|
Abbasid Invasion Of Asia Minor (806)
The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 806 was the largest of a long series of military operations launched by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. The expedition took place in southeastern and central Asia Minor, where the Abbasid and Byzantine empires shared a long land border. Upon coming to the throne, the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I () ceased paying the tribute agreed to by his predecessors with the Caliphate, and launched attacks on the Abbasid frontier regions. The Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid (), who sought to promote himself as a champion of jihad, decided to lead in person a retaliatory attack with the objective of punishing the Byzantines and impressing Abbasid might upon their emperor. Harun assembled his army at Raqqa in northern Syria. Medieval historians record numbers to be as high as 135,000 or even 300,000 men. While these are clearly exaggerated, it is clear that the Abbasid force assembled for the invasion was far larger than anything se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Turkish Straits to the northwest, the Black Sea to the north, the Armenian Highlands to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean seas through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the Balkan peninsula of Southeast Europe. The eastern border of Anatolia has been held to be a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea, bounded by the Armenian Highlands to the east and Mesopotamia to the southeast. By this definition Anatolia comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. Today, Anatolia is sometimes considered to be synonymous with Asia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staurakios
Staurakios or Stauracius ( gr, Σταυράκιος, links=no; early 790s – 11 January 812AD) was Byzantine emperor from 26 July to 2 October 811. He was born in the early 790s, probably between 791 and 793, to Nikephoros I and an unknown woman. Nikephoros seized the throne of the Byzantine Empire from Empress Irene in 802, and elevated Staurakios to co-emperor on 25 December 803. On 20 December 807, a bride show was held by Nikephoros to select a wife for Staurakios, which resulted in his marriage to Theophano of Athens, a kinswoman of Irene. Little else is known of him until he came to take the throne upon the death of Nikephroros. Staurakios took part in an invasion of the Bulgarian Khanate in 811, alongside his father and brother-in-law. Although initially successful, with the Byzantines laying siege to the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and defeating a relief force, they were soon ambushed by Khan Krum, and trapped in a small valley. The Bulgarians then attacked, startin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bardanes Tourkos
Bardanes, nicknamed ''Tourkos'', "the Turk" ( gr, Βαρδάνης ὁ Τοῦρκος, Bardanēs ho Tourkos, ), was a Byzantine general of Armenian origin who launched an unsuccessful rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros I () in 803. Although a major supporter of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens (), soon after her overthrow he was appointed by Nikephoros as commander-in-chief of the Anatolian armies. From this position, he launched a revolt in July 803, probably in opposition to Nikephoros's economic and religious policies. His troops marched towards Constantinople, but failed to win popular support. At this point, some of his major supporters deserted him and, reluctant to engage the loyalist forces in battle, Bardanes gave up and chose to surrender himself. He retired as a monk to a monastery he had founded. There he was blinded, possibly on Nikephoros's orders. Origin and early career Nothing is known of the early life of Bardanes. He is usually regarded by modern scholars a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Qasim Ibn Harun Al-Rashid
Al-Qāsim ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd () was an Abbasid prince, the third son of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809), and for a time third-in-line to the Abbasid throne. Biography Qasim was Harun's third son, born to a slave mother named Qasif. Sukaynah, Harun's eldest daughter, was also Qasim's full sister. In his youth, Qasim was placed under the tutorship of the influential general Abd al-Malik ibn Salih. Thanks to Abd al-Malik's influence with Harun, Qasim was named as third in line of succession in 802 or 803, shortly after the so-called "Meccan documents" which established the precedence in succession of his elder brothers Muhammad (the caliph al-Amin, ) and Abdallah (the caliph al-Ma'mun, ). On this occasion, Qasim also received the honorific epithet () al-Mu'tamin (), but Harun also stipulated that Abdallah could, once caliph, alter the succession in favour of his own sons. In addition, Harun entrusted Qasim with the command over the frontier provinces with the By ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm ''Bombyx mori'' reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors. Silk is produced by several insects; but, generally, only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been some research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, but some insects, such as webspinners and raspy crickets, produce silk throughout their lives. Silk production also occurs in hymenoptera ( bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper Mesopotamia
Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has been known by the traditional Arabic name of ''al-Jazira'' ( ar, الجزيرة "the island", also transliterated ''Djazirah'', ''Djezirah'', ''Jazirah'') and the Syriac language, Syriac variant ''Gāzartā'' or ''Gozarto'' (). The Euphrates and Tigris rivers transform Mesopotamia into almost an island, as they are joined together at the Shatt al-Arab in the Basra Governorate of Iraq, and their sources in eastern Turkey are in close proximity. The region extends south from the mountains of Anatolia, east from the hills on the left bank of the Euphrates river, west from the mountains on the right bank of the Tigris river and includes the Sinjar plain. It extends down the Tigris to Samarra and down the Euphrates to Hit, Iraq. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elpidius (rebel)
Elpidius or Elpidios ( el, ) was a Byzantine aristocrat and governor of Sicily, who was accused of conspiring against Empress Irene of Athens (r. 780–802). This forced him to rebel, and after being defeated he defected to the Abbasid Caliphate and was recognized there as Byzantine emperor. Biography Nothing is known of Elpidius before February 781, when Empress Irene () appointed him as governor (''strategos'') of the theme of Sicily. At the time, he already held the highest Byzantine dignity, that of ''patrikios'', and the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor simply mentions that he had held the governorship of Sicily in the past, either under Leo IV the Khazar () or possibly Constantine V ().. Soon after, however, on 15 April, Irene was informed that he had supported a plot, discovered in October of the previous year to depose her and elevate the ''Caesar'' Nikephoros, the eldest surviving son of Constantine V, to power. Irene immediately dispatched the ''spatharios'' Theophilo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syriac Language
The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during the first century AD from a local Aramaic dialect that was spoken by Arameans in the ancient Aramean kingdom of Osroene, centered in the city of Edessa. During the Early Christian period, it became the main literary language of various Aramaic-speaking Christian communities in the historical region of Syria (region), Ancient Syria and throughout the Near East. As a liturgical language of Syriac Christianity, it gained a prominent role among Eastern Christian communities that used both Eastern Syriac Rite, Eastern Syriac and Western Syriac Rite, Western Syriac rites. Following the spread of Syriac Christianity, it also became a liturgical language of eastern Christian communities as far as India (East Syriac ecclesiastical province), India ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbasid Invasion Of Asia Minor (782)
The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 782 was one of the largest operations launched by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. The invasion was launched as a display of Abbasid military might in the aftermath of a series of Byzantine successes. Commanded by the Abbasid heir-apparent, the future Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid army reached as far as Chrysopolis, across the Bosporus from the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, while secondary forces raided western Asia Minor and defeated the Byzantine forces there. As Harun did not intend to assault Constantinople and lacked ships to do so, he turned back. The Byzantines, who in the meantime had neutralized the detachment left to secure the Abbasid army's rear in Phrygia, were able to trap Harun's army between their own converging forces. The defection of the Armenian general Tatzates, however, allowed Harun to regain the upper hand. The Abbasid prince sent for a truce and detained the high-ranking Byzantine envoys, who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irene Of Athens
Irene of Athens ( el, Εἰρήνη, ; 750/756 – 9 August 803), surname Sarantapechaina (), was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, co-ruler from 792 until 797, and finally empress regnant and sole ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire from 797 to 802. A member of the politically prominent Sarantapechos family, she was selected as Leo IV's bride for unknown reasons in 768. Even though her husband was an iconoclast, she harbored iconophile sympathies. During her rule as regent, she called the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which condemned iconoclasm as heretical and brought an end to the first iconoclast period (730–787). Her public figure was very polarizing during her 5 year reign, as most saw a woman not right to solely rule. Her sole reign made her the first ever empress regnant, ruling in her own right, in Roman and Byzantine imperial history. She was influential in govern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deposition (politics)
Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch. ORB: The Online Reference for Medieval Studies, 1999 It may be done by coup, , , or forced .The deposition of Richard II , J.P.Sommerv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.png "Click for more on -> Elpidius (rebel)")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Irene Of Athens")