The Ottoman Empire arose from the ashes of Byzantine ... By the 19th century, though, the empire had entered into terminal decline and was frequently referred to as the "sick man of Europe." ...

This decline culminated in the Ottoman Turks' conquering of Constantinople in 1453 AD. However, a new study suggests the empire actually flourished through a mini-ice age and the Justinianic Plague.

John Julius Norwich tells the dramatic story of the fall of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, followed by the rise of the Ottoman Turks in the 15th Century. Using monuments in Istanbul to ...