constantinople

After the crusaders took constantinople, the byzantine empire broke up into several countries, some controlled by crusaders, some by greeks.

Eventually the greeks took constantinople back but by that time it was depopulated from continuous war.

The turks then easily took over the various parts of the empire and took over constantinople.

Also it depends on where you are, because of course Constantinople didn't have that issue.

The Icelandic sagas, for example, document the prestige won by Norse warriors who traveled to Constantinople and served in the Varangian Guard.

He wants a non-wahhabist (but still quite strict) caliphate centered in constantinople.

That was them, calling Constantinople 'the City'.

- Constantinople falls to Islam after 700 years of relentless wars.

There are stories about when the nobles of the first Crusade visited Constantinople they were thinking how much different the Emperors of the East were compared to what they knew of the old Roman Empire.

So you could say the Greeks ruled for 2000 yrs from Alexander the Great (400BC) to the fall of Constantinople to the Turks (1500AD), though the Romans ran things for 500-odd years in the middle.

Muslims were cruel in those times, but I don't think they were anything special (read that section about Constantinople in 602 in that first link, and think of Rome, the crusades, and the colonization of Africa, centuries later).

I think the big difference is, in the Middle East, the caravans had to travel very long distances (for instance, Mecca to Constantinople was a profitable route) over very _diverse_ desert terrain, some of which is probably very unsuitable for carts (mountain passes, loose sand).

Wasn't this project originally called "Constantinople"?

That page says "The outbreak in Constantinople was thought to have been carried to the city by infected rats on grain boats arriving from Egypt.[7] To feed its citizens, the city and outlying communities imported massive amounts of grain—mostly from Egypt.

This was by edict "The international name Constantinople also remained in use until the Turkish Postal Service Law of March 28, 1930, according to which all foreign countries were asked to solely use the name Istanbul also in their languages and their postal service networks."

(note that "catholic" in this means "diverse" and doesn't specifically refer to the Catholic church) [2] the differences between the two creeds listed there are basically what split the Orthodox church from the Western church and indirectly led to the fall of Constantinople.

Constantinople gave the world the mold that all absolute rulers ever since have been cast in.

There was resistance to Istanbul as well; the hit song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) dates from 1953.

Maybe it made life harder for Constantinople, but the eastern empire was getting hammered on all sides just like the west, but managed to hang on.