I suggest that part of the reason for the fall of Constantinople and the Romanoi was the Hungarian cannon. The inventor of these cannon tried to do business with the government of Constantinopolos, but no, they were not interested. The Turks were very interested.
Turning down good ideas. Is that how we define ‘decadance’ today?
I’ve always read they were interested, but didn’t have the ability to pay Urban the amount he wanted.
I too would contest the assertion that the fall had to do with internal decadence. However, I would say that civil strife and internal squabbling did play a large part of the decline.
Of course, the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade didn’t really help too much, either.