The Normans : the history of a dynasty
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Bibliographic Information
The Normans : the history of a dynasty
Hambledon Continuum, 2007, c2002
- : pbk
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Note
Originally published in 2002
Bibliography: p. [321]-328
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The first great city to which the Crusaders came in 1089 was not Jerusalem but Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Almost as much as Jerusalem itself, Constantinople was the key to the foundation, survival and ultimate eclipse of the crusading kingdom. It was the threat to Constantinople which led Urban II to preach the First Crusade, yet the Byzantines were extremely suspicious of this and subsequent crusades, often failing to provide looked for military and diplomatic support. The riches and sophistication of the great city nevertheless made a lasting impression on the crusaders, and through them on western European culture. In turn, Byzantine leaders employed their sophistication and diplomatic skills in an attempt to use the crusades to supply their own weaknesses. In the end, the lure of the city's wealth was irresistibly fatal to the claims of Christian unity. In 1204, the Fourth Crusade under the Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo, captured and sacked Constantinople, signaling the effective end of almost a thousand years of Byzantine dominance in the east.
Table of Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The Empire of Christ
- 2 The Rulers of the Empire
- 3 The Search for Security
- 4 The Passage of the First Crusade
- 5 Jerusalem and Antioch
- 6 Innovation and Continuity
- 7 Andronicus
- 8 Iron not Gold
- 9 The Fall of Constantinople
- 10 Recovery
- 11 Survival
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index.
by "Nielsen BookData"
