Map 1390: The Crusades were still under way during this period with the Holy Land still a prize to be won from the Turks by Western Christendom. The Pope was using the very real threat of the Turks to support his need for a Papal temporal dominion with armed forces. Indeed the Turks were threatening to roast the Pope on the altar of St Peter's. Byzantium or the Eastern Roman Empire was reduced to just a foot hold in Europe and the western part of Asia Minor. It would pass away in 63 years from the date of this map with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. In spite of all the changes the Papal States still were the center of political power in Europe. The Pope still ratified the Emperor and the kings of Europe.

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