During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces wereLatinised, but the eastern parts kept theirHellenistic culture.Constantine I (r. 324–337) legalisedChristianity and moved the capital to Constantinople.Theodosius I (r. 379–395) made Christianity thestate religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, experienced recurring cycles of decline and recovery. (Full article...)
Founded by theLaskaris family, it lasted from 1204 to 1261, when the Nicenes restored the Byzantine Empire after theyrecaptured Constantinople. Thus, the Nicene Empire is seen as a direct continuation of the Byzantine Empire, as it fully assumed the traditional titles and government of the Byzantines in 1205. (Full article...)
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Thesiege of Amorium by theAbbasid Caliphate in mid-August 838 was one of the major events in the long history of theArab–Byzantine Wars. The Abbasid campaign was led personally by the Caliphal-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842), in retaliation to a virtually unopposed expedition launched by theByzantine emperorTheophilos (r. 829–842) into theCaliphate's borderlands the previous year. Mu'tasim targetedAmorium, anEastern Roman city in westernAsia Minor, because it was the birthplace of theruling Byzantine dynasty and, at the time, one of Byzantium's largest and most important cities. The caliph gathered an exceptionally large army, which he divided in two parts, which invaded from the northeast and the south. The northeastern army defeated the Byzantine forces under Theophilosat Anzen, allowing the Abbasids to penetrate deep into Byzantine Asia Minor and converge uponAncyra, which they found abandoned. After sacking the city, they turned south to Amorium, where they arrived on 1 August. Faced with intrigues at Constantinople and the rebellion of the largeKhurramite contingent of his army, Theophilos was unable to aid the city.
Amorium was strongly fortified and garrisoned, but a local inhabitant revealed a weak spot in the wall, where the Abbasids concentrated their attack, effecting a breach. Unable to break through the besieging army, Boiditzes, the commander of the breached section, privately attempted to negotiate with the Caliph without notifying his superiors. He concluded a local truce and left his post, which allowed the Arabs to take advantage, enter the city, and capture it. Amorium was systematically destroyed, never to recover its former prosperity. Many of its inhabitants were slaughtered, and the remainderdriven off as slaves. Most of the survivors were released after a truce in 841, but prominent officials were taken to the caliph's capital ofSamarra and executed years later after refusing to convert toIslam, becoming known as the42 Martyrs of Amorium. (Full article...)
In the 16th century, during theOttoman era, it was converted into a mosque; it became a museum in 1945, and was turned back into a mosque in 2020 by PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan. The interior is covered with some of the finest surviving Byzantine Christianmosaics andfrescoes, which were left in plain sight during Muslim worship throughout much of the Ottoman era. They were restored after the building was secularized and turned into a museum. (Full article...)
The Isaurian dynasty is chiefly associated withByzantine iconoclasm, an attempt to restore divine favour by purifying the Christian faith from all veneration of figural Christian iconography, which resulted in considerable internal turmoil. (Full article...)
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Constantinople was besieged by the Arabs in 674–678, in what was the first culmination of theUmayyad Caliphate's expansionist strategy against theByzantine Empire. CaliphMu'awiya I, who had emerged in 661 as the ruler of the Muslim Arab empire following acivil war, renewedaggressive warfare against Byzantium after a lapse of some years and hoped to deliver a lethal blow by capturing the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.
As reported by the Byzantine chroniclerTheophanes the Confessor, the Arab attack was methodical: in 672–673 Arab fleets secured bases along the coasts ofAsia Minor and then installed a loose blockade around Constantinople. They used the peninsula ofCyzicus near the city as a base to spend the winter and returned every spring to launch attacks against thecity's fortifications. Finally the Byzantines, under EmperorConstantine IV, destroyed the Arab navy using a new invention, the liquid incendiary substance known asGreek fire. The Byzantines also defeated the Arab land army in Asia Minor, forcing them to lift the siege. The Byzantine victory was of major importance for the survival of the Byzantine state, as the Arab threat receded for a time. A peace treaty was signed soon after, and following the outbreak ofanother Muslim civil war, the Byzantines even experienced a brief period of ascendancy over the Caliphate. The siege was arguably the first major Arab defeat in 50 years of expansion and temporarily stabilized the Byzantine Empire after decades of war and defeats. (Full article...)
Following theNorman conquest of Byzantine Italy and Saracen Sicily, the Byzantine emperor,Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078), betrothed his son toRobert Guiscard's daughter. When Michael was deposed, Robert took this as an excuse to invade the Byzantine Empire in 1081. His army laid siege to Dyrrhachium, but his fleet was defeated by theVenetians. On October 18, the Normans engaged a Byzantine army under Alexios I Komnenos outside Dyrrhachium. The battle began with the Byzantine right wing routing the Norman left wing, which broke and fled.Varangian troops joined in the pursuit of the fleeing Normans, but became separated from the main force and were massacred. Normanknights attacked the Byzantine centre and routed it, causing the bulk of the Byzantine army to rout. (Full article...)
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Greek fire was anincendiary weapon system used by theByzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guardedstate secret; historians have variously speculated that it was based onsaltpeter,sulfur, orquicklime, but most modern scholars agree that it was based onpetroleum mixed withresins, comparable in composition to modernnapalm. Byzantine sailors would tossgrenades loaded with Greek fire onto enemy ships or spray it from tubes. Its ability to burn on water made it an effective and destructive naval incendiary weapon, and rival powers tried unsuccessfully to copy the material. (Full article...)
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AHodegetria, orVirgin Hodegetria, is aniconographic depiction of theTheotokos (Virgin Mary) holding theChild Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of salvation for humankind. The Virgin's head usually inclines towards the child, who raises his hand in a blessing gesture. Metals are often used to draw attention to young Christ, reflecting light and shining in a way to embody divinity. In theWestern Church this type of icon is sometimes calledOur Lady of the Way.
The most veneratedicon of the Hodegetria type, regarded as the original, was displayed in theMonastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria inConstantinople, which was built specially to contain it. Unlike most later copies it showed the Theotokos standing full-length. It was said to have been brought back from theHoly Land byEudocia, the wife of emperorTheodosius II (408–450), and to have been painted bySaint Luke the evangelist, the attributed author of theGospel of Luke. The icon was double-sided, with acrucifixion on the other side, and was "perhaps the most prominent cult object in Byzantium". (Full article...)
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TheFourth Crusade (1202–1204) was aLatin Christian armed expedition called byPope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city ofJerusalem, by first defeating the powerful EgyptianAyyubid Sultanate. However, a sequence of economic and political events culminated in the Crusader army's 1202siege of Zara and the 1204sack of Constantinople, rather than the conquest of Egypt as originally planned. This led to thepartition of the Byzantine Empire by the Crusaders and their Venetian allies, leading to a period known as theFrankokratia ("Rule of the Franks" in Greek).
In 1201, theRepublic of Venice contracted with the Crusader leaders to build a dedicated fleet to transport their invasion force. However, the leaders greatly overestimated the number of soldiers who would embark from Venice, since many sailed from other ports, and the army that appeared could not pay the contracted price. In lieu of payment, the Venetian DogeEnrico Dandolo proposed that the Crusaders back him in attacking the rebellious city ofZara (Zadar) on the eastern Adriatic coast. This led in November 1202 to thesiege and sack of Zara, the first attack against a Catholic city by a Catholic Crusader army, despitePope Innocent III's calls for the Crusaders not to attack fellow Christians. The city was then brought under Venetian control. When the Pope heard of this, he temporarilyexcommunicated the Crusader army. (Full article...)
The first action that led to a formal schism occurred in 1053 when PatriarchMichael I Cerularius of Constantinople ordered the closure of all Latin churches inConstantinople. In 1054, thepapal legate sent byLeo IX travelled to Constantinople to deny Cerularius the title of "ecumenical patriarch" and insist that he recognize the pope's claim to be the head of all of the churches, and to seek help from theByzantine emperor,Constantine IX Monomachos, in view of theNorman conquest of southern Italy, and to respond toLeo of Ohrid's attacks on the use of unleavened bread and other Western customs, attacks that had the support of Cerularius. When the leader of the legation, CardinalHumbert of Silva Candida, learned that Cerularius had refused to accept the demand, heexcommunicated him, and in response Cerularius excommunicated Humbert and the other legates. (Full article...)
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TheArab–Byzantine wars orMuslim–Byzantine wars were a series of wars from the 7th to 11th centuries between the successive Islamic caliphates and theByzantine Empire. Following the Byzantine defeat at theBattle of the Yarmuk, Muslim armies conquered most Byzantine territory in the Levant, Egypt and North Africa within decades. Arab expansion subsequently slowed to a more gradual rate, following two failed sieges of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in the late 7th and early 8th centuries. By the mid-9th century, the Byzantines had partially recovered and proceeded to recapture some of their lost territory in Anatolia in the following decades.
The conflict began duringearly Muslim conquests under the expansionistRashidun Caliphate, part of the initialspread of Islam. In the 630s, Rashidun forces fromArabia attacked and quickly overran Byzantium's Levantine and African provinces.Syria was captured in 639 andEgypt was conquered in 642. TheExarchate of Africa wasgradually seized between 647 and 670. From the 650s onward, Arab naval forces began entering theMediterranean Sea, which subsequently became a major battleground, with both sides launching raids and counterraids against islands and coastal settlements. The Rashidun were succeeded by theUmayyad Caliphate in 661, who over the next fifty years captured ByzantineCyrenaica and launched repeated raids into ByzantineAsia Minor. Umayyad forces twice placed Constantinople under siege, in674 to 678 and717 to 718, but ultimately failed to seize the heavily fortified Byzantine imperial capital. (Full article...)
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TheMuslim conquest ofSicily, or theArab conquest of Sicily, began in June 827 and lasted until 902, when the last majorByzantine stronghold on the island,Taormina, fell. Isolated fortresses remained in Byzantine hands until 965, but the island was henceforth under Arab Muslim rule until it wasconquered in turn by theNormans in the 11th century.
Although Sicily had been raided by the Muslim Arabs since the mid-7th century, these raids did not threatenByzantine control over the island, which remained a largely peaceful backwater. The opportunity for theAghlabid emirs ofIfriqiya (present-dayTunisia) came in 827, when the commander of the island's fleet,Euphemius, rose in revolt against theByzantine EmperorMichael II. Defeated by loyalist forces and driven from the island, Euphemius sought the aid of the Aghlabids, an Arab dynasty. The latter regarded this as an opportunity for expansion and for diverting the energies of their own fractious military establishment and alleviating the criticism of the Islamic scholars by championingjihad, and dispatched an army to aid him. Following the Arab landing on the island, Euphemius was quickly sidelined. An initial assault on the island's capital,Syracuse, failed, but the Muslims were able to weather the subsequent Byzantine counter-attack and hold on to a few fortresses. With the aid of reinforcements from Ifriqiya and Umayyadal-Andalus, in 831 they tookPalermo, which became the capital of the new Arab-Muslim province. (Full article...)
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TheByzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the dynasty ofHeraclius between 610 and 711 AD. The Heraclians presided over a period of cataclysmic events that were a watershed in the history of the Empire and the world. Heraclius, the founder of his dynasty, was ofArmenian andCappadocian (Greek) origin. At the beginning of the dynasty, the Empire's culture was still essentiallyAncient Roman, dominating theMediterranean and harbouring a prosperouslate antique urban civilization. This world was shattered by successive invasions, which resulted in extensive territorial losses, financial collapse and plagues that depopulated the cities, while religious controversies and rebellions further weakened the Empire.
By the dynasty's end, the Empire had been transformed into a different state structure: now known in historiography as medieval Byzantine rather than (Ancient) Roman, a chiefly agrarian, military-dominated society that was engaged in a lengthy struggle with theMuslimRashidun Caliphate and successorUmayyad Caliphate. However, the Empire during this period became also far more homogeneous, being reduced to its mostlyGreek-speaking and firmlyChalcedonian core territories, which enabled it to weather these storms and enter a period of stability under the successorIsaurian dynasty. (Full article...)
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TheByzantine Iconoclasm (Ancient Greek:Εἰκονομαχία,romanized: Eikonomachía,lit.'image struggle', 'war on icons') are two periods in the history of theByzantine Empire when the use ofreligious images oricons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within theEcumenical Patriarchate (at the time still comprising the Roman-Latin and the Eastern-Orthodox traditions) and the temporal imperial hierarchy. TheFirst Iconoclasm, as it is sometimes called, occurred between about 726 and 787, while theSecond Iconoclasm occurred between 814 and 842. According to the traditional view, Byzantine Iconoclasm was started by a ban on religious images promulgated by the Byzantine EmperorLeo III the Isaurian, and continued under his successors. It was accompanied by widespread destruction of religious images and persecution of supporters of the veneration of images. ThePapacy remained firmly in support of the use of religious images throughout the period, and the whole episode widened thegrowing divergence between the Byzantine andCarolingian traditions in what was still a unified European Church, as well as facilitating the reduction or removal of Byzantine political control overparts of the Italian Peninsula.
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious images and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. People who engage in or support iconoclasm are callediconoclasts, Greek for 'breakers of icons' (εἰκονοκλάσται), a term that has come to be applied figuratively to any person who breaks or disdains establisheddogmata or conventions. Conversely, people who revere or venerate religious images are derisively called "iconolaters" (εἰκονολάτρες). They are normally known as "iconodules" (εἰκονόδουλοι), or "iconophiles" (εἰκονόφιλοι). These terms were, however, not a part of the Byzantine debate over images. They have been brought into common usage by modern historians (from the seventeenth century) and their application to Byzantium increased considerably in the late twentieth century. The Byzantine term for the debate over religious imagery,iconomachy, means "struggle over images" or "image struggle". Some sources also say that the Iconoclasts were against intercession to the saints and denied the usage of relics; however, it is disputed. (Full article...)
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Byzantine medicine encompasses the commonmedical practices of theByzantine Empire from c. 400 AD to 1453 AD. Byzantine medicine was notable for building upon the knowledge base developed by its Greco-Roman predecessors. In preserving medical practices from antiquity, Byzantine medicine influencedIslamic medicine and fostered the Western rebirth of medicine during theRenaissance. The concept of the hospital appeared in Byzantine Empire as an institution to offer medical care and possibility of a cure for the patients because of the ideals ofChristian charity.
Byzantine physicians often compiled and standardized medical knowledge intotextbooks. Their records tended to include both diagnostic explanations and technical drawings. TheMedical Compendium in Seven Books, written by the leading physicianPaul of Aegina, survived as a particularly thorough source of medical knowledge. This compendium, written in the late seventh century, remained in use as a standard textbook for the following 800 years. This tradition of compilation continued from around the tenth century into the twentieth through the genre of medical writings known asiatrosophia. (Full article...)
From the start, the regime faced numerous problems. TheTurks ofAsia Minor had begun conducting raids and expanding into Byzantine territory in Asia Minor by 1263, just two years after the enthronement of the first Palaiologos emperorMichael VIII.Anatolia, which had formed the very heart of the shrinking empire, was systematically lost to numerous Turkicghazis, whose raids evolved into conquering expeditions inspired byIslamic zeal, the prospect of economic gain, and the desire to seek refuge from the Mongols after the disastrousBattle of Köse Dağ in 1243. The Palaiologoi were engaged on several fronts, often continually, while the empire's supply of food and manpower dwindled. In this period, the Byzantine Empire found itself continually at war, both civil and interstate, with most interstate conflicts being with other Christian empires. Most commonly, these comprised theSecond Bulgarian Empire, theSerbian Empire, the remnants of theLatin Empire and even theKnights Hospitaller. (Full article...)
A group of ArabAndalusian exiles led byAbu Hafs Umar al-Iqritishi conquered Crete in either 824 or 827/828, and established an independent Islamic state. The Byzantines launched a campaign that took most of the island back in 842–43 underTheoktistos, but the reconquest was not completed and would soon be reversed. Later attempts by the Byzantine Empire to recover the island failed, and for the approximately 135 years of its existence, the emirate was one of the major foes of Byzantium. Crete commanded the sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and functioned as a forward base and haven for Muslim corsair fleets that ravaged the Byzantine-controlled shores of theAegean Sea. The emirate's internal history is less well known, but all accounts point to considerable prosperity deriving not only from piracy but also from extensive trade and agriculture. The emirate was brought to an end byNikephoros Phokas, whosuccessfully campaigned against it in 960–961, re-annexing the island to the Byzantine Empire. (Full article...)
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TheDespotate of the Morea orDespotate of Mystras was a province of theByzantine Empire between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. Its territory varied in size during its existence but eventually grew to include almost all the southernGreek peninsula now known as thePeloponnese, which was known as theMorea during the medieval and early modern periods. The territory was usually ruled by one or more sons or brothers of the currentByzantine emperor, who were given the title ofdespotes (in this context it should not be confused withdespotism). Its capital was the fortified city ofMystras, near ancientSparta, which became an important centre of thePalaiologan Renaissance. (Full article...)
Taking advantage of the situation, theSeljukSultanate of Rum began seizing territory in westernAnatolia, until theNicaean Empire was able torepulse the Seljuk Turks from the remaining territories still under Byzantine rule. Eventually Constantinople wasre-taken from theLatin Empire in 1261 by the Nicaean Empire. The position of the Byzantine Empire in Europe remained uncertain due to the presence of the rivals inEpirus,Serbia andBulgaria. This, combined with the declining power of theSultanate of Rum (Byzantium's chief rival in Asia Minor) led to the removal of troops from Anatolia to maintain Byzantium's grip onThrace. (Full article...)
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TheByzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of theKomnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. TheKomnenian (also spelledComnenian) period comprises the reigns of five emperors,Alexios I,John II,Manuel I,Alexios II andAndronikos I. It was a period of sustained, though ultimately incomplete, restoration of the military, territorial, economic and political position of the Byzantine Empire.
Byzantium under the Komnenoi played a key role in the history of theCrusades in theHoly 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 ofOutremer, whilst Alexios I played a key role in the course of theFirst Crusade, which he helped bring about. (Full article...)
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TheByzantine economy was among the most robust economies in the Mediterranean and the world for many centuries.Constantinople was a prime hub in a trading network that at various times extended across nearly all ofEurasia andNorth Africa. It could be argued that up until the 7th century, theEastern Roman Empire had the most powerful economy in the world. TheArab conquests, however, would represent a substantial reversal of fortunes contributing to a period of decline and stagnation. The Byzantine state restructured its administrative and fiscal systems, introducing thetheme system, which organized land and military service in a way that ensured both local defense and agricultural productivity. Rural life revived as new lands were brought under cultivation, and local economies became more self-sufficient, reducing dependence on long-distance trade that had been curtailed by the loss of eastern territories. By the 9th and 10th centuries, the empire experienced a notable resurgence: agricultural output increased, population levels rose, and the circulation of coinage expanded once again. However, by the 12th and 13th centuries, the economic balance began to shift. Western maritime republics such asVenice andGenoa gradually overtook Byzantine merchants, largely due to the tax exemptions and trading privileges granted to them under theKomnenian emperors. This process accelerated after theFourth Crusade and the establishment of the Latin Empire, during which Venetian traders gained control over key ports and commercial networks once held by the Byzantines. The Byzantines continued to face economic challenges during thePalaiologan era until itsfall in 1453.
One of the economic foundations of the empire was trade. The state strictly controlled both the internal and the international trade. It has been argued that this amounted to an early version of thepolitical economy ofmercantilism.Constantinople remained the single most important commercial centre ofEurope for much of theMedieval era, which it held until theRepublic of Venice slowly began to overtake Byzantine merchants in trade; first through tax exemption under theKomnenoi, then under theLatin Empire. (Full article...)
The richest interiors were finished with thin plates ofmarble or coloured and patterned stone. Some of the columns were also made of marble. Other widely used materials were bricks and stone. Mosaics made of stone or glasstesserae were also elements of interior architecture. Precious wood furniture, like beds, chairs, stools, tables, bookshelves and silver or golden cups with beautiful reliefs, decorated Byzantine interiors. (Full article...)
Selected biographies
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Bardanes, nicknamedTourkos, "the Turk" (Greek:Βαρδάνης ὁ Τοῦρκος,romanized: Bardanēs ho Tourkos,fl. 795–803), was aByzantine general who launched an unsuccessful rebellion against EmperorNikephoros I (r. 802–811) in 803. Although a major supporter ofByzantine empressIrene of Athens (r. 797–802), soon after her overthrow he was appointed by Nikephoros as commander-in-chief of theAnatolian armies. From this position, he launched a revolt in July 803, probably in opposition to Nikephoros's economic and religious policies. His troops marched towardsConstantinople, but failed to win popular support. At this point, some of his major supporters deserted him and, reluctant to engage the loyalist forces in battle, Bardanes gave up and chose to surrender himself. He retired as a monk to a monastery he had founded. There he was blinded, possibly on Nikephoros's orders. He was of Turkic origin (Full article...)
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Portrait of an empress in theAcropolis Museum in Athens, likely Aelia Eudocia.
Andronikos II Palaiologos (Greek:Ἀνδρόνικος Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος,romanized: Andrónikos Doúkās Ángelos Komnēnós Palaiológos; 25 March 1259 – 13 February 1332),Latinized asAndronicus II Palaeologus, reigned asByzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. His reign marked the beginning of the recently restored empire's final decline. The Turks conquered most of Byzantium's remaining Anatolian territories, and Andronikos spent the last years of his reign fighting hisown grandson in theFirst Palaiologan Civil War. The war ended in Andronikos' forced abdication in 1328, after which he retired to a monastery for the remainder of his life. (Full article...)
Alexios III Megas Komnenos (Greek:Αλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός; 5 October 1338 – 20 March 1390), orAlexius III, wasEmperor ofTrebizond from December 1349 until his death. He is perhaps the best-documented ruler of that country, and his reign is distinguished by a number of religious grants and literary creations.
He was the son of EmperorBasil of Trebizond and his second (and bigamous) wife,Irene of Trebizond. Alexios III was originally named John (Ιωάννης,Iōannēs), and took the name Alexios either in memory of his older brother who had died prematurely or of his paternal grandfather, EmperorAlexios II of Trebizond. (Full article...)
Theodosius I (Ancient Greek:ΘεοδόσιοςTheodosios; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known asTheodosius the Great, wasRoman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing theNicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine forNicene Christianity. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entireRoman Empire before its administration was permanently split between theWestern Roman Empire and theEastern Roman Empire. He ended theGothic War (376–382), but did so on terms disadvantageous to the empire, with the Goths remaining politically autonomous within Roman territory, albeit as nominal allies.
Born inHispania, Theodosius was the son of a high-ranking general of the same name,Theodosius the Elder, under whose guidance he rose through the ranks of theRoman army. Theodosius held independent command inMoesia in 374, where he had some success against the invadingSarmatians. Not long afterwards, he was forced into retirement, and his father was executed under obscure circumstances. Theodosius soon regained his position following a series of intrigues and executions at EmperorGratian's court. In 379, after the eastern Roman emperorValens was killed at theBattle of Adrianople against theGoths, Gratian appointed Theodosius as a successor with orders to take charge of the military emergency. The new emperor's resources and depleted armies were not sufficient to drive the invaders out; in 382 the Goths were allowed to settle south of theDanube as autonomous allies of the empire. In 386, Theodosius signed a treaty with theSasanian Empire which partitioned the long-disputedKingdom of Armenia and secured a durable peace between the two powers. (Full article...)
John VI Kantakouzenos orCantacuzene (Greek:Ἰωάννης Ἄγγελος [Κομνηνός] Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός,romanized: Iōánnēs Ángelos [Komnēnós] Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós;Latin:Iohannes Cantacuzenus;c. 1292 – 15 June 1383) was aByzantine Greek emperor andnobleman, statesman, andgeneral. He served asgrand domestic underAndronikos III Palaiologos andregent forJohn V Palaiologos before reigning asByzantine emperor in his own right from 1347 to 1354. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the nameJoasaph Christodoulos (Greek:Ἰωάσαφ Χριστόδουλος,romanized: Joásaph Christódoulos) and spent the remainder of his life as a monk and historian. At age 90 or 91 at his death, he was the longest-lived of the Roman emperors. His two disastrous civil wars led to the loss of much of the remaining territory in the Balkans under Byzantine control to the Serbian and Bulgarian empires, but the most severe loss during his civil war was the loss of the Gallipoli peninsula to the Ottoman Turks, allowing the Ottomans to gain territory in Europe and setting the stage for the destruction of the Byzantine Empire a century later. (Full article...)
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An Orthodox icon of Saint Symeon
Saint Symeon the New Theologian (Greek:Συμεὼν ὁ Νέος Θεολόγος; 949–1022) was anEastern Orthodox monk and poet who was one of the threesaints canonized by theEastern Orthodox Church and given the title of "Theologian" (along withJohn the Apostle,Gregory of Nazianzus). "Theologian" was not applied to Symeon in the modern academic sense of theological study; the title was intended only to recognise someone who spoke from personal experience of the vision of God. One of his principal teachings was that humans could and should experiencetheoria (literally "contemplation," or direct experience of God).
Symeon was born into the Byzantine nobility and given a traditional education. At age fourteen, he metSymeon the Studite, a renowned monk of theMonastery of Stoudios inConstantinople, who convinced him to give his own life to prayer andasceticism under the elder Symeon's guidance. By the time he was thirty, Symeon the New Theologian became the abbot of theMonastery of Saint Mamas, a position he held for twenty-five years. He attracted many monks and clergy with his reputation for sanctity, though his teachings brought him into conflict with church authorities, who would eventually send him into exile. His most well known disciple wasNicetas Stethatos who wrote theLife of Symeon. (Full article...)
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Michael Psellos (left) with his student, Byzantine emperorMichael VII Doukas
Michael Psellos orPsellus (Greek:Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός,romanized: Michaḗl Psellós,Byzantine Greek:[mixaˈilpseˈlːos]) was aByzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. He served as a high ranking courtier and advisor to severalByzantine emperors and was instrumental in the re-positioning of power of those emperors.
Psellos has made lasting contributions to Byzantine culture by advocating for the revival of Byzantineclassical studies, which would later influence theItalian Renaissance, as well as by interpretingHomeric literature andPlatonic philosophy as precursors and integral components ofChristian doctrine. His texts combinedtheology, philosophy, and psychology. Among his most famous works are hisCommentary on Plato's Teachings on the Origin of the Soul, and theChronographia, a series of biographies from emperorBasil II toNikephoros III, which serves as a valuable source on the history of the 11th-centuryByzantine Empire. (Full article...)
John has been assessed as the greatest of the Komnenian emperors. This view became entrenched due to its espousal byGeorge Ostrogorsky in his influential bookHistory of the Byzantine State, where John is described as a ruler who, "... combined clever prudence with purposeful energy ... and [was] high principled beyond his day." In the course of the quarter-century of his reign, John made alliances with theHoly Roman Empire in the west, decisively defeated thePechenegs,Hungarians andSerbs in theBalkans, and personally led numerous campaigns against theTurks inAsia Minor. John's campaigns fundamentally changed the balance of power in the east, forcing the Turks onto the defensive; they also led to the recapture of many towns, fortresses and cities across the Anatolian peninsula. In the southeast, John extended Byzantine control from theMaeander in the west all the way toCilicia andTarsus in the east. In an effort to demonstrate the Byzantine ideal of the emperor's role as the leader of theChristian world, John marched intoMuslimSyria at the head of the combined forces of Byzantium and theCrusader states; yet despite the great vigour with which he pressed the campaign, John's hopes were disappointed by the evasiveness of his Crusader allies and their reluctance to fight alongside his forces. (Full article...)
Theodora was the youngest daughter of EmperorConstantine VIII. After Theodora's father died in 1028, her older sisterZoë co-ruled with her husbandsRomanos III andMichael IV, kept Theodora closely watched. After two foiled plots, Theodora was exiled to an island monastery in theSea of Marmara in 1031. A decade later, the people of Constantinople rose against Michael IV's nephew and successor,Michael V, and insisted that Theodora return to rule alongside Zoë. (Full article...)
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Coin of Harald as the sole Norwegian king, "ARALD[us] REX NAR[vegiae]"
In 1030, the fifteen-year-old Harald fought in theBattle of Stiklestad alongside his half-brotherOlaf Haraldsson. Olaf sought to reclaim the Norwegian throne, which he had lost to Danish kingCnut two years previously. Olaf and Harald were defeated by forces loyal to Cnut, and Harald was forced into exile to Kievan Rus'. Thereafter, he was in the army of Grand PrinceYaroslav the Wise, becoming captain, until he moved on toConstantinople with his companions around 1034. In Constantinople, he rose quickly to become the commander of the Byzantine Varangian Guard, seeing action on theMediterranean Sea, inAsia Minor, Sicily, possibly in theHoly Land,Bulgaria and in Constantinople itself, where he became involved in the imperial dynastic disputes. Harald amassed wealth whilst in the Byzantine Empire, which he shipped to Yaroslav in Kievan Rus' for safekeeping. In 1042, he left the Byzantine Empire, returning to Kievan Rus' to prepare to reclaim the Norwegian throne. In his absence the Norwegian throne had been restored from the Danes to Olaf's illegitimate sonMagnus the Good. (Full article...)
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Donor portrait of themegas doux Alexios Apokaukos, from a collection of the "Works ofHippocrates" commissioned by him in the early 1340s. Alexios is depicted in the garb of his office, wearing a richly decoratedkabbadion and theskaranikon, a ceremonial headdress depicting the reigning emperor.
Some older writers refer to her as "Catherine". Charles Diehl has shown that it was based onDu Cange’s misunderstanding of the Mongol title "Khatun" as "Catherine". (Full article...)
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Alexios I Komnenos (Greek:Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός,romanized: Aléxios Komnēnós,c. 1057 – 15 August 1118),Latinized asAlexius I Comnenus, wasByzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Afterusurping the throne he was faced with a collapsing empire and constant warfare throughout his reign. Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as theKomnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against theSeljuk Turks were the catalyst that sparked theFirst Crusade. Although he was not the first emperor of theKomnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realizedrenovatio imperii, or'restoration of the Empire'. This ambition was expressed by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunctWestern Roman Empire. His general,Belisarius, swiftly conquered theVandal Kingdom in North Africa. Subsequently, Belisarius,Narses, and other generalsconquered theOstrogothic Kingdom, restoringDalmatia,Sicily,Italy, andRome to the empire after more than half a century of rule by theOstrogoths. Thepraetorian prefect Liberius reclaimed the south of theIberian Peninsula, establishing the province ofSpania. These campaigns re-established Roman control over the western Mediterranean, increasing the Empire's annual revenue by over a millionsolidi. During his reign, Justinian also subdued theTzani, a people on the east coast of theBlack Sea that had never been under Roman rule before. He engaged theSasanian Empire in the east duringKavad I's reign, and later again duringKhosrow I's reign; this second conflict was partially initiated due to his ambitions in the west. (Full article...)
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Staurakios (Greek:Σταυράκιος, sometimes LatinizedStauracius; died 3 June 800) was aByzantine Greekeunuch official, who rose to be one of the most important and influential associates ofByzantine empressIrene of Athens (r. 797–802). He effectively acted as chief minister during her regency for her young son, EmperorConstantine VI (r. 780–797) in 780–790, assisting the empress in ruling the empire, consolidating her position, achieving her goals, and suppressing her opponents; however, he kept everything under control, and encouraged Irene to prevent the emperor from exercising power, until he was overthrown and exiled by a military revolt in favour of the young emperor in 790. Restored to power by Constantine along with Irene in 792 and he officially served as the chief minister for the co-reign of this mother and son, acting as a power broker for Irene, Staurakios aided her in the eventual removal, blinding, and possible murder of her son in 797. His own position thereafter was threatened by the rise of another powerful eunuch,Aetios. Their increasing rivalry, and Staurakios's own imperial ambitions, were only resolved by Staurakios's death. (Full article...)
Heraclius's reign was marked by several military campaigns. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers. Heraclius immediately took charge of theByzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628. The first battles of the campaign ended in defeat for the Byzantines; the Persian army fought their way to theBosphorus butConstantinople was protected byimpenetrable walls and a strong navy, and Heraclius was able to avoid total defeat. Soon after, he initiated reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military. Heraclius drove the Persians out ofAsia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at theBattle of Nineveh. The Persian ShahKhosrow II was overthrown and executed by his sonKavad II, who soon sued for a peace treaty, agreeing to withdraw from all occupied territory. This way peaceful relations were restored to the two deeply strained empires. (Full article...)
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A mosaic inHagia Sophia showing Leo VI paying homage to Christ
Leo VI, also known asLeothe Wise (Greek:Λέων ὁ Σοφός,romanized: Léōn ho Sophós; 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), wasByzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of theMacedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to hisepithet. During his reign, the renaissance of letters, begun by his predecessorBasil I, continued; but theempire also saw several military defeats in theBalkans againstBulgaria and against the Arabs inSicily and theAegean. His reign also witnessed the formal discontinuation of several ancient Roman institutions, such as the separate office ofRoman consul. (Full article...)
Leo Sgouros (Greek:Λέων Σγουρός),Latinized asLeo Sgurus, was aGreek independent lord in the northeasternPeloponnese in the early 13th century. The scion of the magnateSgouros family, he succeeded his father as hereditary lord in the region of Nauplia. Taking advantage of the disruption caused by theFourth Crusade, he made himself independent, one of several local rulers that appeared throughout theByzantine Empire during the final years of theAngeloi dynasty. He expanded his domain intoCorinthia andCentral Greece, eventually marrying the daughter of formerByzantine emperorAlexios III Angelos (r. 1195–1203). His conquests, however, were short-lived, as the Crusaders forced him back into the Peloponnese. Blockaded in his stronghold on theAcrocorinth, he committedsuicide in 1208. (Full article...)
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Nikephoros II Phokas on a 15th-century manuscript,Biblioteca Marciana,Venice. The portrait is almost certainly imaginary.
Manuscript miniature, part of double portrait with Empress Maria,Vatican Library
Manuel I Komnenos (Greek:Μανουήλ Κομνηνός,romanized: Manouḗl Komnēnós; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180),Latinized asComnenus, also calledPorphyrogenitus (Greek:Πορφυρογέννητος,romanized: Porphyrogénnētos; "born in the purple"), was aByzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history ofByzantium and theMediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of theKomnenian restoration, during which the Byzantine Empire experienced a resurgence of military and economic power and enjoyed a cultural revival.
... thatByzantine generalManuel Kamytzes began a rebellion against his emperor when the latter took advantage of his capture to confiscate his fortune, imprison his family, and refuse toransom him?
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