What is History of Europe?
[[File:Abraham Ortelius Map of Europe.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Europe as seen by the cartographer [[Abraham Ortelius]] in 1595]] The '''history of Europe''' means all the time since the beginning of written records in the [[Europe]]an [[continent]] up to the present day. It is traditionally divided into ancient (before the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]]) medieval, and modern (after the fall of [[Constantinople]]). Europe's [[ancient history|antiquity]] dates from the [[Minoan civilization]], the [[Myceneans]] and later on [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' in [[Ancient Greece]] of around 700&nbsp;BC. The [[Roman Republic]] was established in 509&nbsp;BC, which was usurped by [[Octavian]]'s new [[Roman Empire]] at its first century BC peak. The [[Christianity|Christian]] religion was adopted in the fourth century, and in the sixth was organized, within the Empire, by Emperor [[Justinian I]] (527–565) with five most important cities: [[Rome]], [[Constantinople]], [[Antioch]], [[Jerusalem]] and [[Alexandria]]. The fall of the Western Roman Empire was followed by a decline of Western Europe. The [[Byzantine Empire]] survived in the East. A [[East-West Schism|new schism]] within the church's authority in 1054 was added to the earlier division that had persisted since [[Council of Chalcedon|451]]. It was followed by [[Crusades]] from west to rescue the [[Holy Land]] from [[Islam|Muslim]] invasion. Feudal society began to break down, as the [[Black Death]] spread.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/black_death.html|title=The Great Famine and the Black Death - 1315-1317, 1346-1351 - Lectures in Medieval History - Dr. Lynn H. Nelson, Emeritus Professor, Medieval History, KU|website=www.vlib.us|access-date=2008-03-24|archive-date=2008-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308175242/http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/Black_death.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/endmiddle/FRAMES/ottoframe.html|t