Byzantines and Arabs in the Time of the Early Abbasids

Brooks, Edward

doi:10.1093/ehr/xv.lx.728

Cited by 87 publications

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“…45 Th e Arab geographer Kudama , writing in the 930s but using earlier material, indicates that the Arabs mounted three raids each year against the Byzantines, in late winter, mid spring, and for several months in the summer. 46 According to other Arab historians, annual raids on the Byzantines formed a regular feature in the medieval Muslim frontier calendar. 47 Th ese annual raids demanded Leo's attention for most of his reign; combined with the naval raids of Muslim pirates , this military challenge provoked the composition during the 890s of his groundbreaking military manual, the Taktika .…”

Section: Features Of Leo's Reignmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leo VI and the Transformation of Byzantine Christian Identity

Riedel

2018

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the Wise, emperor of the Byzantines 886-912, broke with three centuries of tradition. He was not a general or even a soldier, as his predecessors had been, but a scholar-a second son who became heir apparent through the untimely death of his older brother on the battlefi eld and gained a throne taken by his father Basil I (r. 867-86) after murdering Michael III (r. 842-67). It was the religious education he gained under the tutelage of the famous and infl uential Photios (patriarch from 858-67 and 877-86 ce) that was to distinguish Leo VI as an unusual ruler. Th e argument of this book is that Leo's Christian Orthodox worldview coloured every decision he made; the impact of his religious faith, traced through his extensive literary output, transformed Byzantine cultural identity and infl uenced his successors, establishing the Macedonian dynasty as a 'golden age' in Byzantium until the early eleventh century. Leo's father, Basil I , also known as Basil the Macedonian, was forcibly married in 865 to Eudokia Ingerina , the mistress of the emperor Michael III (r. 842-67). Th us upon Leo's birth in September of 866, his parentage was cast under suspicion, a problem that his older brother Constantine , the son of Basil 's fi rst wife Maria and the original heir to the throne , did not have. 1 Contemporary chronicles record that Leo was likely the son of Michael, but modern scholars are divided. Either way, the truth cannot be known. Th e fact that Leo was born under a cloud of uncertainty is the relevant point, because it meant that this unexpected emperor had to contend with issues of legitimacy , yet was unable to rely upon the tradition of imperial strength through military service. Th e only possibility available to him was the power of religion, and he used it brilliantly to reinforce his authority over the Byzantine oikoumene .

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Section: Features Of Leo's Reignmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leo VI and the Transformation of Byzantine Christian Identity

Riedel

2018

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“…Only a year earlier in 437/ 1045-6 had Tughril received from the Caliph permission to strike coins. 53 Again the purposes of the mission of Qâdi Mâwardı can be inferred from the events that soon followed, namely the stepping up of pressure on. Byzantium and the encirclement of the Fâtimids.…”

Section: Genealogical Reconstructions: (See Chart At the End Of The Notes)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Possible Fâtimid Background to the Battle of Manzikert

Hamdani¹

1968

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Tarih Bölümü Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi

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The Battle of Manzikert 1 in 463 /1071 is an important land-mark in history in so far as it resulted in two important processes-the gradual settlement of the Turks in Asia Minör (along with the Islamisation of the heart-lands of Byzantium), and the beginning of a Byzantine desire to open its territories to western European powers for the launching of the Crusades. The causes of the battle are equally important. First of ali, there was the constant conflict between Byzantium and the central Müslim power, aggravated by the arrival of Turkish tribes and the rise of the Saljüqs in the eleventh century. Second, the Armenian territories played a significant role in providing a setting for this conflict. But one aspect of Manzikert which has never been emphasized, though not altogether neglected, is the active Fâtimid foreign policy connected with frustrating the rise of the Saljüqs in the East. It is this last aspect which I wish to isolate for discussion in the following pages, not so much to contribute new information as to furnish a re-interpretation indicating possible Fâtimid machinations behind the Battle of Manzikert. Zubayr against Yazîd, Marwân and 'Abd al-Malik, the period of the changeover from the Umayyad to 'Abbâsid rule and the involvement of the 'Abbâsid Caliphate with provincial and central Amırs. Second, despite the war, the rulers of Byzantium and islam had numerous occasions to exchange gifts and courtesies and to promote commercial pursuits. 13 Third, both the Müslim gljâzîs and the Byzantine akrites believed in the necessity of a holy war, a doctrine which was generated by centuries of incessant conflict, making it difficult for any Müslim ruler to declare alliance or friendship with Byzantium. One could manage, however, with a truce. Moreover, there was never a wholesale crusade or jihâd but fighting for border fortresses and booty. Such a situation was not desperate. It became so only in the eleventh, when the great flood of Turkish tribes began to spill över Asia Minör. A similar movement of the Arab bedouin tribes (the Hilâli migration) was sweeping över North Africa at about the same time, and we shall see the connection between the two presently. The Turkish tribes and the Rise of the Saljüqs:Turks had played an important part in Middle Eastern politics before the advent of the Saljüqs 14 and even constituted independant dynasties such as the Ikhshîdids. The Arab scholar Jâhiz devoted a Risâla to their praise. 15But with them we are not concerned here. The advent of the Turkish tribes in the eleventh century was epoch-making and the subject is discussed at Halil. 18 The tribes mentioned are: the Qînlq, from whom the Saljüqs were derived (on the authority of Mahmüd Kâshgharî and the Malik-nâma); the Döger in the Kurdish region, to whom belonged the later day Artüqids (on the authority of Yardan and Jazarî); the salghür, who gave their name to a 12th century dynasty in Fârs, but arrived early alongside with the Saljüqs (on the authority of the 16th century Shlrâz-nâma); the Ivâll in the Adjı...

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The Reign of Leo VI

Riedel

Leo VI and the Transformation of Byzantine Christian Identity

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Byzantines and Arabs in the Time of the Early Abbasids

Abstract: Notes and Documents BYZANTINES AND ABABS IN THE TIME OF THE EABLY ABBASIDS. 1 Except parts of Al Tabari in MS. 1 Ibn Wadhih gives short notices of each year's campaigns at the end of each caliphate, but he sometimes also has longer accounts in his ordinary narrative.

Cited by 87 publications

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Leo VI and the Transformation of Byzantine Christian Identity

Leo VI and the Transformation of Byzantine Christian Identity

A Possible Fâtimid Background to the Battle of Manzikert

The Reign of Leo VI

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