Recent literature has established an inseparable relationship between the Islamic Empire of the 15th century and the Eastern Roman Empire. The emphasis is less on Islamic forces acting as a separate and direct antagonist against Byzantines to their fall, but rather a series of circumstances that gradually weakened the empire until it fell in 1453. Within the most recent decades scholars have begun to examine at the international negotiations and cultural exchanges between Byzantines and Muslims to establish both empires were much closer than early historians believed. Research focused on the Byzantine Empire and especially Islamic influences has met a variety of challenges and was slow to emerge as a field of study. Notable historians such as Montesquieu and Gibbon were often credited for the lack of interest in the topic. The fall of the Western Roman Empire remained the dominant interest of European historians. The earliest comments on the Eastern Roman Empire was that it was not worth the effort to study. While works came out after Edward Gibbon published his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the topic was few and far between. The 20th century saw a revival in the amount of works produced on the Eastern Roman Empire, and by the 21st century a multitude of scholarly research has been done on the topic of the influence of Islam on the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire. There are two schools of thought concerning Gibbon’s work on the fall of Rome. The first is a sort of resentment, in which historians write in their preface an inspiring reason for the publication was to right the wrongs of Gibbon. The second is an attitude of admiration. It was common practice within the preface to thank Gibbon for his contributions and not ... ... middle of paper ... ...4-641. Malden. Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Nicol, D.M. The End of the Byzantine Empire. New York. Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc., 1979. Nicol, D.M. The Last Centuries of Byzantium 1261-1453. Cambridge. University Press, 1972. Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall. New York. Alfred A Knopf, 1996. Ostrogorsky, George. History of the Byzantine State. Translated by Joan Hussey. New Brunswick. Rutgers University Press, 1963. Runciman, Steven. The Fall of Constantinople 1453. Cambridge. University Press, 1965. Vryonis, Speros. Byzantium: Its International History and Relations with the Muslim World: Collected Studies. London. Variorum Reprints, 1971. Vryonis, Speros Jr. The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. Berkley. University of California Press, 1971.
Did Justinian impact life as we know it because he is such a great ruler, or is he just a follower who keeps trying to hold on to the loose threads of a fallen empire? Some might say that without Justinian, humanity is a step further back. Others may argue evermore that Justinian is a two-faced liar who you cannot trust (Doc. 2). Contrary to many beliefs, Justinian creates a new Byzantine Empire after the fall of Rome that is influential to many different cultures, more advanced and educated than Rome, and more economically thriving than the Roman Empire.
Kazhadan, Alexander. Studies on Byzantine Literature of the Eleventh and Twelfth. NewYork: Cambridge University press, 1984. Print
Emperor Justinian is identified as one of the greatest Caesars to ever rule in Europe during his reign from 527-565, during this he succeeded in reviving Roman Authority throughout his growing Byzantium Empire . As Emperor of the Byzantium Empire in the sixth and seventh century he conquered many parts of Europe restoring the control of the Roman Authority once again if only for a while . This essay will point out the extent in which Justinian succeeded Roman Authority. Although many depictions that can be argued, closer examination can be shown that through huge military successes, Architectural activities that changed the Empires value and enhanced Constantinople as the centre of the Christian World, and the legal work of the ‘Code of Justinian’ helped Justinian to revive Roman Authority. In the seventh century saw the collapse of the Byzantium Empire, which was defeated and taken over by the Ottoman-Turk Empire from the East of Constantinople. This Essay will access the reasons for decline of such a powerful empire, hit with the ‘Justinian Plague’ and eventually deteriorating after Justinian death . This saw the end to any last element of any Roman Authority in Europe.
Constantinople suffered and flourished as a result of several changes including the infamous Schism in 1054. The Schism in 1054 w...
Aspects of Byzantine historiography are that historical works are in the forms of chronicles of events that revolved around individuals with unique characteristics. The focus of an individual is clearly shown as Emperor Alexis Comnena I is in a way the protagonist of the Alexiad as he is the central character throughout the story. Emperor Comnena, throughout the book is shown to be a figure with no vices and is even comparable to Jesus Christ himself. The book, while bias can yield a lot of information to historians. The information that can be gained is Eastern Roman history under Emperor Alexis Comnena I and what transpired under his reign. The Byzantine perspective of the First Crusade and the incoming crusaders is also displayed by the Alexiad, therefore can yield useful information to historians exploring the First Crusade or something similar. The problem is using the Alexiad as source in understanding Eastern Roman history is that the book was wrote with a bias bent, therefore some parts history may have been tampered with and that Anna Comnena is telling her story purely though stories and her family history with no other sources. However, while flawed in some aspects the Alexiad is still regarded as a historical piece and relay important information is analyzed
The Byzantine Empire was a primarily Christian empire whose reign started in 330 A.D and ended in 1453 A.D with the capturing of the its capital, Constantinople by the Muslim Sultan Mehmed II. In the years following the fall of the Byzantines, many of the Christian basilicas were transformed into mosques for Islamic worship, inspiring many artists to create works that embodied their religious politics. One of the pieces created following the fall of the Byzantine Empire is the painting of Yusuf Fleeing Zulayhka, created in 1488 by Kamal al-Din Bihzad, a famous Persian painter who worked under the patronage of several Persian sultans. The illustration depicts Yusuf’s struggle to escape his master’s wife Zulaykha as she chases him through her elaborate palace in an attempt to seduce him. The representation was made using paint, ink and gold, and features jewel-like colors in order to portray the extravagancy of the palace Zulayhka has built specifically for the seduction of Yusuf (Stokstad 286). This essay will assess three accounts of the story of Yusuf and Zulaykha and the reasoning behind why the narrative is often labelled as a cautionary tale and of what kind.
The Archdiocese of Western USA. "Theodora- The Syriac Empire of Byzantine." Soc-wus.org. The Archdiocese of Western USA, n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
Many centuries ago in our history, before 1450, both the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphates both were born. The Byzantine Empire took place in the Eastern Mediterranean while the Islamic Caliphates were located in the Middle East and some parts of North Africa. Both of these empires used religion to govern in their empire, and while both empires didn’t take part in the same religion, both religions still had differences and similarities when it came to governing. Both of the empires were influenced by different religions. The Islamic Caliphates were influenced by the Prophet, Muhammed who taught them the ways of their religion, and on the other hand the Byzantine Empire was influenced by Christianity. The Both the Byzantine Empire and Islamic Caliphates
As we look back into both long moments in history, we can see how the two, while starting out along the same path and beliefs, had branched away from one another. These differences, whether influences by outside or internal sources, helped shape not only the future for their worlds but also for ours. If it had not been for Constantinople’s prime trade location, or had they ignored the opportunity, they too could have easily stifled their economic and cultural growth. While the Medieval Western European culture was slower to expand, they did eventually blossom, prosper and survive.
One of the main contributors in the decline of the Byzantine Empire were the two civil wars that occurred in Macedonia and Constantinople. In 1321, the first civil war, often called the War of the Two Andronikoi, occurred between Byzantine’s emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos over control of the empire. Andronikos III had many supporters including John Kantakouzenos, who had a governorship in the nearby land of Thrace. Shortly after the war began, a peace treaty was reached in which Andronikos III Palaiologos was named co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. The peace treaty did not last long and after seven more years of battle, the war ended leaving Andronikos III in charge of the army and John Kantakouzenos named as the leader. The second civil war of 1341, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiogan Civil War, happened after disagreement broke out after Andronikos III Palaiologos’s death over the guardiansh...
Located in the province of Xianjing, the Uyghurs are isolated by massive mountains, deserts, Communist China, and extreme poverty. The Uyghurs are of Turkic origin, and were one of the 9 original tribes. One of these tribes, the Ottomans, sacked Constantinople in 1459, starting the rein of the Sultans for 400 years. The superpower carved a massive empire, from its roots in Turkey, to spread from the Russian steppes to the Alps to India, and stamping their name on history in blood. European history in the 1400‘s, 1500‘s, and 1600‘s centered on the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire and the Arabic people carved two massive empires in an extremely short time. They crushed the medieval christian kingdoms around Jerusalem, and quickly started attacking Christian kingdoms in Spain, Greece, and the Balkans. These conflicts between Muslims and Christians have been the longest and bloodiest in the history of the world, and still persist today. These Ottomans are, understandably, the most wel...
Unlike most “victimized” cultures of Western European domination, the Ottoman Empire was considerably successful and powerful for many years, particularly in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century under the rule of Sulayman the Magnificent (Haberman, 132). By 1520, the Ottoman Empire had secured much of the Arab Middle East, Belgrade and most of Hungary (Haberman, 132...
“The Latin Christians looted the city, destroying sacred books, vandalizing churches, and carrying huge amounts of gold, jewels, Christian relics, and works of art back to Western Europe.” Once they set up kingdoms on Byzantine lands, they tried forcing Latin forms of Christianity on the Byzantine Greeks. Although in 1261, “the Westerners were driven from Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire regained its independence,” its power was majorly weakened. The consequences that they experienced were, “crushing taxes, decreasing agricultural production, declining trade, and civil war continued to sap the tottering empire.” The Byzantine empire eventually came to an end.
Howe, Helen, and Robert T. Howe. A World History: Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Volume 1. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1992. 533.
In this paper I will discuss the relationship between the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic civilization. I will do this by giving you a brief history of both the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliph. Then I show you how the two cultures developed and influenced one another throughout their history. Let’s start with the Byzantine Empire.