Byzantine Flashcards
(8 cards)
What were Byzantium’s strengths between 1071 and 1095?
• March 31, 1078 – Nikephoros III Botaneiates seizes the throne with Turkish mercenaries.
➤ Momentarily stabilizes imperial rule after Michael VII’s deposition.
• 1 April 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos becomes emperor via palace coup.
➤ Begins Komnenian restoration; consolidates power.
• 1081–1085 – Alliance with Suleiman ibn Qutulmish, Sultan of Rum.
➤ Used Turkish troops against Normans in Thessaly (Battle of Larissa, 1083).
• 29 April 1091 – Battle of Lebounion: Alexios and the Cumans destroy the Pechenegs.
➤ Ends major northern threat; boosts prestige.
• 1092 – Alexios reforms currency and introduces the gold hyperpyron.
➤ Stops inflation, reestablishes stable currency.
• March 1095 – Alexios appeals to the Council of Piacenza.
➤ Triggers the First Crusade; gains Western aid.
What were Byzantium’s weaknesses between 1071 and 1095?
• 26 August 1071 – Battle of Manzikert: Romanos IV captured; army destroyed.
➤ Anatolia lost to Seljuk Turks; huge military disaster.
• April 1071 – Fall of Bari to the Normans.
➤ Ends 500 years of Byzantine presence in Southern Italy.
• 1071–1081 – Three emperors in ten years (Michael VII, Nikephoros III, Alexios I).
➤ Repeated coups and instability.
• c. 1084–88 – Turkish warlord Caka of Smyrna builds a navy.
➤ Threatens Constantinople; navy weak.
• 1087–1090 – Pecheneg invasions reach Thrace.
➤ External pressure nearly collapses the European frontier.
• 1070s–1080s – Coinage debasement under Michael VII.
➤ Hyperinflation and financial instability.
What were Byzantium’s strengths between 1081 and 1118?
• 1081–1085 – Repelled Norman invasion with help from Venice and the HRE.
➤ Combined diplomacy and military restored Western control.
• 1082 – Treaty with Venice grants them trading privileges.
➤ Secures Aegean from Norman threats.
• July 1083 – Victory at Larissa against Normans with Suleiman’s aid.
➤ First major military success of Alexios’s reign.
• May 1097 – Nicaea handed over peacefully after Crusader siege.
➤ Strategic gain without losses.
• 1 July 1097 – Battle of Dorylaeum: Crusaders win with Byzantine coordination.
➤ Effective collaboration.
• 1097–1101 – Recovery of western Anatolia (e.g., Smyrna, Sardis, Ephesus).
➤ Gradual reconquest of lost lands.
• 1092 – Tax and military reform under Alexios.
➤ Stabilizes treasury; funds permanent army.
What were Byzantium’s weaknesses between 1081 and 1118?
• 28 June 1098 – Antioch seized by Bohemond, not returned to Byzantium.
➤ Crusader betrayal; loss of key province.
• February 1098 – Alexios’s envoy Taticius leaves the siege of Antioch.
➤ Damages Byzantine–Crusader trust.
• 1101–1110 – No Byzantine campaigns in Syria.
➤ Missed opportunity to secure gains; shows limits.
• 1082 Treaty – Venetians exempt from Byzantine taxes (kommerkion).
➤ Long-term economic damage to native trade.
What were Byzantium’s strengths between 1143 and 1180?
• 8 April 1143 – Manuel I crowned peacefully after John II’s death.
➤ Ensures dynastic stability.
• 1147–1148 – Hosts and manages Second Crusade through Byzantium.
➤ Maintains control over foreign armies.
• 1155–1158 – Southern Italy campaign retakes Bari and Brindisi.
➤ Reasserts influence in former territories.
• 1159 – Raynald of Antioch submits at Mamistra.
➤ Asserts authority over Crusader States.
• 8 July 1167 – Battle of Sirmium: defeats Hungarian forces.
➤ Strengthens Balkan front.
• 1160s–1170s – Marriage alliance with Germany; relations with Papacy.
➤ Increases European prestige.
What were Byzantium’s weaknesses between 1143 and 1180?
• 17 September 1176 – Battle of Myriokephalon: Manuel defeated by Seljuks.
➤ Ends hopes of Anatolian reconquest.
• 1171 – Venetian fleet arrested.
➤ Starts a bitter rift with Venice.
• 1170s – Lavish court spending and war costs.
➤ Financial strain on the empire.
• Late 1170s – Failed campaigns in Hungary and Italy.
➤ Military overreach with no gain.
• 24 September 1180 – Manuel dies; Alexios II (11 years old) becomes emperor.
➤ Leadership crisis begins.
What were Byzantium’s strengths between 1180 and 1204?
• 1182 – Andronikos Komnenos overthrows Latin regency.
➤ Ends unpopular Western influence; centralizes rule.
• 1185 – Isaac II Angelos seizes power.
➤ Gains popular support and brief stability.
• 1185 – Normans defeated and expelled from Thessalonica.
➤ Protects territory from major Western threat.
• 1186–1187 – Isaac II reforms army and taxes.
➤ Temporary recovery.
• 1203 (July) – Fourth Crusade restores Isaac II and Alexios IV.
➤ Brief return of power in Constantinople.
What were Byzantium’s weaknesses between 1180 and 1204?
• 1180 – Manuel dies; child emperor Alexios II rules under Latin regency.
➤ Weak government and growing unrest.
• 1182 – Massacre of Latins in Constantinople.
➤ Destroys relations with Venice and the West.
• 1183 – Andronikos kills Alexios II and takes power.
➤ Brutality alienates elite and church.
• 1185 – Norman sack of Thessalonica.
➤ Military failure and humiliation.
• 1195 – Isaac II overthrown by Alexios III.
➤ Repeated coups destroy stability.
• 1195–1203 – Alexios III’s corrupt, passive reign.
➤ Empire becomes defenseless and chaotic.
• 1203 – Alexios III flees as Crusaders arrive.
➤ Collapse of imperial leadership.
• 13 April 1204 – Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople.
➤ Empire effectively destroyed; capital falls.
