Byzantium and the Crusades

by Jonathan Harris

Overview

Jonathan Harris's classic text chronologically surveys Byzantine history in the time of the Crusades. The book reveals the attitudes of the Byzantine ruling elites towards the Crusades and their ultimate inability to adapt to the challenges this presented. Using evidence amassed in a wealth of primary sources, Harris successfully makes the point that Byzantine interactions with Western Europe, the Crusades and the crusader states is best understood in the nature of the Byzantine Empire and the ideology which underpinned it, rather than in any generalised hostility between the peoples.

Incorporating recent scholarship, this 3rd edition has 25 further images, as well as additional maps and genealogical tables. This new edition also comes with two significant additions to the text:

* Appendix I sees the inclusion of seven critical Latin primary sources taken from across three centuries. Translated by the author, these sources are then discussed in detail, providing multiple first-hand perspectives on the subject in the process

* Appendix II provides assessments of various representations of the subject in key fiction and non-fiction works, thereby enriching your appreciation of the way that Byzantine interaction with the Crusades has been constructed at different times, from various standpoints and in other languages

This book remains the keystone to understanding the East-West relationship during the Crusades and what this meant for the Byzantine Empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350199798
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	11/03/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Jonathan Harris is Professor of the History of Byzantium at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. He is the author of Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium (Bloomsbury Academic, 2nd Ed., 2017), Introduction to Byzantium, 602–1453 (2020) and The End of Byzantium (2010).
Jonathan Harris is Professor of the History of Byzantium at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. He is the author of Introduction to Byzantium, 602–1453 (2020) and The End of Byzantium (2010).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Acknowledgements
Timeline
Genealogical Tables
Introduction
1. The Empire of Christ
2. The Power behind the Throne
3. Response to Crisis
4. The Passage of the First Crusade
5. Jerusalem and Antioch
6. The Friend of the Latins
7. Andronicus the Tyrant
8. Iron not Gold
9. Paralysis and Extortion
10. The Rivers of Babylon
11. And so the Land is Lost!
Epilogue: The Impact
Appendix I: Author Translations and Discussions of Key Latin Primary Sources
Appendix II: Assessing Representations in Fiction and Non-Fiction
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

These timely volumes trace centuries of conflict between Christians and the followers of other faiths, including Islam. Medievalist Hindley (The Shaping of Europe) concentrates on the best-known aspect of the Crusades: the struggle between Islam and the West for control of the Holy Land. But he also looks at other crusading ventures, e.g., the northern crusades against the pagan peoples of the Baltic coast and the destruction of the Cathars, followers of a heretical dualist form of Christianity, which decimated Provence over several decades and brought it under French control. Harris (Byzantine studies, Royal Holloway, Univ. of London) focuses on the interplay between the crusaders and their ostensible allies, the Byzantines, taking a fresh look at events that in little more than a century led to the sack of Constantinople by crusaders pledged to battle Islam and recapture the cities of the Holy Land. The capture of the greatest city of Christendom by fellow Christians has been broadly interpreted as either the result of a clash of civilizations or an accident-a fatal chain of events leading to an unforeseen tragedy. Harris advances a third view-that the key lies in the ideology informing the political elite of the Eastern Roman Empire, who held that the Eastern Roman Empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire, that the new nations of Western Europe were occupying Roman lands, and that the Byzantine emperor had been set over all Christians, not just his immediate subjects. The subsequent misunderstanding and resentment led to the sack of Constantinople. Well written and convincingly presented, these volumes are valuable additions to the study of the crusades and of Byzantium. Highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries.-Robert J. Andrews, Duluth P.L., MN Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Jonathan Harris continues to offer new insights in this, the third edition of a well-established classic. No student of the crusades or of relations between Byzantium and the West can afford to overlook this important study.” —Alfred J. Andrea, Professor Emeritus of Medieval World History, University of Vermont, USA

From the Publisher