The Rise of Islam in the Balkans: The History of the Ottoman Empire's Islamization Efforts in Eastern Europe

In terms of geopolitics, perhaps the most seminal event of the Middle Ages was the successful Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453. The city had been an imperial capital as far back as the 4th century, when Constantine the Great shifted the power center of the Roman Empire there, effectively establishing two almost equally powerful halves of antiquity's greatest empire. Naturally, the Ottoman Empire would also use Constantinople as the capital of its empire after their conquest effective...