The fall of Constantinople was a triumph of a civilization, not of barbarism

Evidence

The loss of Constantinople was certainly a defeat of Christendom and of Europe—though perhaps not so total as was once feared. It is not without sig­ nificance that the Turks today are celebrating the 500th anniversary of their great victory by the Gregorian and not by the Muslim calendar. Nor was it a victory of barbarism, but rather of another and not undistinguished civilization. The four slender minarets that the Turks added to the Church of Santa Sophia may be, for the Christian, a desecration. They are not a defacement. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 646

Categorization

• SHARE: The detail that Turks commemorated the 500th anniversary by the Gregorian calendar is a neat specific likely to interest anyone into post-Byzantine or Ottoman studies.
• CANDY: The Gregorian-vs-Muslim-calendar anniversary choice is a light, tweetable curiosity.