A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE – by About.com – Summary
A Short Summary of the Byzantine Empire
XXXIII. I. A Short Summary of the Byzantine Empire
(1) Founded in 303 AD by Constantin as capital of Roman Empire
(3) Justinian rebuilds the empire in 6 century
(4) 7 th century Herclius beat the Persians
(5) In 8th century the Saracens almost took Constantinople but were ketp away
(8) Descent into Chaos: empress Zoe (s XI) ; Sljuks Turks (s XII); the Forth Crusades (s XIII)
(1) Founded in 303 AD by Constantin as capital of Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire began as the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine founded the city of Byzantium on the site of a former Greek city-state, and made it the capital of the Roman Empire. The official founding date was 11 May, 330AD. He also decreed that Christianity would become the official religion, although at the start nobody was forced to be Christian. In later years, the worship of the old pagan gods was outlawed.
(2) Barbarian Invasions
In the 5th Century, barbarian invaders took control of most of Western Europe. The invasions were in general more peaceful affairs than the name might suggest. They were more a people on the move looking for somewhere new to live, than a group of warriors intent on plunder, although they would take plunder if they could get it. The Romans withdrew from Britain. Gaul (modern France) was occupied by the Franks. The Vandals first took Spain, and then moved on to occupy all of North Africa west of Egypt. Finally two groups of Goths took Spain and Italy: the Visigoths (Western Goths) in Spain and the Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths) in Italy.
(3) Justinian rebuilds the empire in 6 century
In the 6th Century, Emperor Justinian showed his mettle by brutally suppressing the Nika Riots. He then went on to build the Empire some of the way back to the glorious position it had occupied in the time of the first Roman emperors. His armies, under the command of some good generals, recovered control of North Africa, Italy and some of Spain, but it was short-lived: Spain and Italy soon left the Empire for good. The Empire was now a more eastern one, and Greek became more the language of the people than Latin.
(4) 7 th century Herclius beat the Persians
The Persian Empire had long been at war with the Byzantine Empire, constantly trying to push the border between them back and collecting rich booty from the Byzantine towns. In the 7th Century, emperor Heraclius attacked and effectively destroyed the Persian Empire. Persia was soon afterwards conquered by a new power, the Arabs.
(5) In 8th century the Saracens almost took Constantinople but were ketp away
In the mid 8th Century, the Arabs known as Saracens conquered all of North Africa, including Egypt. They made a new capital for themselves at Fustat, which later became Cairo. They then went on to push north and west from there to take the whole of the east end of the Mediterranean and moved into Anatolia (modern Turkey), eventually in 674 reaching Constantinople itself. Here the Walls of Constantinople saved the day, successfully keeping the Saracens from crossing into Europe for five years, during which time the Byzantines destroyed the Saracen navy with ‘Greek Fire’, a secret weapon somewhat akin to a flame thrower. In 679, the Saracens retreated and left Anatolia in Byzantine hands.
(6) In 8th century the Bulgars arrive and began fighting the romans for several centuries. Empress Irene messed with iconoclastism
At about the same time, a nomadic tribe, the Bulgars, first appeared at the Danube border and invaded the Byzantine lands on the west side of the Black Sea. The Byzantines would fight these Bulgars many times over the centuries.
The rule of empress Irene, at the end of the 8th Century, is instructive, as it shows the importance to the people of Byzantium of religion and how simple matters of doctrine could overthrow rulers. A great rift appeared in Christianity between those who believed that pictures of God and his saints were an important aid to worship and those who thought the pictures were evil.
(7) The golden age with Basel
Following quickly on to Basil the Bulgar Slayer, the grandson of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, we see one man’s humiliation by the Bulgars and his successful crusade to wipe the Bulgarian Empire off the map. During Basil’s reign in the 50 years around the year 1000, the Byzantine Empire reached its Golden Age, with a strong army, well educated people and an enlightened attitude.
(8) Descent into Chaos: empress Zoe (s XI) ; Sljuks Turks (s XII); the Forth Crusades (s XIII)
a) b) Empress Irene (s XI)
Byzantine emperors could inherit from their fathers. If there were no sons, a daughter could inherit, but she would need a strong man to do the actual ruling. The life of Empress Zoe in the 11th Century saw plenty of this; Zoe was herself too old to have children when she inherited the throne. The rest of her life saw her marrying, murdering, adopting and rejecting a whole succession of emperors in her attempt to stay at the top, with a consequent disastrous effect on the Empire. This trend of a new emperor every few years continued after Zoe’s death, leaving the Empire at its weakest.
b) c) The Loss of Anatolia to the Seljuks (s XII)
A nomadic Turkish people called the Seljuks arrived on the scene in the late 11th Century. They came from somewhere around modern Uzbekistan and were Muslim. They conquered Persia (modern day Iran) and Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). Spreading into Anatolia, they came up against the Byzantine army of emperor Romanus Diogenes. Romanus managed to push them back out of Anatolia. The two sides eventually met at Manzikert near Lake Van; the result was a disaster. Half of Romanus’s army deserted him and the rest were slaughtered. Romanus himself was taken prisoner by the Seljuks. He made a deal with their leader and was released, but his own people now turned against him for having failed them. They brutally tortured him and chose a new emperor. The Seljuk leader had made no deal with the new emperor and felt no remorse when he re-invaded Anatolia. The Byzantine Empire was rapidly losing ground. Now it was reduced to western Anatolia and the Balkan peninsula.
c) d) The Forth Crusades (s XIII)
The Byzantines made peace with their Muslim neighbours, but Western Europe felt hotly the ‘insult’ of non-believers occupying the Holy City of Jerusalem. Around this time there were many crusades to recover Jerusalem from the Muslims. Some of these were more successful, some less so. The fourth crusade was a shambles. In 1204 The Frankish crusaders ended up attacking Byzantium itself, in an attempt to pay back a debt to the Venetians who had provided them with transport. This resulted in the infamous Sack of Constantinople, possibly the worst thing to ever happen to the city before the final downfall. The crusaders methodically stripped the city of everything of value, and set up their own ‘Latin Empire of Constantinople’. Many of the Byzantines fled.
d) e) The Restoration after the latin Empire
The Latin Empire didn’t last long. About 60 years later it was so feeble that the Byzantines literally walked back into the city, when the crusaders were ‘out hunting’. A restored Byzantine Empire was set up under rulers from the family of Palaeologus. Again Byzantium became a place of learning and enlightenment, with a thriving culture of art. But it was a much reduced Empire, consisting of even less than the modern boundaries of Greece.
e) f) The Fall of Contantinople to the Ottomans in 1453
This situation could not last. Another Turkish people, the Ottomans, had their eye on the city as a handy base. Byzantium suffered three sieges by the Ottomans. The third was the last – in 1453, with the aid of a vast army and some big cannons, Mehmet the Second finally took the city. The Fall of Constantinople on 29 May, 1453 marked the end of the Byzantine Empire.
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