Tag Archives: Byzantine Empire

First (Princes’) Crusade: Victory at Nicaea, 1097

Around the same time that Peter the Hermit and Walter Sans Avoir were arriving in Constantinople, four official organized armies left Europe. As these armies traveled, the disorganized Peoples’ Crusade met thorough defeat in Anatolia. Only a few weeks after their 3000 … Continue reading

Posted in Islam History D: Crusades | Tagged , | Comments Off on First (Princes’) Crusade: Victory at Nicaea, 1097

End of the People’s Crusade, 1096

About five waves of disorganized pilgrims set out to cross Hungary on foot in 1096. In the first wave, they split up as they reached the Danube, some going by boat, some walking to a better ford. Walter Sans-Avoir was … Continue reading

Posted in Islam History D: Crusades | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on End of the People’s Crusade, 1096

Gypsies from Sind?

Hugh Kennedy in Great Arab Conquests says that there’s one more ethnic footnote to the Muslim conquest of Sind. It may be the origin of some of Europe’s gypsies. The Zutt tribesmen, who joined Muhammad ibn Qasim’s upriver invasion, also … Continue reading

Posted in Islam History B: the Umayyads | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Gypsies from Sind?

The Outside World in Muhammad’s Time

The nearest neighbors to Muhammad’s Arabia (circa 600) were Abyssinia (modern Somalia and Ethiopia), “Rome,” and the Sasanian Empire of Persia. I put “Rome” in quotes because at that time, it included Egypt, some of North Africa, Palestine/Syria, Anatolia (modern … Continue reading

Posted in Islam History A: the Prophet | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Outside World in Muhammad’s Time

Gerbert as Pope Sylvester

I had trouble writing this entry because writerly discipline suggests I should stick with my main subject: the early Pope who attempted to introduce Arabic numbers, but failed. However, he was appointed Pope by his pupil, whom he was apparently … Continue reading

Posted in Muslim Empire (old series) | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

More about Byzantium

Constantinople, or Byzantium, was a city unlike any other in the medieval world. Modern equivalents don’t spring to mind, though perhaps readers will spot one. The city was walled and inbred to a high degree. Geography shaped its character. Surrounded … Continue reading

Posted in Clothing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Byzantine clothing fashion

We know the culture of Constantinople mainly through its own art, especially wall and floor mosaics that lasted through time. We don’t seem to have many images, certainly not as many as from later medieval Europe, but what we have … Continue reading

Posted in Clothing | Tagged | Leave a comment