Wen | Mo Zizhai
Editor|Mozizhai
«——[·Preface·] ——»
Conannus, considering their army mercenaries, expressed his desire to become the leader of the expedition, insisting that the crusaders take an oath of vassal to him.
Alexei and the leaders of the crusaders signed a formal treaty in which they promised to return Alexei any towns that had previously belonged to the Byzantine Empire to Alexei as their suzerainty.
Unfortunately, the terms of the crusader leader's oath were not preserved in their original form.
Alexius' needs are likely to be different in different regions.
«——[Kingdom of Jerusalem.]——»
He sought an outright acquisition in Asia Minor, which had recently been lost by the Empire after the defeat of Manzikert (1070), a necessary condition for the power and safe survival of the Byzantine Empire and the Greek nation.
In Syria and Palestine, which had long ago been occupied by Byzantium, the emperors did not claim themselves, but claimed themselves as their suzerainty.
After the crusaders reached Asia Minor, hostilities began.
In June 1097, Nicaea surrendered to them and was handed over to him under the treaty with Alexei.
The next victory of the crusaders at Dorilem (Eschi Schell) forced the Turks to evacuate western Asia Minor and retreat inland.
After that Byzantium had a good opportunity to restore its power on the coast of Asia Minor.
Despite natural difficulties, climatic conditions and Muslim resistance, the crusaders advanced far east and southeast.
In northern Mesopotamia, Baldwin captured the city of Edessa, where he soon established his throne, becoming the first Latin ruling state in the East and a bulwark for Christians against Turkish attacks in Asia.
But Baldwin's example had its dangerous opposite: other nobles might follow his example and find their own princes, which, of course, would have done great harm to the objectives of the Crusades.
Later this danger was realized.
After a long and exhausting siege, Antioch, Syria's main city, a very fortified fortress, surrendered to the crusaders; The road to Jerusalem is open.
But because of Antioch, a violent conflict broke out between the chiefs, and eventually the bohemian de Tarentum, following Baldwin's example, became the ruling prince of Antioch.
Neither in Idesa nor in Antioch did the crusaders swear an oath to Alexei Conannus.
Since most of the army remained with the head of the establishment of the Führer, only a few of 20,000 to 25,000 reached Jerusalem, exhausted and completely weak.
By that time Jerusalem had passed from the Seljuks to a powerful Egyptian caliph of the Fatimid dynasty.
After a fierce siege, on July 15, 1099, the crusaders stormed the holy city and carried out a terrible massacre there.
They ransacked it completely and took away many treasures, and the famous Omar Mosque was looted.
This conquered country occupied the narrow seaside of Syria and Palestine, hence the name Jerusalem.
Godfrey of Bouillon, who agreed to accept the title of "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre", was chosen as King of Jerusalem.
This new state was founded according to the feudal model of the West.
«——[The main center of Alexey.]——»
The First Crusade ended with the formation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and several independent Latin possessions in the east, creating a complex political situation.
Byzantium, satisfied with the power of the Turks in Asia Minor and restoring a considerable part of the empire, feared, however the appearance of the Fuhrers of reform in Antioch, Edessa, and Tripoli became the new political enemies of Byzantium.
Distrust in the empire gradually increased to such an extent that in the 12th century Byzantium began hostilities against its former ally the Crusaders, without hesitation entering into an alliance with its former enemies, the Turks.
The crusaders, in turn, settled in their new territories, fearing the strengthening of the empire in Asia Minor, also allied with the Turks against Byzantium.
Here in the XII century, it became clear that the thinking of the crusader enterprise had completely degraded.
We cannot speak of a complete rupture between Alexeius Conannus and the crusaders.
Of course, the emperor was deeply dissatisfied with the formation of the Latin possessions in the East, and they did not take an oath to him; However, he did not refuse to give full help to the crusaders, such as transporting them from east to west on their way home.
A rupture occurred between the emperor and the bohemians of Tarentum.
From the point of view of Byzantine interests, they became very powerful in Antioch at the expense of his neighbors, the weak Turkish emir and Byzantine territories.
Antioch thus became the main center of Alexei's goals.
Raymond of Toulouse, the head of the Provikar army, dissatisfied with his position in the East and considering Bohemian as his main opponent, approached Alexei.
For Alexei at that time, the fate of Jerusalem was a secondary interest.
The struggle between the emperor and the bohemians was inevitable.
The opportunity apparently appeared when Alexei Bohemia was suddenly replaced by the Turks, Emir Malik Gazi's Danish dynasty.
Cappadocia conquered at the end of the 11th century, establishing an independent possession that was held by the Seljuks in the second half of the 12th century.
Alexeius negotiated with the emir the delivery of Bohemia in exchange for a certain amount of money, but the negotiations were unsuccessful.
The Bohemians were redeemed by others and returned to Antioch.
According to the treaty with the Crusaders, Alexei asked Bohemian to hand over Antioch to him, but Bosimund decisively refused to do so.
In 1104, the Muslims had a complete victory over Bohemia and other Latin princes in the city of Harran, south of Edessa.
The defeat of the crusaders nearly destroyed the Christian territory of Syria, rekindling hopes for Alexei and Muslims, both of whom happily anticipated the inevitable weakening of Bosimonde.
«——[Bohemian Plan·] ——»
The Battle of Harran destroyed his plans to establish a powerful Norman state in the east.
He realized that he did not have enough strength to go to war again against the Muslims and his mortal enemy, the emperor.
His further stops in the East appeared aimless. Therefore, the Bohemians decided to launch a new army strike at the empire in Constantinople.
He entrusted the regency of Antioch to his nephew Tankred, and then embarked for Apulia.
Anna Conina wrote an interesting but fictional story, not without humor, in order to hide from the Greek ships, Bohemia mocked death, was put in a coffin, thus completing the journey to Italy.
Bohemia returned to Italy and received the warmest welcome.
A medieval writer said that people looked at him in droves, "as if they were going to see Christ Himself."
After assembling his army, Bohemia launched hostilities against Byzantium, and the Pope supported Bohemia's plans.
One American scholar explained that his expedition to Alexei "was not just a political campaign; It has now been approved by the Church and has received the dignity of a crusader. ”
Bohemiad probably sent most of his troops from France and Italy, but it is likely that he also had British, Germans and Spaniards in his army.
His plan was to carry out the campaign of his father Robert Giscard in 1081, capturing Dirachim (Dulazzo), and then marching through Thessalonica towards Constantinople.
But the campaign was unsuccessful for Bohemiad.
He was defeated in Dirache and was forced to make peace with Alexei on humiliating terms.
The main terms of the agreement between Bohemia and Alexei Conenus were: Bohemia promised to consider himself a vassal of Alexeis and his son John; took up arms against the emperor's enemies; Give Alexei all the lands that previously belonged to the Reich.
Those lands that never became part of the empire, acquired by the Bohemians in any way, would be occupied by him as if they had been granted to him by the emperor.
He promised that if Tankred did not agree to obey the emperor, he would go to war against his nephew Tankred.
The patriarch of Antioch would be appointed by the emperor from among those belonging to the Eastern Church of Greece, so that there would be no Latin patriarch of Antioch. The agreement lists the cities and regions granted to Bohemiade.
The document ends with Bohemiad's solemn oath on the cross, the crown of thorns, nails and the spear of Christ that he will fulfill the provisions of the agreement.
With the collapse of Bohemiad's vast and radical plans, his potentially deadly storming career for the Crusades came to an end.
In the last three years of his life, he was not particularly important.
Bohemiad's death made Alexei's situation even more difficult, as Tankred of Antioch refused to bring his uncle's agreement into force and did not want to hand Antioch over to the emperor.
Alexeius had to start over.
«——[·The Eastern Roman Empire in the Age of Alexei ·] ——»
Tankred's death occurred shortly after Bohemiad's death, making the plan for the march to Antioch difficult.
In the last years of Alexei's reign, wars were waged almost every year with the Turks in Asia Minor, which was often successful for the empire.
In the external life of the empire, Alexeius managed to complete a very difficult task.
Alexei's activities were often considered and estimated in terms of his relations with the Crusaders, and not in terms of his foreign policy as a whole. Such a view is undoubtedly wrong.
In one of his letters, the Bulgarian archbishop, a contemporary of Alexei, compared the provinces of Bulgaria to vines in a psalm, the fruit of which was "picked by all who passed."
As the French historian Charandon has said, this comparison can be applied to the Eastern Roman Empire in the time of Alexei.
All his neighbors tried to take advantage of the weakness of the empire and occupy some of its areas. The Normans, Pazinaks, Seljuks and Crusaders threatened Byzantium.
Alexei accepted the empire in a state of weakness, he managed to fully resist all of them, and therefore for quite some time postponed the process of dissolution of Byzantium.
Under Alexeius, the borders of the state were extended both in Europe and Asia.
The enemies of the empire were forced to retreat anywhere, so in terms of territory, his reign marked an indisputable advance.
If we consider Alexei as a monarch who defends his national interests, it is necessary to abandon the accusations against Alexei, and the desire of Westerners to plunder and plunder is a serious danger.
So Alexei managed to overcome all difficulties in his foreign policy, improving the international standing of the empire, expanding its limits and, for some time, preventing the progress of numerous enemies who oppressed the empire on all sides.
«——[·Reader's View·] ——»
The history of Byzantium is equivalent to the eastern Jin Dynasty to the middle of the Ming Dynasty on the mainland, and the time span is very large.
Many famous emperors were produced, such as Constantine, Justinian, Heraclius, Nephoros, and the last emperor, Constantine the 11th.
Their capital, Constantinople, now called Istanbul, stood at the crossroads of Eurasia, blocking the expansion of Islam into Christendom, leaving behind a magnificent history and culture.
After the fall of the empire, part of the culture went west, triggering the Renaissance in Europe, and part went east to continue the Orthodox tradition in the Russian land.
This land has become a powder keg in modern times due to the great differences in beliefs and races.
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[6] Seymour Tower and Whitby. History of Oriental Plants. Oxford, 1986.