Misplaced Pages

#975024

169-637: Driven at first by a rivalry with the Byzantine Empire , and later the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa for primacy over trade with the Levant, the Venetian navy was at times technically innovative and yet operationally conservative. With the final fall of Constantinople it played a key role in checking the maritime advance of the Ottoman Empire for over three centuries. The navy's long decline mirrored that of

338-456: A sensational victory against Bulgaria and the Kievan Rus' in 971. John in particular was an astute administrator who reformed military structures and implemented effective fiscal policies. After John's death, Constantine VII's grandsons Basil II and Constantine VIII ruled jointly for half a century, although the latter exercised no real power before Basil's death in 1025. Their early reign

507-463: A combination of external threats and internal instabilities caused the Roman state to splinter as regional armies acclaimed their generals as "soldier-emperors". One of these, Diocletian ( r.  284–305 ), seeing that the state was too big to be ruled by one man, attempted to fix the problem by instituting a Tetrarchy , or rule of four, and dividing the empire into eastern and western halves. Although

676-626: A considerable increase in the size of urban settlements, together with a notable upsurge in new towns. Trade was also flourishing; the Venetians, the Genoese and others opened up the ports of the Aegean to commerce, shipping goods from the Crusader states and Fatimid Egypt to the west and trading with the empire via Constantinople. Manuel's death on 24 September 1180 left his 11-year-old son Alexios II Komnenos on

845-460: A contested legacy to Roman identity and to associate negative connotations from ancient Latin literature. The adjective "Byzantine", which derived from Byzantion (Latinised as Byzantium ), the name of the Greek settlement Constantinople was established on, was only used to describe the inhabitants of that city; it did not refer to the empire, which they called Romanía —"Romanland". After

1014-639: A dichotomy between the Greek East and Latin West . These cultural spheres continued to diverge after Constantine I ( r.  324–337 ) moved the capital to Constantinople and legalised Christianity . Under Theodosius I ( r. 379–395 ), Christianity became the state religion , and other religious practices were proscribed . Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use as Latin fell into disuse. The empire experienced several cycles of decline and recovery throughout its history, reaching its greatest extent after

1183-501: A different type of vessel than the vessel of the same name used at sea. The galleons had a flat bottom, on average between 35 and 40 meters long, and were provided with fortified wooden structures along the sides. Their crew consisted of about fifty sailors, a few dozen crossbowmen and infantrymen and each ship was equipped with at least one bombard. Alongside the galleons, the Venetians also used galleys, which however proved to be unsuitable for river navigation. A new chapter for Venice and

1352-577: A large number in Venice. According to chronicler Niketas Choniates , a prostitute was even set up on the patriarchal throne. When order had been restored, the crusaders and the Venetians proceeded to implement their agreement; Baldwin of Flanders was elected emperor of a new Latin Empire , and the Venetian Thomas Morosini was chosen as patriarch. The lands divided up among the leaders included most of

1521-504: A lengthy conflict against Sasanid Persia and ended in 363 with the death of his son-in-law Julian . The short Valentinianic dynasty , occupied with wars against barbarians , religious debates, and anti-corruption campaigns, ended in the East with the death of Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Valens's successor, Theodosius I ( r.  379–395 ), restored political stability in

1690-632: A line through the Adriatic Sea and south to Cyrene, Libya . This encompassed most of the Balkans , all of modern Greece, Turkey, Syria , Palestine ; North Africa, primarily with modern Egypt and Libya ; the Aegean islands along with Crete , Cyprus and Sicily , and a small settlement in Crimea . The landscape of the Empire was defined by the fertile fields of Anatolia , long mountain ranges and rivers such as

1859-450: A small fleet of 100 ships to defend the capital, but other than that he was indifferent to the populace. He was finally overthrown when Isaac II Angelos , surviving an imperial assassination attempt, seized power with the aid of the people and had Andronikos killed. The reign of Isaac II, and more so that of his brother Alexios III , saw the collapse of what remained of the centralised machinery of Byzantine government and defence. Although

SECTION 10

#1732845478976

2028-417: A speedy and marked improvement. Gradually, however, Andronikos's reign deteriorated. The aristocrats were infuriated against him, and to make matters worse, Andronikos seemed to have become increasingly unbalanced; executions and violence became increasingly common, and his reign turned into a reign of terror. Andronikos seemed almost to seek the extermination of the aristocracy as a whole. The struggle against

2197-510: A two-month siege on 29 May 1453. The final Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos , was last seen casting off his imperial regalia and throwing himself into hand-to-hand combat after the walls of the city were taken. The Empire was centred in what is now Greece and Turkey with Constantinople as its capital. In the 5th century, it controlled the eastern basis of the Mediterranean running east from Singidunum (modern Belgrade ) in

2366-611: Is considered a turning point in medieval history . Reports of Crusader looting and brutality horrified the Orthodox world; relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches were wounded for many centuries afterwards. The Massacre of the Latins ( Italian : Massacro dei Latini ; Greek : Σφαγή τῶν Λατίνων ), a massacre of the Roman Catholic or "Latin" inhabitants of Constantinople by

2535-464: Is estimated 2,000 were killed. The Crusaders, with poor leadership, also sacked churches , monasteries and convents . The altars of these churches were smashed and torn to pieces for their gold and marble by the warriors. The Venetians stole religious relics and works of art, which they later took to Venice. It was said that the total amount looted from Constantinople was about 900,000 silver marks. The Venetians received 150,000 silver marks that

2704-531: Is evidence that some Komnenian heirs had set up a semi-independent state in Trebizond before 1204. According to the historian Alexander Vasiliev , "the dynasty of the Angeloi, Greek in its origin, ... accelerated the ruin of the Empire, already weakened without and disunited within." In 1198, Pope Innocent III broached the subject of a new crusade through legates and encyclical letters. The stated intent of

2873-532: Is impossible to precisely date the foundation of the Byzantine Empire. In a series of conflicts between the third and first centuries   BC, the Roman Republic gradually established hegemony over the eastern Mediterranean , while its government ultimately transformed into the one-person rule of an emperor . The Roman Empire enjoyed a period of relative stability until the third century AD , when

3042-449: Is no consensus on a "foundation date" for the Byzantine Empire, if there was one at all. The growth of the study of "late antiquity" has led to some historians setting a start date in the seventh or eighth centuries. Others believe a "new empire" began during changes in c.  300   AD. Still others hold that these starting points are too early or too late, and instead begin c.  500 . Geoffrey Greatrex believes that it

3211-615: Is tragic that the assailants, who set out to secure free access for Christians to the Holy Land, turned against their brothers in the faith. The fact that they were Latin Christians fills Catholics with deep regret." In 2004, while Bartholomew I , Patriarch of Constantinople , was visiting the Vatican , John Paul II asked, "How can we not share, at a distance of eight centuries, the pain and disgust?" This has been regarded by some as an apology to

3380-556: The Armada grossa ( lit.   ' heavy fleet ' ), and the rowing fleet, the Armada sottile ('light fleet'). During the 1600s galleys remained an important protagonists in Mediterranean warfare, but they were no longer the decisive weapons they had once been; since the 1500s galleons and other "round ships" (i.e. triple masted sailing ships with a deep draught) had become the most important component of Northern European and other fleets. Modern scholars have discerned three phases in

3549-692: The Tactica , a military treatise; and the Book of the Eparch , which codified Constantinople's trading regulations. In non-literary contexts Leo was less successful: the empire lost in Sicily and against the Bulgarians , while he provoked theological scandal by marrying four times in an attempt to father a legitimate heir. The early reign of that heir, Constantine VII , was tumultuous, as his mother Zoe , his uncle Alexander ,

SECTION 20

#1732845478976

3718-524: The Catalan Company ravaging the countryside and increasing resentment towards Constantinople. The situation became worse for Byzantium during the civil wars after Andronikos III died. A six-year-long civil war devastated the empire, allowing the Serbian ruler Stefan Dušan to overrun most of the empire's remaining territory and establish a Serbian Empire . In 1354, an earthquake at Gallipoli devastated

3887-681: The Council of Clermont and urged all those present to take up arms under the sign of the Cross and launch an armed pilgrimage to recover Jerusalem and the East from the Muslims. The response in Western Europe was overwhelming. Alexios was able to recover a number of important cities, islands and much of western Asia Minor. The Crusaders agreed to become Alexios' vassals under the Treaty of Devol in 1108, which marked

4056-555: The Council of Piacenza in 1095, envoys from Alexios spoke to Pope Urban II about the suffering of the Christians of the East and underscored that without help from the West, they would continue to suffer under Muslim rule. Urban saw Alexios' request as a dual opportunity to cement Western Europe and reunite the Eastern Orthodox Church with the Roman Catholic Church under his rule. On 27 November 1095, Urban called

4225-471: The Danube , he pushed his troops too far in 602—they mutinied, proclaimed an officer named Phocas as emperor, and executed Maurice. The Sasanians seized their moment and reopened hostilities ; Phocas was unable to cope and soon faced a major rebellion led by Heraclius . Phocas lost Constantinople in 610 and was soon executed, but the destructive civil war accelerated the empire's decline. Under Khosrow II ,

4394-717: The Danube . In the north and west were the Balkans, the corridors between the mountain ranges of Pindos , the Dinaric Alps , the Rhodopes and the Balkans . In the south and east were Anatolia, the Pontic Mountains and the Taurus - Anti-Taurus range, which served as passages for armies, while the Caucasus mountains lay between the Empire and its eastern neighbours. Roman roads connected

4563-767: The Empire of Trebizond and the Despotate of Epirus . The sack weakened the Byzantine Empire, which allowed neighbouring groups such as the Sultanate of Rum , and later the Ottoman Turks , to gain influence (see the Byzantine–Ottoman wars ). Eight hundred years after the Fourth Crusade , Pope John Paul II twice expressed sorrow for how the events transpired. In 2001, he wrote to Christodoulos , Archbishop of Athens , saying, "It

4732-569: The Empire of Trebizond , was created after Alexios I of Trebizond , commanding the Georgian expedition in Chaldia a few weeks before the sack of Constantinople, found himself de facto emperor and established himself in Trebizond. Of the three successor states, Epirus and Nicaea stood the best chance of reclaiming Constantinople. The Nicaean Empire struggled to survive the next few decades, however, and by

4901-539: The Hippodrome were sent back to adorn the façade of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, where they remain. As well as being seized, works of considerable artistic value were destroyed for their material value. One of the most precious works to suffer such a fate was a large bronze statue of Hercules , created by the legendary Lysippos , court sculptor of Alexander the Great . Like so many other considerable artworks made of bronze,

5070-718: The Kingdom of Thessalonica , a vassal state of the new Latin Empire. The Venetians also founded the Duchy of the Archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Most of the Byzantine aristocracy fled the city. Amongst the ordinary people of the former empire there was no sympathy for the Byzantine elite, who were seen as having ruled the empire with increasing incompetence. The contemporary Byzantine historian and eyewitness Nicetas Choniates closed his account of

5239-565: The Komnenian restoration , and Constantinople would remain the largest and wealthiest city in Europe until the 13th century. The empire was largely dismantled in 1204, following the Sack of Constantinople by Latin armies at the end of the Fourth Crusade ; its former territories were then divided into competing Greek rump states and Latin realms . Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261,

Venetian navy - Misplaced Pages Continue

5408-611: The Normans who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 11th century. During a period of strife between Constantinople and Rome culminating in the East-West Schism of 1054 , the Normans advanced gradually into Byzantine Italy . Reggio , the capital of the tagma of Calabria, was captured in 1060 by Robert Guiscard , followed by Otranto in 1068. Bari , the main Byzantine stronghold in Apulia ,

5577-565: The Pechenegs , who were caught by surprise and annihilated at the Battle of Levounion on 28 April 1091. Having achieved stability in the West, Alexios could turn his attention to the severe economic difficulties and the disintegration of the empire's traditional defences. However, he still did not have enough manpower to recover the lost territories in Asia Minor and to the advance by the Seljuks. At

5746-617: The Renaissance . The fall of Constantinople is sometimes used to mark the dividing line between the Middle Ages and the early modern period . The inhabitants of the empire, now generally termed Byzantines, thought of themselves as Romans ( Romaioi ). Their Islamic neighbours similarly called their empire the "land of the Romans" ( Bilād al-Rūm ), but the people of medieval Western Europe preferred to call them "Greeks" ( Graeci ), due to having

5915-454: The Roman papacy . In 780, Empress Irene assumed power on behalf of her son Constantine VI . Although she was a capable administrator who temporarily resolved the iconoclasm controversy, the empire was destabilized by her feud with her son. The Bulgars and Abbasids meanwhile inflicted numerous defeats on the Byzantine armies, and the papacy crowned Charlemagne as Roman emperor in 800. In 802,

6084-733: The Venetian patriciate , and were selected by the Great Council of Venice , and only in particularly important cases by the Venetian Senate . In the 18th century, the Senate appropriated the right of selecting the Provveditore generale da Mar , as well as filling the positions of the sailing fleet. The selection of the other higher commands and of the galley fleet remained with the Great Council. Up to

6253-509: The War of Chioggia (1378–1381), after which Genoese ships were not seen again in the Adriatic. The Battle of Chioggia , from which the wider conflict takes its name, is notable in being the first recorded use of ship-mounted gunpowder weapons being used in combat. The Venetians, who were already using gunpowder siege weapons on land, mounted small bombards to many of their galleys during the battle to keep

6422-409: The adoption of state Christianity , and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin , modern historians continue to make a distinction between the earlier Roman Empire and the later Byzantine Empire . During the earlier Pax Romana period, the western parts of the empire became increasingly Latinised , while the eastern parts largely retained their preexisting Hellenistic culture . This created

6591-645: The capitani of bastard galleys and heavy galleys, the Capitano contro Uscocchi ("Captain against the Uskoks ") and the Capitano alla guardia delle isole del Quarnero e delle Rive dell’Istria ("Captain on the watch of the islands of Quarnero and the Coasts of Istria"). In the 15th and 16th centuries, Venice also maintained riverine fleets in the Po and Adige , as well as in Lake Garda in

6760-476: The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in the Mediterranean world . The term "Byzantine Empire" was only coined following the empire's demise; its citizens referred to the polity as the "Roman Empire" and to themselves as "Romans". Due to the imperial seat's move from Rome to Byzantium ,

6929-410: The galee sforzate was always quite limited in the Venetian navy and did not fit into the normal order of battle of the fleet, instead such ships were formed into a separate flotilla under the command of the so-called Governatore dei condannati "Governor of the condemned". Making a victorious debut at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 was a Venetian invention that was soon adopted by other fleets in

Venetian navy - Misplaced Pages Continue

7098-406: The savi , and a ducal councillor . Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire , also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire , was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred in Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages . The eastern half of the Empire survived the conditions that caused the fall of the West in the 5th century AD, and continued to exist until

7267-457: The sea walls of Constantinople , overhaul provincial governance, and wage inconclusive campaigns against the Abbasids. After his death, his empress Theodora , ruling on behalf of her son Michael III , permanently extinguished the iconoclastic movement; the empire prospered under their sometimes-fraught rule. However, Michael was posthumously vilified by historians loyal to the dynasty of his successor Basil I , who assassinated him in 867 and who

7436-420: The 17th century. Crete and Cyprus also had their own fleet squadrons, under a Capitano della Guardia . Individual galleys were commanded by a sopracomito , galeasses by a governatore , and the ships of the line by a governatore di nave , or nobile di nave . Like the higher command positions and the senior commissariat of the fleet, all of them were filled by members of the Venetian patriciate. For much of

7605-510: The 532 Nika revolt he rebuilt much of Constantinople, including the original Hagia Sophia . Justinian took advantage of political instability in Italy to attempt the reconquest of lost western territories. The Vandal Kingdom in North Africa was subjugated in 534 by the general Belisarius , who then invaded Italy ; the Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed in 554. In the 540s, however, Justinian began to suffer reversals on multiple fronts. Taking advantage of Constantinople's preoccupation with

7774-411: The Adriatic, which it regarded as its own, patrolling, inspecting all ships passing, and attacking those it considered hostile. At the Battle of Curzola in 1298, Venice suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Genoese navy , which saw the loss of 83 galleys out of a fleet of 95, 7,000 men killed and another 7,000 captured. However, Venice was able to immediately equip a second fleet of 100 galleys and

7943-408: The Arab efforts to capture Constantinople in the 670s , but suffered a reversal against the Bulgars , who soon established an empire in the northern Balkans . Nevertheless, he and Constans had done enough to secure the empire's position, especially as the Umayyad Caliphate was undergoing another civil war . Justinian II sought to build on the stability secured by his father Constantine but

8112-454: The Byzantine Empire's territories were divided up among the Crusaders. Byzantine aristocrats also established a number of small independent splinter states—one of them being the Empire of Nicaea , which would eventually recapture Constantinople in 1261 and proclaim the reinstatement of the Empire. However, the restored Empire never managed to reclaim all its former territory or attain its earlier economic strength, and it gradually succumbed to

8281-408: The Byzantine administration's policy of heavy taxation and abolishing of the levy. The weakening of Georgia and Armenia played a significant role in the Byzantine defeat at Manzikert in 1071. Basil II is considered among the most capable Byzantine emperors and his reign as the apex of the empire in the Middle Ages . By 1025, the date of Basil II's death, the Byzantine Empire stretched from Armenia in

8450-478: The Byzantines and their rivals in Western Christendom , profiting from both. In return for Venetian aid against the Normans, in the Byzantine–Norman wars , Alexios I Komnenos the Byzantine Emperor granted the Venetians far-reaching commercial privileges in the Chrysobull , or Golden Bull, of 1082 . In the 12th century, following the Chrysobull of 1082, and the Crusades (for which Venice had provided transport of men and supplies), Venetian commercial interests in

8619-440: The Eastern Mediterranean. Venice also developed a new type of galley more suitable for the muda . At this time, the decline of ducal power and an entrenchment of the republican form of government saw the Doge gradually lose the ability to appoint military commanders to the Great Council ; the government of the Republic began to take on the shape that it would keep for the following centuries, until its final demise. Additionally,

SECTION 50

#1732845478976

8788-415: The Empire by land, with the Via Egnatia running from Constantinople to the Albanian coast through Macedonia and the Via Traiana to Adrianople (modern Edirne ), Serdica (modern Sofia ) and Singidunum. By water, Crete, Cyprus and Sicily were key naval points and the main ports connecting Constantinople were Alexandria, Gaza, Caesarea and Antioch. The Aegean sea was considered an internal lake within

8957-432: The Empire. The emperor was the centre of the whole administration of the Empire, who the legal historian Kaius Tuori has said was "above the law, within the law, and the law itself"; with a power that is difficult to define and which does not align with our modern understanding of the separation of powers. The proclamations of the crowds of Constantinople, and the inaugurations of the patriarch from 457, would legitimise

9126-548: The Genoese fleets operating in the area under Marshal Boucicault , although the customary distrust of the two maritime republics still meant that they pursued their own agendas and eyed each other's military and diplomatic moves warily. Nevertheless, Venice's policy in this period was ambivalent: while it strengthened its overseas garrisons, it avoided an open rupture with the Sultan, and sought to negotiate with him, indeed allowing its local colonies to make their own deals with regional Turkish potentates. As Camillo Manfroni writes, "it

9295-529: The Genoese force cordoned off in Chioggia. The conflict was nearly equally disastrous for both sides, and Genoa was certainly crippled, losing the naval ascendency that the city-state had enjoyed prior to the war. Venice might have suffered equally as badly, but for the existence of the Arsenal, which allowed Venice to make good its losses in next to no time. By this time the Arsenal had a mothballed fleet of at least 50 decommissioned hulks that could be rearmed and brought rapidly back into service. Nevertheless,

9464-464: The Greek Orthodox Church for the slaughter perpetrated by the warriors of the Fourth Crusade. In April 2004, in a speech on the 800th anniversary of the capture of the city, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I formally accepted the apology. "The spirit of reconciliation is stronger than hatred," he said during a liturgy attended by Roman Catholic Archbishop Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, France. "We receive with gratitude and respect your cordial gesture for

9633-409: The Gulf" mobilized each year was much reduced: instead of the usual ten galleys, in 1385 only four were mobilized, and of these two in Crete rather than Venice, since the colonies were obliged to cover the maintenance of galleys out of their own pockets, rather than the state treasury. This set the pattern for the next decade; when the Senate mobilized ten galleys in 1395, of which only four in Venice, it

9802-435: The King of Hungary. The Turks were well aware of these factors, and sought to placate the Venetians whenever possible so as to dissuade them from allying with the other Christian powers against them. In the immediate aftermath of the crushing Ottoman victory at Nicopolis, the Venetians instructed the captains of the Squadron of the Gulf to assist beleaguered Constantinople. The Venetian ships were instructed to co-operate with

9971-408: The Levant led to the first great revolution of the Venetian navy, the building of the Venetian Arsenal . At this great public shipyard , under the direct control of the Republic, were concentrated all that was needed to construct and maintain the Venetian fleet. With this move, control of the galleys also passed into public ownership, private citizens being limited to chartering freightage aboard

10140-420: The Mediterranean. Venetian marines fought in Lepanto, created as Fanti da Mar in 1550. The contemporaneous decline in commercial traffic led to the disappearance galea grossa mercantile . By the sixteenth century, Venice, though significant, was no longer the predominant naval power it had once been; the long conflict with the Ottoman's had cut the trade routes to the East, and with the Age of Discovery and

10309-411: The Mongol invasion also gave Nicaea a temporary respite from Seljuk attacks, allowing it to concentrate on the Latin Empire to its north. The Empire of Nicaea, founded by the Laskarid dynasty , managed to recapture Constantinople in 1261 and defeat Epirus . This led to a short-lived revival of Byzantine fortunes under Michael VIII Palaiologos , but the war-ravaged empire was ill-equipped to deal with

SECTION 60

#1732845478976

10478-405: The Normans were driven out of Greece, in 1186 the Vlachs and Bulgars began a rebellion that led to the formation of the Second Bulgarian Empire . The internal policy of the Angeloi was characterised by the squandering of the public treasure and fiscal maladministration. Imperial authority was severely weakened, and the growing power vacuum at the centre of the empire encouraged fragmentation. There

10647-407: The Ottoman Empire, but remained in a state of quasi-war with the Ottomans' North African vassals, the Barbary Coast — Ottoman Algeria , Ottoman Tripolitania , Ottoman Tunisia , and Alaouite Morocco —whose raids against Christian shipping continued unabated. The Republic concluded a series of peace agreements with these states in 1763–1765, but these were not honoured for long. This set the stage for

10816-403: The Sailing Ships") was created during the last Ottoman–Venetian war, but this was a wartime appointment only. A number of junior and subordinate commanders could be added to these, and a number of temporary or specialized posts were created over the centuries as well, such as the Capitano della Riviera della Marca , the Capitano delle fuste in Golfo ("Captain of the light galleys in the Gulf"),

10985-401: The Sassanids occupied the Levant and Egypt and pushed into Asia Minor, while Byzantine control of Italy slipped and the Avars and Slavs ran riot in the Balkans. Although Heraclius repelled a siege of Constantinople in 626 and defeated the Sassanids in 627, this was a pyrrhic victory . The early Muslim conquests soon saw the conquest of the Levant , Egypt , and the Sassanid Empire by

11154-413: The Tetrarchy system quickly failed, the division of the empire proved an enduring concept. Constantine I ( r.  306–337 ) secured sole power in 324. Over the following six years, he rebuilt the city of Byzantium as a capital city , which was renamed Constantinople . Rome , the previous capital, was further from the important eastern provinces and in a less strategically important location; it

11323-426: The Turkish invaders at the Battle of Hyelion and Leimocheir , brought troops from the capital and was able to gather an army along the way, a sign that the Byzantine army remained strong and that the defensive program of western Asia Minor was still successful. John and Manuel pursued active military policies, and both deployed considerable resources on sieges and city defences; aggressive fortification policies were at

11492-532: The Venetian navy c.  1542 , when the first institutions to administer them are also attested. The post of governatore dei condannati was also created at this time. The use of convicts to row the galleys increased over time, except for the flagships and the galeasses . Finally, as the number of galleys in the Venetian fleet diminished in favour of sailing ships of the line , after 1721 all Venetian galleys were exclusively manned by convicts. Traditionally, all senior naval offices were occupied by members of

11661-441: The Venetian navy opened in 1453, with the Fall of Constantinople and the beginning in earnest of the Ottoman–Venetian wars , a centuries long confrontation with the Ottoman Empire. Faced with a constant threat to its maritime possessions, Venice had little choice but to maintain a standing fleet of dozens of galleys on a war footing in peacetime, bolstered in times of actual war by over a hundred galleys held in reserve. To oversee

11830-464: The Venetians' adoption of sailing ships. Initially, from the 1617–1620 conflict with Naples to the early phase of the Cretan War , the Republic complemented its galley war fleet with chartered armed merchant vessels. As the domestic merchant fleet was insufficient, the Venetians also chartered foreign vessels, usually Dutch or English. From 1651 on, the Venetians began putting captured Ottoman ships into service. Chartered vessels were still widely used, but

11999-486: The West, Khosrow I of the Sasanian Empire invaded Byzantine territory and sacked Antioch in 540. Meanwhile, the emperor's internal reforms and policies began to falter, not helped by a devastating plague that killed a large proportion of the population and severely weakened the empire's social and financial stability. The most difficult period of the Ostrogothic war, against their king Totila , came during this decade, while divisions among Justinian's advisors undercut

12168-401: The West. Zeno ( r.  474–491 ) convinced the problematic Ostrogoth king Theodoric to take control of Italy from Odoacer, which he did; dying with the empire at peace, Zeno was succeeded by Anastasius I ( r.  491–518 ). Although his Monophysitism brought occasional issues, Anastasius was a capable administrator and instituted several successful financial reforms including

12337-581: The Western provinces to achieve an economic revival that continued until the close of the century. It has been argued that Byzantium under the Komnenian rule was more prosperous than at any time since the Persian invasions of the 7th century. During the 12th century, population levels rose and extensive tracts of new agricultural land were brought into production. Archaeological evidence from both Europe and Asia Minor shows

12506-522: The abolition of the chrysargyron tax . He was the first emperor to die with no serious problems affecting his empire since Diocletian. The reign of Justinian I was a watershed in Byzantine history. Following his accession in 527, the law-code was rewritten as the influential Corpus Juris Civilis and Justinian produced extensive legislation on provincial administration; he reasserted imperial control over religion and morality through purges of non-Christians and "deviants"; and having ruthlessly subdued

12675-569: The administration's response. He also did not fully heal the divisions in Chalcedonian Christianity , as the Second Council of Constantinople failed to make a real difference. Justinian died in 565; his reign saw more success than that of any other Byzantine emperor, yet he left his empire under massive strain. Financially and territorially overextended, Justin II ( r.  565–578 )

12844-568: The aristocracy turned into wholesale slaughter, while the emperor resorted to ever more ruthless measures to shore up his regime. Despite his military background, Andronikos failed to deal with Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus, Béla III of Hungary who reincorporated Croatian territories into Hungary, and Stephen Nemanja of Serbia who declared his independence from the Byzantine Empire. Yet, none of these troubles compared to William II of Sicily 's invasion force of 300 ships and 80,000 men, arriving in 1185 and sacking Thessalonica . Andronikos mobilised

13013-488: The capital, and Alexios Angelos was elevated to the throne as Alexios IV along with his blind father Isaac. Alexios IV and Isaac II were unable to keep their promises and were deposed by Alexios V . The crusaders again took the city on 13 April 1204 , and Constantinople was subjected to pillage and massacre by the rank and file for three days. Many priceless icons, relics and other objects later turned up in Western Europe ,

13182-464: The city had collapsed so severely that it was now little more than a cluster of villages separated by fields. On 2 April 1453, Sultan Mehmed 's army of 80,000 men and large numbers of irregulars laid siege to the city. Despite a desperate last-ditch defence of the city by the massively outnumbered Christian forces (c. 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreign), Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans after

13351-587: The city in the northwest and used it as a base to attack the rest of the city, but while attempting to defend themselves with a wall of fire they ended up burning down even more of the city. Emperor Alexios V fled from the city that night through the Polyandriou (Rhegium) Gate and escaped into the countryside to the west. The Crusaders looted , pillaged, and vandalized Constantinople for three days, during which many ancient and medieval Roman and Greek works were either seized or destroyed. The famous bronze horses from

13520-558: The city. By the first week of April, the Crusaders had begun their siege from their encampment in the town of Galata across the Golden Horn from Constantinople. On 9 April 1204, the Crusader and Venetian forces began an assault on the Golden Horn fortifications by crossing the waterway to the northwest wall of the city, but, because of bad weather, the assault forces were driven back when

13689-522: The command of the Capitano general da Mar . As the size of the sailing fleet grew, a second Capitano delle Navi or a Vice Capitano delle Navi were appointed to command the divisions of the sailing fleet, but eventually the more junior ranks of Almirante and Patrona during the Cretan War. For the same reason, an even higher post, that of Capitano Straordinario delle Navi ("Captain Extraordinary of

13858-622: The condemned ones"). The galeasses were sometimes placed under their own commander, the Capitano delle galeazze . The commanders of the ships of the line squadrons were the Capitano delle Navi ("Captain of the Sailing Ships"), the Almirante ("Admiral"), and the Patrona . The Capitano delle Navi was the earliest of the three offices and remained the highest in the sailing squadrons, albeit always under

14027-557: The construction of 64-gun ships of the line in the Arsenal. Construction accelerated in the 1670s, including smaller vessels of the frigate type, driven by increased French presence in the Mediterranean as well as the increase in attacks by the Barbary corsairs, who began operating in squadrons of six to eight vessels. An expansion of the Arsenal also created a large covered shipyard where up to thirteen vessels could be conserved, or worked on, at

14196-489: The crusade was to conquer Egypt , the centre of Muslim power in the Levant. The Crusader army arrived at Venice in the summer of 1202 and hired the Venetian fleet to transport them to Egypt. As a payment to the Venetians, they captured the (Christian) port of Zara in Dalmatia , which was a vassal city of Venice, it had rebelled and placed itself under Hungary's protection in 1186. Shortly afterward, Alexios IV Angelos , son of

14365-668: The culmination of the Fourth Crusade . Crusaders sacked and destroyed most of Constantinople , the capital of the Byzantine Empire . After the capture of the city, the Latin Empire (known to the Byzantines as the Frankokratia , or the Latin occupation ) was established and Baldwin of Flanders crowned as Emperor Baldwin I of Constantinople in Hagia Sophia . After the city's sacking, most of

14534-447: The deposed and blinded Emperor Isaac II, made contact with the Crusaders. Alexios offered to reunite the Byzantine church with Rome, pay the Crusaders 200,000 silver marks, join the crusade, and provide all the supplies they needed to reach Egypt. The crusaders arrived at Constantinople in the summer of 1203 and quickly attacked , starting a major fire that damaged large parts of the city, and briefly seized control. Alexios III fled from

14703-468: The desire to maintain mastery of newly conquered seas and a growing conflict with the maritime republics of Genoa and Pisa led to Venice keeping a larger fleet under arms for longer. From 1268, virtually uniquely for the time, Venice maintained a standing fleet so as to maintain control of the Adriatic, which for Venetians was simply il Golfo , the Gulf. With this naval force, Venice imposed its authority on

14872-514: The division of the fleet in the mid-17th century into a rowed fleet ( armata sottile ), comprising galleys and galeasses, and sailing ships of the line ( armata grossa ), the former formed three distinct squadrons, each under the command of the Provveditore d'armata ("Superintendent of the fleet"), the Capitano del Golfo ("Captain of the Gulf"), and the Governatore dei condannati ("Governor of

15041-471: The east by allowing the Goths to settle in Roman territory; he also twice intervened in the western half, defeating the usurpers Magnus Maximus and Eugenius in 388 and 394 respectively. He actively condemned paganism , confirmed the primacy of Nicene Christianity over Arianism , and established Christianity as the Roman state religion . He was the last emperor to rule both the western and eastern halves of

15210-433: The east to Calabria in southern Italy in the west. Many successes had been achieved, ranging from the conquest of Bulgaria to the annexation of parts of Georgia and Armenia, and the reconquests of Crete , Cyprus , and the important city of Antioch . These were not temporary tactical gains but long-term reconquests. At the same time, Byzantium was faced with new enemies. Its provinces in southern Italy were threatened by

15379-465: The efficient supply and administration of such a force required an extensive organisational effort, leading to the creation of the office of the Magistrato alla milizia da mar "commissioner of naval forces" responsible for the construction and maintenance of ships and cannon, provision of hardtack and other ship's stores , weapons and gunpowder, recruitment of crews and the management of finances. With

15548-527: The emperor's role as the leader of the Christian world, John marched into the Holy Land at the head of the combined forces of the empire and the Crusader states; yet despite his efforts in leading the campaign, his hopes were disappointed by the treachery of his Crusader allies. In 1142, John returned to press his claims to Antioch, but he died in the spring of 1143 following a hunting accident. John's chosen heir

15717-523: The empire's eastern defences. The emergency lent weight to the military aristocracy in Anatolia, who in 1068 secured the election of one of their own, Romanos Diogenes , as emperor. In the summer of 1071, Romanos undertook a massive eastern campaign to draw the Seljuks into a general engagement with the Byzantine army. At the Battle of Manzikert , Romanos suffered a surprise defeat against Sultan Alp Arslan and

15886-492: The empire's fall, early modern scholars referred to the empire by many names, including the "Empire of Constantinople", the "Empire of the Greeks", the "Eastern Empire", the "Late Empire", the "Low Empire", and the "Roman Empire". The increasing use of "Byzantine" and "Byzantine Empire" likely started with the 15th-century historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles , whose works were widely propagated, including by Hieronymus Wolf . "Byzantine"

16055-495: The empire, gaining only short-term success. To avoid another sacking of the capital by the Latins, he forced the Church to submit to Rome, again a temporary solution for which the peasantry hated Michael and Constantinople. The efforts of Andronikos II and later his grandson Andronikos III marked Byzantium's last genuine attempts to restoring the glory of the empire. However, the use of mercenaries by Andronikos II often backfired, with

16224-460: The empire; after his death, the West would be destabilised by a succession of "soldier-emperors", unlike the East, where administrators would continue to hold power. Theodosius II ( r.  408–450 ) largely left the rule of the east to officials such as Anthemius , who constructed the Theodosian Walls to defend Constantinople, now firmly entrenched as Rome's capital. Theodosius' reign

16393-603: The end of the 9th century there appeared the main instrument of Venetian power: In addition a number of other types of ships are mentioned in the Chronicles, With these ships, Venice fought alongside the Byzantines against the Arabs, Franks and Normans , winning by the year 1000 dominance of the Adriatic, subjugating the Narentines and taking control of Dalmatia , the first domain in what would become Venice's Stato da Màr . Towards

16562-514: The end of the Norman threat during Alexios' reign. Alexios's son John II Komnenos succeeded him in 1118 and ruled until 1143. John was a pious and dedicated emperor who was determined to undo the damage to the empire suffered at the Battle of Manzikert half a century earlier. Famed for his piety and his remarkably mild and just reign, John was an exceptional example of a moral ruler at a time when cruelty

16731-483: The end of this period Venice had accumulated a large and powerful fleet. Although still nominally a vassal of the Byzantine Empire, Venice was increasingly independent and a rival of the Byzantines for primacy in the Eastern Mediterranean. Rather than depending on the Byzantines for their survival, the Venetians held, with their fleet, the balance of power , and was able to use it to leverage concessions from both

16900-606: The enemies that surrounded it. To maintain his campaigns against the Latins, Michael pulled troops from Asia Minor and levied crippling taxes on the peasantry, causing much resentment. Massive construction projects were completed in Constantinople to repair the damage of the Fourth Crusade, but none of these initiatives were of any comfort to the farmers in Asia Minor suffering raids from Muslim ghazis. Rather than holding on to his possessions in Asia Minor, Michael chose to expand

17069-540: The fall of the city with the following description of a column of aristocratic refugees, including the Patriarch, making their way to Selymbria : The peasants and common riff-raff jeered at those of us from Byzantium and were thick-headed enough to call our miserable poverty and nakedness equality...Many were only too happy to accept this outrage, saying "Blessed be the Lord that we have grown rich", and buying up for next to nothing

17238-464: The fall of the west during the reign of Justinian I ( r. 527–565 ), who briefly reconquered much of Italy and the western Mediterranean coast . The appearance of plague and a devastating war with Persia exhausted the empire's resources; the early Muslim conquests that followed saw the loss of the empire's richest provinces— Egypt and Syria —to the Rashidun Caliphate . In 698, Africa

17407-518: The former Byzantine possessions. Although Venice was more interested in commerce than conquering territory, it took key areas of Constantinople, and the Doge took the title of " Lord of a Quarter and Half a Quarter of the Roman Empire ". After the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Latin crusaders, two Byzantine successor states were established: the Empire of Nicaea and the Despotate of Epirus . A third,

17576-544: The fort, allowing the Ottomans (who were hired as mercenaries during the civil war by John VI Kantakouzenos ) to establish themselves in Europe. By the time the Byzantine civil wars had ended, the Ottomans had defeated the Serbians and subjugated them as vassals. Following the Battle of Kosovo , much of the Balkans became dominated by the Ottomans. Constantinople by this stage was underpopulated and dilapidated. The population of

17745-431: The heart of their imperial military policies. Despite the defeat at Myriokephalon, the policies of Alexios, John and Manuel resulted in vast territorial gains, increased frontier stability in Asia Minor, and secured the stabilisation of the empire's European frontiers. From c.  1081 to c.  1180 , the Komnenian army assured the empire's security, enabling Byzantine civilisation to flourish. This allowed

17914-455: The island of Giudecca to provide a naval education. The Venetian navy continued to introduce and adopt new ship types. The large scale adoption of the galleon by Venice was prompted by her experience with sailing ships chartered from the English and Dutch against the forces of Habsburg Spain and the Ottomans. Its adoption led to a division of the Venetian navy into two, one a sailing branch,

18083-698: The last actions of the Venetian navy, bound up with the name of Angelo Emo . The end of the Venetian navy coincided with the end of the entire state in 1797, with the arrival of Napoleon 's troops. At the Fall of the Republic of Venice , the French First Republic seized the best ships and plundered the Venetian Arsenal before handing the city over to the Habsburg monarchy of Austria, which got hold of ten ships of

18252-655: The later part of his reign, John focused his activities on the East, personally leading numerous campaigns against the Turks in Asia Minor. His campaigns fundamentally altered the balance of power in the East, forcing the Turks onto the defensive, while retaking many towns, fortresses, and cities across the peninsula for the Byzantines. He defeated the Danishmend Emirate of Melitene and reconquered all of Cilicia , while forcing Raymond of Poitiers , Prince of Antioch, to recognise Byzantine suzerainty. In an effort to demonstrate

18421-523: The line, seven frigates and corvettes, several dozens of gunboats and small ships, roughly one half of the 1797 fleet. The high command of the fleet in peacetime was entrusted to the Provveditore Generale da Mar ("Superintendent general of the Sea"), who resided at Corfu . In times of war, a Capitano general da Mar ("Captain general of the Sea"), with very extensive powers, was appointed. Following

18590-562: The loss of Venice's last and most important Eastern Mediterranean possession, the Kingdom of Candia (now Crete ). In September 1669, a submarine was proposed with which to attack the Turkish fortifications; however, a peace treaty was signed before it could be constructed. In 1619 the Venetian Senate instituted a naval academy , the Collegio dei Giovani Nobili (College for Young Nobles), on

18759-565: The maturation of firearms technology, the previous Greek fire projectors were replaced with cannon positioned in the bow as chasers . This era saw the development of further ship types. The 16th century saw the gradual replacement of the traditional missile weapons ( bows and crossbows ) with the modern arquebus . At this time the traditional Venetian galee libere "free galleys", with crews composed of buonavoglia or free men serving for pay, and zontaroli , debtors and convicts serving out their debt, and conscripts serving in time of war,

18928-418: The measures he took to reform the government of the empire have been praised by historians. According to the historian George Ostrogorsky , Andronikos was determined to root out corruption: under his rule, the sale of offices ceased; selection was based on merit, rather than favouritism; and officials were paid an adequate salary to reduce the temptation of bribery. In the provinces, Andronikos's reforms produced

19097-521: The mid-13th century Venice began to deploy military fleets along the Po . Initially they consisted of a few units, six or seven scaule (small flat-bottomed boats), but during the wars against the duchy of Milan , during the war of Ferrara and up to the battle of Polesella in 1509, the Serenissima operated along the Po and on Lake Garda with real military fleets. In inland waters, the Venetians used galleons,

19266-528: The mid-13th century it had lost much of southern Anatolia. The weakening of the Sultanate of Rûm following the Mongol invasion in 1242–1243 allowed many beyliks and ghazis to set up their own principalities in Anatolia, weakening the Byzantine hold on Asia Minor. Two centuries later, one of the Beys of these beyliks, Osman I , would establish the Ottoman Empire that would eventually conquer Constantinople. However,

19435-481: The mid-16th century, naval matters were supervised by the five-member board of the savi agli ordini , but gradually a more complex and professional administration was built up. In 1545, the three Provveditori all'Armar were established to supervise the provisioning and equipment of the fleet and its crews, while the enlistment of crews and officers was the charge of the Savio alla Scrittura . The technical administration

19604-426: The money that was promised. In March 1204, the Crusader and Venetian leadership decided on the outright conquest of Constantinople in order to settle debts, and drew up a formal agreement to divide the Byzantine Empire between them. By the end of March, the combined Crusader armies were besieging Constantinople as Emperor Alexios V began to strengthen the city's defences while conducting more active operations outside

19773-542: The most capable Byzantine emperors, withstood continued Arab attacks, civil unrest, and natural disasters, and reestablished the state as a major regional power. Leo's reign produced the Ecloga , a new code of law to succeed that of Justinian II, and continued to reform the "theme system" in order to lead offensive campaigns against the Muslims, culminating in a decisive victory in 740 . Constantine overcame an early civil war against his brother-in-law Artabasdos , made peace with

19942-495: The navy obliged Venice to follow the other European States, competing with them to build new types of sailing ships: Following the end of the Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718), Venice was left a minor power. In a sequence of wars lasting almost 75 years, the Republic lost most of its overseas empire and impoverished itself in the process. after the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1718, the Republic enjoyed peace with

20111-400: The navy's history, Venice employed free men as crewmen in its fleets. In the 13th and 14th centuries, conscription had been used to man fleets, but in the 15th century and on the Republic relied on wages for crewing both its warships and its merchant vessels. Pay was not very high in the merchant galleys—some 8–9 lire per month for an oarsman at the turn of the 16th century—but each crewman had

20280-567: The new Abbasid Caliphate , campaigned successfully against the Bulgars, and continued to make administrative and military reforms. However, due to both emperors' support for the Byzantine Iconoclasm , which opposed the use of religious icons , they were later vilified by Byzantine historians; Constantine's reign also saw the loss of Ravenna to the Lombards , and the beginning of a split with

20449-466: The newly-formed Arabic Rashidun Caliphate . By Heraclius' death in 641, the empire had been severely reduced economically as well as territorially—the loss of the wealthy eastern provinces had deprived Constantinople of three-quarters of its revenue. The next seventy-five years are poorly documented. Arab raids into Asia Minor began almost immediately, and the Byzantines resorted to holding fortified centres and avoiding battle at all costs; although it

20618-484: The opening of the Atlantic trade routes, the focus of European maritime trade had moved from the Mediterranean. The 17th century was marked by the loss and the gains of series of overseas possessions; Venice found itself fighting the twenty five year long Cretan War (1645–1669) , also known as the "War of Candia", which saw a Venetian expeditionary fleet outside the gates of Istanbul, the former Constantinople, but ended with

20787-555: The outset of his reign, Alexios faced a formidable attack from the Normans under Guiscard and his son Bohemund of Taranto , who captured Dyrrhachium and Corfu and laid siege to Larissa in Thessaly . Guiscard's death in 1085 temporarily eased the Norman problem. The following year, the Seljuq sultan died, and the sultanate was split due to internal rivalries. By his own efforts, Alexios defeated

20956-521: The patriarch Nicholas , the powerful Simeon I of Bulgaria , and other influential figures jockeyed for power. In 920, the admiral Romanos I used his fleet to secure power, crowning himself and demoting Constantine to the position of junior co-emperor. His reign, which brought peace with Bulgaria and successes in the east under the general John Kourkouas , was ended in 944 by the machinations of his sons, whom Constantine soon usurped in turn. Constantine's ineffectual sole rule has often been construed as

21125-423: The people deposed Alexios IV . He turned to the Crusaders for help, but was imprisoned by the imperial chamberlain, Alexios Doukas , who declared himself Emperor on 5 February before executing Alexios IV on 8 February by strangulation. Emperor Alexios V then attempted to negotiate with the Crusaders for a withdrawal from Byzantine territory without payment, but they refused in order to avenge Alexios IV and receive

21294-410: The pope and Western Christian kingdoms, and he successfully handled the passage of the crusaders through his empire. In the East, Manuel suffered a major defeat in 1176 at the Battle of Myriokephalon against the Turks. These losses were quickly recovered, and in the following year Manuel's forces inflicted a defeat upon a force of "picked Turks". The Byzantine commander John Vatatzes , who destroyed

21463-541: The ports of southern Italy, he sent an expedition to Italy in 1155, but disputes within the coalition led to the eventual failure of the campaign. Despite this military setback, Manuel's armies successfully invaded the southern parts of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1167, defeating the Hungarians at the Battle of Sirmium . By 1168, nearly the whole of the eastern Adriatic coast lay in Manuel's hands. Manuel made several alliances with

21632-408: The pro-Crusader Alexios Angelos was crowned Emperor Alexios IV of the Byzantine Empire. He attempted to pacify the city, but riots between anti-Crusader Greeks and pro-Crusader Latins broke out later that month and lasted until November, during which time most of the populace began to turn against him. On 25 January 1204, the death of co-Emperor Isaac II set off rioting in Constantinople in which

21801-469: The property that their fellow-countrymen were forced to offer for sale, for they had not yet had much to do with the beef-eating Latins and they did not know that they served a wine as pure and unmixed as unadulterated bile, nor that they would treat the Byzantines with utter contempt. Byzantine aristocratic refugees founded their own successor states , the most notable of these being the Empire of Nicaea under Theodore Laskaris (a relative of Alexius III),

21970-441: The reconstituted empire would wield only regional power during its final two centuries of existence. Its remaining territories were progressively annexed by the Ottomans in perennial wars fought throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 ultimately brought the empire to an end. Many refugees who had fled the city after its capture settled in Italy and throughout Europe, helping to ignite

22139-635: The republic, beginning in the 16th century and ending with the capitulation of the city to Napoleon in 1797. Giving shelter to refugees fleeing Hunnic invaders in the 6th century, Venice grew in the Venetian Lagoon in the northern Adriatic . From the very beginning, it focused on establishing and maintaining maritime trade routes across the Eastern Mediterranean to the Levant and beyond; Venice's commercial and military strength, and continued survival,

22308-414: The right to carry a set amount of merchandise on board the ship free of taxes or fares, allowing them to make considerable profits through what was in effect legalized smuggling. Demand for a place aboard such ships was so high that legislation had to be introduced repeatedly to combat the practice of sailors paying kickbacks to their captains so that they would be selected. Payment was considerably higher for

22477-473: The rising Ottoman Empire over the following two centuries. The Byzantine Empire was left poorer, smaller, and ultimately less able to defend itself against the Seljuk and Ottoman conquests that followed. The actions of the Crusaders, therefore, accelerated the collapse of Christendom in the east, and in the long run helped facilitate the later Ottoman conquests of southeastern Europe. The sack of Constantinople

22646-484: The rule of an emperor. The senate had its own identity but would become an extension of the emperor's court, becoming largely ceremonial. Siege of Constantinople (1204) In the Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1209–1588) Popular (1096–1320) The sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked

22815-421: The same time. This existence of a permanent fleet was a new and distinct advantage over the Ottomans, who did not have a standing sailing fleet, but built their ships as needed, or relied on their Barbary vassals. It was not until 1690 that the Ottomans began building a standing sailing squadron of their own. During the 18th century, in addition to the introduction of the sextant , the international development of

22984-447: The severe financial strain of the War of Chioggia imposed drastic economies in the post-war, which also affected the navy. Thus, despite the mounting Ottoman threat in the Balkans, the continuing rivalry with Genoa, and the simultaneous expansion of Venetian holdings in the southern Balkans (including Argos and Nauplia , Durazzo , and Monemvasia ) the size of the "guard fleet" or "Squadron of

23153-499: The statue was melted down for its content by the Crusaders for surplus profit. Despite their oaths and the threat of excommunication, the Crusaders systematically assaulted the city's holy sanctuaries, destroying or seizing all that was deemed remotely of value; little was spared, and the tombs of the emperors inside the Church of the Holy Apostles fell victim to such looting as well. Of the civilian population of Constantinople, it

23322-543: The throne. Alexios was highly incompetent in the office, and with his mother Maria of Antioch 's Frankish background, his regency was unpopular. Eventually, Andronikos I Komnenos , a grandson of Alexios I, overthrew Alexios II in a violent coup d'état . After eliminating his potential rivals, he had himself crowned as co-emperor in September 1183. He eliminated Alexios II and took his 12-year-old wife Agnes of France for himself. Andronikos began his reign well; in particular,

23491-517: The towers along the wall. After a short battle approximately 70 Crusaders managed to enter the city. Some Crusaders were eventually able to knock holes in the walls large enough for a few knights at a time to crawl through; the Venetians were also successful at scaling the walls from the sea, although there was extremely bloody fighting with the Varangians . The Crusaders captured the Blachernae section of

23660-400: The troops that landed came under heavy archery fire in open ground between Constantinople's fortifications and the shore. On 12 April 1204 weather conditions finally favoured the Crusaders as the weather cleared and a second assault on the city was ordered. A strong north wind aided the Venetian ships near the Golden Horn to come close to the city wall, which enabled attackers to seize some of

23829-442: The unpopular Irene was overthrown by Nikephoros I ; he reformed the empire's administration but died in battle against the Bulgars in 811. Military defeats and societal disorder, especially the resurgence of iconoclasm, characterised the next eighteen years. Stability was somewhat restored during the reign of Theophilos ( r.  829–842 ), who exploited economic growth to complete construction programs, including rebuilding

23998-469: The use of the Ottoman ships alleviated some of their drawbacks: the high cost of renting them, and the uncertain availability of foreign ships. The high cost of renting foreign ships, which were not even purpose-built warships, demonstrated the need for a state-owned fleet, a project pressed forward particularly by admiral Lazzaro Mocenigo . His death in 1657 delayed things, but in 1666, the Senate finally ordered

24167-498: The usurper Andronikos Komnenos and his supporters in May 1182, affected political relations between Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire and led to the sack of Thessalonica by Normans. Although regular trade agreements were soon resumed between Byzantine and Latin States, some Westerners sought some form of revenge. Following the siege of Constantinople in 1203 , on 1 August 1203

24336-477: The vessels that undertook the muda trade convoys. The 13th century opened with overseas conquest and an expansion of the Stato da Màr, giving the Venetian a chain of bases, outposts and colonies across the trade routes to the Levant. Partially at the instigation of Venice, the Fourth Crusade diverted to Constantinople and with the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, Venice had become the pre-eminent maritime power in

24505-545: The war galleys—12 lire at the turn of the 16th century—but the crews suffered deductions for clothing, medicine and clerical services, etc. On the other hand, while the chances for smuggling were smaller (but still extant) on a warship, a crewman could also hope to receive a share in any booty. Many of the galleys were manned in Venice's overseas positions, however, where galley service was unpopular, and where either conscripts or hired substitutes were used. Convicts ( condannati ) and Muslim captives began to be employed as rowers in

24674-458: The west, the warlord Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus in 476, killed his titular successor Julius Nepos in 480, and the office of western emperor was formally abolished. Through a combination of luck, cultural factors, and political decisions, the Eastern empire never suffered from rebellious barbarian vassals and was never ruled by barbarian warlords—the problems which ensured the downfall of

24843-422: The zenith of Byzantine learning , but while several works were compiled, they were largely intended to legitimise and glorify the emperor's Macedonian dynasty . His son and successor died young; under two soldier-emperors, Nikephoros II ( r.  963–969 ) and John I Tzimiskes ( r.  969–976 ), the Roman army claimed numerous military successes, including the conquest of Cilicia and Antioch , and

25012-473: Was able to obtain reasonable peace conditions that did not significantly hamper its power and prosperity. The 14th century saw a great change in construction techniques, with the replacement of the twin steering oar for the single stern rudder and with the introduction of the magnetic compass , a radical change in the nature of going out to sea. This century saw the culmination of the long smouldering Venetian–Genoese wars which came to an end of sorts during

25181-544: Was besieged in August 1068 and fell in April 1071 . About 1053, Constantine IX disbanded what the historian John Skylitzes calls the "Iberian Army", which consisted of 50,000 men, and it was turned into a contemporary Drungary of the Watch . Two other knowledgeable contemporaries, the former officials Michael Attaleiates and Kekaumenos , agree with Skylitzes that by demobilising these soldiers, Constantine did catastrophic harm to

25350-560: Was captured. Alp Arslan treated him with respect and imposed no harsh terms on the Byzantines. In Constantinople a coup put in power Michael Doukas , who soon faced the opposition of Nikephoros Bryennios and Nikephoros III Botaneiates . By 1081, the Seljuks had expanded their rule over virtually the entire Anatolian plateau from Armenia in the east to Bithynia in the west, and had established their capital at Nicaea , just 90 kilometres (56 miles) from Constantinople. The Komnenian dynasty attained full power under Alexios I in 1081. From

25519-451: Was considered an extraordinary effort. This was also dictated by the Senate's reluctance to interrupt the peaceful relations with the Ottomans, and thereby also the extremely lucrative trade with the East; even when Venice pledged to support the Crusade of Nicopolis in 1396, this was done half-heartedly, particularly since the crusade was led by the Republic's arch-rival over control of Dalmatia,

25688-406: Was exercised by the College of the Sea Militia ( Colleggio della Milizia da Mar ), a body analogous to the British Admiralty . It comprised the Provveditori all'Armar , the provveditori in charge of the Arsenal ( all'Arsenale ), of provisions ( sopra i biscotti , "regarding the biscuits"), and the artillery ( alle Artiglerie ), as well as the paymasters of the fleet ( Pagadori all'Armar ), three of

25857-458: Was founded on the strength of its fleet. This allowed it for centuries to check the maritime advance of the numerically superior forces of the Ottoman Empire . The origins of the Venetian navy lay in the traditions of the Roman and Byzantine navies . Before developing into the Empire's archnemesis, Venice was originally a vassal , later an ally of the Byzantine Empire and it utilised Byzantine naval and military techniques. At this time there

26026-449: Was given credit for his predecessor's achievements. Basil I ( r.  867–886 ) continued Michael's policies. His armies campaigned with mixed results in Italy but defeated the Paulicians of Tephrike . His successor Leo VI ( r.  886–912 ) compiled and propagated a huge number of written works. These included the Basilika , a Greek translation of Justinian I's law-code which included over 100 new laws of Leo's devising;

26195-514: Was his fourth son, Manuel I Komnenos , who campaigned aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and east. In Palestine, Manuel allied with the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and sent a large fleet to participate in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt . Manuel reinforced his position as overlord of the Crusader states, with his hegemony over Antioch and Jerusalem secured by agreement with Raynald , Prince of Antioch, and Amalric of Jerusalem . In an effort to restore Byzantine control over

26364-487: Was invaded annually, Anatolia avoided permanent Arab occupation. The outbreak of the First Fitna in 656 gave Byzantium breathing space, which it used wisely: some order was restored in the Balkans by Constans II ( r.  641–668 ), who began the administrative reorganisation known as the " theme system ", in which troops were allocated to defend specific provinces. With the help of the recently rediscovered Greek fire , Constantine IV ( r.  668–685 ) repelled

26533-410: Was little difference between the merchant and naval fleets; all ships had to be able to defend themselves if the need arose. In the event of hostilities ships and crews were taken up from trade to reinforce the war fleet, being dispersed back to the pursuit of commerce on the ending of the emergency. Even so, there were two types of vessels one primarily military and one predominantly mercantile. Towards

26702-450: Was lost to the Umayyad Caliphate , but the empire subsequently stabilised under the Isaurian dynasty. The empire was able to expand once more under the Macedonian dynasty , experiencing a two-century-long renaissance . This came to an end in 1071, with the defeat by the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert . Thereafter, periods of civil war and Seljuk incursion resulted in the loss of most of Asia Minor . The empire recovered during

26871-497: Was marked by the theological dispute over Nestorianism , which was eventually deemed heretical , and by the formulation of the Codex Theodosianus law code. It also saw the arrival of Attila 's Huns , who ravaged the Balkans and exacted a massive tribute from the empire; Attila however switched his attention to the rapidly-deteriorating western empire , and his people fractured after his death in 453. After Leo I ( r.  457–474 ) failed in his 468 attempt to reconquer

27040-464: Was not elected as the new emperor, although the citizens seemed to consider him as such; the Venetians thought he had too many connections with the former empire because of his brother, Renier of Montferrat , who had been married to Maria Comnena , daughter and for a time heir-apparent of Manuel I. Instead they placed Baldwin of Flanders on the throne. He was crowned Emperor in the Hagia Sophia as Baldwin I of Constantinople. Boniface went on to found

27209-406: Was not esteemed by the "soldier-emperors" who ruled from the frontiers or by the empire's population who, having been granted citizenship , considered themselves "Roman". Constantine extensively reformed the empire's military and civil administration and instituted the gold solidus as a stable currency. He favoured Christianity , which he had converted to in 312. Constantine's dynasty fought

27378-435: Was not real war, it was not even peace". This situation was brought to an end by the decisive Ottoman defeat in the Battle of Ankara in July 1402. The early 15th century saw the spread of a new ship type, developed for use in the North Sea by the Hanseatic League , it then spread to the rest of Europe, and was adopted by Venice for its trade with the North. Alongside the naval squadrons that operated at sea, at least from

27547-506: Was occupied by conflicts against two prominent generals, Bardas Skleros and Bardas Phokas , which ended in 989 with the former's death and the latter's submission. Between 1021 and 1022, following years of tensions, Basil II led a series of victorious campaigns against the Kingdom of Georgia , resulting in the annexation of several Georgian provinces to the empire. Basil's successors also annexed Bagratid Armenia in 1045. Importantly, both Georgia and Armenia were significantly weakened by

27716-441: Was overthrown in 695 after attempting to exact too much from his subjects; over the next twenty-two years, six more rebellions followed in an era of political instability . The reconstituted caliphate sought to break Byzantium by taking Constantinople, but the newly crowned Leo III managed to repel the 717–718 siege , the first major setback of the Muslim conquests. Leo and his son Constantine V ( r.  741–775 ), two of

27885-467: Was soon at war on many fronts. The Lombards , fearing the aggressive Avars , conquered much of northern Italy by 572. The Sasanian wars restarted that year, and continued until the emperor Maurice finally emerged victorious in 591; by that time, the Avars and Slavs had repeatedly invaded the Balkans , causing great instability. Maurice campaigned extensively in the region during the 590s, but although he managed to re-establish Byzantine control up to

28054-464: Was supplemented by the first Venetian galee sforzate "forced galleys" in which the crews were composed solely of galley slaves , convicts sentenced to forced labour. Unfree rowers were always a rarity in Venice, it being one of few major naval powers that used almost exclusively free rowers, a result of their reliance on alla sensile rowing (one oar per man, with two to three sharing the same bench), which required skilled professional rowers. The use of

28223-428: Was the norm. For this reason, he has been called the Byzantine Marcus Aurelius . During his twenty-five-year reign, John made alliances with the Holy Roman Empire in the West and decisively defeated the Pechenegs at the Battle of Beroia . He thwarted Hungarian and Serbian threats during the 1120s, and in 1130 he allied himself with Lothair III , the German Emperor against the Norman King Roger II of Sicily . In

28392-410: Was their due and the Crusaders received 50,000 silver marks. A further 100,000 silver marks were divided evenly between the Crusaders and Venetians. The remaining 500,000 silver marks were secretly kept back by many Crusader knights. According to a prearranged treaty the empire was apportioned between Venice and the crusade's leaders, and the Latin Empire of Constantinople was established. Boniface

28561-415: Was used adjectivally alongside terms such as "Empire of the Greeks" until the 19th century. It is now the primary term, used to refer to all aspects of the empire; some modern historians believe that, as an originally prejudicial and inaccurate term, it should not be used. As the historiographical periodizations of " Roman history ", " late antiquity ", and "Byzantine history" significantly overlap, there

#975024