What happened to the Eastern Orthodox Church after Constantinople fell?

Following the Fall of Constantinople, a large portion of the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians came under Ottoman Turkish rule. Despite this massive political shift, Orthodoxy continued to flourish both inside the Ottoman Empire among Christian subject peoples and independently in Russia. Later, as the Ottoman Empire declined duringmouth the 19th century, newly independent majority-Orthodox nations established several new autocephalous churches.

What we know

• The Fall of Constantinople brought a large part of the world's Orthodox Christians under Ottoman Turkish rule. [4]
• Orthodoxy continued to flourish within the Ottoman Empire among its Christian subject peoples, as well as in Russia, while Constantinople serves as the mother church and historical seat. [2, 4]
• As the Ottoman Empire declined in the 19th century, majority-Orthodox nations regained independence and organized new autocephalous Orthodox churches. [4]

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureWhat was the Great Schism between East and West?
• what followedHow did Russia become a major center for Orthodox Christianity?
• what caused itWhy did the Ottoman Empire decline in the 19th century?
• a case in pointWhat role does the Ecumenical Patriarchate play today?
• compared withHow did communist rule affect the Albanian Orthodox Church?
• an unexpected connectionHow did an ancient medieval patriarchate survive under Ottoman rule?Although the Fall of Constantinople placed major Orthodox populations under Islamic Ottoman rule, regional churches like the Bulgarian Orthodox Church maintained deep historical roots dating back to the medieval period.

Sources

• [1]Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Wikidata Q211004) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Bulgarian Orthodox Church · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]History of the Eastern Orthodox Church · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Albanian Orthodox Church · CC BY-SA 4.0