Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Bui...

Flavius Belisarius was one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian I's ambitious project of reconquering much of the old Western Roman Empire, which had been lost just under a century previ...

After the repression of the frightful revolt, Justinian conceived the grandiose project of rebuilding the Great Church from its foundations. This time it was to be built on plans well in advance of the times, using new daring vaulting techn...

The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, Longobards found in older English texts), were Germanic people who migrated southwards to occupy the Hungarian plains during the 6th century and entered the late Roman Empire. Pressure from the Avars caus...

Irene of Athens, Byzantine empress (797-802). She served (780-90) as regent for her son, Constantine VI, and later was made (792) joint ruler. Devoted to the Orthodox Church, she bent most of her efforts to suppressing iconoclasm. In 797 Ir...

Basil I, called the Macedonian was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a simple peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the Imperial court. He entered into the service of Theophilitzes, a relative of Emperor Michael...

Basil II Porphyrogenitus, nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer, was senior Byzantine Emperor for almost 50 years (10 January 976 – 15 December 1025), having been a junior colleague to other emperors since 960. He and his brother Constantine were nam...

Alp Arslan was the second Sultan of the Seljuq Empire and great-grandson of Seljuq, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. His real name was Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri, and for his military prowess, personal valour, and fighting skills he ob...

Urban is best known for starting the First Crusade. Urban's crusading movement took its first public shape at the Council of Piacenza, where in March 1095 Urban received an ambassador from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, asking fo...

Raymond IV of Toulouse sometimes called Raymond of St Gilles was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne, and Margrave of Provence and one of the leaders of the First Crusade. He was a son of Pons of Toulouse and Almodis de La Marche. He receiv...

Peter the Hermit, French religious leader. In 1095 he was a very successful preacher of the First Crusade, and he led one of its bands. In 1096 he reached Constantinople with his undisciplined followers; when they arrived in Asia Minor, Pet...

Bohemond I, Prince of Taranto and Prince of Antioch, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade. The Crusade had no outright military leader, but instead was ruled by a committee of nobles. Bohemond was one of the most important of these l...

Baldwin I of Jerusalem, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, who became the first Count of Edessa and then the second ruler and first titled King of Jerusalem. He was the brother of Godfrey of Bouillon, who was the first ruler of th...

Godfrey of Bouillon was a leader of the First Crusade. He was either the eldest or the second son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida, daughter of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine. He was designated by his uncle, Godfrey the Hunchb...

The Battle of Manzikert was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuq Turks on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert (modern Malazgirt in Mus Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and the capture of the Emperor Roma...