Byzantine Empire

endonym "Roman Empire" (Basileia Rhman) . While Westerners call them "Greeks" and called their empire "Imperium Graecorum", "Graecia" or "Terra Grcorum" (their religion, their language of communication, and culture are mainly Greek ), they considered themselves Romans (in Greek Rhomaioi), a term taken up by non-European populations such as Persians , the Arabs and Turks who call them "Rum", as Geoffrey of Villehardouin which, like other medieval writers, speaks of the "empire of Romania" when he mentions that State.

Combining these multiple inheritance, the Byzantine Empire gave birth to a brilliant civilization, refined and powerful that will mark the history of the West and the East for hundreds of years.

During the thousand years of existence, a number of laws and customs of the Romans are preserved, as well as some technical or cultural aspects such as architecture. Greek is the majority language of trade, art is Christian, while education - paideia - is Greco-Roman. The disappearance of the western part of the Roman Empire and that of the Roman legions , the constant threats on their borders to bring the Byzantines build a military strong, the tactic is beginning to be worked independently from the ^sixth century, allowing it to dominate the region until the ^thirteenth century.

The Byzantine Empire is finally a Christian empire which, among others, has defined certain tenets of Christianity. The official Church is the universal Christian Church until the schism of the Roman Church in 1054. Subsequently, this part of the Church, which preserves theology and canon law of the first millennium (known as the seven councils ) took the name Orthodox Church.

Byzantine Empire Eastern Roman Empire Imperium Romanum (the) / Basileia Rhman (grc)
330 / 610 - 1453
Banner Palaeologi Double-headed eagle
Of the Roman Empire to the Byzantine Empire and its successors states
General Information

Summary 1 History Byzantine 1.1 The Eastern Roman Empire during Late Antiquity (fourth to sixth century) 1.1.1 The initial impulse of Constantine 1.1.2 Birth of the Empire 1.1.3 The power of Justinian 1.1.4 The conquest of the Maghreb 1.1.5 The Decline of the Empire 1.2 From the Eastern Roman Empire to the Byzantine Empire (seventh century) 1.3 Defence Planning and images feud (eighth and ninth centuries) 1.3.1 The confrontation with the Arabs 1.3.2 The quarrel images 1.4 Byzantium becomes a great power under the Macedonians (ninth to eleventh century) 1.4.1 The first emperors of the Macedonian dynasty 1.4.2 The Battle of Manzikert (1071) 1.5 Rise and decline under the Comnenus (eleventh and twelfth centuries) 1.6 Bag of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire of Nicaea (XIII century) 1.7 Twilight of Byzantium (XIV and XV centuries) 1.8 The fall of Constantinople (1453) 2 League Byzantine 2.1 Composition ethnic 2.2 Economy and Trade 2.3 Science, medicine and law 2.4 Institutions 2.4.1 Government and bureaucracy 2.4.2 Diplomacy Byzantine Civilization 3 3.1 Self-perception 3.2 Religion 3.3 Byzantine Culture 3.3.1 Byzantine Art 3.3.2 Literature 4 Legacy of Byzantium 4.1 Historiography 4.2 Current Status 5 Notes and references 5.1 Notes 5.2 References 6 See also 6.1 Bibliography 6.2 Article Related

/ / Byzantine History

The Eastern Roman Empire during Late Antiquity ^(fourth to ^sixth century)

The Byzantine Empire is rooted in the so-called period of late antiquity , traditionally starting with the advent of Diocletian in 284 .

The initial impulse of Constantine

The Roman emperor Constantine the Great , after his conversion in 312, promotes Christianity and gives a considerable extension to the Greek colony of Byzantium in 330. He makes the "New Rome" (Nova Roma) against Rome - at least since the brief reign of the Emperor Maxentius - no longer permanent residence of the imperial authority . The new imperial residence became the capital of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The official name is soon to be replaced in everyday language by the common name of " Constantinople ", which does not name" Byzantium "to persist for centuries. Istanbul remains the seat of authority under the emperors following that all the emperors do not stay very long in any case the first time. Thus, Julian the Apostate , the last pagan emperor, and Valens spend most of their time at Antioch , east of the Empire.

Birth of the Empire

In 395 , when the dying emperor Theodosius ^I , the unity of the empire ends. It is divided between his two son, Honorius and Arcadius , who attribute a Western Empire and Eastern Empire. This division of 395 is traditionally regarded as a plausible starting point for the Byzantine Empire.

It was certainly known to such divisions in the past, but it soon proved definitive: Arcadius, who resides at Constantinople , spends the first sovereign of this "first" Byzantine Empire . However, the same laws prevail in the two halves of the Empire (they are usually promulgated jointly by the two emperors) and each recognizes the consulate of another. Also, the date 395 is not accepted by all historians as the "origin" of the Byzantine Empire. If some do go back to Constantine, most stick to Heraclius ( 610 - 641 ) as the first Byzantine ruler. Still others, like hold early Byzantine history 565, date of death of Justinian ^I.

In the late ^fourth century, the early invasions , the eastern part of the Empire becomes a target for the Germanic peoples , including the Visigoths and Ostrogoths. In 378 , the Battle of Adrianople , the Goths inflicted a crushing defeat on the Roman army of the East. Theodosius ^I concede them in 382 , a territory south of the Danube by signing a new Foedus with them .

From the early fifth ^century, the Germans and the Huns are focusing their attacks against the Western Empire , the weaker the military. The Eastern Empire, for its part, must confront when Persian-Roman wars the onslaught of new Sassanid Persian Empire , the only competitor at his level, although the two empires remained in almost continuous peace between 387 and 502. In 410 , the city of Rome was captured by the Visigoths , which is a shock to the Romans, while the eastern part of the Empire - with the exception of the Balkans - is not worried. From time to time, Constantinople strives to help the West, such as during the unfortunate naval campaign of 467 - 468 against the Vandals.

In the fifth ^century, the East experienced a long period of economic prosperity. The imperial treasury full of cash gold . During the reign of Theodosius II (408-450), the city of Constantinople continues to grow and gets a new enclosure, the wall of Theodosius. A legal code is published, the code Theodosius , applicable in all parts of the empire. But the Empire was shaken by violent religious conflict between Nicene and Arian , and from 430, between the Nestorian and Monophysite. From 440, the Huns threatened the Eastern Empire. Tribute and the granting of Roman dignity Attila will drive off the danger. Leo ^I is the first emperor of the East to receive the crown from the hands of the Patriarch of Constantinople. His grand-son Leo II reigned only a few months. So his son Zeno, who is the imperial purple for fifteen years from 476 to 491. It was under his reign that the last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed by Odoacer. It remains the only Roman emperor of the world but his authority over the West is only theoretical .

During the reign of Emperor Leo ^I, the empire faces the problem of auxiliary troops siblings. Until the late fifth ^century, the burden of " magister militum (commander, a high-level general) comes mostly at Germain. To 480 , with the integration of Isaurians in military service may be considered to solve this problem by counterbalancing the influence of the Germans. In the eastern army , fight now more and more subjects of the empire. The emperors may thus stabilize the situation in the East. When, in 476 , the last Western Emperor Romulus Augustus was introduced by the Germanic chief Odoacer , the Eastern Empire is reflected in net position of strength. In 480 , the Germans recognize the emperor as their lord East title when the last emperor of Constantinople recognized by the West, Julius Nepos , died in Dalmatia. During this period, the Emperor Anastasius ^I. strengthens the financial capacity of the Empire, which promotes the policy of further expansion of Constantinople.

The power of Justinian

^In the sixth century during the reign of Justinian ^I ( 527 - 565 ), the two generals Oriental Belisarius and Narses reconquer much of the western provinces of Italy , the North Africa and the Betic. They restore and briefly the "Imperium Romanum" in its former limits. However, war against the kingdoms of the Vandals and Goths in the west, and against the powerful Sasanian Empire of Chosroes ^I. East, complemented by a plague (the " plague of Justinian ") that havoc from 541 all a href = "% C3% Mer_M A9diterran% C3% A9e" title = "Mediterranean Sea"> Mediterranean, seriously affect the balance of the Empire .

The long reign of Justinian is a crucial transition between the twilight of the ancient and medieval Byzantine, even though Justinian, "the last Roman Emperor" by Georg Ostrogorsky , is connected by many lines to antiquity.

The conquest of the Maghreb

Jean Troglita , General ^of the sixth century Byzantine is the Lieutenant General Belisarius , who won the Vandals in Africa and Ostrogoths in Italy in the years 530 , illustrated in particular against the Persians and Berbers.

Solomon was appointed in 534 by Justinian as governor of Africa , just conquered by General Belisarius at the Vandals of Gelimer. He was replaced two years later (in 536 ), before returning to his post in 539. He must face the rebel Berbers , especially those of the chief Antalis. However, it is beaten by them in a battle near the city of Theveste (current Tebessa ) in 544 , seeking death in battle. Yabdas rebels turn against the authority of the Romans and Byzantines and proclaimed himself king of the Aures .

But two heads Berbers of the Aures, and Ifisdias Cutzinas, are also remarkable. They become leaders Byzantine, while the command of Jean Troglita , when it wants to attack the Berbers of the South after the Aures and Zab are dominated by the Byzantines through Solomon. However Mastigas , Berber king of Mauretania Caesarean section after the Vandals took over parts of the province, although the Byzantines have arrived until Frenda because of Byzantine inscriptions were found on site in Algeria.

In 544 , the Byzantines exercise their power into the province of Constantine (Algeria). However, Berber uprisings against the Byzantines lead the organization of several powerful states whose Djerawa , the Banu Ifren the Maghraoua the Awarbas , and Zenetes . According Corripus in the Johannide at the time of John Troglita between 547 and 550 , the Banu Ifren (Ifuraces) make war on the Byzantines .

At the beginning of the Muslim conquest in North Africa , Koceila , Berber king, allied with the Byzantine troops. After his death, Queen Berber Kahina attack the Umayyad with the help of the Byzantines and riders Zenata. She wins twice troops Umayyads.

The Decline of the Empire

Under the successors of Justinian, the influence of Latin irreversibly declines in the Empire, and when the Emperor Maurice establishes the Exarchate to Carthage and Ravenna , he abandoned a fundamental principle of Late Antiquity : the separation of powers civilian and military.

Justinian left his successors of empty boxes, and the emperors who succeeded him are hardly able to meet the challenges of the new foreign policy, as appears from the second half of the sixth ^century.Justin II commits a war disastrous against the Persians and the favor of a nervous breakdown that causes him defeat the Lombards put his hand over much of Italy from 586. Meanwhile, the Slavs are also passed to the attack ( about 580 ) in the Balkans until the late sixth ^centuryI, they controlled most part.

The Emperor Maurice was able to conclude in 591 an advantageous peace with the Sassanian and strong response to the Slavic conducted, but with his violent death in 602 , the military situation is stretched dangerously. In 603 , under the leadership of the great king Chosroes , the Persian Sassanid s'adjugent for some time the power on most of the eastern provinces. Up to 619 , they have even the Egypt and Syria , the richest of the Roman provinces. As furthermore the Avars and their Slavic vassals threatening the Balkans, the Empire seems on the verge of collapse.

The situation is reversed when the Emperor Heraclius ( 610 - 641 ) launched several offensives in Persian territory and finally won a decisive victory against a Persian army at the Battle of Nineveh , end 627. Persia concludes peace with Constantinople and soon to fall into infighting for power. However, after this difficult time, the forces of the Empire of the East are somewhat shaken and the senatorial aristocracy itself, which brought the ancient traditions so high, is much weaker ^{, ,} .

From the Eastern Roman Empire to the Byzantine Empire ^(seventh century)

The Emperor Heraclius fails to oppose the Arab-Islamic expansion in the year 630. On 20 August 636 , during the Battle of Yarmuk , the Byzantines suffered a decisive defeat against an army led by Khalid ibn al-Walid in the second Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab , with the loss of the entire south-eastern Empire ( Syria and Palestine included) before 642 ^, .

However, unlike his old rival, the Sassanid Empire , which despite its potent dark-offensive against 642 to 651 , the Byzantine Empire managed to preserve a full invasion by Arab Muslims. The Byzantine troops who provided security for the Eastern markets, must still fall back on Anatolia , beset by raiding Arab-Muslim ^, .

The military difficulties and permanent loss of the richest provinces lead to a profound transformation of the Empire, in which the Greek supplanted for good use of Latin. What the Empire loses territorially, it gains in consistency. The ancient culture was marked for centuries by the influence of countless cities, of various sizes. That era is coming to an end. Most cities are abandoned or reduced to the size of fortified villages, known as castra.

Cultural differences between the lost provinces of southern and eastern and northern are not negligible in most cases, the first fall since the fifth ^century, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and Monophysite , which are at odds with the churches Greek Orthodox north from 451. This conflict is perhaps one reason for the quick submission to Muslim Arabs in Syria and Egypt, but this thesis is very controversial in the current research.

The north, which remains under imperial control, shows a greater unity and greater militancy. The price is still high with the loss of two thirds of the territory and most tax revenues. The state and social structures of late antiquity disappearing piece by piece. Against all odds, Byzantium stood firm despite decades of struggle for survival against a far superior enemy forces. This owes much to the famous system of military provinces, the " themes ". Contrary to assumptions once accepted, it would likely have been introduced after the reign of Heraclius , to cope with continual attacks and the decline of city life elsewhere in the capital.

Trends already old crystallize after 636 in many areas of political and social life. At the same time disappearing from many production channels in the terminal phase of the Eastern Roman Empire, while being put in place the medieval Byzantine Empire .

During the ^seventh century, Byzantium loses control of the seas in the eastern Mediterranean, following his defeat at the Battle of the Masts in 655 against the Arabs, Muslims. It is with great difficulty she keeps control of Asia Minor, constantly exposed to Arab raids , while the Balkans remain under pressure Slavs and Bulgarians that reduce the imperial power to a few localities.

The period from ^mid-seventh century to the ^eighth century is essentially a defensive strategy characterized by the initiative almost entirely attributable to the enemies of Byzantium. From 661 to 668 , the Emperor Constans II transfers his residence in Sicily, Syracuse , perhaps it consolidate its domination of the seas against the Arabs, but leave his successors in the East. In 679 , Emperor Constantine IV Pogonatos is forced to recognize the new Kingdom of the Bulgarians. From 674 to 678 , the Arabs are even besieged Constantinople, which frees them that by using the Greek fire , which burned even on water. In the following period, the empire was reduced to the Balkans and the Anatolian , plus several territories in Italy and, until 698 , in North Africa .

Defence Planning and images feud ^(eighth and ^ninth centuries)

The confrontation with the Arabs

The Emperor Justinian II , during whose reign Byzantium, at least partially resumed the offensive, was the last monarch of the dynasty of Heracles. According to a method often used by later settlers of the Slavic Balkans are deported and resettled in Anatolia. The objective is to strengthen border defense, but desertions are becoming more frequent. Is transferred conversely some of the inhabitants of Asia Minor to the Balkans. But Justinian, the victim of a conspiracy in 695 , is mutilated and sent into exile where he married a princess of the Khazar people. He finally managed to get back on the throne with the help of the Bulgarians , before being assassinated in 711 .

In 717 - 718 , Istanbul is in great danger when the Arabs besiege him. Only the jurisdiction of the emperor Leo III , naval successes (the Byzantines again employ the Greek fire ) and a harsh winter that has paralyzed the Arabs saved the capital. Finally, in 740 , the Battle of Akroinon , Byzantines won a decisive victory over the Arabs. Now, even if the defensive battles against them continue, they no longer threaten seriously the existence of the Byzantine Empire.

In the Balkans, Byzantium is also engaged in fierce clashes with the Slavs who, because of the collapse of the Kingdom of the Avars , have fallen into the sphere of influence in Bulgaria. Whole sections of the Balkans are freed from the power Byzantine. If the empire managed to regain control of Greece, which had also seen them constitute " Sclavinies " , the rest of the peninsula Balkans escapes her face this new adversary that are the Danube Bulgars , while striving successfully to build their own state.

The quarrel images

At the same time, in 730 , Leo III begins by personal conviction, what is called the " quarrel of the images , which can last over 110 years and wake up in many areas of real civil war and to end the war against the Paulicians which lasts from 843 to 872. But the writings of iconoclasts were destroyed after the victory of iconodules, so that the sources available for this period reflect only the views of the victors and are therefore questionable .

Following a volcanic eruption in the Aegean in 726 , Leon remove icons from the door of the Chalk. His military successes allow him to replace the icons (which does not play then in the Eastern Church as important as it has become today) with representations of the cross, in which all the Byzantines could meet. The theory that Leon would have rejected the veneration of icons under the influence of Muslims today is somewhat contested. The iconoclastic emperors are convinced Christians who reject the icons because the divine essence can not be reduced to an image. In addition, the cross to replace the icons is forbidden in the Muslim world.

Contemporary research also doubt that Leon has forbids images, or that his policy had led to serious disturbances, such as sources iconodules suggest. Clearly, this stage of the war of images has not been conducted with great ferocity, as the second, ^{ninth-century} . Inside, Leon performs several reforms and won many military victories. So he takes the offensive against the Arabs in Anatolia , where his son Constantine reveals undoubted qualities of leadership.

When it succeeds to the throne in 741 , under the name Constantine V , and after having subdued a rebellion led by his brother-Artabasdos, it continues the iconoclastic policy of his father and even wrote about it several treaties theology. The Council of Hireia ( 754 ), must formally abolish the worship of images. Despite its military successes, both against the Arabs against the Bulgars , Constantine is portrayed in most sources as a cruel leader, and quite unfairly primarily because of his iconoclastic attitude. His son, Leo IV , more moderate in his policy against the icons , do not suffer least several coup attempts and died in 780 , after a brief reign of five years.

His son Constantine VI being then a minor, the mother of the latter, Irene , who acted as regent. It appears, however quickly it has no intention of abandoning that power. Subsequently, Constantine was blinded and died. Irene is now up to a policy favorable to the icons and trying in vain to prevent the imperial coronation of Charlemagne. Finally, Irene is reversed in 802 , after a political management rather awkward, although they can retain the credit for having laid the groundwork for future " Macedonian Renaissance ". Thus ends the " Isaurian dynasty founded by Leo III .

With Michael II , who ascended the throne in 820 , a new dynasty is the dynasty Amorian (or Phrygian). In the Balkans , in the beginning, there was little to expect from the side of the Bulgarians. In 811 , their khan , Krum , cut them off an entire army led by Emperor Nicephorus ^I. , who was killed on the battlefield. It was not until Leo V for a treaty of alliance signed with Khan Omourtag. In the ninth ^century and especially ⁱⁿ the tenth century, few successes have won out, although the beginnings of the dynasty Amorian are affected by territorial losses (the Crete and Sicily falling into the hands of the Arabs). Theophilus , son and successor to Michel , the last time revives political iconoclast, who finally abandoned the last emperor Phrygian , Michael III ( 842 - 867 ). Under the reign of Michael, Bulgarians adopt Christianity , specifically in the Eastern rite, emphasizing the leadership role in the Bulgarian Kingdom in this Byzantine culture then in full bloom. While the quarrel between the images is buried, the Byzantines won several victories over the Arabs in Anatolia , even launch naval expeditions on Crete and Egypt. Time purely defensive operations is now gone .

Byzantium becomes a great power under the Macedonians ^(ninth to ^eleventh century)

The early emperors of the Macedonian dynasty

In 866 , Michael III student Basil ^I. the rank of coempereur, which does not kill it to Michael the following year, settling on the throne and founded the Macedonian dynasty. In memory of Michael is heavily maligned, misunderstood as demonstrated by recent research. Nevertheless, Byzantium was living a new golden age (called the " Macedonian Renaissance "), about the time of Constantine VII , who was initially excluded from public affairs by Roman ^I. Lecapenus .

Outside, the Empire slowly regaining ground: the reign of Nicephorus II Phocas , it regains the Crete. At almost exactly the eastern border of the empire is therefore ensured by Akritas. Similarly, John ^I Tzimiskes , although acting solely as a regent for the son of Romanus II , Byzantine influence extends to Syria, and even briefly to Palestine, while the Bulgarians themselves themselves are kept in check. Byzantium appears poised to again become a hegemon in the region .

Under the Macedonian emperors of the ^tenth and early ^eleventh centuries, the Empire reached its apogee. With the marriage of the sister of Emperor Basil II with the great prince Ruthenian Vladimir ^I. The Orthodox religion is gradually extending its grip on the present territory of Ukraine , in Belarus and Russia. The Russian Church recognizes the supremacy of Patriarch of Constantinople. For a long war, Basil II conquers the first Bulgarian kingdom , which earned him the nickname Bulgarochtone ("the killer of the Bulgarians). In 1018 , Bulgaria was reduced to the rank of Byzantine province, while Basil continues its expansion to the east .

The Battle of Manzikert (1071)

However, the Byzantine Empire soon after experiencing a period of decline, the responsibility falls largely to the rise of the landed gentry, which undermines the system of themes. A weak point of the standing army is that it is partly composed (or rather must be made) of mercenary troops, which cost in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert against the Seljuk Turks. If he had acted as a classical, against traditional enemies such as the Abbasid caliphate , the party had still been playable. But now spring from new invaders: the Normans took over the south of Italy (taken from Bari in 1071 ) while the Seljuks , although focusing mainly on Egypt, launched raids on Anatolia , main recruiting base for the Byzantine army.

In 1071 , the defeat of Emperor Romanus IV at Manzikert against the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan to book it a great part of Asia Minor, but not only, because at the same time of strife around the imperial throne from frustrating any attempt by a common front against the Seljuk threat. However, the most important part of the territory is not lost immediately after the defeat, but the Seljuk invasion occurs only after three years. The new emperor did not respect the agreements concluded between Romanus IV and the Sultan, the Seljuks seized the pretext to launch the invasion.

The Rise and Decline under the Comnenus ^(eleventh and ^twelfth centuries)

The next century of Byzantine history is marked by the dynasty of Alexios I ^Komnenos who came to power in 1081 / A> and began to reorganize the army on the basis of a feudal system. He won some notable successes against the Seljuk Turks and in the Balkans , against Pechenegs.

The cry for help that launches towards the West raises unintentionally First Crusade , and instead of mercenaries called the Emperor, is present independent armies of knights, who have no regard for its orders. Alexis requires that any prince who intends to cross through Constantinople with his army, he takes the oath of homage. Although this declaration of vassalage to be accepted by the majority of the Crusaders, they are quick to deny their commitment to Alexis. Relationships that the first crusade are strained subsequently progress to outright hostility. Another bone of contention arises from a correspondence between the Governor of Fatimid Egypt and the Byzantine Emperor Alexius. In a letter, which falls into the hands of the Crusaders, the emperor Alexis is clearly distanced himself against Roman conquerors of the Holy Land. If the approach is understandable given the traditionally good relations (and strategically important) between the Fatimids and Byzantium, she also reveals that the concept of a " holy war "is somewhat foreign to the Byzantine .

Subsequently, the expansion absorbs the Seljuk Muslim kingdoms in neighboring Anatolia and achieved at the expense of Byzantium the Mediterranean coast. The last Comnenus , Andronicus , illustrated by a reign of terror, brief but ferocious ( in 1183 - in 1185 ) that led to the collapse of the political system introduced by Alexis, which is based on the integration of the military aristocracy. At the same time, the entire organization and proven effective armed forces that dark, the very one who had ensured the successful offensive in the reign of Alexis , of John and finally Manual.

Bag of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire of Nicaea (XIII ^century)

The Empire is shaken by serious internal tensions under the emperors from the home of the Angels to the point that Alexius IV is reduced to appeal to the Crusaders to defend his throne, leading them to fight on his behalf and that of his father. The expected return did not arrive, it is a disaster that struck the city at the instigation of the Republic of Venice , the knights of the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople in 1204 , and establish a short " Empire Latin ^{Twilight of Byzantium (XIV and XV centuries)}

If the empire is reconstituted, whole sections of former imperial possessions beyond its authority, the new masters who settled there after the collapse of 1204 was not really prepared to recognize the suzerainty of Constantinople. In addition, Istanbul is no longer the brilliant city it was, the population has fallen, entire neighborhoods are abandoned, and when the Emperor returns, if we see everywhere the marks of the looting of 1204 , no sign of reconstruction is evident. Thus, Byzantium was no longer the great power it was, but only a very important state in the regionally .

To this we must add that the gap between Byzantines and Latins has been increasing. However, the important thing for Michael VIII Palaeologus now is to ensure the gains in Europe and above all security of Constantinople against the risk of new incursions cross. He fears in particular Charles of Anjou , who overtook Manfred of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen in South Italy. It is for this reason that Michael is resolved in 1274 , despite the controversy it raised in his country, the Union of Lyons ( Second Council of Lyons ) with the Western Church , to deter the Pope support other crusades. When Charles of Sicily still preparing an assault on the Byzantine diplomacy raises 1282 an uprising in Sicily, the " Sicilian Vespers. "

But the Palaeologus neglecting the defense of borders to the east, the various Turkish states, which have benefited from the decline of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum to emancipate, may extend into western Asia Minor. From that time to the 1330s , almost all of this region is lost to the Empire.

While in Anatolia, settled on the ancient lands of the imperial Turkish Beyliks ( Mentee , Aydn , Germiyan , Saruhan , Karasi , Teke , Candar , Karaman , Hamid , Eratna and Ottomans in Bithynia ), the Palaeologus engage in a final and powerful offensive against the government in Latin Greece, until 1336 , annexing the entire Thessaly and Epirus Despotate ( 1337 ), which is under the authority of the Orsini family. Meanwhile, the emperor John V Palaeologus faces the great epidemic of plague ( one thousand three hundred and forty-seven - one thousand three hundred fifty-one ), which shakes the foundations of the state, but also to many civil wars, the longest being the one in which clash of 1321 to 1328 Andronicus II and his grand-son Andronicus III.

Following this example, John V Palaeologus and John VI Cantacuzino are waging a fierce battle of 1341 to 1347 and from 1353 to 1354. Both factions seek support from neighbors (not only Serbs and Bulgarians , but also Aydn and the Ottomans ).

This ensures the Serbian rule in the Balkans in the years 1331 - in 1355 during the reign of Stefan Uro IV Duan. After the battle of Velbazhd ( 1330 ), the Bulgarians fall under the control of Serbia , while Stefan managed in 1348 to impose its hegemony over a large part of Macedonia , of Albania , the Despotate of Epirus and Thessaly , who are vassals of the emperor. Crowned Tsar of Serbs and Autocrat of Rhmaoi , Stefan also claims the imperial throne and authority on Byzantine Constantinople. However, he failed to get their hands on the second Byzantine capital, Thessaloniki , and his Greater Serbia dissolves shortly after his death (in 1355 ) into a conglomerate despotate, Serbian principalities more or less independent.

While the Balkan Christian states tear each other, the Ottomans gained a substantial foothold in Europe since 1354. They nibble the Byzantine Thrace , holding to the largest party in the 1360s. A preemptive attack of the king of southern Serbia Vukasin Mrnjavevi in conjunction with the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman of Veliko Tarnovo against the nerve center of Ottoman power in Europe, Adrianople resulted in the defeat of the Maritza ( 1371 ), in spite of their numerical superiority. By his victory over the two Balkan powers, the Sultan put his hand over parts of southern Bulgaria, Serbia and Macedonia on extending its hegemony over large parts of the Balkans. Finally, he forced in 1373 to recognize the Bulgarian Ottoman supremacy. Same fate for Byzantium, reduced to the rank of minor power ( Constantinople and its environs, Thessaloniki and its surroundings, the Thessaly , a handful of islands in the Aegean and Despotate Morea ) and the Northern Kingdom of Serbia , the Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovi becomes vassal of the Ottomans.

Byzantium looks good, and many times, the support of Westerners, even suggesting the union of the Churches, as in the Council of Ferrara and Florence in 1439 , a proposal rejected because of public opposition Byzantine ("Better the Sultan's turban than the cardinal's hat").

After the defeat of the Serbs in "Field of Blackbirds" ( 1389 ) and the defeat of the Crusaders from the West at Nicopolis ( 1396 ), the situation of the Empire seems hopeless. Only the crushing defeat of the Ottomans against the powerful Timurid Tamerlane to the Battle of Ankara ( 1402 ) provides the ultimate respite from the Greeks. Tamerlane is well disposed towards the Byzantines and the Ottomans watch when trying to lay siege to Constantinople that year: his envoys come to the camp of Sultan Bayezid ^I. , requiring him to return to the Christian Emperor lands he has "stolen". Ankara defeat for the Ottomans was followed by a period of interregnum of chaos and which therefore allows to Byzantium "puff". But, deprived of its territorial support and resources they procured him, the empire can no longer avoid the coup de grace only through diplomacy.

However dismantling continues inexorably, the Western powers who are unable to agree on any proposed aid to Byzantium threatened. In particular, after 1402 , they did not see the need, while the once powerful Turkish empire, wavers and seems on the verge of implosion. This misjudgment to miss their only opportunity to eliminate for good the threat of the Ottomans at that time very weak.

The fall of Constantinople (1453)

Sultan Murad II , which completes the consolidation phase of the Ottoman interregnum , resumed the expansion policy of his ancestors. If it fails in a siege of Constantinople in 1422 , seeks compensation in southern Greece, by launching a raid on the imperial territory, the Despotate Morea. In 1430 , with the capture of Ioannina , he annexed the Epirus then under "Franks" while the Prince Carlo Tocco, as vassal, should compensate for Arta with what remains (the dynasty was supplanted Tocco by the Ottomans in the set corresponding to modern Greece , the Epirus and the Ionian islands , putting an end to the Frankish domination exerted since 1204 in central Greece, until a few Venetian fortifications).

The same year, he held Thessaloniki , Venetian possession since 1423 , when the Venetian Republic gets the despot of Thessalonica Andronikos Palaiologos , a son of Emperor Manuel II , who believes he can not only hold the city against the Ottomans. He immediately attacked the Kingdom of Serbs, whose king Durada Brankovic, theoretically vassal of the Sublime Porte , refused to give his daughter in marriage to Sultan Mara.

A punitive expedition to the Ottoman Danube destroyed in 1439 the Serbian fortress Smederevo and unsuccessfully besieged Belgrade in 1440. This reversal causes the intervention of their Christian opponents. A new crusade against the "infidels" is mounted at the instigation of Pope Eugene IV as the Union of Churches of Florence ( 1439 ) makes very sure of himself. The kingdoms of Hungary , of Poland , of Serbia , the Albanian and even the Turkish emirate of Karaman in Anatolia together in a coalition against the Ottoman Empire. But after the Battle of Varna ( 1444 ), led by the King of Poland and Hungary Ladislaus Jagiello III , then of the second battle in "Field of Blackbirds" ( 1448 ), under the command of Hungarian regent John Hunyadi deprive Christians hope to save the Byzantine Empire was annexed by the Ottomans.

Thus the 29 May 1453 , after a siege of just two months , the capital of the empire was conquered by Mehmet II. The last emperor, Constantine XI Palaeologus , was killed during fighting in the city. Then, until 1461 , these are the last vestiges of cities Trebizond to the east of the Black Sea , and that of Mistra on the peninsula of Morea , who fall in turn. Only remaining Monemvasia (Malvasia in French) by putting himself in Venetian protectorate in 1464. This city is legally then all that remains of the "Roman Empire".

The fall of Constantinople is one of the major turning points in world history. Even today, May 29 is for the Greeks a day of mourning as it marks the end of their power in Asia Minor. Only the Orthodox Church maintains in part the cohesion of society, through the goodwill of Ottomans. For a long time, date, birthplace of independence and disappeared from the capital, 395 and 1453 , are considered the terminals of the Middle Ages.

The Byzantine Empire, one of the most durable ever known in history, and disappears, and with it an era that had lasted more than two millennia.

Byzantine Society

Ethnic composition

The Byzantine Empire is certainly a multiethnic state, which includes, besides the Greeks , the Armenians , the Illyrians , the Vlachs , the Slavs as well as at its inception, the Syrians and Egyptians. However, most regions over which its authority is exercised are Hellenized for centuries, and therefore culturally integrated in the Greek world.

There are the major poles of Hellenism that is Constantinople , Alexandria , Antioch , Ephesus , Nicaea , Thessaloniki or Trebizond , and that is where the form is elaborated Orthodox Christianity.

Mistra aside (and belatedly) the space represented by modern Greece does not play much more significant role in the Byzantine Empire, as the territories held by the capital essential, both militarily and economically, are eastern provinces. Moreover, the loss of Hellas against the " Crusader states "gives primacy to Asia Minor , and since the early Middle Ages to the Balkans. The Turkish conquest of Asia Minor, in part after 1071 and finally in the fourteenth ^century, gives the signal to decline, falling to a powerful regional position to finish in the small state.

Economy and Trade

For many centuries, the Byzantine economy was among the most advanced in Europe and the Mediterranean. Europe, in particular, is nowhere near the economic strength until later in the Byzantine Middle Ages. Constantinople is an important center in a commercial network that extends throughout most of Eurasia and Africa north, especially being the first western terminus of the famous Silk Road. Some historians argue that until the arrival of Arabs in the ^seventh century, the Empire has the most powerful economy in the Western world (though far behind the great kingdoms of India at the time and especially the Chinese imperial. The Arab conquests, however, represent a substantial reversal of fortunes contributing to a period of decline and stagnation.

The reforms of Constantine V (c. 765 ) marked a revival that continued until 1204. From the ^tenth century until the late twelfth ^century, the Byzantine Empire projects an image of luxury travelers are impressed by the wealth accumulated in the capital. All this changed with the arrival of the Fourth Crusade , which is an economic catastrophe . The Palaiologos trying to revive the economy, but the last Byzantine state does not recover control of internal and external economic forces. Gradually, he loses his influence over the rules of trade and price mechanisms, and control over the flow of precious metals and, according to some historians, even on the minting of currency .

One of the economic foundations of the Empire is commerce. Textiles must be by far the most important export goods, silks were certainly imported into Egypt, and also appear in Bulgaria and the West . The state controls severely as trade domestically and internationally and maintains a monopoly on coinage. The government exercises formal control over interest rates and determines the parameters for the activity of the guilds and corporations, for which it has a special interest. The emperor and his officials intervene during crises to ensure the supply of capital and limit grain prices. Finally, the government collects a share of the surplus through taxes, and puts into circulation, through redistribution, in the salaries of civil servants, or in investment for public works .

Science, medicine and law

The writings of classical antiquity never ceased to be taught in Byzantium. Therefore, the Byzantine science in each period is closely linked to the ancient philosophy and metaphysics

p> At various times, the Byzantines demonstrate their proficiency in the application of science with magnificent achievements (especially in the construction of Hagia Sophia ). After the ^sixth century Byzantine scientists make some new contributions to science in terms of developing new theories or extension of the ideas of classical authors . They have fallen behind during the dark years of plague and the Arab conquests, but in what is called " Byzantine renaissance "at the end of the first millennium Byzantine, they integrate the scientific evolution of Arabs and Persians , they become experts, particularly in astronomy and mathematics .

In the last century of the Empire, the Byzantine grammarians were the principal authors in ancient Greek grammatical and literary studies of the Renaissance in Italy . During this period, astronomy and mathematics are very much alive in Byzantium and are taught in Trebizond , while medicine attracted the interest of almost all researchers .

In the field of law, reform of Justinian ^I have a definite effect on the evolution of jurisprudence , and Leo III influences the formation of legal institutions in the Slav world .

Institutions

Government and Bureaucracy

In the Byzantine state, the emperor was the sole sovereign power is absolute and considered of divine origin . In the late ^seventh century , civil administration attached to the court is established within the framework of a large-scale consolidation of power in the capital (the increased prominence of the position of Sakellarios is linked 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, strategos .

Despite the fact that the term "Byzantine" is sometimes used to describe a complex bureaucracy and cumbersome, it has long had a strong ability to comply with the state of the Empire. The Byzantine system of the titular precedence and makes it look like the imperial government ordered a bureaucracy by modern scholars. Staff members are organized in a strict order around the emperor, and depend on the will of the emperor according to their rank. There were also some administrative jobs, but authority can be delegated to individuals rather than offices .

For the ^eighth and ^ninth centuries , the public is the best path to aristocratic status, but from the ^ninth century , an aristocracy of inherited nobility rivaling the civil aristocracy. Some research on the Byzantine government, the policy of ^the eleventh century is dominated by competition between civil and military aristocracies. During this period, Alexios I ^Komnenos undertaking major administrative reforms, including creation of new dignities and burdens .

Diplomacy

After the fall of Rome, the major challenge of the Empire is to maintain a dense set of relationships with its various neighbors. When these nations begin to forge formal political institutions, they become dependent on Constantinople. Byzantine diplomacy soon managed to attract its neighbors in an international network of relations between states . This network revolves around treaties, including the welcome new leadership in the royal family, the assimilation of social attitudes, values and institutions Byzantine . The Byzantines considered diplomacy as a form of warfare using other means: the Skrinion Barbaron ("Bureau of Barbarians") is the first intelligence agency and collects information on all the rival Empires .

Byzantine Civilization

Self-perception

The Byzantines - and the Greeks until the nineteenth ^century - see themselves and describe themselves as "Romans" ( "Rhmaoi" or "Romai" under the current term of the time). Until about 1400 , the term "Greeks" (, "Hellenes / Ellines") that has been used to describe cultures and pre-Christian Greek cities and polytheists. However, after 1400, when their territorial domination is reduced to only hellnophones countries and it is threatened by the Latin states or slave and the Turks , Byzantines appear increasingly as "Hellenes", and this identification is spreading after the end of the Empire, while the term "Romans" () is taken by the Ottomans as "Rum" or "Rum" (referring to all the faithful of the Orthodox Patriarch , grouped in the same " Millet ").

The terms commonly used today, "Byzantine" or "Byzantine Empire" are of recent origin: the term exonym is used since the seventeenth ^century and was created by Hieronymus Wolf to make a distinction between the history of the Roman Empire in the ancient world and that of the Eastern Roman Empire, which since then is considered a medieval Greek history . The word "Byzantine" comes from Byzantium , the ancient name of the imperial capital Constantinople. Contemporaries, in turn, call their state by the endonym : (Basileia your Rhman / Vasilias Romon tone, "that is to say" Roman Empire "), or (Rhmaik Autokratora / Romaik Aftokratora "," Autocracy Roman / Roman Empire ").

In their design, so they do not consider themselves as "successors" of the Roman Empire , but as a continuation of the Roman Empire itself. It follows that the names of Empire of the East "or" West "are neologisms, since at the time, the eyes of its citizens and their contemporaries, there is only one empire under the authority of two emperors, and what that may have been co-exist as long as these two portions of the Empire. This is legally correct, since there was no break in the West, Byzantium and maintains an organizational model based directly on the end of antiquity. Except that it progressively deteriorates and leads, starting with Heraclius , a gradual Hellenization of the state, facilitated by the identity of Greek-dominated Eastern Roman Empire. The ancient Greek , and after the mutation around ^the seventh century, the median Greek phonetically very close to the modern Greek, not only replaces the Latin since Heraclius as administrative language. It is also, and for much longer, the " Lingua franca "of the church, literature and commerce .

Thus the empire was at the outset impregnated Hellenistic culture of Roman public law and the Christian religion. The "Eastern Roman Empire," now called "Byzantine Empire" never loses its Roman character of the late Roman conquests that in Arabic ^the seventh century.

Well established and its existence appears to him as a sustainable continuity immediate and legitimate only in the Roman Empire, leading some emperors ambition of supremacy over all the Christian states of the Middle Ages.

This claim is impossible soon, not later than the ^seventh century, but remains a common thread in the design of the state. And agents of the Emperor can they continue to demand (unsuccessfully) tariffs Venetian merchants on property which belonged to the Empire more so.

Unlike most other powers in the Middle Ages, the Byzantine Empire employs a long time - even after the intervention of the Arabs - a strictly organized bureaucracy whose heart is Constantinople. It is in this sense that Georg Ostrogorsky has been talk of a "state" in the modern sense. The Empire still has an efficient administrative apparatus and an organized management of finances, and a standing army. No other state in western China is at this time able to raise as much money than Byzance.La economic power and influence of Byzantium is then such that the solidus of gold is the currency of reference in the Mediterranean between the fourth ^and eleventh ^centuries .

The emperor meanwhile reign de facto and almost limitless as well as on the Empire the Church. Yet nowhere do we encounter such opportunities for upward mobility in the aristocracy to Byzantium, which is in the words of Ostrogorsky "a combination of Roman sense of the state of Greek culture and Christian faith "and still feels invested in the ancient concept of" universal power ".

Representation in contemporary Byzantium is a single standard of "True Faith" and civilization. Indeed, the cultural level to Byzantium, at least until the High Middle Ages, more than anything that can be found in other countries of the Mediterranean world, with the exception of the Muslim world ^Religion

According to Joseph Raya (in) , the survival of the Empire of the East requires the active participation of the emperor in church affairs. The Byzantine state inherited from the routine administrative and financial management of religious affairs of the pagan era, and these patterns are preserved in the Christian Church.

Following the pattern set by Eusebius of Caesarea , the Byzantine emperor see as a representative or messenger of Christ, especially those responsible for the spread of Christianity among the heathen, and for those who are "foreign" religion, such as administration and finance. The imperial role, however, has never been legally defined in the affairs of the Church .

With the decline of Rome, and internal dissension in the other Eastern patriarchs, the Church of Constantinople became, between the ^sixth and eleventh ^centuries, the richest and influential center of Christianity . Even when the empire was reduced to a shadow of himself, the Church as an institution, has never ceased to exert a great influence both within and outside the borders Imperial.

After the break of 1054 with the Church of Rome, as Georg Ostrogorsky points out, the Patriarchate of Constantinople became the center of the Orthodox world, with metropolitans subordinates and archbishops in the territory of Asia Minor and the Balkans , and in the Caucasus , the Ukraine , the Russian and Lithuanian. The patriarchate of Constantinople has also retained until the early twentieth ^century guardianship (with some interruptions, especially during the Crusades ) on subordinates Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch , Jerusalem and Alexandria. The Church remained the most stable in the Byzantine Empire .

Byzantine Culture

Byzantine Art

The architecture , painting and other visual art works produced in the Byzantine Empire and in the various areas within the Christian influence. The Byzantine art is almost entirely religious expression and, more specifically, carefully controlled by theology. The Byzantine works spread through trade and conquest of territory, including Italy and Sicily, where they remain in a modified form through the ^twelfth century, and influenced the art of the Italian Renaissance.

Through the expansion to the east of the Orthodox Church , the artistic is also broadcast centers in Eastern Europe, including Russia .

The influence of Byzantine architecture, especially in religious buildings, is found in various parts of Egypt and Arabia to Russia and Romania.

Literature

The Byzantine literature , is irrigated by four literary sources: the Greek , the Christian , the Roman , and Arabic. It is often classified into five groups of authors: Historians, chroniclers and encyclopedists (Patriarch Photios of Constantinople , Michael Psellus and Michel Choniates are considered the largest encyclopedia of Byzantium), essayists and poets epic (the most famous is the heroic epic of Digenis Acritas , but there are others, like the Master Manolis, an architect who must sacrifice themselves to complete its basilica ). The other two groups include the new literary types: the religious and theological literature, and folk poetry. Of the approximately two to three thousand volumes of Byzantine literature that have survived, only three hundred thirty are composed of poetry, history, science or pseudo-science .

While the most flourishing period of the literature of Byzantium runs from the ^ninth to the ^twelfth century, its religious literature (sermons, liturgical books and poetry, theology, devotional tracts, etc..) Developed much earlier with Roman the Melodious , which is its most important representative .

Legacy of Byzantium

Historiography

Western historiography has long and often regarded as a Byzantine despotism Orientalized decadent and, as of Edward Gibbon. This interpretation is completely undermined by contemporary historians.

Meanwhile, it became increasingly obvious that Byzantium played an important role in transmitting cultural values and knowledge of antiquity. In addition, it was the "shield" that protected Europe for centuries, first to face the Persians and the peoples of the steppes, then against the Islam. Ironically, the devastating looting of Constantinople by the Crusaders committed in 1204 , invalidating this protective function.

However, with large parts of the "New Rome", little is known. Relatively few pieces of files are received and Byzantine historiography is silent on some parts, it is powered by Procopius of Caesarea in late antiquity or the Middle Ages by Michel Psellus , Jean Skylitzes , Anne Comnenus or Niketas Choniates , to mention only some of its brightest representatives.

Failure to provide for certain periods as sources of "church" should not lead one to think that Byzantium would become a theocratic state. Certainly, religion often plays a decisive role, but the state of the sources is too fragmented, and in particular for the period from ^the seventh to ^ninth centuries, so that we can get an clear picture. Instead, current research has waived the representation of a Caesaropapism Byzantine emperor in which he would have held almost absolute authority over the Church.

Current Status

The Eastern Roman Empire sent, by passing it through the dark ages that followed the fall of the Western Empire , the legacy the most universal of the Roman Empire , namely the codification of law , through the corpus juris civilis or " Code of Justinian. "

They are also the Byzantines, who have perpetuated the use of Greek and saved much of the ancient Greek libraries.

The Arabs and Turks were strongly influenced on the technical, intellectual, architectural, musical and culinary. Egyptian Christians ( Copts ), the Ethiopians , the Armenians , although Monophysite, also belong to the Byzantine tradition, as well as the Arab Orthodox of Syria , of Lebanon and Palestine.

In Italy, the Byzantine refugees like John Bessarion or Jean Lascaris facilitate the transmission of knowledge and ancient philosophy, transmission influences the Renaissance of the ^fifteenth to the ^seventeenth century. Venice is filled with treasures taken from the Empire and its architecture is Byzantine inspiration.

The Byzantine Empire helped to settle and Christianize the Slavs from Eastern Europe. Byzantium has been, for the current country of Eastern Europe, as influential as those of Rome on Western Europe. The Byzantines were in effect gave these people a Cyrillic alphabet adapted to their languages, a model policy that allows some of them ( Russia ) to compete with Byzantium itself, and a religion that is still their today.

The Romanians , the Bulgarians , the Serbs , the Ukrainians , and Belarusians , the Russians and Georgians have chosen the Orthodox Christianity, which also related to Byzantium, the fall of Constantinople , Moscow was declared the "Third Rome. Byzantine imperial families ( Cantacuzino , Palaiologos , etc..) yield to sovereign Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia.

Part of the Greeks in the nineteenth ^century the time of the Great Idea , as Constantine Paparrigopoulos , proud of having continued the Byzantine civilization even under Ottoman bondage, and that even in Constantinople, where a Greek university functioned until 1924 and it was not until 1936 that the Turkish position permanently ceases to carry the letters marked "Constantinople".

Today, the last heir of the empire in its former capital is the patriarch of Constantinople.

References

Notes

References