Byzantium And The Crusades

In this episode, we'll hear how things got worse for both the Byzantines and the Crusaders when Byzantium suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Myriokephalon in 1176. This battle wasn't the game changer that the Battle of Manzikert had been for Byzantium since it had already lost its great power status. But it reduced Byzantium to a third rate power, making the Crusaders even more isolated in the Middle-East.

In this episode, we'll hear how Saladin saw a golden opportunity to create an Islamic empire that could challenge the Crusaders when his rival Nur ad-Din, the Zengid ruler, and the capable Crusader King of Jerusalem, Amalric, both died unexpectedly. However, the new young King of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV, although himself a leper, would prove to be a brave and courageous leader.

In this episode, we hear about the new young ruler of Egypt, Saladin, the man who would become the nemesis of the Crusaders. But his early years were fraught with difficulty and danger as the powerful ruler of the Zengid state in Syria, Nur ad-Din, sought to make him his vassal. Meanwhile, the Crusader King Amalric tried to ensure that Islam remained divided.

In this episode, we hear about the King of Jerusalem, Amalric's alliance with the Byzantines against Fatimid Egypt, where a young man called Saladin has seized power. A large Byzantine fleet and Crusader army converge on the Egyptian fortress of Damietta. But can they succeed in defeating Saladin, the man who will in time become the nemesis of the Crusaders?

In this and the next episode, we'll hear about the Crusader invasions of Egypt in the 1160s. These represent the Crusaders' last desperate attempts to prevent the creation of an Islamic superpower that would have the military might to defeat them. To the east of the Crusaders lay the powerful Zengid Sultanate, led by Nur ad-Din, which stretched from Aleppo down to the Red Sea. But Egypt was still an independent state ruled by the Fatimid Caliphate.  To prevent it from being conquered by the Zengids, King Amalric of Jerusalem, launched an invasion in 1163. What followed would have more twists and turns than the best crime thriller.

In this episode, we hear about the Prince of Antioch, Reynald, who invaded Byzantine Cyprus and provoked the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I to intervene in Syria. At first, it seemed as if there would be war between the Byzantines and the Crusaders, but a carefully constructed marriage alliance was to provide a very different and unexpected outcome. 

In this episode, we hear about the rise of the Crusaders' new enemy, Nur ad-Din, meaning "Light of the Faith" in Arabic. Nur ad-Din was the son of Zengi, who had united the Emirates of Mosul and Aleppo, and captured the Crusader city of Edessa, which had in turn caused the Second Crusade. Nur ad-Din's reign marked another step towards the unification of Islam against the Crusaders.

In this episode, we hear about life in Outremer, as the Crusader states were called, meaning 'Overseas' in French. We'll find that the Crusaders never really established themselves in sufficient strength to be a viable long-term power in the region. In addition, the Crusader's growing commercial relations with the Islamic world, which promised a more peaceful and friendly future, were ruined by the aggression of the Catholic Papacy in Rome which only wanted war with Islam.

In this episode, we hear about the disastrous conclusion of the Second Crusade, which stands in complete contrast to the spectacular success of the First Crusade. It also marked a turning point for both the Crusaders and the Byzantines, as their mutual hostility grew amidst the rising tide of Islamic power.

In this episode, we look at the passage of the Second Crusade through the Byzantine Empire and on into Anatolia which was a major war zone between the Byzantines and the Turks. Hopes were high for the Second Crusade, led by the two greatest Kings of Europe, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany. But a cruel fate awaited them.

In this episode, after the fall of Edessa to Zengi in 1144, the Kingdom of Jerusalem appeals to Pope Eugenius III for help. The great preacher, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux gives an electrifying sermon in France, calling for a new Crusade to save the Franks in the East. The West is again set alight with crusading fervour, just as it had been with the First Crusade in 1095, and two huge armies, led by the Kings of France and Germany, march East.

In this episode, we hear how King Fulk of Jerusalem died leaving the Kingdom of Jerusalem to his widow, Queen Melisende, and how the Crusaders' most feared enemy, Imad al-Din Zengi used this as an opportunity to launch an attack on the County of Edessa. The result would change the crusading world forever.

This podcast series tells how the Crusades were inextricably linked with the Byzantine Empire. In this episode, we hear how Byzantium, in the 1130s and 1140s, tried to re-establish its control over Antioch, the second city of the Empire, lost to the Turks in 1084, and captured by the First Crusade in 1098. Antioch was now a Crusader state - the Principality of Antioch - and the Crusaders would not yield to Byzantine demands to return it to the Empire as had been originally promised by the First Crusaders. Another step would be taken on the path towards war between Byzantium and the Crusaders.

This podcast series tells how the Crusades were inextricably linked with the Byzantine Empire. In this episode, we hear about how the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate tried to destroy the newly established Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the early 1100's. And how it very nearly succeeded.

This podcast series tells how the Crusades were inextricably linked with the Byzantine Empire. In this episode, we hear about the creation of the fourth Crusader state - called the County of Tripoli. It would in future play a vital role in the history of the Crusades, linking the Crusaders of Antioch and Edessa, in the north, with those of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the south.

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. In this episode, we hear how one of the greatest leaders of the First Crusade, Bohemond, the ruler of the Principality of Antioch, turns against Byzantium and launches a war against the Byzantine Emperor, Alexios. However, things do not turn out as he hoped.

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. In this episode, the year is 1101. The First Crusaders have achieved what seemed impossible. They have saved Byzantium from destruction at the hands of the Turks, as well as capturing Jerusalem and defeating the Fatimid Egyptians. Now the scene seems to be set for the consolidation of their gains. But the new crusaders setting out for the Kingdom of Jerusalem will find that the Turks are waiting for them.

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. It's based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, after the long and traumatic siege of Antioch, the First Crusaders are faced with a major division when Bohemond says he won't leave Antioch and march on Jerusalem. Then news arrives that the powerful Fatimid Caliphate is intent on holding Jerusalem against them. The First Crusade enters its most desperate phase.

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. It's based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, we hear how the Crusaders laid siege to Antioch, a huge and heavily fortified city, that had previously been the third city of the Roman Empire. The siege would take months and nearly broke the Crusade.

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. It's based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, we hear how the First Crusade began as a mass popular movement in Western Europe, how various armies marched east to Constantinople, and how they fared in their first battles against the Turks who had occupied Byzantine Anatolia.