Rebuilding the Silk Road
Over centuries, the Silk Road became one of the most important trade routes in the world. It connected the Far East to the world beyond, and allowed culture, philosophy and art to reach new audiences just as it brought trade to new lands. Yet the Silk Road was hazardous and, as those who used it found to their cost, subject to the shifting balance of sometimes unstable power.
For nearly two centuries, the continent was ravaged by the Byzantine-Ottoman Wars as the Christian Byzantine Empire came under repeated and ultimately devastating attack from the Muslim Ottoman Turks. The Byzantine Empire was riven with internal division and external conflicts. It was ripe for conquer and the Ottomans were swift to take advantage. During the 14th century they moved through Byzantine territory, taking it bit by bit.
“The strategic position and
