1.
Histamenon
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Histamenon was the name given to the gold Byzantine solidus when the slightly lighter tetarteron was introduced in the 960s. To distinguish the two, the histamenon was changed in form from the solidus, becoming wider and thinner. Later usually shortened to stamenon, it was discontinued after 1092, in the 12th and 13th centuries, the name stamenon came to be applied to the concave billon and copper trachea coins. The Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, however, introduced a new coin, the latter now became known as the histamenon, from the Greek verb ἵστημι, to stand up, implying that these followed the traditional standard. Initially, the two coins were virtually indistinguishable except in weight, during the later reign of Basil II, the tetarteron began to be minted in a thicker and smaller form, while the histamenon became correspondingly thinner and wider. Only during the rule of Constantine VIII, however, did the two coins become iconographically distinct as well. In addition, under Michael IV the Paphlagonian, it began to be minted in a concave form, possibly to increase the thin coins strength. Flat coins were struck at times, but scyphate ones came to predominate from Constantine IX on. These concave coins were known as histamena trachea or simply trachea from their shape, starting with Michael IV, who was a former money lender, the gold content began to be increasingly lowered and the coins debased. After a period of stability in circa 1055–1070, the gold content declined dramatically in the disastrous 1070s and 1080s. The michaelata of Michael VII Doukas still contained some 16 carats of gold, but by the time of Alexios I Komnenos, the nomismata struck contained almost no gold at all
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.
Romanos IV Diogenes
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While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery, Romanos Diogenes was the son of Constantine Diogenes and a member of a prominent and powerful Cappadocian family, connected by birth to most of the great aristocratic nobles in Asia Minor. His mother was a daughter of Basil Argyros, brother of the emperor Romanos III, courageous and generous, but also impetuous, Romanos rose with distinction in the army due to his military talents, and he served on the Danubian frontier. However, he was convicted of attempting to usurp the throne of the sons of Constantine X Doukas in 1067. The problem Romanos and Eudokia had in executing this plan was that Eudokias deceased husband, the Senate agreed, and on January 1,1068 Romanos married the empress and was crowned Emperor of the Romans. Romanos IV was now the emperor and guardian of his stepsons and junior co-emperors, Michael VII, Konstantios Doukas. By 1067, the Turks had been making incursions at will into Mesopotamia, Melitene, Syria, Cilicia, and Cappadocia, culminating with the sack of Caesarea and that winter they camped on the frontiers of the empire and waited for the next years campaigning season. Romanos was confident of Byzantine superiority on the field of battle and he did not take into account the degraded state of the Byzantine forces, which had suffered years of neglect from his predecessors, in particular Constantine X. It was soon evident that while Romanos possessed military talent, his impetuosity was a serious flaw, the first military operations of Romanos did achieve a measure of success, reinforcing his opinions about the outcome of the war. Antioch was exposed to the Saracens of Aleppo who, with help from Turkish troops, returning south, Romanos rejoined the main army, and they continued their advance through the passes of Mount Taurus to the north of Germanicia and proceeded to invade the Emirate of Aleppo. Romanos captured Hierapolis, which he fortified to provide protection against further incursions into the provinces of the empire. He then engaged in fighting against the Saracens of Aleppo. With the campaigning season reaching its end, Romanos returned north via Alexandretta, here he was advised of another Seljuk raid into Asia Minor in which they sacked Amorium but returned to their base so fast that Romanos was in no position to give chase. He eventually reached Constantinople by January 1069, possibly due to Romanos not paying them on time, they began plundering the countryside near where they were stationed at Edessa, and attacking the imperial tax collectors. Although Crispin was captured and exiled to Abydos, the Franks continued to ravage the Armeniac Theme for some time, in the meantime, the land around Caesarea was again overrun by the Turks, forcing Romanos to spend precious time and energy in expelling the Turks from Cappadocia. Desperate to begin his campaign proper, he ordered the execution of all prisoners, philaretos was soon defeated by the Turks, whose sack of Iconium forced Romanos to abandon his plans and return to Sebaste. He sent orders to the Dux of Antioch to secure the passes at Mopsuestia, the Turks were soon hemmed in in the mountains of Cilicia, but they managed to escape to Aleppo after abandoning their plunder. Romanos once again returned to Constantinople without the great victory he was hoping for, Romanos was detained at Constantinople in 1070, while he dealt with many outstanding administrative issues, including the imminent fall of Bari into Norman hands
4.
Nikephoros III Botaneiates
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Nikephoros III Botaneiates, Latinized as Nicephorus III Botaniates, was Byzantine emperor from 1078 to 1081. He belonged to a family claiming descent from the Byzantine Phokas family, Nikephoros Botaneiates had served as general from the reign of Constantine IX. Drawn to politics, he had been a participant in the uprising that brought Isaac I to the throne in 1057. Although considered a competent general, he had suffered a number of humiliating setbacks throughout his career. In 1064, he, together with Basil Apokapes, doux of Paradounavon, defended the Balkan frontiers against the invading Oghuz Turks, but was defeated and suffered the humiliation of being taken captive. The outbreak of an epidemic soon began decimating the Turks, however, in 1067, Nikephoros had been considered as a possible husband for the empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, widowed wife of Constantine X, but she eventually set her heart on Romanos IV Diogenes. Excluded from Romanoss campaign at Manzikert, he retired to his estates in Anatolia, eventually, under Michael VII Doukas, he became strategos of the Anatolic theme and commander of the troops in Asia Minor. In 1078 he revolted against Michael VII and his finance minister Nikephoritzes, with the support of the Seljuk Turks, who provided him with valuable troops, he marched upon Nicaea, where he proclaimed himself emperor. In the face of another general, Nikephoros Bryennios, his election was ratified by the aristocracy and clergy, while Michael VII abdicated. On 24 March 1078, Nikephoros III Botaneiates entered Constantinople in triumph and was crowned by Patriarch Kosmas I of Constantinople, with the help of his general Alexios Komnenos, he defeated Bryennios and other rivals but failed to clear the invading Turks out of Asia Minor. To solidify his position after the death of his wife, Nikephoros III sought to marry Eudokia Makrembolitissa, the mother of Michael VII. Nikephoros administration did not win him support, as his favored courtiers alienated much of the older court bureaucracy. Apart from the discontent of the Byzantine aristocracy, several Armenian princes in Asia Minor attempted to establish their independence from the empire, two Paulician leaders launched their own rebellion in Thrace, in a brutal religious conflict that was not easily suppressed. The deposed emperor retired into the monastery he had endowed at the Church of St. Mary Peribleptos, where he died later the same year
5.
Andronikos Doukas (co-emperor)
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Andronikos Doukas, Latinized as Andronicus Ducas, was the third son of Byzantine emperor Constantine X Doukas and younger brother of Byzantine emperor Michael VII Doukas. Unlike his other brothers, he was not named junior co-emperor by his father and he is otherwise relatively insignificant, and was not involved in the affairs of state to any degree. Andronikos Doukas was born circa 1057, the son of Constantine X Doukas. Psellos also compiled a laudatory monody on Andronikos after the latters death, unlike his other two surviving brothers, he was not raised by his father to the position of co-emperor. Thus, and unlike them, he did not participate in the regency of Eudokia that followed his fathers death in 1068. Furthermore, during his absence from Constantinople on campaign in the East soon after his accession, during the reign of his elder brother Michael VII, Andronikos continued as co-emperor, and was even possibly raised above Konstantios in precedence. Curiously, despite his apparent lack of ability and purely decorative function as co-emperor, Andronikos is included in some lists of Byzantine emperors. It is unknown when he died, D. Polemis surmised that it was after 1081, but Thomas Conley argues that he died in early 1077, since he is not mentioned during Nikephoros Botaneiatess attack on Constantinople in the same year. According to Pselloss monody, Andronikos was married to an unnamed woman, who died soon after his own death
6.
Konstantios Doukas
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Konstantios Doukas, Latinized as Constantius Ducas, was the son of Byzantine Emperor Constantine X Doukas and younger brother of Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Doukas. He reigned as junior co-emperor from his birth, but was unable to establish himself as sole emperor against Nikephoros III when Michael VII abdicated in 1078, Konstantios was the youngest son of Constantine X Doukas and was born a porphyrogennetos. Upon his birth he was made co-emperor, alongside his brother Michael VII Doukas and his other brother, Andronikos Doukas, was also elevated some eight years later. He retained the title during the reigns of Romanos IV Diogenes and his elder brother, Michael VII. In 1078, when Michaels reign came to an end by an insurrection at Constantinople, he abdicated in favour of Konstantios and his only rival was Nikephoros III, who was on his way to Constantinople when news arrived of Michaels overthrow. It was soon evident that Konstantios was completely incapable of leading the empire. By 1081, he was recalled into service by Alexios I Komnenos. Sent to the war against the Normans, he perished while fighting them at Dyrrhachium in 1082
7.
Maria of Alania
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Maria of Alania was an Empress consort of the Byzantine Empire. She was married to Emperors Michael VII Doukas and Nikephoros III Botaneiates, at the time of her marriage, Georgian Maria was one of only two non-Byzantine princesses to marry a Byzantine heir, along with Bertha of Italy, and the only one to give birth to an heir. The latter, however, died later in the year and Martha returned home to Georgia, in 1065 she married the future emperor Michael, a son of Constantine X Doukas, and became an empress when Michael was enthroned in 1071. In addition, by this move Nikephoros would pacify the loyalists of the ousted Doukas, as part of the marriage deal, Maria was promised that her son Constantine would be named an heir to the empire but Nikephoros reneged on this promise at a later point. The empress, moreover, would have had confidence in him. The old man did not realize the unfairness and inexpediency of his plans, the empress became an important part of a plot organized by the general Alexios Komnenos, who was rumored to be her lover. Alexios forced Nikephoros to abdicate the throne and was crowned emperor in 1081. Alexios had Constantine proclaimed heir to the throne and later betrothed his daughter, Anna Komnene, Maria was also charged with the care of young imperial princess Anna Komnene who was very fond of her and shared all her secrets with the former empress. Anna Komnene describes Marias beauty in her medieval biographical text Alexiad, Marias commanded great wealth and owned the Mangana palace, as well as the Hebdomon Monastery, the burial place of Basil II. She was also patron of literary figures, including Theophylact of Ohrid, future Archbishop of Bulgaria. After Marias son Constantine died in 1096, she finally moved herself to a monastery and she remained revered in her native Georgia, resulting in an increase in future marriages between the Georgian and Byzantine royalty, and strengthening of ties between the two countries. Maria was also an influence for Komnenian women who were impressed by her past political involvement and charitable work
8.
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
9.
Doukas
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A maternally-descended line, the Komnenodoukai, founded the Despotate of Epirus in the 13th century, with another branch ruling over Thessaly. Nothing is known for certain about the familys origin and this tradition is, however, evidently an invention meant to glorify the family, at the time the Empires ruling dynasty, by 11th-century court chroniclers. In fact, it is likely that the surname derives from the relatively common military rank of doux. Nothing is known about the familys origin, the first representative of the family appears in the mid-9th century, during the regency of Empress Theodora, when he was sent to forcibly convert the Paulicians to Orthodoxy. He is only known as the son of Doux, although Skylitzes interpolates the name of Andronikos and this name is also used by some modern sources, e. g. in the Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit. The first branch of the family to prominence was in the early 10th century, with Andronikos Doukas. Both were senior generals during the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, in circa 904, Andronikos engaged in an unsuccessful rebellion and was forced to flee to Baghdad where he was killed in circa 910. Constantine managed to escape and was restored to office, becoming Domestic of the Schools. He was killed, however, along with his son Gregory and nephew Michael and it is likely, as the 12th-century historian Zonaras records, that the Doukai line died out, and that the later bearers of the name were descendants through the female line only. Towards the end of the 10th century, there appeared a second family and its members were Andronikos Doux Lydos and his sons, Christopher and Bardas, the latter known with the sobriquet Mongos. The family was involved in the 976–979 rebellion of Bardas Skleros against Emperor Basil II, Bardas the Mongos is attested as late as 1017, when he led a military expedition against the Khazars. These Doukai seem to have come from Paphlagonia, and were exceedingly wealthy, further dynastic matches were made with the clans of the Anatolian military aristocracy, including the Palaiologoi and the Pegonitai. It is hence impossible to distinguish the numerous holders of the name or to discern their exact relationship with the 11th-century Doukid dynasty. The actual bloodline of Constantine X died out probably before 1100, and the last known descendants of his brother, the Caesar John, lived in the first half of the 12th century. In this way, mingled with other families or adopted de novo even by humble families unrelated to the original lineage. From them the surname Doukas was used by the Greek, and later Serbian, rulers of Epirus, other examples include John III Doukas Vatatzes, Nicaean emperor and his relatives, the late Byzantine historian Doukas, and the megas papias Demetrios Doukas Kabasilas in the mid-14th century. The name spread far and wide across the Greek-speaking world as well as in Albania, several variations also developed, such as Doukakes, Doukopoulos, Doukatos, Makrodoukas or Makrydoukas, etc. Other variants like Doukaites or Doukides seem to derive not from the surname, but from a locality, new York and Oxford, Oxford University Press
10.
Constantine X Doukas
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Constantine X Doukas or Dukas, Latinized as Ducas was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 24 November 1059 to 22 May 1067. Constantine Doukas was the son of Andronikos Doukas, a Paphlagonian nobleman who may have served as governor of the theme of Moesia. Addicted to endless debates about philosophy and theology, Constantine gained influence after he married, as his wife, Eudokia Makrembolitissa. In 1057, Constantine supported the usurpation of Isaac I Komnenos, in spite of this tacit opposition, Constantine was chosen as successor by the ailing Isaac in November 1059, under the influence of Michael Psellos. Isaac abdicated, and on November 24,1059, Constantine X Doukas was crowned emperor, undoing many of the necessary reforms of Isaac I, he bloated the military bureaucracy with highly paid court officials and crowded the Senate with his supporters. He also became unpopular with the population after he raised taxes to try to pay the army. Already old and unhealthy when he came to power, Constantine died on May 22,1067 and his final act was to demand that only his sons succeed him, forcing his wife Eudokia Makrembolitissa to take a vow not to remarry. By his first wife, a daughter of Constantine Dalassenos, Constantine X Doukas had no known children, by his second wife, Eudokia Makrembolitissa, he had the following issue, Michael VII Doukas, who succeeded as emperor. Andronikos Doukas, co-emperor from 1068 to 1078, konstantios Doukas, co-emperor from c.1060 to 1078, died 1081. Anna Doukaina, a nun Theodora Anna Doukaina, who married Domenico Selvo, zoe Doukaina, who married Adrianos Komnenos, a brother of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, I, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6 Norwich, John Julius, Byzantium, The Apogee, Penguin, ISBN 0-14-011448-3 Polemis, Demetrios I. The Doukai, A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography, London, Athlone Press Psellus, Michael, Chronographia Coins of Constantine X Doukas
11.
Eudokia Makrembolitissa
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Eudokia Makrembolitissa was a Byzantine Empress consort by marriage to the Byzantine emperor Constantine X Doukas. After his death in 1067 she acted as regent and she married Romanos IV Diogenes in 1068 and he became her co-emperor. She was also the niece of Michael Keroularios, Patriarch of Constantinople and she married Constantine sometime before 1050. By him she had seven children, one died as a child, when Constantine died on May 22,1067 she, as a crowned Augusta, was confirmed as regent for their sons Michael VII and Konstantios, along with Constantines brother, the Caesar John Doukas. Michael VII was just old enough to rule on his own and she had also sworn on Constantines deathbed not to marry again, and had even imprisoned and exiled Romanos Diogenes, who was suspected of aspiring to the throne. The Senate then agreed to the marriage, the wedding took place on January 1,1068, and Romanus was immediately proclaimed co-emperor as Romanos IV. With his assistance Eudokia was able to dispel the impending danger and she had two sons with Romanos IV, Nikephoros and Leo. Another of Eudokia and Constantines sons, Andronikos Doukas, was now made co-emperor by Romanos IV, although he had excluded from power by his own father, mother. However, Eudokia did not live happily with her new husband. John Doukas and the Varangian Guard then compelled Eudokia to leave power to Michael, after Michael VII was deposed in 1078 by Nikephoros III, Eudokia was recalled by the new emperor, who offered to marry her. This plan did not come to pass, due to the opposition of the Caesar John Doukas, the historian Nicephorus Gregoras, a century later, described Eudokia as a second Hypatia. Attributed to Eudokia is a dictionary of history and mythology, called Ἰωνιά, however, the book is now thought to be a modern compilation, falsely attributed to Eudoxia, and compiled by the counterfeiter Constantine Paleocappa around 1540. The sources from which the work was compiled include Diogenes Laërtius, by her second marriage, to Romanos IV Diogenes, Eudokia had, Nikephoros Diogenes Leo Diogenes Michael Psellos was very close to the family, and Eudokia considered him an uncle. According to Psellos she was very noble, beautiful, and intelligent
12.
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
13.
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
14.
Alp Arslan
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Alp Arslan, real name Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second Sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. As Sultan, Alp Arslan greatly expanded Seljuk territory and consolidated power, defeating rivals to his south and his victory over the Byzantines at Manzikert ushered in the Turkish settlement of Anatolia. For his military prowess and fighting skills he obtained the name Alp Arslan, Alp Arslan accompanied his uncle, Tughril Bey on campaigns in the south against the Shia Fatimids while his father, Çağrı Bey remained in Khorasan. Upon Alp Arslans return to Khorasan, he began his work in administration at his fathers suggestion, while there, his father introduced him to Nizam al-Mulk, one of the most eminent statesmen in early Muslim history and Alp Arslans future vizier. After the death of his father, Alp Arslan succeeded him as governor of Khorasan in 1059 and his uncle Tughril died in 1063 and was succeeded by Suleiman, Arslans brother. Arslan and his uncle Kutalmish both contested this succession, Arslan defeated Kutalmish for the throne and succeeded on 27 April 1064 as sultan of Great Seljuq, thus becoming sole monarch of Persia from the river Oxus to the Tigris. In consolidating his empire and subduing contending factions, Arslan was ably assisted by Nizam al-Mulk, with peace and security established in his dominions, Arslan convoked an assembly of the states and in 1066, he declared his son Malik Shah I his heir and successor. With the hope of capturing Caesarea Mazaca, the capital of Cappadocia, he placed himself at the head of the Turkish cavalry, crossed the Euphrates, along with Nizam al-Mulk, he then marched into Armenia and Georgia, which he conquered in 1064. After a siege of 25 days, the Seljuks captured Ani, the city of Armenia. The Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, assuming command in person, met the invaders in Cilicia, in three arduous campaigns, the Turks were defeated in detail and driven across the Euphrates in 1070. The first two campaigns were conducted by the emperor himself, while the third was directed by Manuel Comnenos, during this time, Arslan gained the allegiance of Rashid al-Dawla Mahmud, the Mirdasid emir of Aleppo. In 1071 Romanos again took the field and advanced into Armenia with possibly 30,000 men, including a contingent of Cuman Turks as well as contingents of Franks and Normans, under Ursel de Baieul. Alp Arslan, who had moved his troops south to fight the Fatimids, at Manzikert, on the Murat River, north of Lake Van, the two forces waged the Battle of Manzikert. The Cuman mercenaries among the Byzantine forces immediately defected to the Turkish side, seeing this, the Western mercenaries rode off and took no part in the battle. To be exact, Romanos was betrayed by general Andronikos Doukas, son of the Caesar, Emperor Romanos IV was himself taken prisoner and conducted into the presence of Alp Arslan. After a ritual humiliation, Arslan treated him with generosity, after peace terms were agreed to, Arslan dismissed the Emperor, loaded with presents and respectfully attended by a military guard. The following conversation is said to have taken place after Romanos was brought as a prisoner before the Sultan, Alp Arslan, Romanos, Perhaps Id kill you, or exhibit you in the streets of Constantinople. Alp Arslan, My punishment is far heavier, I forgive you, and set you free
15.
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
16.
Battle of Manzikert
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The Battle of Manzikert was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks on August 26,1071 near Manzikert. Many of the Turks, who had been, during the 11th century, travelling westward, the brunt of the battle was borne by the professional soldiers from the eastern and western tagmata, as large numbers of mercenaries and Anatolian levies fled early and survived the battle. This led to the movement of Turks into central Anatolia—by 1080. It took three decades of internal strife before Alexius I restored stability to Byzantium and it was the first time in history a Byzantine Emperor had become the prisoner of a Muslim commander. Under Constantine IX the Byzantines first came into contact with the Seljuk Turks when they attempted to annex Ani, Constantine made a truce with the Seljuks that lasted until 1064, but they then took Ani, and in 1067 the rest of Armenia, followed by Caesarea. In 1068 Romanos IV took power, and after some speedy military reforms entrusted Manuel Comnenus to lead an expedition against the Seljuks. Manuel captured Hierapolis Bambyce in Syria, next thwarted a Turkish attack against Iconium with a counter-attack, in February 1071, Romanos sent envoys to Alp Arslan to renew the 1069 treaty, and keen to secure his northern flank against attack, Alp Arslan happily agreed. Abandoning the siege of Edessa, he led his army to attack Fatimid-held Aleppo. However, the treaty had been a deliberate distraction, Romanos now led a large army into Armenia to recover the lost fortresses before the Seljuks had time to respond. Accompanying Romanos was Andronicus Ducas, son of his rival, John Ducas, the expedition rested at Sebasteia on the river Halys, reaching Theodosiopolis in June 1071. There, some of his generals suggested continuing the march into Seljuk territory, others, including Nicephorus Bryennius, suggested they wait and fortify their position. It was decided to continue the march, Alp Arslan was already in the area, however, with allies and 30,000 cavalry from Aleppo and Mosul. Alp Arslans scouts knew exactly where Romanos was, while Romanos was completely unaware of his opponents movements and this split the forces in half, each taking about 20,000 men. Either way, Romanos army was reduced to less than half his planned 40,000 to 70,000 men, Alp Arslan summoned his army and delivered a speech by appearing in a white robe, as in an Islamic funeral shroud, in the morning of the battle. This was a message that he was ready to die in battle. Romanos was unaware of the loss of Tarchaneiotes and continued to Manzikert, which he captured on August 23. The next day some foraging parties under Bryennios discovered the Seljuk army and were forced to back to Manzikert. The Armenian general Basilakes was sent out some cavalry, as Romanos did not believe this was Alp Arslans full army
17.
Michael Psellos
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This article is about the 11th-century Byzantine historian and philosopher. For the 9th-century Byzantine Emperor with the byname Psellus, see Michael II, Michael Psellus the Elder redirects here and is covered below under Pseudo-Psellus. Michael Psellos or Psellus was a Byzantine Greek monk, writer, philosopher and he was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. The main source of information about Psellos life comes from his own works, Michael Psellos was probably born in Constantinople. His family hailed from Nicomedia and, according to his own testimony, counted members of the consular and his baptismal name was Constantine, Michael was the monastic name he chose when he entered a monastery later in life. Psellos probably was a personal by-name referring to a speech defect, Michael Psellos was educated in Constantinople. At around the age of ten, he was sent to work outside the capital as a secretary of a provincial judge, when his sister died, he gave up that position and returned to Constantinople to resume his studies. While studying under John Mauropus, he met the later Patriarchs Constantine Leichoudes and John Xiphilinos, for some time, he worked in the provinces again, now serving as a judge himself. Some time before 1042 he returned again to Constantinople, where he got a position at court as a secretary in the imperial chancellery. From there he began a rapid court career and he became an influential political advisor to emperor Constantine IX Monomachos. During the same time, he became the professor at the University of Constantinople. After Monomachos death, however, he was recalled to court by his successor. Throughout the following years, he remained active in politics, serving as a political advisor to several successive emperors. However, Michael seems to have been inclined towards protecting Psellos. As his own autobiographic accounts cease at this point, there is little information about his later years. Some scholars believe that Psellos had to retreat into a monastery again at some time during the 1070s and it is a history of the Byzantine emperors during the century leading up to Psellos own time. It covers the reigns of fourteen emperors and empresses, beginning with the almost 50-year-long reign of Basil II, the Bulgar-Slayer and it is structured mainly as a series of biographies. Unlike most other works of the period, it places much more emphasis on the description of characters than on details of political
18.
Nikephoritzes
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Nikephoritzes was an influential Byzantine eunuch official, who served as chief minister and virtual ruler of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Michael VII Doukas. His actual name was Nikephoros, he received the nickname Nikephoritzes as a result of his youth when he first entered service in the court. He became widely unpopular due to his harsh taxation and meddling with Constantinoples grain supply and this resentment led to the outbreak of two major rebellions in 1077, and the eventual abdication of Michael VII. Nikephoritzes himself was captured and tortured to death, Nikephoritzes was born in the Bucellarian Theme and entered service in the imperial secretariat under Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos. Under Constantine X Doukas, he was sent away from the court to assume the governorship of Antioch, because he allegedly slandered the Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, following the emperors death and her assumption of the regency, he was imprisoned. He was released by the new emperor, Romanos IV Diogenes, and appointed as praetor of the themes of Hellas. Back in Constantinople, Nikephoritzes was appointed logothetes tou dromou, as the de facto ruler of the Byzantine Empire, Nikephoritzes set about reorganizing the state, trying to restore its strength and re-establish central control. His first priority was to replenish the treasury, for this he resorted to brutal taxation, which caused major hardship both in the provinces and in Constantinople. He also established a warehouse at Rhaidestos in an effort to centralize, regulate. According to Michael Attaleiates, admittedly a hostile source, his policies resulted in shortages in grain, by the winter of 1076/1077, Constantinople was experiencing famine. At the same time, a rebellion broke out in the Danubian province of Paristrion, because Nikephoritzes stopped payment of the subsidies to the local mixobarbaroi. The vestarches Nestor, who was sent to settle things, joined the rebellion, notably, the rebels demanded only one thing, the dismissal of Nikephoritzes, and when they took Rhaidestos, they burned down the corn warehouse. Nikephoritzes also tried to reform the army, and revived the regiment of the Immortals, although undeniably a capable administrator, his financial measures and centralizing tendencies were generally resented. In this, they focus especially on the monastery at Hebdomon, which he administrated, opposition coalesced around the Patriarch of Antioch Aemilian, an old enemy of Nikephoritzes from his time in Antioch, with support from several bishops and the capitals guilds. In addition, in the summer of 1077, Nikephoros Bryennios in the Balkans, Bryennios marched against Constantinople, hoping it would surrender, but the pillaging of its suburbs by his troops deterred the capitals inhabitants, and he had to retreat. In turn, a group of bishops opposing Nikephoritzes gathered in Hagia Sophia on January 7,1078, Nikephoritzes responded by forcibly removing them from the cathedral, for which he was excommunicated by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Nikephoritzes fled the capital and sought refuge in Heraclea Pontica, where Roussel de Bailleul was encamped, Roussel, however, had him arrested and delivered to the new emperor. Nikephoritzes was then exiled to the island of Prote and then Oxeia, where he was brutally tortured by the megas hetaireiarches Romanos Straboromanos and died as a result
19.
Bari
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Bari is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, the city itself has a population of about 326,799, as of 2015, over 116 square kilometres, while the urban area has 700,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area has 1.3 million inhabitants, Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the south is the Murat quarter, the heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan with a promenade on the sea. Modern residential zones surrounding the centre of Bari were built during the 1960s and 1970s replacing the old suburbs that had developed along roads splaying outwards from gates in the city walls, in addition, the outer suburbs developed rapidly during the 1990s. The city has an airport named after Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyła Airport. The city was founded by the Peucetii. Its harbour, mentioned as early as 181 BC, was probably the one of the districts in ancient times, as it is at present. The first historical bishop of Bari was Gervasius who was noted at the Council of Sardica in 347, the bishops were dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople until the 10th century. Until the arrival of the Normans, Bari continued to be governed by the Byzantines, throughout this period, and indeed throughout the Middle Ages, Bari served as one of the major slave depots of the Mediterranean, providing a central location for the trade in Slavic slaves. The city was conquered and the Emirate extinguished in 871, due to the efforts of Emperor Louis II, in 885, Bari became the residence of the local Byzantine catapan, or governor. In 1025, under the Archbishop Byzantius, Bari became attached to the see of Rome and was granted provincial status, in 1071, Bari was captured by Robert Guiscard, following a three-year siege. Maio of Bari, a Lombard merchants son, was the third of the admirals of Norman Sicily. The Basilica di San Nicola was founded in 1087 to receive the relics of this saint, the saint began his development from Saint Nicholas of Myra into Saint Nicholas of Bari and began to attract pilgrims, whose encouragement and care became central to the economy of Bari. In 1095 Peter the Hermit preached the first crusade there, the Greeks were not brought over to the Latin way of thinking, and the Great Schism was inevitable. A civil war broke out in Bari in 1117 with the murder of the archbishop, control of Bari was seized by Grimoald Alferanites, a native Lombard, and he was elected lord in opposition to the Normans. By 1123, he had increased ties with Byzantium and Venice, Grimoald increased the cult of St Nicholas in his city. He later did homage to Roger II of Sicily, but rebelled and was defeated in 1132, Bari was occupied by Manuel I Komnenos between 1155 and 1158
20.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
21.
Normans
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The Normans were the people who, in the 10th and 11th centuries, gave their name to Normandy, a region in France. They were descended from Norse raiders and pirates from Denmark, Iceland and Norway who, under their leader Rollo, through generations of assimilation and mixing with the native Frankish and Gallo-Roman populations, their descendants gradually adopted the Carolingian-based cultures of West Francia. The distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, the Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and military impact on medieval Europe and even the Near East. The Normans were famed for their spirit and eventually for their Christian piety. They adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled, their becoming known as Norman, Normaund or Norman French. The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant military accomplishments and their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the boys were orators. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war. The treaty offered Rollo and his men the French lands between the river Epte and the Atlantic coast in exchange for their protection against further Viking incursions. The area corresponded to the part of present-day Upper Normandy down to the river Seine. The territory was equivalent to the old province of Rouen. Before Rollos arrival, its populations did not differ from Picardy or the Île-de-France, the Norman language was forged by the adoption of the indigenous langue doïl branch of Romance by a Norse-speaking ruling class, and it developed into the regional language that survives today. The Normans thereafter adopted the growing feudal doctrines of the rest of France, the new Norman rulers were culturally and ethnically distinct from the old French aristocracy, most of whom traced their lineage to Franks of the Carolingian dynasty. Most Norman knights remained poor and land-hungry, and by 1066 Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation, many Normans of Italy, France and England eventually served as avid Crusaders under the Italo-Norman prince Bohemund I and the Anglo-Norman king Richard the Lion-Heart. Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold in Southern Italy, probably as the result of returning pilgrims stories, the Normans entered Southern Italy as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In 999, according to Amatus of Montecassino, Norman pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno when a Saracen attack occurred. The Normans fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar III begged them to stay, the Hauteville family achieved princely rank by proclaiming prince Guaimar IV of Salerno Duke of Apulia and Calabria. He promptly awarded their elected leader, William Iron Arm, with the title of count in his capital of Melfi
22.
Robert Guiscard
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Robert Guiscard was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become Count of Apulia and Calabria and his sobriquet, in contemporary Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, is often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel. In Italian sources he is often Roberto il Guiscardo or Roberto dAltavilla, from 999 to 1042 the Normans in Italy, coming first as pilgrims, were mainly mercenaries serving at various times the Byzantines and a number of Lombard nobles. The first of the independent Norman Lords was Rainulf Drengot who established himself in the fortress of Aversa becoming Count of Aversa, in 1038 there arrived William Iron-Arm and Drogo, the two eldest sons of Tancred of Hauteville, a petty noble of the Cotentin in Normandy. The two joined in the revolt of the Lombards against Byzantine control of Apulia, by 1040 the Byzantines had lost most of that province. Robert Guiscard was the son of Tancred of Hauteville and eldest by his second wife Fressenda. According to the Byzantine historian Anna Comnena, he left Normandy with only five mounted riders, upon arriving in Langobardia in 1047, he became the chief of a roving robber-band. He was a man of stature, surpassing even the biggest men, he had a ruddy complexion, fair hair, broad shoulders, eyes that all. In a well-built man one looks for breadth here and slimness there, in him all was admirably well-proportioned and elegant. Homer remarked of Achilles that when he shouted his hearers had the impression of a multitude in uproar, but Robert’s bellow, so they say, put tens of thousands to flight. Lands were scarce in Apulia at the time and the roving Guiscard could not expect any grant from Drogo, then reigning, Guiscard soon joined Prince Pandulf IV of Capua in his ceaseless wars with Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno. The next year, however, Guiscard left Pandulf, according to Amatus of Montecassino because Pandulf reneged on a promise of a castle, Guiscard returned to his brother Drogo and asked to be granted a fief. Drogo, who had just finished campaigning in Calabria, gave Guiscard command of the fortress of Scribla, dissatisfied with this position, Guiscard moved to the castle of San Marco Argentano. During his time in Calabria, Guiscard married his first wife, Alberada De Macon and she was the daughter of Reginald I, Count of Burgundy, also known as Renaud I De Macon, Baron of Buonalbergo, and Girard of Buonalbergo, and his wife Alice of Normandy. The Lombards turned against their allies, and Pope Leo IX determined to expel the Norman freebooters. His army was defeated, however, at the Battle of Civitate sul Fortore in 1053 by the Normans, Humphrey commanded the centre against the popes Swabian troops. Early in the battle Count Richard of Aversa, commanding the right van, put the Lombards to flight and chased them down, Guiscard had come all the way from Calabria to command the left. Honored for his actions at Civitate, Guiscard succeeded Humphrey as count of Apulia in 1057, in company with Roger, his youngest brother, Guiscard carried on the conquest of Apulia and Calabria, while Richard conquered the principality of Capua
23.
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
24.
Miliaresion
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The miliaresion, was a name used for a number of Byzantine silver coins. In its most specific sense, it refers to a type of silver coin struck in the 8th–11th centuries. Originally, the name was given to a series of coins issued in the 4th century that were struck 72 to the pound and were the equivalent of 1,000 nummi. Thereafter and until the 7th century, the Byzantines did not use silver coins, only from the reign of Emperor Theophilos did the coin become regular issue, struck throughout an emperors reign. In the 10th century, Emperor Alexander introduced a bust of Christ on the obverse and this process culminated in the 11th century, when images of emperors, Christ, and the Virgin Mary began to appear. In the 11th century, 2⁄3 and 1⁄3 fractions of the miliaresion also began to be minted and it was discontinued after 1092, except as a money of account equal to 1⁄12 of the nomisma. Under the Komnenian emperors, it was replaced by a very low-grade billon trachy coin, initially worth a quarter of a miliaresion. The miliaresion was essentially revived in the form of the basilikon issued from circa 1300 onwards, the name also passed into Western European languages, where milliarès was used for various kinds of Muslim silver coins. New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c. The Miliaresion Poet, The Dactylic Inscription on a Silver Coin of Romanos III Argyros, media related to Miliaresion at Wikimedia Commons
25.
Holy Crown of Hungary
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The Holy Crown of Hungary was the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary for most of its existence, kings have been crowned with it since the twelfth century. The Crown was bound to the Lands of the Hungarian Crown, no king of Hungary was regarded as having been truly legitimate without being crowned with it. In the history of Hungary, more than fifty kings were crowned with it, up to the last, Charles IV, the enamels on the crown are mainly or entirely Byzantine work, presumed to have been made in Constantinople in the 1070s. The crown was presented by the Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Doukas to King Géza I of Hungary and it is one of the two known Byzantine crowns to survive, the other being the slightly earlier Monomachus Crown, which is also in Budapest, in the Hungarian National Museum. However, the Monomachus Crown may have had another function, and the Holy Crown has probably been remodelled, the date assigned to the present configuration of the Holy Crown varies, but is most commonly put around the late 12th century. The Hungarian coronation insignia consists of the Holy Crown, the sceptre, the orb, the orb has the coat-of-arms of Charles I of Hungary. In popular tradition the Holy Crown was thought to be older, dating to the time of the first King Stephen I of Hungary and it was first called the Holy Crown in 1256. During the 14th century, royal power came to be represented not simply by a crown, but by just one specific object and he also depicts that the Holy Crown is the same for the Hungarians as the Lost Ark is for the Jewish. Since 2000, the Holy Crown has been on display in the central Domed Hall of the Hungarian Parliament Building, the Crown’s shape is elliptic and is larger than a human head. During coronations, the king had to wear a leather liner, made to fit. The weight of the Crown is 2056 g, the gold-silver alloys in the upper and the lower parts of the Crown differ in alloy ratio. The lower part of the Crown is asymmetric, as is the case with all European Christian crowns, it symbolizes a halo and thus signifies that the wearer rules by Divine Right. According to popular tradition, St Stephen I held up the crown during the coronation to offer it to the Nagyboldogasszony to seal a contract between her and the divine crown. After this, the Nagyboldogasszony was depicted not only as patrona for the Kingdom of Hungary and this contract was supposed to empower the crown with divine force to help the future kings of Hungary and did help reinforce the political system based on the so-called Doctrine of the Holy Crown. Péter Révay, a Crown Guard, expounded this doctrine in his works Commentarius De Sacra Regni Hungariae Corona, at the core of this doctrine was the notion that the crown itself had personhood and as a legal entity is identical to the state of Hungary. It is superior to the monarch, who rules in the name of the crown. It was created during the reign of Béla III under Byzantine influence, the crowning of Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, who was later canonized Saint Stephen, marks the beginning of Hungarian statehood. The date is given as Christmas 1000 or 1 January 1001
26.
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
27.
Caesar (title)
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Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, the change from being a familial name to a title adopted by the Roman Emperors can be dated to about AD 68/69, the so-called Year of the Four Emperors. For political and personal reasons Octavian chose to emphasize his relationship with Caesar by styling himself simply Imperator Caesar, without any of the other elements of his full name. His successor as emperor, his stepson Tiberius, also bore the name as a matter of course, born Tiberius Claudius Nero, he was adopted by Caesar Augustus on June 26,4 AD, as Tiberius Julius Caesar. The precedent was set, the Emperor designated his successor by adopting him, Claudius in turn adopted his stepson and grand-nephew Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, giving him the name Caesar in the traditional way, his stepson would rule as the Emperor Nero. Galba helped solidify Caesar as the title of the heir by giving it to his own adopted heir. Galbas reign did not last long and he was deposed by Marcus Otho. Otho did not at first use the title Caesar and occasionally used the title Nero as emperor, Otho was then defeated by Aulus Vitellius who acceded with the name Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Imperator Augustus. Vitellius did not adopt the cognomen Caesar as part of his name, vespasians son, Titus Flavius Vespasianus became Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus. By this point the status of Caesar had been regularised into that of a given to the Emperor-designate. After some variation among the earliest emperors, the style of the Emperor-designate on coins was usually Nobilissimus Caesar Most Noble Caesar, on March 1,293, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus established the Tetrarchy, a system of rule by two senior Emperors and two junior sub-Emperors. The two coequal senior emperors were styled identically to previous Emperors, as Imperator Caesar NN, pius Felix Invictus Augustus, and were called the Augusti, while the two junior sub-Emperors were styled identically to previous Emperors-designate, as Nobilissimus Caesar. Likewise, the junior sub-Emperors retained the title Caesar upon accession to the senior position, an exceptional case was the conferment of the dignity and its insignia to the Bulgarian khan Tervel by Justinian II who had helped him regain his throne in 705. The title was awarded to the brother of Empress Maria of Alania, according to the Klētorologion of 899, the Byzantine Caesars insignia were a crown without a cross, and the ceremony of a Caesars creation, is included in De Ceremoniis I.43. The title remained the highest in the hierarchy until the introduction of the sebastokratōr by Alexios I Komnenos. The title remained in existence through the last centuries of the Empire, in the late Byzantine hierarchy, as recorded in the mid-14th century Book of Offices of pseudo-Kodinos, the rank continued to come after the sebastokratōr. Pseudo-Kodinos writes that the forms of another form of hat, the domed skaranikon, and of the mantle. In the Middle East, the Persians and the Arabs continued to refer to the Roman and Byzantine emperors as Caesar
28.
Malik-Shah I
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Jalāl al-Dawla Muizz al-Dunyā Wal-Din Abul-Fatḥ ibn Alp Arslān, better known by his regnal name of Malik-Shah I, was sultan of the Seljuq Empire from 1072 to 1092. During his youth, he spent his time participating in the campaigns of his father Alp Arslan, during one of such campaigns in 1072, Alp Arslan was fatally wounded and died only a few days later. After that, Malik-Shah was crowned as the new sultan of the empire, however, Malik-Shah did not access the throne peacefully, and had to fight his uncle Qavurt, who claimed the throne. Although Malik-Shah was the head of the Seljuq state, the vizier Nizam al-Mulk held near absolute power during his reign. Malik-Shah spent the rest of rest waging war against the Karakhanids on the eastern side, Malik-Shahs death to this day remains under dispute, according to some scholars, he was poisoned by the Caliph, while others say that he was poisoned by the supporters of Nizam al-Mulk. Although he was known by names, he was mostly known as Malik-Shah, a combination of the Arabic word malik. Malik-Shah was born on 16 August 1055 and spent his youth in Isfahan, according to the 12th-century Persian historian Muhammad bin Ali Rawandi, Malik-Shah had fair skin, was tall and somewhat bulky. In 1064, Malik-Shah, only 9 years old by then, along with Nizam al-Mulk, the same year, Malik-Shah was married to Terken Khatun, the daughter of the Karakhanid khan Ibrahim Tamghach-Khan. In 1066, Alp Arslan arranged a ceremony near Merv, where he appointed Malik-Shah as his heir, in 1071, Malik-Shah took part in the Syrian campaign of his father, and stayed in Aleppo when his father fought the Byzantine emperor Romanos IV Diogenes at Manzikert. In 1072, Malik-Shah and Nizam al-Mulk accompanied Alp-Arslan during his campaign in Transoxiana against the Karakhanids, however, Alp-Arslan was badly wounded during his expedition, and Malik-Shah shortly took over the army. Alp-Arslan died some days later, and Malik-Shah was declared as the new sultan of the empire, Malik-Shah then replied by sending the following message, A brother does not inherit when there is a son. This message enraged Qavurt, who thereafter occupied Isfahan, in 1073 a battle took place near Hamadan, which lasted three days. Qavurt was accompanied by his seven sons, and his army consisted of Turkmens, while the army of Malik-Shah consisted of ghulams and contingents of Kurdish, during the battle, the Turks of Malik-Shahs army mutinied against him, but he nevertheless managed to defeat and capture Qavurt. Qavurt then begged for mercy and in return promised to retire to Oman, however, Nizam al-Mulk declined the offer, claiming that sparing him was an indication of weakness. After some time, Qavurt was strangled to death with a bowstring, after having dealt with that problem, Malik-Shah appointed Qutlugh-Tegin as the governor of Fars and Sav-Tegin as the governor of Kerman. Malik-Shah eventually managed to repel the Karakhanids and captured Tirmidh, giving Sav-Tegin the key of the city, Malik-Shah then appointed his other brother Shihab al-Din Tekish as the ruler of Tukharistan and Balkh. In 1074, Malik-Shah ordered the Turkic warlord Arghar to restore what he had destroyed during his raids in the territory of the Shirvanshah Fariburz I, during the same year, he appointed Qavurts son Rukn al-Dawla Sultan-Shah as the ruler of Kerman. One year later, Malik-Shah sent an army under Sav-Tegin to Arran, Sav-Tegin managed to easily conquer the region, thus ending Shaddadid rule
29.
Monastery of Stoudios
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The residents of the monastery were referred to as Stoudites. The ruins of the monastery are situated not far from the Propontis in the section of the city called Psamathia and it was founded in 462 by the consul Flavius Studius, a Roman patrician who had settled in Constantinople, and was consecrated to Saint John the Baptist. Its first monks came from the monastery of Acoemetae and they were driven from the monastery and the city by Emperor Constantine V, after his death however, some of them returned. Hegumenos Sabas of Stoudios zealously defended the Orthodox doctrines against the Iconoclasts at the Seventh Ecumenical Council in Nicaea and his successor was Theodore the Studite to whom the monastery owes most of its fame, and who especially fostered academic and spiritual study. During St. Theodores administration also the monks were harassed and driven away several times, Theodores pupil, Naukratios, re-established discipline after the Iconoclastic dispute had come to an end. Hegumenos Nicholas refused to recognize the Patriarch St. Photios and was on this account imprisoned in his own monastery and he was succeeded by five abbots who recognized the patriarch. The brilliant period of the Stoudios came to an end at this time, as regards the intellectual life of the monastery in other directions, it is especially celebrated for its famous school of calligraphy which was established by Theodore. The art of illumination was cultivated, with many brilliant products of the monastic scriptorium now residing in Venice, Vatican City. The Theodore Psalter, created at the monastery in the century is in the collection of the British Library. In the eighth and eleventh centuries, the monastery was the centre of Byzantine religious poetry, besides Theodore and Niketas, a number of other theological writers are known. Three of the Stoudite monks rose to become the ecumenical patriarchs, in 1204, the monastery was destroyed by the Crusaders and was not fully restored until 1290, by Constantine Palaiologos. The Russian pilgrims Anthony and Stephen were amazed by the size of the monastic grounds and it is thought that the cloister sheltered as much as 700 monks at the time. The greater part of the monastery was destroyed when the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453. The ancient structure sustained damage from the great fires of 1782 and 1920. The church building, presently a museum, after the end of its restoration in 2014 had plans to be converted into a mosque. Degrees of Orthodox monasticism History of Eastern Orthodox Christianity Sabas of Stoudios This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles. Official Website of the Ecumenical Patriarch | Studius Media related to Monastery of Stoudios at Wikimedia Commons Byzantium 1200 | Monastery of Saint John of Stoudios
30.
Metropolitan of Ephesus
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The Metropolis of Ephesus was an ecclesiastical territory of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in western Asia Minor, modern Turkey. Christianity in the city of Ephesus, was introduced already from 1st century AD by Paul the Apostle, the local Christian community comprised one of the seven churches of Asia mentioned at the Book of Revelation, written by John the Apostle. The metropolis remained active until 1922-1923, there had been a Jewish community at Ephesus for over three hundred years when Paul the Apostle visited Ephesus around 53 AD. Paul set out on his third missionary journey in 54 AD. He spent three months teaching in a synagogue in an effort to bring the Jews to accept union with the gentiles in Christianity, for the next two years he stayed in Ephesus seeking to convert Hellenized Jews and gentiles, and appears to have made many converts. The Apostle John was traditionally said to have come to Ephesus during the period when Agrippa I was suppressing the church of Jerusalem, there are records of John being arrested by the Emperor Domitian. He was released late in his life and returned to Ephesus, tradition says that the Virgin Mary lived in Ephesus near to John. Apollos, a Jew from Alexandria who was a disciple of John the Baptist, arrived in Ephesus and met with Aquila and Priscilla. Christian canon identifies the Epistle to the Ephesians as a letter to the church in Ephesus, based on these traditions, it is generally believed that the city hosted a significant Christian community already from the 1st-2nd centuries. It is also thought that Mary Magdalene also lived there, moreover, according to the Christian tradition, the first bishop of Ephesus was Apostle Timothy, student of the Apostle Paul. Until the 4th century AD, Christianity and Paganism co-existed in the city, Τhis is mainly evident from the conversion of religious monuments, the increased use of Christian symbols, as well as the destruction of various pagan places of worship. The apostle John has his grave in Ephesus, although Ephesian ambitions were backed by Constantinoples rival, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 its claims suffered a decisive blow. These were major setbacks, which the award of the title of Exarch of the Diocese of Asia to the metropolitans of Ephesus could not ameliorate, in the 5th century, the metropolis was involved in various ecclesiastical disputes. The First Council of Ephesus was held in 431 AD, Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria presided at the First Council, which was called by the Emperor Theodosius II to resolve the Nestorian controversy. Memnon, the Bishop of Ephesos, supported Cyril in condemning the archbishop of Constantinople, Nestorius, the trial was held hastily, before the eastern supporters of Nestorius could arrive. When the eastern delegation led by John of Antioch arrived they were scandalized at what had happened and they found Cyril and Memnon guilty and imprisoned them, drawing a stern rebuke from the Emperor. Cyril bribed government officials to regain his position, Patriarch Akakios of Constantinople refused to accept these decisions and forced the Emperor to annul them. The bishops of the Diocese of Asia had to renounce the decisions of that council, while the metropolitan of Ephesus, among the most important metropolitans of 6th-century Ephesus were Hypatius and John. The former launched a campaign against Monophysitism and closely cooperated with Emperor Justinian I on various ecclesiastical issues
31.
History of the Song dynasty
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The Song dynasty of China was a ruling dynasty that controlled China proper and southern China from the middle of the 10th century into the last quarter of the 13th century. However, it was also a period of political and military turmoil, with opposing and often aggressive political factions formed at court, the frontier management policies of the Chancellor Wang Anshi exacerbated hostile conditions along the Chinese-Vietnamese border, sparking a border war with the Lý dynasty. It was there that new naval strength was developed to combat the Jurchens Jin dynasty formed in the north, the Later Zhou was the last of the Five Dynasties that had controlled northern China after the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907. Zhao Kuangyin, later known as Emperor Taizu, usurped the throne from the Zhou with the support of commanders in 960. Upon taking the throne, his first goal was the reunification of China after half a century of political division. This included the conquests of Nanping, Wu-Yue, Southern Han, Later Shu, and Southern Tang in the south as well as the Northern Han and the Sixteen Prefectures in the north. With capable military officers such as Yang Ye, Liu Tingrang, Cao Bin and Huyan Zan, consolidation in the south was completed in 978, with the conquest of Wu-Yue. Song military forces then turned north against the Northern Han, which fell to Song forces in 979, however, efforts to take the Sixteen Prefectures were unsuccessful and they were incorporated into the Liao state based in Manchuria to the immediate north instead. Although the Song state was evenly matched against the Liao dynasty, after political consolidation through military conquest, Emperor Taizu held a famous banquet inviting many of the high-ranking military officers that had served him in Songs various conquests. As his military officers drank wine and feasted with Taizu, he spoke to them about the potential of a coup against him like those of Five Dynasties era. His military officers protested against this notion, and insisted that none were as qualified as him to lead the country, the passage of this account in the Song Shi follows as such, The emperor said, The life of man is short. Happiness is to have the wealth and means to enjoy life and this system of civilian rule led to a greater concentration of power in the central government headed by the emperor than had been possible during the previous dynasties. Although new municipal governments were established, the same number of prefectures and provinces were in existence as before the Song came to power. In 971, he ordered Lu Duosun to update and re-write all the Tu Jing in the world, nonetheless, he traveled throughout the provinces to collect illustrative gazetteers and as much data as possible. With the aid of Song Zhun, the work was completed in 1010. The later Song Shi historical text stated, Yuan Hsieh was Director-General of governmental grain stores. In pursuance of his schemes for the relief of famines he issued orders that each pao should prepare a map which would show the fields and mountains, the rivers and the roads in fullest detail. The maps of all the pao were joined together to make a map of the tu, and these in turn were joined with others to make a map of the hsiang, Taizu also displayed a strong interest in science and technology
32.
Sino-Roman relations
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These empires inched progressively closer in the course of the Roman expansion into the ancient Near East and simultaneous Han Chinese military incursions into Central Asia. Mutual awareness remained low and firm knowledge about each other was limited, only a few attempts at direct contact are known from records. Intermediate empires such as the Parthians and Kushans, seeking to maintain control over the silk trade. In 97 AD, the Chinese general Ban Chao tried to send his envoy Gan Ying to Rome, several alleged Roman emissaries to China were recorded by ancient Chinese historians. The first one on record, supposedly from either the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius or his adopted son Marcus Aurelius, others are recorded as arriving in 226 and 284 AD, with a long absence until the first recorded Byzantine embassy in 643 AD. The indirect exchange of goods on land along the Silk Road and sea routes included Chinese silk, Roman glassware, Roman glasswares and silverwares have been discovered at Chinese archaeological sites dated to the Han period. Roman coins and glass beads have also found in Japan. In Chinese records, the Roman Empire came to be known as Daqin or Great Qin, Daqin was directly associated with the later Fulin in Chinese sources, which has been identified by scholars such as Friedrich Hirth as the Byzantine Empire. Chinese sources describe several embassies of Fulin arriving in China during the Tang dynasty, geographers in the Roman Empire such as Ptolemy provided a rough sketch of the eastern Indian Ocean, including the Malay Peninsula and beyond this the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea. Ptolemys Cattigara was most likely Óc Eo, Vietnam, where Antonine-era Roman items have been found, ancient Chinese geographers demonstrated a general knowledge of West Asia and Romes eastern provinces. The 7th-century AD Byzantine historian Theophylact Simocatta wrote of the reunification of northern and southern China. Roman authors generally seem to have demonstrated some confusion as to where the Seres were located precisely, the historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that the land of the Seres was enclosed by great natural walls around a river called Bautis, possibly a description of the Yellow River. While the existence of China was clearly known to Roman cartographers, Ptolemys 2nd-century AD Geography separates the Land of Silk at the end of the overland Silk Road from the land of the Qin reached by sea. The Sinae are placed on the shore of the Great Gulf east of the Golden Peninsula. Their chief port, Cattigara, seems to have been in the lower Mekong Delta, much of this is simply given as unknown lands, but the northeastern area is placed under the Sinae. The Periplus also mentions a great city, Thinae in a country called This that perhaps stretched as far as the Caspian. The text notes that silk produced there traveled to neighboring India via the Ganges River, marinus and Ptolemy had relied on the testimony of a Greek sailor named Alexander, probably a merchant, for how to reach Cattigara. Alexandros claimed that it took twenty days to sail from Thailand to a port called Zabia in southern Vietnam, according to him, one could continue along the coast from Zabia until reaching the trade port of Cattigara after an unspecified number of days
33.
Tang dynasty
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The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is generally regarded as a point in Chinese civilization. Its territory, acquired through the campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. The dynasty was founded by the Lǐ family, who seized power during the decline, the dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population by number of registered households at about 50 million people. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also conquered or subdued several regions which it controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful influence over neighboring states such as those in Korea, Japan. Like the previous Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty maintained a service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardized examinations and recommendations to office. This civil order was undermined by the rise of military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century. Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang era, it is considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Two of Chinas most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, there was a rich variety of historical literature compiled by scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographical works. The adoption of the title Tängri Qaghan by the Tang Emperor Taizong in addition to his title as emperor was eastern Asias first simultaneous kingship, there were many notable innovations during the Tang, including the development of woodblock printing. Buddhism became an influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, Buddhism would later be persecuted by the state, subsequently declining in influence, although the dynasty and central government were in decline by the 9th century, art and culture continued to flourish. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage, which includes the Tang poet Li Bai, the Tang Emperors also had Xianbei maternal ancestry, from Emperor Gaozu of Tangs Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu. He had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang, who raised and commanded her own troops. In winter 617, Li Yuan occupied Changan, relegated Emperor Yang to the position of Taishang Huang or retired emperor, and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor, Emperor Gong of Sui. On the news of Emperor Yangs murder by General Yuwen Huaji on June 18,618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, the Tang
34.
Ma Duanlin
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Mă Duānlín was a Chinese historical writer and encyclopaedist. In 1317 he published the comprehensive Chinese encyclopedia Wenxian Tongkao in 348 volumes and he was born to the family of Southern Song Minister of the East Ma Tingluan, who had an extensive collection of historical documents. From 1273, Ma Duanlin started the compilation of the Wenxian Tongkao using his fathers collection, after the death of his father, Ma Duanlin was called to serve the Yuan dynasty and later played an important role in reviving the educational system of China. Ma Duanlin describes Champa, Chi Tu, Pan Pan, the Khmer Empire, Wenxian Tongkao Comprehensive Studies in Administration — Chinaknowledge. de. Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven, and Jennifer W. Jay, East Asian Cultural and Historical Perspectives, Histories and Society--culture, university of Alberta Research Institute for Comparative Literature and Cross-Cultural Studies,1997
35.
Byzantium
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Byzantium was an ancient Greek colony that later became Constantinople, and later still Istanbul. Byzantium was colonised by the Greeks from Megara in c. 657 BC, the etymology of Byzantion is unknown. It has been suggested that the name is of Thraco-Illyrian origin and it may be derived from a Thracian or Illyrian personal name, Byzas. Ancient Greek legend refers to a king Byzas, the leader of the Megarian colonists, the form Byzantium is a Latinisation of the original name. Much later, the name Byzantium became common in the West to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire and this usage was introduced only in 1555 by the historian Hieronymus Wolf, a century after the empire had ceased to exist. During the time of the empire, the term Byzantium was restricted to just the city, the European side featured only two fishing settlements, Lygos and Semistra. The origins of Byzantium are shrouded in legend, the traditional legend has it that Byzas from Megara founded Byzantium in 667 BC when he sailed northeast across the Aegean Sea. The tradition tells that Byzas, son of King Nisos, planned to found a colony of the Dorian Greek city of Megara, Byzas consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, which instructed Byzas to settle opposite the Land of the Blind. Leading a group of Megarian colonists, Byzas found a location where the Golden Horn and he adjudged the Chalcedonians blind not to have recognized the advantages the land on the European side of the Bosphorus had over the Asiatic side. In 667 BC he founded Byzantium at their location, thus fulfilling the oracles requirement and it was mainly a trading city due to its location at the Black Seas only entrance. Byzantium later conquered Chalcedon, across the Bosporus on the Asiatic side, Byzantium was besieged by Greek forces during the Peloponnesian War. As part of Spartas strategy for cutting off supplies to Athens. The Athenian military later took the city in 408 BC, after siding with Pescennius Niger against the victorious Septimius Severus, the city was besieged by Roman forces and suffered extensive damage in 196 AD. Byzantium was rebuilt by Septimius Severus, now emperor, and quickly regained its previous prosperity and it was bound to Perinthos during the period of Septimius Severus. The location of Byzantium attracted Roman Emperor Constantine I who, in 330 AD, after his death the city was called Constantinople. This combination of imperialism and location would affect Constantinoples role as the nexus between the continents of Europe and Asia and it was a commercial, cultural, and diplomatic centre. With its strategic position, Constantinople controlled the trade routes between Asia and Europe, as well as the passage from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. On May 29,1453, the city fell to the Ottoman Turks, and again became the capital of a powerful state, the Turks called the city Istanbul, the name derives from eis-tin-polin
36.
Song dynasty
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The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and continued until 1279. It succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, coincided with the Liao and Western Xia dynasties and it was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money nationally and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as the first discernment of true north using a compass, the Song dynasty is divided into two distinct periods, Northern and Southern. During the Northern Song, the Song capital was in the city of Bianjing. The Southern Song refers to the period after the Song lost control of its half to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. During this time, the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze, the Southern Song dynasty considerably bolstered its naval strength to defend its waters and land borders and to conduct maritime missions abroad. To repel the Jin, and later the Mongols, the Song developed revolutionary new military technology augmented by the use of gunpowder, in 1234, the Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and his younger brother Kublai Khan was proclaimed the new Great Khan, though his claim was only partially recognized by the Mongols in the west. In 1271, Kublai Khan was proclaimed the Emperor of China, after two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khans armies conquered the Song dynasty in 1279. The Mongol invasion led to a reunification under the Yuan dynasty, the population of China doubled in size during the 10th and 11th centuries. The Northern Song census recorded a population of roughly 50 million, much like the Han and this data is found in the Standard Histories. However, it is estimated that the Northern Song had a population of some 100 million people and this dramatic increase of population fomented an economic revolution in pre-modern China. The expansion of the population, growth of cities, and the emergence of a national economy led to the withdrawal of the central government from direct involvement in economic affairs. The lower gentry assumed a role in grassroots administration and local affairs. Appointed officials in county and provincial centers relied upon the gentry for their services, sponsorship. Social life during the Song was vibrant, citizens gathered to view and trade precious artworks, the populace intermingled at public festivals and private clubs, and cities had lively entertainment quarters. The spread of literature and knowledge was enhanced by the expansion of woodblock printing. Technology, science, philosophy, mathematics, and engineering flourished over the course of the Song, although the institution of the civil service examinations had existed since the Sui dynasty, it became much more prominent in the Song period
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Emperor Shenzong of Song
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Emperor Shenzong of Song, personal name Zhao Xu, was the sixth emperor of the Song dynasty in China. His original personal name was Zhao Zhongzhen but he changed it to Zhao Xu after his coronation and he reigned from 1067 until his death in 1085. During his reign, Emperor Shenzong became interested in Wang Anshis policies, Wang implemented his famous New Policies aimed at improving the situation for the peasantry and unemployed, which some have seen as a forerunner of the modern welfare state. These acts became the hallmark reform of Emperor Shenzongs reign, Emperor Shenzong sent failed campaigns against the Vietnamese ruler Lý Nhân Tông of the Lý dynasty in 1076. Emperor Shenzongs other notable act as emperor was his attempt to weaken the Tangut-led Western Xia state by invading and expelling the Western Xia forces from Gansu Province. The Song army was quite successful at these campaigns, but during the battle for the city of Yongle, in 1082. As a result, Western Xia grew more powerful and subsequently continued to be a thorn in the side of the Song Empire over the ensuing decades and this book records historical events from the Zhou dynasty to the Song dynasty. Aside from the ancient Roman embassies to Han and Three-Kingdoms era China, however, from Chinese records it is known that Michael VII Doukas of Fo lin dispatched a diplomatic mission to Chinas Song dynasty that arrived in 1081, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong. Emperor Shenzong died in 1085 at the age of 36 and was succeeded by his son, Emperor Shenzongs younger sister was married to Wang Shen. Wang Anshi Shen Kuo List of emperors of the Song dynasty Song dynasty
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Paristrion
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Paristrion, or Paradounabon/Paradounabis, which is preferred in official documents, was a Byzantine province covering the southern bank of the Lower Danube in the 11th and 12th centuries. Although Byzantine authors use the term to describe the lands along the Danube in general and it was governed by a katepano or a doux, and was probably based at Dorostolon, where a Byzantine strategia is indeed attested in the 970s. In the aftermath of his victory over the Rus, Emperor John I Tzimiskes appointed general Leo Sarakenopoulos as commander over north-eastern Bulgaria, based at Pereyaslavets/Ioannopolis. Sarakenopoulos and his subordinates engaged in major fortification activities in the region of the Dobruja over the few years. The region however fell back under Bulgarian control under the Cometopuli brothers in 986 and was held until c,1001, when Byzantine control was re-established. Bănescu, however, considered that Dorostolon at least remained in Byzantine hands throughout, from the 1030s on, the region faced the continuous raids of the Pechenegs. Despite occasional Cuman raids thereafter, the Paristrion remained largely peaceful, the province seems to have been disbanded by the late 12th century
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Philaretos Brachamios
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Philaretos Brachamios was a distinguished Byzantine general and warlord of Armenian heritage, and for a time was a usurper against emperor Michael VII. Philaretos is attested on seals as taxiarches, as well as protospatharios and topoteretes of the Tagmata of Cappadocia, then as magistros and doux, noted for his cruelty and greed, Philaretos held a high command in the army of Romanus IV Diogenes. In 1069 he was given the command of the main Byzantine army that was protecting the frontier of Mesopotamia while Romanus participated in the siege of Akhlat. He was defeated by the Seljuk Turks who advanced deep into Cappadocia and Lycaonia and he was present at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, where he commanded a division of Romanus army, and remained at the head of a considerable body of troops after the disaster. In the aftermath of the battle, he commanded the forces of the fortress Romanopolis, as the only remaining Byzantine general in the southeast he established a quasi-autonomous realm in the neighbourhood of Germanicia, which stretched from Cilicia to Edessa. The core of his army was composed of 8,000 Franks under Raimbaud, in 1078, at the beginning of the rule of Nikephoros III Botaneiates, he agreed to abandon his imperial claims on condition that Botaneiates appoint him as the duke of Antioch, which included Edessa. Several seals testify him as megas domestikos and protokouropalates, then sebastos and he retained his dukedom until the Turks began to press heavily upon him. In December 1084, he lost Antioch to Suleiman I, Sultan of Rum, in 1087, Edessa fell to Malik Shah and Philaretos escaped back to the fortress of Germanikeia, however, some sources indicate that he died in 1086. He was the last well-known Domestic of the Schools of the East and his sons handed Germanikeia to the First Crusade in 1098. Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Chronicles of Matthew of Edessa, translation by A. Dostourian, Armenia and the Crusades, 10th to 12th Centuries. The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa Canduci, Alexander, Triumph & Tragedy, The Rise and Fall of Romes Immortal Emperors, Pier 9, ISBN 978-1-74196-598-8 Gravett, Christopher, the Normans, Warrior Knights and their Castles
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Bagrat IV of Georgia
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Bagrat IV, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the King of Georgia from 1027 to 1072. During his long and eventful reign, Bagrat sought to repress the great nobility and to secure Georgias sovereignty from the Byzantine, like many medieval Caucasian rulers, he bore several Byzantine titles, particularly those of nobelissimos, curopalates, and sebastos. He was the son of the king George I by his first wife Mariam of Vaspurakan, at the age of three, Bagrat was surrendered by his father as a hostage to the Byzantine emperor Basil II as a price for George’s defeat in the 1022 war with the Byzantines. The young child Bagrat spent the three years in the imperial capital of Constantinople and was released in 1025. He was still in the Byzantine possessions when Basil died and was succeeded by his brother Constantine VIII, Constantine ordered the retrieval of the young prince, but the imperial courier was unable to overtake Bagrat – he was already in the Georgian kingdom. After George I died in 1027, Bagrat, aged eight, queen Dowager Mariam then returned to prominence and became a regent for her underage son. She shared the regency with the grandees, particularly Liparit IV, Duke of Trialeti, by the time Bagrat became king, the Bagratids’ drive to complete the unification of all Georgian lands had gained irreversible momentum. Furthermore, the loyalty of great nobles to the Georgian crown was far from stable, during Bagrat’s minority, the regency had advanced the positions of the high nobility whose influence he subsequently tried to limit when he assumed full ruling powers. Simultaneously, the Georgian crown was confronted with two formidable external foes, the Byzantine Empire and the resurgent Seljuq Turks, several Georgians nobles defected to the Byzantines, but Bagrats loyal subjects put up a stubborn fight. Constantines death in 1028 rendered the Byzantine invasion abortive, and, in 1030 and she negotiated a peace treaty, and returned with the high Byzantine title of curopalates for his son in 1032. Mariam also brought him a Byzantine princess Helena as wife, Helena was a daughter of Basil Argyros, brother of the emperor Romanos, and the marriage was a diplomatic effort to establish a strategic association. In 1033, the court faced another dynastic trouble, this time with Bagrats half-brother Demetre. Demetre and Alda lived in Anacopia, a fortress in Abkhazia, threatened by Bagrat, the dowager queen Alda defected to the Byzantines and surrendered Anacopia to the emperor Romanos III who honored her son Demetre with the rank of magistros. In 1039, Demetre returned to Georgia with Byzantine troops and this time, he was supported by Liparit IV, of the Liparitid clan, the most powerful noble in Georgia. Liparit, as duke of the district of Trialeti and later as a commander-in-chief of the armies, had appeared as the defender of a boy-king Bagrat early in the 1030s. Liparit’s military prowess had been demonstrated once again in 1034 when, at the head of a combined Georgian-Armenian army, in 1038, Liparit was on the verge of capturing the ancient Georgian capital of Tbilisi, which had been a Muslim stronghold since the 8th century. Fearing his growing power, the Georgian nobles persuaded Bagrat to withdraw Liparit’s army, as a result, Liparit became a sworn enemy of the king and began actively cooperating with the Byzantines for vengeance on Bagrat and his nobles. On behalf of the pretender Demetre, Liparit enjoyed a series of successes against Bagrat, in spite of Demetre’s death in 1042, Liparit continued his struggle in alliance with the Byzantines and David I of Lorri
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Fordham University
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Fordham University is a private, independent research university in New York City, founded by the Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841. It is the oldest Catholic institution of education in the northeastern United States. The colleges first president, John McCloskey, was also the first Catholic cardinal in the United States, after merging with Thomas More College in 1974, Fordham became a coeducational institution. Fordhams Bronx campus features some of the earliest examples of gothic architecture in North America. In addition to masters and doctoral degrees, Fordham awards the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science. In addition to locations, the university maintains a study abroad center in the United Kingdom and field offices in Spain. Fordhams notable alumni and faculty include numerous U. S, vice Chief of Staff of the Army, a U. S. Postmaster General, a U. S. Attorney General, a U. S, vice Presidential candidate, and a President of the United States. Fordham University has produced at least 119 Fulbright Scholars since 2003, Fordham was founded as St. Johns College in 1841 by the Irish-born coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of New York, the Most Reverend John J. Hughes. The college was the first Catholic institution of education in the northeastern United States. Rose Hill was the originally given to the site in 1787 by its owner, Robert Watts. The seminary was paired with St. Johns College, which opened at Rose Hill with a student body of six on June 21,1841, the Reverend John McCloskey was the schools first president, and the faculty were secular priests and lay instructors. In 1845, the church, Our Lady of Mercy, was built. The same year, Bishop Hughes convinced several Jesuit priests from the St. Marys Colleges in Maryland, in 1846, the college received its charter from the New York State Legislature, and roughly three months later, the first Jesuits began to arrive. Bishop Hughes deeded the college over but retained title to the seminary property, in 1847, Fordhams first school in Manhattan opened. The school became the independently chartered College of St. Francis Xavier in 1861 and it was also in 1847 that the American poet Edgar Allan Poe arrived in the village of Fordham and began a friendship with the college Jesuits that would last throughout his life. In 1849, he published his famed work The Bells, some traditions credit the colleges church bells as the inspiration for this poem. Poe also spent considerable time in the Fordham Library, and even stayed overnight
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Byzantine Emperor
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This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Emperors listed below up to Theodosius I in 395 were sole or joint rulers of the entire Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire following the division of the Roman Empire in 395. All Byzantine emperors considered themselves to be the rightful Roman emperor in direct succession from Augustus, the title of all Emperors preceding Heraclius was officially Augustus, although other titles such as Dominus were also used. Their names were preceded by Imperator Caesar and followed by Augustus, following Heraclius, the title commonly became the Greek Basileus, which had formerly meant sovereign but was then used in place of Augustus. Following the establishment of the rival Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe, in later centuries, the Emperor could be referred to by Western Christians as the Emperor of the Greeks. Towards the end of the Empire, the standard formula of the Byzantine ruler was in Christ, Emperor. For Roman emperors before Constantine I, see List of Roman emperors, family tree of the Byzantine emperors List of Roman emperors List of Roman usurpers List of Byzantine usurpers List of Roman and Byzantine empresses
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Michael: Michael VII". Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 359.