CONSTANTINE THE GREAT by Reagan Hendrix (uplifting book club books .TXT) 📖

INTRODUCTION
Throughout history we have seen much unrest exist between competing forces which have led to mistrust, separation, and even war. The following will explore similarities in the course of pivotal occurrences in the deterioration of Christian and Islamic relations. Specifically examining the use of individual faith and organized religion to identify common threads of manipulation among political leaders to better motivate and excite the masses around particular campaigns that ultimately provide both economic and political power.
The first event is Constantine the Great’s conversion to Christianity which united the Roman Empire and allowed western culture shape the ideals that Christians eventually adopt. That leads to the Battle for Constantinople, where Constantine XI had a separated empire due to the clash between the Roman Catholic Church and Greek Orthodoxy. Meanwhile, Mehmed II had a unified army under the religion of Islam and took Constantinople for his own. Next, there were the Crusades, perhaps the most famous clash between the two religions, where the Church misused religion to gain wealth, land, and power from the Muslims. And most recently, the Palestinian land conflict, which has been at the heart of much unrest, not only in the region but also affecting policy and positions across the globe.
The intent is to examine and surface similarities in hopes of identifying that we are more connected than we might think. That faith and religion in the hands of less spiritual leadership – has the capacity to divide exponentially. Surfacing a universal concept that permits the faithful to view the politics behind the initiatives will perhaps lead to a more peaceful existence among the rank and file on each side.

CONSTANTINE THE GREAT
Constantine seized power in AD 312. Once in power, he realized his empire was split by the ethnicities of the people conquered. This was exemplified by Bauer’s quote from The History of the Medieval World, “Gaul was a Roman territory, but the Germanic tribes who populated it spoke their own languages and worshipped their own gods.” Bauer continues her argument with, “The Roman Empire held all of these dual identities-Roman and other-together…the other was so strong that the borders of the empire were barely containing it.” Seeing this problem, Constantine searched for a solution. He found Christianity. Anybody could become a Christian, no matter their ethnicity or whether they were free or slave, which made this religion beneficial. Another reason Constantine would have seen Christianity as such an ideal option, was that Christianity had no political homeland (INSERT QUOTE). It could give a sense of identity to the sectionalized empire.
“Constantine, who declared that the Christian god was on his side, confronted Maxentius in Italy. This was a turning point in history of both the Empire and Christianity, which had suffered greatly from the persecutions ordered by Valerian and Diocletian. Maxentius’s troops were defeated in AD 312 in an epic battle at the gates of Rome…and Constantine proclaimed his devotion to the cross.”(superscript) This shows Constantine the Great’s conversion to Christianity, for he felt he was touched by the Holy Spirit and he won the battle against Maxentius, which made him emperor. Once converted, Constantine made the persecution of Christians illegal through the Edict of Milan in AD 313. The Edict of Milan reads, “the Christians, and now any one of these who wish to observe the Christian religion may do so freely and openly, without any disturbance or molestation,” and this seems to have led to making Christianity the state religion easier.
There is a question of whether Constantine the Great’s conversion is a true tale of divine intervention or a ploy to help the advancement of control for Constantine in his newly claimed empire. The motive behind the conversion to Christianity is suspicious, as exemplified by Bourbon and Liberati’s statement in Ancient Rome: History of a Civilization that Ruled the World, Constantine’s conversion is “undoubtedly a political gesture which allowed the victor to pursue unity of the Empire with the support of the new religion.” It seems to lean more toward political advancement rather than a holy development. The evidence shows Constantine was highly involved with the cultivation of Christianity in his empire. Constantine the Great was in the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, when Arius, an Egyptian priest, threatened the unity of Christianity and the empire:
“Arius, who served in...Alexandria had been gathering followers and vexing his bishop, who had finally excommunicated him. This created a potentially serious and major breach, one that might separate a large group of Christians from the main body of the Christian believers”(superscript)
At the Council of Nicaea, the books within the Bible were chosen; in other words, it was decided what information would be given to the public. Also in the Council of Nicaea, the idea of the trinity was formed, to have only one god to follow, thus uniting Rome further. Constantine designed the Church so that it would be organized, orderly, and rational, so controlling the masses of followers would be simpler (INSERT QUOTE).
This is an important event in history because this founds the west as the Christian epicenter, which influenced the ideals Christians adopt, and it shows how religion and church could be used to control the masses. 

CONSTANTINE XI VS. MEHMED II-THE FIGHT FOR CONSTANTINOPLE
In 1451, Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire sought to take Constantinople, under Emperor Constantine XI, for his own. Constantinople was placed on trade routes of both the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, thus it was an optimal location to conquer. Mehmed II desired Constantinople’s ports and trade opportunities, and with it economic growth and political dominance.
Constantine XI struggled to keep the city together because of a schism within the city of Roman Catholic vs. Greek Orthodoxy, where he could “[submit] to papacy and betray the Orthodox faith” or he could support the Orthodox Church. Not only among his people was there dissonance, but also within Constantine’s advisors. With the growing power of the Ottoman Turks, there were many different solutions, the problem was that Constantine’s advisors wanting glory, verbally attacked one another and their ideas, which led to minimal accomplishments. The competition among Constantine’s advisors “severely hindered his ability to reach decisions regarding a policy toward the Ottoman Empire.” (Adam William Hellebuyck).
One solution, proposed by the advisor Notaras was “that any relationship with the Turks had to focus upon dissuading them from attacking the Imperial capital,” and that the best action at that point was to “stall for time while Byzantium asked the Western Christians for aid.” Another advisor, George Sphrantzes, saw Mehmed II to be incredibly power hungry
“This man, who just became Sultan, is young and an enemy of the Christians since childhood; he threatens with proud spirit that he will put in operation certain plans against the Christians…If God should grant that the young Sultan be overcome by his youth and evil nature and march against our City, I know not what will happen. Indeed, God would have granted a joyous occasion if this man, Murad’s son, had died instead.” George Sphrantzes
Even though all advisors disagreed on tactics, all supported calling for help from the Papacy. “The relationship between the papacy and Constantine XI’s administration represents a success in Byzantine personal diplomacy.” However, no aid came to Constantinople; even more, the pope used the conflict between the Byzantines and Ottomans “to gain religious concessions from the Greeks.” (Adam w. h.superscript)
When the Turks did attack the city, the Byzantines could do little. Many went to Hagia Sophia, the Church of Holy Wisdom, for refuge. Before fighting the Ottomans, Emperor Constantine XI addressed his people one last time. “The enemy…are supported by guns, cavalry, infantry, and their numerical superiority, but we rely on the name of the Lord our God and Savior, and secondly, on our hands and the strength which has been granted to us by the power of God.” Appealing to the Christian populous, whether Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox, of Constantinople.
This made taking the last city, in the east, of Christian importance (“Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem in the eastern half of the Roman Empire were regional centers that made claims of independence in the running of regional churches under their care” FactsOnFile-Catholicism and Orthodoxy) easier for Mehmed II, with a unified army to take. As well as having studied the classic empire builders, such as Alexander the Great, Mehmed II had the best weaponry possible (“Mehmet had been assembling his army in Thrace, where his armourers and engineers had been at work throughout the winter to prepare weapons, armour, artillery and siege machines” The Grand Turk, Freely). Mehmed II breached the city and he intended on making it “the capital of his Empire” (The Fall of Constantinople, 1453, Dr. Hatzopoulos).
Once inside, “the first thing that he [Mehmed II] did after conquering [Constantinople] was to go to Hagia Sophia and take an ax and break down the Christian alter there to prove that another faith had taken over.”(Dr. Maier) Mehmed II later transformed the Chapel of Hagia Sophia to a Muslim mosque, to solidify that Constantinople was now under Muslim control. To even further cement his control over the city, he renamed the city from Constantinople to Istanbul.
It could be argued that Mehmed II, on the same logic of Constantine the Great, used a united religious front to advance his empire as well. Constantine the great made Christianity the state religion and supported it heavily and it made the empire of Rome united. Mehmed II, with Islam, successfully overtook the last city “from the mighty Christian Roman Empire and its presence, in the midst of the dominions of the powerful new rulers of the lands of Romania” (The Fall of Constantinople, 1453)
This event is important because it exemplifies Constantine the Great’s logic. Constantinople wasn’t unified together under one religion because of the divide between