This episode is presented by Depop.
Welcome to Echoes of History, the place to explore the rich stories from the past
that bring the world of Assassin's Creed to life.
I'm Matt Lewis.
Today, we're returning to the Renaissance adventures of Ezio Auditore.
In Assassin's Creed Revelations, we can travel to 16th-century Constantinople,
the heart of the Ottoman Empire.
But not long before Ezio's story begins, the city was the heart of the Byzantine Empire.
How did the Ottomans conquer the mightiest city in the Western world?
And what did this mean for its people and for the rest of Europe and Asia?
To guide me through the city's transformation from Christian to Muslim and Roman to Ottoman,
I'm joined by Dr. Gemma Masson.
In addition to her work as an editor for the H-Empire network,
she's on the committee of the Travelers in Time Ottoman Lands Conference.
This journey has not been what you expected.
Although having never traveled this far east before, you're not entirely sure what you did expect.
The tales you've heard, the ones you grew up being told,
of the strange Eastern lands prepared you for a more dramatic voyage over the sea.
Rather than the broiling waters, aquatic beasts, and heathen pirates that you envisaged,
your ship has sailed unmolested across the Mediterranean Sea.