[Destro]

Constantinople resisted Islam for 1,000 years. The Turks did not appear in Thrace until the end. You are indeed ignorant.

[Tuco Ramirez]

You are correct; the city of Constantinople resisted Islam for 1,000 years. The Empire itself (including the Holy Land) fell quickly indeed. As long as you held the city until 1453, the fact that EVERYTHING ELSE around fell doesn't count for anything, does it? Turks took everything else long before 1453.

What "Westerners" did to Constantinople pales in comparison to what the Turks did; Westerners are just an easier target for sour grapes, huh?

[Antoninus]

Constantinople resisted Islam for 1,000 years. The Turks did not appear in Thrace until the end.

That is true. However, aside from a brief revival in the tenth century, the period from AD 565 to AD 1071 is one of decline and dismemberment of the Eastern Empire. The great provinces of Italy, Egypt, Africa, Syria, Palestine, Sicily, and most of Asia Minor were lost to the empire forever.

The fact that Byzantium survived at all past the 12th century can be attributed to the fact that the crusades took some of the pressure off.