Final Exam IDs Flashcards
Mehmet II
Rises to power in 1451 for the second time; Led the Ottomans towards Constantinople and eventually led to the fall of it (and thus the Byzantine empire) – under Constantine XI
- Mehmet buys the cannon engineer that the Byzantines could not afford (Urban)
- Constantine felt that an attack from Mehmet was imminent
- Attacks on April 2, 1453 – he opens everything he has against Constantinople and the battle takes longer than he anticipated; eventually penetrates the walls of Constantinople via a poorly locked door and defeats Byzantium after the Venetians and Genoese (helping them) started to wain after they thought their commander died
- Once under his power, he goes to Hagia Sophia and declares is a mosque, he visits the palace and makes that the capital of his empire, and declares himself Emperor of the Romans
- Helps the Ottomans take the rest of Byzantine territory and Byzantium ceases to exist
Bayezid
Sultan of the Ottomans from 1389-1402
- Cruel nature (executed his brother and set that as a precedent)
- Continued to expand the empire (Bulgaria, defeated Mercia), posed a huge threat to central Europe and raided Hungarian territory (which led to a called crusade by the Pope and the Battle of Nicopolis)
- Started to lay siege to Constantinople in 1396 for over 7 years but then was diverted by Timur/Tamarlane (Muslim) who was able to defeat his forces
- Died in 1402 after being defeated at the Battle of Ankara by Timur and was prisoner
Stephen Nemanja
- Oversaw the disconnect of Byzantium control in Serbia (after the 4th crusade the Byzantines had to look to Constantinople before they looked elsewhere)
- Led a revolt against the Byzantines but was captured by Manuel who later just makes him ruler of Serbian territory
- Consolidated territory and authority in a Serbian administration to establish his dynasty (Added territories like Roskia)
- Kept Orthodox christianity at the center of what defined Serbia (was a monk after he abdicated)
Stephen the 1st Crowned
- Was married to the daughter of Alexius III (marriage alliance)
- Was disputed by the eldest Vuken but he failed
- His brother Sava got right to self-governed church so they were theologically in line with Constantinople but they were now a self-governing piece of Christianity
- Raised Stephen Nemanja’s kids (some)
- Crowned via the Pope through a papal legate
- More monasteries established under his rule (Sava) and the Serbian church became extremely wealthy and they build their foundation as the orthodox christian kingdom
Stephen Dushan
(AKA Stephen Urosh IV) – became the soul of the extraordinary Serbian empire, arguably one of the best Serbian rulers in history and led it to its apogee
- Strengthened relations with the Bulgarians via marriage alliance
- Marched into Macedonia (Byzantine territory) and eventually reached Thessaloniki and got Andronicus to reach a settlement that was kind of humiliating for Byzantium
- Had more opportunities after Andronicus died – took more towns in Macedonia and eventually Mount Athos (but Thessaloniki remains in Byzantine hands though it is kinda cut off by land)
- Proclaimed himself emperor of Serbs and Romans and organized his court and capital like Byzantines/Constantinople – the Civil War in Byzantium left them unable to counter the Roman claim
- Build up a huge naval fleet with the goal of taking on Constantinople but he dies and with him dies the great Serbian empire due to succession quarrels and they lose centralized authority (saving Byzantium from the Serbs but they still had to face the Ottomans)
Orkhan
- Sultan of the Ottomans from 1326-1362
– Was the one involved with John Cantacuzenes - Took Brusa from Byzantium and fully conquested Bithynia
- Built up a large territorial state of Turks – organized army/administration with combined skills, nobody realizes his power
- John realizes too late that he let a threat into Byzantium
- Took Gallipoli in Europe which gave them a base to penetrate more lands – marks period of vast expansion for them
- Died in 1362 leaving behind a strong state, army, and administration for his son Murad I
Battle of Kosovo-Polje
- Serbs vs Ottomans
- Sultan Murad I (descendant of Orkhan) expanded into Serbian territory
- Serbs, led by Lazar turned against the Ottomans in 1388 to form an Anti-Turkish coalition with other forces
- The Serbs and Ottomans met in 1389 at the Battle of Kosovo-Polje where Murad is wounded and Lazar is captured and executed when Murad dies
– The Serbs viewed this as a victory, but Bayezid took Murad’s place as Sultan and he was even worse so the threat was not over
—-The last possible center of resistance against the Ottomans had been crushed
Michael VIII Paleologus
- Makes pronoia hereditary
- Made some inroads in expanded Byzantine territory but on the European side, stable in Asia Minor (Serbia, (though the pronoia system hurts that eventually)
- Charles of Anjou – took over kingdom of Sicily and threatened Byzantium, so Michael –> Union of Lyon and union with Rome as a political ploy; the threat fades when Charles dies
- Dies in 1282 leaving throne to his son Andronicus
Andronicus II Paleologus
Reigns until 1328 when overthrown by his grandson
Domestic Policy:
- Continues the pronoia system as hereditary which weakens imperial control of land
- Married to Irene/Yolande (fighting with his wife)
- Hits Civil War with Andronicus III (his grandson)
- Weakened structure of imperial administration
- Cut down money to the military
Foreign Policy:
- He can’t do anything about the growing Serbs taking territory from the Byzantines; signs treaty with Stephen Orosh II in which they agree to a marriage alliance with a bribe and stuff his daughter Simonus (who then is raped by Stephen) – he wants to go to war because of this but Irene works against this
Yolande of Montferrat (Irene)
- A western princess
- Wanted to divide the empire into three sections for their sons but Andronicus was appalled by this
- When her raped daughter returns to Constantinople, she sends her back to the abusive marriage because she was doing some deals with Stephen Orosh
- Eventually moves her core to Thessalonika and dies there
John V Paleologus
Reigned 1341-1391 – poor John (son of Andronicus III)
Originally with his mother Anna as regent:
- Issue with John Cant:
– John Cant. wanted the throne and starts a conflict between Anna/John 5 and John Cant (John looks to the Ottomans to help him and eventually kicks Anna out and is co-emperor with John 5); then he overthrows John 6 and is sole emperor in 1354
Sole Emperor:
- Major threats: The Serbs and the Ottomans (Balkans); sorta Asia Minor; lacking territory and no treasury, the Genoese were on his back, etc; he looked to Rome for help
- Looks to Rome: risked everything for basically nothing (offered to abdicate the throne if he couldn’t end the divide between the two churches) people hated this and it fell through – he could barely afford to return home
- Looks to Hungary: told he needs to union with Rome for help from Hungary
- 1369: He converts the Byzantines for Christianity (they had nothing else left to give) but he doesn’t get much in return to thwart the threat
He returned to a lot of conflict between his family (Andronicus 4, John 7, Manuel 2) and died in 1391 poor as hell, a hella weak military, just everything sucked
John VI Cantacuzenus
- Chief councilor of Andronicus III **I think?
- Was heavily leaned on by Anna for state matters during her time as regent, but really wanted the throne for himself
CIVIL WAR W/ ANNA - Used Ottomans as allies (and brings them into Byzantium); offers his daughter to the Sultan Orkhan and they arrive/invade in 1345, kick Anna out, and John 6 is co-emperor with John 5
– Married his other daughter Helen to John 5 to gain some sort of legitimacy
End - Eventually he is overthrown by John 5 who is helped by Genoa (after he sort of moves John 5 to the side)
Manuel II Paleologus
- Was originally a hostage to Bayezid and the Ottomans; participated in military exhibitions and eventually escaped to become emperor (was part of the dynasty)
- Inherited a geographically weak empire; little left to pushback against the Ottomans
- Under his reign, Byzantium was blockaded by the Ottomans who cut off their food supply – in response the European forces try to form a crusade but this flops (Battle of Nicopolis)
- Visited many western cities and got vague promises and nothing; the siege continues on Constantinople until Bayezid is thwarted by Timur for a little bit in 1401 (Bayezid dies and there is a brief period of chaos and civil war in the Ottomans but Manuel fails to capitalize on this opportunity and Mehmet I takes over)
- Manuel is broken by the last Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1423; All his efforts failed and he couldn’t strengthen the empire; He steps down in 1425 and becomes a monk and dies shortly thereafter
John VIII assumes the throne alone
Usurpation: Michael VIII’s Rise to Power (#23, pg. 42)
Michael usurped the throne at Nicaea and assumed the names of imperial families he was related to, he tried to ingratiate himself with patriarchs to find legitimacy; was very involved in the military before he gained power
- Loved by many due to Michael’s good qualities led them to push the throne “towards him from the start”
- Justifying his claim to the throne due to the fact that Alexius III had no male offspring and by marrying his grandmother Irene to Alexius Palaeologus, he had legitimate claims to the throne
- Was able to influence the public due to his repertoire with the military beforehand
- Originally put in as regent and then his supporters wanted him as despot – turmoil of John leads to him being crowned emperor
Emperor Michael VIII Justifies Union With Rome (#98c, pg. 135)
- Outline the Council of Lyons (Pope and Byzantium together against Charles of Anjou); declaration to his clergy who opposed the policy
- Says they should be “praised” and not “blamed” because they “skillfully” averted the threat; reinforces his desire to keep union and spare the Greeks intense wars
- “What is there contrary to the purity of the faith in the patriarchal commemoration of the Pope in liturgical matters?”
- Recognizing that he has gone against the majority of the churchmen, but states he will not act against “one iota of the faith” – could combat the Latins and people that dispute this matter
