The rise of the Seljuk Turks and the problems of the Eastern Empire

Division of the Muslim world by 1095

2 divisions = Sunni and Shia --> very bitter divide
Sunni Muslim
- Believe Abu Bakr was true successor
- Based in Baghdad & controlled Asia Minor
- 90% of Muslim population --> 940 million
- known as Abbasid
Shia Muslim
- Believe Ali Amir was true successor
- Based in Cairo & controlled Egypt
- 10% of Muslim population --> 120 million
- known as Fatamid
969 = Fatamids broke free from Abbasid control and took charge of Egypt and Palestine incl. Jerusalem --> v.hard for xian pilgrims.
1009 = Caliph Hakim (Fatamid ruler) ended xian tolerance and ordered destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre --> other Fatamid rulers tried to restore relations with Xians
1040s = rise of the Seljuk Turks --> moved into Iraq took advantage of weak Abbasid power
1059 = forced Abbasid family out of power --> time of lawlessness
1094 = Power vacuum = "This year is called the year of death of caliphs and commanders" - Arabic writer, Ibn Taghribirdi (Hillenbrand)

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1071 = Battle of Manzikert (Asia Minor) --> crushed the Byzantine army
1071 = Seljuk Turks moved into the Byzantine Empire --> taking land 60 miles from Constantinople (Capital of Byzantium)

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Family ties --> previous emperor = Isaac I (Alexios' Uncle)
Deception --> family helped him sieze Byzantine Empire from Nicephorus III
Seljuk Turks = Battle of Manzikert 1071 --> Romanos IV (previous emperor) captured by the Seljuk army
Military performance 1068-1081 = served previous emperors --> reputation & support
- Romanus VI
- Michael VIII
- Nicephorus III

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North = Pagan tribes crossed river Danube in the 1050s. --> forced Byzantium to let them settle
South = Seljuks controlled majority of Anatolia by 1077 --> declared it theirs and renamed Sultanate of Rum --> ruined stable border
West -
- 1015 --> Byzantine lands in Italy taken by the Normans
- 1071 --> Robert Guiscard (Norman leader) captured Bari (last Byzantine city in Italy)
- 1081 --> Robert plan full-scale invasion of Byzantine lands in the Balkans
1054 --> Great Schism --> East and West churches split
1071 --> Battle of Manzikert

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