Constantinople fell twice, once to the Latins and finally to the Turks.
It experienced first hand the brutality of the western crusaders who in 1203 had sacked the city in one of the greatest atrocities in history, magnified several-fold by the immense cultural and intellectual loss in what was one of the great centers of world civilization. This shocking act of barbarism surpassed the sacking of Rome by the Goths or the, relatively humane, in comparison, subsequent sacking of Byzantium by the Turks. Here is how it was recorded by one Byzantine historian:
"No one was without a share in the grief. In the alleys, in the streets, in the temples, complaints, weeping, lamentations, grief, the groaning of men, the shrieks of women, wounds, rape, captivity, the separation of those most closely united. Nobles wandered about ignominiously, those of venerable age in tears, the rich in poverty. Thus it was in the streets, on the corners, in the temple, in the dens, for no place remained unassailed or defended the suppliants. All places everywhere were filled full of all kinds of crime. Oh, immortal God, how great the afflictions of the men, how great the distress!"
The Byzantine historian Nicetas Koniates wrote: "even the Muslims are human and well-disposed, compared to those people who carry the cross of Christ on the shoulders"
“Better the Sultan’s turban than the cardinal’s hat”
Posted by: Stavros | 19 June 2009 at 12:55 AM
http://greekodyssey.typepad.com/my_gree ... us-gr.html
Not every Greek is as prejudiced as Oracle... they don't even hate Turks because they r well knowledged Greeks...