Posted on 05/29/2019 7:11:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Of all of Islam’s conquests of Christian territory, the most symbolically significant occurred today, on May 20, 1453, when Constantinople fell. For not only was “New Rome” a living and direct extension of the ancient Roman Empire and current capital of the Christian Roman Empire (or Byzantium), but its cyclopean walls had prevented Islam from entering Europe through its eastern doorway for the previous seven centuries.
On becoming Ottoman sultan, Mehmet, or Muhammad II (b. 1432, r. 1451-1481) -- “the mortal enemy of the Christians,” to quote a contemporary prelate -- made ready for war. Throughout the spring of 1453 the city watched helplessly as his forces made their way to and surrounded Constantinople by land and sea. One contemporary remarked that Muhammad’s “army seemed as numberless as grains of sand, spread... across the land from shore to shore.” In the end, some one hundred thousand fighters came.
Muhammad commenced bombardment on April 6. Although he tried to go over, through, and under the walls, he made little headway. Some six weeks after he had started pummeling Constantinople, he was no nearer his goal.
So he assembled and exhorted his men for one last-ditch effort: “As it happens in all battles, some of you will die, as it is decreed by fate for each man,” he began. “Recall the promises of our Prophet concerning fallen warriors in the Koran: the man who dies in combat shall be transported bodily to Paradise and shall dine with Mohammed in the presence of women, handsome boys, and virgins.”
Even so, Sultan Muhammad knew that rewards in the now were always preferable to promises in the hereafter.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
A very dark time indeed. Thank God for the Islamic civil war that kept the world wreckers at bay while Western Europe rebuilt itself.
Vikings were extinct by the time of Turkish Constantinople’s takeover.
The story is probably based on a Russian-Byzantine war. It has ended in 907 ad with Russian victory in Constantinople then capital of East Roman Empire but the war was actually about a trade dispute so the Russians didn’t occupy the city. There was a little pillage in suburbs after Roman army was crushed by the Russians but Byzantines agreed to remove tariffs on Russian trade and agreed to pay reparations. Then Kievan Prince Oleg symbolically nailed his shield to the city gates to show who is boss and the Russians went home.
Turks weren’t anywhere near at the time.
thanx Ragnar
Viking expansion was in between late 8th and mid-10th centuries. Turks came close to Europe in 15th century.
Depends on your flavor of Turk & where you draw the Europe boundary
For example
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oghuz_Turks
The Byzantines were using Turk mercenaries for quite a while before they became a problem.
Yep, that was one of the Byzantines blunders. I means Turks weren’t in control of the Eastern Med before that time.
You are a Sheldon of the humanities :-)
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