To be honest, almost every european can associate something with Constantinople. Almost everyone loves the romanticism and the idea that the Byzantine Empire lay on the fringes of modern Europe. Losing it to the Turks was a major blow for ALL European's at that time, the Turk became an even bigger threat to Europe and the catholic world knew something must be done about it.

As the natural heirs to the Roman Empire, they have deep sympathy routed in many people's minds. Although the army had changed much from the Western Roman days, they still had much of the same legacy and political ideas entrenched deep within their society. And like all good Roman's, liked to fight between each other like spoilt children

It is a shame but like all historical tragedies they are now in the past and we can only speculate and discuss what could have been. I would love to visit Istanbul and see what was left behind by such a great Empire.

My favourite Ottoman idea was the janissary - a Christian child raised as a servant to the sultan. A certain irony exists in this idea, but as soldiers these were perhaps my favourite type medieval corps.