Byzantium and the CrusadesThe first great city the crusaders came to in 1089 was not Jerusalem but Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine empire. Almost as much as Jerusalem itself, Constantinople was the key to the foundation, survival and ulti-mate eclipse of the crusading kingdom. The Byzantines had developed an ideology over seven hundred years which placed Constantinople rather than Rome or Jerusalem at the centre of the world. The attitudes of its rulers reflected this priority, and led to tensions with the cru-saders over military and diplomatic strat-egy At the same time, the riches and sophistication of the great city made a lasting impression on the crusaders, even though they found Byzantine society alien and remote. Tn the end, the lure of the city's wealth was irresistibly fatal to the claims of Christian unity In 1204 the Fourth Crusade, under the Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo, captured and sacked Constantinople, signalling the effective end of almost a thousand years of Byzantine dominance in the east. |
Contents
The Empire of Christ | 1 |
The Rulers of the Empire | 15 |
The Search for Security | 33 |
Copyright | |
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2nd edn Alexios Alexios's Andronicus Angold Anna Comnena Antioch Asia Minor attack Baldwin Bohemond Bosporos Byzantine elite Byzantine emperor Byzantine empire Byzantine foreign policy Byzantine territory Byzantion Byzantium Byzantium Confronts Cambridge captured Christian Chronicle church claims Constantine VII Constantinople crusade leaders crusader army Cyprus Dyrrachion Edessa eleventh century embassy Empire of Manuel empire's enemies envoys expedition Fatimid Fourth Crusade Frederick Fulcher of Chartres German Gesta Francorum Golden Horn Greek Hagia Sophia History Holy Land ideology imperial Isaac John Jonathan king kingdom of Jerusalem Kinnamos letter Lilie Liudprand London Magdalino mercenaries Michael VIII monastery Muslim Nicaea Nikephoros Niketas Choniates Norman oath Odo of Deuil Oikoumene palace papacy papal patriarch Pechenegs Peter pope principality of Antioch Psellos Raymond reign Robert Guiscard Robert of Clari Roman Rome rulers Saladin schism Second Crusade sent Syria Thessalonica Third Crusade threat trans treaty Venetians Venice Villehardouin vols walls western Europe William of Tyre