GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY; CLIMATE

[rachel2205]

LOCATION

"Located on a horn-shaped peninsula astride the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, ... Constantinople dominated the narrow waterway that divides Europe from Asia. The complexities of that geography provided both advantages and challenges to the site's defense. A steep and rugged shoreline and the Sea of Marmara's swift currents protected the

Comments

[silence_excolo]

A quick question - With Konstantiniyye being such a melting pot & quite full of wealth & culture, along with the emphasis on naval power, would there have been the same surge of piracy on the high seas as in our world? I'm still reading up on everything (and it's almost 3am, so I'm sure to have missed some stuff), but I'm guessing trade routes would be fairly different, not to mention relations between Great Britain &, well, everyone else? XD

[snakey]

One of the reasons I was thinking about relationships with other countries was trade routes! :D

[rachel2205]

I think piracy makes a lot of sense. And would probably be severely punished in the city... But also potentially funded by different powers if piracy was targeted at other powers. >_> *thinks of Francis Drake*

[tezcatl_ipoca]

I had not been thinking about this at all. >.>

[silence_excolo]

Actually, I had ^__^ There's a fine line between pirates & privateers!

[tezcatl_ipoca]

heh, my >.> was *shiftyeyes* because i'd been thinking about it...definitely something for the two of us to liaise on? :D

[silence_excolo]

Oh, I see, sir; seems I misread your shifty eyes... We do seem to be of like minds on the issue, then? XD I've been looking for (yet another) excuse to read up on piracy!

[tezcatl_ipoca]

Eeeexcellent.... *plots vaguely*

[silence_excolo]

I was also wondering if Konstantiniyye might be something akin to what Port Royal was in it's day; perhaps a touch less debauched, but still a haven for merchants & traders, religiously & culturally diverse, but with separate powers hiring out to undermine the riches of other countries. The Brits basically started the whole privateering thing to undermine the Spanish IIRC, but while most of that ended with the Queen Anne's War & the Treaty of Portsmouth, piracy still continued well into the 1700s. So perhaps they continued after losing Constantinople?

Hmm, I think I need to research more on trade routes :D

[snakey]

Privateering on the part of the British definitely continued into the C19th - letters of marque were very much being issued during both the war with America and the wars with France....

[silence_excolo]

YOU, my friend, are smart. I did not know that. Of course, most of my so-called research has been restricted to the "golden age" of piracy, you know, for my performance. I have much to learn :D *is giddY*

[snakey]

Whereas mine has been directed towards the Napoleonic era of the British navy XD