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144-402: Academic means of or related to an academy, an institution learning. Academic or academics may also refer to: Academic The Royal Spanish Academy defines academy as scientific, literary or artistic society established with public authority and as a teaching establishment, public or private, of a professional, artistic, technical or simply practical nature. The word comes from

288-462: 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

432-467: 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

576-645: 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

720-464: 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

864-542: 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 a dichotomy between the Greek East and Latin West . These cultural spheres continued to diverge after Constantine I ( r.  324–337 ) moved

1008-506: A great influence on Renaissance Neo-Platonism . In Rome, after unity was restored following the Western Schism , humanist circles, cultivating philosophy and searching out and sharing ancient texts tended to gather where there was access to a library. The Vatican Library was not coordinated until 1475 and was never catalogued or widely accessible: not all popes looked with satisfaction at gatherings of unsupervised intellectuals. At

1152-595: 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

1296-446: A legendary " Akademos ". The site of Akademia was sacred to Athena and other immortals. Plato's immediate successors as "scholarch" of Akademia were Speusippus (347–339 BC), Xenocrates (339–314 BC), Polemon (314–269 BC), Crates ( c.  269 –266 BC), and Arcesilaus ( c.  266 –240 BC). Later scholarchs include Lacydes of Cyrene , Carneades , Clitomachus , and Philo of Larissa ("the last undisputed head of

1440-512: 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

1584-651: 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

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1728-476: A method of teaching philosophy and in 387 BC, established what is known today as the Old Academy . By extension, academia has come to mean the accumulation, development and transmission of knowledge across generations as well as its practitioners and transmitters. In the 17th century, British, Italian and French scholars used the term to describe types of institutions of higher learning. Before Akademia

1872-402: A rule these academies, all very much alike, were merely circles of friends or clients gathered around a learned man or wealthy patron, and were dedicated to literary pastimes rather than methodical study. They fitted in, nevertheless, with the general situation and were in their own way one element of the historical development. Despite their empirical and fugitive character, they helped to keep up

2016-450: 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

2160-417: 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

2304-517: 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

2448-541: 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

2592-547: 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

2736-449: 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

2880-715: Is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself. Chanakya (or Kautilya), the Maurya Emperor Chandragupta and the Ayurvedic healer Charaka studied at Taxila. Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The Vedas and the Eighteen Arts , which included skills such as archery , hunting , and elephant lore, were taught, in addition to its law school , medical school , and school of military science . Nalanda

3024-605: The Accademia Pontaniana , after Giovanni Pontano . The 16th century saw at Rome a great increase of literary and aesthetic academies, more or less inspired by the Renaissance, all of which assumed, as was the fashion, odd and fantastic names. We learn from various sources the names of many such institutes; as a rule, they soon perished and left no trace. In the 1520s came the Accademia degli Intronati , for

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3168-715: 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 ,

3312-556: The Academy in ancient Greece , which derives from the Athenian hero , Akademos . Outside the city walls of Athens , the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning. The sacred space, dedicated to the goddess of wisdom, Athena , had formerly been an olive grove , hence the expression "the groves of Academe". In these gardens, the philosopher Plato conversed with followers. Plato developed his sessions into

3456-717: The Accademia di Santa Cecilia for music from 1585; Paris had the Académie Royale de Musique from 1669 and the Académie Royale d'Architecture from 1671. The Accademia degli Infiammati of Padova and the Accademia degli Umidi, soon renamed the Accademia Fiorentina , of Florence were both founded in 1540, and were both initially concerned with the proper basis for literary use of the volgare , or vernacular language of Italy, which would later become

3600-536: 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

3744-706: 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

3888-633: 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

4032-475: 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 ,

4176-750: 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

4320-720: 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 the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained

4464-636: 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

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4608-583: The Guild of Saint Luke , as the bodies responsible for training and often regulating artists, a change with great implications for the development of art, leading to the styles known as Academic art . The private Accademia degli Incamminati set up later in the century in Bologna by the Carracci brothers was also extremely influential, and with the Accademia di San Luca of Rome (founded 1593) helped to confirm

4752-951: The Göttingen Academy of Sciences , in 1754 in Erfurt , in 1759 the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities , in 1763 the Academia Theodoro-Palatina in Heidelberg , in 1779 the Sciences Academy of Lisbon , in 1783 the Royal Society of Edinburgh , in 1782 the Accademia dei Quaranta in Rome, in 1784 in Turin . Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire , also referred to as

4896-683: The Italian language . In 1582 five Florentine literati gathered and founded the Accademia della Crusca to demonstrate and conserve the beauty of the Florentine vernacular tongue, modelled upon the authors of the Trecento. The main instrument to do so was the Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca . The Crusca long remained a private institution, criticizing and opposing the official Accademia Fiorentina. The first institution inspired by

5040-641: 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,

5184-611: The New Academy . In 335 BC, Aristotle refined the method with his own theories and established the Lyceum in another gymnasium. The Musaeum , Serapeum and library of Alexandria Egypt was frequented by intellectuals from Africa, Europe and Asia studying various aspects of philosophy, language and mathematics. The University of Timbuktu was a medieval university in Timbuktu , present-day Mali, which comprised three schools:

5328-689: 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 ,

5472-581: 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

5616-407: The Quadrivium ( Arithmetic , Geometry , Music , and Astronomy )—had been codified in late antiquity . This was the basis of the curriculum in Europe until newly available Arabic texts and the works of Aristotle became more available in Europe in the 12th century. It remained in place even after the new scholasticism of the School of Chartres and the encyclopedic work of Thomas Aquinas , until

5760-411: The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid (founded 1744), the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg (1757), the Royal Academy in London (1768) and the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan (1776) still run art schools and hold large exhibitions, although their influence on taste greatly declined from the late 19th century. A fundamental feature of academic discipline in

5904-461: 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

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6048-407: 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,

6192-399: The Sabians ). The Grand School was the main center of learning in the Persian capital Ctesiphon , but little is known about it. Perhaps the most famous center of learning in Persia was the Academy of Gundishapur , teaching medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and logic. The academy was later instrumental in founding the Muslim city of Baghdad as a center of learning, and serving as the model for

6336-437: 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

6480-457: 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

6624-423: The " Animosi " (1576), and the " Illuminati " (1598); this last, founded by the Marchesa Isabella Aldobrandini Pallavicino . Towards the middle of the 16th century there were also the academy of the " Notti Vaticane ", or " Vatican Nights ", founded by St . Charles Borromeo ; an "Accademia di Diritto civile e canonico", and another of the university scholars and students of philosophy ( Accademia Eustachiana ). As

6768-510: 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

6912-578: The Academy"). Other notable members of Akademia include Aristotle , Heraclides Ponticus , Eudoxus of Cnidus , Philip of Opus , Crantor , and Antiochus of Ascalon . After a lapse during the early Roman occupation, Akademia was refounded as a new institution of some outstanding Platonists of late antiquity who called themselves "successors" ( diadochoi , but of Plato) and presented themselves as an uninterrupted tradition reaching back to Plato. However, there cannot have actually been any geographical, institutional, economic or personal continuity with

7056-408: 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

7200-408: 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

7344-515: The Byzantine empire in 532 guaranteed their personal security (an early document in the history of freedom of religion ), some members found sanctuary in the pagan stronghold of Harran , near Edessa . One of the last leading figures of this group was Simplicius, a pupil of Damascius, the last head of the Athenian school. It has been speculated that Akademia did not altogether disappear. After his exile, Simplicius (and perhaps some others), may have travelled to Harran , near Edessa . From there,

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7488-680: The Caliph. The collection was said to have grown to 400,000 volumes. In Europe, the academy dates to the ancient Greeks and Romans in the pre-Christian era. Newer universities were founded in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the European institution of academia took shape. Monks and priests moved out of monasteries to cathedral cities and other towns where they opened the first schools dedicated to advanced study. The most notable of these new schools were in Bologna and Salerno , Naples , Salamanca , Paris , Oxford and Cambridge , while others were opened throughout Europe. The seven liberal arts —the Trivium ( Grammar , Rhetoric , and Logic ), and

7632-409: The Crusca was the Fruitbearing Society for German language, which existed from 1617 to 1680. The Crusca inspired Richelieu to found in 1634 the analogous Académie française with the task of acting as an official authority on the French language , charged with publishing the official dictionary of that language. The following year the Académie received letters patent from the king Louis XIII as

7776-415: 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

7920-432: 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

8064-411: 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

8208-406: The Mosque of Djinguereber, the Mosque of Sidi Yahya, and the Mosque of Sankore. During its zenith, the university had an average attendance of around 25,000 students within a city of around 100,000 people. In China a higher education institution Shang Xiang was founded by Shun in the Youyu era before the 21st century BC. The Imperial Central Academy at Nanjing , founded in 258, was a result of

8352-405: 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

8496-401: 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

8640-413: 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

8784-426: 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

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8928-486: 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

9072-401: 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

9216-429: 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

9360-522: 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

9504-410: The academic circle, like Publio Fausto Andrelini of Bologna who took the New Learning to the University of Paris , to the discomfiture of his friend Erasmus . In their self-confidence, these first intellectual neopagans compromised themselves politically, at a time when Rome was full of conspiracies fomented by the Roman barons and the neighbouring princes: Paul II (1464–71) caused Pomponio and

9648-420: The academy of Oscuri became the Royal Academy of Lucca . The Académie de peinture et de sculpture in Paris, established by the monarchy in 1648 (later renamed) was the most significant of the artistic academies, running the famous Salon exhibitions from 1725. Artistic academies were established all over Europe by the end of the 18th century, and many, like the Akademie der Künste in Berlin (founded 1696),

9792-460: The academy's existence were relatively informal, since no statutes had as yet been laid down for the institution. In contrast to Royal Society , the academy was founded as an organ of government. In 1699, Louis XIV gave the academy its first rules and named it Académie royale des sciences . Although Prussia was a member of Holy Roman Empire, in 1700 Prince-elector Frederick III of Brandenburg founded its own Prussian Academy of Sciences upon

9936-401: 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 )

10080-442: The advice of Gottfried Leibniz , who was appointed president. During the 18th century many European kings followed and founded their own academy of sciences: in 1714 the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna , in 1724 the Russian Academy of Sciences , in 1731 the Royal Dublin Society , in 1735 in Tuscany , in 1739 the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences , in 1742 the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , in 1751

10224-568: 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

10368-684: The art of war. The center had eight separate compounds, 10 temples, meditation halls, classrooms, lakes and parks. It had a nine-story library where monks meticulously copied books and documents so that individual scholars could have their own collections. It had dormitories for students, perhaps a first for an educational institution, housing 10,000 students in the university's heyday and providing accommodation for 2,000 professors. Nalanda University attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. The geographical position of Persia allowed it to absorb cultural influences and ideas from both west and east. This include

10512-551: The artistic academies was regular practice in making accurate drawings from antiquities, or from casts of antiquities, on the one hand, and on the other, in deriving inspiration from the other fount, the human form. Students assembled in sessions drawing the draped and undraped human form , and such drawings, which survive in the tens of thousands from the 17th through the 19th century, are termed académies in French. Similar institutions were often established for other arts: Rome had

10656-403: 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 the fall of

10800-495: 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 ,

10944-469: 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

11088-518: The classic philosophy. The next generation of humanists were bolder admirers of pagan culture, especially in the highly personal academy of Pomponius Leto , the natural son of a nobleman of the Sanseverino family, born in Calabria but known by his academic name, who devoted his energies to the enthusiastic study of classical antiquity, and attracted a great number of disciples and admirers. He

11232-603: 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

11376-504: 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

11520-475: 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

11664-433: 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

11808-537: 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

11952-533: 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

12096-496: 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"

12240-552: 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

12384-468: 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

12528-408: The encouragement of theatrical representations. There were also the academy of the " Vignaiuoli ", or " Vinegrowers " (1530), and the Accademia della Virtù  [ it ] (1542), founded by Claudio Tolomei under the patronage of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici . These were followed by a new academy in the " Orti " or Farnese gardens. There were also the academies of the " Intrepidi " (1560),

12672-522: 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

12816-620: 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

12960-663: The evolution of Shang Xiang and it became the first comprehensive institution combining education and research and was divided into five faculties in 470, which later became Nanjing University . In the 8th century another kind of institution of learning emerged, named Shuyuan , which were generally privately owned. There were thousands of Shuyuan recorded in ancient times. The degrees from them varied from one to another and those advanced Shuyuan such as Bailudong Shuyuan and Yuelu Shuyuan (later become Hunan University ) can be classified as higher institutions of learning. Taxila or Takshashila , in ancient India , modern-day Pakistan,

13104-752: The first Muslim hospital ( bimaristan ) at Damascus. Founded in Fes, University of Al-Karaouine in the 9th century and in Cairo, Al-Azhar University in the 10th century, and in Mali, the University of Timbuktu in about 1100. Mustansiriya Madrasah in Baghdad , Iraq was established in 1227 as a madrasah by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir . Its library had an initial collection of 80,000 volumes, given by

13248-609: The first half of the 19th century some of these became the national academies of pre-unitarian states: the academy of Accesi became the Panomitan Academy of Buon Gusto ( Trento ); the academy of Timidi became the Royal Academy of Mantua ; the Accademia dei Ricovrati became the Galileiana Academy of Arts and Science ( Padova ); the academy of Dissonanti became the Royal Academy of Modena and

13392-618: The formation of a "College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematical Experimental Learning", which would meet weekly to discuss science and run experiments. In 1662 Charles II of England signed a Royal Charter which created the "Royal Society of London", then "Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge". In 1666 Colbert gathered a small group of scholars to found a scientific society in Paris. The first 30 years of

13536-584: 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,

13680-554: 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

13824-488: The general esteem for literary and other studies. Cardinals, prelates, and the clergy in general were most favourable to this movement, and assisted it by patronage and collaboration. In Florence, the Medici again took the lead in establishing the Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno in 1563, the first of the more formally organised art academies that gradually displaced the medieval artists' guilds , usually known as

13968-485: The head of this movement for renewal in Rome was Cardinal Bessarion , whose house from the mid-century was the centre of a flourishing academy of Neoplatonic philosophy and a varied intellectual culture. His valuable Greek as well as Latin library (eventually bequeathed to the city of Venice after he withdrew from Rome) was at the disposal of the academicians. Bessarion, in the latter years of his life, retired from Rome to Ravenna , but he left behind him ardent adherents of

14112-488: 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

14256-551: The humanism of the 15th and 16th centuries opened new studies of arts and sciences. With the Neoplatonist revival that accompanied the revival of humanist studies , academia took on newly vivid connotations. During the Florentine Renaissance , Cosimo de' Medici took a personal interest in the new Platonic Academy that he determined to re-establish in 1439, centered on the marvellous promise shown by

14400-726: 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

14544-600: The leaders of the academy to be arrested on charges of irreligion, immorality, and conspiracy against the Pope . The prisoners begged so earnestly for mercy, and with such protestations of repentance, that they were pardoned. The Letonian academy, however, collapsed. In Naples, the Quattrocento academy founded by Alfonso of Aragon and guided by Antonio Beccadelli was the Porticus Antoniana , later known as

14688-418: 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

14832-592: 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,

14976-546: 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

15120-496: 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 , the adoption of state Christianity , and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin , modern historians continue to make

15264-586: 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

15408-466: 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

15552-690: The only recognized academy for French language. In its turn the state established Académie was the model for the Real Academia Española (founded in 1713) and the Swedish Academy (1786), which are the ruling bodies of their respective languages and editors of major dictionaries. It also was the model for the Russian Academy , founded in 1783, which afterwards merged into the Russian Academy of Sciences. After

15696-625: The original Academy in the new organizational entity. The last "Greek" philosophers of the revived Akademia in the 6th century were drawn from various parts of the Hellenistic cultural world and suggest the broad syncretism of the common culture (see koine ): Five of the seven Akademia philosophers mentioned by Agathias were Syriac in their cultural origin: Hermias and Diogenes (both from Phoenicia), Isidorus of Gaza, Damascius of Syria, Iamblichus of Coele-Syria and perhaps even Simplicius of Cilicia . The emperor Justinian ceased

15840-569: 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

15984-521: 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

16128-410: 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

16272-605: 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

16416-441: 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

16560-590: The religious instruction was most likely still provided on an individualistic basis. Takshashila is described in some detail in later Jātaka tales, written in Sri Lanka around the 5th century AD. It became a noted centre of learning at least several centuries BC, and continued to attract students until the destruction of the city in the 5th century AD. Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya. The famous treatise Arthashastra ( Sanskrit for The knowledge of Economics ) by Chanakya,

16704-512: The school's funding in AD 529, a date that is often cited as the end of Antiquity . According to the sole witness, the historian Agathias , its remaining members looked for protection under the rule of Sassanid king Khosrau I in his capital at Ctesiphon , carrying with them precious scrolls of literature and philosophy, and to a lesser degree of science. After a peace treaty between the Persian and

16848-555: The short-lived Academia Secretorum Naturae of Naples, the first academy exclusively devoted to sciences was the Accademia dei Lincei founded in 1603 in Rome, particularly focused on natural sciences. In 1657 some students of Galileo founded the Accademia del Cimento (Academy of Experiment) in Florence , focused on physics and astronomy. The foundation of academy was funded by Prince Leopoldo and Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici . This academy lasted after few decades. In 1652

16992-704: The spread of the Greek form of schools in the new Hellenistic cities built in Persia after the invasion of Alexander the Great . Under the Sasanians , Syriac became an important language of the administration and intellectuals, rivaling Greek. Several cities developed centers of higher learning in the Sasanian Empire, including Mosul , al-Hira , and Harran (famous for the Pythagorean School of

17136-607: The students of an academy-in-exile could have survived into the 9th century, long enough to facilitate the Arabic revival of the Neoplatonist commentary tradition in Baghdad . In ancient Greece, after the establishment of the original Academy, Plato 's colleagues and pupils developed spin-offs of his method. Arcesilaus , a Greek student of Plato established the Middle Academy . Carneades , another student, established

17280-548: 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,

17424-442: 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

17568-431: The use of the term for these institutions. Gradually academies began to specialize on particular topics (arts, language, sciences) and began to be founded and funded by the kings and other sovereigns (few republics had an academy). And, mainly, since 17th century academies spread throughout Europe. In the 17th century the tradition of literary-philosophical academies, as circles of friends gathering around learned patrons,

17712-474: 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 was lost to

17856-463: 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

18000-419: The young Marsilio Ficino . Cosimo had been inspired by the arrival at the otherwise ineffective Council of Florence of Gemistos Plethon , who seemed a dazzling figure to the Florentine intellectuals. In 1462 Cosimo gave Ficino a villa at Careggi for the academy's use, situated where Cosimo could see it from his own villa, and drop by for visits. The academy remained a wholly informal group, but one which had

18144-422: 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

18288-420: Was a school, and even before Cimon enclosed its precincts with a wall, it contained a sacred grove of olive trees dedicated to Athena , the goddess of wisdom , outside the city walls of ancient Athens . The archaic name for the site was Hekademia , which by classical times evolved into Akademia and was explained, at least as early as the beginning of the 6th century BC, by linking it to an Athenian hero ,

18432-464: Was a worshipper not merely of the literary and artistic form, but also of the ideas and spirit of classic paganism, which made him appear a condemner of Christianity and an enemy of the Church. In his academy every member assumed a classical name. Its principal members were humanists, like Bessarion's protégé Giovanni Antonio Campani (Campanus), Bartolomeo Platina , the papal librarian, and Filippo Buonaccorsi , and young visitors who received polish in

18576-445: Was an early centre of learning, near present-day Islamabad in the city of Taxila . It is considered one of the ancient universities of the world. According to scattered references which were only fixed a millennium later it may have dated back to at least the 5th century BC. Some scholars date Takshashila's existence back to the 6th century BC. The school consisted of several monasteries without large dormitories or lecture halls where

18720-604: 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

18864-560: 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

19008-423: Was continued in Italy; the " Umoristi " (1611), the " Fantastici (1625), and the " Ordinati ", founded by Cardinal Dati and Giulio Strozzi . About 1700 were founded the academies of the " Infecondi ", the " Occulti ", the " Deboli ", the " Aborigini ", the " Immobili ", the " Accademia Esquilina ", and others. During the 18th century many Italian cities established similar philosophical and scientific academies. In

19152-599: Was established in the 5th century AD in Bihar , India. It was founded in 427 in northeastern India, not far from what is today the southern border of Nepal. It survived until 1197 when it was set upon, destroyed and burnt by the marauding forces of Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji . It was devoted to Buddhist studies, but it also trained students in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics and

19296-689: Was founded the Academia Naturae Curiosorum by four physicians. In 1677, Leopold I , emperor of the Holy Roman Empire , recognised the society and in 1687 he gave it the epithet Leopoldina , with which is internationally famous. So, it became the academy of sciences for the whole Holy Roman Empire . On 28 November 1660, a group of scientists from and influenced by the Invisible College (gathering approximately since 1645) met at Gresham College and announced

19440-561: 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;

19584-581: 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

19728-546: 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

19872-564: 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

20016-406: 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

20160-506: 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

20304-494: 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

20448-519: 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

20592-699: 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

20736-415: 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

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