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The tension of all the forces of Byzantium under Basil II led to a financial crisis. The situation became even more aggravated due to the constant struggle between the metropolitan and provincial nobility. As a result of the unrest, Emperor Roman IV (1068-1071) was betrayed by his entourage and suffered a severe defeat in the war against a new wave of Muslim conquerors - the Seljuk Turks. After the victory in 1071 at Manzikert, the Muslim cavalry took control of all of Asia Minor within a decade.

However, the defeat of the end of the XI century. were not the end of the empire. Byzantium had enormous vitality.

The next, fourth (1081-1204) stage of its existence was a period of a new upsurge. The emperors of the Komnenos dynasty were able to consolidate the forces of the Romans and revive their glory for another century. The first three emperors of this dynasty - Alexei (1081-1118), John (1118-1143) and Manuel (1143-1180) - showed themselves as brave and talented military leaders, subtle diplomats and far-sighted politicians. Relying on the provincial nobility, they stopped the internal unrest and won the Asia Minor coast from the Turks, put the Danubian states under control. Komnenos entered the history of Byzantium as the "Westernizer" emperors. Despite the split between the Orthodox and Catholic churches in 1054, they turned to the Western European kingdoms for help in the fight against the Turks (for the first time in the history of the empire). Constantinople became a gathering place for participants in the 1st and 2nd Crusades. The crusaders promised to recognize themselves as vassals of the empire after they recapture Syria and Palestine, and after the victory, the emperors John and Manuel forced them to fulfill their promises and recognize the authority of the empire. Surrounded by Western knights, the Komneni were very similar to Western European kings. But, although the support of this dynasty - the provincial nobility - also surrounded itself with dependent vassals, the feudal ladder did not arise in the empire. The vassals of the local nobility were simply vigilantes. It is also characteristic that the basis of the army under this dynasty is made up of mercenaries from Western Europe and knights who settled in the empire and received lands and castles here. Emperor Manuel subjugated Serbia and Hungary to the empire. His troops fought in Italy, where even Milan recognized the authority of the empire; tried to subjugate Egypt, making expeditions to the Nile Delta. The centennial rule of the Komnenos ends in turmoil and civil war.

The new dynasty of Angels (1185-1204) only deepens the crisis by the fact that, patronizing Italian merchants, it deals an irreparable blow to domestic crafts and trade. Therefore, when in 1204 the knights of the 1st crusade suddenly changed their route, intervened in the internal political struggle of the empire, captured Constantinople and founded the Latin Empire on the Bosphorus, the catastrophe was natural.

The inhabitants and defenders of Constantinople outnumbered the crusaders by dozens of times, and yet the city fell, although it withstood the siege and the onslaught of a more serious enemy. The reason for the defeat was, of course, that the Byzantines were demoralized by internal unrest. An important role was played by the fact that the policy of the Komnenos in the second half of the XII century. (for all its outward success) contradicted the interests of the empire, tk. the limited resources of the Balkan Peninsula and parts of Asia Minor did not allow claiming the role of a "universal empire". At that time, the real ecumenical significance was no longer so much the imperial power, but the power of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople. It was no longer possible to ensure the unity of the Orthodox world (Byzantium, Serbia, Russia, Georgia), relying on the military power of the state, but relying on church unity was still quite realistic. It turned out that the religious foundations of the unity and strength of Byzantium were undermined, and for half a century the Latin Empire of the Crusaders established itself in the place of the Roman Empire.

However, the terrible defeat could not destroy Byzantium. The Romans retained their statehood in Asia Minor and Epirus. The Empire of Nicaea became the most important stronghold of gathering forces, which, under the emperor John Vatatzes (1222-1254), accumulated the economic potential necessary to create a strong army and preserve culture.

In 1261, Emperor Michael Palaiologos liberates Constantinople from the Latins, and this event begins the fifth stage of the existence of Byzantium, which will last until 1453. The military potential of the state was small, the economy was devastated by Turkish raids and internal strife, craft and trade fell into decay. When the Palaiologoi, continuing the policy of the Angels, relied on Italian merchants, Venetians and Genoese, local artisans and merchants could not resist competition. The decline of the craft undermined the economic power of Constantinople and deprived him of his last strength.

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воскресенье, 5 июля 2020 г.

Chateaux

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воскресенье, 5 июля 2020 г.

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воскресенье, 5 июля 2020 г.