Book Review
Constantine XI Dragas Palaeologos (1404-1453) The Last Emperor of Byzantium
by Marios Phillipides
Routledge.
2018.
The last Emperor of Constantinople lives forever. Mr. Phillipides makes this point in this latest biography of the last Emperor of Constantinople. The Emperor was the subject of legends and myths after his martyrdom.
This latest biography however does not focus on the legends. It focuses on the hard facts regarding Constantine. The author makes it clear he does not think Constantine was successful as either statesman or soldier. This is is true.
However, Constantine had the misfortune of rising to power at the end when the Byzantine Empire had through the centuries been ravaged and destroyed. The devastations included the battle of Manzikert, the fourth Crusade, and the various civil wars and power struggles that decimated the Empire. What could the last Constantine really do to salvage the situation?
The book is excellent in terms of history and research but one must still dissent from some points. Mr. Philippides derides the anti unionists who opposed the Council of Florence as fanatics and being uneducated. On the contrary, the anti unionists were very well educated in history and matters of faith.
The anti unionists remembered the treachery of the fourth crusade and understood the devastation of Florence in 1439. These were the realists in Constantinople. They were also the nationalists.
Regarding Constantine and the union of the Churches. Mr. Philippides argues that he supported it. The reality is that the last Emperor is a Greek Orthodox Saint as the author concedes. If the Church makes someone a Saint that person was Orthodox.
This book is an excellent read and recommended. It is an important viewpoint regarding the martyred Emperor even if one does not agree with all points being made.
One reply on “Constantine Paleologos Never Dies”
Emperor Constantine stood at the gates of Byzantium and battled the Ottoman hordes, he went down fighting for the west-most of whose nations ignored his plight. Then as now, the west treated Eastern Orthodoxy with contempt and lack of respect for it’s key role defending civilization.
Today, Greece stands as a bulwark against Turkey and Islamic hordes. It’s up to us to do what we can to assure Greece-unlike the Byzantines-has the tools and support to succeed in it’s role. Mitsotakis seems like the right leader at this time in Greece, he’s certainly the most intelligent and politically astute to lead the nation through these difficult times. And he has powerful friends in the US Congress and White House.
Never again 29 May, 1453. Not on our watch!