Constantinople

Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις, Kōnstantinoúpolis; Latin: Nova Roma or Constantinopolis; Ottoman Turkish: قسطنطینیه, Kostantiniyye and modern Turkish: İstanbul) was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), the Latin, and the Ottoman Empires. It was founded (AD 330) at ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine I, after whom it was named. The city was the largest and wealthiest European city of the Middle Ages, and shared the glories of the Byzantine Empire, which was eventually reduced to the city and its environs. Although besieged innumerable times by various peoples, it was taken only in 1204 by the army of the Fourth Crusade, in 1261 by Michael VIII, and in 1453 by the...