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nDo you agree with the ‘long decline’ paradigm for Late Byzantine history?

nByzantine Empire was also known as the Eastern Roman Empire that existed in the medieval period. The Constantinople City was the capital of empire. It was most recognized during this period because it had the most robust military, cultural and economic force across Europe. However, the fall of the Byzantine Empire, was characterized by long decline paradigm in 1453 (Bulliet, 105). The fall was evident after it fell to other empires such as Ottoman Turks. The loss of military force and weakening economy contributed to long decline paradigm for late Byzantine.

nFrom 1329, the Byzantine Empire faced several threats from different directions such as Western, Northern and Eastern frontiers. It was engaged in major wars with the Turks, Bulgarians and Serbians, which continuously weakened the empire (Kyriakidis, 221). Moreover, the civil war within the empire gave an opportunity to emerging forces to conquer its territories. The Serbians from 1330 to 1334 occupied territories in the south such as the Peloponnesus and Thessaloniki. Moreover, the Turks attacked the Byzantine Empire from 1334 to 1337 and conquered other territories such as Nicomedia and Nicaea (Bulliet, 113). Furthermore, the rise of Ottoman Empire took advantage of the Byzantine weaknesses from previous wars, which affected the stability of the kingdom.

nByzantine failed to upgrade its technological power in the military as compared to its neighbouring states. Additionally, the number of armies continued to reduce to less than 4000 soldiers. The reduction of the armies facilitated to long decline. Due to these occupations, the Byzantines economy power was reduced. Loss of territories reduced the levies and taxes due to depopulation (Kyriakidis, 225). Consequently, it had no capacity to recover due to continued attacks and poor economy. Finally, Byzantine began a long decline, which played a major role to its final downfall in 1453.

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nWork Cited

nBulliet, Richard W. The Earth And Its Peoples. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

nKyriakidis, Savvas. Warfare In Late Byzantium, 1204-1453 (History Of Warfare). Brill Academic Publishers, 2011. Print.