 They would eventually retake the capital for Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261, and though reduced by then to a small force, barely exceeding 20,000 men at most, would continue to defend the empire ably until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.In no small part due to increased reliance on mercenaries from the "Latin" west, the later tagmatic armies would come to resemble those of western Europe at the time, more than their Roman, Greek or Near-Eastern antecedents.The bulk of the Byzantine infantry were the "skoutatoi", named from the word "skouton", for their large oval or kite-shaped shield.