Army, Society, and Religion in Byzantium

Army, Society, and Religion in Byzantium PDF Author: Walter Emil Kaegi
Publisher: Variorum Publishing
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Get Book Here

Book Description

Army, Society, and Religion in Byzantium

Army, Society, and Religion in Byzantium PDF Author: Walter Emil Kaegi
Publisher: Variorum Publishing
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Get Book Here

Book Description


Army, Society and Religion in Byzantium

Army, Society and Religion in Byzantium PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description


Army, Society and Religion in Byzantium

Army, Society and Religion in Byzantium PDF Author: Walter Emil Kaegi (jr.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Byzantine Army: The History and Legacy of the Byzantine Empire's Military During the Middle Ages

The Byzantine Army: The History and Legacy of the Byzantine Empire's Military During the Middle Ages PDF Author: Charles River Editors
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781798754306
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book Here

Book Description
*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading It would be hard if not outright impossible to overstate the impact Roman Emperor Constantine I had on the history of Christianity, Ancient Rome, and Europe as a whole. Best known as Constantine the Great, the kind of moniker only earned by rulers who have distinguished themselves in battle and conquest, Constantine remains an influential and controversial figure to this day. He achieved enduring fame by being the first Roman emperor to personally convert to Christianity, and for his notorious Edict of Milan, the imperial decree which legalized the worship of Christ and promoted religious freedom throughout the Empire. More than 1500 years after Constantine's death, Abdu'l-Bahá, the head of the Bahá'í Faith, wrote, "His blessed name shines out across the dawn of history like the morning star, and his rank and fame among the world's noblest and most highly civilized is still on the tongues of Christians of all denominations" However, it can be argued that despite his military successes - the most notable of which occurred fighting for supremacy against other Romans - Constantine may well have set the stage for the ultimate collapse of the Roman Empire as it had existed up until that point. It was Constantine who first decided that Rome, exposed and vulnerable near the gathering masses of barbarians moving into Germania and Gaul, was a strategically unsafe base for the Empire, and thus expanded the city of New Rome on the Dardanelles straits, creating what eventually became Constantinople. By moving the political, administrative and military capital of the Empire from Rome to the East, as well as the Imperial court with all its attendant followers, Constantine laid the groundwork for the eventual schism which saw the two parts of the Roman Empire become two entirely separate entities, go their own way, and eventually collapse piecemeal under repeated waves of invasion. As a result, the Byzantine Empire was the heir to two great cultures that cradled and nurtured European civilization: Greece and Rome. Constantinople, now called Istanbul, became a center of power, culture, trade, and technology poised on the edges of Europe and Asia, and its influence was felt not only throughout Europe but the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and the Far East. Coins dating from the reign of Emperor Justinian I (r.527-565) have been found in southern India, and Chinese records show that the "Fulin," as the Chinese named the Byzantines, were received at court as early as 643 CE. For a thousand years, the Byzantine Empire protected Europe from the Islamic Arab Empire, allowing it to pursue its own destiny. Finally, Byzantium was a polyglot society in which a multitude of ethnic groups lived under the emperor prizing peace above war, an inspiration surely for the modern age when divisive nationalism threatens to dominate society once more. Despite all this, the Byzantine Empire is often treated as a medieval oddity, an absolute state stunted by a myopic religion, a corrupt, labyrinthine bureaucracy, and an inability to adapt to change. In truth, none of these judgments bear any serious scrutiny - Byzantium was a strong, organized, highly effective and adaptable civilization for most of its long history. It owed its success in no small part to its military, which, in contrast to the feudal armies of Western Europe and the tribally based forces of the Middle East, operated with a high level of discipline, strategic prowess, efficiency, and organization. The Byzantine Army: The History and Legacy of the Byzantine Empire's Military during the Middle Ages examines the history of the Byzantine military machine, why it was so successful, and why, in the end, it failed to preserve a civilization that had lasted a thousand years.

Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900-1200

Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900-1200 PDF Author: Monica White
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521195640
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
A comprehensive study of the process by which certain martyrs of the early church were transformed into military heroes.

Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900–1200

Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900–1200 PDF Author: Monica White
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107310504
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
The rulers of the Byzantine Empire and its commonwealth were protected both by their own soldiers and by a heavenly army: the military saints. The transformation of Saints George, Demetrios, Theodore and others into the patrons of imperial armies was one of the defining developments of religious life under the Macedonian emperors. This book provides a comprehensive study of military sainthood and its roots in late antiquity. The emergence of the cults is situated within a broader social context, in which mortal soldiers were equated with martyrs and martyrs of the early Church recruited to protect them on the battlefield. Dr White then traces the fate of these saints in early Rus, drawing on unpublished manuscripts and other under-utilised sources to discuss their veneration within the princely clan and their influence on the first native saints of Rus, Boris and Gleb, who eventually joined the ranks of their ancient counterparts.

The Armies of the Caliphs

The Armies of the Caliphs PDF Author: Hugh Kennedy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134531133
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253

Get Book Here

Book Description
The first major study of the relationship between army and society in the early Islamic period, which reveals the pivotal role of the military in politics and offers a timely reassessment of the early Islamic State.

Warfare, State And Society In The Byzantine World 565-1204

Warfare, State And Society In The Byzantine World 565-1204 PDF Author: John Haldon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000159221
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Get Book Here

Book Description
Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World is the first comprehensive study of warfare and the Byzantine world from the sixth to the twelfth century. The book examines Byzantine attitudes to warfare, the effects of war on society and culture, and the relations between the soldiers, their leaders and society. The communications, logistics, resources and manpower capabilities of the Byzantine Empire are explored to set warfare in its geographical as well as historical context. In addition to the strategic and tactical evolution of the army, this book analyses the army in campaign and in battle, and its attitudes to violence in the context of the Byzantine Orthodox Church. The Byzantine Empire has an enduring fascination for all those who study it, and Warfare, State and Society is a colourful study of the central importance of warfare within it.

Warfare, State And Society In The Byzantine World 560-1204

Warfare, State And Society In The Byzantine World 560-1204 PDF Author: John Haldon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135364370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Get Book Here

Book Description
Warfare, State and Society in the Byznatine World is the first comprehensive study of the warfare and the Byzantine World from the sixth to the twelfth century. The book examines Byzantine attitudes to warfare, the effects of war on society and culture, and the relations between the soldiers, their leaders and society. The communications, logistics, resources and manpower capabilities of the Byzantine Empire are explored to set warfare in its geographical as well as historical context. In addition to the strategic and tactical evolution of the army, this book analyses the army in campaign and in battle, and its attitudes to violence in the context of the Byzantine Orthodox Church.

Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests

Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests PDF Author: Walter E. Kaegi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107393248
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is a study of how and why the Byzantine Empire lost many of its most valuable provinces to Islamic (Arab) conquerors in the seventh century, provinces which included Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. It investigates conditions on the eve of those conquests, mistakes in Byzantine policy toward the Arabs, the course of the military campaigns, and the problem of local official and civilian collaboration with the Muslims. It also seeks to explain how, after terrible losses, the Byzantine government achieved some intellectual rationalisation of its disasters and began the complex process of transforming and adapting its fiscal and military institutions and political controls in order to prevent further disintegration.