Tag Archives: Fourth Crusade

Holidaying in Amalfi and finding Byzantium

Posted on June 8, 2016 by proverbs6to10

When we think of the Amalfi coast most will think of spectacularly beautiful, and fashionable towns clinging to precipitous rock faces, expensive hotels, and maybe even the odd film star walking the streets of Amalfi or Positano. Made popular as … Continue reading →

Posted in Byzantine Travel, History, Icons | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades by Jonathan Phillips

Posted on March 14, 2010 by proverbs6to10

It seems our fascination with the Crusades, and the temptation to draw parallels with current tensions between Christian and Muslim, and East and West, is as popular as ever with many new books on the subject. Of course we all … Continue reading →

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Byzantine Seminars for all at King’s College London

Posted on January 14, 2010 by proverbs6to10

For those of you who live and work in London and have an interest in Byzantium, you would certainly like the seminars run by the Department of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King’ College. The Spring Term programme is … Continue reading →

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The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge and Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades by Jonathan Phillips

Posted on January 10, 2010 by proverbs6to10

Malise Ruthven admires two books that ask how modern conflicts have come to be clothed in the language of medieval holy wars   The historian Marc Bloch, who died a martyr’s death when shot by the Nazis, observed that “once … Continue reading →

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Conquest Legitimised: The Making of a Byzantine Emperor in Crusader Constantinople 1204-1261

Posted on December 27, 2009 by proverbs6to10

On 13th April 1204 Constantinople fell to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade. Five men had tried to rule over Constantinople over the previous twelve months; two were dead and three had fled. As the senior crusaders entered the city, its … Continue reading →

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Walking to Byzantium

Posted on April 13, 2009 by proverbs6to10

The road would have been used by Caesar and Pompey, Octavian and Mark Anthony, Constantine himself and numerous other Byzantine Emperors as they fought to defend their Empire. It was the route used by invaders such as the Crusaders, including the infamous Bohemond who was finally defeated by Alexius near Dyrrachium (modern Durres). Continue reading →

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Anna Comnena’s “The Alexiad”

Posted on April 5, 2009 by proverbs6to10

Byzantium produced some well known women Empresses such as Theodora and Zoe. Perhaps the best Augusta they did not have was Anna Comnena, the Daughter of The Emperor Alexius I Comnenus who reigned from 1081 until 1118. Well, in her opinion she is the best Augusta they never had according to her excellent biography of her father known as The Alexiad. Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Byzantine Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments