1.
Scyphate
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Scyphate is a term frequently used in numismatics to refer to the concave or cup-shaped Byzantine coins of the 11th–14th centuries. In reality, the term derives from the Arabic word shafah, edge, rim. Due to this misunderstanding, the term scyphate has been applied to the concave gold, silver, and copper coins of the late Byzantine Empire. These coins are more designated as trachea. Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press
2.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
3.
Alexios II Komnenos
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Alexios II Komnenos or Alexius II Comnenus was Byzantine emperor from 1180 to 1183. He was the son of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos and Maria, daughter of Raymond of Poitiers and he was the long-awaited male heir and was named Alexius as a fulfilment of the AIMA prophecy. On Manuels death in 1180, Maria, who became a nun under the name Xene and she excluded her young son from power, entrusting it instead to Alexios the prōtosebastos, who was popularly believed to be her lover. Their party was defeated on 2 May 1182, but Andronikos Komnenos and he entered Constantinople, received with almost divine honours, and overthrew the government. His arrival was celebrated by a massacre of 80,000 Latins in Constantinople, especially the Venetian merchants, which he made no attempt to stop. During the reign of Alexius II, the Byzantine Empire was invaded by King Béla III, losing Syrmia and Bosnia to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1181, later even Dalmatia was lost to the Venetians. Kilij Arslan II invaded the empire in 1182, defeating the Byzantines at the Siege of Cotyaeum, resulting in the Empire losing Cotyaeum, Alexios is a character in the historical novel Agnes of France by Greek writer Kostas Kyriazis. The novel describes the events of the reigns of Manuel I, Alexios II, list of Byzantine emperors Pseudo-Alexios II Harris, Jonathan, Byzantium and the Crusades, Bloomsbury, 2nd ed.2014
4.
Isaac II Angelos
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Isaac II Angelos or Angelus was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204. His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a leader in Asia Minor who married Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa. Andronikos Doukas Angelos was the son of Constantine Angelos and Theodora Komnene, thus Isaac was a member of the extended imperial clan of the Komnenoi. During the brief reign of Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac was involved in the revolt of Nicaea, atypically, the Emperor did not punish him for this disloyalty, and Isaac remained at Constantinople. On September 11,1185, while Andronikos was absent from the capital, Isaac killed Hagiochristophorites and took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia. Andronikos was a ruler in some ways but was hated for his cruelty. Isaac appealed to the populace, and a tumult arose that spread rapidly over the whole city, when Andronikos returned he found that he had lost popular support, and that Isaac had been proclaimed emperor. Andronikos attempted to flee by boat but was apprehended, Isaac handed him over to the people of the City, and he was killed on 12 September 1185. Isaac II Angelos strengthened his position as emperor with dynastic marriages in 1185 and 1186 and his niece Eudokia Angelina was married to Stefan, son of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia. Isaacs sister Theodora was married to the Italian marquis Conrad of Montferrat, in January 1186 Isaac himself married Margaret of Hungary, daughter of King Béla III. Isaac inaugurated his reign with a victory over the Norman King of Sicily, William II. William had invaded the Balkans with 80,000 men and 200 ships towards the end of Andronikos Is reign, elsewhere Isaacs policy was less successful. In late 1185, he sent a fleet of 80 galleys to liberate his brother Alexius III from Acre and he then sent a fleet of 70 ships, but it failed to recover Cyprus from the rebellious noble Isaac Komnenos, thanks to Norman interference. The oppressiveness of his taxes, increased to pay his armies and finance his marriage, the rebellion led to the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire under the Asen dynasty. Also in 1187 an agreement was made with Venice, in which the Venetian Republic would provide between 40 and 100 galleys at six months notice in exchange for favorable trading concessions. Because each Venetian galley was manned by 140 oarsmen, there were about 18,000 Venetians still in the Empire even after Manuel Is arrests, the Emperors attention was next demanded in the east, where several claimants to the throne successively rose and fell. In 1189 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa sought and obtained permission to lead his troops on the Third Crusade through the Byzantine Empire and he had no sooner crossed the border than Isaac, who had meanwhile sought an alliance with Saladin, threw every impediment in his way. In retaliation Barbarossas army occupied the city of Philippopolis and defeated a Byzantine army of 3,000 men that attempted to recapture the city, thus compelled by force of arms, Isaac II was forced to fulfill his engagements in 1190
5.
Constantinople
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Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
6.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
7.
Komnenos
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Through intermarriages with other noble clans, notably the Doukai, Angeloi, and Palaiologoi, the Komnenos name appears among most of the major noble houses of the late Byzantine world. The first known member of the family, Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, acquired estates at Kastamon in Paphlagonia. The family thereby quickly became associated with the powerful and prestigious military aristocracy of Asia Minor, the Romanian historian George Murnu suggested in 1924 that the Komnenoi were of Aromanian descent, but this view too is now rejected. Modern scholars consider the family to have been entirely of Greek origin, Manuel Erotikos Komnenos was the father of Isaac I Komnenos and grandfather, through Isaacs younger brother John Komnenos, of Alexios I Komnenos. Isaac I Komnenos, a Stratopedarch of the East under Michael VI, in 1057 Isaac led a coup against Michael and was proclaimed emperor. Although his reign lasted only till 1059, when his courtiers pressured him to abdicate and become a monk, the dynasty returned to the throne with the accession of Alexios I Komnenos, Isaac Is nephew, in 1081. By this time, descendants of all the dynasties of Byzantium seem to have disappeared from the realm. Thereafter the combined clan often was referred as Komnenodoukai and several individuals used both surnames together, several families descended from the Komnenodoukai, such as Palaiologos, Angelos, Vatatzes and Laskaris. Alexios and Irenes youngest daughter Theodora ensured the success of the Angelos family by marrying into it. Under Alexios I and his successors the Empire was fairly prosperous, Alexios moved the imperial palace to the Blachernae section of Constantinople. Much of Anatolia was recovered from the Seljuk Turks, who had captured it just prior to Alexios reign, Alexios also saw the First Crusade pass through Byzantine territory, leading to the establishment of the Crusader states in the east. Remarkably, Alexios ruled for 37 years, and his son John II ruled for 25, after uncovering a conspiracy against him by his sister, the chronicler Anna Komnene, johns son Manuel ruled for another 37 years. The Komnenos dynasty produced a number of branches, the Angeloi were overthrown during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, by Alexios Doukas, a relative from the Doukas family. Their first emperor, named Alexios I, was the grandson of Emperor Andronikos I and these emperors – the Grand Komnenoi as they were known – ruled in Trebizond for over 250 years, until 1461, when David Komnenos was defeated and executed by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II. Mehmed himself claimed descent from the Komnenos family via John Tzelepes Komnenos, the Trapezutine branch of the Komnenos dynasty also held the name of Axouchos as descendants of John Axouch, a Byzantine nobleman and minister to the Byzantine Komnenian Dynasty. A princess of the Trebizond branch is said to have been the mother of prince Yahya, another branch of the family founded the Despotate of Epirus in 1204, under Michael I Komnenos Doukas, great-grandson of Emperor Alexios I. When the eastern Empire was restored in 1261 at Constantinople, it was ruled by a closely related to the Komnenoi. The Palaiologoi ruled until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and his claims to descent from the imperial dynasty of Trebizond, however, are most likely a fabrication
8.
Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I)
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Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus was the third son of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Empress Irene Doukaina. He was raised to the rank of sebastokrator by his older brother John II Komnenos. During the struggle for Johns succession in 1143, he supported the candidacy of his nephew, likewise named Isaac. A few years later, he was forced to retire to a monastery by Manuel, Isaac was noted for his erudition and his patronage of learning. He was the brother of Emperor John II Komnenos and the historian Anna Komnene, Isaac was given the dignity of Caesar by his father. In return, John II raised Isaac to the dignity of sebastokratōr. In contrast to his brother, who was engaged in warfare throughout his reign, Isaac was also a scholar. By ca.1130 however, John and Isaac had become estranged, Isaac found refuge at the court of the Danishmendid emir Gümüshtigin Ghazi II ibn Danishmend at Melitene. During this time, he undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The coalition failed to materialize however, and he was forced to seek reconciliation with his brother in 1136, soon after, in 1139, Isaacs eldest son John again defected to the Turks. Either at that point or a later, Isaac was banished as a precaution to Heraclea Pontica. Shortly before John II died in 1143, he had designated his fourth and youngest son Manuel as his heir over his third son, consequently, Manuels succession was not immediately secure. In this struggle for the throne, the elder Isaac threw his support behind the younger Isaac, however, the decisive intervention of John Axouch, the commander-in-chief of the army, was to secure the throne for Manuel. Despite his failure, in 1145–1146, according to the contemporary historian John Kinnamos, after 1150, Manuel forced his uncle to retire from public affairs, and in 1151/1152, Isaac founded the cenobitic monastery of the Theotokos Kosmosoteira at Bera in western Thrace. The monastery was built as his residence and final resting place, Isaac wrote the monasterys typikon himself, leaving extensive estates, Isaac is also depicted in the Chora Church in Constantinople, which he extensively rebuilt. The Chora Church was also the location of Isaacs tomb. Isaac Komnenos was married to Irene, who may have either a daughter of Volodar of Peremyshl or Kata. His children were, John Komnenos called Tzelepes, became a Muslim, settled at Ikonion, unnamed daughter Anna Komnene, who married John Arbantenos
9.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
10.
Latinisation of names
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Latinisation is the practice of rendering a non-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly found with personal names, with toponyms. It goes further than romanisation, which is the transliteration of a word to the Latin alphabet from another script and this was often done in the classical era for much the same reason as English-speaking cultures produce English versions of some foreign names. In the case of names in the post-Roman era this may be done to emulate Latin authors. In a scientific context, the purpose of Latinisation may be to produce a name which is internationally consistent. Humanist names, assumed by Renaissance humanists, were very largely Latinised names, Latinisation in humanist names may consist of translation from vernacular European languages, sometimes involving a playful element of punning. Such names could be a cover for social origins. Latinisation is a practice for scientific names. For example, Livistona, the name of a genus of trees, is a Latinisation of Livingstone. In English, place names appear in Latinised form. This is a result of many text books mentioning the places being written in Latin. Because of this, the English language often uses Latinised forms of place names instead of anglicised forms or the original names. Examples of Latinised names for countries or regions are, Estonia Ingria Livonia During the age of the Roman Empire, additionally, Latinised versions of Greek substantives, particularly proper nouns, could easily be declined by Latin speakers with minimal modification of the original word. During the medieval period, following the collapse of the Empire in Western Europe, in the early medieval period, most European scholars were priests and most educated people spoke Latin, and as a result, Latin became firmly established as the scholarly language for the West. Though during modern times Europe has largely abandoned Latin as a scholarly language, by tradition, it is still common in some fields to name new discoveries in Latin. Romanization, conversion of a text in Latin letters Nicolson, Dan H, orthography of Names and Epithets, Latinization of Personal Names
11.
Alexios I Komnenos
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Alexios I Komnenos, was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power, the basis for this recovery were various reforms initiated by Alexios. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Turks were also the catalyst that contributed to the convoking of the Crusades. Alexios was the son of the Domestic of the Schools John Komnenos and Anna Dalassena, Alexios father declined the throne on the abdication of Isaac, who was thus succeeded by four emperors of other families between 1059 and 1081. Under one of these emperors, Romanos IV Diogenes, Alexios served with distinction against the Seljuq Turks. Under Michael VII Doukas Parapinakes and Nikephoros III Botaneiates, he was employed, along with his elder brother Isaac, against rebels in Asia Minor, Thrace. In 1074, western mercenaries led by Roussel de Bailleul rebelled in Asia Minor, in 1078, he was appointed commander of the field army in the West by Nikephoros III. Alexios was ordered to march against his brother-in-law Nikephoros Melissenos in Asia Minor and this did not, however, lead to a demotion, as Alexios was needed to counter the expected invasion of the Normans of Southern Italy, led by Robert Guiscard. While Byzantine troops were assembling for the expedition, the Doukas faction at court approached Alexios, the mother of Alexios, Anna Dalassena, was to play a prominent role in this coup détat of 1081, along with the current empress, Maria of Alania. First married to Michael VII Doukas and secondly to Nikephoros III Botaneiates, she was preoccupied with the future of her son by Michael VII, furthermore, to aid the conspiracy Maria had adopted Alexios as her son, though she was only five years older than he. Maria was persuaded to do so on the advice of her own Alans and her eunuchs, given Annas tight hold on her family, Alexios must have been adopted with her implicit approval. As a result, Alexios and Constantine, Marias son, were now adoptive brothers, by secretly giving inside information to the Komnenoi, Maria was an invaluable ally. As stated in the Alexiad, Isaac and Alexios left Constantinople in mid-February 1081 to raise an army against Botaneiates, however, when the time came, Anna quickly and surreptitiously mobilized the remainder of the family and took refuge in the Hagia Sophia. From there she negotiated with the emperor for the safety of family members left in the capital, the tutor discovered they were missing and eventually found them on the palace grounds, but Anna was able to convince him that they would return to the palace shortly. However, before they were to gain entry into the sanctuary, Straboromanos and she refused to go with them and demanded that they allow her to pray to the Mother of God for protection. This request was granted and Anna then manifested her true theatrical and manipulative capabilities, Nikephoros III Botaneiates was forced into a public vow that he would grant protection to the family. Straboromanos tried to give Anna his cross, but for her it was not sufficiently enough for all bystanders to witness the oath. She also demanded that the cross be personally sent by Botaneiates as a vow of his good faith and he obliged, sending a complete assurance for the family with his own cross
12.
Seljuq dynasty
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The Seljuqs established both the Seljuk Empire and Sultanate of Rum, which at their heights stretched from Anatolia through Iran and were targets of the First Crusade. During the 10th century, due to events, the Oghuz had come into close contact with Muslim cities. Around 985, Seljuq converted to Islam, in the 11th century the Seljuqs migrated from their ancestral homelands into mainland Persia, in the province of Khurasan, where they encountered the Ghaznavid empire. In 1025,40,000 families of Oghuz Turks migrated to the area of Caucasian Albania, the Seljuqs defeated the Ghaznavids at the battle of Nasa plains in 1035. Tughril, Chaghri, and Yabghu received the insignias of governor, grants of land, at the battle of Dandanaqan they defeated a Ghaznavid army, and after a successful siege of Isfahan by Tughril in 1050/51, they established an empire later called the Great Seljuk Empire. The Seljuqs mixed with the population and adopted the Persian culture. The Great Seljuqs were heads of the family, in theory their authority extended over all the other Seljuq lines, turkish custom called for the senior member of the family to be the Great Seljuq, although usually the position was associated with the ruler of western Persia. Muhammads son Mahmud II succeeded him in western Persia, but Ahmad Sanjar, the rulers of western Persia, who maintained a very loose grip on the Abbasids of Baghdad. Several Turkic emirs gained a level of influence in the region. Kerman was a province in southern Persia, between 1053 and 1154, the territory also included Umman. Kerman was eventually annexed by the Khwarezmid Empire in 1196, the Empire of the Steppes, a History of Central Asia. Early Seljuq History, A New Interpretation, New York, NY, Routledge,2010 Previté-Orton, C. W
13.
First cousin
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A cousin is a relative with whom a person shares one or more common ancestors. In the general sense, cousins are two or more away from any common ancestor, thus distinguishing a cousin from an ancestor, descendant, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece. However, in common parlance, cousins typically refers to first cousins as the children of ones uncles, systems of degrees and removals are used in the English-speaking world to describe the exact relationship between two cousins and the ancestor they have in common. The ordinals in the terms first cousins, second cousins, third cousins, the number of G words used to describe this ancestor will determine how close the relationship is. For example, having great-great-grandparents in common would be third cousins, when the cousins are not the same generation, they are described as removed. In this case, the number of generations to the common ancestor is used to determine the degree. Note that the ages of the cousins are irrelevant to the definition of the cousin relationship, the following is a list of less common cousin terms. A cousin chart, or table of consanguinity, is helpful in identifying the degree of relationship between two people using their most recent common ancestor as the reference point. Cousinship between two people can be described in degrees and removals by determining how close, generationally. Another visual chart used in determining the relationship between two people who share a common ancestor is based upon a rhombus shape, usually referred to as a canon law relationship chart. The chart is used by placing the common progenitor in the top space in the diamond-shaped chart, then follow the line down the outside edge of the chart for each of the two people until their respective relationship to the common ancestor is reached. Upon determining that place along the opposing outside edge for each person, the information contained in the common intersection defines the relationship. Then, following the spaces inward, they would intersect in the brother diamond
14.
Manuel I Komnenos
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Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnenian restoration, during which the Byzantine Empire had seen a resurgence of its military and economic power, and had enjoyed a cultural revival. Eager to restore his empire to its past glories as the superpower of the Mediterranean world, Manuel pursued an energetic, in the process he made alliances with the Pope and the resurgent West. He invaded the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, although unsuccessfully, the passage of the potentially dangerous Second Crusade was adroitly managed through his empire. Manuel established a Byzantine protectorate over the Crusader states of Outremer, facing Muslim advances in the Holy Land, he made common cause with the Kingdom of Jerusalem and participated in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt. Called ho Megas by the Greeks, Manuel is known to have inspired loyalty in those who served him. He also appears as the hero of a written by his secretary, John Kinnamos. Manuel, who was influenced by his contact with western Crusaders, modern historians, however, have been less enthusiastic about him. Manuel Komnenos was the son of John II Komnenos and Piroska of Hungary. His maternal grandfather was St. Ladislaus, having distinguished himself in his fathers war against the Seljuk Turks, in 1143 Manuel was chosen as his successor by John, in preference to his elder surviving brother Isaac. After John died on 8 April 1143, his son, Manuel, was acclaimed emperor by the armies and he still had to take care of his fathers funeral, and tradition demanded he organise the foundation of a monastery on the spot where his father died. Axouch arrived in the capital even before news of the death had reached it. He quickly secured the loyalty of the city, and when Manuel entered the capital in August 1143, he was crowned by the new Patriarch, Michael Kourkouas. A few days later, with nothing more to fear as his position as emperor was now secure, then he ordered 2 golden pieces to be given to every householder in Constantinople and 200 pounds of gold to be given to the Byzantine Church. The empire that Manuel inherited from his father had undergone great changes since its foundation by Constantine, in the time of his predecessor Justinian I, parts of the former Western Roman Empire had been recovered including Italy, Africa and part of Spain. They had then swept on westwards into what in the time of Constantine had been the provinces of the Roman Empire, in North Africa. In the centuries since, the emperors had ruled over a realm that largely consisted of Asia Minor in the east, yet the empire that Manuel inherited was a polity facing formidable challenges. At the end of the 11th century, the Normans of Sicily had removed Italy from the control of the Byzantine Emperor, the Seljuk Turks had done the same with central Anatolia
15.
Cilicia
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In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor and existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the late Byzantine Empire. Extending inland from the southeastern coast of modern Turkey, Cilicia is due north and northeast of the island of Cyprus, Cilicia extended along the Mediterranean coast east from Pamphylia, to the Nur Mountains, which separated it from Syria. North and east of Cilicia lie the rugged Taurus Mountains that separate it from the central plateau of Anatolia. Ancient Cilicia was naturally divided into Cilicia Trachaea and Cilicia Pedias by the Limonlu River, salamis, the city on the east coast of Cyprus, was included in its administrative jurisdiction. Homer mentions the people of Mopsus, identified as Cilices, as from the Troad in the northernwesternmost part of Anatolia, the English spelling Cilicia is the same as the Latin, as it was transliterated directly from the Greek form Κιλικία. The palatalization of c occurring in the west in later Vulgar Latin accounts for its pronunciation in English. The district is watered by the Calycadnus and was covered in ancient times by forests that supplied timber to Phoenicia, many of its high places were fortified. The plain is watered by the three rivers, the Cydnus, the Sarus and the Pyramus, each of which brings down much silt from the deforested interior. The Sarus now enters the sea almost due south of Tarsus, but there are indications that at one period it joined the Pyramus. Through the rich plain of Issus ran the great highway that linked east and west, on which stood the cities of Tarsus on the Cydnus, Adana on the Sarus, Cilicia was settled from the Neolithic period onwards. Dating of the ancient settlements of the region from Neolithic to Bronze Age is as follows, Aceramic/Neolithic, 8th and 7th millennia BC, Early Chalcolithic,5800 BC, Middle Chalcolithic, c. 3400 BC, and Early Bronze Age IA, 3400–3000 BC, EBA IB, 3000–2700 BC, EBA II, 2700–2400 BC, EBA III A-B, the area had been known as Kizzuwatna in the earlier Hittite era. The region was divided into two parts, Uru Adaniya, a plain, and rough Cilicia, in the mountainous west. The Cilicians appear as Hilikku in Assyrian inscriptions, and in the part of the first millennium BC were one of the four chief powers of Western Asia. Homer mentions the plain as the Aleian plain in which Bellerophon wandered, the Cilician cities unknown to Homer already bore their pre-Greek names, Tarzu, Ingira, Danuna-Adana, which retains its ancient name, Pahri, Kundu and Karatepe. After the death of Murshili around 1595 BC, Hurrians wrested control from the Hitties, the first king of free Cilicia, Išputahšu, son of Pariyawatri, was recorded as a great king in both cuneiform and Hittite hieroglyphs. Another record of Hittite origins, a treaty between Išputahšu and Telipinu, king of the Hittites, is recorded in both Hittite and Akkadian. Niqmepa, who succeeded Idrimi as king of Alalakh, went so far as to ask for help from a Hurrian rival, Shaushtatar of Mitanni, to try and reduce Cilicias power in the region
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Mopsuestia
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Mopsuestia, is an ancient city in Cilicia Campestris on the Pyramus River located approximately 20 km east of ancient Antiochia in Cilicia. From the city’s harbour the river is navigable to the Mediterranean Sea, the founding of this city is attributed in legend to the soothsayer, Mopsus, who lived before the Trojan war, although it is scarcely mentioned before the Christian era. Pliny the Elder calls it the city of Mopsos, but the ordinary name is Mopsuestia, as found in Stephanus of Byzantium. Constantius II built there a magnificent bridge over the Pyramus afterwards restored by Justinian and has been restored again recently, christianity seems to have been introduced very early into Mopsuestia and during the 3rd century there is mention of a bishop, Theodorus, the adversary of Paul of Samosata. Other famous residents of the early Christian period in the city’s history include Saint Auxentius, and Theodore, bishop from 392–428, the bishopric is included in the Catholic Churchs list of titular sees. Along with much of Cilicia, the region was wrested from Roman control by the Arabs in the late 630s, Mopsuestia then numbered 200,000 inhabitants, some of whom were Muslim, and the Byzantines made efforts to re-Christianize the city. It suffered much from internecine war between Crusaders, Armenians, and Greeks who lost it and recaptured it, notably in 1106,1132, finally in 1151-52 the Armenian Baron T’oros II captured the city and defeated the Greek counter attack led by Andronikos I Komnenos. Thereafter it remained a possession of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, but was captured and plundered by the Mamluks in 1266,1275. The Venetians and Genoese were licensed by the Armenians to maintain warehouses near the harbour to store goods brought from India, the Armenians were permanently evicted by the Mamluks in 1347. The city was the site of church councils and possessed four Armenian churches. In 1432 the Frenchman Bertrandon reported that he city was ruled by the Muslims and was largely destroyed, in 1515 Mopsuestia, and the whole of Cilica, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Selim I. Since then it has declined and became the small village of Misis. Misis was renamed Yakapınar in the 1960s, only fragments of the medieval fortifications survive today. However, an etching of the walls and towers was made in the mid-19th century. The Misis Mosaic Museum was founded in 1959 to exhibit the mosaics found in the area, including the famous “Samson Mosaic. ”Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 5, vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles. Article on modern Yakapınar in the Turkish Wikipedia Pictures of the bridge
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Vlach
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Vlachs were initially identified and described during the 11th century by George Kedrenos. According to one theory, the Vlachs originated from Latinized Dacians. Nearly all Central and Southeastern European countries have sizable native Vlach minorities, as it is currently the case in Hungary, in Ukraine, in Serbia, in Croatia, in other countries, the Vlachs have assimilated in the local Slavic population. The term Vlach was also used for shepherds, like in mountains of Herzegovina region of Bosnia. Nowadays, Eastern Romance-speaking communities number around 24.19 million people, the word Vlach is of Germanic origin, an early loanword into Proto-Slavic from Germanic *Walhaz and used by ancient Germanic peoples for their Romance-speaking and Celtic neighbours. *Walhaz was evidently borrowed from the name of a Celtic tribe, known to the Romans as Volcae in the writings of Julius Caesar and to the Greeks as Ouólkai in texts by Strabo, Vlach is thus of the same origin as European ethnic names including the Welsh and Walloons. The word passed to the Slavs and from them to other peoples, such as the Hungarians and Byzantines, the Polish word for Italian has the same origin, as does the Slovenian, vaguely-derogatory lah. The Italian-speaking region south of the South Tyrol, now Trentino in Italy, was known as Welschtirol in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a 586 Byzantine chronicle of an incursion against the Avars in the eastern Balkans may have one of the earliest references to Vlachs. In the account, when carried by a mule slipped the muleteer shouted, Torna, torna. Byzantine historians used the Germanic Vlachs for Latin speakers, particularly Romanians, traveller Benjamin of Tudela of the Kingdom of Navarre was one of the first writers to use the word Vlachs for a Romance-speaking population. According to 10th century Arab chronicler Mutahhar al-Maqdisi, They say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Russians, Slavs, Waladj, Alans, Greeks, Byzantine writer Kekaumenos, author of the Strategikon, described a 1066 Roman revolt in northern Greece. Between the 12th and 14th centuries they were ruled by the Kingdom of Hungary, the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine historian John Kinnamos described Leon Vatatzes military expedition along the northern Danube, where Vatatzes mentioned the participation of Vlachs in battles with the Magyars in 1166. In the 13th century, the Asen royal family were the founders and rulers of the Vlach-Bulgarian kingdom, in 1213 an army of Romans, Transylvanian Saxons, and Pechenegs, led by Ioachim of Sibiu, attacked the Bulgars and Cumans from Vidin. After this, all Hungarian battles in the Carpathian region were supported by Romance-speaking soldiers from Transylvania, at the end of the 13th century, during the reign of Ladislaus the Cuman, Simon de Kéza wrote about the Blacki people and placed them in Pannonia with the Huns. Archaeological discoveries indicate that Transylvania was gradually settled by the Magyars, shortly after the fall of the Olt region, a church was built at the Cârța Monastery and Catholic German-speaking settlers from Rhineland and Mosel Valley began to settle in the Orthodox region. In the Diploma Andreanum issued by King Andrew II of Hungary in 1224, the Orthodox Vlachs spread further northward along the Carpathians to Poland, Slovakia, and Moravia and were granted autonomy under Ius Vlachonicum. In 1285 Ladislaus the Cuman fought the Tatars and Cumans, arriving with his troops at the Moldova River, a town, Baia, was documented in 1300 as settled by the Transylvanian Saxons. The Eastern Romance peoples refers to the Eastern Romance-speaking peoples, primarily the nations of Romanians and Moldovans and these two peoples had before Soviet rule been regarded part of one and the same, Romanian people
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Kiev
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Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population in July 2015 was 2,887,974, Kiev is an important industrial, scientific, educational, and cultural centre of Eastern Europe. It is home to many industries, higher education institutions. The city has an infrastructure and highly developed system of public transport. The citys name is said to derive from the name of Kyi, during its history, Kiev, one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, passed through several stages of great prominence and relative obscurity. The city probably existed as a centre as early as the 5th century. A Slavic settlement on the trade route between Scandinavia and Constantinople, Kiev was a tributary of the Khazars, until seized by the Varangians in the mid-9th century. Under Varangian rule, the city became a capital of the Kievan Rus, completely destroyed during the Mongol invasion in 1240, the city lost most of its influence for the centuries to come. It was a capital of marginal importance in the outskirts of the territories controlled by its powerful neighbours, first the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, followed by Poland. The city prospered again during the Russian Empires Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century, in 1917, after the Ukrainian National Republic declared independence from the Russian Empire, Kiev became its capital. From 1919 Kiev was an important center of the Armed Forces of South Russia and was controlled by the White Army. From 1921 onwards Kiev was a city of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was proclaimed by the Red Army, during World War II, the city again suffered significant damage, but quickly recovered in the post-war years, remaining the third largest city of the Soviet Union. During the countrys transformation to an economy and electoral democracy. Kievs armament-dependent industrial output fell after the Soviet collapse, adversely affecting science, Kiev emerged as the most pro-Western region of Ukraine where parties advocating tighter integration with the European Union dominate during elections. As a prominent city with a history, its English name was subject to gradual evolution. The early English spelling was derived from Old East Slavic form Kyjev, the name is associated with that of Kyi, the legendary eponymous founder of the city. Early English sources use various names, including Kiou, Kiow, Kiew, on one of the oldest English maps of the region, Russiae, Moscoviae et Tartariae published by Ortelius the name of the city is spelled Kiou. On the 1650 map by Guillaume de Beauplan, the name of the city is Kiiow, in the book Travels, by Joseph Marshall, the city is referred to as Kiovia
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Principality of Halych
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Principality of Halych was a Kievan Rus principality established by members of the oldest line of Yaroslav the Wise descendants. A characteristic feature of Halych principality was an important role of the nobility and citizens in political life, Halych as the capital mentioned in around 1124 as a seat of Ivan Vasylkovych the grandson of Rostislav of Tmutarakan. According to Mykhailo Hrushevsky the realm of Halych was passed to Rostyslav upon the death of his father Vladimir Yaroslavich, the realm was then passed to Yaropolk Izyaslavich who was a son of the ruling Grand Prince of Kiev Izyaslav I of Kiev. First Slavic tribes living in Galicia were Croats and Dulebs, there are some claims of temporarily belonging of this territory to the Great Moravian state and later probably Duchy of Bohemia. In year 907 Galician Croats and Dulebs were involved in campaign against Constantinople led by Rus Prince Oleg of Novgorod. This is the first significant evidence of political affiliation of tribes of Galicia. According to Nestor the Chronicler some strongholds in West Part of Galicia were conquered by Vladimir the Great in 981, around that time the city of Volodymyr was established in honor of him which became the main center of political power in the region. In the 11th century western border citys including Peremyshl, were annexed by the Kingdom of Poland. In the meantime, Yaroslav the Wise established a solid foot in the founding the city of Jarosław. Their lands were organized into three principalities of Peremyshl, Zvenyhorod and Terebovlia. In 1097 the Terebovlia Principality was secured after Vasylko Rostyslavych by the Council of Liubech after several years of a civil war, in 1124 the Halych Principality as minor principality was given to Ihor Vasylkovich by his father Vasylko, the Prince of Terebovlia out of the Terebovlia Principality. Rostislavich Brothers managed not only separate from Volodymyr, but also to defend themselves from external enemies. In 1099, in the battle on Rozhne field halycians defeated army of the Grand Prince Sviatopolk II of Kiev and this two significant victories brought nearly one hundred years of relative peaceful development of Halycian principality. Four sons of Rostystlavych Brothers divided the area into four parts with centers in Peremyshl, Zvenyhorod, Halych, after the death of three of them Volodimyrko took Peremyshl and Halych and Zvenyhorod gave to Ivan - son of his older brother Rostyslav. In 1141 Volodymyrko moved his residence from Peremyshl to more geographically advantageous Halych giving birth to a united Halycian Principality, in 1145 citizens of Halych, taking advantage of the absence of Volodymyrko, called to reign Ivan of Zvenyhorod. After the defeat of Ivan under the walls of Halych, also Zvenygorod principality was incorporated into the Halycian, in 1152, after the death of Volodymyrko, Halycian throne was succeeded by his only son Yaroslav Osmomysl. Yaroslav begins his reign with the Battle on the river Siret in 1153 with Grand Prince Iziaslav, which resulted a heavy losses for the Halycians but retreat of Izyaslav, who died shortly thereafter. Thus the danger from the east had passed and Jaroslav via diplomacy reached peace with his other neighbors - Hungary, subsequently, thanks to negotiations Jaroslav neutralized his only rival - the eldest descendant of Rostislavich Brothers Ivan, former Prince of Zvenyhorod
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Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
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Zemun
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Zemun is an urban neighborhood and one of 17 city municipalities that constitute the city of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Zemun was a town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. The development of New Belgrade in the late 20th century affected the expansion of the urban area of Belgrade. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality of Zemun has a population of 168,170 inhabitants, in ancient times, the Celtic and Roman settlement was known as Taurunum. The Frankish chroniclers of the Crusades mentioned it as Mallevila, a toponym from the 9th century and this was also a period when the Slavic name Zemln was recorded for the first time. Believed to be derived from the word zemlja, meaning earth, it was a basis for all other names of the city, modern Serbian Земун or Zemun, Hungarian Zimony. The area of Zemun has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, baden culture graves and ceramics like bowls and anthropomorphic urns were found in the town. Bosut culture graves were found in nearby Asfaltna Baza, the first Celtic settlements in Taurunum area originate from the 3rd century BC when the Scordisci occupied several Thracian and Dacian areas of the Danube. The Romans came in the 1st century BC, Taurunum became part of the Roman province of Pannonia around 15 AD and it had a fortress and served as a harbour for the Pannonian fleet of Singidunum. The pen of Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso was said to be found in Taurunum, after the Great Migrations the area was under the authority of various peoples and states, including the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of the Gepids and the Bulgarian Empire. The town was conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary in the 12th century, after the nearby Serbian Despotate fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1459, Zemun became an important military outpost. In 1521, the forces of Kingdom of Hungary,500 šajkaši crew consisted of Croats, despite hard resistance, Zemun fell on July 12 and Belgrade soon afterwards. In 1541, Zemun was integrated into the Syrmia sanjak of the Budin pashaluk, in 1736, Zemun was the site of a peasant revolt. Its strategic location near the confluence of the Sava and the Danube placed it in the center of the border wars between the Habsburg and the Ottoman empires. The Treaty of Belgrade of 1739 finally fixed the border, the Military Frontier was organized in the region in 1746, in 1754, the population of Zemun included 1,900 Orthodox Christians,600 Catholics,76 Jews, and about 100 Romani. In 1777, the population of Zemun numbered 1,130 houses with 6,800 residents, half of which were ethnic Serbs, while half of population was composed of Catholics, Jews, Armenians. Among Catholic population, the largest ethnic group were Germans, from this period originates the increased settlement of Germans and Hungarians in the Zemun. Zemun prospered as an important road intersection and a border city, in 1816 it was greatly expanded by mass resettlement of Germans and Serbs in the new town suburbs of Franzenstal and Gornja Varoš, respectively
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Raymond of Poitiers
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Raymond of Poitiers was Prince of Antioch from 1136 to 1149. Following the death of Prince Bohemund II of Antioch in 1130, the principality came under the regency first of King Baldwin II, then King Fulk, the reigning princess was Bohemond IIs daughter, Constance. Against the wishes of Alice, a marriage was arranged for Constance with Raymond, at the time staying in England, upon hearing word that Raymond was going to pass through his lands in order to marry the princess of Antioch, King Roger II of Sicily ordered him arrested. By a series of subterfuges, Raymond passed through southern Italy and only arrived at Antioch after 19 April 1136, Patriarch Ralph of Domfront then convinced Alice that Raymond was there to marry her, whereupon she allowed him to enter Antioch and the patriarch married him to Constance. Alice then left the city, now under the control of Raymond, the expedition of 1138, in which Raymond joined with John, and which was to conquer this territory, proved a failure. The expedition culminated in the unsuccessful Siege of Shaizar, Raymond was not anxious to help the emperor to acquire new territories, when their acquisition only meant for him the loss of Antioch. John Comnenus returned unsuccessful to Constantinople, after demanding from Raymond, without response, there followed a struggle between Raymond and the patriarch. Raymond was annoyed by the homage which he had forced to pay to the patriarch in 1135. Eventually Raymond triumphed, and the patriarch was deposed, when, however Raymond demanded from Manuel, who had succeeded John in 1143, the cession of some of the Cilician towns, he found that he had met his match. Manuel forced him to a visit to Constantinople, during which he renewed his oath of homage. In the last year of Raymonds life Louis VII and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine visited Antioch during the Second Crusade, Raymond sought to prevent Louis from going south to Jerusalem and to induce him to stay in Antioch and help in the conquest of Aleppo and Caesarea. Raymond was also suspected of having an affair with his beautiful niece Eleanor. According to John of Salisbury, Louis became suspicious of the attention Raymond lavished on Eleanor, most modern historians dismiss such rumours, however, pointing out the closeness of Raymond and his niece during her early childhood, and the effulgent Aquitainian manner of behaviour. Also, as the pious Louis continued to have relations with his wife, Louis hastily left Antioch and Raymond was balked in his plans. In 1149 he was killed in the Battle of Inab during an expedition against Nur ad-Din Zangi and he was beheaded by Shirkuh, the uncle of Saladin, and his head was placed in a silver box and sent to the Caliph of Baghdad as a gift. For his career see Rey, in the Revue de lorient latin, with Constance, Raymond had five children, Bohemond III Maria, married emperor Manuel I Komnenos Philippa Baldwin Raymond Maalouf, Amin. Ralph of Domfront, Patriarch of Antioch, the New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 4, C. 1024-c.1198, Part II. Murray, Alan V. Van Houts, Elisabeth, ed. Constance, Princess of Antioch, Ancestry, Marriages, anglo-Norman Studies XXXVIII, Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2015
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Principality of Antioch
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The Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem and it had roughly 20,000 inhabitants in the 12th century, most of whom were Armenians and Greek Orthodox Christians, with a few Muslims outside the city itself. Few of the inhabitants apart from the Crusaders were Roman Catholic even though the city was turned into a Latin Patriarchate in 1100. While Baldwin of Boulogne and Tancred headed east from Asia Minor to set up the County of Edessa, Bohemond of Taranto commanded the siege which commenced in October 1097. With over four hundred towers, the defenses were formidable. Bohemond convinced a guard in one of the towers, an Armenian and former Christian named Firouz, only four days later, a Muslim army from Mosul, led by Kerbogha, arrived to besiege the Crusaders themselves. Alexius I Comnenus, the Byzantine emperor, was on his way to assist the Crusaders, the Crusaders withstood the siege, with help from a mystic named Peter Bartholomew. Peter claimed he had visited by St. Andrew, who told him that the Holy Lance. The cathedral of St. Peter was excavated, and the Lance was discovered by Peter himself, although Peter most likely planted it there himself, it helped raise the spirits of the Crusaders. There was a dispute over who should control the city. Bohemond and the Italian Normans eventually won, and Bohemond named himself prince, meanwhile, an unknown epidemic spread throughout the Crusader camp, Adhemar of Le Puy was one of the victims. Following Bohemonds capture in battle with the Danishmends in 1100, his nephew Tancred became regent, Tancred expanded the borders of the Principality, seizing the cities of Tarsus and Latakia from the Byzantine Empire. However those newly captured cities along with other territory were lost after the Battle of Harran when Baldwin II of Edessa was captured, Bohemond was released in 1103 and went to Italy to raise more troops in 1104, during which time Tancred remained regent of Antioch. Bohemond used the troops he raised to attack the Byzantines in 1107, Bohemond was defeated at Dyrrhachium in 1108 and was forced by Alexius I to sign the Treaty of Devol, making Antioch a vassal state of the Byzantine Empire upon Bohemonds death. Bohemond had promised to any land that was seized from the Muslims when the Crusaders passed through Constantinople in 1097. Bohemond also fought at Aleppo with Baldwin and Joscelin of the County of Edessa, Bohemond left Tancred as regent once more and returned to Italy, where he died in 1111. Alexius wanted Tancred to return the Principality in its entirety to Byzantium, but Tancred was supported by the County of Tripoli, Tancred, in fact, had been the only Crusade leader who did not swear to return conquered land to Alexius. Tancred died in 1112 and was succeeded by Bohemond II, under the regency of Tancreds nephew Roger of Salerno, on June 27,1119, Roger was killed at the Ager Sanguinis, and Antioch became a vassal state of Jerusalem with King Baldwin II as regent until 1126
24.
Maria of Antioch
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Maria of Antioch was a Byzantine empress as the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. She was the daughter of Constance of Antioch and her first husband Raymond of Poitiers and her only son was Alexios II Komnenos, who succeeded Manuel in 1180, and died three years afterwards at the age of 14. She acted as regent of the Byzantine Empire in 1180-1182, in 1160, Marias stepfather, Constances second husband Raynald of Châtillon, was taken prisoner by Maj al-Dīn, the ruler of Aleppo and an ally of Nūr al-Dīn. Her mother claimed the Principality of Antioch for herself, but the nobles supported her son, King Baldwin III of Jerusalem set Bohemund III up as prince and appointed as regent the rich and worldly Aimery of Limoges, Latin Patriarch of Antioch and an old opponent of Raynald. Constance protested this decision in Constantinople at the court of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos, at the end of 1159, Manuels wife Empress Eirene had died, and Manuel wanted to marry a princess from one of the Crusader states. Both were renowned for their beauty, but according to John Kinnamos Maria was the beautiful of the two, the tall, blonde-haired princess clearly showed her Norman ancestry. The ambassadors were not satisfied and delayed the marriage for over a year, they had heard rumours concerning Hodiernas infidelity. Count Raymond was insulted and in retaliation attacked Byzantine Cyprus, meanwhile, an imperial embassy led by Alexios Bryennios Komnenos and the prefect of Constantinople, John Kamateros, came to Antioch to negotiate the marriage. Maria embarked from the port of St. Simeon for Constantinople in September 1161, three patriarchs performed the marriage, Luke Chrysoberges, Patriarch of Constantinople, Sophronios, Greek Patriarch of Alexandria, and Athanasios I, Greek Patriarch of Antioch. The marriage was celebrated with feasts, gifts to the church and this strengthened the connection of Antioch to the Byzantine Empire. The marriage also strengthened the position of Marias mother Constance, who now held the regency of Antioch, for several years, Maria was childless. In 1166 she had her first pregnancy, but miscarried a child, a fact which was considered a tragedy by the Emperor. In 1169 Maria finally gave birth to a son, the future emperor Alexios II Komnenos and she played a role in the political and diplomatic life of Constantinople. French being her mother tongue, she was able to observe the double-dealing of the hypoboleus Aaron Isaakios, as a result, Manuel had Aaron blinded. After the death of Manuel in 1180 Maria officially became a nun with the name Xene, as a Westerner who favoured the Italian merchants, Maria was opposed by the Greeks, and her regency was widely considered incompetent. The leaders of the opposition were her stepdaughter, the porphyrogenita Maria Komnene and her husband, the porphyrogenita Maria may have considered herself the rightful heir, as the elder child of Manuel, she was almost as old as her stepmother Maria. Maria and Renier gained the support of the Patriarch Theodosius I, Alexios had the patriarch arrested, leading to open warfare on the streets of Constantinople. Manuels cousin Andronikos Komnenos, who had been exiled during Manuels reign, was invited back by the porphyrogenita Maria and he provoked the citizens into a massacre of the Latin inhabitants, mostly Venetian and Genoese merchants
25.
Amalric of Jerusalem
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Amalric was King of Jerusalem from 1163, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession. He was the son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem. During his reign, Jerusalem became more closely allied with the Byzantine Empire, meanwhile, the Muslim territories surrounding Jerusalem began to be united under Nur ad-Din and later Saladin. He was the father of three rulers of Jerusalem, Sibylla, Baldwin IV, and Isabella I. Now scholars recognize that the two names were not the same and no longer add the number for either king, confusion between the two names was common even among contemporaries. Amalric was born in 1136 to King Fulk, the count of Anjou who had married the heiress of the kingdom, Melisende. After the death of Fulk in a accident in 1143, the throne passed jointly to Melisende and Amalrics older brother Baldwin III. Melisende did not step down when Baldwin came of age two years later, and by 1150 the two were becoming increasingly hostile towards each other. In 1152 Baldwin had himself crowned king, and civil war broke out. Melisende was defeated in this struggle and Baldwin ruled alone thereafter, in 1153 Baldwin captured the Egyptian fortress of Ascalon, which was then added to Amalrics fief of Jaffa. Amalric married Agnes of Courtenay in 1157, Agnes, daughter of Joscelin II of Edessa, had lived in Jerusalem since the western regions of the former crusader County of Edessa were lost in 1150. Patriarch Fulcher objected to the marriage on grounds of consanguinity, as the two shared a great-great-grandfather, Guy I of Montlhéry, and it seems that they waited until Fulchers death to marry. Agnes bore Amalric three children, Sibylla, the future Baldwin IV, and Alix, who died in childhood, nevertheless, consanguinity was enough for the opposition. Amalric agreed and ascended the throne without a wife, although Agnes continued to hold the title Countess of Jaffa and Ascalon, Agnes soon thereafter married Hugh of Ibelin, to whom she had been engaged before her marriage with Amalric. The church ruled that Amalric and Agnes children were legitimate and preserved their place in the order of succession, through her children Agnes would exert much influence in Jerusalem for almost 20 years. During Baldwin IIIs reign, the County of Edessa, the first crusader state established during the First Crusade, was conquered by Zengi, Zengi united Aleppo, Mosul, and other cities of northern Syria, and intended to impose his control on Damascus in the south. The Second Crusade in 1148 had failed to conquer Damascus, which fell to Zengis son Nur ad-Din. Jerusalem also lost influence to Byzantium in northern Syria when the Empire imposed its suzerainty over the Principality of Antioch, Jerusalem thus turned its attention to Egypt, where the Fatimid dynasty was suffering from a series of young caliphs and civil wars
26.
Baldwin III of Jerusalem
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Baldwin III was King of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163. He was the eldest son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem and he became king while still a child, and was at first overshadowed by his mother Melisende, whom he eventually defeated in a civil war. During his reign Jerusalem became more closely allied with the Byzantine Empire, Baldwin captured the important Egyptian fortress of Ascalon, but also had to deal with the increasing power of Nur ad-Din in Syria. He died childless and was succeeded by his brother Amalric, Baldwin III was born in 1130, during the reign of his maternal grandfather Baldwin II, one of the original crusaders. This made him the third generation to rule Jerusalem, Baldwins mother Princess Melisende was heiress to her father, Baldwin II King of Jerusalem. Baldwin IIIs father was Fulk of Anjou, the former Count of Anjou, King Baldwin II died at the age of 60 when his grandson was a year old, which led to a power struggle between Melisende and Fulk. Melisende asserted her right to rule as successor to her father, yet Baldwin showed little interest in the intricacies of governance. In the Muslim world, Zengi ruled northern Syria from the cities of Mosul and Aleppo, in 1144, Zengi captured Edessa, which shocked the Western world and led to the Second Crusade. This crusade did not reach Jerusalem until 1148, and in the meantime Zengi was assassinated in 1146 and he was succeeded by his son Nur ad-Din, who was just as eager to bring Damascus under his control. To counter this, Jerusalem and Damascus had made an alliance for their mutual protection, Baldwin marched out from Jerusalem and attempted to capture the Muslim fortress Bosra, but Nur ad-Din arrived with his army and forced the Crusaders to withdraw. Later, Jerusalems truce with Damascus was restored, in 1148 the crusade finally arrived in Jerusalem, led by Louis VII of France, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Conrad III of Germany. Damascus was also considered important in the history of Christianity than Aleppo. Baldwin agreed to the plan to attack Damascus, but the siege ended in defeat after only four days. The city fell under Nur ad-Dins control in 1154, and the loss of a Muslim counterweight to Nur ad-Din was a diplomatic disaster, by 1149 the crusaders had returned to Europe, leaving behind a weakened Jerusalem. Nur ad-Din took advantage of the defeat to invade Antioch. Baldwin III hurried north to take up the regency of the principality, raymonds wife, Constance, was Baldwins cousin through his mother and heiress of Antioch by right of her father. Baldwin unsuccessfully tried to marry her to an ally, also in the north, Baldwin was unable to help defend Turbessel, the last remnant of the County of Edessa, and was forced to cede it to Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus in August 1150. He evacuated Turbessels Latin Christian residents despite being attacked by Nur ad-Din in the Battle of Aintab, in 1152 Baldwin and his mother were called to intervene in a dispute between Baldwins aunt Hodierna of Tripoli and her husband Count Raymond II
27.
Nur ad-Din (died 1174)
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Nūr ad-Dīn Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿImād ad-Dīn Zengī, often shortened to his laqab Nur ad-Din, was a member of the Turkish Zengid dynasty which ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire. He reigned from 1146 to 1174, Nur ad-Din was the second son of Imad ad-Din Zengi, the Turkish atabeg of Aleppo and Mosul, who was a devoted enemy of the crusader presence in Syria. The border between the two new kingdoms was formed by the Nahr al-Khabur River, in 1146, Nur ad-Din massacred the entire Christian population of the city and destroyed its fortifications in punishment for assisting Joscelin in this attempt. According to Thomas Asbridge, the women and children of Edessa were enslaved and he secured his hold on Antioch after crushing Raymond of Poitiers at the Battle of Inab in 1149, even presenting to the caliph, Raymonds severed head and arms. Nur ad-Din sought to make alliances with his Muslim neighbours in northern Iraq, in 1147 he signed a bilateral treaty with Muin ad-Din Unur, governor of Damascus, as part of this agreement, he also married Muin ad-Dins daughter Ismat ad-Din Khatun. To reassure Muin ad-Din, Nur ad-Din curtailed his stay in Damascus and turned instead towards the Principality of Antioch, where he was able to seize Artah, Kafar Latha, Basarfut, and Balat. In 1148, the Second Crusade arrived in Syria, led by Louis VII of France, Nur ad-Dins victories and the crusaders losses in Asia Minor however had made the recovery of Edessa – their original goal – practically impossible. Muin ad-Din reluctantly called for help from Nur ad-Din, but the siege collapsed after only four days. Nur ad-Din took advantage of the failure of the crusade to prepare another attack against Antioch, in 1149, he launched an offensive against the territories dominated by the castle of Harim, situated on the eastern bank of the Orontes, after which he besieged the castle of Inab. The Prince of Antioch, Raymond of Poitiers, quickly came to the aid of the besieged citadel, the Muslim army destroyed the crusader army at the Battle of Inab, during which Raymond was killed. Raymonds head was sent to Nur ad-Din, who sent it along to the caliph in Baghdad, Nur ad-Din marched all the way to the coast and expressed his dominance of Syria by symbolically bathing in the Mediterranean. In 1150, he defeated Joscelin II for a time, after allying with the Seljuk Sultan of Rüm. Joscelin was blinded and died in his prison in Aleppo in 1159, in the Battle of Aintab, Nur ad-Din tried but failed to prevent King Baldwin III of Jerusalems evacuation of the Latin Christian residents of Turbessel. In 1152 Nur ad-Din briefly captured Tortosa after the assassination of Raymond II of Tripoli and it was Nur ad-Dins dream to unite the various Muslim forces between the Euphrates and the Nile to make a common front against the crusaders. In 1149 Saif ad-Din Ghazi died, and a brother, Qutb ad-Din Mawdud. Qutb ad-Din recognized Nur ad-Din as overlord of Mosul, so that the cities of Mosul. Damascus was all that remained as an obstacle to the unification of Syria, after the failure of the Second Crusade, Muin ad-Din had renewed his treaty with the crusaders, and after his death in 1149 his successor Mujir ad-Din followed the same policy. In 1150 and 1151 Nur ad-Din besieged the city, but retreated each time with no success, when Ascalon was captured by the crusaders in 1153, Mujir ad-Din forbade Nur ad-Din from travelling across his territory
28.
Caucasus
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The Caucasus /ˈkɔːkəsəs/ or Caucasia /kɔːˈkeɪʒə/ is a region at the border of Europe and Asia, situated between the Black and the Caspian seas. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, which contain Europes highest mountain, politically, the Caucasus region is separated between northern and southern parts. The southern parts consist of independent sovereign states, and the parts are under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. The region is known for its diversity, aside from Indo-European and Turkic languages, the Kartvelian, Northwest Caucasian. Pliny the Elders Natural History derives the name of the Caucasus from Scythian kroy-khasis, German linguist Paul Kretschmer notes that the Latvian word Kruvesis also means ice. According to German philologists Otto Schrader and Alfons A. Nehring, the South Caucasus region and southern Dagestan were the furthest points of Persian expansions, with areas to the north of Caucasus Mountains practically impregnable. The mythological mountain of Qaf, the worlds highest mountain that ancient lore shrouded in mystery, was said to be situated in this region, therefore, the Caucasus might be associated with the legendary mountain. The Ciscaucasus contains the majority of the Greater Caucasus Mountain range. It includes Southwestern Russia and northern parts of Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Transcaucasus is bordered on the north by Russia, on the west by the Black Sea and Turkey, on the east by the Caspian Sea, and on the south by Iran. It includes the Caucasus Mountains and surrounding lowlands, all of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are in South Caucasus. The main Greater Caucasus range is generally perceived to be the line between Asia and Europe. The highest peak in the Caucasus is Mount Elbrus in the western Ciscaucasus in Russia, the Caucasus is one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse regions on Earth. The nation states that comprise the Caucasus today are the post-Soviet states Georgia, Armenia, three territories in the region claim independence but are recognized as such by only a handful or by no independent states, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are recognised by the majority of independent states as part of Georgia, the Russian divisions include Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, and the autonomous republics of Adygea, Karachay–Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan. The region has many different languages and language families, there are more than 50 ethnic groups living in the region. Russian is used as a common language, today the peoples of the Northern and Southern Caucasus tend to be either Eastern Orthodox Christians, Oriental Orthodox Christians, or Sunni Muslims. Shia Islam has had many adherents historically in Azerbaijan, located in the part of the region. Located on the peripheries of Turkey, Iran, and Russia, the region has been an arena for political, military, religious, throughout its history, the Caucasus was usually incorporated into the Iranian world
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Anatolia
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Anatolia, in geography known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula, or Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea to the Armenian Highlands, thus, traditionally Anatolia is the territory that comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. The Turkification of Anatolia began under the Seljuk Empire in the late 11th century, however, various non-Turkic languages continue to be spoken by minorities in Anatolia today, including Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, Arabic, Laz, Georgian, and Greek. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line running from the Gulf of Alexandretta to the Black Sea. This traditional geographical definition is used, for example, in the latest edition of Merriam-Websters Geographical Dictionary, under this definition, Anatolia is bounded to the east by the Armenian Highlands, and the Euphrates before that river bends to the southeast to enter Mesopotamia. To the southeast, it is bounded by the ranges that separate it from the Orontes valley in Syria, the first name the Greeks used for the Anatolian peninsula was Ἀσία, presumably after the name of the Assuwa league in western Anatolia. As the name of Asia came to be extended to areas east of the Mediterranean. The name Anatolia derives from the Greek ἀνατολή meaning “the East” or more literally “sunrise”, the precise reference of this term has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the Byzantine Empire, the Anatolic Theme was a theme covering the western, the modern Turkish form of Anatolia is Anadolu, which again derives from the Greek name Aνατολή. The Russian male name Anatoly and the French Anatole share the same linguistic origin, in English the name of Turkey for ancient Anatolia first appeared c. It is derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia, which was used by the Europeans to define the Seljuk controlled parts of Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. Human habitation in Anatolia dates back to the Paleolithic, neolithic Anatolia has been proposed as the homeland of the Indo-European language family, although linguists tend to favour a later origin in the steppes north of the Black Sea. However, it is clear that the Anatolian languages, the oldest branch of Indo-European, have spoken in Anatolia since at least the 19th century BC. The earliest historical records of Anatolia stem from the southeast of the region and are from the Mesopotamian-based Akkadian Empire during the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BC, scholars generally believe the earliest indigenous populations of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians. The region was famous for exporting raw materials, and areas of Hattian-, one of the numerous cuneiform records dated circa 20th century BC, found in Anatolia at the Assyrian colony of Kanesh, uses an advanced system of trading computations and credit lines. They were speakers of an Indo-European language, the Hittite language, originating from Nesa, they conquered Hattusa in the 18th century BC, imposing themselves over Hattian- and Hurrian-speaking populations. According to the most widely accepted Kurgan theory on the Proto-Indo-European homeland, however, the Hittites adopted the cuneiform script, invented in Mesopotamia
30.
George III of Georgia
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George III, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the King of Georgia from 1156 to 1184. George was the father of Queen Tamar the Great and he succeeded on his father Demetrius Is death in 1156. He changed his fathers defensive policy into an aggressive one. With his ascent to the throne, George III launched a campaign against the Seljuk sultanate of Ahlat in 1156. George took and annexed the Armenian cities of Ani and Dvin in 1161–1162, however, the Seljuk counterattacks made the King to cede Ani to a Muslim ruler on the terms of vassalage. The city was incorporated into the Georgian Kingdom in 1173. Throughout this period, the Georgian army was swelling with Armenian volunteers, in 1167, he marched to defend his vassal Shah Aghsartan of Shirvan against the Khazar and Kipchak assaults and strengthened the Georgian dominance in the area. In 1177, the nobles of the realm rose against the king and declared Prince Demna a true, being a son of George IIIs late elder brother David V, Demna was considered by many as a legitimate pretender to the Georgian throne. Approximately 30,000 rebel forces under Demnas father-in-law Ioane Orbeli strengthened their positions at the citadel of Lore, the fortress was besieged by the royal army. Throwing himself and his followers on the mercy of his uncle, he was blinded and castrated, in 1178, George III appointed his daughter and heiress Tamar as heir apparent and co-ruler to forestall any dispute after his death. However, he remained co-regent until his death in 1184 and he was buried at Gelati Monastery, western Georgia. 1155, George married Burdukhan, daughter of Khuddan, King of Alania and they had two daughters, Tamar, who succeeded him as ruler. Rusudan, married Manuel Komnenos, the eldest son of Andronikos I who was briefly Byzantine emperor, rusudan and Manuel were the parents of Alexios and David, founders of the Empire of Trebizond. List of Georgian Kings The unification of feudal Georgia The Bagrationi Dynasty
31.
Kakheti
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Kakheti is a region formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. The region comprises eight districts, Telavi, Gurjaani, Kvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi. Kakheti is bordered by the Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, the Georgian David Gareja monastery complex is partially located in this province and is subject to a border dispute between Georgian and Azerbaijani authorities. It also includes the region of Hereti whose name has fallen into gradual oblivion since the 15th century. It was incorporated into the united Georgian Kingdom at the beginning of the eleventh century, only in the beginning of the twelfth century did Georgian King David the Builder incorporate Kakheti into his Kingdom successfully. After the disintegration of the Georgian Kingdom, Kakheti became an independent Kingdom in the 1460s, from the early 16th century till the early 19th century, Kakheti and its neighboring Kartli came under intermittent Iranian rule. During all these centuries the region was a part of Iran and it supplied many notable generals, administrators, women. In 1762, the Kakhetian Kingdom was united with the neighboring Georgian Kingdom of Kartli into the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti under King Erekle II. Following the Treaty of Georgievsk and the sack of Tblisi by Agha Mohammad Khan, Russian suzerainty over Kakheti and the rest of Georgia was recognized by Qajar Iran in the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan. In 1918–1921 Kakheti was part of the independent Democratic Republic of Georgia, in 1922–1936 part of the Transcaucasian SFSR, since the Georgian independence in 1991, Kakheti has been a region of the republic of Georgia. The travel infrastructure in Kakheti is fast developing, since it is the most visited region of Georgia, one can choose to stay in a guest house, in a small and comfortable hotel, or a beautiful boutique-style hotel while traveling in this region. Telavi and Signagi are the most visited towns, Signagi was renovated three years ago. Until recently there were only some family hotels, but now Signagi features several hotels, list of sovereigns of Kakheti www. kakheti. net - information Kakheti region website Kakheti regional administration website Kakheti travel guide from Wikivoyage
32.
Shirvan
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Shirvan, also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both Islamic and modern times. Vladimir Minorsky believes that such as Sharvān, Lāyzān and Baylaqān are Iranian names from the Iranian languages of the coast of the Caspian Sea. There are several explanations about this name, Shirvan or Sharvan are changed forms of Persian word Shahrban or شهربان which means the governor, the word Shahrban has been used since Achaemenian Dynasty as Xshathrapawn to refer to different states of the kingdom. Shervan in Persian means cypress tree and it is also used as a male name. It is connected popularly to Anushirvan, the Sasanian King, another meaning of Shirwan according to the Dehkhoda Dictionary is protector of lion. This meaning is also shared in Kurdish, where the name is used for males. Also there is a tribe in the north of Erbil Province in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region by the name of Sherwani that is part of Barzani tribe union. Sherwan town is the Center of Sherwani tribe, however, Said Nafisi points out that according to Khaqanis poems, where Khaqani contrasts his home town with kheyrvān, the original and correct pronunciation of the name was Sharvān. So all etymologies relating this name to sher/shir or Anushiravan are most probably folk etymology, the form Shervān or Shirvān are from later centuries. According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, Shirwan proper comprised the easternmost spurs of the Caucasus range, but its rulers strove continuously to control also the western shores of the Caspian Sea from Ḳuba in the district of Maskat in the north, to Baku in the south. To the north of all these lands lay Bab al-Abwab or Derbend, and to the west, beyond the modern Goychay, Shirvanshah also spelled as Shīrwān Shāh or Sharwān Shāh, was the title in medieval Islamic times of a Persianized dynasty of Arabic origin. They ruled the area independently or as a vassal of larger empires from 800 A. D. up to 1607 A. D. when Safavid rule became firmly established. When the Shirvanshah Shah dynasty was ended by the Safavid Shah Tahmasp I, Shirwan formed a province of the Safavids and was governed by a Khan. Shirvan was taken by the Ottomans in 1578, however, Safavid rule was restored by 1607, in 1722, during the Russo-Persian War, the Khan of Quba, Husayn Ali, submitted to Peter the Great and was accepted as his dignitary. The Treaty of Saint Petersburg forced the Iranian king to recognise the Russian annexation, nevertheless, Mustafa continued to have secret dealings with Persia. It was not until 1820 that his territory was occupied by Russian troops, the term Shirvani/Shirvanli is still in use in Azerbaijan to designate the people of Shirvan region, as it was historically. Since ancient time, the population of Shirvan were Caucasian speaking groups. Later on Iranization of this population and subsequent Turkification since the Seljuq era occurred
33.
Caspian Sea
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The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the worlds largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It is in a basin located between Europe and Asia. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the south, the Caspian Sea lies to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia. In its northern part, the Caspian Depression lies 28 to 130 m below sea level, the sea bed in the southern part reaches as low as 1023 m below sea level, which is the second lowest natural depression on earth after Lake Baikal. The ancient inhabitants of its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness, the sea has a surface area of 371,000 km2 and a volume of 78,200 km3. It has a salinity of approximately 1. 2%, about a third of the salinity of most seawater, the word Caspian is derived from the name of the Caspi, an ancient people who lived to the southwest of the sea in Transcaucasia. Strabo wrote that to the country of the Albanians belongs also the territory called Caspiane, which was named after the Caspian tribe, as was also the sea, but the tribe has now disappeared. Moreover, the Caspian Gates, which is the name of a region in Irans Tehran province, the Iranian city of Qazvin shares the root of its name with that of the sea. In fact, the traditional Arabic name for the sea itself is Bahr al-Qazwin, in classical antiquity among Greeks and Persians it was called the Hyrcanian Ocean. In Persian antiquity, as well as in modern Iran, it is known as the دریای خزر, Daryā-e Khazar, ancient Arabic sources refer to it as Baḥr Gīlān meaning the Gilan Sea. Turkic languages refer to the lake as Khazar Sea, in Turkmen, the name is Hazar deňizi, in Azeri, it is Xəzər dənizi, and in modern Turkish, it is Hazar denizi. An exception is Kazakh, where it is called Каспий теңізі, old Russian sources call it the Khvalyn or Khvalis Sea after the name of Khwarezmia. In modern Russian, it is called Каспи́йское мо́ре, Kaspiyskoye more, the Caspian Sea, like the Black Sea, Namak Lake, and Lake Urmia, is a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea. It became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to tectonic uplift and a fall in sea level. Due to the current inflow of water, the Caspian Sea is a freshwater lake in its northern portions, and is most saline on the Iranian shore. Currently, the salinity of the Caspian is one third that of Earths oceans. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world, the coastlines of the Caspian are shared by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. The Caspian is divided into three distinct regions, the Northern, Middle, and Southern Caspian
34.
Derbent
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Derbent, formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea, north of the Azerbaijani border. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second-most important city of Dagestan, Derbent occupies the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains connecting the Eurasian steppes to the north and the Iranian Plateau to the south. Derbent claims to be the oldest city in Russia with historical documentation dating to the 8th century BCE. Due to its location, over the course of history. In the 19th century, the city passed from Iranian into Russian hands by the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan, Derbent is derived from modern Persian, دربند, translit. Barred gate, referring to the adjacent pass and it is often identified with the legendary Gates of Alexander. Since antiquity, the value of the area as the gate to the Caucasus has been understood and exploited, as a result of this geographic peculiarity, the city developed between two walls, stretching from the mountains to the sea. These fortifications were continuously employed for a millennium and a half, historically, this position allowed the rulers of Derbent to control land traffic between the Eurasian Steppe and the Middle East. The only other crossing of the Caucasus ridge was over the Darial Gorge. Until the 4th century AD, it was part of Caucasian Albania which was a satrap of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, and is identified with Albana. In the 5th century Derbent also functioned as a border fortress, the 20-meter-high walls with thirty north-looking towers are believed to belong to the time of Kavadhs son, Khosrau I, who also directed the construction of Derbents fortress. The Sassanid fortress does not exist any more, as the famous Derbent fortress as it today was built from the 12th century onward. Some say that the level of the Caspian was formerly higher, Derbent became a strong military outpost and harbour of the Sassanid empire. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Derbent also became an important center for spreading the Christian faith in the Caucasus. The first Sasanian attempt to seal off the road along the Caspian seacoast at Darband by means of a wall has been dated in the reign of Yazdegerd II. Movses Kagankatvatsi left a description of the sack of Derbent by the hordes of Tong Yabghu of the Western Turkic Khaganate in 627. His successor, Böri Shad, proved unable to consolidate Tong Yabghus conquests, and the city was retaken by the Persians, who held it as an integral domain until the Muslim Arab conquest. In fact, a policy of “Persianizing” Derbent and the eastern Caucasus in general can be traced over many centuries, from Khosrow I to the Safavid shahs Ismail I
35.
Shirvanshah
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Shirvanshah, also spelled as Shīrwān Shāh or Sharwān Shāh, was the title of the rulers of Shirvan, located in modern Azerbaijan, from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a family, the Yazidids, an originally Arab but gradually Persianized dynasty. The Shirvanshah established a state in Shirvan. The title Shirvanshah dates back to pre-Islamic times, ibn Khordadbeh mentions the Shirvanshah as one of the local rulers who received their title from the first Sassanid emperor, Ardashir I. From the late 8th century, Shirvan was under the rule of the members of the Arab family of Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani and his descendants, the Yazidids, would rule Shirvan as independent princes until the 14th century. By origin, the Yazidids were Arabs of the Shayban tribe and belonged to high ranking generals, in the chaos that engulfed the Abbasid Caliphate after the death of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil in 861, the great-grandson of Yazid b. Mazyad Shaybani, Haytham ibn Khalid, declared independent and assume the ancient title of Shirvanshah. The dynasty continuously ruled the area of Shirvan either as an independent state or a state until the Safavid times. A translation of important work into English language was published by the orientalist Vladimir Minorsky in 1958. We can also discern the progressive Persianisation of this originally Arab family, according to Encyclopedia of Islam, After the Shah Yazid b. Ahmad, Arab names give way to Persian ones like Manūčihr, Ḳubādh, Farīdūn, according to Vladimir Minorsky, the most likely explanation of the Iranicisation of this Arab family could be marriage link with the family of the ancient rulers of Shabaran. He further states, The attraction of a Sassanian pedigree proved stronger than the recollection of Shaybani lineage. The coat of arms with two lions could be a reminder of the story of Bahrām Gur in Shahnama where Bahrām had to claim the crown from between two lions to be recognized as the king. In 1120 King David IV of Georgia, entered the neighbouring Shirvan and took the town of Qabala and In 1124, David finally conquered Shirvan. In 1167, George III of Georgia marched to defend his vassal Shah Akhsitan of Shirvan against the Khazar and Kipchak assaults and strengthened the Georgian dominance in the area. Early in the 1190s, the Georgian government began to interfere in the affairs of the Ildenizids and of the Shirvanshahs, aiding rivaling local princes and reducing Shirvan to a tributary state. The Ildenizid atabeg Abu Bakr attempted to stem the Georgian advance, although Abu Bakr was able to resume his reign a year later, the Ildenizids were only barely able to contain further Georgian forays. Shirvanshahs built many defensive castles across all of Shirvan to resist many foreign invasions, however, Shirvan was greatly devastated by Mongol invasion in 1235, from which it was not able to fully recover for the next century
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Andronicus I", Encyclopædia Britannica, 1 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 975–976
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 