byzantine empire

If the Battle of Manzikert was to never happen or unfold differently meaning that the Seljuks never manage to get into Anatolia would the Crusades still happen?

This seems to be one of the potentially most pivotal possible turning points in history. In 716, the Eastern Roman Empire was weakened by the Twenty Year’s Anarchy. The Umayyad Caliph, already overseeing an empire that stretched from Hispania to India, launched an invasion of Asia Minor, and by...

One of Justinian's generals Artabanes was refused marriage to Justinian's niece Praejecta. This disseffected general plotted to assassinate Justinian, and elevate Justinian's cousin Germanus on the throne instead. The conspirators approached Germanus's son Justin first, and revealed to him the...

During First Crusade's first fight the siege of Nicaea Byzantine Emperor Alexios I made the city surrender to him separately from the Crusades. This alienated them from him. That distrust led the Crusaders into a separate path of not helping Byzantium. Eventually when Alexios refused to relieve...

Dear All, For the past two years I have finally somewhat settle my RL duties, finished my Ph.D thesis, started a new company, and now after a long hiatus, I am finally able to revisit my TL from 2022, Darkness before Dawn. I have made significant changes to the outline of the TL, and as I...

On June 1, 1199, Pope Innocent III ultimately decreed that the Archbishopric of Dol should be placed under the authority of the Metropolitan of Tours. Conseqquently, the archbishop lost his title and pallium, leading the archbishopric to revert to a bishopric once again. Disagreeing with this...

The Second Crusade was probably the biggest missed opportunity that the crusaders ever had. It was a disaster, launched as a reaction to the fall and destruction of Edessa. Emperor Manuel was not happy about the crusade, even though his ally HRE Conrad was seemingly its most important...

The POD is that Islam is not founded. Byzantine Empire recovers from the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628. The Heraclian dynasty consolidates the empire. The Army is rebuilt to the strength it had under Justinian. Italy is soon reconquered. Yet the Sasanian Empire is still in the damage from...

Your challenge should you choose to accept is to devise a scenario where the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII has more things go right for him. In otl Michael VIII was a very successful ruler who did the best he could given his current situation, and through cunning and ruthlessness he achieved...

Wings of Islam 1st Chapter: Beginning 602 to 604: Ctesiphon, capital of the Persian Empire The Persian Emperor, Koshrow II, hears concerning reports about Turkic tribes amassing at the Empire borders. He decides to prepare his armies for an expedition to permanently deal with the...

In 487, Theodoric's armies were quite strong, as he had just taken control of the troops of Theodoric Strabo. Theodoric, looking to extort the emperor and increase his own power, put Constantinople under siege. OTL he and Zeno worked out a deal where Theodoric would move west and conquer Italy...

Assuming say Issac II Angelos manages to decisively crush the Bulgarian revolt, or say its averted with the Asen brothers instead being granted a pronioa land grant, I can still see him getting deposed by his ambitious brother Alexios III. Alexios' misrule led to revolts and by the time for the...

In OTL, Alp Arslan learned that Romanos was marching on Armenia while he was at Aleppo preparing to march against the Fatimids. We have had several threads talking about Byzantine Victories at Manzikert but, what if Alp Arslan hadn't learned that the Byzantines were marching toward Armenia and...

The Byzantines were quite famous for using lamellar armor which was a type of armor that used sets of smaller plates fitted together atop a type of padding. What would it take for the Byzantines to adopt Western Style plate armor, or even make their own versions? How would this affect the...

Samuel was the last great ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, and his reign was dominated by a long, grueling war against the Byzantines. Samuel got off to a strong start, scoring a crushing victory at the Battle of the Gates of Trajan, but his Byzantine counterpart, Basil II, eventually got...

So the general feeling, here at least, is that if Stephen of Blois hadn't lost his nerve the day before Antioch fell, not only would relations between the Crusaders and Emperor Alexios have not deteriorated, but there wouldn't have been a six month delay that saw many of the Crusaders, including...

Little know fact about Manuel kommenos rule is that during it the Armenians were interested in reunification with Constantinople the church of Armenia along with other this led to the council of hromkla in which the Armenians agreed to and proposed a professed their dyophysite belief while...

Come up with a short timeline where the Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire merge politically with each other but the last surviving ruling family is the House of Osman controlling lands in the Balkans and Anatolia. Bonus Points for having the empire be a sweet blend of Bulgarian and Byzantine...

What If Leo Tornikios, an E. Roman/Byzantine Doux from an important family and Emperors relative, didn't rebel or rather if he would, that he'd be prevented to do so. Either imprisoning him effectively or at the times practice, making secure that even if willing he couldn't be considered apt for...

In OTL, the Turkish, nomadic groups that would become Ottomans converted to Islam around the 8th and 9th century AD after continued interaction with the Abbasid Caliphate. These Turks would go on to become the Ottoman Empire, capture Constantinople, and conquer the Balkans. But lets take a...