123. The fall of Constantinople, pope Pius II, and the birth of Europe, with Nancy Bisaha

Byzantium & Friends

A conversation with Nancy Bisaha (Vassar College) about the origins of the idea of "Europe" as a place of identity and not just geography. One of its first theorists was the Italian humanist Aeneas Piccolomini (later pope Pius II), who was in part reacting to the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. The problem of whom to include and exclude as Europeans was there from the start. We talk about Aeneas himself and the siege of the City. The conversation is based on Nancy's recent book, From Christians to Europeans: Pope Pius II and the Concept of the Modern Western Identity (Routledge 2023).