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Byzantium and The Crusades: Second Edition 2nd Edition

by Jonathan Harris (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
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Byzantium and the Crusades
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This new edition of Byzantium and the Crusades provides a fully-revised and updated version of Jonathan Harris's landmark text in the field of Byzantine and crusader history.

The book offers a chronological exploration of Byzantium and the outlook of its rulers during the time of the Crusades. It argues that one of the main keys to Byzantine interaction with Western Europe, the Crusades and the crusader states can be found in the nature of the Byzantine Empire and the ideology which underpinned it, rather than in any generalised hostility between the peoples.

Taking recent scholarship into account, this new edition includes an updated notes section and bibliography, as well as significant new additions to the text:

- New material on the role of religious differences after 1100
- A detailed discussion of economic, social and religious changes that took place in 12th-century Byzantine relations with the west
- In-depth coverage of Byzantium and the Crusades during the 13th century
- New maps, illustrations, genealogical tables and a timeline of key dates

Byzantium and the Crusades is an important contribution to the historiography by a major scholar in the field that should be read by anyone interested in Byzantine and crusader history.

Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    1780938314
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1780938318
  3. Edition
    2nd
  4. Publisher
    Bloomsbury Academic
  5. Publication date
    November 20, 2014
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.14 x 0.6 x 9.21 inches
  8. Print length
    288 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A measured, detailed, clear, nuanced and subtle analysis of Greek responses to the appearance of the unprecedented ideas and armies of crusaders from western Europe and how these reactions were ultimately self-defeating. This is political and diplomatic history in modern form, as much a close study of cultural forces as a narrative of events. Grounded on detailed critical scrutiny of primary sources, Harris's perspective remains chiefly that of the Byzantine court, its political, administrative and literary elite providing the convincing context for this compelling study of the pervasive intellectual attitudes and dominant ideologies of power that determined the fate of the eastern Mediterranean world.
Christopher Tyerman, Fellow and Tutor in History, Hertford College, University of Oxford, UK

Illuminating and innovative. A must-read for those who wish to understand the relationship between the east and west during the Crusades.
Lars Brownworth, author of Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization (2009)

Jonathan Harris leads us into the minds of the ruling elites of Byzantine society and demonstrates how they were unable to adapt to the challenge of the crusade... he explains how contact between east and west rapidly became confrontation and ultimately produced disaster for the Empire. This book is an original, perceptive, and convincing analysis of the cultural attitudes which shaped the Byzantine reaction to the crusades and ultimately led to the disaster of the crusader sack of Constantinople in 1204.
John France, Professor of History, Swansea University, UK

About the Author

Jonathan Harris is Professor of the History of Byzantium at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. He is the author of Introduction to Byzantium, 602–1453 (2020) and The End of Byzantium (2010).

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Academic; 2nd edition (November 20, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1780938314
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1780938318
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.6 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

About the author

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Jonathan Harris

Jonathan Harris

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Jonathan Harris is Professor of the History of Byzantium at Royal Holloway, University of London, England. for more information, see his homepage: http://jonathanharris979.wix.com/jonathanharris

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Charles Gilliam
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2018
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I loved It.
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JPS
4.0 out of 5 stars Byzantium and the Crusades – Second edition (2014)
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2016
As mentioned in my review of the first edition of this book, this is a very good summary and overview of the relations between the West and the Byzantine Empire during the Crusades. It mostly covers the period between 1054 and 1204, although there are also good developments on prequels and, especially, on the sequels up to the fall of Acre in 1291. When compared to the first edition, this one is about thirty pages longer, with about ten extra pages coming as welcome additions to the sections post 1204. It is also revised and updated, with the bibliography including most the key publications on the subject since 2003 although a number of titles are still omitted (some from Riley-Smith for instance).

As also mentioned in my previous review, this is not a book about the relations between the Byzantine Empire and the Crusader States. There is nevertheless quite a bit of that, at least for the period during which the Empire was both willing and able to assert his supremacy and domination (from 1096 to 1180 more or less). The main focus of the book, however, is to charter the impact of the Crusades on the Empire and on its relationships with the West. It is also to explain these relationships and how these could lead to the storming of Constantinople by fellow Christians. As a narrative, it is clear, well-written and makes most if not all of the main points.

The second reason for finding this book interesting is that it analyses these relationships, discusses and questions the two main school of thoughts explaining the advent of the Fourth Crusade and presents a third view – the author’s thesis. The first theory is termed "a classic case of the clash of civilisations." It views the capture and the sack of Constantinople "as the culmination of mounting incomprehension, intolerance and hostility between, the two halves of the Christian world." The second theory, which focuses on the sequence of events that brought about the capture of Constantinople, portrays them as a series of "accidents". The author’s discussions show rather well that neither of these thesis are entirely convincing.

Instead, Jonathan Harris demonstrates that the main underlying reason that lead to the fall of Constantinople and which tore the Empire apart was the growing tension between the imperial ideology and that of the West in general, and of the papacy in particular. The arguments made by the author are interesting, but not entirely convincing. Sometimes, his thesis appears to be a variation of the “clash of civilisations” case. At other times, he does show very convincingly that the Byzantine authorities at the very least gave the impression of being untrustworthy and of privileging their own interests even if this meant abandoning Crusaders to their fate. They could also be accused of "failing to participate in the capture and the defence of Jerusalem and of the Holy Land against the common foe" and even of cutting deals with the enemy, something which the Crusader States would themselves learn to do after their creation.

In reality, all three approaches have their strong points and their weaknesses. None of them fit perfectly with all of the facts. One of the book’s limitations, which are still extant in this edition, is that that author fails to discuss the strong points of the approaches that he dismisses while also failing to discuss the weaknesses of his own approach.

At times, some of the arguments used seem rather unconvincing. For instance, the "clash of civilisations theory" is dismissed in part because, after 1204, "so few westerners were prepared to heed the pope's summons" and "fight to maintain Constantinople under Latin rule.” This may be true, but it omits to mention that those who left on the First Crusade and those who followed during the 12th century were also a minority, and often from specific regions and/or specific families, as shown through the works of Riley-Smith for instance.

It also fails to take into account that going abroad to fight for the faith and to defend the Holy Land was not the sole motivation and tended to be mixed up with other more self-serving considerations. These included salvation of one’s soul for having slaughtered fellow Christians, but also material motivations. More importantly perhaps, it also shows that what started by being an ideology developed by (and largely for) the papacy was never entirely under the pope’s control and never an “anti-byzantine” ideology. The Empire was always able to recruit mercenaries from the West, with many in fact preferring the relative security (and high pay?) of the Empire to the insecurity of the Crusader States. What is clear, however, and clearly made in this book, is the extent to which the Empire’s and the papacy’s ideologies were incompatible since each postulated its own supremacy. Four stars.
6 people found this helpful
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Augustine Lovejoy
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
Good book.
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Top reviews from other countries

JPS
4.0 out of 5 stars Byzantium and the Crusades – Second edition (2014)
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2016
Verified Purchase
As mentioned in my review of the first edition of this book, this is a very good summary and overview of the relations between the West and the Byzantine Empire during the Crusades. It mostly covers the period between 1054 and 1204, although there are also good developments on prequels and, especially, on the sequels up to the fall of Acre in 1291. When compared to the first edition, this one is about thirty pages longer, with about ten extra pages coming as welcome additions to the sections post 1204. It is also revised and updated, with the bibliography including most the key publications on the subject since 2003 although a number of titles are still omitted (some from Riley-Smith for instance).

As also mentioned in my previous review, this is not a book about the relations between the Byzantine Empire and the Crusader States. There is nevertheless quite a bit of that, at least for the period during which the Empire was both willing and able to assert his supremacy and domination (from 1096 to 1180 more or less). The main focus of the book, however, is to charter the impact of the Crusades on the Empire and on its relationships with the West. It is also to explain these relationships and how these could lead to the storming of Constantinople by fellow Christians. As a narrative, it is clear, well-written and makes most if not all of the main points.

The second reason for finding this book interesting is that it analyses these relationships, discusses and questions the two main school of thoughts explaining the advent of the Fourth Crusade and presents a third view – the author’s thesis. The first theory is termed "a classic case of the clash of civilisations." It views the capture and the sack of Constantinople "as the culmination of mounting incomprehension, intolerance and hostility between, the two halves of the Christian world." The second theory, which focuses on the sequence of events that brought about the capture of Constantinople, portrays them as a series of "accidents". The author’s discussions show rather well that neither of these thesis are entirely convincing.

Instead, Jonathan Harris demonstrates that the main underlying reason that lead to the fall of Constantinople and which tore the Empire apart was the growing tension between the imperial ideology and that of the West in general, and of the papacy in particular. The arguments made by the author are interesting, but not entirely convincing. Sometimes, his thesis appears to be a variation of the “clash of civilisations” case. At other times, he does show very convincingly that the Byzantine authorities at the very least gave the impression of being untrustworthy and of privileging their own interests even if this meant abandoning Crusaders to their fate. They could also be accused of "failing to participate in the capture and the defence of Jerusalem and of the Holy Land against the common foe" and even of cutting deals with the enemy, something which the Crusader States would themselves learn to do after their creation.

In reality, all three approaches have their strong points and their weaknesses. None of them fit perfectly with all of the facts. One of the book’s limitations, which are still extant in this edition, is that that author fails to discuss the strong points of the approaches that he dismisses while also failing to discuss the weaknesses of his own approach.

At times, some of the arguments used seem rather unconvincing. For instance, the "clash of civilisations theory" is dismissed in part because, after 1204, "so few westerners were prepared to heed the pope's summons" and "fight to maintain Constantinople under Latin rule.” This may be true, but it omits to mention that those who left on the First Crusade and those who followed during the 12th century were also a minority, and often from specific regions and/or specific families, as shown through the works of Riley-Smith for instance.

It also fails to take into account that going abroad to fight for the faith and to defend the Holy Land was not the sole motivation and tended to be mixed up with other more self-serving considerations. These included salvation of one’s soul for having slaughtered fellow Christians, but also material motivations. More importantly perhaps, it also shows that what started by being an ideology developed by (and largely for) the papacy was never entirely under the pope’s control and never an “anti-byzantine” ideology. The Empire was always able to recruit mercenaries from the West, with many in fact preferring the relative security (and high pay?) of the Empire to the insecurity of the Crusader States. What is clear, however, and clearly shown in this book, is to what extent the Empire’s and the papacy’s ideologies were incompatible since each postulated its own supremacy. Four stars.
3 people found this helpful
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