View source for Worst of Wikipedia/History of western Eurasia


:''This article was copied from Wikipedia, where (after a prolonged dispute between editors) it was eventually deleted as irreparable.''

West [[Eurasia|Eurasia]]</B> is an area bounded by the [[Sahara|Sahara]] and the [[Indian_Ocean|Indian Ocean]] to the south, the [[Atlantic|Atlantic]] to the west, and the [[Arctic_Ocean|Arctic Ocean]] to the north. Significant movements of people have entered the region from the East across the [[Steppe|steppe]]s. Nonetheless, the steppes have, for much of history, been lowly populated and so the interaction of [[West_Eurasia|West Eurasia]] with [[East_Eurasia|East Eurasia]] had been indirect.


==Early Classical==


[[Cyrus_II_of_Persia|Cyrus the Great]] after having successfully rebelled and overthrown the Median King, invaded [[Lydia|Lydia]] in [[546_BCE|546 BCE]] and conquered it. In [[538_BCE|538 BCE]] he overran [[Babylonia|Babylonia]].  Along with the conquest of [[History_of_ancient_Egypt|Egypt]] by his son [[Cambyses_II_of_Persia|Cambyses]] the [[Achaemenid_dynasty|Persian Empire]] reached an unprecedented size for West Eurasia. Cambyses' plans to continue west against [[Carthage|Carthage]] came to nothing when the [[Phoenicians|Phoenicians]] refused to participate - Carthage had taken pains to maintain its links with its mother city [[Tyre_%28Lebanon%29|Tyre]].

The [[Greco-Persian_Wars|Greco-Persian Wars]] (circa [[500_BCE|500 BCE]] - [[448_BCE|448 BCE]]) between the [[Achaemenid_dynasty|Persian Empire]] and the [[Ancient_Greece|Greek city states]], resulted in a stalemate and Persian Kings from them on chose a policy of [[Divide_and_rule|divide and rule]].  This allowed Persia to regain control of the Ionian cities of [[Anatolia|Anatolia]] at the end of the [[Peloponnesian_War|Peloponnesian War]] but the policy was most successful during the [[Corinthian_War|Corinthian War]].  However [[Philip_II_of_Macedon|Philip II of Macedon]] secured a [[Hegemony|hegemony]] over the Greek city states. In [[334_BCE|334]] Philip's son [[Alexander_the_Great|Alexander]] crossed into Asia, and in a series of campaigns conquered the Persian Empire. Though on his death, in [[323_BCE|323]], [[Diadochi|war between his generals]] divided his Empire, the [[Hellenistic|Hellenistic]] age was marked  by a spread of Greek culture and language  thru much of Western Asia and Egypt.

By this period a large area of Europe including north [[Italy|Italy]], [[France|France]],  parts of [[Iberian_Peninsula|Iberia]] and the [[British_Isles|British Isles]], was dominated by [[Celt|Celtic]] culture.  In [[279_BCE|279 BCE]], a group of Celts led by [[Brennus_%283rd_century%29|Brennus]] invaded [[Macedon|Macedon]] and broke thru [[Thermopylae|Thermopylae]], looting [[Delphi|Delphi]] before being driven off.  A section of them crossed over into [[Anatolia|Anatolia]] the next year and the area where they were to settle became known as [[Galatia|Galatia]].  The [[Scythia|Scythians]] the nomads who had till then dominated the steppe area north of the [[Black_Sea|Black Sea]], were driven out of the [[Balkans|Balkans]] by Celtic tribes around this period.  They were to come under pressure from the related [[Sarmatians|Sarmatians]] from the East to whom they gradually succumbed over the next 100 years.

[[Roman_Republic|Rome]] had been gradually completing the conquest of Italy and the only major city to hold out in the south was [[Taranto|Tarentum]].  When Tarentum stumbled into war with Rome, in [[282_BCE|282 BCE]], it appealed to [[Pyrrhus_of_Epirus|Pyrrhus of Epirus]].  Pyrrhus also attempted to drive out the [[Carthage|Carthaginians]] from [[Sicily|Sicily]] but was eventually [[Battle_of_Beneventum|defeated]] at [[Benevento|Beneventum]].  In [[264_BCE|264 BCE]] Rome went to war with Carthage and in the course of the [[First_Punic_War|First]] and  [[Second_Punic_War|Second Punic War]] Rome secured dominance in the Western [[Mediterranean|Mediterranean]] despite [[Hannibal|Hannibal]]'s invasion of Italy.  [[Philip_V_of_Macedon|Philip of Macedonia]] had allied with Hannibal and because of this Rome went to war with Macedonia in [[200_BCE|200 BCE]].  The resulting [[Second_Macedonian_War|Second Macedonian War]] broke [[Macedon|Macedonian]] power in Hellas.

The [[Seleucid_dynasty|Seleucid Empire]] had been reestablishing its traditional preeminence in the Eastern Mediterranean under [[Antiochus_III_the_Great|Antiochus III the Great]] taking the long coveted [[Coele-Syria|Coele-Syria]] from the [[Ptolemaic_Dynasty|Ptolemids]] after the [[Battle_of_Panium|Battle of Panium]] in [[198_BCE|198 BCE]]. War between Antiochus and Rome broke out when Antiochus entered Greece in alliance with [[Aetolia|Aetolia]].  Driven out of Greece he was defeated at the [[Battle_of_Magnesia|Battle of Magnesia]] in [[198_BCE|198 BCE]].


==Roman dominance==


Magnesia secured Roman dominance in the Mediterranean region. The destruction of Carthage and [[Corinth|Corinth]] in [[146_BCE|146 BCE]] merely confirmed this.  Despite this, Greek culture and [[Ancient_Greek_religion|religion]] remained dominant in the East [[Mediterranean|Mediterranean]].  Indeed Greek [[Syncretism|Syncretism]] accommodated [[Roman_religion|Roman Gods]] as merely the different names of Greek Gods - Celtic Gods were to be similarly co-opted later.  On the other hand the revolt of the [[Maccabees|Maccabees]] in [[Judea|Judea]] was merely the rejection of Greek culture for which we have the most detailed records.  Probably, the establishment of [[Parthia|Parthian]] rule over Persia represented at the time a far more significant rejection of Greek culture even though the extent that it represented the reestablishment of [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrianism]] to dominance is uncertain due to our lack of reliable sources.  [[Art_in_Ancient_Greece|Greek artistic taste]] had already been spread by the conquests of Alexander, the Roman conquest of Greece was to spread it across much of Western Europe.  Roman art did show other influences however such as [[Etruscan_civilization|Etruscan]] in [[Roman_architecture|Roman architecture]]. 

Though Roman expansion seems quite unstoppable this was an unstable period. According to [[Peter_Green_%28historian%29|Peter Green]], in this period a large number of people were [[Slavery_in_antiquity|enslaved]] due to the large number of wars and this explains the large number of slave revolts in this period.  [[Piracy|Piracy]] was on the increase because Rome cut down to size those navel powers who had kept piracy in check but was slow to take on the responsibility herself. During this period of roman expansionism arqueological evidence points ou to a great increase of the volume of trade in the mediterranean sea, with increased by 200% to 300%, from the 3th century Bc to the 1st century. This appears to indicate that the political unification of the mediterranean sea estimulated economic progress.


Roman dominance was so great that it was able to indulge in a series of civil wars without serious risk. Only [[Mithridates_VI_of_Pontus|Mithridates]] King of [[Pontus|Pontus]], was able to exploit Roman disunity, and during the [[First_Mithridatic_War|First Mithridatic War]] ([[88_BCE|88 BCE]]-[[84_BCE|84 BCE]]) he overran Anatolia and sent an army to invade Greece which was defeated by [[Lucius_Cornelius_Sulla|Sulla]] in [[85_BCE|85 BCE]]. Indeed, the rivalry between generals helped to fuel expansion as in [[Julius_Caesar|Caesar's]] conquest of Gaul. In [[53_BCE|53 BCE]], the Roman general [[Crassus|Crassus]] trying to match Caesar's prestige invaded Parthia but was killed at the battle of [[Carrhae|Carrhae]] - this was the first lasting check on Roman expansion. The era of civil wars came to end with [[Caesar_Augustus|Octavian]]'s victory at [[Battle_of_Actium|Actium]] in [[31_BCE|31 BCE]] and this is the point designated for the transition of the Republic to the [[Roman_Empire|Roman Empire]]. Along with the annexation of Egypt, Augustus expanded the Empire at a number of points, the most significant was the series of campaigns from [[14_BCE|14 BCE]] to [[8_BCE|8 BCE]] in [[Dalmatia|Dalmatia]] and [[Panonia|Panonia]] which pushed the Roman border up to the Danube along with and invasion of North Western [[Germania|Germany]] in [[9_BCE|9 BCE]]. The revolt of the Danube provinces in [[6|6]] CE was to be suppressed but it was immediately followed by a [[Germanic_tribes|German]] revolt and the defeat of [[Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest|Teutoburger Wald]] in [[9|9]] CE. 

In the wake of the Teutoburger Wald disaster, Augustus faced reality and gave advice to his successors to stick to the borders he had achieved.  That advice was in the main kept until the reign of [[Claudius|Claudius]].  Under Claudius a number of vassel states were annexed and in [[43|43]] CE the island of [[Roman_conquest_of_Britain|Britain was invaded]].  The empire reached its maximum extent under [[Trajan|Trajan]] who had completed his conquest of the Thracian  kingdom of [[Dacia|Dacia]] in [[106|106]] and in [[113|113]] launched a war against [[Parthia|Parthia]] conquering [[Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] and placing the pliable [[Parthamaspates|Parthamaspates]] on the Parthian throne.  On Trajan's death, however, [[Hadrian|Hadrian]] withdrew from Mesopotamia.

Even at its height Rome ruled less than half the West Eurasian region but dominates the history because the vast majority of the population, wealth and surviving written history were located within its borders. Beyond the borders, as well as the Celtic remnant in Ireland and Scotland, in Europe there were the Germans and Sarmatians - the Sarmatian [[Jazyges|Jazyges]] now grazed the Hungarian plains. The [[Venedes|Venedes]] who Roman historians occasional mention may have been Slavs living further North or may have been some otherwise unknown people. To the West of the Parthians, the [[Tocharian_languages|Tocharian]] speaking [[Kushan_Empire|Kushans]] had established an Empire that extended into [[India|India]] some of whose rulers adopted [[Buddhism|Buddhism]].

The Parthian weakness that had allowed the Romans to annex the area around [[Edessa%2C_Mesopotamia|Edessa]] as Upper Mesopotamia opened the way to [[Ardashir_I_of_Persia|Ardashir]] to rebel and overthrow the Parthian king in [[224|224]], so founding the [[Sassanid_dynasty|Sassanid dynasty]]. Though Rome was weaker than in its goldem age, she was able to hold their own against them - not so the Kurshans who were overrun by the Persians.

In [[235|235]] [[Maximinus_Thrax|Maximinus Thrax]] was proclaimed emperor by his troops which marks the start of the [[Crisis_of_the_Third_Century|Crisis of the Third Century]].  Civil war was not new to the Roman Empire but instead of a brief succession dispute this period is notable for large sections of the Empire being ruled separately for prolonged periods. On some level West Eurasia again become a multi polar world. While [[Diocletian|Diocletian]] who was proclaimed Emperor in [[284|284]] may have ended the crisis he institutionalized a division of the empire, the [[Tetrarchy|Tetrarchy]], that proved to be stable only so long as Diocletian was in place to keep it together.  Renewed division ensued almost as soon as Diocletian resigned to ended when [[Constantine_I_%28emperor%29|Constantine I (emperor)]] defeated his last rival at the [[Battle_of_Chrysopolis|Battle of Chrysopolis]] in [[323|323]].  Constantine's elevation brought to prominence [[Christianity|Christianity]] which quickly established it as the state religion - being adopted also by many Germanic tribes though they in the main followed the variant of Christianity [[Arianism|Arianism]] which had been the orthodoxy at the time most of them converted.

By the middle of the 4th Century the Germanic [[Ostrogoth|Ostrogoth]]s had established a large kingdom north of the Black Sea. According to tradition (or legend?) it was huge, extending to the [[Baltic_Sea|Baltic Sea]].


==The Fall of Rome==


In [[376|376]] the [[Huns|Huns]] attacked the Ostrogothic kingdom.  The Ostrogoths were defeated and the defeated Germans were soon on the banks of the Danube clamoring to be allowed to cross into the safety of the Roman Empire. [[Valens|Valens]] the emperor based in Constantinople reluctantly agreed.  His misgivings were confirmed when things got out of hand.  In [[378|378]] the Roman army was defeated at the [[Battle_of_Adrianople|Battle of Adrianople]] and Valens killed during the rout.  In the wake of the battle the Balkans were devastated but [[Theodosius_I|Theodosius I]] the new Eastern Emperor gradually recovered the Roman position and he successfully defeated rival emperors in the East.  After his death a period of instability and Germanic incursions, especially in the [[Western_Roman_Empire|Western half of the Empire]], culminated in the [[Sack_of_Rome|sack of Rome]] by [[Alaric_I|Alaric I]] of the [[Visigoth|Visigoth]]s in [[410|410]].  By now a quite a diverse number of Germanic tribes along with a group of [[Alans|Alans]] were residents of the Western Empire.  Whenever a strong leader emerged at the head of the Empire these tribal groups were forced back into limited areas.  Whenever the current Roman leader died a prolonged power struggle ensued which the tribal confederacies took advantage of.  At least North Africa was safe from raids - until a [[Vandal|Vandal]]-Alan tribal alliance crossed the straits of Gibralter in [[429|429]].  Meanwhile the Huns north of the Danube had established a huge hegemony, forcing virtually all Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire into submission.  This did at least stabilize Germany to the extent that there were no new influxes of Germans until the Huns under [[Attila_the_Hun|Attila]] decided to invade the Empire themselves.  The climax of the resulting conflict was when [[Flavius_A%C3%ABtius|Flavius A�tius]] organized a mixed German-Roman force that forced Attila back at the [[Battle_of_Chalons|Battle of Chalons]], in [[451|451]].

In [[453|453]] Attila died in bed with his new wife.  The hunish empire collapsed.  Aetius who had long ruled in the name of the boy Emperor [[Valentinian_III|Valentinian III]] met his end when Valentinian now an adult, decided the only way he could become a true emperor was to kill Aetius.  The result was the traditional Roman power struggle in which Valentinian lost his life and Germanic power grew beyond the point of no return.  In [[476|476]] the German [[Odovacar|Odovacar]] staged a coup in which the current emperor, [[Romulus_Augustulus|Romulus Augustulus]] was deposed.  This is the traditional date for the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Though Odovacar paid lip service to the authority of [[Eastern_Roman_Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]], Constantenople wasn't fooled and in [[489|489]] dispatched the [[Ostrogoths|Ostrogoths]] under [[Theodoric_the_Amal|Theodoric the Amal]] who established their own kingdom in Italy.  This left the Eastern Empire intact but the Western Empire divided into four kingdoms.  Along with the Ostrogoths in Italy the Visigoths ruled Spain, the [[Salian_Franks|Franks]] Gaul and the Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans, North Africa.  

These changes changed Western Eurasia from an unipolar world to a multipolar world.  In the area of the Western Roman Empire the centralized tax funded state defended by a standing army had been swept away.  Christianity provided some continuity but the decline in secular literacy along with the increasing independence of the Papacy, no longer beholden to the Emperor, opened the way to a very different direction of development.    (The Fall of the Roman Empire: Peter Heather)

==A multipolar subcontinent==


The Eastern Empire survived in part because its main rival the Sassanids had troubles of their own fending off attacks from the steppes by the [[Hephthalite|White Huns]].  From the beginning of the 6th century the Sassanids began to contain this threat and were again able to be an annoyance to the Eastern Empire.  Nevertheless the Emperor Justinian was able to dispatch [[Belisarius|Belisarius]] against the Vandals.  Despite very forces he succeeded, Carthage falling in [[533|533]].  Justinian�s next target the Ostrogoths who were only finally defeated in [[552|552]] at [[Battle_of_Busta_Gallorum|Busta Gallorum]].

In [[557|557]] the Turks burst into the sub continent driving before them the [[Rouran|Rouran]] and defeated the White Huns.  This allowed the Sassanids to move their border up to the Oxus.  The Rouran and the White Huns joined forces and as the [[Eurasian_Avars|Avars]] moved west and established a large hegemony north of the black sea.  The Avars then expanded even further westward onto the [[Pannonian_plain|Pannonian plain]] intervening on the side of the [[Lombards|Lombards]] against the [[Gepids|Gepids]]. The Gepids were crushed in [[567|567]] but the Lombards found their new neighbors too powerful for safety and abandoned their territory to descend on Italy capturing many of the inland cities that could not be supplied by sea.

In the north west the realm of the Franks under the [[Merovingian|Merovingian]]s had become the dominant power but as it was often divided this did not have much wider impact.

Byzantine forces secured the Sassanid throne for [[Khosrau_II_of_Persia|Khosrau]] at the [[Battle_of_Zab_%28591%29|Battle of Zab]] in [[591|591]].  Khosrau was now personally indebted to the Byzantine emperor [[Maurice_%28emperor%29|Maurice]] and so with his rear secure he concentrated on defeating the Avars. However his stern discipline provoked a mutiny and he was murdered by the usurper [[Phocas|Phocas]].  Khosrau then declared a war of vengeance against the murderer of his benefactor bringing Byzantium close to disaster so enabling [[Heraclius|Heraclius]] to overthrow Phocas.  In a war of two decades Heraclius took Byzantium from the brink of collapse to the point where the Sassanids were forced to make terms in [[628|628]].  These long years of warfare had almost no significant result - except to leave both the Sassanid and the Byzantine Empires exhausted.

==Enter the Arabs==


In [[629|629]] an Arab raid on Byzantine Syria was the harbinger of the onslaught by Arab armies against the exhausted Sassanid and the Byzantine Empires.  United by the monotheistic religion [[Islam|Islam]] they inflicted decisive defeats on the Byzantines ([[Battle_of_Yarmouk|Battle of Yarmouk]] in Syria) and the Persians ([[Battle_of_Kadisiya|Battle of Kadisiya]], [[637|637]]). By [[642|642]] they had  [[Islamic_conquest_of_Egypt|overrun Egypt]] and by 650 the [[Islamic_conquest_of_Persia|Sassanid Empire had been completely conquered]]. The Arab [[Khalif|Khalif]]ate was marked by the complete lack of division between religion and statecraft.  Hence the [[First_Islamic_civil_war|civil war that broke out in 656]] was both dynastic and religious.  This did at least give the Byzantines something of a respite but nonetheless they failed to prevent the [[Islamic_conquest_of_North_Africa|Arab conquest of North Africa]] which they completed by [[709|709]].  Many [[Berber|Berber]]s converted to Islam and  these made up a large section of the force which crossed over in Visgothic Hispania in [[711|711]].  After their defeat at the [[Battle_of_Guadalete|Battle of Guadalete]] the Visigoths were quickly overrun.

At least the Byzantines no longer had to worry about the Avars who had lost control over their [[Slavic_peoples|Slav]] vassals but as these Slav tribes had overrun all the Balkans (including most of Greece) this did not help the Byzantines much and their only really sizable territory was Anatolia.

Though the Byzantine Emperor's rule over Rome was becoming more and more nominal he still expected the pope to jump as if he had.  When [[Leo_the_Isaurian|Leo the Isaurian]] fearing that Arab victories could be due to their abhorrence of idolatry ordered the destruction of icons around [[730|730]]. The resulting [[Iconoclasm|Iconoclastic]] controversy  allowed the Pope to assert his independence culminating in his excommunication of the Emperor.

In the north west the Frankish realm was moving beyond its era of disunity.  A massive raid from Islamic Spain culminated in the [[Battle_of_Tours|Battle of Tours]] , and this battle both demonstrated how [[Charles_Martel|Charles Martel]] had become king in all but name and further strengthened his authority.   Charles Martel's son [[Pepin_the_Short|Pepin the Short]] gained the backing of the pope and became king in name as well in [[751|751]].  Hence, when the Lombards started attacking the [[Papal_States|mini state]] that Pope had eased out of the Byzantine orbit, he was able to count on Pepin's aid.

In [[750|750]] the Khalifate the [[Abbasid|Abbasid]]s ousted the [[Umayyads|Umayyads]] who had ruled since the assassination of [[Ali|Ali]].  One of the few Umayyads to survive the resulting bloodletting established an [[Caliph_of_C%C3%B3rdoba|independent Emirate]] in [[Al-Andalus|Hispania]].  Across the water in [[Morocco|Morocco]], the [[Idrisids|Idrisids]], who claimed descent from Ali, proclaimed a rival Khalifate.

Pepin was succeeded by his son [[Charlemagne|Charlemagne]] in [[771|771]] and earned his epitat 'Great' by doing a lot of conquering.  He overran the [[Saxons|saxons]], eliminated the Avars (in alliance with the turkic [[Bulgars|Bulgars]]) and took Barcelona from the Umayyads.  The Lombards who couldn't resist bothering the Pope again got incorporated into the Frankish realm as well.  In [[800|800]] he was proclaimed emperor by the Pope.  The Frankish tendency to disunity, however, reasserted itself on the death of Charlemagne's son, [[Louis_the_Pious|Louis the Pious]] when Louis' three sons all got a share in [[840|840]].

[[Nikephoros_I_Phokas|Nikephoros I Phokas]] began the recovery for Byzantium of the Balkans by subduing inland Greece.  Though he was to get himself killed in [[811|811]] trying to subdue the Bulgars, this marked the beginning of a trend that would lead to Byzantium securing in the Balkans territory to match their Anatolian heartland on the other side of the Aegean.

In [[793|793]] a band of [[Viking|Viking]]s raided [[Lindisfarne|Lindisfarne]]  but the [[Viking_Age|era of Viking raids]] really only got going in the middle of the 9th Century.  Not only was most of the Atlantic seaboard affected but they also raided along the river system from the [[Baltic|Baltic]] to the [[Black_Sea|Black Sea]], founding in the process the [[Rulers_of_Kievan_Rus%26apos%3B|Russian Kingdom]] in [[862|862]] or [[Rurik|so the legends tell]].  By contrast the rather small grant of land ([[Normandy|Normandy]]) by the French King in [[911|911]]  to a group of Vikings was to have a long term impact.  The [[Normans|Normans]] soon began to speak French and became a force in their own right.

The seemingly unstoppable decline of the [[Abbasid|Abbasid]] Khalifate was checked for while when, in [[905|905]], [[Al-Muktafi|Al-Muktafi]] overthrew the [[Tulunid|Tulunid]]s and retook Egypt.  To the East Persia had fallen into the hands of the [[Saffarid_dynasty|Saffarid]] but in [[900|900]] they had been defeated by the [[Samanid|Samanid]]s who, at least outwardly, recognized the authority of the Khalif.  Further to the East, in the [[Magreb|magreb]] a new rival Khalifate was established, the [[Fatimid|Fatimid]].  Two Fatimid attacks on Egypt were beaten off in [[914|914]] and [[919|919]] by the Abbasids.

As the Viking raids subsided the [[Magyars|Magyars]] arrived.  Crossing the [[Carpathian_Mountains|Caparthian]]s they, in [[896|896]], occupied the Upper Tisza river, from which they conducted raids thru much of Western Europe.  However, in [[955|955]] they were defeated by [[Otto_I%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor|Otto of Germany]] at the [[Battle_of_Lechfeld|Battle of Lechfeld]].  The defeat was so crushing that the Magyars decided that 'if you can't beat them join them' and in [[1000|1000]] their King was accepting his royal regalia from the Pope.  Otto on the strength of that victory was able to secure the tittle of Emperor.  This German based [[Holy_Roman_Empire|Holy Roman Empire]] was to be the major power in Christian Europe for some time to come.
As well as this &quot;rebirth&quot; of Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire continued to be the up.  Eastwards their rule was pushed as far as Antioch (taken in 969), while their conquest of the West Bulgarian Empire in 1018 meant they now controlled most of the Balkans.  Part of the reason for this Byzantine success was their main rival, the Abbasid Khalifate completely collapsed.  The Fatamids overran Egypt and Syria while the [[Buyids|Buyids]] overran Iran and Mesopotamia.  The Abbasid Khalifate lived on as merley spiritual authority to which the Buyaids were happy to defer to so long as it stayed spiritual.  A third Khalifate appeared or rather was reborn in the West when the Umayyad Emirate that had expanded into Morocco proclaimed themselves as Khalifate in [[929|929]].  But this was their highpoint.  In little more than a 100 years the Khalifate had disintegrated and finally expired in [[1031|1031]].

==High Medieval==


For some time [[Normans|Normans]] had been employed in the Byzantine-Lombard conflict in Southern Italy.  With the capture of Melfi in [[1040|1040]] by [[Robert_Guiscard|Robert Guiscard]] it was clear that the Normans were out of control and soon not only Southern Italy had been conquered by the Normans but also, the [[Emirate_of_Sicily|Emirate of Sicily]].  The stay at home Normans, not to be outdone, [[Norman_conquest_of_England|conquered England]].  

Having overthrown the Afghanistan based [[Ghaznavid_Empire|Ghaznavid Empire]] at the [[Battle_of_Dandanaqan|Battle of Dandanaqan]] in [[1040|1040]], the [[Seljuks|Seljuks]] took Bagdad in [[1055|1055]].  In [[1071|1071]] the Seljuks confronted the Byzantines at the [[Battle_of_Manzikert|Battle of Manzikert]].  The Byzantines lost the battle and as a result the whole Anatolian half of their realm.  The Byzantines finally were desperate enough to seek help from the Pope and if the [[First_Crusade|First Crusade]] was not quite the help the Byzantines had in mind in did allow them to make a partial recovery.  The crusade also allowed the Fatamids to recover Jerusalem only for them to [[Siege_of_Jerusalem_%281099%29|lose it to the Crusaders]] shortly afterwards.

In [[1055|1055]] a group of Berbers, the [[Almoravids|Almoravids]] recent converts to Islam, appeared out of the Sahara and captured the oasis of Sijilmasa. In [[1062|1062]] they founded the city of Marrakech from which comes the name of the region Morocco which the Almoravids soon had overrun. In Hispania the fragmented Muslim rulers began to lose ground to the Christian princes to the North.  The Muslim princes appealed to the Almoravids in [[1086|1086]] and the Almoravids both stemmed the Christian advance and ended the fragmentation of the Muslim region of Spain by bringing it under their control.  The magreb and Spain had till then been the home of opponents of the Abbasids (Fatamid, Umayyad) but the  Almoravids broke this tradition by firmly recognizing the authority of the Abbasid Khalif.



The two major north Europe powers, Germany and France were both hamstrung by internal problems.  The German emperors became locked in a duel with the pope over [[Investiture_Controversy|who should appoint prelates]] in Germany with the main Papal tactic being the backing of rival Emporers. In [[France_in_the_Middle_Ages|France]], the Capetian kings had been reduce to a level of little more than barons. When they began to make a comeback they were faced with the Occitan dynasty the [[Plantagenet|Plantagenet]]s who having acquired the Kingdom of England had more resources than they.  However the succession dispute between [[John_Lackland|John Lackland]] and [[Arthur_I%2C_Duke_of_Brittany|Arthur]] allowed the French King to gain control of much of the Plantagenet region and the [[Albigensian_Crusade|Albigensian Crusade]] gave them control of Langudoc in [[1228|1228]].

The [[Crusader_States|Crusader States]] lasted so long as they did because Islam was so divided - first of all between Fatamid Egypt and the Seljuks and secondly due to the internal fragmentation of the Seljuks.  The crusader luck ran out with the growing power of the [[Atabeg|atabeg]] of [[Mosul|Mosul]] (atabeg was a regent for Seljuk prince).  In [[1154|1154]] the current Mosul ruler [[Nureddin|Nureddin]] took [[Damascus|Damascus]].  Next target was Fatamid Egypt which despite aid from the crusaders fell in [[1169|1169]].  It was, however, [[Saladin|Saladin]] the next sultan who rounded things off with conquest of Jerusalem in the wake of the [[Battle_of_Hattin|Battle of Hattin]].  The fall of Jerusalem provoked the [[Third_Crusade|Third Crusade]] which achieved little in Palestine but took [[Richard_Coeur_de_Lion|Richard Coeur de Lion]] out of circulation some time so allowing the French king to gain significant ground in his duel with the Plantagenents.  The [[Fourth_Crusade|Fourth Crusade]] achieved a good deal more - by carving the [[Latin_Empire|Latin Empire]] out of the [[Byzantine_Empire|Byzantine Empire]]. It didn't last. Despite the fact that the Byzantine Emperor retook Constantinople in [[1261|1261]] the damage to the Byzantines was more permanent - the crusades true &quot;achievement&quot;. 

The decline of the Seljuks proceeded sufficiently that the Abbasid Khalifate managed to establish secular rule in Mesopotamia.  The defeat of the Fatamid Caliph would have made the Abbasids sole Khalifs were it not that [[Almohads|Almohads]] had replaced the Almoravids in the west and had proclaimed themselves as a Khalifate.  The change in rulers might have had an effect on the lives of Berber women (amongst the Berbers the Koran had not been interpreted as insisting on the veil - the Almohads disagreed) but had little effect in Spain where the Christian kingdoms continued to advance towards the South.  They were however notable patrons of philosophers and of [[Averroes|Averroes]] in particular who is said to have sown the seeds of the [[Renaissance|Renaissance]].


In [[1220|1220]] the [[Mongol_Empire|Mongols]] crashed into Persia, at time ruled by [[Khwarezmid_Empire|Khwarezmids]].  In [[1223|1223]] it was the turn of the [[Kievan_Rus%26apos%3B|Kievan Rus']] who were defeated at the [[Battle_of_the_Kalka_River|Battle of the Kalka River]].  The [[Mongol_invasion_of_Rus|systematic conquest of Russia]] was to follow in [[1237|1237]].  In [[1258|1258]] [[Battle_of_Baghdad_%281258%29|Baghdad was attacked]] and the Abbasid Khalif executed by being trampled under the hoofs of the mongol horses.  What finally halted Mongol expansion was its internal problems and on the death of [[Kublai_Khan|Kublai Khan]] in [[1294|1294]] the empire fragmented.  Two of the fragments,  the [[Golden_Horde|Golden Horde]] in Russia and the [[Ilkhanate|Ilkhanate]] in Persia were themselves major West Eurasian powers.  The [[Ilkhanate|Ilkhanate]] adopted Islam in [[1295|1295]].

==Renaissance==



==Industrial Revolution==



==Modern times==



==Notes==

<references />

==See also==

[[History_of_Eurasia|History of Eurasia]]
[[History_of_Europe|History of Europe]]
[[History_of_the_Middle_East|History of the Middle East]]
[[History_of_the_Mediterranean_region|History of the Mediterranean region]]
[[History_of_North_Africa|History of North Africa]]
[[Classical_antiquity|Classical antiquity]]

[[Category:Wikipedia]]