Why was the capture of Constantinople in 1453 significant for both the Ottoman Turks and Europeans?

Constantinople was founded by Constantine to serve as a new imperial capital for the
Roman Empire, and it would remain one of the great cities in Europe across the Middle Ages, long
after the Western Half of the Roman Empire fell. Constantinople was the center of the Byzantine
Empire, and even as the empire itself disintegrated, the city of Constantinople continued to
endure until the Ottoman conquest of 1453.

This was one of the defining
moments of Early Modern . Constantinople was converted into a new Ottoman capital, Istanbul. The
final conquest of the Byzantine Empire did much to consolidate the Ottoman Empire, and set the
stage for later expansion further into Europe. Throughout the Early Modern Era, the Ottomans
would represent a critical force in European politics.

With the loss of
Constantinople, Christendom lost one of its critical pillars (especially within the Eastern
Orthodox tradition). Furthermore, the fall of Constantinople allowed the Ottomans to control
trade...