BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND CRUSADES
The Eastern Roman Empire continued long after the fall of Rome. Islam became
a major force against the eastern empire, and Europeans eventually led military
expeditions to the region to reclaim land conquered by Muslims.
From Eastern Roman Empire to Byzantine Empire
During the fifth century, Germanic tribes moved into the western part of the
Roman Empire and established their states. In contrast, the Roman Empire in the
East, centered on Constantinople, continued to exist, although pressured by powerful
Islamic forces.
The Reign of Justinian
When Justinian became emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire in 527, he was
determined to reestablish the Roman Empire in the entire Mediterranean world. By
552, he appeared to have achieved his goals. His empire included Italy, part of Spain,
North Africa, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Syria. However, only three years after
Justinian’s death in 565, the Lombards had conquered much of Italy, and other areas
were soon lost. Justinian’s most important contribution was his codification of Roman
law. He simplified a vast quantity of legal materials, resulting in The Body of Civil Law.
This code of Roman laws was the basis of imperial law in the Eastern Roman Empire
until its end in 1453. In addition, it became the basis for much of the legal system of
Europe.
The Byzantine Empire
Justinian’s accomplishments had been spectacular, but his conquests left the
Eastern Roman Empire with serious problems: too much far-flung territory to protect,
an empty treasury, a decline in population after a plague, and renewed threats to its
frontiers. The most serious challenge came from the rise of Islam, which unified Arab
groups and created a powerful new force that swept through the Eastern Roman
Empire. Islamic forces defeated an army of the Eastern Roman Empire at Yarm¯uk in
636. As a result, the empire lost the provinces of Syria and Palestine. Problems arose
along the northern frontier as well, especially in the Balkans. In 679, the Bulgars took
possession of the lower Danube Valley, creating a strong Bulgarian kingdom. By the
beginning of the eighth century, the Eastern Roman Empire was much smaller,
consisting only of the eastern Balkans and Asia Minor. Historians call this smaller
empire the Byzantine Empire, a unique civilization that lasted until 1453. The
Byzantine Empire was both a Greek and a Christian state. Greek replaced Latin as
the empire’s official language. At the same time, the Byzantine Empire was built on a
Christian faith that was shared by many of its citizens. The Christian church of the
Byzantine Empire came to be known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. To honor this
faith, a great artistic effort was undertaken to enrich church building, ceremonies, and
decorations. The emperor occupied a crucial position in the Byzantine state. Portrayed
as chosen by God, he was crowned in sacred ceremonies. His subjects were expected
to prostrate themselves in his presence. His power was considered absolute. Because
the emperor appointed the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, known as the
patriarch, the emperor exercised control over church as well as state.
The Byzantines believed that God had commanded their state to preserve the
true Christian faith. Political and religious leaders were all bound together in service to
this spiritual ideal.
Life in Constantinople
Much of Constantinople was destroyed by riots in 532. Afterward, Emperor
Justinian rebuilt the city and gave it the appearance it would keep for almost a
thousand years. With a population estimated in the hundreds of thousands,
Constantinople was the largest city in Europe during the Middle Ages. The city was
dominated by an immense palace complex, hundreds of churches, and a huge arena
known as the Hippodrome, where gladiator fights and chariot races were held.
Justinian’s public works projects included roads, bridges, walls, public baths, law
courts, schools, churches, and underground reservoirs to hold the city’s water supply.
His greatest achievement was the famous Hagia Sophia—the Church of the Holy
Wisdom. The center of Hagia Sophia consists of four large piers crowned by an
enormous dome, which seems to float in space. Light from 42 windows at the dome’s
base helps create this impression. Until the twelfth century, Constantinople was
medieval Europe’s greatest center of commerce. It was the chief center for the
exchange of products between West and East. Highly desired in Europe were the
products of the East: silk from China, spices from Southeast Asia and India, jewelry
and ivory from India (the latter used for church items), wheat and furs from southern
Russia, and flax and honey from the Balkans. These goods flowed into
Constantinople, and many were then shipped throughout Europe. Imported raw
materials were also used in Constantinople for local industries. In Justinian’s reign,
two Christian monks smuggled silkworms from China to begin a silk industry.
European demand for silk cloth made it the city’s most lucrative product.
New Heights and New Problems
The size of the Byzantine Empire was greatly reduced by the early eighth century,
but the empire recovered and even expanded through a new dynasty known as the
Macedonians, who ruled from 867 to 1081.
Macedonian Emperors
The Macedonian emperors expanded the empire to include Bulgaria in the
Balkans, Crete, Cyprus, and Syria. By 1025, the Byzantine Empire was the largest it
had been since the 600s. By expanding trade with western Europe, the Macedonians
renewed prosperity to Constantinople. The new dynasty restored much of the empire’s
power, but incompetent successors undid most of the gains. Power struggles between
army leaders and wealthy families led to disorder in the late eleventh century.
Religious Issues
Relations with the Catholic Church grew worse because the Eastern Orthodox
Church did not accept the pope as the sole head of Christianity. In 1054, the pope and
the Byzantine patriarch formally excommunicated each other—each took away the
other’s rights of church membership. This began a schism, or separation, between the
two great branches of Christianity that has not been completely healed to this day. The
Byzantine Empire’s greatest external threat came from the Seljuk Turks in Asia
Minor—the empire’s main source of food and workers. In 1071, a Turkish army
defeated Byzantine forces at Manzikert. As a result, Emperor Alexius I turned to
Europe for military aid to fight the Turks.
The Crusades
From the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, European Christians carried out a
series of military expeditions to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims. These
expeditions are known as the Crusades. The push for the Crusades came when the
Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked the Europeans for help against the Seljuk Turks,
who were Muslims. Pope Urban II, who responded to the request, saw a golden
opportunity to provide leadership for a great cause. That cause was rallying Europe’s
warriors to free Jerusalem and the Holy Land (Palestine) from the infidels or
unbelievers—the Muslims. At the Council of Clermont in southern France near the end
of 1095, Urban II challenged Christians to take up their weapons and join in a holy
war. The pope promised: “All who die . . . shall have immediate remission [forgiveness]
of sins.” The enthusiastic crowd cried out: “It is the will of God, it is the will of God.”
Warriors of western Europe, particularly France, formed the first crusading armies.
These knights were mostly motivated by religious fervor, but some sought adventure
and welcomed the chance to fight. Others saw an opportunity to gain wealth and a
possible title. Italian merchants also sought new trading opportunities in Byzantine and
Muslim lands.
The Early Crusades
The First Crusade began as three organized bands of mostly French warriors
made their way to the East. The crusading army, which included thousands of men in
cavalry and infantry, captured Antioch in 1098. The crusaders proceeded down the
Palestinian coast, avoiding the well defended coastal cities, and reached Jerusalem
in June 1099. The Holy City was taken amid a horrible massacre of its inhabitants.
After further conquests, the crusaders organized four Latin crusader states in the
East. Surrounded by Muslims, these crusader kingdoms depended on Italian cities for
supplies. Some Italian port cities, such as Genoa, Pisa, and especially Venice, grew
rich and powerful in the process. It was not easy for the crusader kingdoms to maintain
themselves in the East. By the 1140s, the Muslims had begun to strike back. The fall
of one of the Latin kingdoms to the Muslims led to calls for another crusade, especially
from the monastic leader Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Bernard managed to enlist two
powerful rulers, King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of Germany, in a
Second Crusade. This campaign, however, was a total failure. In 1187, the Holy City
of Jerusalem fell to Muslim forces under Saladin. Three rulers then agreed to lead a
Third Crusade: German emperor Frederick Barbarossa, English king Richard I
(Richard the Lionhearted), and French king Philip II Augustus. When members of the
Third Crusade arrived in the East in 1189, they struggled to overcome the problems
they faced. Frederick drowned in a local river. The English and French arrived by sea
and captured the coastal cities but were unable to move inland against the Muslim
forces. After Philip returned home, Richard negotiated a settlement with Saladin that
permitted Christian pilgrims’ free access to Jerusalem.
The Later Crusades
About six years after Saladin’s death in 1193, Pope Innocent III initiated the
Fourth Crusade. As it headed east, the crusading army became involved in a fight over
the Byzantine throne. The Venetian leaders of the crusade used the situation to
weaken their greatest commercial competitor, the Byzantine Empire. In 1204, the
crusaders sacked Constantinople. Not until 1261 did a Byzantine army recapture the
city. The Byzantine Empire was no longer a great power. It now comprised
Constantinople and its surrounding lands, as well as part of Asia Minor. This smaller
empire limped along for another 190 years, until the Ottoman Turks conquered it in
1453. Despite failures, the crusading ideal continued. In Germany in 1212, a youth
known as Nicholas of Cologne announced that God had inspired him to lead a
“children’s crusade.” Thousands of young people marched with him to Italy, where the
pope told them to go home. At about the same time, some twenty thousand French
children headed to Marseille, where two shipowners agreed to take them to the Holy
Land. Two of the ships went down in a storm. The other five sailed to North Africa,
where the children were sold into slavery. The next Crusades of adult warriors were
hardly more successful.
Did the Crusades have much effect on European civilization? Historians
disagree. Clearly, the Crusades benefited the Italian port cities, especially Genoa,
Pisa, and Venice. Even without the Crusades, however, Italian merchants would have
increased trade with the Eastern world. The Crusades had some unfortunate side
effects on European society. The first widespread attacks on the Jews began in the
context of the Crusades. Some Christians argued that to fight the Muslims while the
“murderers of Christ,” as they called the Jews, ran free at home was unthinkable. The
massacre of Jews became a feature of medieval European life. Perhaps the greatest
impact of the Crusades was political. They eventually helped to break down feudalism.
As kings levied taxes and raised armies, nobles joining the Crusades sold their lands
and freed their serfs. As nobles lost power, the kings created stronger central
governments. Taxing trade with the East also provided kings with new wealth. This
paved the way for the development of true nation-states. By the mid-1400s, four strong
nation-states—Portugal, Spain, England, and France—would emerge in Europe.
