folks, we continue the series on Constantinople with the real decline hours. last week, we started looking at the long, slow decline of the Queen of Cities and the Byzantine Empire but that pales in comparison to the final 400 years. after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, it's all downhill as the Byzantines step on rakes, shoot themselves in the foot, and are the victims of just plain bad luck and historical circumstance. from Manzikert to the Fourth Crusade to the Black Death to the final, bleak years before 1453, it's nothing but true, unmitigated decline leading to the inevitable fall next time.

artwork is The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople, Gustave Dore