Decline of the Byzantine Empire
Encyclopedia
The decline of the Byzantine Empire
was a process similar to the decline of the Western Roman Empire
, in that it lasted many centuries. There is no clear consensus on when this process began; but many dates and time lines have been proposed by historians.
Of these, the Byzantine-Arab Wars and the Battle of Manzikert have traditionally been considered the most significant. However, recent books by Paul Magdalino and J. Birkenmeier have re-evaluated the position of the empire in the 12th century, citing the collapse under the Angeloi (1185–1204) as the most decisive turning point in the empire's fortunes. Although this view is not universally held, historians generally agree that after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the empire was only a shadow of its former self. The death of Michael VIII in 1282 marks the last period of Byzantine success on anything more than a minor scale. From this date onwards, the empire entered its final decline.
was a continuation of the Roman Empire
. The loss of the Western territories in the 5th century led to the loss of some important cities such as Rome. The creation of the Germanic states of the Franks
, Visigoths, Ostrogoths and later of the Lombards
out of the rubble of the Western Roman Empire
meant that in time they would seek to challenge the authority of the Eastern Roman Empire. General Flavius Belisarius under Justinian I
in the early 6th century made a serious attempt to recover the western half; however his gains were short-lived and poorly planned out – resources and troops that could have been used to defeat the Persians were diverted forcing the Byzantines into tribute and diplomacy to deal with this Eastern threat. The loss of the western territories led to the Patriarch of Rome achieving greater independence from Byzantium, which no longer provided adequate protection to the Pope. Consequently, the Holy See and Byzantium would have disagreements, culminating in the schism of 1054 sanctioning Latin invasions of Byzantium
in the 13th century.
and Egypt. The Arab invasions
led to the loss of Egypt, Syria, Palestine and for a short period of time, Crete, Sicily, Cyprus and Asia Minor. Though Asia Minor was recaptured and substantial parts of Syria and Mesopotamia either taken back or subjugated, Egypt remained firmly in Arab hands as did the rest of Palestine. The loss of Egypt was a major blow to the Byzantines since the province of Aegyptus had provided much of the Empire's manufactured goods and natural resources, especially grain, ever since the times of Roman Antiquity. Conversely the Arab acquisition of Egypt gave the Ummayad and later Abassid Caliphates huge resources, meaning that the Byzantines had to direct large amounts of resources to stave off constant Arab incursions into Asia Minor and Syria. When the Fatimid Caliphate broke away from the Abassids the Byzantines were able to launch successful offensives into Syria and Palestine, due to this division amongst their enemies.
by the Seljuks, a Turkish people
between the 11th – 13th century.
It is worth remembering that the Byzantines had faced invasion in Asia Minor for centuries. In the 7th and 8th centuries, in particular, first the Sassanid Persians
and then the Muslim Arabs
launched major offensives into the region. Though the Arabs were successful in conquering many Byzantine territories during the Byzantine-Arab Wars
, they were ultimately unsuccessful in establishing themselves in western Anatolia or the Balkans
.
However, a period of civil war in the late 11th century enabled the Turks to make huge inroads into Byzantine territory. In many places, usurpers used mercenary Turkish troops to occupy strategic towns, only for those mercenaries to take the towns for themselves when the usurpers had departed. Thus by 1095, virtually the whole of Asia Minor, comprising about 70% of the Byzantine Empire, had been lost.
Although the three competent Komnenian emperors, especially Manuel I Komnenos
(r.1143–1180), may have had the power to expel the outnumbered Seljuks
, several factors combined to ensure that they never did so. Alexios was unable to derive much of the expected benefit from the First Crusade
, though it did at least help him to recover Nicaea and western Asia Minor. It has even been argued that it was never in the interests of the Komnenoi to expel the Turks, as the expansion back into Anatolia would have meant sharing more power with the feudal lords, thus weakening their power. If this is so, it is a historical irony, as re-conquering Anatolia may have saved the Byzantine Empire in the long run.
No emperor after the Komnenian period was in a position to expel the Turks from Asia Minor, while the preoccupation of the Nicaean emperors with the attempt to recover Constantinople meant that resources were diverted away from Asia Minor and towards the west. The result was a weakening of the Byzantine defenses in the region, which when combined with insufficient resources and incompetent leadership lead to the complete loss of all the empire's Asian territory to the Turks by c.1400.
Part of the reason why the Crusades
were launched was to assist the weakening Byzantine Empire; the other reason was to re-open Jerusalem to Christian Pilgrims. Both of these reasons stem from the arrival of the Seljuk Turks whose newly found Islamic zeal and opportune timing resulted in a victory at Manzikert
in 1071 (which is still being debated over its importance, if any, in contributing to the empire's fall) and the fall of Jerusalem in 1076. Though the Crusades assisted Byzantium in driving back some of the Turks, it also opened up Byzantium to Latin aggression which was not always directed at Byzantium's enemies – most notably the Fourth Crusade
, which sacked Byzantium and reduced Imperial power to the Nicaean Empire
, Trebizond
and Epirus
. Much of the Nicaean Emperors' efforts went into combating the Latins – even after Constantinople
was returned to Byzantine rule, the Empire exerted much of its efforts into defeating its Latin neighbours, whose desires to liberate the Holy Land largely faded by 1291.
military power. There were two major civil wars during the late Byzantine Empire one in 1321 another in 1341. These Civil wars also severely diminished the Byzantines' military capabilities.
The civil war of 1321–1328 was led by a grandson of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II
who was supported by Byzantine Magnates who often clashed with the centralized authority of Byzantine. The Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328 was inconclusive and ended with Andronikos III
being made coemperor with his grandfather. This civil war allowed the Turks to make notable gains in Anatolia and set up their capital in Bursa 100 kilometers from Constantinople the Byzantine’s capital
. After the initial conflict Andronikos III dethroned his grandfather and became emperor.
Following the death of Andronikos III in 1341 another civil war broke out which was to continue until 1347. When Andronikos III died he left his six-year-old son under the regency of Anne of Savoy
. The de facto leader of the empire
, John Cantacuzenus, who was not only a close associate of the deceased emperor but an extremely wealthy landowner, wanted to become regent. However things did not go his way and he was declared emperor in Thrace
. This conflict had elements of class warfare
, in that the rich supported Cantacuzenus while the poorer folk supported the empress regent. The civil war of 1341–1347 saw exploitation of the Byzantine Empire
by the Serbs, whose ruler took advantage of the chaos to proclaim himself emperor of the Serbs and Greeks. The Serbian king Stefan Uroš IV Dušan made significant territorial gains in Byzantine Macedonia in 1345 and conquered large swathes of Thessaly
and Epirus
in 1348. Although Dusan would die along with his dream of a Serbian Greek empire in 1355, Byzantium would still face a powerful Turkish state across the Sea of Marmara
. Luckily for Cantacuzenus he conquered Constantinople in 1347 and ended the civil war afterwards In order to secure his authority during the civil war Cantacuzenus hired Turkish mercenaries, these mercenaries although they were of some use, in 1352 they seized Gallipoli
from the Byzantines. Although in 1354 the rogue mercenaries were defeated by western crusaders
Turkish armies
would eventually control many of the Byzantine Empire's once held territories. these two monumental civil wars severely diminished the Byzantine Empire's military strength and allowed its opportunistic enemies to make substantial gains into Byzantine territory.
in 1453.
Furthermore, as the taxation system became ever more of a burden on the peasantry, the lower classes of the Empire began to resent the state. This contributed to the loss of Asia Minor in the 11th and 14th centuries owing to the arrival of the Turks.
The Byzantine military did not immediately collapse following the disappearance of the theme system. In the 12th century, the Komnenian dynasty re-established an effective military force
. Manuel I Komnenos
, for example, was able to muster an army of over 40,000 men. This was sufficient to ensure the empire's continued status as a great power for the duration of the Komnenian period. However, the Komnenoi never provided for a future that saw their decisive leadership replaced by incompetence. After the deposition of Andronikos I Komnenos
in 1185, the dynasty of the Angeloi oversaw a period of military decline. From 1185 onwards, Byzantine emperors found it increasingly difficult to muster and pay for sufficient military forces, while the failure of their efforts to sustain their empire exposed the limitations of the entire Byzantine military system, dependent as it was on competent personal direction from the emperor. The culmination of the empire's military disintegration under the Angeloi was reached on 13 April 1204, when the armies of the Fourth Crusade
sacked Constantinople and dismantled the Byzantine Empire.
Despite the restoration under the Palaiologoi, Byzantium was never again a great power on the scale of the past. By the 13th century, the imperial army numbered a mere 6,000 men, while the empire's territories had been reduced to little more than the lands immediately surrounding the Aegean sea.
Thus, it is possible to argue that the demise of the theme system was one of the most significant factors in the decline of the Byzantine empire. As one of the main institutional strengths of the Byzantine state, the theme system was never replaced by a viable long-term alternative. This left the empire lacking in underlying structural strengths. The result was an empire that depended more than ever before on the strengths of each individual emperor or dynasty. The collapse of imperial power and authority after 1185 revealed the inadequacy of this approach.
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
was a process similar to the decline of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, in that it lasted many centuries. There is no clear consensus on when this process began; but many dates and time lines have been proposed by historians.
Timeframes
There is no consensus on exactly when the decline began; several dates have been suggested by historians:- 634 – Start of the Byzantine-Arab WarsByzantine-Arab WarsThe Byzantine–Arab Wars were a series of wars between the Arab Caliphates and the East Roman or Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 12th centuries AD. These started during the initial Muslim conquests under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs and continued in the form of an enduring...
- 1025 – Death of the soldier-emperor Basil IIBasil IIBasil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
- 1071 – The Battle of ManzikertBattle of ManzikertThe Battle of Manzikert , was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks led by Alp Arslan on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert...
- 1180 – Death of Manuel I KomnenosManuel I KomnenosManuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean....
- 1185 – Demise of the Komnenos dynasty
- 1204 – Fourth CrusadeFourth CrusadeThe Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
conquers Constantinople
Of these, the Byzantine-Arab Wars and the Battle of Manzikert have traditionally been considered the most significant. However, recent books by Paul Magdalino and J. Birkenmeier have re-evaluated the position of the empire in the 12th century, citing the collapse under the Angeloi (1185–1204) as the most decisive turning point in the empire's fortunes. Although this view is not universally held, historians generally agree that after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the empire was only a shadow of its former self. The death of Michael VIII in 1282 marks the last period of Byzantine success on anything more than a minor scale. From this date onwards, the empire entered its final decline.
Historical events
The calamities of the Empire were not limited to the beginning dates or even the following years – Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries the Empire suffered from many natural disasters, invasions and several coups.Collapse of the Western Roman Empire
In the 5th – 7th century, the Eastern Roman or Byzantine EmpireByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
was a continuation of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The loss of the Western territories in the 5th century led to the loss of some important cities such as Rome. The creation of the Germanic states of the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, Visigoths, Ostrogoths and later of the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
out of the rubble of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
meant that in time they would seek to challenge the authority of the Eastern Roman Empire. General Flavius Belisarius under Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
in the early 6th century made a serious attempt to recover the western half; however his gains were short-lived and poorly planned out – resources and troops that could have been used to defeat the Persians were diverted forcing the Byzantines into tribute and diplomacy to deal with this Eastern threat. The loss of the western territories led to the Patriarch of Rome achieving greater independence from Byzantium, which no longer provided adequate protection to the Pope. Consequently, the Holy See and Byzantium would have disagreements, culminating in the schism of 1054 sanctioning Latin invasions of Byzantium
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
in the 13th century.
Rise of Islam
In the 7th – 9th century and the 11th – 15th century, Islam gave the Arabs a new found zeal and desire to conquer. They expanded to the territories in the LevantLevant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
and Egypt. The Arab invasions
Byzantine-Arab Wars
The Byzantine–Arab Wars were a series of wars between the Arab Caliphates and the East Roman or Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 12th centuries AD. These started during the initial Muslim conquests under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs and continued in the form of an enduring...
led to the loss of Egypt, Syria, Palestine and for a short period of time, Crete, Sicily, Cyprus and Asia Minor. Though Asia Minor was recaptured and substantial parts of Syria and Mesopotamia either taken back or subjugated, Egypt remained firmly in Arab hands as did the rest of Palestine. The loss of Egypt was a major blow to the Byzantines since the province of Aegyptus had provided much of the Empire's manufactured goods and natural resources, especially grain, ever since the times of Roman Antiquity. Conversely the Arab acquisition of Egypt gave the Ummayad and later Abassid Caliphates huge resources, meaning that the Byzantines had to direct large amounts of resources to stave off constant Arab incursions into Asia Minor and Syria. When the Fatimid Caliphate broke away from the Abassids the Byzantines were able to launch successful offensives into Syria and Palestine, due to this division amongst their enemies.
The arrival of the Seljuks
Another possible explanation for the disintegration of the Byzantine Empire is the permanent settlement of AnatoliaAnatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
by the Seljuks, a Turkish people
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
between the 11th – 13th century.
It is worth remembering that the Byzantines had faced invasion in Asia Minor for centuries. In the 7th and 8th centuries, in particular, first the Sassanid Persians
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
and then the Muslim Arabs
Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
launched major offensives into the region. Though the Arabs were successful in conquering many Byzantine territories during the Byzantine-Arab Wars
Byzantine-Arab Wars
The Byzantine–Arab Wars were a series of wars between the Arab Caliphates and the East Roman or Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 12th centuries AD. These started during the initial Muslim conquests under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs and continued in the form of an enduring...
, they were ultimately unsuccessful in establishing themselves in western Anatolia or the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
.
However, a period of civil war in the late 11th century enabled the Turks to make huge inroads into Byzantine territory. In many places, usurpers used mercenary Turkish troops to occupy strategic towns, only for those mercenaries to take the towns for themselves when the usurpers had departed. Thus by 1095, virtually the whole of Asia Minor, comprising about 70% of the Byzantine Empire, had been lost.
Although the three competent Komnenian emperors, especially Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean....
(r.1143–1180), may have had the power to expel the outnumbered Seljuks
Seljuq dynasty
The Seljuq ; were a Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries...
, several factors combined to ensure that they never did so. Alexios was unable to derive much of the expected benefit from the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
, though it did at least help him to recover Nicaea and western Asia Minor. It has even been argued that it was never in the interests of the Komnenoi to expel the Turks, as the expansion back into Anatolia would have meant sharing more power with the feudal lords, thus weakening their power. If this is so, it is a historical irony, as re-conquering Anatolia may have saved the Byzantine Empire in the long run.
No emperor after the Komnenian period was in a position to expel the Turks from Asia Minor, while the preoccupation of the Nicaean emperors with the attempt to recover Constantinople meant that resources were diverted away from Asia Minor and towards the west. The result was a weakening of the Byzantine defenses in the region, which when combined with insufficient resources and incompetent leadership lead to the complete loss of all the empire's Asian territory to the Turks by c.1400.
Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
were launched was to assist the weakening Byzantine Empire; the other reason was to re-open Jerusalem to Christian Pilgrims. Both of these reasons stem from the arrival of the Seljuk Turks whose newly found Islamic zeal and opportune timing resulted in a victory at Manzikert
Battle of Manzikert
The Battle of Manzikert , was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks led by Alp Arslan on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert...
in 1071 (which is still being debated over its importance, if any, in contributing to the empire's fall) and the fall of Jerusalem in 1076. Though the Crusades assisted Byzantium in driving back some of the Turks, it also opened up Byzantium to Latin aggression which was not always directed at Byzantium's enemies – most notably the Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, which sacked Byzantium and reduced Imperial power to the Nicaean Empire
Empire of Nicaea
The Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek successor states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that fled after Constantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian forces during the Fourth Crusade...
, Trebizond
Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
and Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...
. Much of the Nicaean Emperors' efforts went into combating the Latins – even after Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
was returned to Byzantine rule, the Empire exerted much of its efforts into defeating its Latin neighbours, whose desires to liberate the Holy Land largely faded by 1291.
Civil Wars
A series of societal infighting also weakened the Byzantine Empire'sByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
military power. There were two major civil wars during the late Byzantine Empire one in 1321 another in 1341. These Civil wars also severely diminished the Byzantines' military capabilities.
The civil war of 1321–1328 was led by a grandson of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II
Andronikos II Palaiologos
Andronikos II Palaiologos , Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, was Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. He was the eldest surviving son of Michael VIII Palaiologos and Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina, grandniece of John III Doukas Vatatzes...
who was supported by Byzantine Magnates who often clashed with the centralized authority of Byzantine. The Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328 was inconclusive and ended with Andronikos III
Andronikos III
Andronikos III may refer to:* Andronikos III Palaiologos , Byzantine emperor 1328–1341* Andronikos III of Trebizond , Emperor of Trebizond from 1330 to 1332...
being made coemperor with his grandfather. This civil war allowed the Turks to make notable gains in Anatolia and set up their capital in Bursa 100 kilometers from Constantinople the Byzantine’s capital
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. After the initial conflict Andronikos III dethroned his grandfather and became emperor.
Following the death of Andronikos III in 1341 another civil war broke out which was to continue until 1347. When Andronikos III died he left his six-year-old son under the regency of Anne of Savoy
Anna of Savoy
Anna of Savoy, born Giovanna, was a Byzantine Empress consort, as the second wife of Andronikos III Palaiologos.-Family:She was a daughter of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy and his second wife Maria of Brabant. Her maternal grandparents were John I, Duke of Brabant and Margaret of Flanders...
. The de facto leader of the empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, John Cantacuzenus, who was not only a close associate of the deceased emperor but an extremely wealthy landowner, wanted to become regent. However things did not go his way and he was declared emperor in Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
. This conflict had elements of class warfare
Class conflict
Class conflict is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes....
, in that the rich supported Cantacuzenus while the poorer folk supported the empress regent. The civil war of 1341–1347 saw exploitation of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
by the Serbs, whose ruler took advantage of the chaos to proclaim himself emperor of the Serbs and Greeks. The Serbian king Stefan Uroš IV Dušan made significant territorial gains in Byzantine Macedonia in 1345 and conquered large swathes of Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
and Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
in 1348. Although Dusan would die along with his dream of a Serbian Greek empire in 1355, Byzantium would still face a powerful Turkish state across the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
. Luckily for Cantacuzenus he conquered Constantinople in 1347 and ended the civil war afterwards In order to secure his authority during the civil war Cantacuzenus hired Turkish mercenaries, these mercenaries although they were of some use, in 1352 they seized Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
from the Byzantines. Although in 1354 the rogue mercenaries were defeated by western crusaders
Crusaders
The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
Turkish armies
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
would eventually control many of the Byzantine Empire's once held territories. these two monumental civil wars severely diminished the Byzantine Empire's military strength and allowed its opportunistic enemies to make substantial gains into Byzantine territory.
Rise of the Ottomans
The arrival of the Seljuk Turks led to the rise of the Ottomans, warriors that followed the Noble (Bey) Osman I, who carved out a small domain in north-western Asia Minor, raiding Byzantine lands and occupying country land that was poorly defended. Attempts by the Byzantine Emperors to drive back the Ottomans yielded little short term success – the excessive use of mercenaries led to much peasant resentment, giving the Ottomans support in the regions in Asia Minor. Following a number of civil disputes in the Byzantine Empire, the Ottomans subjugated the Byzantines as vassals in the late 14th century and attempts to relieve this vassal status culminated in the Fall of ConstantinopleFall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
in 1453.
Structure of Byzantium
The Byzantine Empire's survival depended upon its administration and the logistics that enabled it to run the Empire. Though considered complex, its system was one more advanced than those practised by the Frankish Kingdoms in the West and one modelled by the Islamic Powers of the East. As the Empire evolved into an increasingly smaller and defensive state, the governing of the state changed as well. However, by the 14th century the burdens of running an Empire surrounded by many enemies became too much of a strain on Byzantium's increasingly smaller resources. By c. 1350's, the Byzantines lost Thrace to the Ottomans; thereafter Constantinople became the government's primary administrative region.Politics of Byzantium
The Byzantine Empire experienced numerous civil wars. The defeats in the 7th and 12th centuries to the Arabs and Turks respectively speaking were in no small part assisted by numerous internal conflicts. The situation became worse later in the 14th and 15th centuries were Byzantine Emperors were forced to fight their own grandchildren/children, as with the case of Andronikus II and Andronikus III.Society of Byzantium
The Military of the Byzantine Empire was often smaller than that of its opponents and thus relied more upon strategy rather than brute strength to achieve success. This was in part achieved by the logistics of the Byzantine administration which allowed it to utilize their troops as efficiently as possible. Taxes on the peasantry were collected at times of need so as to raise the supplies needed at the time. However, this bureaucratic system was exploited by the social elite whose increasing power challenged that of the Emperor. Whilst the Theme system worked well to provide efficient military service, it led to the decentralization of power leading to disastrous civil conflicts in the 11th century.Furthermore, as the taxation system became ever more of a burden on the peasantry, the lower classes of the Empire began to resent the state. This contributed to the loss of Asia Minor in the 11th and 14th centuries owing to the arrival of the Turks.
The structure of the military
Another major factor in the decline of the Byzantine empire may have been the disintegration of its traditional military system, the 'theme' system. Under this arrangement, the empire was divided into several regions which contributed locally raised troops to the imperial armies. The system provided an effective means of cheaply mobilizing large numbers of men, and the result was a comparatively large and powerful force – the army of the theme of Thrakesion alone had provided about 9,600 men in the period 902–936, for example. However, the demise of the system made the organization of the Byzantine armies less self-sufficient.The Byzantine military did not immediately collapse following the disappearance of the theme system. In the 12th century, the Komnenian dynasty re-established an effective military force
Komnenian army
The Komnenian Byzantine army or Komnenian army was the force established by Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos during the late 11th/early 12th century, and perfected by his successors John II Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos during the 12th century. Alexios constructed a new army from the ground...
. Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean....
, for example, was able to muster an army of over 40,000 men. This was sufficient to ensure the empire's continued status as a great power for the duration of the Komnenian period. However, the Komnenoi never provided for a future that saw their decisive leadership replaced by incompetence. After the deposition of Andronikos I Komnenos
Andronikos I Komnenos
Andronikos I Komnenos was Byzantine Emperor from 1183 to 1185). He was the son of Isaac Komnenos and grandson of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.-Early years:...
in 1185, the dynasty of the Angeloi oversaw a period of military decline. From 1185 onwards, Byzantine emperors found it increasingly difficult to muster and pay for sufficient military forces, while the failure of their efforts to sustain their empire exposed the limitations of the entire Byzantine military system, dependent as it was on competent personal direction from the emperor. The culmination of the empire's military disintegration under the Angeloi was reached on 13 April 1204, when the armies of the Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
sacked Constantinople and dismantled the Byzantine Empire.
Despite the restoration under the Palaiologoi, Byzantium was never again a great power on the scale of the past. By the 13th century, the imperial army numbered a mere 6,000 men, while the empire's territories had been reduced to little more than the lands immediately surrounding the Aegean sea.
Thus, it is possible to argue that the demise of the theme system was one of the most significant factors in the decline of the Byzantine empire. As one of the main institutional strengths of the Byzantine state, the theme system was never replaced by a viable long-term alternative. This left the empire lacking in underlying structural strengths. The result was an empire that depended more than ever before on the strengths of each individual emperor or dynasty. The collapse of imperial power and authority after 1185 revealed the inadequacy of this approach.