World History: The Crusades

Peter the Hermit

The Crusades are possibly one of the most controversial parts of history with people debating constantly what the purpose of the Crusades were and what they meant. Enlightenment and Victorian European historians have said that the Crusades were a stories of heroes, post-colonial historians have said that the Crusades were the first steps towards later European imperialism, Marxist historians have stated that religion was used as an excuse to make Crusaders wealthy, and the media has portrayed it as a clash of civilizations between Christendom and Islam. Particularly among the hard right and far-right groups you can hear talks of a new Crusade happening now, or one that will happen in the future. This post will try and show that the Crusades was not simply Muslims vs. Christians, or simply guided by greed. Two Crusades which we shall look at were not even about fighting Muslims! First off, we have to look at the Crusade that started it all.

The First Crusade

First Crusade

The First Crusade began in 1095 in a fractured world. Many kingdoms in Europe were often at war with each other, the Byzantine empire was slowly losing land in Anatolia to various Islamic states, and the Muslim world itself was split. In Anatolia, Syria, Iraq and Palestine there was the Seljuq /Seljuk Empire whose rulers were primarily Sunni Turks while in Egypt there was the Fatimid Caliphate which claimed descendant from the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima bint Muhammad, (they were Shia instead of Sunni). Just a few years prior to the calling of the First Crusade there was a wave of deaths among the leaders of the Seljuqs and Fatimids. De factor ruler of the Seljuqs, vizier Nizam al-Mulk, was murdered in 1092 and just a few months earlier Sultan Malikshah died under suspicious circumstances quickly followed by his wife, grandson, and other key political figures. In 1094 the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir died quickly followed by his vizier Badr al-Jamali, and the Sunni Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadi died. Mamluk historian Ibn Taghribirdi later said 'This year is called the year of the death of caliphs and commanders'. The Seljuqs had been slowly taking land from the Byzantines in Asia Minor, so much so that by 1090 they had driven the Byzantines to the coast. However, during the war the Seljuqs had attacked the Fatimids and taken Jerusalem from them. The Fatimids had openly encouraged and allowed Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem for several reasons: they earned money through taxing Christians; it helped appease Christians in their border; and they were Ahl-al Kitab (People of the Book). However, when the Seljuqs conquered Jerusalem where they sacked the city and made it harder for Christians to do pilgrimage (something they later reversed but by then it was too late). Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus in 1094 asked Pope Urban II for aid. His predecessor, Pope Gregory VII, had been concerned about the Byzantines and in 1074 had proposed personally leading 50,000 'volunteers' in fighting towards Jerusalem. Urban decided to defend the Byzantines for a few reasons: he thought it could unite the warring kingdoms in the west; he could retake Jerusalem for Christianity; and he hoped that by helping the Byzantines this could mend the Catholic/Orthodox schism and reunite Christianity. On November 27, 1095 at the Council of Clermont he made a speech calling for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to fight the Seljuqs and whoever did would be absolved from their sins. With the cry of 'Deus Vult!' (God wills it) the First Crusade began.

The People's Crusade

Marxist historiography sometimes states that the Crusades were done by the younger sons of nobles wanting an easy fortune. However, this was not the case. This is seen as many commoners of all ages and sexes took part in what has been called the People's Crusade. During the eleventh century people were very religious so a war-pilgrimage to Jerusalem was seen as the perfect way to show their devotion. A priest called Peter the Hermit from Amiens enthusiastically called for commoners to join in with his crusade, (around 40,000 left Cologne with him including many elderly people, women, and children). Unfortunately for the People's Crusade most of the fighters were either killed or enslaved by the Seljuqs at the Battle of Civetot. Later on the disciplined, armed, and trained Crusading armies came, the Prince's Crusade. These were comprised of people from across France, Germany, Italy, and England although the Seljuqs referred to them as 'Franks'. There were discrepancies in the goals of the Byzantine emperor and the Crusaders. The Crusaders wished to go to Jerusalem whereas the Byzantines were concerned in reclaiming lost land in Asia Minor. The emperor managed to get oaths of fealty from all Crusading leaders, bar Raymond of Toulouse, which said that they would restore imperial rule to all lands, towns, and castles which once belonged to the Byzantines on their way to Jerusalem. While fighting in Antioch a cleric working for Raymond of St. Gilles supposedly saw a vision of where the lance which pierced Christ's side was buried, and after digging they found the 'lance'. Although a little convenient the result of finding the lance served as a huge moral boost for the fighters showing just how much they were devoted to their religious belief. By finding what they believed to be the lance which pierced Christ's side this showed them that they had God's favor. With the Seljuqs weakened from the death of their leaders, no assistance from the Fatimids, (disavowing the notion of it being Christian vs. Muslim), and unprepared in fighting a strong army after fighting the weak People's Crusade the Seljuqs started losing ground in the Levant to the Crusaders. Finally in 1099 Jerusalem fell to the Prince's Crusade.

However, we have yet to speak of the darker side of the First Crusade. Shortly after the Council of Clermont there was intense and violent outbreaks of Antisemitism which spread to Germany and central Europe. On May 3, 1096 Emich of Flonheim's army in Speyer, south Germany ruthlessly massacred the Jewish community and when he went Worms the massacres continued there. As the Crusaders marched through Europe in every town that they went to Jews were massacred. Jews had escaped from Cologne before the armies arrived but the armies hunted them out and murdered them. It is possible that Peter the Hermit's army in Regensburg forcibly baptized the entire Jewish community. Some historians have argued that this was the start of centuries of pogroms and persecution of Europe's Jewish populace. When Jerusalem fell in 1099 Muslims and Jews were massacred by the Prince's Crusade. Sources indicate that Jews were burnt in a synagogue and Muslims were murdered in the mosques which they took refuge in. After the capture of Jerusalem the Crusaders actually renegaded on their oath to the Byzantine emperor. Several 'crusader states' were established: the Principality of Armenian Cilicia, the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Thanks to the establishing of these kingdoms some post-colonial historians have argued that this was Europe's first tentative steps to global colonialism. After a brief battle with the Fatimids the  First Crusade ended.

The Second Crusade

Map of the Second Crusade

Following their defeat at the hands of the Crusaders the Seljuqs were unwilling to allow the crusader states to remain. The County of Edessa was the first of the kingdoms to be established, in 1098, and was also the weakest. Saljuq noble Imad ad-Din Zengi besieged Edessa and after a four month siege it fell on December 24, 1144. Later Muslim historians have said that this was the first jihad against the crusader states. In November 1145 the new pope, Eugenius III, was elected and believed that the other crusader states would fall. On December 1 he issued a remission of sins, protection of property, and a moratorium on the payment of interest on debts for anyone who would become a crusader. Among those who went crusading was King Louis VII who had been already thinking of going onto a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Like the First Crusade we can see a clear devotion to Christianity with one abbot, Bernard of Clairveux, saying:

This age is like no other that has gone before; a new abundance of divine mercy comes down from heaven; blessed are those who are alive in this year pleasing to the Lord, this year of remission, this year of veritable jubilee. I tell you, the Lord has not done this for any other generation before, nor has he lavished on our fathers a gift of grace so copious. Look at the skill he is using to save you. Consider the depth of his love and be astonished, sinners. He creates a need- he creates it or pretends to have it- while he desires to help you in your necessity. This is a plan not made by man, but coming from heaven and proceeding from the heart of divine love.

However, Bernard started preaching in northern France and Germany to counteract the preaching of another monk, Radulf. Radulf had been calling for violence against Jews as well as Muslims which had besmirched the image of the First Crusaders. Louis VII also had a second reason to go on the crusade: he feared a rival family could become the counts of Edessa. Unlike the First Crusade where the nobles were largely united with this crusade Louis VII and Conrad III of Germany went separately to Jerusalem where they were defeated separately by the Seljuqs whose forces were largely led by the ruler of Damascus, Mu'in al-Din Anur. Although they reunited to siege Jerusalem they were routed and instead sieged Damascus but were defeated by the Seljuqs. The crusaders had been defeated in the east and the north as well. Crusaders attacked the Wends in northern Germany to convert them from paganism to Christianity. They only had token conversions with many converting back to paganism when the crusaders left, despite the horrific massacres in Pomerania and Mecklenburg. Meanwhile, in Iberia (Spain and Portugal), the crusaders won some victories. By 788 the Umayyad dynasty had conquered most of Iberia and the remaining Christian kingdoms began the Reconquista. The crusaders aided this with in 1147 Lisbon was conquered by Christians.

Third Crusade

Saladin in an Italian painting

The Third Crusade is perhaps the best known crusade. An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, better known as Saladin, founded the Ayyubid dynasty in 1174. A Sunni of Kurdish origin he managed to become sultan of Syria and Egypt. He is also portrayed very positively in European media with him appearing in Dante's The Divine Comedy, when Dante is in Purgatory he meets Saladin who is there only because he is Muslim and not Christian. The Third Crusade would be the first one where the Crusaders fought against a united Muslim force instead of the Seljuqs and Fatimids. In 1177 the king of Jerusalem had defeated Saladin in battle and the agreement between them allowed free trade between Muslim and Christian traders. However, the person who negotiated this agreement, (Raynald of Chatillon), renegaded on this and started harassing Muslim caravans and ships going to Mecca. When the king died Raynald ignored the new king's orders to release Muslim traders leading to war. By the end of 1187 both Acre and Jerusalem fell to Saladin causing Pope Urban III to supposedly drop dead upon hearing the news. Pope Gregory VIII said that Jerusalem's fall was thanks to the sins of European Christians and declared a new crusade. This call caused Henry II of England and Philip II of France to end their war. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa immediately took up the call and headed to Anatolia unaware that the Byzantines had made a deal with Saladin: if they would impede Barbarossa's journey he would protect the empire. It did not matter much as Barbarossa never made it to Jerusalem. After the Sultanate of Rum (a Muslim power) let him use their lands, (he sacked the capital Iconium when he lost patience with them), he reached the the Saleph River on June 10, 1190. There we do not know what happened. Either he wanted to cool down thanks to the heat so went into the river, or his horse lost its footing crossing the river, but either way Barbarossa drowned.

Meanwhile, in 1189 Philip of France helped Richard overthrow his father who became Richard I, (later called Richard the Lionheart). Richard wished to get to Jerusalem through Egypt but instead the Christian forces went to Acre. During the siege the Christian forces disagreed and some even left to return home. Shortly after arriving Richard sent a message to Saladin for a meeting, however, Saladin refused as they were still at war and they should only meet at the peace treaty saying 'it is not seemly for them to make war upon each other' after the fighting had stopped. Saladin did try and get the release of the Muslim garrison and their families although Richard responded by having 2,700 of the prisoners (including the families of the garrison) decapitated in front of Saladin's army. In response Saladin started executing Christian prisoners. In 1192 Saladin captured Jaffa but told the crusaders to hide in the citadel as he had lost control of his army who wanted revenge for Acre. Conrad of Montferrat, a leading crusader who was briefly King of Jerusalem, was even assassinated in 1192 in Tyre by the Hashashins (Assassins. These were a group of Muslim assassins now in popular culture thanks to the game Assassin's Creed. The English word 'assassin' comes from their name). Eventually in 1192 a peace disliked by both sides was made. Saladin recognized the sovereignty of the crusader states but Jerusalem remained under Saladin's control.

The Fourth Crusade

Crusaders sack Constantinople

The Fourth Crusade is the last crusade against Muslims which we shall focus on. Two decades after the end of the Third Crusade a prominent preacher, James of Vitry, was trying to drum up support for another crusade to the east. In 1198 the new pope, Innocent III, called for a new crusade but unlike the last ones it received mute response from monarchs. England and France had returned to war while the Holy Roman Emperor was struggling to curb the power of the papacy. However, a crusading army was organized and set off in 1202, (it would have done in 1201 but the person chosen to lead it died), under Boniface of Montferrat. As previous crusades had been bogged down in Anatolia to get to Palestine this crusade opted to go through the politically and economically important region of Egypt. However, this involved a navy which the crusaders lacked so envoys were sent to various Italian city states to get a navy. Surprisingly Venetian doge Enrico Dandalo agreed to make a navy as Egypt was a prime trading partner with Venice. The crusaders were supposed to attack Cairo, and Innocent III specifically stated that they could not attack any Christian states. However, the crusaders had little to no way of paying the Venetians for their navy, so they became mercenaries for the Venetians. The city of Zara in Dalmatia had become economically independent from Venice and had rebelled in 1181 which the Venetians had failed to reconquer. Enrico Dandalo wanted the crusaders to take Zara. Some refused to do so and returned home, including Simon de Montfort whose son would later found England's parliament. Zara was captured causing the pope to excommunicate the crusaders, (he later reversed this so only Venetian crusaders were excommunicated). The crusaders then ended up in Constantinople, (modern day Istanbul and capital of the Byzantines). They did this as the son of the former emperor Isaac II, (Alexios), promised to pay the crusaders if they reclaimed his father's throne. In 1203 Isaac was restored with the help of the crusaders and the next January his son become emperor. Alexios could not meet the demands of the crusaders and was deposed in 1204 by a rival, also called Alexios. Angry the crusaders sacked Constantinople. The magnificent Library of Constantinople was burnt, several Roman bronze horse statutes were taken and given to Venice (they are now outside St Mark's Basilica), and 900,000 silver marks were looted. This caused the quick decline of the Byzantines which would finally vanish in 1453 and permanently split the Catholic and Orthodox churches. In the end hardly any crusaders managed to get to the Holy Land. There would be five more crusades to the Holy Land, the continuing of the Reconquista in Iberia, and several in north Africa.

Other Crusades
There are two crusades against non-Muslims which I briefly want to talk about.
Albigensian Crusade

Innocent III excommunicating the Albigensians

The Albigensian was one of the crusades against Christians. Catharism was a branch of Christianity which emerged in the twelfth century which said that God was a spirit unsullied by physical matter, Jesus was an angel in a phantom body, that the New Testament was allegorical and not truth, and that God and Satan were equal. It even encouraged abstinence in marriage. In Languedoc in southern France Catharism was very powerful, so much so that Innocent III thought it could threaten the entire Catholic church. In 1208 he excommunicated the Albigensians when a papal legate was murdered and a year later a crusade was called. With aid from the French monarchy a war against the Cathars began. Raphael Lemkin, who coined the word genocide, has described this as a genocide saying 'one of the most conclusive cases of genocide in religious history'. At Beziers in 1209 between 15,000 and 20,000 were massacred. Up to a million Cathars are thought to have been killed. Scorched earth policies were even used, like in Toulouse where vineyards were uprooted, livestock slaughtered and farms burnt. In 1229 the crusade officially ended but the persecution of Cathars did not with the Inquisition being set up in 1234 to look for remaining Cathars.

Livonian Crusade
For close to a hundred years there was a crusade in the Baltic region, part of the Northern Crusades, against the peoples of the Baltic and northern Europe in what is now Latvia and Estonia. Pope Celestine III in 1193 called for a crusade against pagans in northern Europe and when peaceful means of conversion failed violence was used. These crusades were fought mainly by the Danish and the Holy Roman Empire with them being the closest kingdoms to the pagan tribes and states. These included wars against the Livs and Latagians (1198-1209), Estonians (1208-27), Saarema (1206-61), Curonians (1242-67), and Semigallians (1219-90). One reason suggested for this crusade was to prevent the spread of Orthodox Christianity into northern Europe. The Kievan Rus had converted to Orthodox Christianity and the Novgorod Republic that replaced it was a major local power. Hence, some have argued that there was a fear that Orthodox Christians would convert the pagan people in the Baltic, so a crusade would convert them to Catholicism before this could happen. The Livonian crusade was much closer to the Albigensian crusade than the Reconquista or 'Holy Land Crusades'. This was a war of conversion instead of 'reconquest'. It did succeed in it's aims with the peoples of the Baltic becoming Catholic.

Conclusion
The crusades show how not everything in history is black and white. The crusades weren't simply a clash of civilizations, a war of religions between Christianity and Islam. We see crusades where Christians fought Christians, Christians fought pagans, Christians betrayed each other, Muslims betrayed each other, and Muslims and Christians made alliances to fight other Muslims or other Christians. It is also easy to forget how the crusades to Jerusalem were also driven by actual religious devotion. People believed they were truly fighting for God by going on a war-pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We also have to consider something else: when was the last crusade? Jonathan Riley-Smith states that crusading never really petered out until the late nineteenth century. Do the Wars of Religion like the Thirty Years' War count as a religion? It is also too easy to place the crusades on today's politics. Particularly the hard right likes to say we are facing a crusade now or in the near future. This belief is born through the idea of a clash of civilizations which was not true then and is not true today. Anyway, thank you for reading and the next World History post will take us to southern Africa to look at Great Zimbabwe.

The sources I have used are as follows:
-The Crusades: A History by Jonathan Riley-Smith
-God's War: A New History of the Crusades by Christopher Tyerman
-The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives by Carole Hillenbrand
-A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani
-BBC In Our Time podcast, Baltic Crusades
-Crash Course World History: The Crusades
-The Times Complete History of the World edited by Richard Overy

For the list of other World History posts please see here

World History: Byzantine Empire

A mosaic in the Hagia Sophia

Last time on World History we spoke about the origin of Islam, and how it managed to spread thanks to the weakness of the Byzantine Empire (as well as the Sassanid Empire). Please see here. Quite often the Byzantine Empire is mentioned in history but very rarely do any world history books or series focus on this empire. Born through a desire to better handle the larger Roman Empire the Byzantines lasted until either 1453 or 1461, (which we'll get onto later). First though we have to see how this empire came into being.

Origin

By 284 Rome was just too big to administer effectively. Covering most of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa the empire was just too big for it to be stably ruled from Rome. As a result various civil wars took place as powerful regional generals vied for the title of emperor. After one such civil war the general Diocletian took power and in 284 divided the empire. His ally Maximian would rule the west, (Italy, France, Britain, Iberia and most of North Africa), while he placed himself in charge of the east, (the Balkans, Greece, Egypt and Turkey). Each half of the empire would work with one another but, each emperor would have their own courts and could make their own decisions. However, there would be attempts to bring together the two halves of the empire. In 312 Constantine managed to defeat his enemy Maxentius outside Rome which he then used to declare tolerance for all Christians, and was baptized into Christianity, (he attributed his victory to help from the Christian God). Although he united the two halves of the empire he spent most of his time in the east from a new city. This new city was built on the Greek colony of Byzantium and soon was named after Constantine, Constantinople, (modern day Istanbul). Under his rule he started supporting Christians by reinstating ones who had been dismissed from the eastern army or government, banned pagan sacrifices, and banned any pagan rituals which went against Christian chastity such as sacred prostitutes or religious orgies. In 363 the last pagan emperor, Julian, died when trying to fight the Persians.

Later emperor Theodosius I (r.379-395) made Christianity the main religion of both the west and the east. He would later in 391 close all pagan temples solidifying Christianity in the empire. However, following Theodosius's death the east/west divide became a permanent one. The east had started to outstrip the west with it facing far fewer 'barbarian' invasions, (although it too would be invaded having to rely on the west to fight the Huns), getting loot from fighting the Persians, and benefiting from a better administration. In 476 Odoacer deposed the western emperor Romulus Augustulus with the east not lifting a finger to stop them. Although Rome had collapsed in the west it lived on in the east with a new empire: the Byzantine Empire.

Byzantine Culture and Administration

Despite the capital of Constantinople not being in Italy the Byzantines saw themselves as Romans. Although everyone spoke Greek Latin was the official language and many people referred to themselves as being Roman, not Greek or Byzantine. Often you will see the Byzantines called the Eastern Roman Empire as a result. From this we get the merging of Greek and Roman ideas; the term 'Greco-Roman' is very applicable here. As a result both the Byzantine court and culture came off as appearing Rome with Hellenistic themes, something which Edward Gibbon was highly critical of in his book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon and many later historians often paint the Byzantine court and world as being eastern influenced, debauched, hedonistic, corrupt, and full of scheming power-hungry empresses. Out of all these accusations only the eastern influenced is true and in itself is not a bad thing. Edward Said's criticism of orientalism can be applied here, although his theory best applies to the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. Said says that western historians who knew little on eastern cultures assumed western culture was better so then painted eastern cultures in a negative light. This is not the case and the Byzantine Empire is evidence for this.

The Byzantine tax system was extremely efficient so it managed to collect taxes from its subjects which the western empire failed to do. Similarly, the Byzantines managed to effectively administer its land which allowed it to keep the empire stable. Not only that but Constantinople's location straddling the Bosporus Strait allowed the capital to receive goods from both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea as well as the proximity to the Silk Road trade routes allowing goods to be traded from Asia making the empire very wealthy. We can even see this wealth in the foods, (shown in mosaics), that they ate with honey being a big component in their diet. The Byzantines also restored Greek philosophy, (something which the Romans looked down upon as it was something created by a conquered people), with even the emperor taking part in philosophical and theological discourse. (It should be noted that the general masses rarely took part in these debates). We shall get onto this later but the Council of Chalcedon happened in the empire for this reason. Science also prospered under the Byzantines but it was set back by Emperor Justinian closing Plato's Academy of Athens in 529. Although the Byzantines did not contribute as much to science as the predecessors they were responsible for the preservation of the knowledge which was later picked up by Muslims who expanded on the knowledge, and later helped Europeans explore this knowledge during the Renaissance.

Justinian and Theodora

Justinian and Theodora

One of the best known of the Byzantine rulers are Justinian and Theodora. His legacy is such great that he is depicted in Dante's Divine Comedy sitting in Heaven where he is shown as being the defender of Christianity to only confess that he did it through glory, not God. In 525 Justinian and Theodora wed, both from poor or peasant backgrounds, and two years later Justinian became emperor of the Byzantines. Justinian was a native Latin speaker which ended a tradition that Greek speakers became emperors. Justinian is best remembered for his conquests with his general Balisarius managing to conquer African from the Vandals in a campaign lasting from 533-534. However, his better known conquest is that of Italy where after twenty years of fighting in 554 he managed to expel the Ostrogoths from Italy. Finally the Roman empire had been united. However, his rule was not fully secure. In 532 riots between political factions at a Hippodrome race, (called the Nika riots with nika meaning 'Win' or 'Conquer'), almost overthrowing his rule. Each faction supported opposing teams and eventually a riot broke out causing widespread fires as well as the palace being placed under siege. Justinian's political opponents disliking his taxes and legal codes chose to use this by calling for Justinian to step down, even crowning a new emperor Hypatius. He would have done this if not for Theodora who convinced him to stay saying: Those who have worn the crown should never survive its loss. Never will I see the day when I am not saluted as empress. Justinian managed to get one faction to support him and crushed the riots. In 541 there was also an outbreak of the bubonic plague killing up to 25 million worldwide. Justinian even contracted the plague but survived.

Justinian's reign saw the revision of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis, which would be spread to Italy and later western Europe. It is considered one of the founding documents of western legal tradition. He also passed many laws protecting women such as protecting prostitutes from exploitation and preventing women from being forced into prostitution, widows could have their dowry returned, women prisoners became guarded by women, and rapists got severe punishments. The secrets of Chinese silk also came to the Byzantines in the 550s when monks managed to bring silk worm eggs from China. Christianity also became more entrenched in society with there being mass church building including that of the Hagia Sophia. Although he did was very harsh against non-Christians having 70,000 pagans converted in Asia Minor, having civil rights for Jews reduced, intervening in synagogue affairs, and closing down Plato's school as he saw it as being pagan. After his death in 565 the empire he had built started to decline. Constant wars against the Sassanids of Persia had almost bankrupted the country, and he was finding it difficult to put in place the Greco-Roman laws onto Italy. Just three years after his death almost all of Italy was conquered by the Lombards. He managed to cripple the empire so it became easier later for the Muslim empires to dismantle it.

Christianity

The Hagia Sophia: first a church, then a mosque and now a museum

Byzantium for centuries was the dominant Christian power but it was also the sight of Christianity's first major division, (another would come in the form of the Protestant Reformation). First quite a while Christianity was united under the influence of Constantinople. Initially Christianity was ruled by five patriarchs, each in the major Christian cities of the world: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria. Later, in 451 the Council of Chalcedon was held to determine power in the church. It was here that the patriarch of Rome would be the highest authority in Christianity while the patriarch of Constantinople would be the second highest. The emperor of the Byzantines, however, was the protector of the eastern church and, would preside over ecumenical councils and choose the patriarch. As a result emperors, like Justinian, built churches, like the Hagia Sophia, for the church. However, by 1054 theological differences had started to rise between the Latin and Greek churches. These included whether unleavened or leavened bread should be used during the Eucharist, the source of the Holy Spirit, and power in the church. In 1053 churches conforming to eastern tradition in Italy either had conform to the Latin traditions or be closed down causing the patriarch to close down Latin churches. The following years relations broke down with the pope excommunicating the patriarch and the patriarch excommunicating the pope. Thus the Great Schism happened between Catholicism and Orthodoxy and since they have not reconciled.

Decline

1204 Siege of Constantinople

Despite the successes of the Macedonian dynasty (867-1057) the Byzantines started to decline. Still weakened thanks the Justinian's campaigns in the 630s the first caliphate started to conquer Byzantine provinces in the Levant, (please see here). Not only that but the wealth of the Byzantines had started to become eclipsed by the new wealth of the Italian republics of Venice and Amalfi. As these republics started cutting into world trade the Byzantines started to lose the importance that they once had. Making matters worse the Great Schism caused many kingdoms loyal to the Latin church to stop trading with the Byzantines. Eventually the Seljuk Turkish empire started expanding into Byzantine lands in Anatolia where the emperor himself was defeated in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert. Eventually the emperor begged Pope Urban II for aid starting the First Crusade (something for a later World History post). The crusaders had to retake Byzantine lands from the Seljuks, but, they only returned the Anatolian provinces; instead they built kingdoms for themselves in Antioch, Edessa and the Holy Land. In 1204 during the Fourth Crusade crusaders sacked Constantinople, much of what was looted now is in Venice. This caused the remnants of the empire to crumble into three successor states: Nicaea, Epirus and Trebizond. However, historians consider Nicaea the true successor as it managed to reconquer Constantinople. The Seljuks eventually fell to the invading Mongols but the vacuum they left did not allow a resurgent Byzantium. Instead a ghazi or raider state led by Osman grew in Anatolia eventually forming the Ottoman Empire. This empire grew and grew until in 1453 it managed to conquer Constantinople. Many consider this the fall of the empire but one other successor state, Trebizond, existed in northern Anatolia. This fell in 1461 ending the Byzantines.

Conclusion

Although the fall of Constantinople and Trebizond spelled the end for the Byzantines it did spell the end for Rome. Although there would be no other Latin empire the idea of Rome never left Europe. In the north west since the tenth century there had been the Holy Roman Empire in Germany although it was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. However, after 1453 a growing power whose ruler married the niece of the Byzantine emperor started styling itself as the Third Rome. Being Orthodox and with the ruler married to the old emperor's niece it tried to appear to the new Rome. Even the ruler's title is Caesar in their language. We are talking about Russia. We also have to notice the links between the fall of the western and eastern Roman empires: both suffered through overextension and land loss before being overshadowed by a new empire to their east. The Ottoman Empire would remain and constant power in Europe, Africa and Asia until 1922. Just like the Byzantines it lasted a very long time. Next World History will take us away from the Mediterranean, which we've focused a lot on the last two posts, to go to the other side of the world to Mexico where we will look at the Mayans.

The sources I have used are as follows:

-A History of the Byzantine State and Society by Warren Treadgold

-http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/byzantine-empire

-http://www.ancient.eu/Byzantine_Empire/

-The Penguin History of the World by John Roberts

-The Times History of the World edited by Richard Overy

For a list of other World History posts please see here

World History: The Decline and Fall of the (Western) Roman Empire

The Fall of Rome

On the last World History post we discussed Rome's evolution from a city-state kingdom to an empire ruling the Mediterranean and most of Europe, (please see here). In 27 BCE Augustus became the first official emperor of Rome; in 476 CE Romulus Augustulus became the last emperor of Rome when he was deposed. That is, he was the last emperor of the western Roman Empire. Meanwhile, in the east, the Eastern, or Byzantine Empire, lasted until 1453 CE with the inhabitants of Constantinople, (modern Istanbul), viewing themselves as Romans. Why did half of the Roman Empire collapse while the other half continue on for centuries? Often seen as the father of modern history Edward Gibbon tried to explain why Rome fell in his The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Today we shall see for ourselves how the Western Roman Empire collapsed.

Preface
Instead of being a chronological post, like my previous World History posts, this post shall deal with topics instead. These topics are the contributing factors to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and all these factors are linked in some way. All of these factors helped the decline of the empire.

War and Expansion, (or lack of it)
War, both conventional and civil wars, helped place immense strain on the empire. Many emperors, such as Septimus Severus who reigned 193-211 CE, only became emperor by winning a civil war against their opponents. Naturally emperors ruling thanks to military might rather than Senate choice does not offer a stable government. Between 200 CE and 300 CE there were twenty-two emperors not including the generals who declared themselves emperor, like Postumus in Gaul, where the United States only had eighteen presidents in the same time-span. Of course changing emperors via murder, coup and civil war further degenerates the administration of the empire.

Foreign wars, successful and unsuccessful, all put strain on the empire. In 225 CE the Parthian Empire, (in modern Iran), was toppled and Ardashir was crowned emperor of the new Sassanid Empire who wished to reconquer lands in the Middle East. What followed was almost continuous warfare between Rome, (both west and east), and the Sassanids for centuries with the Sassanids even managing to capture the Emperor Valerian prisoner in 260, (who would later die as a Sassanid prisoner and was even reportedly used as a footstool by the Sassanid emperor Shapur). While war waged in the east to the north there were continuous wars against the 'barbarians' along the Rhine and Danube. We shall talk more about the involvement of barbarians later on but they did drain Roman power when war happened against the Sassanids after 230. The Alammani gained a tonne of concessions when the Romans wanted a free hand in fighting in Persia, later the Goths in 251 invaded a province just under the Danube when conflict broke out in Persia again which caused the death of the emperor by barbarians, and five years later the Franks and Alammani invaded with the latter reaching Milan. Fighting these wars, and wars to retake lost land, put a considerable strain upon the Roman economy as fighting continuous wars on two fronts requires a large army who needs to be paid, fed and armed. Not only that, but by not gaining more land they could not gain more slaves which was needed to act as craftsmen or farm hands.

Finally we also have overexpansion itself. At its height in 117 CE Rome stretched from Portugal to Palmyra to north Africa to Belgium to Scotland to Spain. The sheer size of the empire was just too big to handle. Upon becoming emperor in 117 Hadrian started to withdraw from his uncle Trajan's conquests in Armenia and Mesopotamia, and started to fortify the borders of the empire. In the south this war easy as the Sahara acted as a natural barrier and in the east when Hadrian had withdrew from former conquests the Euphrates acted as another barrier. However, in the north he had miles upon miles of fortifications along the Danube, Rhine, Elbe and northern Britain. These fortifications were made from local materials so on the continent they were mostly made of timber and turf; although they left no clear remains they can still be seen. However, in north-east Britain stone was used which has made this the most famous of the fortifications. Today it is known as Hadrian's Wall, (which one of my former lecturers, Professor Jim Crow of the University of Edinburgh, helped excavate).

Hadrian's Wall

Even before the many civil wars and foreign wars Rome was just too big to handle. Hadrian building these fortifications were done to stem the tide of expansion or otherwise it would damage Rome. As war brought instability Roman administration of such a vast area of land became diminished. Local generals and governors started becoming powerful which in turn weakened the empire, and allowed pretenders to Rome to rise. Not only that but communication was slow, despite the efficient Roman roads, which meant it took a long amount of time to warn the military of an invasion.

Division and Splintered Wealth

East vs. West

In 284 Diocletian managed to become emperor with the backing of the military. Diocletian became emperor after years of instability called the Crisis of the Third Century where the empire was beset by conflict, invasion and division, (a Gallic and Palmyrene empire had been declared and broke off from Rome) following the assassination of the emperor. Diocletian wished to avoid this occurring again and appointed a co-emperor in 285, Maximian, where one would rule the empire west of a line running from Dalmatia to the Danube in Rome, while the other would rule the east from Byzantium, (modern Istanbul). This was done to ensure that the empire could be ran far more easily. Doing this, however, created a rift between the Latin-speaking west and Greek-speaking east so by 395 the division had become permanent. Before the split the two halves had squabbles over military aid, resources, taxation, and later religion which left them to battle on their own. The east prospered. It had control of the western half of the Silk Road, (please see here), and could take from the prosperous cities in Persia which made the east richer, and in turn fortify her cities. Byzantium, later called Constantinople, became a heavily fortified city. Meanwhile, the west became overshadowed as they lost the eastern trade and could only loot from the so-called barbarians. When the barbarians chose to raid they avoided the militarily powerful east to invade the west. A weaker west relied on harsher taxation creating an even greater wealth diaspora between the poor and the rich creating further alienation between the state and the people.

Christianity

Constantine the Great

Around 33 CE a religious leader was crucified for stirring trouble in the Jewish community of Jerusalem. What started as a reformation of Judaism escalated into the worship of the crucified man, Jesus of Nazareth, and has now become the largest religion in the world, Christianity. Due to Christianity being monotheistic in contrast to Rome's polytheism this caused initial tensions as Christians refused to participate in the public religious ceremonies, or pay the Jewish tax. Edward Gibbon also stated that converts renouncing family, paganism and country, dislike of common pleasures and talk of an impending doom ostracized them from their pagan neighbors. Like the druids, Bacchanals and Jews before them Rome started to persecute Christians to keep public security, and direct blame away from the elite. In 64 CE Nero blamed the Christians for the Great Fire of Rome when the public initially blamed Nero and in 250 the first anti-Christian laws were passed. Despite Roman persecution and schisms in the early Church the religion started to grow in popularity so by the year 300 a tenth of the population was Christian. One emperor had even had Jesus Christ among the gods which he privately honored. Not even Diocletian's persecution of Christians managed to stem the popularity of the new religion. Everything would change under Emperor Constantine. On the 28 October 312 Constantine supposedly saw a cross in the sky just before a battle. He won the battle, was baptized and declared tolerance for all religions across the empire.

How did this help Rome fall? Edward Gibbon has exaggerated the role of Christianity, (I just want to say I am an atheist in case anyone was wondering if I had an overly pro-Christian bias), but it did have some role in helping the empire's decline. In 380 Christianity became the state religion. This severely damaged the power of the emperor as the emperor was seen as being descended from a god and being divine, so by shifting religion this shifted supreme power from the emperor. Meanwhile, the pope and other Christian leaders now had a say in the role of the state, in the west, thus adding another player into convoluted Roman politics. In contrast the Church in the east was more under the emperor's control with the city of Byzantium being renamed Constantinople to show the power of the new Christian emperor. However, as shown earlier, Christianity was less important compared to military and economic issues...and the barbarians.

Barbarians

Attila the Hun

Rome faced issues from two types of 'barbarians': invaders and soldiers. Weakening administration meant that Rome was finding itself increasingly difficult to recruit soldiers to fight the peoples of northern Europe, called barbarians by the Romans. Successive emperors made a bold decision to resolve the northern threat and solve their manpower issues: hire 'barbarians' as mercenaries. Instead of Roman citizens the legions were swelled with peoples from all around northern Europe. However, this would prove to hasten the decline. For one, many of these mercenaries were polytheistic so often they came into conflict with the now Christian Romans, (although this did help spread Christianity across Europe), and the mercenaries had no loyalty to Rome. Instead of fighting for the emperor, Rome and empire they instead fought for their local commanders. Increased localism as a result hastened the empire's decline.

Invasion, of course, sped up the fall of the west. As said earlier the wealthier east could afford defenses making the west prime raiding material. In 406 in what is called the Crossing of the Rhine thousands of people making up Germanic tribes destroyed the illusion of Roman power by crossing the Rhine and they migrated to the fertile southern provinces, sacking cities as they went. This destroyed the empire in Britain, Iberia and France but this migration would later play a crucial role in shaping the genetic makeup of Europe. Alaric, king of the Visigoths, in 410 even managed to sack Rome, the first time in centuries. Although Rome had no longer been the capital for several years it was a serious blow regardless as the city was so wealthy compared to the rest of the empire. An even greater threat to both east and west was Attila the Hun, ruler of the Hunnic Empire. Attila invaded first the east in 440 winning many battles which emboldened him to invade the west. In 451 the western empire had to ally itself with the Visigoths at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains to defeat Attila. It would be the last time that Rome could defend itself from invasion.

In 476 the final bell tolled for Rome. In 476 the west only consisted of Italy, the northern Balkans and parts of northern France. A man called Odoacer was a 'barbarian' officer in the remnants of the army when Emperior Julius Nepos was deposed by Orestes who declared his son, Romulus, emperor who then styled himself as Romulus Augustulus. When Constantinople refused to acknowledge this Odoacer deposed Romulus and declared himself King of Italy which Constantinople recognized. However, as Rome's power had diminished so much that most of the population outside of Rome went by regardless of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Often regarded as one of the greatest empires had died in a whimper.

Conclusion

The Western Roman Empire died a slow death with years of instability, economic decline, overextension, being overshadowed and religious discord slowly ebbing the strength of the empire. As the sun set on Rome it rose on Constantinople. The Roman Empire lived on with the eastern Byzantine Empire where the population truly saw itself as being Roman. It remained a major player in the world until it was finally conquered in 1453. Incidentally like the west it died a similar death: years of instability, economic decline, land being lost to others and being overshadowed by another empire. However, the Byzantine Empire will have to wait for another post. Next World History will take us to China following the Han Dynasty onwards. Before I give my sources though here are my favorite stupid reasons people have given for Rome's collapse: animal cruelty, the liberal arts, feminism, laziness, pacifism, stupidity and decadence.

The sources I have used are as follows:

-The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

-The Times Complete History of the World edited by Richard Overy

-The Penguin History of the World by John Roberts

-http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-reasons-why-rome-fell

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PszVWZNWVA

For a list of other World History posts please see here