Mendelssohn was appointed as the conductor of the Leipzig Orchestra in 1835. This setting was of great importance to him; he felt German and wanted to have a leading role in the musical life of his country. It was in some ways a compensation for previous disappointment. Despite the efforts of the Prussian king to bring him to Berlin, Mendelssohn focused his attention on the development of music life in Leipzig and in 1843 founded the Leipzig Conservatory, where he successfully attracted <u>Ignaz Moscheles and Robert Schumann.</u>
His reorganization of the fiscal, administrative, and military machinery of the empire laid the foundation for the Byzantine Empire in the East and temporarily shored up the decaying empire in the West. The last major persecution of Christians occurred during his reign.
