They began to blow with blacksmiths’ bellows into a furnace where there was fire, and from it came a great noise. There was also a brass [or bronze] tube, and from it came much fire against a ship, which burned quickly so that it all turned into white ashes… This excerpt is from the Yngvars […]
Byzantine Empire
Posted inMiddle Ages
New England, the Medieval Colony Founded in Crimea by Anglo-Saxons Fleeing the Norman Conquest
In the article dedicated to the Varangian Guard, we explained that, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, this unit came to be known as Englinbarrangoi (Anglo-Varangians) and English became their usual language because it began to be filled with Anglo-Saxons (English and Scots) who left the islands to settle in Constantinople. In 1098, […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
The Problem of the Two Emperors: The Historical Dispute over Embodying the Legacy of Rome
It wasn’t called the “beacon of civilization” for nothing. The legacy of Rome was so immense—in every realm—that centuries after its fall, there were still struggles to claim legitimacy as its rightful successor, something that continued well into the Middle Ages. Although many self-proclaimed themselves as heirs, the issue was particularly intense in the dispute […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Varangian Guard, the Viking Escort of Byzantine Emperors
Among the Scandinavian archaeological heritage are the so-called runestones, stelae whose epigraphic content is written -obviously- in runes, with a quite broad chronology, from the 4th century to the 12th. There are about six thousand of them, the majority -three and a half thousand- are in southeastern Sweden and about thirty of them are called […]
Posted inMiddle Ages, Science
Icebergs in Constantinople and a Frozen Black Sea: Climate Anomalies Triggered by Eruptions in Iceland at the Beginning of the Middle Ages
It was one of the coldest winters the region has experienced: in the year 763, large areas of the Black Sea froze, and icebergs were seen in the Bosphorus. Contemporary historians recorded this unusual weather phenomenon during the winter of 763/764 in their accounts of Constantinople, now Istanbul. Now, an international and interdisciplinary study conducted […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
The Turbulent Life of Andronicus I Comnenus, who Managed to Become Emperor by Escaping after 12 Years in Captivity
It’s tough to imagine a life more turbulent and extravagant than that of Andronicus Comnenus, Byzantine emperor and the last of his dynasty. Charismatic, contradictory, lover of worldly pleasures, expert military man, his strong character and lack of scruples led him to experience extreme situations, including twelve years of captivity, numerous military campaigns, scandalous love […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
How the Republic of Venice was Born within the Byzantine Empire as a Defense Against the ‘Barbarians’
As it’s known, the Most Serene Republic of Venice, that mighty maritime state born in the 8th century (independent since the 9th) and lasting until the late 18th century, was governed by a series of institutions (Great Council, Senate, and Council of Ten) under the supreme command of the Doge. Although the Doge was elected […]
Posted inAncient Rome
Scrinium Barbarorum, the Department of the Eastern Roman Empire in Charge of Barbarian Affairs
Some time ago we dedicated an article to the frumentarii and agentes in rebus, who constituted what we might consider the Roman Empire’s secret services, although in reality that body performed more functions – including postal and supply duties – because, after all, we’re talking about another era. Julian the Apostate abolished it, leaving only […]
Posted inAntiquity
Mesrob Mashtots, the Armenian Monk of the 5th Century AD who Invented Alphabets
Čanačʿel zimastutʿiwn ew zxrat, imanal zbans hančaroy (To seek wisdom and discipline, to understand insightful words…) This quote is from the Book of Proverbs (1:2), one of the books of the Old Testament traditionally attributed to Solomon. It is also said to be the phrase chosen by the monk Mesrob Mashtots to translate the Bible […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Empire of Trebizond, the Greek State that Survived the Fall of Constantinople
When the Ottomans, led by Sultan Mehmed II, captured Constantinople on May 29, 1453, bringing an end to the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire, they virtually controlled all the territories that had once been part of it. However, a Byzantine Greek state remained independent on the northeast coast of the Anatolian Peninsula. The Sea, […]
