[AnAmericanMother]

I think by its terms the discussion is limited to Europe proper. There was, technically speaking, no “Middle Ages” in Constantinople, since it did not undergo the same changes that the West experienced, and it fell in the middle of the 15th century.

[americanophile]

"I think by its terms the discussion is limited to Europe proper."

...which is why excluding the eastern half of the Roman Empire is perplexing.