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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   5159 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 26, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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What's the best short writeup on the fall of Constantinople? A primary or contemporary source would be amazing.

In terms of contemporary Christian accounts there's the Diary of the Siege of Constantinople by the Venetian Nicolo Barbaro and the official Byzantine history by Doukas, though they might be hard to access without academic credentials. The History of Byzantium podcast isn't quite there yet, but hopefully whenever it concludes it will be one of the most accessible sources of information about this period.

It's not quite what you want but Fall of Civilizations podcast is a wonderful series about empires collapsing and their episode in Byzantium is no exception.

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