This is my review of Sharan Newman’s latest book, Defending the City of God: A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem.
BOOK REVIEW: “Defending the City of God” : A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem, by Sharan Newman
May 9, 2014 By
How important was the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 to the Rise of the Seljuk Turks?
September 29, 2013 By
The Battle of Manzikert has received relatively little study in modern Western academia, and the majority of both primary and secondary sources have not been translated
The Failed Experience: Why Did Manuel Komnenos Lose the Battle at Myriokephalon?
July 27, 2013 By
On the 17th of September, 1176, a huge Byzantine army entered a defile some 40 km east of modern Konya. The Byzantine chronicles call it Myriokephalon
The Construction of the Two Palaces: The Composition of the Song of Digenis Akritas and the Claim for the Anatolic Hegemony of Alexius Komnenos
August 15, 2012 By
The arrival of the Komnenos-Doukas faction at the imperial throne, with the rising of Alexius Komnenos in 1081, represents a strong change in the rhetoric and sharing of power in Byzantium.
Diplomacy gone to seed: a history of Byzantine foreign relations, A.D. 1047-57
September 25, 2011 By
Diplomacy gone to seed: a history of Byzantine foreign relations, A.D. 1047-57 By Paul A. Blaum International Journal of Kurdish Studies (2004) Introduction: The reign of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-55) was a watershed in the history of the Middle East. For the Christian nations of the “Orient,” particularly Armenia, his reign proved […]
Acropolites And Gregoros On The Byzantine- Seljuk Confrontation At Antioch-On-The Maeander (A.D.1211). English Translation And Commentary
June 17, 2011 By
Modern research has conclusively established that the battle of Antiochad-Maenderum in Phrygia, considered to be the third most hotly contested confrontation between the Byzantines and the Seljuks since Manzikert (Malasgirt) in 1071 and Myriocephalum (Çardak) in 1176, took place is the spring or early summer of A.D. 1211 and not in A.D. 1210, as it was previously believed
Medieval Syriac Historians’ Perceptions of the Turks
April 25, 2011 By
Medieval Syriac Historians’ Perceptions of the Turks By Mark Dickens MPhil Dissertation, University of Cambridge, 2004 Introduction: The eleventh through thirteenth centuries were eventful times in the Middle East, marking the end of exclusive Arab dominance in the heartland of Islam and the beginning of Turkish rule, which continued until the demise of the Ottoman […]
Portrayals of the Later Abbasid Caliphs: The Role of the Caliphate in Buyid and Saljūq-era Chronicles, 936-1180
April 15, 2011 By
While the caliphs lacked military power during the Buyid and Saljūq eras, they were not mere hostages of the secular powers in the eyes of the chroniclers.
The Battle of Manzikert: Military Disaster or Political Failure?
April 1, 2011 By
This paper examines Romanus’ Manzikert campaign and the significance of his defeat, and assesses whether the Byzantine position in Anatolia was recoverable, and if so, why that recovery failed?
Debacle at Manzikert, 1071: Prelude to the Crusades
February 13, 2011 By
Debacle at Manzikert, 1071: Prelude to the Crusades By Brian Carey Medieval History Magazine, Issue 5 (2004) Introduction: The Seljuks, like other Central Asian nomads before them, relied on light cavalry horse archers as their primary means of attack. These Turks proved irresistible on the battlefield, conquering the Muslim states in present day Syria, northern […]
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