query: who was the capital of the byzantine empire named after

pos: Constantinople Constantinople Constantinople (; ) was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire (330–1204 and 1261–1453), and also of the brief Crusader state known as the Latin Empire (1204–1261), until finally falling to the Ottoman (1453–1923) empire. It was reinaugurated in 324 from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, and dedicated on 11 May 330. The city was largely located in what is now the European side and the core of modern Istanbul. From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and

pos: Constantinople Constantinople Constantinople (; ) was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire (330–1204 and 1261–1453), and also of the brief Crusader state known as the Latin Empire (1204–1261), until finally falling to the Ottoman (1453–1923) empire. It was reinaugurated in 324 from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, and dedicated on 11 May 330. The city was largely located in what is now the European side and the core of modern Istanbul. From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and

pos: Constantinople purported clepsydra mounted with a golden statue of a man. The Chinese histories even related how the city had been besieged in the 7th century by Muawiyah I and how he exacted tribute in a peace settlement. Constantinople Constantinople (; ) was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire (330–1204 and 1261–1453), and also of the brief Crusader state known as the Latin Empire (1204–1261), until finally falling to the Ottoman (1453–1923) empire. It was reinaugurated in 324 from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, and

pos: Western world the Western Roman Empire" and beginning of the Early Middle Ages. The Eastern Roman Empire surviving the fall of the Western, protected Roman legal and cultural traditions, combining them with Greek and Christian elements, for another thousand years. The name Byzantine Empire was used after the Byzantine Empire ended, the inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire continued to call themselves Romans for long time as the term “Roman” was meant to signify all Christians. In the early 4th century (AD 330), Roman Emperor Constantine the Great had established the city of Constantinople (formerly Byzantium) as the capital of the Eastern Roman

neg: Sremska Mitrovica world. In the 11th century, Sirmium was a residence of Sermon, a duke of Syrmia, who was a vassal of the Bulgarian Samuil. After 1018, the city was again included into the Byzantine Empire, and since the end of the 11th century, Sirmium was a subject of a dispute between the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, until 1180 when the Byzantine Empire gave up Sirmium, surrendering it to the Kingdom of Hungary. In the 11th century, a Byzantine province named Theme of Sirmium had its capital in this city. For a while, about 1451, the city was in

neg: History of Skopje under Byzantine rule from Constantinople. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire. It served as Bulgarian capital from 972 to 992. After 1018, it was a capital of Byzantine theme of Bulgaria after the fall the First Bulgarian Empire. In 1189 the town was part of the Serbian realm later becoming the capital of the Serbian Empire. In 1392 the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and they named the town Üsküb. The town stayed under Ottoman rule for over 500 years. During that period it was famous

neg: Byzantine architecture of Constantinople by the Ottomans. Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture () is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Later Roman or Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantine era is the period after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. Constantinople became known as the Roman capital in 330 AD. Constantinople is what is now present day Istanbul. Byzantine architecture was mostly influenced by Roman and Greek architecture. It began with Constantine the Great when he rebuilt the city of Byzantium and named it Constantinople and continued with his building of churches and the forum of Constantine, as also

neg: Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture () is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Later Roman or Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantine era is the period after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. Constantinople became known as the Roman capital in 330 AD. Constantinople is what is now present day Istanbul. Byzantine architecture was mostly influenced by Roman and Greek architecture. It began with Constantine the Great when he rebuilt the city of Byzantium and named it Constantinople and continued with his building of churches and the forum of Constantine, as also the Church of St. George,

neg: Fall of Constantinople Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople (; ) was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading Ottoman army on 29 May 1453. The attackers were commanded by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II, who defeated an army commanded by Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos and took control of the imperial capital, ending a 53-day siege that began on 6 April 1453. After conquering the city, Sultan Mehmed transferred the capital of his Empire from Edirne to Constantinople and established his court there. The capture of the city (and two other Byzantine splinter territories soon thereafter) marked

neg: Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty time one of the most rebellious vassals of Byzantium. Latin hatred had grown throughout the Empire and the capital mainly due to the jealousy of Byzantine merchants at the pro-western policies of Manuel Komnenos and his paternal grandfather, Alexios I Komnenos, whose generous trade terms with the Republic of Venice saw the establishment of a Frankish colony in the capital. Maria then decided to appoint an unpopular pro-western Byzantine also named Alexios Komnenos, a nephew of Manuel Komnenos, to be her chief advisor in the regency. It is said that he "was accustomed to spend the greater part of the

neg: Siege of Constantinople (674–678) Siege of Constantinople (674–678) The First Arab Siege of Constantinople in 674–678 was a major conflict of the Arab–Byzantine wars, and the first culmination of the Umayyad Caliphate's expansionist strategy towards the Byzantine Empire, led by Caliph Mu'awiya I. Mu'awiya, who had emerged in 661 as the ruler of the Muslim Arab empire following a civil war, renewed aggressive warfare against Byzantium after a lapse of some years and hoped to deliver a lethal blow by capturing the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. As reported by the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, the Arab attack was methodical: in 672–673 Arab fleets secured

neg: Byzantine art the Byzantine empire and having periods of independence, such as Serbia and Bulgaria. After the fall of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 1453, art produced by Eastern Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire was often called "post-Byzantine." Certain artistic traditions that originated in the Byzantine Empire, particularly in regard to icon painting and church architecture, are maintained in Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day. Byzantine art originated and evolved from the Christianized Greek culture of the Eastern Roman Empire; content from both Christianity and classical Greek mythology were artistically

neg: Byzantine–Ottoman wars became increasingly more resourceful and modernized. As a result, Russian and Austrian attempts to contain the Ottoman threat became more and more a formality until the official dissolution of the Empire after World War I. Byzantine–Ottoman wars The Byzantine–Ottoman wars were a series of decisive conflicts between the Ottoman Turks and Byzantines that led to the final destruction of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. In 1204 the Byzantine capital of Constantinople was sacked and occupied by the Fourth Crusaders, an important moment of the Christian East–West Schism. The Byzantine Empire, already weakened by misrule, was

neg: History of Anatolia half and the aptly named Theodosius the Great died, the east was so strong that it could now be considered an equal. "See the main article Byzantine Empire, Justinian I." The Byzantine Empire was the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), originally known as Byzantium. Initially the eastern half of the Roman Empire (often called the Eastern Roman Empire in this context), it survived the 5th century fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until

neg: History of the Republic of Macedonia became the political and cultural center of the First Bulgarian Empire under Tsar Samuil; while the Byzantine emperor Basil II came to rule the eastern part of the empire (what is now Bulgaria), including the then capital Preslav, in 972. A new capital was established at Ohrid, which also became the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. From then on, the Bulgarian model became an integral part of wider Slavic culture as a whole. After several decades of almost incessant fighting, Bulgaria came under Byzantine rule in 1018. The whole of Macedonia was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire as "Theme of

neg: Küçük Mustafa accompanied by experienced statesmen. Mustafa's sanjak was Hamideli (roughly modern Isparta in Turkey). But after the death of his father, fearing for his life at the hands of his brothers, he escaped to the rival Turkish beylik Karamanid territory. In Karaman, he was encouraged by an Ottoman pasha named Şaraptar İlyas to rebel against his elder brother, new sultan Murat II. Immediately after his coronation, Murat was occupied with the rebellion of his uncle Mustafa Çelebi. After defeating Mustafa, Murat laid siege to the Byzantine capital Constantinople (modern Istanbul) to punish the Byzantine Empire for supporting Mustafa. Küçük Mustafa saw

neg: Ravenna Ravenna Ravenna (, ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. It then served as the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom until it was re-conquered in 540 by the Byzantine Empire. Afterwards, the city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Lombards in 751, after which it became the seat of the Kingdom of the Lombards. Although it is an inland city, Ravenna is connected

neg: Nikopol, Bulgaria at the northern border of the Byzantine Empire. In 1059, it was named "Nicopolis", Greek for "City of Victory". During most of the Middle Ages, it was part of the Bulgarian Empire from its foundation in 681. After the fall of Tarnovo in 1393, the last Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Shishman defended what remained of the Empire from the fortress of Nikopol, where he was captured after the town was conquered by the Ottomans in 1395. Nikopol is therefore sometimes considered the capital of Bulgaria during these two years. It was the site of the Battle of Nicopolis, the last large-scale

neg: Byzantine Empire under the Komnenos dynasty Byzantine Empire under the Komnenos dynasty The Byzantine Empire or Byzantium is a term conventionally used by historians to describe the Greek ethnic and speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople. Having survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire during Late Antiquity, the Byzantine Empire continued to function until its conquest by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. In the context of Byzantine history, the period from about 1081 to about 1185 is often known as the Komnenian or Comnenian period, after the Komnenos dynasty. Together, the five Komnenian emperors (Alexios I, John II,

neg: Byzantine gardens Byzantine gardens The city of Byzantium in the Byzantine Empire occupies an important place in the history of garden design between eras and cultures (c. 4th century - 10th century CE). The city, later renamed Constantinople and the present day Istanbul, was capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and survived for a thousand years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The gardens of Byzantium were, however, mostly destroyed after the 15th-century Turkish conquest of the city. Byzantine gardens were based largely on Roman ideas emphasizing elaborate mosaic designs, a typical classical feature of formally arrayed trees and built

neg: Treaty of Selymbria Ottomans, in exchange for the payment of an annual tribute by Venice. In 1410–11 however, Süleyman was defeated and overthrown by his brother, Musa Çelebi. Unlike Süleyman, Musa, who relied greatly on the "akinji" raiders, followed a policy extremely hostile to his Christian neighbours. The attacks against both the Byzantine Empire and Serbia, that had stopped after 1403, resumed, with expeditions against both Serbia and the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. Following Süleyman's defeat and death, the Venetians initially prevaricated; their payments to the Ottomans were allowed to lapse, but the "bailo" (permanent envoy) in the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, was

neg: Fatsa became a Roman province in AD 62. In about 295, Diocletian (r. 284–305) divided the province into three smaller provinces, one of which was Pontus Polemoniacus, called after Polemonium, which was its administrative capital. As the Roman Empire developed into the Byzantine Empire, the city lost some of its regional importance. Neocaesarea became the capital of the province, and the Diocese of Polemonion was a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Neocaesarea. Due to partition of the Byzantine Empire as a result of the Fourth Crusade, Fatsa became a part of the Empire of Trebizond in 1204. In the 13th

neg: Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae "Latinokratia" ("Frankish/Latin rule"), where Catholic West European nobles, mostly from France and Italy, established states on former Byzantine territory and ruled over the mostly Orthodox native Byzantine Greeks. The provisions of the "Partitio Romaniae" were not fully carried out; much of the Byzantine realm fell into the hands not of the crusaders who had sacked the capital but of the local Byzantine Greek nobles, who established the Byzantine successor states of the Despotate of Epirus, the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond, while the Crusaders also squabbled among themselves. The Latin Empire itself, consisting of the area surrounding

neg: Roger de Flor "Almogavars"), whom he had no longer the means of paying. Given the political and military situation, Roger found an opportunity to make his services useful in the east in fighting against the Ottoman Turks, who were ravaging the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus of the Byzantine Empire was facing siege by the Ottoman Turks, an Islamic tribe approaching the capital of his empire after defeating his armies and ransacking most of his domains. Looking for assistance from the European kingdoms he made Roger an offer of service along with the Almogavar army under his command. In September 1302 Roger

neg: Byzantine silk Byzantine silk Byzantine silk is silk woven in the Byzantine Empire (Byzantium) from about the fourth century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. The Byzantine capital of Constantinople was the first significant silk-weaving center in Europe. Silk was one of the most important commodities in the Byzantine economy, used by the state both as a means of payment and of diplomacy. Raw silk was bought from China and made up into fine fabrics that commanded high prices throughout the world. Later, silkworms were smuggled into the Empire and the overland silk trade gradually became less important. After the reign

neg: Battle of Versinikia Byzantine–Bulgarian Treaty of 815) with the exception of a few castles that remained in Byzantine control. For the first time in Bulgarian history, the way to Constantinople was opened. Unfortunately for them, the great Khan Krum died in the height of the preparation for the final siege of the Byzantine capital on 13 April 814. After the Bulgarians' great victory over the Byzantine army of emperor Nicephorus I in the battle of Pliska in 811, the Byzantine Empire found itself in a difficult situation. Nicephorus' son (and legitimate heir) Staurakios, who was seriously wounded in the battle, was deposed in

neg: Gümüşhane and Byzantine periods) was located 4 miles west of modern Gümüşhane, in modern Beşkilise. In Byzantine period, there was a town named "Tzanicha" or "Tzantzakon" ( in Byzantine Greek), possibly located 2 miles to the west of Gümüşhane. Around 840 AD, the area was included in the new Roman (Byzantine) province of Chaldia (Χαλδία). It was later ruled by the Byzantine Empire of Trebizond. During Ottoman years, the sanjak of Gümüşhane fell under the administration successively Rum Province, Erzurum Province and Trabzon Province, and was divided into four kazas: Gümüşhane, Torul (capital city Ardassa), Şiran (Cheriana), and Kelkit (Keltik). The

neg: Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae magnate families , as well as the areas still controlled by the Byzantine central government at the time. Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae The Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae (Latin for "Partition of the lands of the empire of "Romania" [i.e., the Byzantine Empire]), or Partitio regni Graeci ("Partition of the kingdom of the Greeks"), was a treaty signed among the crusaders after the sack of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It established the Latin Empire and arranged the nominal partition of the Byzantine territory among the participants of the Crusade, with the Republic of Venice being

neg: Ottoman Turks expanded the principality; the empire and the people were named "Ottomans" by Europeans after him ("Ottoman" being a corruption of "Osman"). Osman's son Orhan expanded the growing Ottoman Empire, taking Nicaea (present-day İznik) and crossed the Dardanelles in 1362. The Ottoman Empire came into its own when Mehmed II captured the Byzantine Empire's capital, Constantinople (Istanbul), in 1453. The Ottoman Empire came to rule much of the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East (excluding Iran), and North Africa over the course of several centuries, with an advanced army and navy. The Empire lasted until the end of the First World

neg: Byzantine–Venetian war of 1171 Byzantine–Venetian war of 1171 The Byzantine–Venetian War of 1171 was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Republic of Venice as a result of the Byzantine imprisonment of Venetian merchants and citizens across the Empire. 10,000 Venetians were imprisoned in the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, alone. Despite Doge Michiel's apparent will to pursue a peaceful solution, outrage in Venice itself swung popular opinion in the favour of full scale war against Byzantium. Doge Michiel had no choice but to set out for war, which he did in mid-late 1171. After indecisive battles in Euboea, Michiel was forced to withdraw his fleet

neg: Palace of Daphne by the fact that the walls by which Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas () surrounded the palace with new walls, the Daphne complex was not included in them. After the 11th century, the Daphne seems to have fallen into disrepair and gradual ruin, a process exacerbated by the plundering of the remaining structures for metals and architectural elements under the Latin Empire (1204–1261). Palace of Daphne The Palace of Daphne () was one of the major wings of the Great Palace of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire (modern Istanbul, Turkey). According to George Codinus, it was named after a

neg: Byzantine–Bulgarian wars despite a few continuing attacks from them. After the Latin Empire collapsed, the Byzantines, taking advantage of a Bulgarian civil war, captured portions of Thrace, but the Bulgarian emperor Theodore Svetoslav retook these lands. The Byzantine-Bulgarian relations continued to fluctuate until the Ottoman Turks captured the Bulgarian capital in 1393 and the Byzantine capital in 1453. The Byzantines and the Bulgarians first clashed when Khan Kubrat's youngest son Asparukh moved westward, occupying today's southern Bessarabia. Asparukh defeated the Byzantines under Constantine IV, who led a combined land and sea operation against the invaders and besieged their fortified camp in Ongala.

neg: Hungarian art Hungarian art Hungarian art stems from the period of the conquest of the Carpathian basin by the people of Árpád in the 9th century. Prince Árpád also organized earlier people settled in the area. Before the arrival of Árpád several other peoples from the steppe had founded states in the Carpathian basin. The capital of the Huns (Xiongnu in Chinese) was Buda, named after King Attila's brother, though Priscus rhetor, a 5th-century historian and ambassador of the Byzantine Empire stated that the capital of the Huns was in the plains between the Danube and Tisza rivers. After the death of

neg: Byzantine Empire climactic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, the combined Avar, Sassanid, and Slavic forces unsuccessfully besieged the Byzantine capital between June and July. After this, the Sassanid army was forced to withdraw to Anatolia. The loss came just after news had reached them of yet another Byzantine victory, where Heraclius's brother Theodore scored well against the Persian general Shahin. Following this, Heraclius led an invasion into Sassanid Mesopotamia once again. The main Sassanid force was destroyed at Nineveh in 627, and in 629 Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem in a majestic ceremony, as he marched into the Sassanid capital of

neg: Seljuks in Dobruja to Byzantine territory with a large partisan group. Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, who had just recaptured Constantinople (modern İstanbul) from the Latin Empire, was a relative of İzzettin. However, he had allied himself with the Mongols of Baghdad (who’ll soon be called Ilkhanids) and instead of supporting İzzettin, he kept İzzettin as a refuge and settled İzzettin's partisans to the area between Varna in Bulgaria and the estuary of the Danube (1262–1263), a region which later on was named as Dobruja (). After an unsuccessful revolt in Byzantine Empire, İzzettin fled to Crimea, which was under Golden Horde rule.

neg: Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae The Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae (Latin for "Partition of the lands of the empire of "Romania" [i.e., the Byzantine Empire]), or Partitio regni Graeci ("Partition of the kingdom of the Greeks"), was a treaty signed among the crusaders after the sack of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It established the Latin Empire and arranged the nominal partition of the Byzantine territory among the participants of the Crusade, with the Republic of Venice being the greatest titular beneficiary. However, because the crusaders did not in fact control most of the Empire, with

neg: Battle of Philippopolis (1208) Battle of Philippopolis (1208) The Battle of Philippopolis or Battle of Plovdiv () took place on 30 June 1208 in the surroundings of Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv, Bulgaria) between the armies of the Bulgarian Empire and the Latin Empire. The Crusaders were victorious. After the armies of the Fourth Crusade seized Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, in 1204, they established a new empire on previously Byzantine territories and continued to fight the states which emerged from the Byzantine Empire - the Despotate of Epiros in Europe and the Nicaean Empire in Asia Minor. Its Emperor Baldwin I rejected the peace proposal of

neg: Battle of Philippopolis (1208) the Latin Emperor Henry. Battle of Philippopolis (1208) The Battle of Philippopolis or Battle of Plovdiv () took place on 30 June 1208 in the surroundings of Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv, Bulgaria) between the armies of the Bulgarian Empire and the Latin Empire. The Crusaders were victorious. After the armies of the Fourth Crusade seized Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, in 1204, they established a new empire on previously Byzantine territories and continued to fight the states which emerged from the Byzantine Empire - the Despotate of Epiros in Europe and the Nicaean Empire in Asia Minor. Its Emperor Baldwin I rejected

neg: Bleschames life. Bleschames Bleschames was a Persian military officer, who first served the Sasanian Empire and from 541 the Byzantine Empire. He is first mentioned in 531 as the head of the Sasanian garrison of the fortress Sisauranon, where he was defeated by an Byzantine army under Belisarius, who took him captive and sent him to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. However, he did not stay there for long, and was sent to Italy in order to fight the Ostrogothic Kingdom in the Gothic War, while some of his men were sent to fight under Artabazes. Nothing else is known of

neg: Bleschames Bleschames Bleschames was a Persian military officer, who first served the Sasanian Empire and from 541 the Byzantine Empire. He is first mentioned in 531 as the head of the Sasanian garrison of the fortress Sisauranon, where he was defeated by an Byzantine army under Belisarius, who took him captive and sent him to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. However, he did not stay there for long, and was sent to Italy in order to fight the Ostrogothic Kingdom in the Gothic War, while some of his men were sent to fight under Artabazes. Nothing else is known of his

neg: Old Bazaar, Skopje was embanked by the enactment of defensive walls, in order to keep the treasures that were present in the settlement. At the time, there was a gate named "Watertower Gate", which was built with the purpose to defend the city against the successive attacks by the Byzantine emperor Basil II in 1001. After the fall of the First Bulgarian Empire under Byzantine rule in 1018, the emperor Basil II transformed Skopje into a capital of a theme and an episcopal see, whose bishop was elected for a four-year term. Following the death of Basil, his successor, Romanos III Argyros, undertook

neg: Byzantine–Bulgarian wars his infant son Constantine VII, under the guidance of Leo's brother Alexander, who expelled Leo's last wife and Constantine's mother, Zoe Karbonopsina, from the palace, Simeon claimed the imperial title and tried to replace Byzantium as the biggest power in the region, perhaps building a new Bulgarian–Byzantine empire. Alexander died on 6 June 913, leaving the capital in anarchy and the rule of the empire in the hands of a regency council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos. This gave the Bulgarian ruler a great opportunity to attempt a campaign towards the Byzantine capital, so he attacked in full force in

neg: Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Ashgate, Farnham and Burlington 2011. Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople (; ) was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading Ottoman army on 29 May 1453. The attackers were commanded by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II, who defeated an army commanded by Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos and took control of the imperial capital, ending a 53-day siege that began on 6 April 1453. After conquering the city, Sultan Mehmed transferred the capital of his Empire from Edirne to Constantinople and established his court there. The capture of the city (and two

neg: Armenia–Greece relations certain Greek flavour. During the Byzantine Empire's era, Armenians and Greeks co-existed in relative peace thanks to their religious ties. Armenians constituted an integral part of the Empire in its early centuries, with many of the Byzantine Emperors being Armenian and/or having Armenian blood. The Macedonian Dynasty is often considered the era in which the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent since the Muslim Conquests and the Macedonian Renaissance in letters and arts began. The dynasty was named after its founder, Basil I the Macedonian, who was descended from the theme of Macedonia (the theme was actually located in the

neg: Second Bulgarian Empire with the Byzantine term "hora" or the Bulgarian terms "zemya" (), "strana" (), and "oblast" (), usually named after its main city. The provincial governors were titled "duke" or "kefalia" — both from Byzantine dux and kephale—and were directly appointed by the emperor. The provinces were subdivided into "katepanika" (sing. "katepanikon", from the Byzantine "katepanikion"), which were ruled by "katepans" who were subordinated to the dukes. During the reign of Ivan Asen II (1218–41), the provinces included Belgrade, Braničevo, Boruy, Adrianople, Dimotika, Skopje, Prilep, Devol, and Albania. During the Second Empire, Bulgarian society was divided into three social classes: clergy,

neg: New Athos Iverian Mountain. Anacopia was the capital of the Abkhazian princedom in the orbit of the Byzantine Empire and then of the Abkhazian Kingdom after the archon Leon II declared himself a king in the late 8th century. Later, the capital was moved to Kutaisi. Anacopia was ceded to Byzantine Empire by Demetre in 1033 but was retaken by Georgians in 1072 among the other territories Georgia gained as a result of the Empire's defeat at Manzikert at the hands of Seljuks. Located between the Black Sea and the Iverian Mountain, New Athos is 17 km far from Gudauta, 22 from

neg: Battle of Constantinople (922) on Constantinople. The war continued until the death of Simeon I in 927, when his son Peter I (r. 927–969) concluded a peace treaty with the Byzantines, who recognized the imperial title of the Bulgarian monarchs and the complete independence of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as an autocephalous Patriarchate in return for most of Simeon I's conquests in Thrace after 917. Battle of Constantinople (922) The Battle of Constantinople was fought in June 922 at the outskirts of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, between the forces of the First Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantines during the Byzantine–Bulgarian war

neg: Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands the influence of the Eastern Roman Emperor slowly faded away. By 814 Venice functioned as a fully independent republic. Even so, Venice became a partner of the Empire and trading privileges were granted to it by the Emperors via treaties, such as the Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1082. The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was initially intended to invade Muslim-controlled areas; instead, the Crusaders attacked the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, resulting in the temporary dissolution of the empire and the sack of its capital. As Venice was one of the participants in the Crusade its relations with the Byzantine Empire were

neg: Byzantine Empire under the Doukas dynasty army against Botaneiates. After bribing the Western troops guarding the city, Isaac and Alexios Komnenos entered the capital victoriously on 1 April 1081. Alexios was crowned emperor, establishing the Komnenos dynasty. Byzantine Empire under the Doukas dynasty The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Doukas dynasty between 1059 and 1081. There are six emperors and co-emperors of this period: the dynasty's founder, Emperor Constantine X Doukas (r. 1059–1067), his brother John Doukas, "katepano" and later "Caesar", Romanos IV Diogenes (r. 1068–1071), Constantine's son Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078), Michael's son and co-emperor Constantine Doukas, and finally Nikephoros III

neg: Byzantine–Ottoman wars Byzantine–Ottoman wars The Byzantine–Ottoman wars were a series of decisive conflicts between the Ottoman Turks and Byzantines that led to the final destruction of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. In 1204 the Byzantine capital of Constantinople was sacked and occupied by the Fourth Crusaders, an important moment of the Christian East–West Schism. The Byzantine Empire, already weakened by misrule, was left divided and in chaos. Taking advantage of the situation, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum began seizing territory in Western Asia Minor, until the Nicaean Empire was able to repulse the Seljuk Turks from the

neg: History of the Balkans indicate a Romanized population in Transylvania by at least the 8th century. By the 7th and 8th centuries, the Roman Empire existed only south of the Danube River in the form of the Byzantine Empire, with its capital at Constantinople. In this ethnically diverse closing area of the Roman Empire, Vlachs were recognized as those who spoke Latin, the official language of the Byzantine Empire used only in official documents, until the 6th century when it was changed to the more popular Greek. These original Vlachs probably consisted of a variety of ethnic groups (most notably Thracians, Dacians, Illyrians) who

neg: Vlastimirović dynasty Vlastimirović dynasty The Vlastimirović (, Vlastimirovići / Властимировићи) was the first Serbian royal dynasty, named after Prince Vlastimir (ruled c. 831–851), who was recognized by the Byzantine Empire. The dynasty was established with the Unknown Archont, who ruled during the reign of Emperor Heraclius (610–641). The Vlastimirović dynasty ruled in Serbia until the 960s, when some Serbian lands were annexed, by the Byzantine Empire. Slavs ravaged Eastern Roman territories beginning in 518, and had by the 580s conquered much of the Central Balkans. Archaeological evidence in Serbia and Macedonia point that the Serbs reached the Balkans between 550–600, as much

neg: Economic history of Greece and the Greek world source of trade and competed with the other metropolis' of the region for the title of 'First city of Asia'. The Byzantine economy was the economy of the Byzantine Empire which lasted from Constantine's foundation of Nova Roma (Constantinople) as the capital of a Hellenized, truly 'Graeco-Roman' Empire in 330 to 1453. Throughout its history it employed vast numbers of people in huge industries, particularly in the Capital and Thessaloniki (the second city of the empire), in all manner of trades, such as the silk industry. The early Byzantine economy describes the economy of Roman Empire following the changing of

neg: Konstantin Dejanović were forced to become vassals of the Ottoman Empire, but they maintained close links with their Christian neighbors, including the Byzantine Empire. In 1395, together with his neighbor and ally, the Serbian king of Prilep Marko, Konstantin Dragaš was killed fighting for their Ottoman overlord Sultan Bayezid I against Mircea cel Bătrân of Wallachia at Rovine, near Craiova. The Ottomans named Konstantin's capital Velbužd after him, "Köstendil" (now Bulgarian Kyustendil). Dejanović was married twice. The name of his first wife is unknown, but she is not identical with Thamar (Tamara), the daughter of the Emperor (tsar) Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria,

neg: Emperor Roman Empire and those under the immediate authority of Constantinople called the Eastern Roman Empire or (after the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 AD) the Later Roman or Byzantine Empire. The subdivisions and co-emperor system were formally abolished by Emperor Zeno in 480 AD following the death of Julius Nepos last Western Emperor and the ascension of Odoacer as the "de facto" King of Italy in 476 AD. Historians generally refer to the continuing Roman Empire in the east as the Byzantine Empire after Byzantium, the original name of the town that Constantine I would elevate to the Imperial capital

neg: Sack of Constantinople (1204) Sack of Constantinople (1204) The siege and sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. Mutinous Crusader armies captured, looted, and destroyed parts of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the capture of the city, the Latin Empire (known to the Byzantines as the "Frankokratia" or the Latin Occupation) was established and Baldwin of Flanders was crowned Emperor Baldwin I of Constantinople in the Hagia Sophia. After the city's sacking, most of the Byzantine Empire's territories were divided up among the Crusaders. Byzantine aristocrats also established a number of small independent

neg: Byzantine Empire under the Nikephorian dynasty Aware of a likely revolt he chose to abdicate given the grisly fate of so many prior overthrown emperors, ending the brief dynasty of Nikephoros. Byzantine Empire under the Nikephorian dynasty Following the deposition of the Byzantine empress Irene of Athens, the throne of the Byzantine Empire passed to a relatively short-lived dynasty, the Nikephorian dynasty, named after its founder, Nikephoros I. The empire was in a weaker and more precarious position than it had been for a long time and its finances were problematic. During this era Byzantium was almost continually at war on two frontiers which drained its

neg: Byzantine Empire under the Nikephorian dynasty Byzantine Empire under the Nikephorian dynasty Following the deposition of the Byzantine empress Irene of Athens, the throne of the Byzantine Empire passed to a relatively short-lived dynasty, the Nikephorian dynasty, named after its founder, Nikephoros I. The empire was in a weaker and more precarious position than it had been for a long time and its finances were problematic. During this era Byzantium was almost continually at war on two frontiers which drained its resources, and like many of his predecessors, Nikephoros (802-811) himself died while campaigning against the Bulgars to the north. Furthermore, Byzantium's influence continued to wane

neg: Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty The Byzantine Empire or Byzantium is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the ethnic and Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople. As the direct continuation of the Roman Empire, Byzantium survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire during Late Antiquity, and continued to function until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During this time, many different imperial dynasties ruled over the empire; in the context of Byzantine history, the period c.1185 – c.1204 AD was under the Angeloi dynasty. The

neg: Bosporan Kingdom the coins of the last king Rhescuporis VI in 341, constructing a chronology becomes very difficult. The kingdom was probably finally overrun by the Huns, who defeated the nearby Alans in 375/376 and moved rapidly westwards towards the Roman empire. A few centuries after the Hunnic invasion, the Bosporan cities enjoyed a revival, under Byzantine and Bulgarian protection. The ancient Greek city of Phanagoria became the capital of Old Great Bulgaria between 632 and 665 . From time to time Byzantine officers built fortresses and exercised authority at Bosporus, which constituted an archbishopric. A relevant Byzantine usage of the term

neg: Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia to Mesopotamia, and from the Caspian to the Mediterranean. Tigranes invaded as far southeast as the Parthian capital of Ecbatana, located in modern-day western Iran. In 27 BC, the Roman Empire conquered Cilicia and transformed it into one of its eastern provinces. After the 395 AD partition of the Roman Empire into halves, Cilicia became incorporated into the Eastern Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire. In the sixth century AD, Armenian families relocated to Byzantine territories. Many served in the Byzantine army as soldiers or as generals, and rose to prominent imperial positions. Cilicia fell to Arab invasions in

neg: Empire of Trebizond the Nicaean reconquest and was briefly occupied by the restored Byzantine Empire , thereafter becoming a Serbian dependency later inherited by Italians, ultimately falling to the Ottoman Empire in 1479. Whilst the Empire of Nicaea had restored the Byzantine Empire through restoring control of the capital, it ended in 1453 with the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans. Trebizond would last until 1461 when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II conquered it after a month-long siege and took its ruler and his family into captivity, marking the final end of the Roman imperial tradition initiated by Augustus 1,488 years previously. The

neg: Thessaly East Roman "Byzantine" Empire after the collapse of Roman power in the west, and subsequently suffered many invasions, such as by the Slavic tribe of the Belegezites in the 7th century AD. The Avars had arrived in Europe in the late 550s. They asserted their authority over many Slavs, who were divided into numerous petty tribes. Many Slavs were galvanized into an effective infantry force, by the Avars. In the 7th century the Avar-Slav alliance began to raid the Byzantine Empire, laying siege to Thessalonica and even the imperial capital Constantinople itself. By the 8th century, Slavs had occupied most

neg: History of Vojvodina Vojvodina (Syrmia and Banat) were part of the Roman Empire, the north-western parts (Bačka) were inhabited and ruled by the Iazyges, an Iranian tribe. The Huns drove the Romans out of Pannonia after A.D. 395. The rule of the Huns lasted a little over half a century, and the region then became part of the Byzantine Empire. Much of Syrmia was part of the Byzantine province of Pannonia in the 6th century; its capital was Sirmium. The area was later conquered by the Gepids and, for a short time, Sirmium became a capital of the Gepid Kingdom. In 567, the

neg: Siege of Constantinople (1260) Siege of Constantinople (1260) The Siege of Constantinople in 1260 was the failed attempt by the Nicaean Empire, the major remnant of the fractured Byzantine Empire, to retake Constantinople from the Latin Empire and re-establish the City as the political, cultural and spiritual capital of a revived Byzantine Empire. Following the Sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in April 1204, the Byzantine Empire was divided among Latin Crusader states and a few Byzantine Greek remnants, the chief of which were the Despotate of Epirus in western Greece and Albania, and the Nicaean Empire in western and northwestern Asia Minor.

neg: Hermoniakos' Iliad 1890. Hermoniakos' Iliad The Hermoniakos' Iliad () is a 14th-century Byzantine paraphrase of the "Iliad" composed by Constantine Hermoniakos. The poem was commissioned by the Despot of Epirus, who asked Hermoniakos to write a new version of this epic in the Greek vernacular language. Constantine Hermoniakos was a 14th-century Byzantine scholar and poet. Little is known about him, except that he lived in the courtly circles of Arta, the capital of the Despotate of Epirus, a successor state of the Byzantine Empire. After being commissioned by the Despot John II Orsini (1323–1335) and his wife Anna Palaiologina, ca. 1330, he

neg: Hermoniakos' Iliad Hermoniakos' Iliad The Hermoniakos' Iliad () is a 14th-century Byzantine paraphrase of the "Iliad" composed by Constantine Hermoniakos. The poem was commissioned by the Despot of Epirus, who asked Hermoniakos to write a new version of this epic in the Greek vernacular language. Constantine Hermoniakos was a 14th-century Byzantine scholar and poet. Little is known about him, except that he lived in the courtly circles of Arta, the capital of the Despotate of Epirus, a successor state of the Byzantine Empire. After being commissioned by the Despot John II Orsini (1323–1335) and his wife Anna Palaiologina, ca. 1330, he composed

neg: History of the Republic of Venice diverted to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, called by the legitimate emperor Alexios IV Angelos, who offered to the Crusaders 10,000 Byzantine soldiers to help fight in the Crusade, maintain 500 knights in the Holy Land, the service of the Byzantine navy (20 ships) in transporting the Crusader army to Egypt, as well as money to pay off the Crusaders' debt to the Republic of Venice with 200,000 silver marks. Alexios' throne was restored (see: Siege of Constantinople (1203)), but he refused the payment. After several accidents, Venetians and French crusaders decided to siege the city, which was

neg: Painting of the Tarnovo Artistic School Painting of the Tarnovo Artistic School The painting of the Tarnovo Artistic School was the mainstream of the Bulgarian fine arts between 13th and 14th centuries named after the capital and the main cultural center of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Tarnovo. Although it was influenced by some tendencies of the Palaeogan Renaissance in the Byzantine Empire, the Tarnovo painting had its own unique features which makes it a separate artistic school. It includes mural decoration of churches, easel painting icons, and illuminated manuscripts. A few remains of mosaics have been found during archaeological excavation which shows that this technique was

neg: Shishman (son of Michael Shishman) Shishman (son of Michael Shishman) Shishman () was a contender for the Bulgarian throne in exile, third son of tsar Michael Shishman (r. 1323–1330). He was named after his grandfather Shishman of Vidin and was probably born in the capital of the Bulgarian Empire Tarnovo. His father, Michael Shishman led aggressive policy in the Balkans, in an attempt to extend the size of Bulgaria to that during the reign of Ivan Asen II (1218–1241). The Byzantine Empire suffered some setbacks and had to agree to concessions in Thrace but Michael Shishman could not achieve a decisive success. He eventually allied

neg: Republic of Genoa Cembalo. In 1275 the Byzantine Empire granted the islands of Chios and Samos to Genoa. Between 1316 and 1332 Genoa established the Black Sea colonies of La Tana (present-day Azov) and Samsun in Anatolia. In 1355 the Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos granted Lesbos to a Genoese lord. At the end of the 14th century the colony of Samastri was established in the Black Sea and Cyprus was granted to the Republic. At that period the Republic of Genoa also controlled one quarter of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, and Trebizond, capital of the Empire of Trebizond. The Ottoman

neg: Syracuse, Sicily the age of persecutions by Christians massive catacombs were carved, whose size is second only to those of Rome. After a period of Vandal rule, Syracuse and the island was recovered by Belisarius for the Byzantine Empire (31 December 535). From 663 to 668 Syracuse was the seat of Emperor Constans II, as well as a capital of the Roman Empire and metropolis of the whole Sicilian Church. The city was besieged by the Aghlabids for almost a year in 827–828, but Byzantine reinforcements prevented its fall. It remained the center of Byzantine resistance to the gradual Muslim conquest of

neg: History of Vojvodina present-day Vojvodina became a part of the Bulgarian Empire. Salan, a Bulgarian voivod (duke), ruled the territory of Bačka, and his capital city was Titel. Another Bulgarian voivod, Glad, ruled in Banat. His descendant was Ahtum, a voivod of Banat, the last ruler who opposed the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. Ahtum was an Orthodox Christian. In the 11th century, the ruler of Syrmia was Sermon, a vassal of the South Slavic emperor Samuil, who ruled from Ohrid. Sermon produced his own golden coins in present-day Sremska Mitrovica. After the Slavic Empire was defeated by the Byzantine Empire, Sermon

neg: Tirant lo Blanch film adaptation titled "Tirant lo Blanc" was released in 2006. "Tirant lo Blanch" tells the story of a knight Tirant from Brittany who has a series of adventures across Europe in his quest. He joins in knightly competitions in England and France until the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire asks him to help in the war against the Ottoman Turks, Islamic invaders threatening Constantinople, the capital and seat of the Empire. Tirant accepts and is made Megaduke of the Byzantine Empire and the captain of an army. He defeats the invaders and saves the Empire from destruction. Afterwards, he fights

neg: Byzantine Empire expense and a political threat. Native troops were therefore cashiered and replaced by foreign mercenaries on specific contract. At the same time, the Empire was faced with new enemies. Provinces in southern Italy faced the Normans, who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 11th century. During a period of strife between Constantinople and Rome culminating in the East-West Schism of 1054, the Normans began to advance, slowly but steadily, into Byzantine Italy. Reggio, the capital of the tagma of Calabria, was captured in 1060 by Robert Guiscard, followed by Otranto in 1068. Bari, the main Byzantine stronghold in

neg: Sasanian Empire a warrior of the Asawaran (Azatan) knightly caste required a small estate, and the Asawaran (Azatan) knightly caste received that from the throne, and in return, were the throne's most notable defenders in time of war. The Sassanids, like the Parthians, were in constant hostilities with the Roman Empire. The Sassanids, who succeeded the Parthians, were recognized as one of the leading world powers alongside its neighboring rival the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, for a period of more than 400 years. Following the division of the Roman Empire in 395, the Byzantine Empire, with its capital at Constantinople,

neg: Krakra of Pernik Serres and awarded him the title of "patrikios". Krakra Bluff on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Krakra. Krakra of Pernik Krakra of Pernik (, "Krakra Pernishki"), also known as Krakra Voevoda or simply Krakra, was an 11th-century feudal lord in the First Bulgarian Empire whose domain encompassed 36 fortresses in what is today southwestern Bulgaria, with his capital at Pernik. He is known for heroically resisting Byzantine sieges on multiple occasions as the Byzantines overran the Bulgarian Empire. Krakra was a "man remarkable in military affairs" and a high-ranking bolyarin, possibly governor of the

neg: Siege of Constantinople (1260) darkness and retake it from the Latins. Siege of Constantinople (1260) The Siege of Constantinople in 1260 was the failed attempt by the Nicaean Empire, the major remnant of the fractured Byzantine Empire, to retake Constantinople from the Latin Empire and re-establish the City as the political, cultural and spiritual capital of a revived Byzantine Empire. Following the Sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in April 1204, the Byzantine Empire was divided among Latin Crusader states and a few Byzantine Greek remnants, the chief of which were the Despotate of Epirus in western Greece and Albania, and the Nicaean

neg: Byzantine Empire Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, which had been founded as Byzantium). 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, and military force in Europe. Both

neg: Byzantine Empire "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms created after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire simply as the Roman Empire (, tr. ; ), or Romania (), and to themselves as "Romans". Several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empire's Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I (r. 324–337) reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, and legalised Christianity. Under Theodosius I (r. 379–395), Christianity became the Empire's official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally,

neg: History of Syria and rode to Palmyra to reconquer it and subsequently sacked it around 273 AD, which effectively put an end to Palmyrene civilization. With the decline of the empire in the west, Syria became part of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire in 395. The province was subsequently divided into three, smaller provinces. Syria Prima, with the capital remaining at Antioch, and Syria Secunda, with its capital moving to Apamea on the Orontes, and the new province of Theodorias, with Laodice as its capital. Syria remained one of the most important regions of the Byzantine Empire, and was of strategic importance,

neg: Battle of Constantinople (922) Battle of Constantinople (922) The Battle of Constantinople was fought in June 922 at the outskirts of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, between the forces of the First Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantines during the Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927. In the summer the Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos sent troops under the commander Saktikios to repel another Bulgarian raid at the outskirts of the Byzantine capital. The Byzantines stormed the Bulgarian camp but were defeated when they confronted the main Bulgarian forces. During his flight from the battlefield Saktikios was mortally wounded and died the following night. The

neg: Suhayb ar-Rumi who was then barely five years old with blond hair and a fair-complexion named Suhayb. One day Suhayb's mother took him to a village called ath-Thani for a picnic. That day ath-Thani was attacked by Byzantine soldiers who took a large number of prisoners, including Suhayb ibn Sinan. Suhayb was taken to one of the slave markets of the Byzantine Empire, thereafter he passed from one master to another, remaining for about twenty years in Byzantine lands as a slave. He grew up speaking Greek, the language of the Byzantine Empire and practically forgot Arabic. At the first opportunity Suhayb

neg: Barbarian the Greek language throughout the Middle Ages; Byzantine Greeks used it widely until the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, (later named the Byzantine Empire) in the 15th century (1453 with the fall of capital city Constantinople}. Cicero (106-43 BC) described the mountain area of inner Sardinia as "a land of barbarians", with these inhabitants also known by the manifestly pejorative term "latrones mastrucati" ("thieves with a rough garment in wool"). The region, still known as "Barbagia" (in Sardinian "Barbàgia" or "Barbàza"), preserves this old "barbarian" designation in its name – but it no longer consciously retains "barbarian" associations: the

neg: Gyula III in former times by the Romans" while he was hunting in Transylvania. The great city is identified as Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia in Romania). The 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote of a Hungarian leader, titled "gyula", who was second in rank among the leaders of the federation of the Hungarian tribes. The Byzantine historian, John Skylitzes mentioned a "chieftain of the Turks", or Hungarians, named Gylas, who was baptised in Constantinople around 952. Skylitzes also stated that Gylas "remained faithful to Christianity" and did not invade the Byzantine Empire after his baptism. One view is that Transylvania in the

neg: Pasinler, Erzurum a domain of the Georgian Bagratids. In 1001, after the death of David Kuropalates, Hither Tao and Basiani were inherited by Byzantine Emperor Basil II, who organized them into the theme of Iberia with the capital at Theodosiopolis. However, after formation of the Georgian Kingdom, Bagrat’s son George I inherited a longstanding claim to David’s succession. While Basil was preoccupied with his Bulgarian campaigns, George gained momentum to invade Tao and Basiani in 1014, which caused unsuccessful Byzantine-Georgian wars. Despite the territorial losses to Basil II, many of the territories ceded to the empire were conquered by the Seljuk Turks

neg: History of the Byzantine Empire unnecessary expense and a political threat. Native troops were therefore cashiered and replaced by foreign mercenaries on specific contract. At the same time, the Empire was faced with new enemies. Provinces in southern Italy faced the Normans, who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 11th century. During a period of strife between Constantinople and Rome culminating in the East-West Schism of 1054, the Normans began to advance, slowly but steadily, into Byzantine Italy. Reggio, the capital of the tagma of Calabria, was captured in 1060 by Robert Guiscard, followed by Otranto in 1068. Bari, the main Byzantine stronghold

neg: Medieval Serbian army century under the dynamic Stephen Uroš IV Dušan (1331–55), who created the Serbian Empire. It included Macedonia, Albania, Epirus and Thessaly, reaching from the Drina and Danube rivers as far south and east as the Gulf of Patras and the Rhodope Mountains by 1350. A large part of this expansion was at the expense of the Byzantine Empire. Dušan set his sights on the Byzantine capital of Constantinople itself, dividing his lands into 'Serbia' and 'Romania'. Dušan was crowned Emperor (Tsar) of Serbs and Romans in 1345. He modeled his court on that of Constantinople, calling his officials by Byzantine

neg: Phasiane (historical region) the district of Phasiane, in 605/606. In 7th century, the province was conquered by an Arab Caliphate. In 10th century Phasiane, then known as Basiani was liberated by the Georgian princedoms of Tao-Klarjeti after the struggle against Arab occupation. In the 10th century, the borders between the Byzantine Empire and Tao-Klarjeti went along the Aras river, thus Basiani was considered as personal domain of the Georgian Bagratids. In 1001, after the death of David III Kuropalates, Tao and Basiani were inherited by Byzantine Emperor Basil II, who organized it into the theme of Iberia with the capital at Theodosiopolis, forcing

neg: History of Skopje was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in 518 AD. Justinian built a new town at the fertile entry point of the River Lepenec into the Vardar. Some historians believe this might be the city of "Justiniana Prima". During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire. From 972 to 992 it was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire. It was a capital of Byzantine administrative region (katepanat) Bulgaria after the fall the First Bulgarian Empire in 1018. Skopje was a thriving trading settlement but fell into decline after being

neg: Asenovgrad under Byzantine Empire control. Afterwards, the Slavic tribes flooded the region (until around 700 AD) and became the majority of the population. During the wars between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire, the city became a major military stronghold for the Bulgarian rulers. Due to aggravation of the relationships with the Latin Empire, in 1230 Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II strengthened the local fortress Stanimaka and for this reason the city was named after him in 1934 (literally "city of Asen"). After Bulgaria was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, Roma and Turks settled in Stanimaka, and nowadays make up

neg: Alexios I of Trebizond Georgia. According to Vasiliev, however, their original intention was not to seize a base from which they could recover the capital of the Byzantine Empire, but rather to carve out of the Byzantine Empire a buffer state to protect Georgia from the Seljuk Turks. Kuršanskis, while agreeing with Vasiliev that Tamar was motivated by revenge for Alexios Angelos's insult, proposed a more obvious motivation for the brother's return to Byzantine territory: they had decided to raise the banner of revolt, depose Alexios Angelos, and return the imperial throne to the Komnenos dynasty. However, not long after they had gained control

neg: Tyre, Lebanon best hippodromes in the region were constructed during the Roman empire. In 395 Tyre became part of the Byzantine Empire. The city remained under Byzantine control until 638, when it was occupied by the Arabs. In the Revolt of Tyre (996–998), the populace of the city rose against Fatimid rule, led by an ordinary sailor named 'Allaqa - but were brutally suppressed in May 998. In 1086 it fell into the hands of the Seljuks who lost it in 1089 to the Fatimids. After the first failed siege in 1111, Tyre was captured during the aftermath of the First Crusade

neg: Sofia seat in the next year and the capital of Bulgaria was first moved to Sredets. In the second half of 10th century the city was ruled by Komit Nikola and his sons, popular as "Komitopuli". One of them is Samuil, who became an Emperor of Bulgaria in 997. After a number of unsuccessful sieges, the city fell to the Byzantine Empire in 1018, but once again was incorporated into the restored Bulgarian Empire at the time of Tsar Ivan Asen I. In 1385, Sofia was seized by the Ottoman Empire in the course of the Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars. Around 1393 it

neg: Siege of Thessalonica (1422–1430) rising power in the Near East. After subduing much of Anatolia, with the capture of Gallipoli in 1354, Ottoman Turks also acquired a foothold in the Balkans. The Christian powers of the region, notably the declining Byzantine Empire, were weak and divided, allowing a rapid Turkish expansion across the region, conducted both by the Ottomans themselves and by semi-independent Turkish "ghazi" warrior-bands. In 1369 the Ottomans were able to capture Adrianople, the third-most important city of the Byzantine Empire after its capital Constantinople and Thessalonica. Thessalonica, ruled by the Byzantine prince and future emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (), itself surrendered

neg: Battle of Kopidnadon Battle of Kopidnadon The Battle of Kopidnadon or Kopidnados took place in September 788 between the armies of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. The Abbasid army launched an invasion of Byzantine Asia Minor, and was confronted by a Byzantine force at Kopidnadon. The resulting battle was an Abbasid victory. Among the Byzantine losses was a certain Diogenes, who is identified by some scholars with the probable original source for the literary hero Digenes Akritas. Ever since the failure of the last Arab attempt to conquer the Byzantine capital Constantinople, regular, almost annual raids were undertaken by the Caliphate's

neg: Principality of Theodoro Principality of Theodoro The Principality of Theodoro (), also known as Gothia () or the Principality of Theodoro-Mangup, was a Greek-speaking principality in the south-west of Crimea and both the final rump state of the Byzantine Empire and vestige of the Crimean Goths until its conquest by the Ottoman Turks in 1475. Its capital was Doros, which was also sometimes called Theodoro and is now known as Mangup. The state was closely allied with the Empire of Trebizond. In the late 12th century the Crimean peninsula had seceded from the Byzantine Empire, but soon after the sack of Constantinople in

neg: Principality of Theodoro Italian and Tartar decorative elements. Principality of Theodoro The Principality of Theodoro (), also known as Gothia () or the Principality of Theodoro-Mangup, was a Greek-speaking principality in the south-west of Crimea and both the final rump state of the Byzantine Empire and vestige of the Crimean Goths until its conquest by the Ottoman Turks in 1475. Its capital was Doros, which was also sometimes called Theodoro and is now known as Mangup. The state was closely allied with the Empire of Trebizond. In the late 12th century the Crimean peninsula had seceded from the Byzantine Empire, but soon after

neg: Pannonia were settled by Marcian in the province as foederati. The Eastern Roman Empire controlled it for a time in the 6th century, and a Byzantine province of Pannonia with its capital at Sirmium was temporarily restored, but it included only a small southeastern part of historical Pannonia. Afterwards, it was again invaded by the Avars in the 560s, the Slavs, who first settled c. 480s but became independent only from the 7th century, and the Franks, who named a frontier march the March of Pannonia in the late 8th century. The term Pannonia was also used for a Slavic duchy

neg: Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria From ca. 970 until 1018, a series of conflicts between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire led to the gradual conquest of Bulgaria by the Byzantines, who thus re-established their control over the entire Balkan peninsula for the first time since the 7th-century Slavic invasions. The struggle began with the incorporation of eastern Bulgaria after the Russo–Byzantine War (970–971). Bulgarian resistance was led by the Cometopuli brothers, who based in the unconquered western regions of the Bulgarian Empire led it until its fall under Byzantine rule in 1018. As the Byzantine-Bulgarian relations deteriorated by the

neg: Süleyman Çelebi the empire, also called Rumeli, with Çandarlı Ali Pasha, Beyazid's Grand Vizier. He signed the Treaty of Gallipoli with the Byzantine regent John VII Palaiologos in 1403. (The emperor Manuel II Palaiologos was traveling in West Europe at the time). By this treaty, he gave up certain territories along the Marmara coast to the Byzantine Empire in return for Byzantine support in interregnum. He declared himself as the sultan of the empire in Edirne, the co capital in Rumeli of the Ottoman Empire. But the Asiatic side of the empire, so called Anatolia, was under the control of his two