ABSTRACT
Europe in the mid-fifteenth century was far from the dominating continent that it would become a couple of centuries later. It was in fact one of the weakest, most fragmented, and troubled regions in the Old World. It was on the defensive against the dynamic Ottoman empire, which dominated the Islamic Middle East. The Ottomans controlled the eastern Mediterranean Sea and could cut Europe off from the silks, porcelains, spices, and other prized items brought overland from the Far East. After capturing Constantinople in 1453, Ottoman forces invaded the Balkans and penetrated well into Eastern Europe, eventually taking Budapest and even besieging Vienna (though unsuccessfully). Otranto on the southern tip of Italy also fell to them for a brief period in 1480.
