LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Byzantine Empire: Middle Ages
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The role of the Byzantine Empire was central to the crusading period. Byzantium, along with Latin Christendom and Islam, were the three dominant civilizations of the Middle Ages. It was primarily these three societies that clashed during the crusades, which may have hastened the decline of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium had experienced military hostilities with the Arab world even before the rise of Islam in the seveneth-century, but it was during the extensive Arab conquests during the seventh-ninth centuries that much Byzantine land, as well as lands in the West including parts of Spain, Italy, and France, came under Arab control through military conquest.
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HS1340 - The Byzantine Empire, 963-1204: Seminar topics For each seminar, consult bibliography nos. 1-8 as appropriate. 14/16 Oct: Liudprand of Cremona. Who was he? What was he up to? Did he have a hidden agenda?
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The Byzantine government was strong enough to withhold against the menace of the barbarian strongholds that surrounded the empire, and culture, art, mathematics and craftsmanship thrived and grew in the relative peace of this great empire. Byzantine furniture, architecture and art all flourished during this time with artists and craftsmen building on the skills and techniques of earlier civilizations.
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[I]n 904, disaster struck the empire when its second city, Thessalonica, was sacked by an Arab fleet under a Byzantine renegade. The Byzantines responded by destroying an Arab fleet, in 908, and sacking the city of Laodicea in Syria two years later. Despite this revenge, the Byzantines were still unable to strike a decisive blow against the Muslims, who inflicted a crushing defeat on the imperial forces as they attempted to regain Crete in 911.
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This is not to say that the Byzantine Empire was an oasis of peace in the desert of the perilous middle ages. On the contrary, its long history is marked by numerous wars and remarkable internal strife. Its official borders expanded and shrank several times as its rulers attempted to restore the empire to its former glory or fought off invaders (or occasionally attempted both simultaneously). The penal system was so harsh as to be viewed by western crusaders -- no strangers to mutilation and other extreme measures in their own systems of justice -- as exceedingly cruel.
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The period from about 641 to 1025 is considered to be the golden age of the Byzantine Empire. Advances in military strength, religious influence, and the arts made the Byzantines one of the most powerful forces in the world of the Middle Ages.
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