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The Prince of Achaia, Louis of Burgundy (1313-1316). Â Manuel Kantakouzenos. Despot of the Morea (1347-1380). A Frankish principality in southern Greece established after the overthrow of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204). The French nobles William of Champlitte and Geoffrey I of Villehardouin undertook the conquest of the Peloponnese peninsula (known in the medieval period as the…
George Majeska The Beginnings Relations between Rus’ and the Byzantine Empire centered at Constantinople (modern Istanbul) were not always friendly. Already in the early ninth century, Viking Rus’ had apparently pillaged the Byzantine city of Amastris on the Black Sea coast of Asia Minor, and by the 830s the Byzantine…
Dominant military forces of the Middle East between the fourth and fifteenth centuries. At Manzikert 26 August 1071, the Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan defeated the Byzantine Empire. The brunt of the battle was borne by the professional soldiers from the eastern and western tagmata, as large numbers of…
An elite unit of household guards in the Byzantine Empire between the ninth and fourteenth centuries. In the latter part of the tenth century, the Byzantine emperor Basil II recruited a number of Varangians, reputedly Norse- men from Russia, as a personal bodyguard. The term Varangian comes from the Norse…
Maneuvers before and after the Battle of Nineveh The wars between Persia and Rome came to a climax between 603 and 628, with significant consequences for each empire and for subsequent world history. Sparked by mutual interference in each other’s dynastic disputes, Chosroes II of Persia opened the wars against…
The Catalan Grand Company achieved significant success against the Turks. Gregoras comments that the Catalan company was a highly organized and very effective and disciplined military force. Their high level of professionalism and experience, and the good co- ordination between cavalry and infantry and the maintenance of discipline, a field…
Muslim Galley Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} For centuries, power in the Mediterranean had depended on naval might. At…
Dominant military forces of the Middle East between the fourth and fifteenth centuries. At Manzikert…
The sixth-century army of Justinian’s era, like its earlier counterparts, was an entirely professional force,…
In 330 ce, Constantine I, Emperor of the Romans, founded a new capital for his…
Avar and Bulgar warriors, eastern Europe, 8th century AD. Leo III (717–741) Leo III, like…
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