(06-09-2014 12:34 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(06-09-2014 12:31 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  

(06-09-2014 10:52 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Destroying the Byzantine Empire and this setting up the future failed conquests of Europe and the fractured social and religious systems of the Balkans are enough for a person to put him on their list.

The Byzantine Empire deserved to die, HOD. Haven't you ever heard the expression Byzantine corruption? There's a reason for that expression, and Sultan Mehmet was the cure.

The Byzantine Empire was the last vestige of the Roman Empire, which while responsible for many innovations, was a barbaric, corrupt Empire responsible for endangering the majority of animals on the endangered species list today, enslaving millions, and murdering all those who didn't want to be slaves or Roman subjects. As for what happened in the Balkans, everything that happened probably would have occurred in the exact same way under the Byzantine Empire. It was already collapsing on it's own. The Turks under Faith Sultan Mehmet merely hurried due process along.

That's personal opinion. The collapse of the Byzantine Empire was a major loss for millions and for Christendom.

And it was an incredible loss for history. The Turks destroyed countless priceless, irreplaceable documents.