BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Byzantine empire has been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the IMPERIUM category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the entire history of european integration and the future of Europe.

The Byzantine Empire has been the supranational political entity of the history of European integration that inherited the Roman Empire tradition and jurisdiction in Eastern Europe. It was founded in 626 A.D. by the emperor Heraclius I, with capital in Constantinople in continuity with the Christian Empire, after a great defensive war against many enemies simultaneously such as Arabs, Persians and Slavs. Morevoer, the Italiae diocesi had been conquered by Lombards and the rest of Western part of the Imperium was divided into the Franks and Anglosaxons regna (watch at the Byzantine Empire map above).

The changed European political scenario of VII century A.D. after the diffusion of Germans tribes all over Western and Central Europe and of Slavs in Eastern Europe, plus the weakness of the Roman church in comparison to the arianist among Lombards and Goths in Iberia, convinced the emperor to redefine the sphere of influence and the nature of his role: then, the Byzantine Empire became a Greek reign (called "Βασιλεια" as the ancient reigns founded by the Olimpia's God sons and heroes, such as the famous Heraclius), recovering the ancient Greeks and Eastern traditions and language, inspired by the οίκουµένη (Ecumene) ideal vision of Alexander "the Great" but under the Ortodox christian creed.

The Christianity crisis between V and XI centuries A.D. made the Byzantine Empire grew up, especially when many peoples coming from the Asian steppes entered the Eastern Europe area and often exceeded the Limes on the Danube river and assaulted the capitale or the others empire regions. After the heresies against the dogma appointed by the Christian Church Councils (always under the authority and approval of the Emperor), kept following the great religious conflict on the "Iconoclasm" between the Pontifex Maximus leader of the Ortodox church and the western Roman bishops, that soon aftwerwards drove to the definitve schism of Constantinople in 1054 A.D., still in force in nowadays Europe between Western and Eastern Christianity!

These religious conflicts flew always in great political/militar conflicts involving the Byzantine Empire along the entire history of european integration: event though, Constantinople had been considered until the end the heart of the "ecclesiae christiana", seat of the "father" of all the European genealogies (Familia Reges Christianorum) and the defensor fidei of Christianity against paganism, islamism and heresies, the centre of the missio evangelica spreaded over Eastern Europe towards the "new comers" (Bulgars, Magyars and Russians), in continuity with the cultural and juridic Greek-Roman tradition transmitted to all the European peoples expressed in the aeternitas enlisted in the Codex.

The Byzantine empire suffered a strong attack by some western dinasties allied to the Roman Church in 1204 A.D. during the IV Crusade that provoked decades of political divisions, confusion and uncertaintes that, in the end, brought centuries of wars and distructions in Western Europe whereas encouraged the Islamist ambitions to conquer Constantinople. When did the Byzantine Empire fall? It happened in 1453 A.D., when began a long time of occupation and pressure over all Eastern European peoples and countries until the First World War that influenced the whole history of european integration and the future of Europe too.

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