Byzantine Empire

"Byzantine" redirects here. For other uses, see Byzantine (disambiguation).

Roman (Byzantine) Empire Βασιλεία Ρωμαίων
330–1453
Flag of the late Empire Imperial Emblem (under the Palaiologoi)
Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. 550. Territories in purple reconquered during reign of Justinian the Great
Capital	Constantinople (330–1204 and 1261–1453)
Common languages	Greek (along with Latin in the early centuries)
Religion	Eastern Orthodox Church
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
• 306–337	Constantine the Great
• 1449–1453	Constantine XI
Megas Doux
• To 1453	Loukas Notaras
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Established	330
• Foundation of Constantinople	May 11, 330
• East-West Schism	1054
• Fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade	1204
• Reconquest of Constantinople	1261 = Despotate of Morea
• Disestablished	1453
Area
peak	4,500,000 km2 (1,700,000 sq mi)
Population
• 4th century	34,000,000 ³
Currency	Solidus, Hyperpyron
¹ Until the 13th century ² Establishment date traditionally considered to be the re-founding of Constantinople as a capital of the Roman Empire ³ See this table of population figures provided by the History Department of Tulane University. The numbers are based on estimates made by J.C. Russell in "Late Ancient and Medieval Population," published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1958), ASIN B000IU7OZQ.

The Byzantine Empire or Byzantium (Greek: Βασιλεία των Ρωμαίων) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered around its capital of Constantinople. The Empire is also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, although this name is more commonly used when referring to the time before the fall of the Western Roman Empire. During much of its history it was known to many of its Western contemporaries as the Empire of the Greeks because of the dominance of Greek language, culture and population. To its inhabitants, the Empire was simply the Roman Empire and its emperors continued the unbroken succession of Roman emperors. In the Islamic world it was known primarily as Template:Rtl-lang (Rûm).

There is no consensus on exactly when the Byzantine period began. Many consider the Roman Emperor Constantine I (reigned 306–337) to be the first Byzantine Emperor. He founded Constantinople as a "New Rome" in 330 and moved the capital from Rome.

Some date the beginnings of the Empire to the reign of Theodosius I (379–395) and Christianity's official supplanting of the pagan Roman religion, or following his death in 395, when the political division between East and West became permanent. Others place it yet later in 476, when Romulus Augustulus, traditionally considered the last western Emperor, was deposed, thus leaving sole imperial authority with the emperor in the Greek East. Others point to the reorganization of the empire in the time of Heraclius (ca. 620) when Latin titles and usages were officially replaced with Greek versions.

In any case, the changeover was gradual and by 330, when Constantine inaugurated his new capital, the process of Hellenization and increasing Christianization was already under way.

The Empire is generally considered to have ended after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, although Greek rule continued over areas of the Empire's territory for several more years, until the fall of Mystras in 1460 and Trebizond in 1461.

History of the name "Byzantine"

Further information: Names of the Greeks

The term Byzantine Empire is an invention of historians and was never used during the Empire's lifetime. The Empire's name in Greek was Basileia tōn Rōmaiōn or just Rōmania (Greek: Βασιλεία Ρωμαίων—a translation of the Latin name of the Roman Empire, Imperium Romanorum (Latin: Imperium Romanum). The description of the Empire as "Byzantine" began in Western Europe in 1557, when German historian Hieronymus Wolf published his work Corpus Historiae By­zantinæ, a collection of Byzantine sources. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre (Corpus Scriptorum Historiæ Byzantinæ), and in 1680 of Du Cange's Historia Byzantina further popularized the use of Byzantine among French authors, such as Montesquieu. Before this, the Empire was described by Western Europeans as Imperium Graecorum (Empire of the Greeks)—Byzantine claims to Roman inheritance had been actively contested from at least the time of the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in 800. Whenever the Popes or the rulers of the West wanted to make use of the name "Roman" to refer to the Byzantine emperors, they preferred the term "Imperator Romæorum" instead of "Imperator Romanorum", a title reserved only for Charlemagne and his successors.

Origin

Partition of the Roman Empire

Map of the Roman Empire ca. 395, showing the dioceses and praetorian prefectures of Gaul, Italy, Illyricum and Oriens (east), roughly analogous to the four Tetrarchs' zones of influence after Diocletian's reforms.

During the 2nd and 3rd centuries, three crises came together and threatened the crumbling Roman Empire: external invasions, internal civil wars, and an economy riddled with weaknesses and problems. Meanwhile, the city of Rome became less important as an administrative centre for the Roman Empire. The crisis of the 3rd century displayed the defects of the heterogeneous system of government which Augustus had established to administer his immense dominion. His successors had introduced some modifications, but events made it clearer that a new, more centralised and more uniform system was required.

Diocletian was responsible for creating a new administrative system (the tetrarchy). He associated himself with a coemperor, or Augustus. Each Augustus then adopted a young colleague, or Caesar, to share in the rule and eventually to succeed the senior partner. After the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian the tetrachy collapsed, and Constantine I replaced it with the dynastic principle of hereditary succession.

Constantine I and his successors

File:Constantine's baptism.jpg

The Baptism of Constantine painted by Raphael's pupils (1520–1524, fresco, Vatican City, Apostolic Palace). Eusebius of Caesaria records that, as was customary among Christian converts at the time, Constantine delayed receiving baptism until shortly before his death.

Constantine moved the seat of the Empire, and introduced important changes into its civil and religious constitution. In 330, he founded Constantinople as a second Rome on the site of Byzantium, which was well-positioned astride the trade routes between East and West; it was a superb base from which to guard the Danube and Tanais rivers, and was reasonably close to the Eastern frontiers. Constantine also began the building of the great fortified walls, which were expanded and rebuilt in subsequent ages. According to Edward Gibbon, "Constantine was not insensible to the ambition of founding a city which might perpetuate the glory of his own name." And indeed Constantine's city flourished mightily throughout the Middle Ages. J. B. Bury asserts that "the foundation of Constantinople [...] inaugurated a permanent division between the Eastern and Western, the Greek and the Latin, halves of the Empire – a division to which events had already pointed – and affected decisively the whole subsequent history of Europe."

Constantine built upon the administrative reforms introduced by Diocletian. He stabilized the coinage (the gold solidus that he introduced became a highly priced and stable currency), and made changes to the structure of the army. To divide administrative responsibilities, Constantine replaced the single praetorian prefect, who had traditionally exercized both military and civil functions, with regional prefects enjoying civil authority alone. In the course of the 4th century, four great sections emerged from these Constantinian beginnings, and the practice of separating civil from military authority persisted until the 7th century.

File:Byzantium395AD2lightpurple.PNG

The Roman Empire, c.395 AD.

Under Constantine, Christianity did not become the exclusive religion of the state, but enjoyed imperial preference, since the Emperor supported it with generous privileges: clerics were exempted from personal services and taxation, Christians were preferred for administrative posts, and bishops were entrusted with judicial responsibilities. Constantine established the principle that emperors should not settle questions of doctrine, but should summon general ecclesiastical councils for that purpose. The Synod of Arles was convened by Constantine, and the First Council of Nicaea showcased his claim to be head of the Church.

The state of the empire in 395 may be described in terms of the outcome of Constantine's work. The dynastic principle was established so firmly that the emperor who died in that year, Theodosius I, could bequeath the imperial office jointly to his sons: Arcadius in the East and Honorius in the West. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over the full extent of the empire in both its halves.

Early history

The Eastern Empire was largely spared the difficulties that the West faced in the 3rd and 4th centuries, partly owing to a more firmly established urban culture and greater financial resources, which allowed it to placate invaders with tribute and pay barbarian mercenaries. Throughout the 5th century, various invading armies overran the Western Empire but spared the east. Theodosius II further fortified the walls of Constantinople, leaving the city impenetrable to attacks; they were not breached until 1204. To fend off the Huns of Attila, Theodosius gave them subsidies (purportedly 300 kg (700 lb) of gold). Moreover, he favored merchants living in Constantinople who traded with the barbarians.

His successor, Marcian, refused to continue to pay this exorbitant sum. However, Attila had already diverted his attention to the Western Roman Empire. After he died in 453, his empire collapsed and Constantinople initiated a profitable relationship with the remaining Huns, who would eventually fight as mercenaries in Byzantine armies.

Leo I of the Byzantine Empire (401–474, reigned 457–474).

After the fall of Attila, the true chief in Constantinople was the Alan general Aspar. Leo I managed to free himself from the influence of the barbarian chief by supporting the rise of the Isaurians, a semi-barbarian tribe living in southern Anatolia. Aspar and his son Ardabur were murdered in a riot in 471, and henceforth, Constantinople was freed from the influence of barbarian leaders for centuries.

Leo was also the first emperor to receive the crown not from a military leader, as was the Roman tradition, but from the Patriarch of Constantinople, representing the ecclesiastical hierarchy. This change became permanent, and in the Middle Ages the religious characteristic of the coronation completely supplanted the old military form. In 468, Leo unsuccessfully attempted to reconquer North Africa from the Vandals. By that time, the Western Roman Empire was restricted to Italy and the lands south of the Danube as far as the Balkans (Britain had been abandoned and was slowly being conquered by the Angles and Saxons, Spain had been overrun by the Visigoths and Suebi, the Vandals had taken Africa, and Gaul was contested by the Franks, Burgundians, Bretons, Visigoths and some Roman remnants).

In 466, as a condition of his Isaurian alliance, Leo married his daughter Ariadne to the Isaurian Tarasicodissa, who took the name Zeno. When Leo died in 474, Zeno and Ariadne's younger son succeeded to the throne as Leo II, with Zeno acting as regent. When Leo II died later that year, Zeno became emperor. The end of the Western Empire is sometimes dated to 476, early in Zeno's reign, when the barbarian general Odoacer deposed the titular Western Emperor Romulus Augustus, but declined to replace him with another puppet.

Eastern Roman Empire, c. 480 AD.

To recover Italy, Zeno could only negotiate with the Ostrogoths of Theodoric, who had settled in Moesia. He sent the barbarian king to Italy as magister militum per Italiam ("commander in chief for Italy"). After the fall of Odoacer in 493, Theodoric, who had lived in Constantinople during his youth, ruled Italy on his own, maintaining a merely formal obedience to Zeno. He was the most powerful Germanic king of that age, but his successors were greatly inferior and their Italian kingdom started to decline in the 530s.

In 475, Zeno was deposed by Basiliscus, the general who led Leo I's 468 invasion of North Africa, but he recovered the throne twenty months later. However, he faced a new threat from another Isaurian, Leontius, who was also elected rival emperor. Isaurian prominence ended when an aged civil officer of Roman origin, Anastasius I, became emperor in 491 and after a long war defeated them in 498. Anastasius revealed himself to be an energetic reformer and an able administrator. He perfected Constantine I's coinage system by definitively setting the weight of the copper follis, the coin used in most everyday transactions. He also reformed the tax system, and permanently abolished the hated chrysargyron tax. The State Treasury contained the enormous sum of 320,000 pounds of gold when he died.

Justinian I and his successors

Justinian depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna.

See also: Justinian I

Justinian I, who assumed the throne in 527, oversaw a period of Byzantine expansion into former Roman territories. Justinian, the son of an Illyrian peasant, may already have exerted effective control during the reign of his uncle, Justin I (518–527). His reign opened with external warfare and internal strife. From Lazica to the Arabian Desert, the Persian frontier blazed with action in a series of campaigns. In 532, attempting to secure his eastern frontier, Justinian signed a peace treaty with Khosrau I of Persia agreeing to pay a large annual tribute to the Sassinids. In the same year of 532, Justinian survived a revolt in Constantinople (the Nika riots) which ended with the death of thirty thousand rioters. This victory solidified Justinian's power.

Pope Agapetus I

Pope Agapetus I was sent to Constantinople by the Ostrogothic king Theodahad, but failed in his mission to sign a peace with Justinian. However, he succeeded in having the Monophysite Patriarch Anthimus I of Constantinople denounced, despite Empress Theodora's support.

The western conquests began in 533, as Justinian sent his general Belisarius to reclaim the former province of North Africa from the Vandals with a small army of about 18,000 men. Success came with surprising ease, but it was not until 548 that the major local independent tribes were subdued.penises In Ostrogothic Italy, the deaths of Theodoric the Great, his nephew and heir Athalaric, and his daughter Amalasuntha had left Theodahad on the throne despite his weakened authority. In 535, a small, Byzantine expedition sent to Sicily met with easy success, but the Goths soon stiffened their resistance, and victory did not come until 540, when Belisarius captured Ravenna, after successful sieges of Naples and Rome.

Nevertheless, the Ostrogoths were soon reunited under the command of Totila, and captured Rome on December 17, 546; Belisarius was eventually recalled by Justinian in early 549. The arrival of the Armenian eunuch Narses in Italy (late 551) with an army of some 30,000 men marked another shift in Gothic fortunes. Totila was defeated and died at the Battle of Busta Gallorum. His successor, Teias, was likewise defeated at the Battle of Mons Lactarius (October 552). Despite continuing resistance from a few Goth garrisons and two subsequent invasions by the Franks and Alamanni, the war for the Italian peninsula was at an end. In 551, a noble of Visigothic Hispania, Athanagild, sought Justinian's help in a rebellion against the king, and the emperor dispatched a force under Liberius, who, although elderly, proved himself a successful military commander. The Byzantine empire held on to a small slice of the Spanish coast until the reign of Heraclius.

In the east, the war between the Persians and the Romans continued until 561 when Justinian's and Khusro's envoys agreed on a 50-year peace. By the mid-550s, Justinian had won victories in most theatres of operation, with the notable exception of the Balkans, which were subjected to repeated incursions from the Slavs. In 559, the Empire faced a great invasion of Kutrigurs and Sclaveni. Justinian called Belisarius out of retirement, but once the immediate danger was over, the emperor took charge himself. The news that Justinian was reinforcing his Danube fleet made the Kutrigurs anxious, and they agreed to a treaty which gave them a subsidy and safe passage back across the river.

File:Theodora ravenna.jpg

Theodora (here with her retinue, mosaic from Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna), Justinian's influential wife, was a former mime actress, whose earlier life is vividly described by Procopius in Secret History.

Justinian became universally famous because of his legislative work, remarkable for its sweeping character. In 529 a ten-man commission chaired by John the Cappadocian revised the ancient Roman legal code, creating the new Corpus Juris Civilis. In the Pandects, completed under Tribonian's direction in 533, order and system were found in the contradictory rulings of the great Roman jurists, and a textbook, the Institutiones, was issued to facilitate instruction in the law schools. The fourth book, the Novellae, consisted of collections of imperial edicts promulgated between 534 and 565. Because of his ecclesiastical policies, Justinian came into collision with the Jews, the pagans, and various Christian sects. The latter included the Manichaeans, the Nestorians, the Monophysites, and the Arians. In order to completely eradicate paganism, Justinian closed the famous philosophic school in Athens in 529.

During the 6th century, the traditional Greco-Roman culture was still influential in the Eastern empire with prominent representatives such as the natural philosopher John Philoponus. During the same century, however, the Christian philosophy and culture were in the ascendant and began to dominate the older culture. Hymns written by Romanos the Melode marked the development of the Divine Liturgy, while architects and builders worked to complete the new Church of the Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, designed to replace an older church destroyed in the course of the Nika revolt. Hagia Sophia stands today as one of the major monuments of architectural history.

Justinian's successor, Justin II, refused to pay the large tribute to the Persians. Meanwhile, the Germanic Lombards invaded Italy; by the end of the century only a third of Italy was in Byzantine hands. Justin's successor, Tiberius II, choosing between his enemies, awarded subsidies to the Avars while taking military action against the Persians. Although Tiberius' general, Maurice, led an effective campaign on the eastern frontier, subsidies failed to restrain the Avars. They captured the Balkan fortress of Sirmium in 582, while the Turks began to make inroads across the Danube. Maurice, who in the meantime had become emperor, made peace with Khosrau II, achieving access in Armenia, and forced the Avars back across the Danube by 602.

Heraclian dynasty and the challenge of Islam

See also: Heraclius, Roman-Persian Wars, and Byzantine-Arab Wars

After Maurice's murder by Phocas, Khosrau led Persian armies into the Anatolian heartland. It was emperor Heraclius who destroyed the main Persian force at Nineveh in 627, while a year earlier Constantinople, under the leadership of Patriarch Sergius, had resisted an Avar assault. A reliable army was created, spread in sufficient numbers throughout the Anatolian themes, administrative units established by Heraclius. Byzantine armies were, however, defeated at the Battle of Yarmuk in 636, thereby opening Palestine and Syria to Arab Muslim control.

Green: Sassanid Empire in 602 to 629, Strokes: Under Sassanid military control.

Heraclius made Greek the official language of the Empire, and replaced his Latin title (Augustus) with the Greek Basileus (Βασιλεύς). He also tried to find a solution for the problem of religious unity. The eastern areas, particularly Armenia, Syria, and Egypt, were dominated by monophysitism, while the other areas of the empire followed the orthodox view expressed at the Council of Chalcedon. Heraclius and Sergius thus promoted the concepts of monoenergism and monotheletism as compromises. These created more havoc than peace, and Egypt, paralyzed by religious strife, fell to Arabs in 641.

The task of containing the Arab offensive was left to Heraclius' successors. The Arabs built upon their earlier assaults on Armenia and Asia Minor with a four-year siege of Constantinople (674–678). Ultimately defeated by the use of Greek fire, a flammable liquid invented by Kallinikos, the Arabs signed a 30-years truce, according to which they agreed to pay tribute in money, men, and horses. Lured by the unsettled conditions following Justinian II's second deposition, the Arabs renewed their assaults by land and sea, and in 717 they were again besieging Constantinople.

Greek fire, first used by the Byzantine Navy during the Byzantine-Arab Wars (from the Madrid Skylitzes, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid).

On the Balkan frontier, meanwhile, the Bulgars assumed the role abdicated by the Avars after 626. In 681 Constantine IV was forced to acknowledge the Bulgar state in Moesia and to pay protection money to avoid further inroads into Byzantine Thrace. While the Bulgars had thus deprived the empire of control in the north and central Balkans, the Byzantines could take comfort in the expeditions of 658 and 688/689 launched, respectively, by Constans II and Justinian II into Macedonia and in the formation of the themes of Thrace and Hellas; these moves were evidence that Byzantine authority was beginning to prevail along the peninsular coastline and in certain parts of Greece where Slavs had penetrated. In the West, the situation was less reassuring; monothelitism had provoked a hostile reaction from the churches of North Africa and Italy, and the resulting disaffection had encouraged the exarchs of both Carthage (646) and Ravenna (652) to revolt. By the end of the century, Mesopotamia and Africa were gradually incorporated into the Muslim Caliphate. For the moment Sicily and the scattered Italian possessions remained secure. Constans launched an attack on the Lombard Duchy of Benevento in southern Italy, but finally retreated to Naples. He was the last Eastern emperor to visit Rome as a Byzantine possession.

Isaurian dynasty and Iconoclasm

The Byzantine Empire at the accession of Leo III, c. 717.

See also: Iconoclasm (Byzantine)

Leo III the Isaurian turned back the Muslim assault in 718, and achieved a major victory at the expense of the Arabs in 740. He also addressed himself to the task of reorganizing and consolidating the themes in Asia Minor. His successor, Constantine V, won noteworthy victories in northern Syria, and thoroughly undermined Bulgar strength. In the beginning of the 9th century the Arabs captured Crete, and successfully attacked Sicily, but on September 3, 863, general Petronas attained a huge victory against the emir of Melitene. Under the leadership of Krum the Bulgar threat also reemerged, but in 814 Krum's son, Omortag, arranged a peace with the Byzantine Empire.

The 8th and 9th centuries were also dominated by controversy and religious division over iconoclasm. Icons were banned by Leo and Constantine, leading to revolts by iconodules (supporters of icons) throughout the empire. After the efforts of Empress Irene, the Second Council of Nicaea met in 787, and affirmed that icons could be venerated but not worshipped. Irene is said to have endeavored to negotiate a marriage between herself and Charlemagne, but, according to Theophanes the Confessor, the scheme was frustrated by Aetios, one of her favourites. In 813 Leo V the Armenian restored the policy of iconoclasm, but in 843 Empress Theodora restored the veneration of the icons with the help of Patriarch Methodios. Iconoclasm played its part in the further alienation of East from West, which worsened during the so-called Photian Schism, when Pope Nicholas I challenged Photios' elevation to the patriarchate.

Macedonian dynasty and resurgence

The Byzantine Empire reached its height under the Macedonian emperors of the late 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries, when it gained control over the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy, and all of the territory of the Bulgarian tsar Samuel. The cities of the empire expanded, and affluence spread across the provinces because of the new-found security. The population of rose, and production increased, stimulating new demand while also helping to encourage trade. Culturally, there was considerable growth in education and learning. Ancient texts were preserved and patiently re-copied. Byzantine art flourished, and brilliant mosaics graced the interiors of the many new churches. Though the empire was significantly smaller than during the reign of Justinian, it was also stronger, as the remaining territories were less geographically dispersed and more politically and culturally integrated.

Internal developments

Although traditionally attributed to Basil I (867–886), initiator of the Macedonian dynasty, the "Byzantine renaissance" has been more recently ascribed to the reforms of his predecessor, Michael III (842–867) and his wife's counsellor, the erudite Theoktistos. The latter in particular favoured culture at the court, and, with a careful financial policy, steadily increased the gold reserves of the Empire. The rise of the Macedonian dynasty coincided with internal developments which strengthened the religious unity of the empire. The iconoclast movement was experiencing a steep decline: this favoured its soft suppression by the emperors and the reconciliation of the religious strife that had drained the imperial resources in the previous centuries. Despite occasional tactical defeats, the administrative, legislative, cultural and economic situation continued to improve under Basil's successors, especially with Romanos I Lekapenos (920–944). The theme system reached its definitive form in this period. The church establishment began to loyally support the imperial cause, and the power of the landowning class was limited in favour of agricultural small holders, who made up an important part of the military force of the Empire. These favourable conditions contributed to the increasing ability of the emperors to wage war against the Arabs.

Wars against the Muslims

By 867, the empire had stabilised its position in both the east and the west, while the success of its defensive military structure had enabled the emperors to begin planning wars of reconquest in the east.

The process of reconquest began with variable fortunes. The temporary reconquest of Crete (843) was followed by a crushing Byzantine defeat on the Bosporus, while the emperors were unable to prevent the ongoing Muslim conquest of Sicily (827–902). Using present day Tunisia as their launching pad, the Muslims conquered Palermo in 831, Messina in 842, Enna in 859, Syracuse in 878, Catania in 900 and the final Greek stronghold, the fortress of Taormina, in 902.

These drawbacks were later counterbalanced by a victorious expedition against Damietta in Egypt (856), the defeat of the Emir of Melitene (863), the confirmation of the imperial authority over Dalmatia (867) and Basil I's offensives towards the Euphrates (870s).

The threat from the Muslims was meanwhile reduced by inner struggles and by the rise of the Turks in the east. Muslims received assistance however from the Paulician sect, which had found a large following in the eastern provinces of the Empire and, facing persecution under the Byzantines, often fought under the Arab flag. It took several campaigns to subdue the Paulicians, who were eventually defeated by Basil I.

In 904, disaster struck the empire when its second city, Thessaloniki, was sacked by an Arab fleet led by a Byzantine renegade. The Byzantines responded by destroying an Arab fleet in 908, and sacking the city of Laodicea in Syria two years later. Despite this revenge, the Byzantines were still unable to strike a decisive blow against the Muslims, who inflicted a crushing defeat on the imperial forces when they attempted to regain Crete in 911.

The situation on the border with the Arab territories remained fluid, with the Byzantines alternatively on the offensive or defensive. The Rus, who appeared near Constantinople for the first time in 860, constituted another new challenge. In 941 they appeared on the Asian shore of the Bosporus, but this time they were crushed, showing the improvements in the Byzantine military position after 907, when only diplomacy had been able to push back the invaders. The vanquisher of the Rus was the famous general John Kourkouas, who continued the offensive with other noteworthy victories in Mesopotamia (943): these culminated in the reconquest of Edessa (944), which was especially celebrated for the return to Constantinople of the venerated Mandylion.

The soldier emperors Nikephoros II Phokas (reigned 963–969) and John I Tzimiskes (969–976) expanded the empire well into Syria, defeating the emirs of north-west Iraq and reconquering Crete and Cyprus. At one point under John, the empire's armies even threatened Jerusalem, far to the south. The emirate of Aleppo and its neighbours became vassals of the empire in the east, where the greatest threat to the empire was the Egyptian Fatimid kingdom.

Wars against the Bulgarians

Emperor Basil II the Bulgar Slayer (976–1025).

The traditional struggle with the See of Rome continued, spurred by the question of religious supremacy over the newly Christianized Bulgaria. This prompted an invasion by the powerful tsar Simeon I in 894, but this was pushed back by the Byzantine diplomacy, which called on the help of the Hungarians. The Byzantines were in turn defeated, however, at the Battle of Bulgarophygon (896), and obliged to pay annual subsides to the Bulgars. Later (912) Simeon even had the Byzantines grant him the crown of basileus of Bulgaria and had the young emperor Constantine VII marry one of his daughters. When a revolt in Constantinople halted his dynastic project, he again invaded Thrace and conquered Adrianople.

A great imperial expedition under Leo Phokas and Romanos Lekapenos ended again with a crushing Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Anchialus (917), and the following year the Bulgars were free to ravage northern Greece up to Corinth. Adrianople was captured again in 923 and in 924 a Bulgar army laid siege to Constantinople. The situation in the Balkans improved only after Simeon's death in 927.

Under the emperor Basil II (reigned 976–1025), the Bulgars, who had conquered much of the Balkans from the Byzantines since their arrival three hundred years previously, became the target of annual campaigns by the Byzantine army. The war was to drag on for nearly twenty years, but eventually at the Battle of Kleidon the Bulgars were completely defeated. The Bulgarian army was captured, and it is said that 99 out of every 100 men were blinded, with the remaining hundredth man left with one eye so as to lead his compatriots home. When tsar Samuel saw the broken remains of his once gallant army, he died of shock. In 1018 Bulgaria surrendered and became part of the empire. This stunning victory restored the Danube frontier, which had not been held since the days of the emperor Heraclius.

The empire also gained a new ally at this time in the new Varangian state in Kiev, from which the empire received an important mercenary force, the famous Varangian Guard, in exchange for the marriage of Basil's sister Anna to Vladimir I of Kiev. Basil II also had relatives marry leaders of the Holy Roman Empire.

Triumph

The Byzantine Empire under Basil II, c. 1025.

The Byzantine Empire now stretched from Azerbaijan and Armenia in the east, to Calabria in Southern Italy in the west. Many successes had been achieved, ranging from the conquest of Bulgaria, to the annexation of Georgia and Armenia, to the total annihilation of an invading force of Egyptians outside Antioch. Yet even these victories were not enough; Basil considered the continued Arab occupation of Sicily to be an outrage. Accordingly, he planned to reconquer the island, which had belonged to the empire for over three hundred years (c.550–c.900). However, his death in 1025 put an end to the project.

The 11th century was also momentous for its religious events. In 1054, relations between Greek-speaking Eastern and Latin-speaking Western traditions within the Christian Church reached a terminal crisis. Although there was a formal declaration of institutional separation, on July 16, when three papal legates entered the Hagia Sophia during Divine Liturgy on a Saturday afternoon and placed a bull of excommunication on the altar, the so-called Great Schism was actually the culmination of centuries of gradual separation. Although the schism was brought about by doctrinal disputes (in particular, Eastern refusal to accept the Western Church doctrine of the filioque, or double procession of the Holy Spirit), disputes over administration and political issues had simmered for centuries. The formal separation of the Byzantine Orthodox Church and the Western Catholic Church would have wide ranging consequences for the future of Byzantium.

Crisis and fragmentation

Diptych of Romanos and Eudocia Macrembolitissa crowned by Christ (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris).

Byzantium soon fell into a period of difficulties, caused to a large extent by the undermining of the theme system and the neglect of tagmata. Nikephoros II, John Tzimiskes and Basil II changed the tagmata from a rapid response, primarily defensive, citizen army into a professional, campaigning army, increasingly manned by mercenaries. Mercenaries, however, were expensive and as the threat of invasion receded in the 10th century, so did the need for maintaining large garrisons and expensive fortifications. Basil II left a burgeoning treasury upon his death, but neglected to plan for his succession. None of his immediate successors had any particular military or political talent and the administration of the Empire increasingly fell into the hands of the civil service. Efforts to revive the Byzantine economy only resulted in inflation and a debased gold coinage. The army was now seen as both an unnecessary expense and a political threat. Therefore, native troops were cashiered and replaced by foreign mercenaries on specific contract.

Map of Italy on the eve of the arrival of the Normans.

At the same time, the Empire was faced with new, ambitious enemies. Byzantine provinces in southern Italy faced the Normans, who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 11th century. The allied forces of Melus of Bari and the Normans were defeated at the Battle of Cannae in 1018, and two decades later Michael IV the Paphlagonian equipped an expedition for the reconquest of Sicily from the Arabs. Although the campaign was initially successful, the reconquest of Sicily was not accomplished, mainly because George Maniaces, the commander of the Byzantine forces, was recalled, when he was suspected of having ambitious schemes. During a period of strife between Byzantium and Rome which ended in the East-West Schism of 1054, the Normans began to advance, slowly but steadily, into Byzantine Italy.

It was in Asia Minor, however, that the greatest disaster would take place. The Seljuq Turks made their first explorations across the Byzantine frontier into Armenia in 1065 and in 1067. The emergency lent weight to the military aristocracy in Anatolia who, in 1068, secured the election of one of their own, Romanos Diogenes, as emperor. In the summer of 1071, Romanos undertook a massive eastern campaign to draw the Seljuks into a general engagement with the Byzantine army. At Manzikert Romanos not only suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Sultan Alp Arslan, but was also captured. Alp Arslan treated him with respect, and imposed no harsh terms on the Byzantines. In Constantinople, however, a coup took place in favor of Michael Doukas, who soon faced the opposition of Nikephoros Bryennios and Nikephoros Botaneiates. By 1081 the Seljuks expanded their rule over virtually the entire Anatolian plateau from Armenia in the east to Bithynia in the west and founded their capital in Nicea.

Komnenian dynasty and the crusaders

Alexios I and the First Crusade

Further information: Alexios I Komnenos

See also: First Crusade

The Byzantine Empire at the accession of Alexios I Komnenos, c. 1081

After Manzikert, a partial recovery (referred to as the Komnenian restoration) was made possible by the efforts of the Komnenian dynasty. The first emperor of this royal line was Isaac I (1057–1059) and the second Alexios I. At the very outset of his reign, Alexios faced a formidable attack by the Normans under Robert Guiscard and his son Bohemund of Taranto, who captured Dyrrhachium and Corfu, and laid siege to Larissa in Thessaly. Robert Guiscard's death in 1085 temporarily eased the Norman problem. The following year the Seljuq sultan died, and the sultanate was split by internal rivalries. By his own efforts, Alexios defeated the Pechenegs; they were caught by surprise and annihilated at the Battle of Levounion on 28 April, 1091.

Having acheived stability in the West, Alexios could turn his attention to the severe economic difficulties and the disintegration of the empire's traditional defences. However, he still did not have enough manpower to recover the lost territories in Asia Minor, and to advance against the Seljuks. At the Council of Piacenza in 1095, Alexios' envoys spoke to Pope Urban II about the suffering of the Christians of the East, and underscored that without help from the West they would continue to suffer under Muslim rule. Urban saw Alexius' request as a dual opportunity to cement Western Europe and enhance papal power. On 27 November, 1095, Pope Urban II called together the Council of Clermont, and urged all those present to take up arms under the sign of the Cross and launch an armed pilgrimage to recover Jerusalem and the East from the Muslims. The response in Western Europe was overwhelming.

The very brief first coinage of the Thessaloniki mint, which Alexios opened as he passed through in September 1081 on his way to confront the invading Normans under Robert Guiscard.

Alexios had anticipated help in the form of mercenary forces from the West, but was totally unprepared for the immense and undisciplined force which soon arrived in Byzantine territory. It was no comfort to Alexius to learn that four of the eight leaders of the main body of the Crusade were Normans, among them Bohemund. Since the crusade had to pass through Constantinople, however, the Emperor had some control over it. He required its leaders to swear to restore to the empire any towns or territories they might conquer from the Turks on their way to the Holy Land. In return, he gave them guides and a military escort. Alexios was able to recover a number of important cities and islands, and in fact much of western Asia Minor. Nevertheless, the crusaders believed their oaths were invalidated when Alexios did not help them during the siege of Antioch (he had in fact set out on the road to Antioch, but had been persuaded to turn back by Stephen of Blois, who assured him that all was lost and that the expedition had already failed). Bohemund, who had set himself up as Prince of Antioch, briefly went to war with the Byzantines, but agreed to become Alexios' vassal under the Treaty of Devol in 1108, which marked the end of Norman threat during Alexios' reign.

File:Jerusalem1099.jpg

Medieval manuscript depicting the Capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade.

Alexios reconstituted the army and navy, but only by means of stabilizing the gold coinage at one-third of its original value and by imposing supplementary taxes. The supply of native soldiers had virtually ceased with the disappearance or absorption of their military holdings. Alexios promoted an alternative source of native manpower by extending the system of granting estates in pronoia (by favour of the emperor) and tying the grant to a military obligation. Similarly, Alexios tried to promote more profitable development of the estates of the church by granting them to the management of laymen. The final years of Alexios's reign were marked by persecution of the followers of the Paulician and Bogomil heresies, and by anxieties as to the succession, which his wife Irene Doukaina wished to alter in favor of her daughter Anna's husband, Nikephorus Bryennios.

John II, Manuel I and the Second Crusade

Main articles: John II Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos

John II Komnenos left the imperial treasury full, and did not call for the execution or maiming of a single subject during his reign, is regarded by the Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates as the best emperor of the Komnenian dynasty.

Alexios' son John II Komnenos succeeded him in 1118, and was to rule until 1143. He oversaw the consolidation of his father's conquests, as well as the reconquest of territories previously lost. At the Battle of Beroia, John personally led the imperial armies against the Pechenegs. He also thwarted Hungarian, and Serbian threats during the 1120s, and in 1130 allied himself with the German emperor Lothair III against the Norman King Roger II of Sicily. In the later part of his reign John focussed his activities on the East. He defeated the Danishmend emirate of Melitene, and reconquered all of Cilicia, while forceing Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, to recognize Byzantine suzerainty. Though John and Raymond formed an alliance against the Turkish Atabegs of Syria, their campaigns were not particularly successful because of the mutual distrust. In 1142 John returned to press his claims to Antioch, but he died in the spring of 1143 following a hunting accident. Raymond was emboldened to invade Cilicia, but he was defeated and forced to go to Constantinople to beg mercy from the new emperor.

Byzantine Empire in Purple with the Seljuks of Rum in Green, c.1180, at the end of the Komnenian period.

John's chosen heir was his fourth son, Manuel I Komnenos, who campaigned aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and in the east. In Palestine, he allied himself with the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and sent a large fleet to participate in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt. Manuel reinforced his position as overlord of the Crusader states, with his hegemony over Antioch and Jerusalem secured by agreement with Raynald, Prince of Antioch, and Amalric, King of Jerusalem respectively. In an effort to restore Byzantine control over the ports of southern Italy, he sent an expedition to Italy in 1155, but disputes within the coalition led to the eventual failure of the campaign. Despite this military setback, Manuel's armies successfully invaded the Kingdom of Hungary in 1167, defeating the Hungarians at the Battle of Sirmium. By 1168 nearly the whole of the eastern Adriatic coast lay in Manuel's hands. Manuel made several alliances with the Pope and Western Christian kingdoms, and successfully handled the passage of the Second Crusade through his empire. Although hopes for a lasting Papal-Byzantine alliance came up against insuperable problems, Pope Innocent III clearly had a positive view of Manuel when he told Alexios III that he should imitate "your predecessor Manuel of famous memory" who "always replied favourably to ourselves and our predecessors".

File:CrusaderStates2.png

Antioch under Byzantine protection (during 1159–1180)

In the east, however, Manuel suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Myriokephalon, in 1176, against the Turks. Yet the losses were quickly made good, and in the following year Manuel's forces inflicted a defeat upon a force of "picked Turks". John Vatatzes, who was sent by the Emperor to repel the Turkish invasion, not only brought troops from the capital but also was able to gather an army along the way; a sign that the Byzantine army remained strong and that the defensive program of western Asia Minor was still successful.

Twelfth century Renaissance

Further information: Byzantine civilisation in the twelfth century

See also: Komnenian army

John and Manuel pursued active military policies, and both deployed considerable resources on sieges and on city defenses; aggressive fortification policies were at the heart of their imperial military policies. Despite the defeat at Myriokephalon, the policies of Alexios, John and Manuel resulted in vast territorial gains, increased frontier stability in Asia Minor, and secured the stabilization of the empire's European frontiers. From c.1081 to c.1180, the Komnenian army assured the empire's security, enabling Byzantine civilization to flourish.

The most famous of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the Hagia Sophia - Christ Pantocrator flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The mosaics were made in the 12th century.

This allowed the Western provinces to achieve an economic revival which continued until the close of the century. It has been argued that Byzantium under the Komnenian rule was more prosperous than at any time since the Persian invasions of the 7th century. During the 12th century population levels rose and extensive tracts of new agricultural land were brought into production. Archaeological evidence from both Europe and Asia Minor shows a considerable increase in the size of urban settlements, together with a notable upsurge in new towns. Trade was also flourishing; the Venetians, the Genoese and others opened up the ports of the Aegean to commerce, shipping goods from the Crusader kingdoms of Outremer and Fatimid Egypt to the west and trading with Byzantium via Constantinople.

In artistic terms, there was a revival in mosaic, and regional schools of architecture began producing many distinctive styles that drew on a range of cultural influences. During the 12th century the Byzantines provided their model of early humanism as a renaissance of interest in classical authors. In Eustathius of Thessalonica Byzantine humanism found its most characteristic expression.

Decline and disintegration

Dynasty of the Angeloi

"Whatever paper might be presented to the Emperor (Alexios III) for his signature, he signed it immediately; it did not matter that in this paper there was a senseless agglomeration of words, or that the supplicant demanded that one might sail by land or till the sea, or that mountains should be transferred into the middle of the seas or, as a tale says, that Athos should be put upon Olympus."

Nicetas Choniates

When Manuel died on 24 September 1180, his son and successor was a minor, and his unpopular regency government was overthrown in a violent coup d'état. This troubled succession weakened the dynastic continuity and solidarity on which the strength of the Byzantine state had come to rely. Béla III reincorporated Croationa territories into Hungary, and Stephen Nemanja of Serbia declared his independence from Byzantium and founded a new kingdom. By the revolution of 1185 the dynasty of the Angeli was elevated to the throne. The reign of Isaac II Angelos, and, still more, that of his brother Alexios III, saw the collapse of what remained of the centralized machinery of Byzantine government and defense. Although, the Normans were driven out of Greece, in 1186 the Bulgars began a rebellion that was to lead to the formation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. During the Third Crusade Richard I of England appropriated Cyprus from its ruler, Isaac Komnenos. The internal policy of the Angeloi was characterized by the squandering of the public treasure, and the fiscal maladministration. Byzantine authority was severely weakened, and the growing power vacuum at the centre of the empire encouraged fragmentation. There is evidence that some Komnenian heirs had set up a semi-independent state in Trebizond before 1204. According to Alexander Vasiliev, "the dynasty of the Angeloi, Greek in its origin, [...] accelerated the ruin of the Empire, already weakened without and disunited within."

Fourth Crusade

Further information: Fourth Crusade

The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople, by Eugène Delacroix (1840, oil on canvas, 410 x 498 cm, Louvre, Paris)

In 1198 Innocent III broached the subject of a new crusade through legates and encyclical letters. The stated intent of the crusade was to conquer Egypt, now the centre of Muslim power in the Levant. The crusader army that arrived at Venice in the summer of 1202 was somewhat smaller than had been anticipated, and there were not sufficient funds to pay the Venetians, whose fleet was hired by the crusaders to take them to Egypt. Venetian policy under the aging and blind but still ambitious Doge Enrico Dandolo was potentially at variance with that of the Pope and the crusaders, because Venice was closely related commercially with Egypt. The crusaders accepted the suggestion that in lieu of payment they assist the Venetians in the capture of the (Christian) port of Zara in Dalmatia (vassal city of Venice, which had rebelled and placed itself under Hungary's protection in 1186). The city fell in November 1202 after a brief siege. Innocent, who was informed of the plan, but his veto was disregarded, was reluctant to jeopardize the Crusade, and gave conditional absolution to the crusaders—not, however, to the Venetians.

"None of you should therefore dare to assume that it is permissible for you to seize or to plunder the land of the Greeks, even though the latter may be disobedient to the Apostolic See, or on the grounds that the Emperor of Constantinople has deposed and even blinded his brother and usurped the imperial throne. For though this same emperor and the men entrusted to his rule may have sinned, both in these and in other matters, it is not for you to judge their faults, nor have you assumed the sign of the cross to punish this injury; rather you specifically pledged your self to the duty of avenging the insult to the cross."

Innocent III to Boniface I of Montferrat, Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders, and Louis I, Count of Blois (Ferentino, summer 1203, c. June 20).

After the death of Theobald III, Count of Champagne, the leadership of the Crusade passed to Boniface of Montferrat, a friend of the Hohenstaufen Philip of Swabia. Both Boniface and Philip had married into the Byzantine imperial family. In fact, Philip's brother-in-law, Alexios Angelos, son of the deposed and blinded emperor Isaac II Angelos, had appeared in Europe seeking aid and had made contacts with the crusaders. Alexios offered to reunite the Byzantine church with Rome, pay the crusaders an enormous sum, and join the crusade to Egypt. Innocent was aware of a plan to divert the Crusade to Constantinople, and forbade any attack on the city. But the papal letter arrived after the fleets had left Zara. In the summer of 1203 Alexios III Angelos fled, and Alexios Angelos was elevated to the throne as Alexios IV along with his blind father Isaac. Innocent reprimanded the leaders of the crusaders, and ordered them to proceed forthwith to the Holy Land.

When in late November 1203 Alexios IV announced that his promises were hard to keep, as the empire was short on funds, the crusaders declared war on him. Meanwhile, internal opposition to Alexios IV grew, and, on January 25, 1204, one of his courtiers, Alexios Doukas killed him, and took the throne himself as Alexios V; Isaac died soon afterwards, probably naturally. The crusaders and Venetians, incensed at the murder of their supposed patron, prepared to assault the Byzantine capital. They decided that 12 electors (six Venetians and six crusaders) should choose a Latin emperor.

Map to show the partition of the empire following the Fourth Crusade, c.1204.

Eventually, the crusaders took the city on April 13, 1204. Constantinople was subjected by the rank and file to pillage and massacre for three days. Many priceless icons, relics, and other objects later turned up in Western Europe, a large number in Venice. According to Choniates, a prostitute was even set up on the Patriarchal throne. When Innocent III heard of the conduct of his crusaders, he castigated them in no uncertain terms. But the situation was beyond his control, especially after his legate, on his own initiative, had absolved the crusaders from their vow to proceed to the Holy Land. When order had been restored, the crusaders and the Venetians proceeded to implement their agreement; Baldwin of Flanders was elected emperor and the Venetian Thomas Morosini chosen patriarch. The lands parcelled out among the leaders did not include all the former Byzantine possessions. The Byzantine rule continued in Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus.

Fall

Further information: Decline of the Byzantine Empire

File:Flag of Palaeologus Emperor.svg

The flag of the Empire in the late 14th century.

After the sack of Constantinople in 1204, three Byzantine successor states were established: the Empire of Nicaea, the Empire of Trebizond and the Despotate of Epirus.

The Empire of Nicaea, controlled by the Palaiologan dynasty, managed to reclaim Constantinople from the Latins in 1261 and defeat Epirus. This led to a short lived revival of Byzantine fortunes under Michael VIII, but the war-ravaged empire was ill-equipped to deal with the encircling enemies that now surrounded it. Much of Constantinople lay in ruins; the army was desperately short of funds; Italian merchants and their ships dominated the empire's sea-lanes; the economy was in decline; the empire's ancient frontiers had been overrun; the provinces were in disarray.

Civil war racked the empire during the 14th century. The Asian provinces were lost to the Turks, while the Serbians and Bulgarians conquered the empire's remaining territory in Europe. For a while, the empire survived simply because the Turks of Anatolia were too divided to attack. However, the unifying influence of Osman I (1258–1326) allowed the newly founded Ottoman Empire to deprive the Byzantines of all but a handful of port cities.

The Byzantine Empire in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911).

The Byzantine Empire by the year 1400.

The siege of Constantinople in 1453 according to a 15th century French miniature.

The Emperors appealed to the west for help, but the Pope would only consider sending aid in return for a reunion of the Eastern Orthodox Church with the See of Rome. Church unity was considered, and occasionally accomplished by imperial decree, but the Orthodox citizenry and clergy intensely resented Roman authority and the Latin Rite. Some western mercenaries arrived to bolster the Christian defence of Constantinople, but most Western rulers, distracted by their own affairs, did nothing as the Ottomans picked apart the remaining Byzantine territories.

The Turks had previously considered Constantinople not worth the considerable effort of conquest, but with the advent of cannon, the walls (which had been impenetrable to assault for over 1,000 years) no longer offered adequate protection against a siege.

Constantinople by this stage was underpopulated and dilapidated. The population of the city had collapsed so severely that it was now little more than a cluster of villages separated by fields. In March 1453, an Ottoman army of 85,000 men led by Sultan Mehmed II laid siege to the city. Despite a desperate last-ditch defense of the city by the massively outnumbered Christian forces (7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreign mercenaries), Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans after a two-month siege by on Tuesday May 29, 1453. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, was last seen casting off his imperial regalia and throwing himself into hand-to-hand combat after the walls of the city were taken.

Aftermath

Mehmed II went on to conquer the Greek statelets of Mistra in 1460 and Trebizond in 1461. By the end of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire had established its firm rule over Asia Minor and parts of the Balkan peninsula. Mehmed II and his successors continued to consider themselves proper heirs to the Byzantine Empire until the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. Meanwhile, the Danubian Principalities harbored Orthodox refugees, including some Byzantine nobles (see Byzantium after Byzantium for details).

Technically, the Byzantine Empire lived on in the city of Monemvasia in the Morea, until 1471, when the titular Despot of the Morea, Demetrius Palaeologus, now living in Rome under the protection of the Pope, sold it to the latter for cash. Meanwhile, his nephew, and the nephew of the last Emperor, Constantine XI Palaeologus, Andreas Palaeologus had inherited the defunct title of Byzantine Emperor and used it from 1465 until his death in 1503.

At his death, the role of the emperor as a patron of Eastern Orthodoxy was claimed by Ivan III, Grand Duke of Muscovy. He had married Andreas's sister, Sophia Paleologue, whose grandson, Ivan IV, would become the first Tsar of Russia (tsar, also spelled czar, is a term traditionally applied by Slavs to the Byzantine Emperors; according to Vasmer, the word is derived from lat. caesar). Their successors supported the idea that Moscow was the proper heir to Rome and Constantinople. The idea of the Russian Empire as the new, Third Rome was kept alive until its demise in 1917, with the Russian Revolution.

Empress Catherine the Great (1762–1796), launched a series of campaigns against the Ottomans to capture Constantinople and recreate the Byzantine Empire under Russian control. She commissioned the Sophia Cathedral in her imperial residence, named her grandson Constantine and managed to wrest the Crimea from the Ottomans. Although the Russian armies would approach Constaninople in 1829 and 1878, the Ottoman Empire was rescued by the intervention of the Great Powers during the Crimean War and Congress of Berlin.

Culture

Economy

Solidus of Justinian II, second reign, after 705

Further information: Byzantine economy

The Byzantine economy was the most advanced in Europe for many centuries. Constantine V's reforms (c. 765) marked the beginning of a revival that continued until 1204. From the 10th century until the end of the 12th, the Byzantine empire projected an image of luxur, and the travelers were impressed by the wealth accumulated in the capital. All this changed with the arrival of the Fourth Crusade, which was an economic catastrophe. The Palaiologoi tried to revive the economy, but the late Byzantine state would not gain full control of either the foreign or domestic economic forces. Gradually, it also lost its influence on the modalities of trade and the price mechanisms, and its control over the outflow of precious metals and, according to some scholars, even over the minting of coins.

One of the economic foundations of the empire was trade. Textiles must have been by far the most important item of export; silks were certainly imported into Egypt, and they also appear also in Bulgaria, and the West. The state strictly controlled both the internal and the international trade, and retained the monopoly of issuing coinage. The government exercized formal control over interest rates, and set the parametres for the activity of the guilds and corporations, in which it had a special interest. The emperor and its officials intervened at times of crisis to ensure the provisioning of the capital, and to keep down the price of cereals. Finally, the government often collected part of the surplus through taxation, and put it back into circulation, through redistribution in the form of salaries to state officials, or in the form of investment in public works.

Science

The frontispiece of the Vienna Dioscurides, which shows a set of seven famous physicians

.

Further information: Byzantine science

See also: Byzantine medicine and Byzantine law

The writings of Classical antiquity never ceased to be cultivated in Byzantium. Therefore, Byzantine science was in every period closely connected with ancient philosophy, and metaphysics. In the final century of the Empire, Byzantine grammarians were those principally responsible for carrying in person, and in writing ancient Greek grammatical, and literary studies to early Renaissance Italy. During this period astronomy and other mathematical sciences were taught in Trebizond; medicine attracted the interest of almost all scholars. In the field of law, Justinian I's reforms had a clear effect on the evolution of jurisprudence, and Leo III's Ecloga influenced the formation of legal institutions in the Slav world.

Religion

Further information: [[:Eastern Orthodox Church]]

As a symbol and expression of the universal prestige of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Justinian built the temple of the Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, which was completed in the short period of four and a half years (532–537).

According to Joseph Raya, "Byzantine culture and Orthodoxy are one and the same." The survival of the Empire in the East assured an active role of the Emperor in the affairs of the Church. The Byzantine state inherited from pagan times the administrative, and financial routine of administering religious affairs, and this routine was applied to the Christian Church. Following the pattern set by Eusebeus of Caesarea, the Byzantines thought of the Emperor as a Christ's representative or messenger, responsible particularly for the propagation of Christianity among pagans, and for the "externals" of the religion, such as administration and finances. The imperial role, however, in the affairs of the Church never developed into a fixed, legally defined system.

With the decline of Rome, and internal dissension in the other Eastern patriarchates, the church of Constantinople became, between the 6th and 11th centuries, the richest and most influential center of Christendom. Even when the Empire was reduced to only a shadow of itself, the Church, as an institution, had never exercised so much influence both inside and outside of the imperial frontiers. As George Ostrogorsky points out:

The Patriarchate of Constantinople remained the center of the Orthodox world, with subordinate metropolitan sees and archbishoprics in the territory of Asia Minor and the Balkans, now lost to Byzantium, as well as in Caucasus, Russia and Lithuania. The Church remained the most stable element in the Byzantine Empire.

Art and literature

Main articles: Byzantine art and Byzantine literature

See also: Byzantine music

Miniatures of the 6th-century Rabula Gospel display the more abstract and symbolic nature of Byzantine art.

Architecture, painting, and other visual arts produced in the Byzantine Empire and in various areas that came under its influence. Byzantine art is almost entirely concerned with religious expression and, more specifically, with the impersonal translation of carefully controlled church theology into artistic terms. Byzantine forms were spread by trade and conquest to Italy and Sicily, where they persisted in modified form through the 12th century, and became formative influences on Italian Renaissance art. By means of the expansion of the Eastern Orthodox church, Byzantine forms spread to eastern European centers, particularly Russia.

In Byzantine literature, therefore, four different cultural elements are to be reckoned with: the Greek, the Christian, the Roman, and the Oriental. Byzantine literature is often classified in five groups: historians and annalists, encyclopedists (Patriarch Photios, Michael Psellos, and Michael Choniates are regarded as the greatest encyclopedists of Byzantium) and essayists, and writers of secular poetry (The only genuine heroic epic of the Byzantines is the Digenis Acritas). The remaining two groups include the new literary species: ecclesiastical and theological literature, and popular poetry. Of the approximately two to three thousand volumes of Byzantine literature that survive, only three hundred and thirty consist of secular secular poetry, history, science and pseudo-science. While the most flourishing period of the secular literature of Byzantium runs from the ninth to the twelfth century, its religious literature (sermons, liturgical books and poetry, theology, devotional treatises etc.) developed much earlier with Romanos the Melodist being its most prominent representative.

Government and bureaucracy

The themes circa 650.

The themes circa 950.

See also: Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy

In the Byzantine state, the emperor was the sole and absolute ruler, and his power was regarded as having divine origin. By the end of the 8th century, a civil administration focussed on the court was formed as part of a large-scale consolidation of power in the capital (the rise to pre-eminence of the position of sakellarios is related to this change). The most important reform of this period is the creation of themes, where the civil and military administration is exercized by one person, the strategos.

Despite the occasionally derogatory use of the word "Byzantine", the Byzantine bureaucracy had a distinct ability for reinventing itself in accordance with the Empire's situation. The Byzantine system of titulature and precedence makes the imperial administration look like an ordered bureaucracy to modern observers. Officials were arranged in strict order around the emperor, and depended upon the imperial will for their ranks. There were also actual administrative jobs, but authority could be vested in individuals rather than offices. In the 8th and 9th centuries civil service constituted the clearest path to aristocratic status, but, starting in the 9th century, the civil aristocracy was rivaled by an aristocracy of nobility. According to some studies of Byzantine government, 11th century politics were dominated by competition between the civil and the military aristocracy. During this period, Alexios I undertook important administrative reforms, including the creation of new courtly dignities and offices.

Diplomacy

Further information: Byzantine diplomacy

Olga, ruler of Kievan Rus', along with her escort in Constantinople (Madrid Skylitzes, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid)

After the fall of Rome, the key challenge to the Empire was to maintain a set of relations between itself and its sundry neighbors. When these nations set about forging formal political institutions, they were dependent on Constantinople. Byzantine diplomacy soon managed to draw its neighbors into a network of international and inter-state relations. This network revolved around treaty making, and included the welcoming of the new ruler into the family of kings, and the assimilation of Byzantine social attitudes, values and institutions. Byzantines regarded diplomacy as a form of war by other means: the Bureau of Barbarians was the first foreign intelligence agency, gathering information on the empire's rivals from every imaginable source.

Byzantines availed themselves of a number of diplomatic practices. For example, embassies to the capital would often stay on for years. A member of other royal houses would routinely be requested to stay on in Constantinople, not only as a potential hostage, but also as a useful pawn in case political conditions where he came from changed. Another key practive was to overwhelm visitors by sumptuous displays. According to Dimitri Obolensky, the preservation of civilization in Eastern Europe was due to the skill and resourcefulness of Byzantine diplomacy, which remains one of Byzantium's lasting contributions to the history of Europe.

Legacy

Byzantine culture is important, because of two lines of transmission: the first one involved the exporting of classical Greek and Roman culture into Islam, and the second one involved the transmission of Byzantine culture and religion to Slavs, especially to the Russians. The Slavs in Russia became a kind of cultural inheritor of Byzantine culture, and, therefore, Russian and Slavic culture is regarded by some scholars as the continuance of Byzantine culture. Byzantium being only stable state in Europe during the Middle Ages ensured that Western Europe remained safe from many of the more devastating invasions from the East. Constantly under attack, it shielded Western Europe from Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and for a time, the Ottomans. The Byzantine-Arab Wars, for example, are recognized by some historians as being a key factor behind Charlemagne, and a huge stimulus to feudalism and economic self-sufficiency.

For centuries, Western historians used the terms "Byzantine" and "Byzantinism" as a byword for effeminate decadence, and there was a negative assessment of Byzantine civilization, and of its legacy on Southeastern Europe. "Byzantinism" was defined as a body of religious, political, and philosophical ideas, which ran contrary to those of the West. The 20th and 21st centuries, however, have seen an increased attempt by historians to understand the Empire, and, therefore, the complex characteristics of Byzantine culture have received a more objective treatment by modern Byzantine scholars.

See also

• List of Byzantine Empire-related topics

References

Primary sources

• Anna Komnene. "Books X-XIII". [[The Alexiad]] translated by Elizabeth A. S. Dawes. Medieval Sourcebook. {{cite book}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
• Choniates, Nicetas (1912). "The Sack of Constantinople (1204)". Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History by D.C. Munro (Series 1, Vol 3:1). Philadeplphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 15–16.
• Eusebius. Life of Constantine (Book IV). Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
• Geoffrey of Villehardouin (1963). "The Conquest of Constantinople". Chronicles of the Crusades (translated by Margaret R. Shaw). Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-140-44124-7.
• Innocent III (1993). Othmar Hageneder, Christoph Egger, Karl Rudolf, and Andrea Sommerlechner (ed.). Die Register Innocenz' III. 5: 5. Pontifikatsjahr, 1202/1203, Texte. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften: Publikationen des Historischen Instituts beim Österreichischen Kulturinstitut in Rom.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
• Innocent III (1995). Othmar Hageneder, John C. Moore Andrea Sommerlechner, Christoph Egger and Herwig Weigl (ed.). Die Register Innocenz' III. 6: 6. Pontifikatsjahr, 1202/1203, Texte. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften: Publikationen des Historischen Instituts beim Österreichischen Kulturinstitut in Rom.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
• Procopius (1935). Secret History (translated by H. B. Dewing). Loeb Classical Library.

Secondary sources

• Anastos, Milton V. (1962). "The History of Byzantine Science. Report on the Dumbarton Oaks Symposium of 1961". Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 16: 409–411. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
• Angelov, Dimiter G. (2001). "The Making of Byzantinism" (PDF): 1–10. Retrieved 2007-06-07. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Angold, Michael (1997). The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204. Longman. ISBN 0-582-29468-1.
• Antonucci, Michael (1993). "War by Other Means: The Legacy of Byzantium". History Today. 43 (2): 11–13. Retrieved 2007-05-21. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Birkenmeier, John W. (2002). "The Campaigns of Manuel I Komnenos". The Development of the Komnenian Army: 1081–1180. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 9-004-11710-5.
• Brooke, Zachary Nugent (2004). "East and West:1155–1198". A History of Europe, from 911 to 1198. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0-415-22126-9.
• Bury, John Bagnall (1923). History of the Later Roman Empire. Macmillan & Co., Ltd.
• "Byzantine Art". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002.
• "Byzantine Empire". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002.
• "Byzantine Literature". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1908.
• Chrysos, Evangelos (1992). "Byzantine Diplomacy, A.D. 300–800: Means and End". In Jonathan Shepard, Simon Franklin (ed.). Byzantine Diplomacy: Papers from the Twenty-Fourth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Cambridge, March 1990 (Society for the Promotion of Byzant). Variorum. ISBN 0-860-78338-3.
• Diehl, Charles. "Manuel I Comnenus (A.D. 1143–1180)". Byzantium, An Introduction to East Roman Civilization. Myriobiblos - Library. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
• Esler, Philip Francis (2000). "Constantine and the Empire". The Early Christian World. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-33312-1.
• Evans, James Allan. "Justinian (527–565 A.D.)". Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
• Fenner, Julian. "To What Extent Were Economic Factors to Blame for the Deterioration of the Roman Empire in the Third Century A.D?". The Romans. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
• Fox, Clifton R. "What, if Anything, Is a Byzantine". Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
• Garland, Lynda (1999). Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium, AD 527–1204. Routledge. ISBN 0415146887.
• Garland, Linda (2006). "Middle Byzantine Family Values and Anna Komnene's Alexiad". Byzantine Women: Varieties of Experience 800–1200. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-754-65737-X.
• Gibbon, Edward (1906). J.B. Bury (with an Introduction by W.E.H. Lecky) (ed.). The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Volumes II, III, and IX). New York: Fred de Fau and Co.
• Haldon, John (2002). Byzantium: A History. Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2343-6.
• Harris, Jonathan (2003). Byzantium and the Crusades. Hambledon and London. ISBN 1-85285-298-4.
• Harvey, Alan (1989). Economic Expansion in the Byzantine Empire, 900–1200. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37151-1.
• "Hellas, Byzantium". Encyclopaedia The Helios (in Greek). 1952.
• Hooker, Richard. "The Byzantine Empire". Retrieved 2007-06-07.
• Jenkins, Romilly (1987). "Heraclius". Byzantium: The ImperialCenturies, AD 610–1071. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-802-06667-4.
• "John II Komnenos". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002.
• Laiou, Angeliki E. (2002). "Exchange and Trade, Seventh-Twelfth Centuries". In Angeliki E. Laiou (ed.). The Economic History of Byzantium (Volume 2). Dumbarton Oaks.
• Laiou, Angeliki E. (2002). "Writing the Economic History of Byzantium". In Angeliki E. Laiou (ed.). The Economic History of Byzantium (Volume 1). Dumbarton Oaks.
• Louth, Andrew (2005). "The Byzantine Empire in the Seventh Century". In Paul Fouracre (ed.). The New Cambridge Medieval History (Volume I). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-36291-1.
• Magdalino, Paul (2002). "Medieval Constantinople: Built Environment and Urban Development". In Angeliki E. Laiou (ed.). The Economic History of Byzantium (Volume 2). Dumbarton Oaks.
• Magdalino, Paul (2002). The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52653-1.
• Mango, Cyril (1980). Byzantium: The Empire of the New Rome. Phoenix Press. ISBN 1-89880-044-8.
• Markham, Paul. "The Battle of Manzikert: Military Disaster or Political Failure?". Retrieved 2007-05-19.
• Matschke, Klaus-Peter (2002). "Commerce, Trade, Markets, and Money: Thirteenth-Fifteenth Centuries". In Angeliki E. Laiou (ed.). The Economic History of Byzantium (Volume 2). Dumbarton Oaks.
• Meyendorff, John (1982). The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 0-913-83690-7.
• Mousourakis, George (2003). "The Dominate". The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-754-62114-6.
• Nathan, Geoffrey S. "Roman Emperors: Theodosius II". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• Neumann, Iver. B. (2006). "Sublime Diplomacy: Byzantine, Early Modern, Contemporary" (PDF). Millennium: Journal of International Studies. 34 (3): 865–888. ISSN 1569-2981. Retrieved 2007-05-21. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Neville, Leonora (2004). "Imperial Administration and Byzantine Political Culture". Authority in Byzantine Provincial Society, 950–1100. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-83865-7.
• Norwich, John Julius (1998). A Short History of Byzantium. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-025960-0.
• Obolensky, Dimitri (1994). "The Principles and Methods of Byzantine Diplomacy". Byzantium and the Slavs. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 0-881-41008-X.
• Paparrigopoulos, Constantine (1925). History of the Hellenic Nation (Volume Db) (in Greek). Eleftheroudakis. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Parry, Kenneth (1996). "Historical Introduction". Depicting the Word: Byzantine Iconophile Thought of the Eighth and Ninth Centuries. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 9-004-10502-6.
• Raya, Joseph. "The Byzantine Church and Culture". Retrieved 2007-06-02.
• Read, Piers Paul (2003—English edition 1999). The Templars (translated in Greek by G. Kousounelou). Enalios. ISBN 9-605-36143-4. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• Robins, Robert Henry (1993). The Byzantine Grammarians: Their Place in History. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-110-13574-4.
• Runciman, Steven (1982). "The Bogomils". The Medieval Manichee: A Study of the Christian Dualist Heresy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-28926-2.
• Ryan, Herbert J. (1993). "The Church in History". The College Student's Introduction to Theology. Liturgical Press. ISBN 0-814-65841-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
• Sedlar, Jean W. (1994). "Foreign Affairs". East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97290-4.
• Scott Moore, R. "Heraclius ([[October 5]], 610–February 641 A.D.)". Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. Retrieved 2007-05-20. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
• Stone, Andrew. "John II Komnenos (A.D. 1118–1143)". Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
• Stone, Andrew. "Manuel I Komnenos (A.D. 1143–1180)". Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
• "Siege of Zara". Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise. Retrieved 2007-05-18. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Tatakes, Vasileios N. (2003). ByzantinePhilosophy. Hackett Publishing. ISBN 0-872-20563-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• "The Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Constantinople". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002.
• Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-804-72630-2.
• Troianos, Spyros (1997). "Byzantine Law". History of Law. Ant.N. Sakkoulas Publishers. ISBN 9-602-32594-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Vasiliev, Alexander Alexandrovich (1928–1935). "Byzantium and the Crusades". History of the Byzantine Empire.
• Watson, Bruce Allen (1993). "Jerusalem 1099". Sieges: A Comparative Study. Praeger/Greenwood. ISBN 0-275-94034-9.

Further reading

• Ahrweiler, Helene "Studies on the Internal Diaspora of the Byzantine Empire", Harvard University Press, 1998.
• Ahrweiler, Helene Les Europeens, Herman (Paris), 2000.
• Cantor, Norman (1963). Medieval History, the Life and Death of a Civilization.
• Haldon, John (2001). The Byzantine Wars: Battles and Campaigns of the Byzantine Era. ISBN 0-7524-1795-9.
• J.M. Hussey, The Cambridge Medieval History, Volume IV — The Byzantine Empire Part I, Byzantium and its Neighbors, Cambridge University Press 1966.
• Ostrogorsky, Georg (1969). 2nd edition (ed.). History of the Byzantine State. New Brunswick (NJ). ISBN 0-8135-1198-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: editors list (link) (Georgije Ostrogorski, Георгије Острогорски)
• Runciman, Steven (1966). Byzantine Civilisation. Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 1-56619-574-8.
• Runciman, Steven (1990). The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and his Reign. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
• Toynbee, Arnold J. (1972). Constantine Porphyrogenitus and His World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 019215253X.
• Treadgold, Warren (1991). The Byzantine Revival 780–842. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804718962.
• Turner, David. "The Empire Strikes Back: The alternative "History" of Europe". Romiosini: Hellenism in the Middle Ages. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

• Medievalists.net - extensive resources on the medieval period.
• Weapons & Artifacts of the Byzantine Roman Empire
• Ruminations on Romanisation in the East: Or, the Metanarrative in History
• Christian Hellenism and the Byzantines
• Byzantium: Byzantine studies on the Internet
• What, If Anything, Is A Byzantine? by Prof. Clifton R. Fox
• Orthodox Empire
• 12 Byzantine Rulers by Lars Brownworth of The Stony Brook School; audio lectures. NYTimes review.
• 18 centuries of Roman Empire by Howard Wiseman (Maps of the Roman/Byzantine Empire throughout its lifetime)
• Rome & Romania, 27 BC–1453 AD (Detailed maps of Rome/Byzantium and its neighbors)
• Byzantine Glory — the mosaic of Byzantine History and Culture
• The Economic History of Byzantium

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