The Empire After 1204

Silk soon became an imperial monopoly, and through this way, the trade of luxury items became the Byzantine’s main source of income. The location of Constantinople also aided in military conquest and defence, for the empire’s naval headquarters were located along the shores, and had access to the Black Sea and Mediterranean. Because of the Empire’s location, all but overlapping the fallen Roman’s territory, the Byzantine Empire was greatly affected by these Roman’s past traditions and ways of life.

Economically, during this period Italian merchants were able to expand their trade from the Mediterranean to other areas along the Atlantic seaboard (334). They became in contact with the increasingly powerful Hanseatic League of merchants. When the Italian merchants became hit by the plague, the Hanseatic League of Merchants continue to flourish.

During the Post-Classical Era merchants played an incredible role in shaping the course of different

On Christmas day of 800 A.D., Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emperor. This pivotal, but not necessarily wanted, moment in the history of the Catholic Church set up a precedent for very strong relations between the Holy Roman Emperor and the papacy. During the eleventh century, with the Holy Roman Emperor ruled by Henry IV, relations with the papacy came to a front over several disagreement between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII. Their arguments mainly focused on the power that each institution should hold. Gregory felt that the papacy should play a larger political role in the western church and that lay investiture was against the will of God. Henry was conservative and did not want Rome intruding any more on his rule of the Holy Roman Emperor and accused Gregory of being a usurper and a fraud. In the midst of this argument, Gregory released various decrees, known as the Dictatus Papae, which greatly increased the power of the Papacy while reducing that of the Holy Roman Empire. The mere fact that Gregory felt the need to issue these decrees, in combination with the harsh reaction of Henry IV and the Bishops of Germany, prove that the papacy did not have “effective authority” over the Western church and institution.

Chau’s thesis that the rise and fall of empires was due to tolerance, inclusion, difference, and diversity is shown to be true of the Roman Empire because of the way that tolerance allowed and caused the empire to rise, enter its golden age, and fall. The Roman Empire was a “hyperpower” that lasted from 44 BCE to 476 CE. The empire contained Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe, along with North Africa; thus, there was an abundance of culture from many different conquered groups. Romans wanted to make these conquered nations provinces of Rome. The Roman Empire began (and the Roman Republic ended) with the assassination of Julius Caesar, who wanted to be a dictator. No longer a republic, the lands already ruled by Rome became part of an empire. The government became centralized with a single ruler, the emperor. However, even before the empire, during the Republic, there was also the similar feeling of wanting to conquer other nations was there.

The Western Roman Empire fell due to the loss of ambition, economic issues, and a despairing military. The Western Roman Empire was powerful empire with astounding achievements. Their overpower and greatness brought complication as time went on. The change of government leaders and religion had a big impact on the fall of the Western Roman Empire. As the issues began to rise the powerful empire began to fall.

When the crusades began there was a rise in trade, decreased feudalism, and new access to trade with the Middle East. Europeans also had a desire for luxuries from the Byzantine Empire. The increase in trading with the Byzantine Empire led to new ideas, food products, and household goods. The food products from the Byzantine Empire were: rice, coffee, sherbet, dates, apricots, lemons, sugar, and spices such as ginger, melons, rhubarb and dates. The household goods traded were: mirrors, carpets, cotton cloth for clothing, ships compasses, writing

The Arab empire had a better trade than the byzantine empire. I think they had a better trade because they spread out their religion.Another reason they spread out is they had more resources.

Trade had a great impact on both the Medieval islamic empire and the Byzantine Empire. This happened because of economic,political,and social factors. Trade actually had a greater impact on the Medieval islamic Empire.

In the later half of the fourth century the Western Roman Empire fell after nearly a five hundred years of dominance and is still widely considered the world’s greatest superpower (Andrews). Many people attribute the crumbling of the empire to multiple different reasons, like corrupt and insane leaders to overspending and inflation. As J.B Bury said once “the fall of the roman empire was a series of contingent events. In this paper we are going to cover the three main reasons. Political and Economical problems plus problems with the military(Wood).

Due to a stable government and a properly managed economy, the Byzantine Empire was able to last for quite a while. Emperors used their power correctly and there was a centralized government that helped keep the empire functioning even during rough times. Constantinople’s bureaucracy made sure everything ran smoothly. They regulated prices and wages, had systems for licensing, controlled the trade, oversaw schools, churches, observation of holidays, and even controlled the military and courts. The

Rome was one of the most significant and one of the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. But only three disastrous problems caused this mighty empire to collapse.

Once upon a time a group of wise, sober, and honest traders lived in Syria. They exported spices, gold, satins, etc far and wide. It so happened that the leading traders of this prosperous group made up their minds to go to Rome for business purposes. (141)

Farmers who could not afford to pay the high taxes of the government fled their land. Barbarians occupied this abandoned land. Anarchy and the decaying of trade routes resulted in the decline of commerce. There was a devaluation of the currency, which reduced the state to a barter economy. The burdens of taxation and poverty crushed both the rural and urban masses resulting in widespread revolts. During the third century there was a series of renegade armies, rebellions and foreign invasions. This chaos brought the social and economic system to the point of collapse.

I have decided to take a different approach to the whole perception of empire and its ruins to a more abstract level. Believe it or not, I have approached an area where I believe many have looked over (I can assume that the reasons are obvious depending on the area that comes to mind) and it cannot be more relevant: empires effects careers.