city withstood a siege by the Sassanids and Avars in 626, Heraclius campaigned deep into Persian territory and briefly restored the status quo in 628, when the Persians surrendered all their conquests. However, further sieges followed the Arab conquests , first from 674 to 678 and then in 717 to 718 . The Theodosian Walls kept

12024-612: The city impenetrable from the land, while a newly discovered incendiary substance known as Greek fire allowed the Byzantine navy to destroy the Arab fleets and keep the city supplied. In the second siege, the second ruler of Bulgaria , Khan Tervel , rendered decisive help. He was called Saviour of Europe . In the 730s Leo III carried out extensive repairs of the Theodosian walls, which had been damaged by frequent and violent attacks; this work

12191-431: The city to the ground for supporting Pescennius Niger 's claimancy . It was a move greatly criticized by the contemporary consul and historian Cassius Dio who said that Severus had destroyed "a strong Roman outpost and a base of operations against the barbarians from Pontus and Asia". He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina , fortifying it with

12358-555: The city was also called 'Second Rome', 'Eastern Rome', and Roma Constantinopolitana ( Latin for 'Constantinopolitan Rome'). As the city became the sole remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew, the city also came to have a multitude of nicknames. As the largest and wealthiest city in Europe during the 4th–13th centuries and

12525-517: The city was renamed Nova Roma, or 'New Rome', by Emperor Constantine the Great . On 11 May 330, it was renamed Constantinople and dedicated to Constantine. Constantinople is generally considered to be the center and the "cradle of Orthodox Christian civilization ". From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe. The city became famous for its architectural masterpieces, such as Hagia Sophia ,

12692-561: The city, İstanbul , derives from the Greek phrase eis tin Polin ( εἰς τὴν πόλιν ), meaning '(in)to the city'. This name was used in colloquial speech in Turkish alongside Kostantiniyye , the more formal adaptation of the original Constantinople , during the period of Ottoman rule, while western languages mostly continued to refer to the city as Constantinople until the early 20th century. In 1928,

12859-705: The city. Constantine laid out a new square at the centre of old Byzantium, naming it the Augustaeum . The new senate-house (or Curia) was housed in a basilica on the east side. On the south side of the great square was erected the Great Palace of the Emperor with its imposing entrance, the Chalke , and its ceremonial suite known as the Palace of Daphne . Nearby was the vast Hippodrome for chariot-races, seating over 80,000 spectators, and

13026-472: The claims of Alexios IV Angelos brother-in-law of Philip, son of the deposed emperor Isaac II Angelos . The reigning emperor Alexios III Angelos had made no preparation. The Crusaders occupied Galata , broke the defensive chain protecting the Golden Horn , and entered the harbour, where on 27 July they breached the sea walls: Alexios III fled. But the new Alexios IV Angelos found the Treasury inadequate, and

13193-641: The coast of present-day Venezuela . The colonies Columbus established, and conquests in the Americas in later decades, generated an influx of wealth into the new unified state of Spain , leading it to be the major power of Europe from the end of the fifteenth century until the mid-seventeenth century, and the largest empire until 1810. Isabella's death in 1504 ended the remarkably successful political partnership and personal relationship of their marriage. Ferdinand remarried Germaine of Foix in 1505, but they produced no living heir. Had there been one, Aragonese opposed to

13360-598: The construction of the Theodosian Walls in the early 5th century, it was extended to the new Golden Gate , reaching a total length of seven Roman miles . After the construction of the Theodosian Walls, Constantinople consisted of an area approximately the size of Old Rome within the Aurelian walls, or some 1,400 ha. The importance of Constantinople increased, but it was gradual. From the death of Constantine in 337 to

13527-455: The country. Peter Martyr, generally believed to have been born in 1457 in the town of Arona , was a well-connected Italian humanist who was educated in Milan, and who came under the protection of powerful lords throughout his life in Italy. After moving from Lombardy to Rome, in 1477, he managed to penetrate Papal and academic circles, including the infamous Accademia Romana . In 1484, he became

13694-588: The death of an Emperor, they became known also for plunder in the Imperial palaces. Later in the 11th century the Varangian Guard became dominated by Anglo-Saxons who preferred this way of life to subjugation by the new Norman kings of England . The Book of the Eparch , which dates to the 10th century, gives a detailed picture of the city's commercial life and its organization at that time. The corporations in which

13861-809: The death of its Doge, Agostino Barbarigo , with no elected successor as of yet. He delivered his message to the Senate on October 6, and on October 10 he reported back to the Catholic Monarchs in the first of three letters that would make up his Legatio Babylonica . In it, Martyr described how he was impressed by his stay in the Venetian Lagoon , and gave account of the republic's shipbuilding industry and its governing system. He also visited Venice's churches, palaces and libraries. From looking at its ruins, I would say that Alexandria once had 100,000 houses or more. Now it barely has 4,000. Instead of being inhabited by people they are nests for doves and pigeons. Martyr, in

14028-447: The effect "Jewish and Moorish heretics" had on the Sultan. He dispatched two Franciscan friars to Cairo, with a message to the Sultan in which Jews were referred to as "enemies of peace and goodwill between sovereigns." He was eventually allowed an audience with the Sultan. On January 26, 1502, he left from Rosetta , travelling up the Nile by boat to Cairo. He landed in Bulaq at night, and

14195-543: The embassy that he would refer their request to the Ottomans and that he could not provide the required military assistance. Following pressure by the emissaries, the sultan eventually promised them financial aid. Nasrid diplomatic engagements with other Muslim states increased over the years. Their letters and appeals were sent to Morocco, Egypt and even to Constantinople . During the 1480s, senior Aragonese officials, including King Ferdinand himself, grew increasingly suspicious of

14362-690: The empire through their expansion in eastern Europe ( Varangians ), used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr (from mikill 'big' and garðr 'city'), and later Miklagard and Miklagarth . In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-Kubra (Great City of the Romans) and in Persian as Takht-e Rum (Throne of the Romans). In East and South Slavic languages, including in Kievan Rus' , Constantinople has been referred to as Tsargrad ( Царьград ) or Carigrad , 'City of

14529-565: The empress Irene restored the veneration of images through the agency of the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. The iconoclast controversy returned in the early 9th century, only to be resolved once more in 843 during the regency of Empress Theodora , who restored the icons. These controversies contributed to the deterioration of relations between the Western and the Eastern Churches. In

14696-578: The expulsion of Jews who refused to convert to Christianity. After a number of revolts, Ferdinand and Isabella ordered the expulsion of all Jews from Spain. People who converted to Catholicism were not subject to expulsion, but between 1480 and 1492 hundreds of those who had converted ( conversos and moriscos ) were accused of secretly practising their original religion ( crypto-Judaism or crypto-Islam ) and arrested, imprisoned, interrogated under torture, and in some cases burned to death , in both Castile and Aragon. The Inquisition had been created in

14863-528: The fable that his name was attached to the city". Some versions of the founding myth say Byzas was the son of a local nymph , while others say he was conceived by one of Zeus' daughters and Poseidon . Hesychius also gives alternate versions of the city's founding legend, which he attributed to old poets and writers: It is said that the first Argives, after having received this prophecy from Pythia,     Blessed are those who will inhabit that holy city,     a narrow strip of

15030-666: The face of an impending Ottoman incursion from the north. Qaitbay had even accepted Ferdinand's assistance during the Ottoman-Mamluk war , despite the Christians' campaigning in Granada. So instead of providing military assistance to the Moors, as requested by the Nasrid embassy, Qaitbay warned the Catholic Monarchs that Eastern Christians could face persecution in Jerusalem if the Granada campaign did not stop. This short-lived cooperation between

15197-772: The famed Baths of Zeuxippus . At the western entrance to the Augustaeum was the Milion , a vaulted monument from which distances were measured across the Eastern Roman Empire. From the Augustaeum led a great street, the Mese , lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the Praetorium or law-court. Then it passed through

15364-535: The fine paid by pilgrims. In addition to Jerusalem, other Arab Christian communities, including those of Beirut , Bethlehem and Ramallah , were placed under Spanish protection. Al-Ghuri convinced senior military officials in his court that maintaining friendly ties with Spain would be beneficial to the Mamluk state, and discussed with them the means of keeping in check any resulting popular discontent. But, other than possible guarantees by Martyr that Mudéjar privileges will be preserved, it remains unclear whether or not

15531-401: The first Byzantine cathedral, Hagia Irene (Holy Peace). Justinian commissioned Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus to replace it with a new and incomparable Hagia Sophia . This was the great cathedral of the city, whose dome was said to be held aloft by God alone, and which was directly connected to the palace so that the imperial family could attend services without passing through

15698-556: The flower of the Roman armies were destroyed by the Visigoths within a few days' march, the city looked to its defences, and in 413–414 Theodosius II built the 18-metre (60-foot)-tall triple-wall fortifications , which were not to be breached until the coming of gunpowder. Theodosius also founded a University near the Forum of Taurus, on 27 February 425. Uldin , a prince of the Huns , appeared on

15865-404: The foundation of the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria . There, he stayed at the residence of the city's Catalan-born French consul, Felipe de Paredes. Awaiting permission to visit the Sultan and safe passage for his trip to the capital, he toured Alexandria. While he admired its port, Martyr also expressed disappointment in the city's current state of affairs, as compared to its period of success as

16032-491: The front and grown long at the back, and wide-sleeved tunics tight at the wrist; and to form gangs to engage in night-time muggings and street violence. At last these disorders took the form of a major rebellion of 532, known as the "Nika" riots (from the battle-cry of "Conquer!" of those involved). The Nika Riots began in the Hippodrome and finished there with the onslaught of over 30,000 people according to Procopius, those in

16199-528: The funding and authorization for the voyage, the benefits accrued to the Kingdom of Castile. "Although the subjects of the Crown of Aragon played some part in the discovery and colonization of the New World, the Indies were formally annexed not to Spain but to the Crown of Castile." He landed on the island of Guanahani , and called it San Salvador . He continued onto Cuba , naming it Juana, and finished his journey on

16366-490: The greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon to be seen in its squares and streets. The emperor stimulated private building by promising householders gifts of land from the imperial estates in Asiana and Pontica and on 18 May 332 he announced that, as in Rome, free distributions of food would be made to the citizens. At the time, the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around

16533-565: The growth of the economy. It is certain that the Venetians and others were active traders in Constantinople, making a living out of shipping goods between the Crusader Kingdoms of Outremer and the West, while also trading extensively with Byzantium and Egypt . The Venetians had factories on the north side of the Golden Horn, and large numbers of westerners were present in the city throughout

16700-404: The infighting among Nasrid leaders. Despite reluctance by the Mamluks to assist them militarily, the Moors continued to perceive the Egyptian sultanate as one of the few powerful Muslim states in the Mediterranean capable of intervening on Granada's behalf when the latter could no longer resist the Christian armies. What posed a bigger threat to Ferdinand, however, were the recent Ottoman advances in

16867-592: The intentions of the Mudéjars , their Muslim subjects who had a more favorable status in the Crown of Aragon than they did in neighboring Castile . The king ordered in 1480 an investigation into alleged Mudéjar activity in the Mamluk state and their attempt to pressure its sultan to persecute his Christian subjects. The Catholic Monarchs were, since 1484, heavily investing in the revival of Barcelona 's ailing economy, which highly depended on trade. This initiative came to involve

17034-668: The invaders poured in. Alexios V fled. The Senate met in Hagia Sophia and offered the crown to Theodore Lascaris , who had married into the Angelos dynasty , but it was too late. He came out with the Patriarch to the Golden Milestone before the Great Palace and addressed the Varangian Guard . Then the two of them slipped away with many of the nobility and embarked for Asia. By the next day

17201-534: The island of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, calling it Hispaniola , or La Isla Española ("the Spanish [Island]" in Castilian). On his second trip, begun in 1493, he found more Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico . His main goal was to colonize the existing discoveries with the 1500 men that he had brought the second time around. Columbus finished his last expedition in 1498 and discovered Trinidad and

17368-507: The late 11th century catastrophe struck with the unexpected and calamitous defeat of the imperial armies at the Battle of Manzikert in Armenia in 1071. The Emperor Romanus Diogenes was captured. The peace terms demanded by Alp Arslan , sultan of the Seljuk Turks, were not excessive, and Romanus accepted them. On his release, however, Romanus found that enemies had placed their own candidate on

17535-496: The late Roman and early Byzantine periods, Christianity was resolving fundamental questions of identity, and the dispute between the orthodox and the monophysites became the cause of serious disorder, expressed through allegiance to the chariot-racing parties of the Blues and the Greens. The partisans of the Blues and the Greens were said to affect untrimmed facial hair, head hair shaved at

17702-524: The latest, the fall of the Severan dynasty in 235. Byzantium took on the name of Constantinople ( Greek : Κωνσταντινούπολις, romanized : Kōnstantinoupolis; "city of Constantine") after its refoundation under Roman emperor Constantine I , who transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium in 330 and designated his new capital officially as Nova Roma ( Νέα Ῥώμη ) 'New Rome'. During this time,

17869-512: The monarchs sought advantageous marriages for their five children, forging royal alliances for the long-term benefit of Spain. Their first-born, a daughter named Isabella , married Afonso of Portugal , forging important ties between these two neighboring kingdoms that would lead to enduring peace and future alliance. Joanna , their second daughter, married Philip the Handsome , the son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I . This ensured an alliance with

18036-401: The next day. Martyr spent that night at the dragoman's palace. Accompanied by a Mamluk escort, they journeyed through Cairo the following morning, on February 6. Crossing a hostile crowd, they arrived at the city's Citadel complex. In its interior palace, Martyr passed by two courts and a formation of eunuchs guarding the harem , eventually reaching the patio where the Sultan lounged over

18203-622: The onset of the Italian Wars , Spain's interest in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean began to decline, with the focus shifting towards strengthening its positions in the western Mediterranean to be able to challenge the French presence in Italy. The civil war in Egypt concluded with the ascent to power of Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri , who now ruled over a weakened state that was under constant threat of invasion by its militarily superior Ottoman rival. By this time,

18370-492: The other"), came to signify their cooperation." The motto was originally used by Ferdinand as an allusion to the Gordian knot : Tanto monta, monta tanto, cortar como desatar ("It's one and the same, cutting or untying"), but later adopted as an expression of equality of the monarchs: Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando ("It's one and the same, Isabella the same as Ferdinand"). Their emblems or heraldic devices, seen at

18537-699: The oval Forum of Constantine where there was a second Senate-house and a high column with a statue of Constantine himself in the guise of Helios , crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking toward the rising sun. From there, the Mese passed on and through the Forum Tauri and then the Forum Bovis , and finally up the Seventh Hill (or Xerolophus) and through to the Golden Gate in the Constantinian Wall . After

18704-478: The papacy retained the right to formally appoint the royal nominees. The Inquisition did not have jurisdiction over Jews and Muslims who did not convert. Since the kingdom of Aragon had existed since 1248, the Spanish Inquisition was the only common institution for the two kingdoms. Pope Innocent VIII confirmed Dominican Tomás de Torquemada , a confessor of Isabella, as Grand Inquisitor of Spain, following in

18871-467: The people rose again: Alexios IV was imprisoned and executed, and Murzuphlos took the purple as Alexios V Doukas . He made some attempt to repair the walls and organise the citizenry, but there had been no opportunity to bring in troops from the provinces and the guards were demoralised by the revolution. An attack by the Crusaders on 6 April failed, but a second from the Golden Horn on 12 April succeeded, and

19038-479: The pressure of a Mamluk military council that was determined to dismiss Martyr, and ordered Tangriberdy to sneak him out of the capital by night. Martyr, however, refused to leave and sent Tangriberdy back with a message to the Sultan, reminding the latter that he represented the Spanish Empire, whose territorial possessions in Italy made it close to Egypt in terms of proximity and power projection. They convened in

19205-621: The region, often to western Islamic kingdoms like those of the Maghreb. Internal division among the Maghrebis, however, tended to limit the extent of their assistance to the Moors during the final decades of Muslim Spain. The first time Mamluk Egypt received a Nasrid request for aid was through four Granadan ambassadors who arrived in Egypt around December 1440. Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq , the Mamluk Sultan , told

19372-627: The religious processions of the clergy. He removed Theodora from the Great Palace to the Carian Palace and later to the monastery of Gastria , but, after the death of Bardas, she was released to live in the palace of St Mamas; she also had a rural residence at the Anthemian Palace, where Michael was assassinated in 867. In 860, an attack was made on the city by a new principality set up a few years earlier at Kiev by Askold and Dir , two Varangian chiefs: Two hundred small vessels passed through

19539-592: The remnants of the Library of Alexandria and had 100,000 volumes. The city was the home of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and guardian of Christendom 's holiest relics, such as the Crown of Thorns and the True Cross . Constantinople was famous for its massive and complex fortifications, which ranked among the most sophisticated defensive architectures of antiquity . The Theodosian Walls consisted of

19706-401: The removal of unpopular ministers. It played a crucial role during the riots and in times of political unrest. The Hippodrome provided a space for a crowd to be responded to positively or where the acclamations of a crowd were subverted, resorting to the riots that would ensue in coming years. In the time of Justinian, public order in Constantinople became a critical political issue. Throughout

19873-492: The renovation of their places of worship in the Holy Land. Martyr visited a number of ancient sites in and around Cairo, including the pyramids of Giza . He was given a farewell ceremony on February 21 and sailed back to Venice on April 22. The mission was an overall success. Martyr wrote about the events in his Legatio Babylonica , one of the earliest Western European accounts of Egypt, in which he also recorded his sightseeing in

20040-514: The rest of the Islamic world. This may be due to the influence that Egyptian-based Granadans had in the Sultan's court, notably Ibn al-Azraq , who was received by Qaitbay some years earlier, and probably even Jewish refugees. One of the Moorish appeals that may have eventually led to the Spanish counter-embassy came in the form of a long and emotional qasida by an anonymous Granadan poet that made it to

20207-571: The result of prosperity Constantinople achieved as the gateway between two continents ( Europe and Asia ) and two seas (the Mediterranean and the Black Sea). Although besieged on numerous occasions by various armies, the defenses of Constantinople proved impenetrable for nearly nine hundred years. In 1204, however, the armies of the Fourth Crusade took and devastated the city, and for several decades, its inhabitants resided under Latin occupation in

20374-467: The right to mete out justice" by force of violence. The iconography of the royal crest was widely reproduced and was found on various works of art. These badges were later used by the fascist Spanish political party Falange , which claimed to represent the inherited glory and the ideals of the Catholic Monarchs. Isabella succeeded to the throne of Castile in 1474 when Ferdinand was still heir-apparent to Aragon, and with Aragon's aid, Isabella's claim to

20541-530: The scene of their great triumph in 1492. Joanna's son Charles I of Spain (also Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) came to Spain, and she kept confined in Tordesillas , was nominal co-ruler of both Castile and Aragon until her death. With her death, Charles succeeded to the territories that his grandparents had accumulated and brought the Habsburg territories in Europe to the expanding Spanish Empire. Constantinople Constantinople ( see other names ) became

20708-407: The secretary of Francesco Negro , Rome's governor under Pope Innocent VIII . In 1486, he met Íñigo López de Mendoza, Conde of Tendilla , who was on a diplomatic mission to Rome on behalf of the Catholic Monarchs . Martyr and Mendoza became friends, and the latter persuaded him to return with him to Spain, which he agreed to. By the time Martyr arrived in Spain, in 1487, the country was involved in

20875-667: The ship of the commander Belisarius was anchored in front of the Imperial palace, and the Patriarch offered prayers for the success of the enterprise. After the victory, in 534, the Temple treasure of Jerusalem , looted by the Romans in AD ;70 and taken to Carthage by the Vandals after their sack of Rome in 455, was brought to Constantinople and deposited for a time, perhaps in the Church of St Polyeuctus , before being returned to Jerusalem in either

21042-465: The siege of Baza and witnessing the eventual capitulation of Nasrid Granada and completion of the Reconquista in 1492. He later occupied a canonical post in the newly reconquered city, and in 1493 he began writing about the discoveries of Christopher Columbus upon the latter's first return from the New World. Throughout the Reconquista , rulers of al-Andalus would traditionally send emissaries with distress calls to powerful Muslim states in

21209-466: The streets. "The architectural form of the building was meant to reflect Justinian programmatic harmony: the circular dome (a symbol of secular authority in classical Roman architecture) would be harmoniously combined with the rectangular form (typical for Christian and pre-Christian temples)." The dedication took place on 26 December 537 in the presence of the emperor, who was later reported to have exclaimed, "O Solomon , I have outdone thee!" Hagia Sophia

21376-411: The throne in January 1479. In September 1479, Portugal and the Catholic Monarchs of Aragon and Castile resolved major issues between them through the Treaty of Alcáçovas , including the issue of Isabella's rights to the crown of Castile. Through close cooperation, the royal couple were successful in securing political power in the Iberian peninsula. Ferdinand's father had advised the couple that "neither

21543-413: The throne in his absence; he surrendered to them and suffered death by torture, and the new ruler, Michael VII Ducas, refused to honour the treaty. In response, the Turks began to move into Anatolia in 1073. The collapse of the old defensive system meant that they met no opposition, and the empire's resources were distracted and squandered in a series of civil wars. Thousands of Turkoman tribesmen crossed

21710-415: The throne of England, in 1501; he died at the age of 15 a few months later, and she married his younger brother shortly after he became King Henry VIII of England in 1509. These alliances were not all long-lasting, with their only son and heir-apparent John dying young; Catherine was divorced by Henry VIII; and Joanna's husband Philip dying young, with the widowed Joanna deemed mentally unfit to rule. Under

21877-437: The throne was secured. As Isabella's husband was king of Castile by his marriage and his father still ruled in Aragon, Ferdinand spent more time in Castile than Aragon at the beginning of their marriage. His pattern of residence in Castile persisted even when he succeeded to the throne in 1479, and the absenteeism caused problems for Aragon. These were remedied to an extent by the creation of the Council of Aragon in 1494, joining

22044-424: The throne. This dispute between rival claimants led to the War of 1475–79 . Isabella called on the aid of Aragon, with her husband, the heir apparent, and his father, Juan II of Aragon providing it. Although Aragon provided support for Isabella's cause, Isabella's supporters had extracted concessions, Isabella was acknowledged as the sole heir to the crown of Castile. Juan II died in 1479, and Ferdinand succeeded to

22211-419: The title clarus , not clarissimus , like those of Rome. It also lacked the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food supply, police, statues, temples, sewers, aqueducts, or other public works. The new programme of building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors, and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the empire and moved to the new city. In similar fashion, many of

22378-427: The tradesmen of Constantinople were organised were supervised by the Eparch, who regulated such matters as production, prices, import, and export. Each guild had its own monopoly, and tradesmen might not belong to more than one. It is an impressive testament to the strength of tradition how little these arrangements had changed since the office, then known by the Latin version of its title, had been set up in 330 to mirror

22545-432: The tradition in Aragon of Dominican inquisitors. Torquemada pursued aggressive policies toward converted Jews ( conversos ) and moriscos . The pope also granted the Catholic Monarchs the right of patronage over the ecclesiastical establishment in Granada and the Canary Islands, which meant the control of the state in religious affairs. The monarchs began a series of campaigns known as the Granada War (1482–92), which

22712-420: The twelfth century by Pope Lucius III to fight heresy in the south of what is now France and was constituted in a number of European kingdoms. The Catholic Monarchs decided to introduce the Inquisition to Castile and requested the Pope's assent. On 1 November 1478, Pope Sixtus IV published the papal bull Exigit Sinceras Devotionis Affectus , by which the Inquisition was established in the Kingdom of Castile; it

22879-411: The unguarded frontier and moved into Anatolia. By 1080, a huge area had been lost to the Empire, and the Turks were within striking distance of Constantinople. Under the Komnenian dynasty (1081–1185), Byzantium staged a remarkable recovery. In 1090–91, the nomadic Pechenegs reached the walls of Constantinople, where Emperor Alexius I with the aid of the Kipchaks annihilated their army. In response to

23046-434: The union would have likely backed their succession as a chance to re-establish independence, leading to civil war. The Catholic Monarchs' daughter Joanna succeeded to the crown of Castile, but was deemed unfit to rule following the death of her husband Phillip the Fair, Ferdinand retained power in Castile as regent until his death, with Joanna confined. He died in 1516 and is buried alongside his first wife Isabella in Granada,

23213-401: The urban prefecture of Rome. In the 9th and 10th centuries, Constantinople had a population of between 500,000 and 800,000. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the iconoclast movement caused serious political unrest throughout the Empire. The emperor Leo III issued a decree in 726 against images, and ordered the destruction of a statue of Christ over one of the doors of the Chalke, an act that

23380-414: The view. During Justinian I's reign, the city's population reached about 500,000 people. However, the social fabric of Constantinople was also damaged by the onset of the Plague of Justinian between 541 and 542 AD. It killed perhaps 40% of the city's inhabitants. In the early 7th century, the Avars and later the Bulgars overwhelmed much of the Balkans , threatening Constantinople with attack from

23547-487: The wealthiest provinces of the Empire. Constantinople was built over six years, and consecrated on 11 May 330. Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis. Yet, at first, Constantine's new Rome did not have all the dignities of old Rome. It possessed a proconsul , rather than an urban prefect . It had no praetors , tribunes , or quaestors . Although it did have senators, they held

23714-488: The west. Simultaneously, the Persian Sassanids overwhelmed the Prefecture of the East and penetrated deep into Anatolia . Heraclius , son of the exarch of Africa, set sail for the city and assumed the throne. He found the military situation so dire that he is said to have contemplated withdrawing the imperial capital to Carthage, but relented after the people of Constantinople begged him to stay. The citizens lost their right to free grain in 618 when Heraclius realized that

23881-482: Was "on behalf of the inhabitants of Jerusalem" and, in an apparently concealed threat, mentioned that Valencia and Aragon housed thousands of Muslims who had "no less freedom" than their Christian counterparts in the Spanish realm. This was likely meant to serve as a reminder to the Sultan, should any attempt be made at persecuting Christians in the Holy Land. The mere news of our friendship, indeed, could be useful to you, given our power on land and at sea. Martyr to

24048-413: Was 18 years old and Ferdinand a year younger. Most scholars generally accept that the unification of Spain can essentially be traced back to the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. Their reign was called by W.H. Prescott "the most glorious epoch in the annals of Spain". Spain was formed as a dynastic union of two crowns rather than a unitary state, as Castile and Aragon remained separate kingdoms until

24215-399: Was a revival in the mosaic art, for example: Mosaics became more realistic and vivid, with an increased emphasis on depicting three-dimensional forms. There was an increased demand for art, with more people having access to the necessary wealth to commission and pay for such work. On 25 July 1197, Constantinople was struck by a severe fire which burned the Latin Quarter and the area around

24382-416: Was a step toward the unification of the lands on the Iberian peninsula , which would eventually become Spain. They were second cousins; to marry they needed a papal dispensation . Pope Paul II , an Italian pope opposed to Aragon's influence on the Mediterranean and to the rise of monarchies strong enough to challenge the Pope, refused to grant one, so they falsified a papal bull of their own. Even though

24549-436: Was aided by Pope Sixtus IV's granting the tithe revenue and implementing a crusade tax so that the monarchs could finance the war. After 10 years of fighting the Granada War ended in 1492 when Emir Boabdil surrendered the keys of the Alhambra Palace in Granada to the Castilian soldiers. With the fall of Granada in January 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand pursued further policies of religious unification of their realms, in particular

24716-432: Was arranged, during which Martyr was inquired about the forced conversions. He told the Sultan that the Granadan Moors had chosen the Catholic faith by their own will and blamed the tension on Jews. Martyr promised Spanish naval assistance to al-Ghuri should war break out with the Ottoman Empire . The ambassador's arguments appeared to have convinced the Sultan, who assured Martyr that Christians would be protected and allowed

24883-419: Was authorised to sail west and claim lands for Spain. The monarchs accorded him the title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and he was given broad privileges. His voyage west resulted in the European colonization of the Americas and brought the knowledge of its existence to Europe. Columbus' first expedition to the supposed Indies actually landed in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. Since Queen Isabella had provided

25050-415: Was characterised by the religious unification of the peninsula through militant Catholicism. On receiving a petition for authority, Pope Sixtus IV issued a bull in 1478 to establish a Holy Office of the Inquisition in Castile. This was to ensure that Jews and Muslims who converted to Christianity did not revert to their previous faiths. The papal bull gave the sovereigns full powers to name inquisitors, but

25217-415: Was commissioned by al-Ghuri. Martyr evaluated the design and measured the perimeter of the two largest pyramids, the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Khafre , describing his findings in the Legatio while largely ignoring the smaller Pyramid of Menkaure . The ambassador later directed his attention towards the Great Pyramid's interior. Members of the expedition were instructed to enter the monument through

25384-405: Was done by force and never will be, because our holy faith desires this not be done to anyone." Martyr was also tasked with delivering a message to the Doge of Venice on his way to Egypt. In late August 1501, a month after the issuing of an edict banning Islam in Granada, Martyr left Spain. He traveled through France, passing by Narbonne and Avignon , and reached Venice on October 1, days after

25551-414: Was eighteen years old and the heiress presumptive to the Crown of Castile , while Ferdinand was seventeen and heir apparent to the Crown of Aragon . They met for the first time in Valladolid in 1469 and married within a week. From the start, they had a close relationship and worked well together. Both knew that the crown of Castile was "the prize, and that they were both jointly gambling for it". However, it

25718-420: Was fiercely resisted by the citizens. Constantine V convoked a church council in 754 , which condemned the worship of images, after which many treasures were broken, burned, or painted over with depictions of trees, birds or animals: One source refers to the church of the Holy Virgin at Blachernae as having been transformed into a "fruit store and aviary". Following the death of her husband Leo IV in 780,

25885-401: Was financed by a special tax on all the subjects of the Empire. Theodora, widow of the Emperor Theophilus (died 842), acted as regent during the minority of her son Michael III , who was said to have been introduced to dissolute habits by her brother Bardas. When Michael assumed power in 856, he became known for excessive drunkenness, appeared in the hippodrome as a charioteer and burlesqued

26052-428: Was first published in 1511 as part of his larger Decades of the New World series, with some modifications. It is among the earliest and most extensive Western European accounts of Egypt from that period. Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile ( r.  1474–1504 ) and King Ferdinand II of Aragon ( r.  1479–1516 ), whose marriage and joint rule marked

26219-460: Was founded by the Roman emperor Constantine I (272–337) in 324 on the site of an already-existing city, Byzantium , which was settled in the early days of Greek colonial expansion , in around 657 BC, by colonists of the city-state of Megara . This is the first major settlement that would develop on the site of later Constantinople, but the first known settlements was that of Lygos , referred to in Pliny's Natural Histories. Apart from this, little

26386-409: Was greeted the following morning by Tangriberdy, a Spanish renegade who served as Grand Dragoman to al-Ghuri. Tangriberdy told Martyr that he had been captured years back after his ship sank near the Egyptian coast and was forced to give up his faith to avoid getting killed. They went on to organize the formalities which Martyr was to observe during his reception by the Sultan, scheduled to take place

26553-442: Was in contrast to Castile's reputation in the Islamic world for mistreating its conquered Muslim subjects throughout the centuries-long Reconquista . Qaitbay's death in 1496 was followed by a violent interregnum. This coincided with other developments in the region and beyond, including the discovery of gold in the New World, and Portugal's penetration into the Indian Ocean , placing it on collision course with Mamluk Egypt. And with

26720-445: Was invited to attend his farewell ceremony at the Sultan's palace, where the latter presented him with a silk robe and some embellishing linen and fur accessories. Martyr sailed the Nile down six days later, arriving in Alexandria where he wrote his third and final Legatio letter on April 4. He set sail on April 22 and arrived in Venice on June 30. The Legatio Babylonica compiles the three letters that he wrote during this voyage, and

26887-410: Was later extended to all of Spain. The bull gave the monarchs exclusive authority to name the inquisitors. During the reign of the Catholic Monarchs and long afterwards the Inquisition was active in prosecuting people for violations of Catholic orthodoxy such as crypto-Judaism, heresy, Protestantism, blasphemy, and bigamy. The last trial for crypto-Judaism was held in 1818. In 1492 the monarchs issued

27054-431: Was located), Pontus and Asia comparable to the 100-mile extraordinary jurisdiction of the prefect of Rome. The emperor Valens , who hated the city and spent only one year there, nevertheless built the Palace of Hebdomon on the shore of the Propontis near the Golden Gate , probably for use when reviewing troops. All the emperors up to Zeno and Basiliscus were crowned and acclaimed at the Hebdomon. Theodosius I founded

27221-455: Was powerful without the other". Though their marriage united the two kingdoms, leading to the beginnings of modern Spain, they ruled independently and their kingdoms retained part of their own regional laws and governments for the next centuries. The coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs was designed by Antonio de Nebrija with elements to show their cooperation and working in tandem. The royal motto they shared, Tanto monta ("as much one as

27388-438: Was served by 600 people including 80 priests, and cost 20,000 pounds of gold to build. Justinian also had Anthemius and Isidore demolish and replace the original Church of the Holy Apostles and Hagia Irene built by Constantine with new churches under the same dedication. The Justinianic Church of the Holy Apostles was designed in the form of an equal-armed cross with five domes, and ornamented with beautiful mosaics. This church

27555-427: Was to remain the burial place of the emperors from Constantine himself until the 11th century. When the city fell to the Turks in 1453, the church was demolished to make room for the tomb of Mehmet II the Conqueror. Justinian was also concerned with other aspects of the city's built environment, legislating against the abuse of laws prohibiting building within 100 ft (30 m) of the sea front, in order to protect

27722-411: Was too thoroughly Aragonese to do anything of the sort with the equivalent systems in the Crown of Aragon. Even after his death and the union of the crowns under one monarch, the Aragonese, Catalan, and Valencian Corts (parliaments) retained significant power in their respective regions. Further, the monarchs continued ruling through a form of medieval contractualism, which made their rule pre-modern in

27889-434: Was unable to make good the rewards he had promised to his western allies. Tension between the citizens and the Latin soldiers increased. In January 1204, the protovestiarius Alexios Murzuphlos provoked a riot, it is presumed, to intimidate Alexios IV, but whose only result was the destruction of the great statue of Athena Promachos , the work of Phidias , which stood in the principal forum facing west. In February 1204,

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