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Byzantine – Latin Rulers of Constantinople 1204-1261 A.D.
Billon Trachea 27mm (3.40 grams) Constantinople mint: 1204-1261 A.D.
Reference: Sear 2057
Christ enthroned.
Saint Helena and Saint Constantine standing, holding
patriarchal cross between them.
Saint Constantine may refer to Constantine I the Great
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Saint Helena (Latin:
Flavia Iulia Helena Augusta) also
known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of
Constantinople (ca. 246/50 – 18 August 330) was the
consort
of
Emperor
Constantius
, and the mother of Emperor
Constantine the Great
. She is traditionally
credited with finding the
relics
of the
True Cross
, with which she is often represented
in Christian iconography.
Family life
Helena of Constantinople by
Cima da Conegliano
Helena’s birthplace is not known with certainty. The 6th-century historian
Procopius
is the earliest authority for the
statement that Helena was a native of
Drepanum
, in the province of
Bithynia
in
Asia Minor
. Her son Constantine renamed the
city “Helenopolis”
after her death in 330, which supports the belief that the city was her
birthplace. Although he might have done so in her honor, Constantine probably
had other reasons for doing so. The Byzantinist
Cyril Mango
has argued that Helenopolis was
refounded to strengthen the communication network around his new capital in
Constantinople, and was renamed simply to honor Helena, not to mark her
birthplace. There was also a Helenopolis in Palestine (modern
Daburiyya
) and a
Helenopolis in Lydia
. These cities, and the
province of
Helenopontus
in the
Diocese of Pontus
, were probably both named
after Constantine’s mother.
G. K. Chesterton
in his book ‘A Short History
of England’ writes that she was considered a Briton by the British; supporting
this, she is depicted as having golden hair. Some people believe that she came
from Colchester
in Essex; today the town has schools
and places named after her, as well as her image appearing on the town hall.
The bishop and historian
Eusebius of Caesarea
states that she was about
80 on her return from Palestine. Since that journey has been dated to 326–28,
Helena was probably born in 248 or 250. Little is known of her early life.
Fourth-century sources, following
Eutropius
‘ “Breviarium,” record that she
came from a low background.
Saint Ambrose
was the first to call her a
stabularia, a term translated as “stable-maid” or “inn-keeper”. He makes
this fact a virtue, calling Helena a bona stabularia, a “good
stable-maid”. Other sources, especially those written after Constantine’s
proclamation as emperor, gloss over or ignore her background.
It is unknown where she first met
Constantius
. The historian
Timothy Barnes
has suggested that
Constantius
, while serving under Emperor
Aurelian
, could have met her while stationed in
Asia Minor for the campaign against
Zenobia
. It is said that upon meeting they were
wearing identical silver bracelets,
Constantius
saw her as his soulmate sent by
God. Barnes calls attention to an epitaph at
Nicomedia
of one of Aurelian’s protectors,
which could indicate the emperor’s presence in the Bithynian region soon after
270. The precise legal nature of the relationship between Helena and
Constantius
is also unknown. The sources are
equivocal on the point, sometimes calling Helena
Constantius
‘ “wife”, and sometimes, following
the dismissive propaganda of Constantine’s rival
Maxentius
, calling her his “concubine”.
Jerome
, perhaps confused by the vague
terminology of his own sources, manages to do both. Some scholars, such as the
historian Jan Drijvers, assert that Constantius and Helena were joined in a
common-law marriage
, a cohabitation recognized
in fact but not in law. Others, like Timothy Barnes, assert that Constantius and
Helena were joined in an official marriage, on the grounds that the sources
claiming an official marriage are more reliable.
Helena’s sarcophagus in the
Museo Pio-Clementino
, Vatican
Museum, Rome
Helena gave birth to the future emperor
Constantine I
on 27 February of an uncertain
year soon after 270 (probably around 272). At the time, she was in
Naissus
(Niš,
Serbia
). In order to obtain a wife more
consonant with his rising status, Constantius divorced Helena some time before
289, when he married
Theodora
, Maximian’s daughter. (The narrative
sources date the marriage to 293, but the
Latin panegyric
of 289 refers to the couple as
already married). Helena and her son were dispatched to the court of
Diocletian
at Nicomedia, where Constantine grew
to be a member of the inner circle. Helena never remarried and lived for a time
in obscurity, though close to her only son, who had a deep regard and affection
for her.
Constantine was proclaimed
Augustus
of the
Roman Empire
in 306 by Constantius’ troops
after the latter had died, and following his elevation his mother was brought
back to the public life in 312, returning to the imperial court. She appears in
the Eagle Cameo portraying Constantine’s family, probably commemorating the
birth of Constantine’s son Constantine II in the summer of 316. She received the
title of
Augusta
in 325 and died in 330 with her son
at her side. She was buried in the
Mausoleum of Helena
, outside
Rome on the
Via Labicana
. Her
sarcophagus
is on display in the
Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum
, although the
connection is often questioned, next to her is the sarcophagus of her
granddaughter Saint Constantina (Saint Constance). The elaborate reliefs contain
hunting scenes. During her life, she gave many presents to the poor, released
prisoners and mingled with the ordinary worshippers in modest attire.
Helena’s saintliness has never been questioned despite her active participation
in the execution of
Crispus
and
Fausta
.[citation
needed] On some date between 15 May and 17 June 326,
Constantine had his eldest son Crispus, by Minervina, seized, tried and put to
death by “cold poison” at Pola (Pula, Croatia). In July, Constantine had his
wife, the Empress Fausta, killed at the behest of his mother, Helena. Fausta was
left to die in an overheated bath. Their names were wiped from the face of many
inscriptions, references to their lives in the literary record were erased, and
the memory of both was condemned.
Sainthood
She is considered by the
Eastern Orthodox
,
Oriental Orthodox
,
Eastern and Roman Catholic
churches, as well as
by the
Anglican Communion
and
Lutheran Churches
as a
saint
, famed for her piety. Her feast day as a
saint of the Orthodox Christian Church is celebrated with her son on 21 May, the
“Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal to the
Apostles.” Likewise, Anglican churches and some Lutheran churches, keep the
Eastern date. Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church falls on 18 August. Her
feast day in the
Coptic Orthodox Church
is on
9 Pashons
.
Eusebius
records the details of her
pilgrimage
to
Palestine
and other eastern provinces (though
not her discovery of the True Cross). She is the
patron saint
of
new discoveries
. Her discovery of the cross
along with Constantine is celebrated as a play in the Philippines called
Santacruzan.
Titular statue of Santa Liena, Birkirkara Malta, during the village
festa procession, 21st August 2011
Relic discoveries
The shrine to Saint Helena in
St. Peter’s Basilica
Orthodox
Bulgarian
icon
of Constantine and St. Helena
Helena’s head relic in the crypt of
Trier cathedral
Constantine appointed his mother Helena as
Augusta Imperatrix
, and gave her unlimited
access to the imperial treasury in order to locate the relics of
Judeo-Christian
tradition. In 326-28 Helena
undertook a trip to the
Holy Places in Palestine
. According to
Eusebius of Caesarea
she was responsible for
the construction or beautification of two churches, the
Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
, and the
Church on the
Mount of Olives
, sites of Christ’s birth and
ascension. Local founding legend attributes to Helena’s orders the construction
of a church in Egypt to identify the
Burning Bush
of Sinai. The chapel at
St. Catherine’s Monastery
—often referred to as
the Chapel of Saint Helen—is dated to the year AD 330.
Jerusalem was still being rebuilt following the destruction caused by Emperor
Hadrian
. He had built a temple over the site of
Jesus
‘s tomb near
Calvary
, and renamed the city
Aelia Capitolina
. Accounts differ concerning
whether the Temple was dedicated to
Venus
or Jupiter According to tradition, Helena
ordered the temple torn down and, according to the legend that arose at the end
of the 4th century, chose a site to begin excavating, which led to the recovery
of three different crosses. The legend is recounted in
Ambrose
, On the Death of Theodosius
(died 395) and at length in
Rufinus
‘ chapters appended to his translation
into Latin of
Ecclesiastical
HistoryEusebius’
, the main body of which does not mention the event. Then,
Rufinus relates, the empress refused to be swayed by anything short of solid
proof and performed a test. Possibly through Bishop
Macarius of Jerusalem
, she had a woman who was
near death brought from the city. When the woman touched the first and second
crosses, her condition did not change, but when she touched the third and final
cross she suddenly recovered, and Helena declared the cross with which the woman
had been touched to be the
True Cross
. On the site of discovery,
Constantine ordered the building of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
; churches were
also built on other sites detected by Helena.
Sozomen
and
Theodoret
claim that Helena also found the
nails of the crucifixion
. To use their
miraculous power to aid her son, Helena allegedly had one placed in
Constantine’s helmet, and another in the bridle of his horse.
Helena left Jerusalem and the eastern provinces in 327 to return to Rome,
bringing with her large parts of the True Cross and other relics, which were
then stored in her palace’s private chapel, where they can be still seen today.
Her palace was later converted into the
Basilica
of
the Holy Cross in Jerusalem
. This has been
maintained by
Cistercian
monks in the
monastery
which has been attached to the church
for centuries.
Tradition says that the site of the Vatican Gardens was spread with earth
brought from Golgotha
by Helena to symbolically unite the
blood of Christ
with that shed by thousands of
early Christians
, who died in the persecutions
of Nero
.
According to one tradition, Helena acquired the
Holy Tunic
on her trip to Jerusalem and sent it
to Trier
.
According to Byzantine tradition, Helena is responsible for the large
population of cats in
Cyprus
. Local tradition holds that she imported
hundreds of cats from Egypt or Palestine in the fourth century AD to rid a
monastery of snakes. The monastery is today known as “St. Nicholas of the Cats”
(Greek Άγιος Νικόλαος των Γατών) and is located near
Limassol
.
Several relics purportedly discovered by Saint Helena are now in
Cyprus
, where she spent some time. Among them
are items believed to be part of Jesus Christ’s tunic, pieces of the holy cross,
and pieces of the rope with which Jesus was tied on the Cross. The rope,
considered to be the only relic of its kind, has been held at the
Stavrovouni Monastery
, which was also founded
by Saint Helena.
Helena’s search for Christian relics and the official establishment of these
icons are viewed by some scholars to be the introduction of idolatry into the
Church.[28]
Some centuries later,
Emperor Leo III
sought to remove such images
from Christian worship, but
Pope Gregory II
(and later
Gregory III
) and a majority of the clergy
protested against the emperor’s
iconoclastic
edicts. The issue for the Catholic
church was settled at the
Second Council of Nicaea
.
Depictions in
British folklore
Helena finding the
True Cross
, Italian manuscript ca.
825
In Great Britain, later legend, mentioned by
Henry of Huntingdon
but made popular by
Geoffrey of Monmouth
, claimed that Helena was a
daughter of the King of
Britain
,
Cole
of
Camulodunum
, who allied with Constantius to
avoid more war between the Britons and Rome. Geoffrey further states that she
was brought up in the manner of a queen, as she had no brothers to inherit the
throne of Britain. The source for this may have been Sozomen’s
Historia Ecclesiastica
, which however does
not claim Helena was British but only that her son Constantine picked up his
Christianity there. Constantine was with his father when he died in
Eboracum
(York),
but neither had spent much time in Britain.
The statement made by English chroniclers of the Middle Ages, according to
which Helena was supposed to have been the daughter of a British prince, is
entirely without historical foundation. It may arise from the misinterpretation
of a term used in the fourth chapter of the panegyric on Constantine’s marriage
with Fausta, that Constantine, oriendo (i.e., “by his beginnings,” “from the
outset”) had honoured Britain, which was taken as an allusion to his birth,
whereas the reference was really to the beginning of his reign.
At least twenty-five
holy wells
currently exist in the United
Kingdom dedicated to Saint Helena. She is also the
patron saint
of
Abingdon
and
Colchester
.
St Helen’s Chapel
in Colchester was believed to
have been founded by Helena herself, and since the 15th century, the town’s
coat of arms
has shown a representation of the
True Cross
and three crowned nails in her
honour.[32]
Colchester Town Hall
has a Victorian statue of
the saint on top of its 50-metre (160 ft) high tower. The arms of
Nottingham
are almost identical, because of the
city’s connection with Cole (or Coel), Helena’s supposed father.
Adrian Gilbert
has argued that Helena traveled
to Nevern
in Wales and hid the True Cross near the
local Norman church of St
Brynach
, where a cross is carved into a rock
formation. Named the Pilgrim’s Cross, religious pilgrims once came here to pray
for visions. Names of local places are abundant with cross imagery, including
River of the Empress, Mountain of the Cross, Pass of the Cross, and others. The
True Cross, however, has not been found in this region.
Depictions in fiction
In medieval legend and
chivalric romance
, Helena appears as a
persecuted heroine, in the vein of such women as
Emaré
and
Constance
; separated from her husband, she
lives a quiet life, supporting herself on her embroidery, until such time as her
son’s charm and grace wins her husband’s attention and so the revelation of
their identities.
Helena is the protagonist of
Evelyn Waugh
‘s novel
Helena
. She is also the main character of
Priestess of Avalon
(2000), a
fantasy
novel by
Marion Zimmer Bradley
and
Diana L. Paxson
. She is given the name Eilan
and depicted as a trained
priestess
of
Avalon
.
Helena is also the protagonist of
Louis de Wohl
‘s novel The Living Wood,
1947, in which she is again the daughter of King Coel of Colchester.
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople (original
Latin
name: Imperium Romaniae, “Empire
of
Romania
“) is the name given by historians
to the
feudal
Crusader state
founded by the leaders of the
Fourth Crusade
on lands captured from the
Byzantine Empire
. It was established after the
capture of
Constantinople
in 1204 and lasted until 1261.
The Latin Empire was intended to supplant as titular successor to the
Roman Empire
in the east, with a Western
Roman Catholic
emperor enthroned in place of
the Eastern
Orthodox
Roman emperors
.
Baldwin IX
,
Count of Flanders
, was crowned the first Latin
emperor as Baldwin I on 16 May 1204. The Latin Empire failed to attain political
or economic dominance over the other Latin powers that had been established in
former Byzantine territories in the wake of the Fourth Crusade, especially
Venice
, and after a short initial period of
military successes it went into a steady decline. Weakened by constant warfare
with the Bulgarians and the unconquered sections of the empire, it eventually
fell when Byzantines recaptured Constantinople under Emperor
Michael VIII Palaiologos
in 1261. The last
Latin emperor,
Baldwin II
, went into exile, but the imperial
title survived, with several pretenders to it, until the 14th century.
Name
The original name of this state in the Latin language was
Imperium Romaniae (“Empire
of Romania“). This name was used based on the fact that the common name
for the Roman Empire in this period had been Romania (Ῥωμανία,
“Land of the Romans“).
The names Byzantine and Latin were not contemporary terms. They
were invented much later by historians seeking to differentiate between the
classical period of the
Roman Empire
, the medieval period (label the
Byzantine Empire
) and the late medieval Latin
Empire, all of which called themselves “Roman.” The term Latin has been
used because the crusaders (Franks,
Venetians, and other westerners) were Roman Catholic and used Latin as their
liturgical and scholarly language. It is used in contrast to the Eastern
Orthodox locals who used
Greek
in both liturgy and common speech.
History
Creation
By arrangement among the crusaders, Byzantine territory was divided: in the
Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae
, signed
on 1 October 1204, three eighths — including
Crete
and other islands — went to the
Republic of Venice
. The Latin Empire claimed
the remainder, and did exert control over areas of
Greece
, divided into
vassal
fiefs
: the
Kingdom of Thessalonica
, the
Principality of Achaea
, the
Duchy of Athens
, the
Duchy of the Archipelago
and the short-lived
duchies of
Nicaea
,
Philippopolis
, and
Philadelphia
. The
Doge of Venice
did not rank as a vassal to the
Empire, but his position in control of 3/8 of its territory and of parts of
Constantinople itself, ensured Venice’s influence in the Empire’s affairs.
However, much of the former Byzantine territory remained in the hands of rival
successor states
led by Byzantine Greek
aristocrats, such as the
Despotate of Epirus
, the
Empire of Nicaea
, and the
Empire of Trebizond
, which were bent on
reconquest from the Latins.
The crowning of Baldwin and the creation of the Latin Empire had the curious
effect of creating three so-called Roman Empires in Europe at the same time, the
others being the
Holy Roman Empire
and the remnants of the
Byzantine Empire
(the direct successor of the
ancient Roman Empire), none of which actually controlled
the city of Rome, which was under the
temporal authority
of the
Pope.
In Asia Minor
Capture of Constantinople during the
Fourth Crusade
in 1204.
The initial campaigns of the crusaders in Asia Minor resulted in the capture
of most of Bithynia
by 1205, with the defeat of the forces
of
Theodore I Laskaris
at Poemanenum and Prusa.
Latin successes continued, and in 1207 a truce was signed with Theodore, newly
proclaimed Emperor of Nicaea. The Latins inflicted a
further defeat
on Nicaean forces at the
Rhyndakos river in October 1211, and three years later the
Treaty of Nymphaeum (1214)
recognized their
control of most of Bithynia and
Mysia
.
The peace was maintained until 1222, at which point the resurgent power of
Nicaea felt sufficiently strong enough to challenge the Latin Empire, by that
time weakened by constant warfare in its European provinces. At the
battle of Poimanenon
in 1224, the Latin army
was defeated, and by the next year Emperor
Robert of Courtenay
was forced to cede all his
Asian possessions to Nicaea, save
Nicomedia
and the territories directly across
Constantinople. Nicaea turned also to the
Aegean
, capturing the islands awarded to the
empire. In 1235, finally, the last Latin possessions fell to Nicaea.
In Europe
Unlike in Asia, where the Latin Empire faced only an initially weak Nicaea,
in Europe it was immediately confronted with a powerful enemy: the
Bulgarian
tsar
Kaloyan
. When Baldwin campaigned against the
Byzantine lords of Thrace
, they called upon Kaloyan for help. At
the
Battle of Adrianople
on 14 April 1205, the
Latin heavy cavalry and knights were crushed by Kaloyan’s troops, and Emperor
Baldwin was captured. He was imprisoned in the Bulgarian capital
Tarnovo
until his death later in 1205. Kaloyan
was murdered a couple of years later (1207) during a siege of
Thessalonica
, and the Bulgarian threat
conclusively defeated with a victory the following year, which allowed Baldwin’s
successor,
Henry of Flanders
, to reclaim most of the lost
territories in Thrace until 1210, when peace was concluded with the marriage of
Henry to
Maria of Bulgaria
, tsar Kaloyan’s daughter.
At the same time, another Greek successor state, the
Despotate of Epirus
, under
Michael I Komnenos Doukas
, posed a threat to
the empire’s vassals in Thessalonica and Athens. Henry demanded his submission,
which Michael provided, giving off his daughter to Henry’s brother Eustace in
the summer of 1209. This alliance allowed Henry to launch a campaign in
Macedonia
,
Thessaly
and
Central Greece
against the rebellious
Lombard
lords of Thessalonica. However,
Michael’s attack on the Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1210 forced him to return
north to relieve the city and to force Michael back into submission.
In 1214 however, Michael died, and was succeeded by
Theodore Komnenos Doukas
, who was determined to
capture Thessalonica. On 11 June 1216, while supervising repairs to the walls of
Thessalonica, Henry died, and was succeeded by
Peter of Courtenay
, who himself was captured
and executed by Theodore the following year. A regency was set up in
Constantinople, headed by Peter’s widow,
Yolanda of Flanders
until 1221, when her son
Robert of Courtenay
was crowned Emperor.
Distracted by the renewed war with Nicaea, and waiting in vain for assistance
from
Pope Honorius III
and the King of France
Philip II
, the Latin Empire was unable to
prevent the final fall of Thessalonica to Epirus in 1224. Epirote armies then
conquered Thrace in 1225–26, appearing before Constantinople itself. The Latin
Empire was saved for the time by the threat posed to Theodore by the Bulgarian
tsar
Ivan II Asen
, and a truce was concluded in
1228.
Decline and fall
After Robert of Courtenay died in 1228, a new regency under
John of Brienne
was set up. After the
disastrous Epirote defeat by the Bulgarians at the
Battle of Klokotnitsa
, the Epirote threat to
the Latin Empire was removed, only to be replaced by Nicaea, which started
acquiring territories in Greece. Emperor
John III Doukas Vatatzes
of Nicaea concluded an
alliance with Bulgaria, which in 1235 resulted in joint campaign against the
Latin Empire, and an unsuccessful
siege of Constantinople
the same year. In 1237,
Baldwin II
attained majority and took over the
reins of a much-diminished state. The empire’s precarious situation forced him
to travel often to Western Europe seeking aid, but largely without success. In
order to gain money, he was forced to resort to desperate means, from removing
the lead roofs of the
Great Palace
and selling them, to handing over
his only son, Philip, to Venetian merchants as a guarantee for a loan.
By 1247, the Nicaeans had effectively surrounded Constantinople, with only
the city’s strong
walls
holding them at bay, and the
Battle of Pelagonia
in 1258 signaled the
beginning of the end of Latin predominance in Greece. Thus, on 25 July 1261,
with most of the Latin troops away on campaign, the Nicaean general
Alexios Strategopoulos
found an unguarded
entrance to the city, and entered it with his troops, restoring the Byzantine
Empire for his master,
Michael VIII Palaiologos
.
Titular claimants
For about a century thereafter, the heirs of Baldwin II continued to use the
title of Emperor of Constantinople, and were seen as the overlords of the
various remaining Latin states in the
Aegean
. They exercised effective authority in
Greece only when actually ruling as
princes of Achaea
, as in 1333–83. Although they
are generally regarded as titular emperors, the continued existence of Latin
states in the Aegean that recognized them as their
suzerains
makes the term a misnomer; a more
accurate description would be emperors-in-exile.
Organization and
society
Administration
The empire was formed and administrated on Western European feudal
principles, incorporating some elements of the Byzantine bureaucracy. The
emperor was assisted by a council, composed of the various barons, the Venetian
podestà
and his six-member council. This
council had a major voice in the governance of the realm, especially in the
periods of regency, where the Regent (moderator imperii) was dependent on
their consent to rule. The podesta, likewise, was an extremely influential
member, being practically independent of the emperor. He exercised authority
over the Venetian quarters of Constantinople and
Pera
and the Venetian dominions within the
empire, assisted by a separate set of officials. His role was more that of an
ambassador and
vicegerent
of Venice than a vassal to the
empire.
Economy
The Latins did not trust the professional Greek bureaucracy, and in the
immediate aftermath of the conquest completely dismantled the Greek economic
administration of the areas they controlled. The result was disastrous,
disrupting all forms of production and trade. Almost from its inception the
Latin Empire was sending requests back to the papacy for aid. For a few years,
the major commodities it exported from the surrounding region of Thrace were
wheat and furs, as well as profit from Constantinople’s strategic location on
major trade routes. While the empire showed some moderate vitality while Henry
was alive, after his death in 1216 there was a major deficit in leadership. By
the 1230s, Constantinople – even with its drastically reduced population – was
facing a major shortage of basic foodstuffs. In several senses, the only
significant export on which the economy of the Latin Empire had any real basis
was the sale of relics back to Western Europe which had been looted from Greek
churches. For example, Emperor Baldwin II sold the relic of the Crown of Thorns
while in France trying to raise new funds.
The Byzantine Empire (or Byzantium) was the Eastern Roman
Empire during the periods of
Late Antiquity
and the
Middle Ages
, centred on the capital of
Constantinople
. Known simply as the “Roman
Empire” (Greek:
Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων, Basileia Rhōmaiōn)
or Romania (Ῥωμανία) to its
inhabitants and neighbours, it was the direct continuation of the
Ancient Roman State
and maintained Roman state
traditions. Byzantium is today distinguished from
ancient Rome
proper insofar as it was oriented
towards
Greek culture
, characterised by
Christianity
rather than
Roman paganism
and was predominantly
Greek-speaking
rather than
Latin-speaking
.
As the distinction between Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire is
largely a modern convention, it is not possible to assign a date of separation,
but an important point is
Emperor Constantine I’s
transfer in 324 of the
capital from Nicomedia
(in
Anatolia
) to
Byzantium
on the
Bosphorus
, which became Constantinople, “City
of Constantine” (alternatively “New
Rome“).[n
1] The Roman Empire was finally divided in 395 AD after the
death of Emperor
Theodosius I
(r. 379–395), thus this date is
also very important if the Byzantine Empire (or Eastern Roman Empire) is looked
upon as completely separated from the West. The transition to Byzantine history
proper finally begins during the reign of Emperor
Heraclius
(r. 610–641), since Heraclius
effectively established a new state after reforming the army and administration
by introducing
themes
and by replacing the official language
of the Empire from Latin to Greek.
The Byzantine Empire existed for more than a thousand years, from its genesis
in the 4th century to 1453. During most of its existence, it remained one of the
most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe, despite
setbacks and territorial losses, especially during the
Roman-Persian
and
Byzantine-Arab Wars
. The Empire recovered
during the
Macedonian dynasty
, rising again to become a
preeminent power in the
Eastern Mediterranean
by the late 10th century,
rivalling the
Fatimid Caliphate
.
After 1071, however, much of
Asia Minor
, the Empire’s heartland, was lost to
the
Seljuk Turks
. The
Komnenian restoration
regained some ground and
briefly reestablished dominance in the 12th century, but following the death of
Emperor
Andronikos I Komnenos
(r. 1183–1185) and the
end of the
Komnenos dynasty
in the late 12th century the
Empire declined again. The Empire received a mortal blow in 1204 from the
Fourth Crusade
, when it was dissolved and
divided into competing Byzantine Greek and Latin realms.
Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople and
re-establishment of the Empire in 1261
, under
the Palaiologan
emperors, Byzantium remained only
one of many rival states in the area for the final 200 years of its existence.
However, this period was the most culturally productive time in the Empire.[4]
Successive civil wars in the 14th century further sapped the Empire’s
strength, and most of its remaining territories were lost in the
Byzantine-Ottoman Wars
, which culminated in the
Fall of Constantinople
and the conquest of
remaining territories by the
Ottoman Empire
in the 15th century.
The designation of the Empire as Byzantine began in
Western Europe
in 1557, when
German
historian
Hieronymus Wolf
published his work Corpus
Historiæ Byzantinæ, a collection of historical sources. The term comes from
Byzantium
, the name of the city of
Constantinople
before it became the capital of
Constantine
. This older name of the city would
rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts.
The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre (Corpus Scriptorum
Historiæ Byzantinæ), and in 1680 of
Du Cange
‘s Historia Byzantina further
popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, such as
Montesquieu
.[7]
The term then disappears until the 19th century when it came into general use in
the Western world
.[8]
Before this time, Greek had been used for the Empire and its descendants
within the Ottoman Empire.
The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire,
the Empire of the Romans (Latin: Imperium Romanum, Imperium
Romanorum, Greek: Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων,
Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn, Ἀρχὴ τῶν Ῥωμαίων,
Arche tôn Rhōmaíōn), Romania
2][n (Latin: Romania, Greek:
Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía), the Roman
Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romana, Greek:
Πολιτεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Politeίa tôn
Rhōmaíōn),[10]
Graikía (Greek: Γραικία),[11]
and also as Rhōmaís (Greek: Ῥωμαΐς).
Although the Byzantine Empire had a multi-ethnic character during most of its
history
and preserved
Romano-Hellenistic
traditions,[14]
it became identified by its western and northern contemporaries’ with its increasingly predominant
Greek element
.[15]
The occasional use of the term Empire of the Greeks (Latin: Imperium
Graecorum) in the West to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire and of the
Byzantine Emperor as Imperator Graecorum (Emperor of the Greeks)[16]
were also used to separate it from the prestige of the Roman Empire within the
new kingdoms of the West.[17]
The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor, was
challenged by the coronation of
Charlemagne
as
Imperator Augustus
by
Pope Leo III
in the year 800. Needing
Charlemagne’s support in his struggle against his enemies in Rome, Leo used the
lack of a male occupant of the throne of the Roman Empire at the time to claim
that it was vacant and that he could therefore crown a new Emperor himself.
Whenever the Popes
or the rulers of the West made use of the
name Roman to refer to the Eastern Roman Emperors, they preferred the
term Imperator Romaniæ instead of Imperator Romanorum, a title
that Westerners maintained applied only to Charlemagne and his successors.
No such distinction existed in the
Persian
,
Islamic
, and
Slavic
worlds, where the Empire was more
straightforwardly seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic
world it was known primarily as روم (Rûm
“Rome”).
In modern historical works, the Empire is usually called the Eastern Roman
Empire in the context of the period 395 to 610, before Emperor
Heraclius
changed the official language from
Latin to Greek (already the language known by the great majority of the
population). In contexts after 610, the term Byzantine Empire is used
more regularly.
History
Early
history of the Roman Empire
The Roman army succeeded in conquering a vast collection of territories
covering the entire Mediterranean region and much of
Western Europe
. These territories consisted of
many different cultural groups, ranging from primitive to highly sophisticated.
Generally speaking, the eastern Mediterranean provinces were more urbanised and
socially developed, having previously been united under the
Macedonian Empire
and
Hellenised
by the influence of Greek culture.
In contrast, the western regions had mostly remained independent from any single
cultural or political authority, and were still largely rural and less
developed. This distinction between the established Hellenised East and the
younger Latinised West persisted and became increasingly important in later
centuries.
In 293, Diocletian
created a new administrative system,
(the tetrarchy
).
He associated himself with a co-emperor, or
Augustus
. Each Augustus was then to adopt a
young colleague given the title of
Caesar
, to share in their rule and
eventually to succeed the senior partner. After the abdication of Diocletian and
Maximian
, however, the tetrarchy collapsed, and
Constantine I
replaced it with the dynastic
principle of hereditary succession.
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.
Constantine built upon the administrative reforms introduced by Diocletian.He stabilised the coinage (the gold
solidus
that he introduced became a highly
prized and stable currency),
and made changes to the structure of the army. Under Constantine, the Empire had
recovered much of its military strength and enjoyed a period of stability and
prosperity.
Under Constantine,
Christianity
did not become the exclusive
religion of the state, but enjoyed imperial preference, because
the Emperor supported it with generous privileges
.
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
, bequeathed 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 undivided empire.
The Eastern Empire was largely spared the difficulties faced by the West in
the 3rd and 4th centuries, due in part to a more established urban culture and
greater financial resources which allowed it to placate invaders with
tribute
and pay foreign
mercenaries
.
Theodosius II
further fortified
the walls of Constantinople
, leaving the city
impervious to most attacks. The walls were not breached until 1204. In order to
fend off the Huns
, Theodosius paid a tribute (purportedly
300 kg (661.39 lb)
of gold).
His successor, Marcian
, refused to continue to pay this
exorbitant sum. Fortunately
Attila
had already diverted his attention to
the
Western Roman Empire
.
After he died in 453, the
Hunnic Empire
collapsed; many of the remaining
Huns were often hired as mercenaries by Constantinople.
After the fall of Attila, the Eastern Empire enjoyed a period of peace, while
the
Western Empire
collapsed (its end is usually
dated in 476 when the Germanic Roman general
Odoacer
deposed the titular Western Emperor
Romulus Augustulus
).
To recover Italy, Emperor
Zeno
negotiated with the invading
Ostrogoths
, who had settled in
Moesia
. He sent the Gothic King
Theodoric
to Italy as magister militum per
Italiam (“commander in chief for Italy”) in order to depose Odoacer. By
urging Theodoric into conquering Italy, Zeno rid the Eastern Empire of an unruly
subordinate and gained at least a nominal form of supremacy over Italy.
After Odoacer’s defeat in 493, Theodoric ruled Italy on his own.
In 491,
Anastasius I
, an aged civil officer of Roman
origin, became Emperor, but it was not until 498 that the forces of the new
emperor effectively took the measure of Isaurian resistance.
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
chrysargyron
tax. The State Treasury contained
the enormous sum of 320,000 lbs (145,150 kg) of gold when Anastasius died in
518.
Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the
Basilica of San Vitale
,
Ravenna
.
Justinian I
, who assumed the throne in 527,
oversaw a period of recovery of former territories. Justinian, the son of an
Illyrian
peasant, may already have exerted
effective control during the reign of his uncle,
Justin I
(518–527).
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
Sassanids
. In the same year, Justinian survived
a revolt in Constantinople (the
Nika riots
) which ended with the deaths of a
reported 30,000 to 35,000 rioters, on his orders.[36]
This victory solidified Justinian’s power.
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
Africa
from the
Vandals
who had been in control since 429 with
their capital at Carthage.
Their success came with surprising ease, but it was not until 548 that the major
local tribes were subdued.
In
Ostrogothic Italy
, the deaths of
Theodoric the Great
, his nephew and heir
Athalaric
, and his daughter
Amalasuntha
had left her murderer
Theodahad
on the throne despite his weakened
authority. In 535, a small Byzantine expedition to
Sicily
was 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.
The Ostrogoths were united under the command of King
Totila
and captured Rome on 17 December 546.
Justinian eventually called back Belisarius to Constantinople in early 549 from
Ravenna.[40]
The arrival of the Armenian
eunuch
Narses
in Italy (late 551) with an army of some
35,000 men marked another shift in Gothic fortunes. Totila was defeated at the
Battle of Busta Gallorum
and his successor,
Teia, was defeated at the
Battle of Mons Lactarius
(October 552). Despite
continuing resistance from a few Gothic garrisons and two subsequent invasions
by the Franks
and
Alamanni
, the war for the Italian peninsula was
at an end.
In 551, Athanagild
,a noble from
Visigothic
Hispania
, sought Justinian’s help in a
rebellion against the king, and the emperor dispatched a force under
Liberius
, a successful military commander. The
Empire held on to a small slice of the
Iberian Peninsula
coast until the reign of
Heraclius
.[42]
In the east, the
Roman-Persian Wars
continued until 561 when
Justinian’s and Khosrau’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 and defeated the new Hunnish threat. The strengthening of the Danube
fleet caused the Kutrigur Huns to withdraw and they agreed to a treaty which
allowed them safe passage back across the Danube.
In 529, a ten-man commission chaired by
Tribonian
revised the ancient
Roman legal code
and created the new Codex
Justinianus, a condensed version of previous legal texts. In 534, the Codex
Justinianus was updated and reorganised into the system of law used for the rest
of the Byzantine era.
These legal reforms, along with the many other changes to the law became known
as the
Corpus Juris Civilis
.
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
. Nevertheless, Christian
philosophy and culture were dominant and began to replace the older culture.
Hymns written by
Romanos the Melodist
marked the development of
the Divine Liturgy
, while architects and builders
worked to complete the new Church of the
Holy Wisdom
,
Hagia Sophia
, which was designed to replace an
older church destroyed during the Nika Revolt. The Hagia Sophia stands today as
one of the major monuments of Byzantine architectural history.
During the 6th and 7th centuries, the Empire was struck by a
series of epidemics
, which greatly devastated
the population and contributed to a significant economic decline and a weakening
of the Empire.
After Justinian died in 565, his 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. Though 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
Slavs
began to make inroads across the Danube.
Maurice, who meanwhile succeeded Tiberius, intervened in a Persian civil war,
placed the legitimate
Khosrau II
back on the throne and married his
daughter to him. Maurice’s treaty with his new brother-in-law brought a new
status-quo to the east territorially, enlarged to an extent never before
achieved by the Empire in its six century history, and much cheaper to defend
during this new perpetual peace – millions of solidi were saved by the remission
of tribute to the Persians alone. After his victory on the eastern frontier,
Maurice was free to focus on the Balkans, and by 602 after a series of
successful
campaigns
he had pushed the Avars and Slavs
back across the Danube.
Shrinking borders
After Maurice’s murder by
Phocas
, Khosrau used the pretext to reconquer
the Roman province of
Mesopotamia
.
Phocas, an unpopular ruler who was invariably described in Byzantine sources as
a “tyrant”, was the target of a number of Senate-led plots. He was eventually
deposed in 610 by
Heraclius
, who sailed to Constantinople from
Carthage
with an icon affixed to the prow of
his ship.
Following the ascension of Heraclius, the Sassanid advance pushed deep into Asia
Minor, also occupying
Damascus
and
Jerusalem
and removing the
True Cross
to
Ctesiphon
.
The counter-offensive of Heraclius took on the character of a holy war, and an
acheiropoietos
image of
Christ
was carried as a military standard.
(similarly, when Constantinople was saved from an
Avar
siege in 626, the victory was attributed
to the icons of the Virgin which were led in procession by
Patriarch Sergius
about the walls of the city).
The main Sassanid force was destroyed at
Nineveh
in 627, and in 629 Heraclius restored
the True Cross to Jerusalem in a majestic ceremony.
The war had exhausted both the Byzantine and
Sassanid Empire
, and left them extremely
vulnerable to the
Arab Muslim forces
which emerged in the
following years.
The
Romans suffered a crushing defeat
by the Arabs
at the
Battle of Yarmuk
in 636, and
Ctesiphon
fell in 634.
The Arabs, now firmly in
control of Syria and the Levant
, sent frequent
raiding parties deep into Anatolia, and between 674 and 678
laid siege
to Constantinople itself. The Arab
fleet was finally repulsed through the use of
Greek fire
, and a thirty-years’ truce was
signed between the Empire and
Ummayyad
Caliphate
.
The Anatolian raids continued unabated, and accelerated the demise of classical
urban culture, with the inhabitants of many cities either refortifying much
smaller areas within the old city walls, or relocating entirely to nearby
fortresses.
Constantinople itself dropped substantially in size, from 500,000 inhabitants to
just 40,000–70,000, as the city lost the free grain shipments in 618 after the
loss of Egypt to the Persians (province was regained in 629, but lost to Arab
invaders in 642).
The void left by the disappearance of the old semi-autonomous civic institutions
was filled by the
theme system
, which entailed the division of
Anatolia into “provinces” occupied by distinct armies which assumed civil
authority and answered directly to the imperial administration. This system may
have had its roots in certain ad hoc measures taken by Heraclius, but
over the course of the 7th century it developed into an entirely new system of
Imperial governance.
The withdrawal of large numbers of troops from the Balkans to combat the
Persians and then the Arabs in the east opened the door for the gradual
southward expansion of
Slavic peoples
into the peninsula, and, as in
Anatolia, many cities shrank to small fortified settlements.
In the 670s, the
Bulgarians
were pushed south of the Danube by
the arrival of the
Khazars
, and in 680 Byzantine forces which had
been sent to disperse these new settlements were defeated. In the next year,
Constantine IV
signed a treaty with the
Bulgarian khan
Asparukh
, and the
new Bulgarian state
assumed sovereignty over a
number of Slavic tribes which had previously, at least in name, recognised
Byzantine rule.
In 687–688, the emperor
Justinian II
led an expedition against the
Slavs and Bulgarians which made significant gains, although the fact that he had
to fight his way from
Thrace
to
Macedonia
demonstrates the degree to which
Byzantine power in the north Balkans had declined.
The final Heraclian emperor,
Justinian II
, attempted to break the power of
the urban aristocracy through severe taxation and the appointment of “outsiders”
to administrative posts. He was driven from power in 695, and took shelter first
with the Khazars and then with the Bulgarians. In 705, he returned to
Constantinople with the armies of the Bulgarian khan
Tervel
, retook the throne, and instituted a
reign of terror against his enemies. With his final overthrow in 711, supported
once more by the urban aristocracy, the Heraclian dynasty came to an end.[60]
Leo III the Isaurian
turned back the Muslim
assault in 718, and achieved victory with the major help of the Bulgarian khan
Tervel, who killed 32,000 Arabs with his army. He also addressed himself to the
task of reorganising and consolidating the themes in Asia Minor. His successor,
Constantine V
, won noteworthy victories in
northern Syria, and thoroughly undermined Bulgar strength.
Taking advantage of the Empire’s weakness after the revolt of
Thomas the Slav
in the early 820s, the Arabs
captured Crete
, and successfully attacked
Sicily, but on 3 September 863, general
Petronas
gained a
huge victory
against
Umar al-Aqta
, the
emir of
Melitene
. Under the leadership of Bulgarian
Emperor Krum
, the Bulgarian 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
endeavoured 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, Emperor
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
‘s elevation to the patriarchate.
Macedonian
dynasty and resurgence
Byzantines, c. 700-1000.
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 tsar Samuel. The
cities of the Empire expanded, and affluence spread across the provinces because
of the new-found security. The population rose, and production increased,
stimulating new demand while also helping to encourage trade. Culturally, there
was considerable growth in education and learning (the “Macedonian
Renaissance”). 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.
By 867, the Byzantine Empire had re-stabilised its position in both the east
and the west, and the efficiency of its defensive military structure enabled its
emperors to begin planning wars of reconquest in the east.
The process of reconquest began with mixed 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 Byzantine
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). Unlike the deteriorating
situation in Sicily, Basil I handled the situation in southern Italy well enough
and the province would remain in Byzantine hands for the next 200 years.
In 904, disaster struck the Empire when its second city,
Thessaloniki
, was sacked by an Arab fleet led
by the Byzantine renegade
Leo of Tripoli
. The Byzantine military
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
Varangians
, who attacked 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 Varangians 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
Fatimid
caliphate.[64]
After much campaigning, the last Arab threat to Byzantium was defeated when
Basil II rapidly drew 40,000 mounted soldiers to relieve Roman Syria. With a
surplus of resources and victories thanks to the Bulgar and Syrian campaigns,
Basil II planned an expedition against Sicily to re-take it from the Arabs
there. After his death in 1025, the expedition set off in the 1040s and was met
with initial, but stunted success.
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 Christianised Bulgaria. This prompted an
invasion by the powerful
Tsar
Simeon I
in 894, but this was pushed back by
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 Bulgarians. Later (912), Simeon even had the
Byzantines grant him the crown of basileus (emperor) 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 Phocas
and
Romanos Lekapenos
ended again with a crushing
Byzantine defeat at the
Battle of Acheloos
(917), and the following
year the Bulgarians were free to ravage northern Greece as far as
Corinth
. Adrianople was captured again in 923
and in 924 a Bulgarian army laid siege to Constantinople. The situation in the
Balkans improved only after Simeon’s death in 927. In 968, Bulgaria was overrun
by the Rus’
under
Sviatoslav I of Kiev
, but three years later,
Emperor
John I Tzimiskes
defeated
the Rus’ and re-incorporated eastern
Bulgaria into the Byzantine Empire.
Bulgarian resistance revived under the rule of the
Cometopuli dynasty
, but the new emperor
Basil II
(reigned 976–1025) made the submission
of the Bulgarians his primary goal. Basil’s first expedition against Bulgaria,
however, resulted in a humiliating defeat at the
Gates of Trajan
. For the next few years, the
emperor would be preoccupied with internal revolts in
Anatolia
, while the Bulgarians expanded their
realm in the Balkans. The war was to drag on for nearly twenty years. The
Byzantine victories of
Spercheios
and
Skopje
decisively weakened the Bulgarian army,
and in annual campaigns, Basil methodically reduced the Bulgarian strongholds.
Eventually, at the
Battle of Kleidion
in 1014 the Bulgarians were
completely defeated.[65]
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
Samuil
saw the broken remains of his once
gallant army, he died of shock. By 1018, the last Bulgarian strongholds had
surrendered, and the country became part of the Empire. This victory restored
the Danube
frontier, which had not been held since
the days of the emperor Heraclius.
Between 850 and 1100, the Empire developed a mixed relationship with a new
state that emerged to the north across the
Black Sea
, that of the
Kievan Rus’
. This relationship would have
long-lasting repercussions in the history of the
East Slavs
. The Empire quickly became the main
trading
and cultural partner for Kiev, but
relations were not always friendly. The most serious conflict between the two
powers was the
war of 968–971
in Bulgaria, but several
Rus’ raiding expeditions
against the Byzantine cities of the Black Sea coast and Constantinople itself
are also recorded. Although most were repulsed, they were concluded by
trade treaties
that were generally favourable
to the Rus’.
Rus’-Byzantine relations became closer following the marriage of the
porphyrogenita
Anna
to
Vladimir the Great
, and the subsequent
Christianisation of the Rus’
: Byzantine
priests, architects and artists were invited to work on numerous cathedrals and
churches around Rus’, expanding Byzantine cultural influence even further.
Numerous Rus’ served in the Byzantine army as mercenaries, most notably as the
famous
Varangian Guard
.
The Byzantine Empire then stretched from
Armenia
in the east to
Calabria
in
Southern Italy
in the west.[64]
Many successes had been achieved, ranging from the conquest of
Bulgaria
, to the annexation of parts 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 Roman
world since the
First Punic War
. 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 the Eastern and 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.
Crisis and
fragmentation
The Empire soon fell into a period of difficulties, caused to a large extent
by the undermining of the theme system and the neglect of the military.
Nikephoros II
(reigned 963–969),
John Tzimiskes
and
Basil II
changed the military divisions (τάγματα,
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.[66]
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.
At the same time, the Empire was faced with new enemies. Provinces in
southern Italy faced the
Normans
, who arrived in Italy at the beginning
of the 11th century. During a period of strife between Constantinople and Rome
which ended in the
East-West Schism
of 1054, the Normans began to
advance, slowly but steadily, into Byzantine Italy.
Reggio
, the capital of the
tagma
of Calabria, was captured in 1060 by
Robert Guiscard
, followed by
Otranto
in 1068. Bari, the main Byzantine
stronghold in Apulia, was besieged in August 1068 and
fell in April 1071
.
The Byzantines also lost their influence over the
Dalmatian
coastal cities to
Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia
in 1069.
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 favour 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
at
Nicaea
, just 90 km from Constantinople.
Komnenian
dynasty and the crusaders
The period from about 1081 to about 1185 is often known as the Komnenian or
Comnenian period, after the Komnenos dynasty. Together, the five Komnenian
emperors (Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I) ruled for
104 years, presiding over a sustained, though ultimately incomplete, restoration
of the military, territorial, economic and political position of the Byzantine
Empire. The Empire under the Komnenoi played a key role in the history of the
Crusades in the Holy Land, while also exerting enormous cultural and political
influence in Europe, the Near East, and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea.
The Komnenian emperors, particularly John and Manuel, exerted great influence
over the Crusader states of Outremer, whilst Alexios I played a key role in the
course of the First Crusade, which he helped bring about. Moreover, it was
during the Komnenian period that contact between Byzantium and the “Latin”
Christian West, including the Crusader states, was at its most crucial stage.
Venetian and other Italian traders became resident in Constantinople and the
empire in large numbers (60–80,000 ‘Latins’ in Constantinople alone), and their
presence together with the numerous Latin mercenaries who were employed by
Manuel in particular helped to spread Byzantine technology, art, literature and
culture throughout the Roman Catholic west. Above all, the cultural impact of
Byzantine art on the west at this period was enormous and of long lasting
significance.
The Komnenoi also made a significant contribution to the history of Asia
Minor. By reconquering much of the region, the Komnenoi set back the advance of
the Turks in Anatolia by more than two centuries. In the process, they planted
the foundations of the Byzantine successor states of Nicaea, Epirus and
Trebizond. Meanwhile, their extensive programme of fortifications has left an
enduring mark upon the Anatolian landscape, which can still be appreciated
today.
Alexios
I and the First Crusade
After Manzikert, a partial recovery (referred to as the
Komnenian restoration
) was made possible by the
efforts of the Komnenian dynasty
.[72]
The first emperor of this dynasty 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.
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.
Having achieved 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 Alexios’ request as a dual
opportunity to cement Western Europe and reunite the
Eastern Orthodox churches
with the
Catholic Church
under his rule.
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.
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 Alexios 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.
John II, Manuel I and the Second Crusade
Alexios’s son
John II Komnenos
succeeded him in 1118, and was
to rule until 1143. John was a pious and dedicated Emperor who was determined to
undo the damage his empire had suffered at the
Battle of Manzikert
, half a century earlier.
Famed for his piety and his remarkably mild and just reign, John was an
exceptional example of a moral ruler, at a time when cruelty was the norm.
For this reason, he has been called the Byzantine
Marcus Aurelius
.
In the course of his twenty-five year reign, John made alliances with the
Holy Roman Empire
in the West, decisively
defeated the Pechenegs
at the
Battle of Beroia
,
and personally led numerous campaigns against the
Turks
in
Asia Minor
. John’s campaigns fundamentally
changed the balance of power in the East, forcing the Turks onto the defensive
and restoring to the Byzantines many towns, fortresses and cities right across
the peninsula.
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 focused his activities on the East. He
defeated the
Danishmend
emirate of
Melitene
, and reconquered all of
Cilicia
, while forcing
Raymond of Poitiers
,
Prince of Antioch
, to recognise Byzantine
suzerainty. In an effort to demonstrate the Emperor’s role as the leader of the
Christian
world, John marched into the
Holy Land
at the head of the combined forces of
the Empire and the
Crusader
states; yet despite the great vigour
with which he pressed the campaign, John’s hopes were disappointed by the
treachery of his Crusader allies.
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.
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.
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”.
The Byzantine commander John Vatatzes, who destroyed the Turkish invaders at the
Battle of Hyelion and Leimocheir
, 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
John and Manuel pursued active military policies, and both deployed
considerable resources on sieges and on city defences; 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 stabilisation of the Empire’s European frontiers. From c.1081 to
c.1180, the Komnenian army assured the empire’s security, enabling Byzantine
civilisation to flourish.
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 the
Empire 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.
Dynasty of the Angeloi
Manuel’s death on 24 September 1180 left his 11-year-old son
Alexios II Komnenos
on the throne. Alexios was
highly incompetent at the office, but it was his mother,
Maria of Antioch
, and her Frankish background
that made his regency unpopular.
Eventually,
Andronikos I Komnenos
, a grandson of Alexios I,
launched a revolt against his younger relative and managed to overthrow him in a
violent
coup d’état
. Utilizing his good looks and
his immense popularity with the army, he marched on to Constantinople in August
1182, and incited a massacre of the Latins.[96]
After eliminating his potential rivals, he had himself crowned as co-emperor in
September 1183; he eliminated Alexios II and even took his 12-year-old wife
Agnes of France
for himself.
Andronikos began his reign well; in particular, the measures he took to
reform the government of the Empire have been praised by historians. According
to
George Ostrogorsky
, Andronikos was determined
to root out corruption: Under his rule, the sale of offices ceased; selection
was based on merit, rather than favouritism; officials were paid an adequate
salary so as to reduce the temptation of bribery. In the provinces, Andronikos’s
reforms produced a speedy and marked improvement.
The aristocrats were infuriated against him, and to make matters worse,
Andronikos seems to have become increasingly unbalanced; executions and violence
became increasingly common, and his reign turned into a reign of terror.
Andronikos seemed almost to seek the extermination of the aristocracy as a
whole. The struggle against the aristocracy turned into wholesale slaughter,
while the Emperor resorted to ever more ruthless measures to shore up his
regime.
Despite his military background, Andronikos failed to deal with
Isaac Komnenos
,
Béla III
who reincorporated Croatian
territories into Hungary, and
Stephen Nemanja
of Serbia who declared his
independence from the Empire. Yet, none of these troubles would compare to
William II of Sicily
‘s invasion force of 300
ships and 80,000 men, arriving in 1185.[99]
Andronikos mobilised a small fleet of 100 ships to defend the capital but other
than that he was indifferent to the populace. He was finally overthrown when
Isaac Angelos
, surviving an imperial
assassination attempt, seized power with the aid of the people and had
Andronikos killed.
The reign of Isaac II, and, still more, that of his brother
Alexios III
, saw the collapse of what remained
of the centralised machinery of Byzantine government and defence. Although, the
Normans were driven out of Greece, in 1186 the Vlachs and Bulgars began a
rebellion that was to lead to the formation of the
Second Bulgarian Empire
. The internal policy of
the Angeloi was characterised by the squandering of the public treasure, and
fiscal maladministration. Imperial authority was severely weakened, and the
growing power vacuum at the center 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.”
In 1198,
Pope 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 ageing 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 disregarded, was reluctant
to jeopardise the Crusade, and gave conditional absolution to the crusaders—not,
however, to the Venetians.
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 200,000 silver marks, join the
crusade and provide all the supplies they needed to get 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.
The crusaders arrived at the city in the summer of 1203 and quickly attacked,
started a major fire which damaged large parts of the city, and seized control
of it (first of two times). Alexios III fled from the capital, and Alexios
Angelos was elevated to the throne as
Alexios IV
along with his blind father Isaac.
However, Alexios IV and Isaac II were unable to keep their promises and were
deposed by Alexios V. Eventually, the crusaders took the city a second time on
13 April 1204 and Constantinople was subjected to pillage and massacre by the
rank and file 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.[64][104]
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 as Patriarch. The lands
divided up among the leaders included most of the former Byzantine possessions,
however resistance would continue through the Byzantine remnants of the
Nicaea
,
Trebizond
, and
Epirus
.
Fall
After the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Latin
Crusaders
, two Byzantine
successor states
were established: the
Empire of Nicaea
, and the
Despotate of Epirus
. A third one, the
Empire of Trebizond
was created a few weeks
before the sack of Constantinople by
Alexios I of Trebizond
. Of these three
successor states, Epirus and Nicaea stood the best chance of reclaiming
Constantinople. The Nicaean Empire struggled, however, to survive the next few
decades, and by the mid-13th century it lost much of southern Anatolia.[109]
The weakening of the
Sultanate of Rûm
following the
Mongol Invasion in 1242–43
allowed many
Beyliks
and
ghazis
to set up their own principalities in
Anatolia, weakening the Byzantine hold on Asia Minor.[110]
In time, one of the Beys,
Osman I
, created an empire that would
eventually conquer Constantinople. However, the Mongol Invasion also gave Nicaea
a temporary respite from Seljuk attacks allowing it to concentrate on the
Latin Empire
only north of its position.
Reconquest of
Constantinople
The Byzantine Empire c. 1263.
The Empire of Nicaea, founded by the
Laskarid 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 Palaiologos
, but the war-ravaged
Empire was ill-equipped to deal with the enemies that now surrounded it. In
order to maintain his campaigns against the Latins, Michael pulled troops from
Asia Minor, and levied crippling taxes on the peasantry, causing much
resentment.
Massive construction projects were completed in Constantinople to repair the
damages of the Fourth Crusade, but none of these initiatives was of any comfort
to the farmers in Asia Minor, suffering raids from fanatical ghazis.
Rather than holding on to his possessions in Asia Minor, Michael chose to
expand the Empire, gaining only short-term success. To avoid another sacking of
the capital by the Latins, he forced the Church to submit to Rome, again a
temporary solution for which the peasantry hated Michael and Constantinople.
The efforts of
Andronikos II
and later his grandson
Andronikos III
marked Byzantium’s last genuine
attempts in restoring the glory of the Empire. However, the use of mercenaries
by Andronikos II would often backfire, with the
Catalan Company
ravaging the countryside and
increasing resentment towards Constantinople.
Things went worse for Byzantium during the civil wars that followed after
Andronikos III
died. A
six-year long civil war
devastated the empire,
allowing the Serbian ruler
Stefan IV Dushan
to overrun most of the
Empire’s remaining territory and establish a short-lived “Serbian
Empire“. In 1354, an earthquake at
Gallipoli
devastated the fort, allowing the
Ottomans (who were hired as mercenaries during the civil war by
John VI Kantakouzenos
) to establish themselves
in Europe.
By the time the Byzantine civil wars had ended, the Ottomans had defeated the
Serbians and subjugated them as vassals. Following the
Battle of Kosovo
, much of the Balkans became
dominated by the Ottomans.
The Byzantine 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 the authority of
Rome
and the
Latin Rite
.
Some Western troops 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.
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. On 2 April 1453, Sultan Mehmed’s
army of some 80,000 men and large numbers of irregulars laid siege to the city.
Despite a desperate last-ditch defence of the city by the massively outnumbered
Christian forces (c. 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreign),
Constantinople finally fell
to the Ottomans
after a two-month siege on 29 May 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.
By the time of the fall of Constantinople, the only remaining territory of
the Byzantine Empire was the
Despotate of the Morea
, which was ruled by
brothers of the last Emperor and continued on as a
tributary state
to the Ottomans. Incompetent
rule, failure to pay the annual tribute and a revolt against the Ottomans
finally led to
Mehmed II
‘s invasion of
Morea
in May 1460; he conquered the entire
Despotate by the summer. The
Empire of Trebizond
, which had split away from
the Byzantine Empire in 1204, became the last remnant and last de facto
successor state to the Byzantine Empire. Efforts by the Emperor
David
to recruit European powers for an
anti-Ottoman crusade provoked war between the Ottomans and Trebizond in the
summer of 1461. After a month long siege, David surrendered the city of
Trebizond
on August 14, 1461. With the fall of
Trebizond, the last remnant of the Roman Empire was extinguished.
The nephew of the last Emperor, Constantine XI,
Andreas Palaeologos
had inherited the title of
Byzantine Emperor
. He lived in the Morea
(Peloponnese) until its fall in 1460, then escaped to Rome where he lived under
the protection of the
Papal States
for the remainder of his life. He
styled himself Imperator Constantinopolitanus (“Emperor of
Constantinople”), and sold his succession rights to both
Charles VIII of France
and the
Catholic Monarchs
. However, no one ever invoked
the title after Andreas’s death, thus he is considered to be the last titular
Byzantine Emperor. Mehmed II and his successors continued to consider themselves
heirs to the Roman Empire until
the demise of the Ottoman Empire
in the early
20th century. Meanwhile, the
Danubian Principalities
(whose rulers also
considered themselves the heirs of the Eastern Roman Emperors)
harboured Orthodox refugees, including some Byzantine nobles.
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’ sister,
Sophia Paleologue
, whose grandson,
Ivan IV
, would become the first
Tsar of Russia (tsar, or czar, meaning
caesar
, is a term traditionally applied by
Slavs to the Byzantine Emperors). 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 with
the
Russian Revolution of 1917
.
The Byzantine economy was among the most advanced in Europe and the
Mediterranean for many centuries. Europe, in particular, was unable to match
Byzantine economic strength until late in the Middle Ages. Constantinople was a
prime hub in a trading network that at various times extended across nearly all
of Eurasia
and North Africa, in particular being
the primary western terminus of the famous
silk road
. Some scholars argue that, up
until the arrival of the Arabs in the 7th century, the Empire had the most
powerful economy in the world. The
Arab conquests
, however, would represent a
substantial reversal of fortunes contributing to a period of decline and
stagnation.
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 twelfth, the Byzantine Empire projected an image of luxury, and
the travellers 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 appeared also in
Bulgaria, and the West.[124]
The state strictly controlled both the internal and the international trade, and
retained the monopoly of issuing
coinage
. The government exercised formal
control over interest rates, and set the parameters for the activity of the
guilds
and corporations, in which it had a
special interest. The Emperor and his 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.
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
.
Although at various times the Byzantines made magnificent achievements in the
application of the
sciences
(notably in the construction of the
Hagia Sophia
), after the 6th century Byzantine
scholars made few novel contributions to science in terms of developing new
theories or extending the ideas of classical authors.
Scholarship particularly lagged during the dark years of
plague
and the Arab conquests, but then during
the so-called Byzantine Renaissance at the end of the first millennium
Byzantine scholars re-asserted themselves becoming experts in the scientific
developments of the Arabs and Persians, particularly in
astronomy
and
mathematics
.
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 Slavic world.
Religion
As a symbol and expression of the universal prestige of the
Patriarchate of Constantinople, Justinian built the Church of the
Holy Wisdom of God,
Hagia Sophia
, which was completed
in the short period of four and a half years (532–537).
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
Eusebius of Caesarea
, the Byzantines viewed the
Emperor as a representative or messenger of
Christ
, 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.
Christianity
was never fully united and the
Christians in the Byzantine Empire were diverse throughout the Empire’s history.
The
state church of the Roman Empire
, which came to
be known as the
Eastern Orthodox Church
, never represented all
Christians in the Empire.
Nestorianism
, a view promoted by
Nestorius
who was a 5th century
Patriarch of Constantinople
, split from the
imperial church leading to what is today the
Assyrian Church of the East
. In a greater
schism during the 6th century the
Myaphysite
churches split from the imperial
church over the declarations of the
Council of Chalcedon
. Aside from these
communions, Arianism
and other Christian sects existed in
the early Empire, although by the time of Rome’s fall in the 5th century
Arianism was mostly confined to the Germanic peoples of Western Europe. By the
Empire’s late stages, though, Eastern Orthodoxy represented most Christians in
what remained of the Empire.
Jews
were a significant minority in the Empire
throughout its history. Despite periods of persecution, they were generally
tolerated, if not always embraced, during most periods.
With the decline of Rome, and internal dissension in the other Eastern
Patriarchates, the Church of Constantinople became, between the sixth and 11th
centuries, the richest and most influential center of
Christendom
.
Even when the Empire was reduced to only a shadow of its former self, 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
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 centres, particularly Russia.
Influences from Byzantine architecture, particularly in religious buildings, can
be found in diverse regions from Egypt and Arabia to Russia and Romania.
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
poetry, history, science and pseudo-science.[136]
While the most flourishing period of the secular literature of Byzantium runs
from the ninth to the 12th 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.
In the Byzantine state, the
emperor
became the sole and absolute ruler, and
his power was regarded as having divine origin.
The Senate ceased to have real political and legislative authority but remained
as an honorary council with titular members. By the end of the 8th century, a
civil administration focused 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 civil and military administration
is exercised 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
rivalled 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.
After the fall of Rome, the key challenge to the Empire was to maintain a set
of relations between itself and its neighbours. When these nations set about
forging formal political institutions, they often modelled themselves on
Constantinople. Byzantine diplomacy soon managed to draw its neighbours 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.
Whereas classical writers are fond of making ethical and legal distinctions
between peace and war, Byzantines regarded diplomacy as a form of war by other
means.
For example, a Bulgarian
threat could be countered by
providing money to the
Kievian Rus
.
The
Orthodox Church
also maintained a diplomatic
function, and the spread of Orthodox Christianity was a key diplomatic goal of
the Empire.
Diplomacy in the era was understood to have an intelligence-gathering
function on top of its pure political function. The
Bureau of Barbarians
in Constantinople handled
matters of protocol and record keeping for any matters dealing with
“Barbarians”, and thus had, perhaps, a basic intelligence function itself.
J. B. Bury believed that the office exercised supervision over all foreigners
visiting Constantinople, and that they were under the supervision of the
Logothete of the Course
.
While on the surface a protocol office—its main duty was to ensure foreign
envoys were properly cared for and received sufficient state funds for their
maintenance, and it kept all the official translators—it clearly had a security
function as well. On Strategy, from the 6th century, offers advice about
foreign embassies: “[Envoys] who are sent to us should be received honourably
and generously, for everyone holds envoys in high esteem. Their attendants,
however, should be kept under surveillance to keep them from obtaining any
information by asking questions of our people.”
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 practice was to overwhelm
visitors by sumptuous displays.
According to
Dimitri Obolensky
, the preservation of
civilisation 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.
The original language of the government of the Empire, which owed its origins
to Rome, had been Latin and this continued to be its official language until the
7th century when it was effectively changed to Greek by
Heraclius
.
Scholarly Latin
would rapidly fall into disuse
among the educated classes although the language would continue to be at least a
ceremonial part of the Empire’s culture for some time.[148]
Additionally,
Vulgar Latin
continued to be a minority
language in the Empire, and among the
Thraco-Roman
populations it gave birth to the
(Proto-)Romanian
language.
Likewise, on the coast of the
Adriatic Sea
, another neo-Latin vernacular
developed, which would later give rise to the
Dalmatian language
. In the Western
Mediterranean provinces temporarily acquired under the reign of Emperor
Justinian I
, Latin (eventually evolving into
Italian
) continued to be used both as a spoken
language and the language of scholarship.
Apart from the Imperial court, administration and military, the primary
language used in the eastern Roman provinces even before the
decline of the Western Empire
had always been
Greek, having been spoken in the region for centuries before Latin.[150]
Indeed early on in the life of the Roman Empire, Greek had become the common
language in the Christian Church, the language of scholarship and the arts, and,
to a large degree, the lingua franca for trade between provinces and with other
nations.
The language itself for a time gained a
dual nature
with the primary spoken language,
Koine
, existing alongside an older
literary language
with Koine eventually
evolving into the standard dialect.
Many other languages existed in the multi-ethnic Empire as well, and some of
these were given limited official status in their provinces at various times.
Notably, by the beginning of the Middle Ages,
Syriac
and
Aramaic
had become more widely used by the
educated classes in the far eastern provinces.
Similarly
Coptic
,
Armenian
, and
Georgian
became significant among the educated
in their provinces,
and later foreign contacts made the
Slavonic
, Vlach, and
Arabic
languages important in the Empire and
its sphere of influence.
Aside from these, since Constantinople was a prime trading center in the
Mediterranean region
and beyond, virtually
every known language of the Middle Ages was spoken in the Empire at some time,
even
Chinese
.[156]
As the Empire entered its final decline, the Empire’s citizens became more
culturally homogeneous and the Greek language became integral to their identity
and their religion.
King David
in robes of a Byzantine
emperor. Miniature from the
Paris Psalter
.
As the only stable long-term state in Europe during the Middle Ages,
Byzantium isolated Western Europe from newly emerging forces to the East.
Constantly under attack, it distanced Western Europe from Persians, Arabs,
Seljuk Turks, and for a time, the Ottomans. The Byzantine-Arab Wars, for
example, are recognised by some historians as being a key factor behind the rise
of Charlemagne
,
and a stimulus to
feudalism
and
economic self-sufficiency
.
Following the
conquest of Constantinople
by the Ottoman Turks
in 1453, Sultan
Mehmed II
took the title “Kaysar-i-Rûm”
(the Turkish equivalent of Caesar of Rome)
since he was determined to make the Ottoman Empire the heir of the Eastern Roman
Empire.
Since the early 20th century, the terms Byzantine and Byzantinism
have been used
as bywords for decadence, duplicitous politics and complex
bureaucracy
. There was also a strongly negative assessment of
Byzantine civilisation and its legacy in
Southeastern Europe
.
Byzantinism in general was defined as a body of religious, political, and
philosophical ideas which ran contrary to those of the West
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