196 Constantinople
practical, with the rest probably done by disciples or stu-
dents. He died about 1087 at Monte Cassino.
Further reading: Charles Burnett and Danielle
Jacquart, eds., Constantine the African and Ali ibn al-Abbas
al-Magusi: The Pantegni and Related Texts(Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1994); Marie-Thérèse d’Alverny, “Translations and
Translators” in Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth
Centuryeds. Benson, Robert and Giles Constable with
Carol D. Lanham (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1982), 421–462.
Constantinople (Byzantium) Modern Istanbul, Con-
stantinople was the capital of the BYZANTINEEMPIREfrom
324 to 1453, except in 1204–61, when it was the capital
of a LATINEMPIREfounded by the Fourth Crusade. Con-
stantinople’s importance for every aspect of the history of
the Byzantine Empire cannot be overstated.
The emperor CONSTANTINEI’s motives in establishing
the new capital in 324 were not clear at the time; he may
have viewed it initially as a new imperial residence, simi-
lar to those in MILANand to that of DIOCLETIANat nearby
Nicomedia or perhaps as a new Christian capital, sepa-
rated from Rome’s paganism. It was obviously closer to
the richer eastern part of the empire. In any case, he
called it “New Rome,” though it soon became Con-
stantinople, or the “city of Constantine.”
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCEConstantinople’s strategic position was clear. It was at the
end of the Roman road the Via Egnatia, which linked to
Italy in the west and crossed over to ANATOLIAin the east.
On the west or European side, Constantinople had access
through straits, to the north through the Bosporus to the
BLACKSEAand to the south through the Hellespont to the
AEGEAN SEA. After being fortified with a massive land
wall, it would be very difficult to capture, since it would
have to be besieged by sea as well. It had a superb natural
harbor called the Golden Horn usually fortified by a
chain across its entrance. The impressive land walls built
by the emperor Theodosios II (r. 408–450), stretching
about six kilometers, were given additional protection by
a deep ditch and a system of outer and inner walls. These
defenses survived several sieges by the Persians, AVARS,
Muslims, and BULGARS, only to fall to the Christian cru-
saders and a Venetian fleet in 1204.
After the huge building program of the emperor JUS-
TINIANI in the first half of the sixth century, little was
added to the city until the revival of the empire in the
10th century. Much damage to the fabric and population
of the city was done during the capture, sack, and occu-
pation by the crusaders in 1204. Only a part of the
destruction and the population was ever restored after
the Greeks retook the city in 1261. It was described in
the 15th century as a series of villages enclosed by mas-
sive walls instead of the old continuous urban complex.
Robert of Clari’s (ca. 1216) description of the early
13th century demonstrated a sense of wonderment at a
city whose population even then may have been as high
as 300,000. At the same time VENICE, the largest city in
the West, may have had a population of around 80,000
at most. Constantinople’s central street, the Mese, led
to the heart of the city, the Great Palace, near which
were the HIPPODROME, the Augustaion, the baths of
Zeuxippus, the underground Basilike cistern, and the
important churches of HAGIASOPHIA, Saint Irene, and
Saints Sergios and Bacchos.
The city had long been a bastion of resistance against
Islamic expansion. With the advances of the OTTOMAN
Turks into Europe and Anatolia at the end of the 14th
century, Constantinople became a real frontier city. Con-
stantinople was conquered by the Ottomans and their
huge siege artillery on May 29, 1453. The Turks made it
their capital.
See alsoART AND ARCHITECTURE,BYZANTINE;BASILI
THEMACEDONIAN;BASILII THEBULGARSLAYER;CHURCH,
EASTERNORTHODOX;CRUSADES;KOMNENE,ANNA;KOM-
NENOI DYNASTY;MACEDONIAN DYNASTY;PALAIOLOGI
IMPERIAL DYNASTY;SCHISM,GREAT(1054); SELJUKTURKS
OFRUM.
Further reading:Richard Krautheimer, Three Chris-
tian Capitals: Rome, Constantinople, Milan(Berkeley: Uni-
versity of California Press, 1983); Thomas F. Mathews,
The Early Churches of Constantinople: Architecture and
Liturgy(University Park: Pennsylvania State University
Press, 1971); Dean A. Miller, Imperial Constantinople
(New York: Wiley, 1969); Jean-Michael Spieser, “Con-
stantinople,” EMA,1.300–362.Constantinople, Latin occupation of (1204–1261)
SeeBYZANTINEEMPIRE ANDBYZANTIUM:CONSTANTINOPLE;
CRUSADES.contraception and abortion The actual process of
fertilization was not understood in the Middle Ages, at
which time, and probably before, abortion was known to
be induced by the ingestion of certain herbs. It was also
clear that some kind of physical intervention led to the
same result. In the Middle Ages for Christians, abortion
of a fertilized embryo or fetus after 40 days of gestation
was perceived as potentially a homicide. The PENITEN-
TIALSprogressively assigned to it only a year of penance,
three years after 40 days, and seven years, the same as for
homicide. This had to be after the detection of animation
or movement by the fetus. That movement was taken as
the definite moment of ensoulment when the fetus
became a human. Judaism and Islam regarded abortion in
similar ways. However, they were more explicit that it
could not be done for economic or social reasons, but
only for danger to the mother’s life. Ensoulment for some
rabbis meant that the soul became present, thus a fetus