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Justinian I (527-565) |
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70 years after official the fall
of the Roman Empire to the barbarians in 451, the Emperor Justinian
established the new Byzantine empire by reconquering the lost
territories of the Mediterranean, North Africa, Spain and the east.
They attempted to restore the former majesty and intellectual
quality of the old Roman empire. The Justinian Code was adopted as
the basis for Byzantine law. However, the cost of the continuous
wars and Justinian's massive building projects (among them the Hagia
Sophia in Istanbul which populated 500,000 people at the time)
basically bankrupted the empire. Justinian ruled for 38 years with
his wife Theodora. |
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Justin II (565-578) |
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When Justinian's father
Constantine IV died at 35, the seventeen year old became emperor.
His first few years were successful as the Arab Caliph increased the
amount of tribute to the Byzantine to keep the peace. Justin's
successes continued as he routed the regions of Armenia, Iberia,
Cyprus and Western Asia minor. Justinian decided to renew the war
against the Arabs, but when the subjugated Slavs, who had been
drafted into his army deserted, the Arabs defeated his armies and
regained control over Armenia. His nephew, Justinian I, was probably
the last of the 'great' emperors, took over from him in 527 and
ruled for 38 years. |
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Justin II (565-578) |
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Maurice Tiberius (582-602) |
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When Maurice came to the throne, he was already a
popular figure due to his successful campaign against the Persians.
An extensive coinage was issued under his reign, reflecting the
success and popularity of his administration. However, due to
neglect of state affairs, and the emporer's lack of tact concerning
his army, a mutinous rebellion under a ruffian named Phocas arose.
The citizens of Constantinople welcomed the approaching army of
Phocas, and Maurice was forced to flee. Phocas was crowned emporer
and immediately ordered the execution of Maurice who had taken
refuge in a church at Chalcedon. Ignoring this sanctuary, his entire
family was slain and thrown into the sea. |
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Maurice Tiberius (582-602) |
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Heraclius (610-614) |
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Heraclius was 35 years old and unmarried when he
and his father led a popular rebellion against the repressive rule
of the emporer Phocas in 608. Following his coronation, he
immediately married a beautiful African girl named Fabia, who as
queen, took the name Eudocia. She died two years later after giving
Heraclius a daughter and a son. Heraclius ruled solely for three
years from 610-613 and then jointly with his infant son Heraclius
Constantine. During his reign, the loss and then recovery of the
True Cross took place. In 614, the Persians captured Jerusalem,
burning the church of the holy Sepulchre and carrying the cross to
Ctesiphon. In a series of campaigns, Heraclius finally defeated the
Persians and returned the Cross to Jerusalem. Under the rule of
Heraclius, Greek replaced Latin as the official language, and the
eastern Romans would become known as 'Romaions'. |
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Constante II
(641-668) |
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Omayyads (724-743) |
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Abbasid |
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Leo VI
(886-912) |
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Constantine X (1059-1067) |
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Constantine Ducas was a Cappodocian noble who was
strongly supported by the aristocracy in Constantinople. Although
competent as an administor, he was not a man of broad vision.
Believing that war was no longer a threat, he made a drastic mistake
of reducing his military forces. This unfortunately was done at the
time when the empire was about to face serious external pressure. As
a result, the Selquk Turks were able to take a large part Asia minor
and Armenia. In the north, the Tarters and Magyars were carving out
large territories from former Romaion lands. Constantine was married
to Eudocia who bore him two sons, Michael VII and Constantius. In
1067 at the age of 60, the emporer died leaving Eudocia as regent
for the two young boys. |
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Romano IV Diogene (1068-1071) |
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In 1068 Alp Arslan, the leader of the Seljuk Arabs
was ravaging the eastern Byzantine empire and Romanus IV was sent to
Manzikert to battle the combined tribes of Iran, Iraq Syria and the
Turks. The first battle proved victorious for Romanus but in the
second, he was betrayed by certain political enemies and he was
captured. Romanus was treated generously by Alp Arslan and was
allowed to go free in order to collect his ransom. He returned later
in disgrace having only collected a quarter of the amount after most
of his subjects disclaimed him as Emperor while being held captive.
He was then blinded by his stepson and sent to the island of Prote
where he died shortly thereafter. |
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Manuel I (1143-1180) |
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Manuel I began his reign with a war against the
Turks but in 1147 made a truce with them during the Second Crusade
(although he supported the Crusades) in order to protect his western
provinces on the opposite side of the empire. He aligned himself
against the Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick I by supporting Pope
Alexander III (and King Henry II of England) uniting both the
western and eastern empire and church. However, with all his
attention pointed to the West (fighting Roger and William I of
Sicily in 1155) the Turks attacked Asia minor, defeating him in 1176
at Myriocephalon. |
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Sycylia (1166-1189) |
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Isaac II (1185-1195) |
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Isaac Angelus, the great-grandson of Alexis I,
came to power during the rebellion against Andronicus I. He spent
most of his first reign trying unsuccessfully to repress the
Bulgarian uprisings. He also failed in his attempt to recover Cyprus
which was subsequently lost to the Crusaders. The economy was also
in serious trouble. The electrum (gold and silver) trachy was
severely debased during this period. Being ineffectual in all these
things, he was blinded and deposed by his older brother Alexis III.
Later, Alexis III fled during the Latin sack of Constantinople in
1203 and the victorius Crusaders recalled the blind Isaac to the
throne after an eight year absence. However, this lasted for only a
short time as the people again rose up against the Latin domination
and he was killed. |
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Andronicus Manual IX (1295-1320) |
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Andronicus was raised to the rank of co-emporer
with his father Michael VIII in 1272. He inherited the throne in
1282, but he was not the statesman his father was, and the true
weaknesses of the empire became apparent as the empire began once
again to weaken as civil war erupted. Andronicus elevated his own
son Michael IX to the rank of co-emporer and this coin portraying
their joint reign was struck in Constantinople and Thessalonica and
was minted in 1295. |
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Albrekt av Mecklenberg (1364-1369) |
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