Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Native name	, (''Basileia Rhōmaiōn'', ''Rhōmanía''), Roman Empire
Common name	Byzantine Empire
Continent	Europe
Region	Mediterranean Sea
Era	Late Antiquity-Late Middle Ages
Status	Empire
Government type	Autocracy
Year start	330
Event start	Foundation of Constantinople2
Date start	January 17
Year start	395
Event start	Death of Theodosius I
Year end	1453
Event end	Fall of Constantinople3
Date end	May 29
Event1	The deposition of Romulus Augustulus, nominal emperor in the west, brings formal division of the Roman Empire to an end
Date event1	476
Event2	Pope Leo III, hostile to the rule of the Empress Irene, attempts to confer imperial authority on the Frankish king Charlemagne
Date event2	800
Event3	East-West Schism
Date event3	1054
Event4	Fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade
Date event4	1204
Event5	Reconquest of Constantinople
Date event5	1261
Event pre	Diocletian splits imperial administration between east and west
Date pre	285
Event post	Fall of Trebizond
Date post	1461
Flag	Byzantine heraldry
Flag type	Flag of the Empire (14th century)
Image coat	Palaiologos Dynasty emblem.svg
Symbol type	Imperial emblem under the Palaiologoi
Image map caption	The Empire at its greatest extent under Justinian in 550
P1	Ancient Roman Empire
Flag p1	Vexilloid_of_the_Roman_Empire.svg
S1	Legacy of Byzantium
Capital	Constantinople1
Common languages	Medieval Greek, Latin
Religion	Roman paganism until 391, Eastern Orthodox Christianity tolerated after the Edict of Milan in 313 and state religion after 380
Currency	Solidus, Hyperpyron
Leader1	Arcadius
Leader2	Constantine XI
Year leader1	395–408
Year leader2	1449–1453
Title leader	Emperor
Legislature	Byzantine Senate
Stat year1	565 AD4
Stat pop1	26,000,000
Stat year2	780 AD
Stat pop2	7,000,000
Stat year3	1025 AD4
Stat pop3	12,000,000
Stat year4	1143 AD4
Stat pop4	10,000,000
Stat year5	1204 AD
Stat pop5	9,000,000
Stat year5	1282 AD
Stat pop5	5,000,000
Today
Footnotes	1 Constantinople (330–1204 and 1261–1453). The capital of the Empire of Nicaea, the empire after the Fourth Crusade, was at Nicaea, present day İznik, Turkey.2 Establishment date traditionally considered to be the re-founding of Constantinople as the capital of the Roman Empire (324/330) although other dates are often used.3Date of end universally regarded as 1453, despite the temporary survival of remnants in Morea and Trebizond.4 See Population of the Byzantine Empire for more detailed figures taken provided by ''McEvedy and Jones, "Atlas of World Population History", 1978'', as well as ''Angeliki E. Laiou, "The Economic History of Byzantium", 2002.''}}

The Byzantine Empire (or Byzantium) was the Eastern Roman Empire that existed throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Known simply as the Roman Empire (Greek: , ''Basileia Rhōmaiōn'') or Romania (, ''Rhōmanía'') by its inhabitants and neighbors, the empire was centered on the capital of Constantinople and was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State. Byzantium, however, was distinct from ancient Rome, in that it was Christian and predominantly Greek-speaking, being influenced by Greek, as opposed to Latin, culture.

As the distinction between "Roman Empire" and "Byzantine Empire" is largely a modern convention, it is not possible to assign a date of separation, but an important point is Emperor Constantine I's transfer in 324 of the capital from Nicomedia (in Anatolia) to Byzantium on the Bosphorus, which became Constantinople, "City of Constantine" (alternatively "New Rome")..|group="n"}} The Roman Empire was finally divided in 395 AD after the death of Theodosius I, thus this date is also very important if the Byzantine Empire (or Eastern Roman Empire) is looked upon as completely separated from the West.

The Empire existed for more than a thousand years (from approximately 306 to 1453). During its existence, the Empire remained one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe, despite setbacks and territorial losses, especially during the Roman-Persian and Byzantine-Arab Wars. The Empire recovered during the Macedonian dynasty, rising again to become a preeminent power in the Eastern Mediterranean by the late 10th century, rivaling the Fatimid Caliphate.

After 1071, however, much of Asia Minor, the Empire's heartland, was lost to the Seljuk Turks. The Komnenian restoration regained some ground and briefly reestablished dominance in the 12th century, but following the death of Andronikos I Komnenos and the end of the Komnenos dynasty in the late 12th century the Empire declined again. The Empire received a mortal blow in 1204 from the Fourth Crusade, when it was dissolved and divided into competing Byzantine Greek and Latin realms.

Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople and re-establishment of the Empire in 1261, under the Palaiologan emperors, Byzantium remained only one of many rival states in the area for the final 200 years of its existence. This period, however, was the most culturally productive time in the Empire. Successive civil wars in the 14th century further sapped the Empire's strength. Most of its remaining territories were lost in the Byzantine-Ottoman Wars, which culminated in the Fall of Constantinople and the cession of remaining territories to the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century.

Nomenclature

The designation of the Empire as ''Byzantine'' began in Western Europe in 1557, when German historian Hieronymus Wolf published his work ''Corpus Historiæ Byzantinæ'', a collection of Byzantine sources. ''Byzantine'' itself comes from ''Byzantium'', the name of the city of Constantinople before it became the capital of Constantine. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the ''Byzantine du Louvre'' (''Corpus Scriptorum Historiæ Byzantinæ''), and in 1680 of Du Cange's ''Historia Byzantina'' further popularized the use of ''Byzantine'' among French authors, such as Montesquieu. The term then disappears until the 19th century when it came into general use in the Western world. Before this time, ''Greek'' had been used for the Empire and its descendants within the Ottoman Empire.

The Empire was known to its inhabitants as the ''Roman Empire'', the ''Empire of the Romans'' (Latin: ''Imperium Romanum'', ''Imperium Romanorum'', Greek: , ''Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn'', , ''Arche tôn Rhōmaíōn''), ''Romania''. used unofficially, meaning "land of the Romans". It does not refer to modern Romania.|group="n"}} (Latin: ''Romania'', Greek: , ''Rhōmanía''), the ''Roman Republic'' (Latin: ''Res Publica Romana'', Greek: , ''Politeίa tôn Rhōmaíōn''), ''Graikía'' (Greek: Γραικία), and also as ''Rhōmaís'' (Greek: ).

Although the Empire had a multi-ethnic character during most of its history and preserved Romano-Hellenistic traditions, it became identified by its western and northern contemporaries' with its increasingly predominant Greek element. The occasional use of the term ''Empire of the Greeks'' (Latin: ''Imperium Graecorum'') in the West to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire was also used to separate it from the prestige of the Roman Empire within the new kingdoms of the West. The authority of the Byzantine Emperor as the legitimate Roman Emperor, was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as ''Imperator Augustus'' by Pope Leo III in the year 800. Needing Charlemagne's support in his struggle against his enemies in Rome, Leo used the lack of a male occupant of the throne of the Roman Empire at the time to claim that it was vacant and that he could therefore crown a new Emperor himself. Whenever the Popes or the rulers of the West made use of the name ''Roman'' to refer to the Eastern Roman Emperors, they preferred the term ''Imperator Romaniæ'' instead of ''Imperator Romanorum'', a title that Westerners maintained applied only to Charlemagne and his successors.

No such distinction existed in the Persian, Islamic, and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more straightforwardly seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world it was known primarily as (''Rûm'' "Rome").

In modern historical atlases, the Empire is usually called the ''Eastern Roman Empire'' in maps which depict the Empire during the period 395 to 610, before the Emperor Heraclius changed the official language from Latin to Greek (already the language known by the great majority of the population). In maps depicting the Empire after 610, the term ''Byzantine Empire'' usually appears.

History

Early History of the Roman Empire

The Roman army succeeded in conquering a vast collection of territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and much of Western Europe. These territories consisted of many different cultural groups, ranging from primitive to highly sophisticated. Generally speaking, the eastern Mediterranean provinces were more urbanized and socially developed, having previously been united under the Macedonian Empire and Hellenized by the influence of Greek culture. In contrast, the western regions had mostly remained independent from any single cultural or political authority, and were still largely rural and less developed. This distinction between the established Hellenized East and the younger Latinized West persisted and became increasingly important in later centuries.

Division of the Roman Empire

In 293, Diocletian created a new administrative system, (the tetrarchy). He associated himself with a co-emperor, or ''Augustus''. Each Augustus was then to adopt a young colleague given the title of ''Caesar'', to share in their rule and eventually to succeed the senior partner. After the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian, however, the tetrarchy collapsed, and Constantine I replaced it with the dynastic principle of hereditary succession.

Constantine moved the seat of the Empire and introduced important changes into its civil and religious constitution. In 330, he founded Constantinople as a second Rome on the site of Byzantium, which was well-positioned astride the trade routes that passed through the Baltic and the Mediterranean, linking the East and the West.

Constantine built upon the administrative reforms introduced by Diocletian. He stabilized the coinage (the gold solidus that he introduced became a highly prized and stable currency), and made changes to the structure of the army. Under Constantine, the Empire had recovered much of its military strength and enjoyed a period of stability and prosperity.

Under Constantine, Christianity did not become the exclusive religion of the state, but enjoyed imperial preference, because the Emperor supported it with generous privileges. Constantine established the principle that emperors should not settle questions of doctrine, but should summon general ecclesiastical councils for that purpose. The Synod of Arles was convened by Constantine, and the First Council of Nicaea showcased his claim to be head of the Church.

The state of the Empire in 395 may be described in terms of the outcome of Constantine's work. The dynastic principle was established so firmly that the emperor who died in that year, Theodosius I, bequeathed the imperial office jointly to his sons: Arcadius in the East and Honorius in the West. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over the undivided empire.

The Eastern Empire was largely spared the difficulties faced by the West in the 3rd and 4th centuries, due in part to a more established urban culture and greater financial resources which allowed it to placate invaders with tribute and pay foreign mercenaries. Theodosius II further fortified the walls of Constantinople, leaving the city impervious to most attacks. The walls were not breached until 1204. In order to fend off the Huns, Theodosius paid a tribute (purportedly of gold).

His successor, Marcian, refused to continue to pay this exorbitant sum. Fortunately Attila had already diverted his attention to the Western Roman Empire. After he died in 453, the Hunnic Empire collapsed; many of the remaining Huns were often hired as mercenaries by Constantinople.

After the fall of Attila, the Eastern Empire enjoyed a period of peace, while the Western Empire collapsed (its end is usually dated in 476 when the Germanic Roman general Odoacer deposed the titular Western Emperor Romulus Augustulus).

To recover Italy, Emperor Zeno negotiated with the invading Ostrogoths, who had settled in Moesia. He sent the Gothic King Theodoric to Italy as ''magister militum per Italiam'' ("commander in chief for Italy") in order to depose Odoacer. By urging Theodoric into conquering Italy, Zeno rid the Eastern Empire of an unruly subordinate and gained at least a nominal form of supremacy over Italy. After Odoacer's defeat in 493, Theodoric ruled Italy on his own.

In 491, Anastasius I, an aged civil officer of Roman origin, became Emperor, but it was not until 498 that the forces of the new emperor effectively took the measure of Isaurian resistance. Anastasius revealed himself to be an energetic reformer and an able administrator. He perfected Constantine I's coinage system by definitively setting the weight of the copper ''follis'', the coin used in most everyday transactions. He also reformed the tax system and permanently abolished the chrysargyron tax. The State Treasury contained the enormous sum of 320,000 lbs (145,150 kg) of gold when Anastasius died in 518.

Reconquest of the Western provinces

Justinian I, who assumed the throne in 527, oversaw a period of recovery of former territories. Justinian, the son of an Illyrian peasant, may already have exerted effective control during the reign of his uncle, Justin I (518–527). In 532, attempting to secure his eastern frontier, Justinian signed a peace treaty with Khosrau I of Persia agreeing to pay a large annual tribute to the Sassanids. In the same year, Justinian survived a revolt in Constantinople (the Nika riots) which ended with the deaths of a reported 30,000 to 35,000 rioters, on his orders. This victory solidified Justinian's power. Pope Agapetus I was sent to Constantinople by the Ostrogothic king Theodahad, but failed in his mission to sign a peace with Justinian. However, he succeeded in having the Monophysite Patriarch Anthimus I of Constantinople denounced, despite Empress Theodora's support.

The western conquests began in 533, as Justinian sent his general Belisarius to reclaim the former province of Africa from the Vandals who had been in control since 429 with their capital at Carthage. Their success came with surprising ease, but it was not until 548 that the major local tribes were subdued. In Ostrogothic Italy, the deaths of Theodoric the Great, his nephew and heir Athalaric, and his daughter Amalasuntha had left her murderer Theodahad on the throne despite his weakened authority. In 535, a small Byzantine expedition to Sicily was met with easy success, but the Goths soon stiffened their resistance, and victory did not come until 540, when Belisarius captured Ravenna, after successful sieges of Naples and Rome.

The Ostrogoths were united under the command of King Totila and captured Rome on 17 December 546. Justinian eventually called back Belisarius to Constantinople in early 549 from Ravenna. The arrival of the Armenian eunuch Narses in Italy (late 551) with an army of some 35,000 men marked another shift in Gothic fortunes. Totila was defeated at the Battle of Busta Gallorum and his successor, Teia, was defeated at the Battle of Mons Lactarius (October 552). Despite continuing resistance from a few Gothic garrisons and two subsequent invasions by the Franks and Alamanni, the war for the Italian peninsula was at an end. In 551, Athanagild,a noble from Visigothic Hispania, sought Justinian's help in a rebellion against the king, and the emperor dispatched a force under Liberius, a successful military commander. The Empire held on to a small slice of the Iberian Peninsula coast until the reign of Heraclius.

In the east, the Roman-Persian Wars continued until 561 when Justinian's and Khosrau's envoys agreed on a 50-year peace. By the mid-550s, Justinian had won victories in most theaters of operation, with the notable exception of the Balkans, which were subjected to repeated incursions from the Slavs. In 559, the Empire faced a great invasion of Kutrigurs and Sclaveni. Justinian called Belisarius out of retirement and defeated the new Hunnish threat. The strengthening of the Danube fleet caused the Kutrigur Huns to withdraw and they agreed to a treaty which allowed them safe passage back across the Danube.

In 529, a ten-man commission chaired by Tribonian revised the ancient Roman legal code and created the new ''Codex Justinianus'', a condensed version of previous legal texts. In 534, the Codex Justinianus was updated and reorganized into the system of law used for the rest of the Byzantine era. These legal reforms, along with the many other changes to the law became known as the Corpus Juris Civilis.

During the 6th century, the traditional Greco-Roman culture was still influential in the Eastern empire with prominent representatives such as the natural philosopher John Philoponus. Nevertheless, Christian philosophy and culture were dominant and began to replace the older culture. Hymns written by Romanos the Melodist marked the development of the Divine Liturgy, while architects and builders worked to complete the new Church of the Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, which was designed to replace an older church destroyed during the Nika Revolt. The Hagia Sophia stands today as one of the major monuments of Byzantine architectural history. During the 6th and 7th centuries, the Empire was struck by a series of epidemics, which greatly devastated the population and contributed to a significant economic decline and a weakening of the Empire.

After Justinian died in 565, his successor, Justin II refused to pay the large tribute to the Persians. Meanwhile, the Germanic Lombards invaded Italy; by the end of the century only a third of Italy was in Byzantine hands. Justin's successor, Tiberius II, choosing between his enemies, awarded subsidies to the Avars while taking military action against the Persians. Though Tiberius' general, Maurice, led an effective campaign on the eastern frontier, subsidies failed to restrain the Avars. They captured the Balkan fortress of Sirmium in 582, while the Slavs began to make inroads across the Danube. Maurice, who meanwhile succeeded Tiberius, intervened in a Persian civil war, placed the legitimate Khosrau II back on the throne and married his daughter to him. Maurice's treaty with his new brother-in-law brought a new status-quo to the east territorially, enlarged to an extent never before achieved by the Empire in its six century history, and much cheaper to defend during this new perpetual peace – millions of solidi were saved by the remission of tribute to the Persians alone. After his victory on the eastern frontier, Maurice was free to focus on the Balkans, and by 602 after a series of successful campaigns he had pushed the Avars and Slavs back across the Danube.

The shrinking borders

Heraclian dynasty

After Maurice's murder by Phocas, Khosrau used the pretext to reconquer the Roman province of Mesopotamia. Phocas, an unpopular ruler who was invariably described in Byzantine sources as a "tyrant", was the target of a number of Senate-led plots. He was eventually deposed in 610 by Heraclius, who sailed to Constantinople from Carthage with an icon affixed to the prow of his ship. Following the ascension of Heraclius, the Sassanid advance pushed deep into Asia Minor, also occupying Damascus and Jerusalem and removing the True Cross to Ctesiphon. The counter-offensive of Heraclius took on the character of a holy war, and an acheiropoietos image of Christ was carried as a military standard. (similarly, when Constantinople was saved from an Avar siege in 626, the victory was attributed to the icons of the Virgin which were led in procession by Patriarch Sergius about the walls of the city). The main Sassanid force was destroyed at Nineveh in 627, and in 629 Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem in a majestic ceremony. The war had exhausted both the Byzantine and Sassanid Empire, and left them extremely vulnerable to the Arab Muslim forces which emerged in the following years. The Romans suffered a crushing defeat by the Arabs at the Battle of Yarmuk in 636, and Ctesiphon fell in 634.

The Arabs, now firmly in control of Syria and the Levant, sent frequent raiding parties deep into Anatolia, and between 674 and 678 laid siege to Constantinople itself. The Arab fleet was finally repulsed through the use of Greek fire, and a thirty-years' truce was signed between the Empire and Ummayyad Caliphate. The Anatolian raids continued unabated, and accelerated the demise of classical urban culture, with the inhabitants of many cities either refortifying much smaller areas within the old city walls, or relocating entirely to nearby fortresses. Constantinople itself dropped substantially in size, from 500,000 inhabitants to just 40,000–70,000, as the city lost the free grain shipments in 618 after the loss of Egypt to the Persians (province was regained in 629, but lost to Arab invaders in 642). The void left by the disappearance of the old semi-autonomous civic institutions was filled by the theme system, which entailed the division of Anatolia into "provinces" occupied by distinct armies which assumed civil authority and answered directly to the imperial administration. This system may have had its roots in certain ''ad hoc'' measures taken by Heraclius, but over the course of the 7th century it developed into an entirely new system of Imperial governance.

The withdrawal of large numbers of troops from the Balkans to combat the Persians and then the Arabs in the east opened the door for the gradual southward expansion of Slavic peoples into the peninsula, and, as in Anatolia, many cities shrank to small fortified settlements. In the 670s, the Bulgarians were pushed south of the Danube by the arrival of the Khazars, and in 680 Byzantine forces which had been sent to disperse these new settlements were defeated. In the next year, Constantine IV signed a treaty with the Bulgarian khan Asparukh, and the new Bulgarian state assumed sovereignty over a number of Slavic tribes which had previously, at least in name, recognized Byzantine rule. In 687–688, the emperor Justinian II led an expedition against the Slavs and Bulgarians which made significant gains, although the fact that he had to fight his way from Thrace to Macedonia demonstrates the degree to which Byzantine power in the north Balkans had declined.

The final Heraclian emperor, Justinian II, attempted to break the power of the urban aristocracy through severe taxation and the appointment of "outsiders" to administrative posts. He was driven from power in 695, and took shelter first with the Khazars and then with the Bulgarians. In 705, he returned to Constantinople with the armies of the Bulgarian khan Tervel, retook the throne, and instituted a reign of terror against his enemies. With his final overthrow in 711, supported once more by the urban aristocracy, the Heraclian dynasty came to an end.

Isaurian dynasty to the ascension of Basil I

Leo III the Isaurian turned back the Muslim assault in 718, and achieved victory with the major help of the Bulgarian khan Tervel, who killed 32,000 Arabs with his army. He also addressed himself to the task of reorganizing and consolidating the themes in Asia Minor. His successor, Constantine V, won noteworthy victories in northern Syria, and thoroughly undermined Bulgar strength.

Taking advantage of the empire's weakness after the revolt of Thomas the Slav in the early 820s, the Arabs captured Crete, and successfully attacked Sicily, but on 3 September 863, general Petronas gained a huge victory against Umar al-Aqta, the emir of Melitene. Under the leadership of Bulgarian Emperor Krum, the Bulgarian threat also reemerged, but in 814 Krum's son, Omortag, arranged a peace with the Byzantine Empire.

The 8th and 9th centuries were also dominated by controversy and religious division over Iconoclasm. Icons were banned by Leo and Constantine, leading to revolts by iconodules (supporters of icons) throughout the empire. After the efforts of Empress Irene, the Second Council of Nicaea met in 787, and affirmed that icons could be venerated but not worshipped. Irene is said to have endeavored to negotiate a marriage between herself and Charlemagne, but, according to Theophanes the Confessor, the scheme was frustrated by Aetios, one of her favourites. In 813, Leo V the Armenian restored the policy of iconoclasm, but in 843 Empress Theodora restored the veneration of the icons with the help of Patriarch Methodios. Iconoclasm played its part in the further alienation of East from West, which worsened during the so-called Photian Schism, when Pope Nicholas I challenged Photios' elevation to the patriarchate.

Macedonian dynasty and resurgence

The Byzantine Empire reached its height under the Macedonian emperors of the late 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries, when it gained control over the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy, and all of the territory of the tsar Samuel. The cities of the Empire expanded, and affluence spread across the provinces because of the new-found security. The population rose, and production increased, stimulating new demand while also helping to encourage trade. Culturally, there was considerable growth in education and learning (the "Macedonian Renaissance"). Ancient texts were preserved and patiently re-copied. Byzantine art flourished, and brilliant mosaics graced the interiors of the many new churches.Though the Empire was significantly smaller than during the reign of Justinian, it was also stronger, as the remaining territories were less geographically dispersed and more politically and culturally integrated.

Wars against the Muslims

By 867, the Empire had re-stabilised its position in both the east and the west, and the efficiency of its defensive military structure enabled its emperors to begin planning wars of reconquest in the east.

The process of reconquest began with mixed fortunes. The temporary reconquest of Crete (843) was followed by a crushing Byzantine defeat on the Bosporus, while the emperors were unable to prevent the ongoing Muslim conquest of Sicily (827–902). Using present day Tunisia as their launching pad, the Muslims conquered Palermo in 831, Messina in 842, Enna in 859, Syracuse in 878, Catania in 900 and the final Byzantine stronghold, the fortress of Taormina, in 902.

These drawbacks were later counterbalanced by a victorious expedition against Damietta in Egypt (856), the defeat of the Emir of Melitene (863), the confirmation of the imperial authority over Dalmatia (867), and Basil I's offensives towards the Euphrates (870s). Unlike the deteriorating situation in Sicily, Basil I handled the situation in southern Italy well enough and the province would remain in Byzantine hands for the next 200 years.

In 904, disaster struck the Empire when its second city, Thessaloniki, was sacked by an Arab fleet led by the Byzantine renegade Leo of Tripoli. The Byzantine military responded by destroying an Arab fleet in 908, and sacking the city of Laodicea in Syria two years later. Despite this revenge, the Byzantines were still unable to strike a decisive blow against the Muslims, who inflicted a crushing defeat on the imperial forces when they attempted to regain Crete in 911.

The situation on the border with the Arab territories remained fluid, with the Byzantines alternatively on the offensive or defensive. The Varangians, who attacked Constantinople for the first time in 860, constituted another new challenge. In 941, they appeared on the Asian shore of the Bosporus, but this time they were crushed, showing the improvements in the Byzantine military position after 907, when only diplomacy had been able to push back the invaders. The vanquisher of the Varangians was the famous general John Kourkouas, who continued the offensive with other noteworthy victories in Mesopotamia (943): these culminated in the reconquest of Edessa (944), which was especially celebrated for the return to Constantinople of the venerated ''Mandylion''.

The soldier-emperors Nikephoros II Phokas (reigned 963–969) and John I Tzimiskes (969–976) expanded the empire well into Syria, defeating the emirs of north-west Iraq and reconquering Crete and Cyprus. At one point under John, the Empire's armies even threatened Jerusalem, far to the south. The emirate of Aleppo and its neighbours became vassals of the Empire in the east, where the greatest threat to the empire was the Fatimid caliphate. After much campaigning, the last Arab threat to Byzantium was defeated when Basil II rapidly drew 40,000 mounted soldiers to relieve Roman Syria. With a surplus of resources and victories thanks to the Bulgar and Syrian campaigns, Basil II planned an expedition against Sicily to re-take it from the Arabs there. After his death in 1025, the expedition set off in the 1040s and was met with initial, but stunted success.

Wars against the Bulgarian Empire

The traditional struggle with the See of Rome continued, spurred by the question of religious supremacy over the newly Christianized Bulgaria. This prompted an invasion by the powerful Tsar Simeon I in 894, but this was pushed back by Byzantine diplomacy, which called on the help of the Hungarians. The Byzantines were in turn defeated, however, at the Battle of Bulgarophygon (896), and obliged to pay annual subsides to the Bulgarians. Later (912), Simeon even had the Byzantines grant him the crown of ''basileus'' (emperor) of Bulgaria and had the young emperor Constantine VII marry one of his daughters. When a revolt in Constantinople halted his dynastic project, he again invaded Thrace and conquered Adrianople.

A great imperial expedition under Leo Phocas and Romanos Lekapenos ended again with a crushing Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Acheloos (917), and the following year the Bulgarians were free to ravage northern Greece as far as Corinth. Adrianople was captured again in 923 and in 924 a Bulgarian army laid siege to Constantinople. The situation in the Balkans improved only after Simeon's death in 927. In 968, Bulgaria was overrun by the Rus' under Sviatoslav I of Kiev, but three years later, the emperor John I Tzimiskes defeated the Rus' and re-incorporated eastern Bulgaria into the Empire.

Bulgarian resistance revived under the rule of the Cometopuli dynasty, but the new emperor Basil II (reigned 976–1025) made the submission of the Bulgarians his primary goal. Basil's first expedition against Bulgaria, however, resulted in a humiliating defeat at the Gates of Trajan. For the next few years, the emperor would be preoccupied with internal revolts in Anatolia, while the Bulgarians expanded their realm in the Balkans. The war was to drag on for nearly twenty years. The Byzantine victories of Spercheios and Skopje decisively weakened the Bulgarian army, and in annual campaigns, Basil methodically reduced the Bulgarian strongholds. Eventually, at the Battle of Kleidion in 1014 the Bulgarians were completely defeated. The Bulgarian army was captured, and it is said that 99 out of every 100 men were blinded, with the remaining hundredth man left with one eye so as to lead his compatriots home. When Tsar Samuil saw the broken remains of his once gallant army, he died of shock. By 1018, the last Bulgarian strongholds had surrendered, and the country became part of the Empire. This victory restored the Danube frontier, which had not been held since the days of the emperor Heraclius.

Relations with the Kievan Rus'

Between 850 and 1100, the Empire developed a mixed relationship with a new state that emerged to the north across the Black Sea, that of the Kievan Rus'. This relationship would have long-lasting repercussions in the history of the East Slavs. The Empire quickly became the main trading and cultural partner for Kiev, but relations were not always friendly. The most serious conflict between the two powers was the war of 968–971 in Bulgaria, but several Rus' raiding expeditions against the Byzantine cities of the Black Sea coast and Constantinople itself are also recorded. Although most were repulsed, they were concluded by trade treaties that were generally favourable to the Rus'.

Rus'-Byzantine relations became closer following the marriage of the ''porphyrogenita'' Anna to Vladimir the Great, and the subsequent Christianization of the Rus': Byzantine priests, architects and artists were invited to work on numerous cathedrals and churches around Rus', expanding Byzantine cultural influence even further. Numerous Rus' served in the Byzantine army as mercenaries, most notably as the famous Varangian Guard.

The apex

The Byzantine Empire then stretched from Armenia in the east to Calabria in Southern Italy in the west. Many successes had been achieved, ranging from the conquest of Bulgaria, to the annexation of parts of Georgia and Armenia, to the total annihilation of an invading force of Egyptians outside Antioch. Yet even these victories were not enough; Basil considered the continued Arab occupation of Sicily to be an outrage. Accordingly, he planned to reconquer the island, which had belonged to the Roman world since the First Punic War. However, his death in 1025 put an end to the project.

The 11th century was also momentous for its religious events. In 1054, relations between the Eastern and Western traditions within the Christian Church reached a terminal crisis. Although there was a formal declaration of institutional separation, on July 16, when three papal legates entered the Hagia Sophia during Divine Liturgy on a Saturday afternoon and placed a bull of excommunication on the altar, the so-called Great Schism was actually the culmination of centuries of gradual separation.

Crisis and fragmentation

The Empire soon fell into a period of difficulties, caused to a large extent by the undermining of the theme system and the neglect of the military. Nikephoros II (reigned 963–969), John Tzimiskes and Basil II changed the military divisions (, ''tagmata'') from a rapid response, primarily defensive, citizen army into a professional, campaigning army increasingly manned by mercenaries. Mercenaries, however, were expensive and as the threat of invasion receded in the 10th century, so did the need for maintaining large garrisons and expensive fortifications. Basil II left a burgeoning treasury upon his death, but neglected to plan for his succession. None of his immediate successors had any particular military or political talent and the administration of the Empire increasingly fell into the hands of the civil service. Efforts to revive the Byzantine economy only resulted in inflation and a debased gold coinage. The army was now seen as both an unnecessary expense and a political threat. Therefore, native troops were cashiered and replaced by foreign mercenaries on specific contract.

At the same time, the Empire was faced with new enemies. Provinces in southern Italy faced the Normans, who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 11th century. During a period of strife between Constantinople and Rome which ended in the East-West Schism of 1054, the Normans began to advance, slowly but steadily, into Byzantine Italy. Reggio, the capital of the tagma of Calabria, was captured in 1060 by Robert Guiscard, followed by Otranto in 1068. Bari, the main Byzantine stronghold in Apulia, fell in 1071. The Byzantines also lost their influence over the Dalmatian coastal cities to Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia in 1069.

It was in Asia Minor, however, that the greatest disaster would take place. The Seljuq Turks made their first explorations across the Byzantine frontier into Armenia in 1065 and in 1067. The emergency lent weight to the military aristocracy in Anatolia who, in 1068, secured the election of one of their own, Romanos Diogenes, as emperor. In the summer of 1071, Romanos undertook a massive eastern campaign to draw the Seljuks into a general engagement with the Byzantine army. At Manzikert, Romanos not only suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Sultan Alp Arslan, but was also captured. Alp Arslan treated him with respect, and imposed no harsh terms on the Byzantines. In Constantinople, however, a coup took place in favor of Michael Doukas, who soon faced the opposition of Nikephoros Bryennios and Nikephoros Botaneiates. By 1081, the Seljuks expanded their rule over virtually the entire Anatolian plateau from Armenia in the east to Bithynia in the west and founded their capital at Nicaea, just 90 km from Constantinople.

Komnenian dynasty and the crusaders

The period from about 1081 to about 1185 is often known as the Komnenian or Comnenian period, after the Komnenos dynasty. Together, the five Komnenian emperors (Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I) ruled for 104 years, presiding over a sustained, though ultimately incomplete, restoration of the military, territorial, economic and political position of the Byzantine Empire. The Empire under the Komnenoi played a key role in the history of the Crusades in the Holy Land, while also exerting enormous cultural and political influence in Europe, the Near East, and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. The Komnenian emperors, particularly John and Manuel, exerted great influence over the Crusader states of Outremer, whilst Alexios I played a key role in the course of the First Crusade, which he helped bring about. Moreover, it was during the Komnenian period that contact between Byzantium and the "Latin" Christian West, including the Crusader states, was at its most crucial stage. Venetian and other Italian traders became resident in Constantinople and the empire in large numbers (60–80,000 'Latins' in Constantinople alone), and their presence together with the numerous Latin mercenaries who were employed by Manuel in particular helped to spread Byzantine technology, art, literature and culture throughout the Roman Catholic west. Above all, the cultural impact of Byzantine art on the west at this period was enormous and of long lasting significance.

The Komnenoi also made a significant contribution to the history of Asia Minor. By reconquering much of the region, the Komnenoi set back the advance of the Turks in Anatolia by more than two centuries. In the process, they planted the foundations of the Byzantine successor states of Nicaea, Epirus and Trebizond. Meanwhile, their extensive programme of fortifications has left an enduring mark upon the Anatolian landscape, which can still be appreciated today.

Alexios I and the First Crusade

After Manzikert, a partial recovery (referred to as the Komnenian restoration) was made possible by the efforts of the Komnenian dynasty. The first emperor of this dynasty was Isaac I (1057–1059) and the second Alexios I. At the very outset of his reign, Alexios faced a formidable attack by the Normans under Robert Guiscard and his son Bohemund of Taranto, who captured Dyrrhachium and Corfu, and laid siege to Larissa in Thessaly. Robert Guiscard's death in 1085 temporarily eased the Norman problem. The following year, the Seljuq sultan died, and the sultanate was split by internal rivalries. By his own efforts, Alexios defeated the Pechenegs; they were caught by surprise and annihilated at the Battle of Levounion on 28 April 1091.

Having achieved stability in the West, Alexios could turn his attention to the severe economic difficulties and the disintegration of the Empire's traditional defences. However, he still did not have enough manpower to recover the lost territories in Asia Minor and to advance against the Seljuks. At the Council of Piacenza in 1095, Alexios' envoys spoke to Pope Urban II about the suffering of the Christians of the East, and underscored that without help from the West they would continue to suffer under Muslim rule. Urban saw Alexios' request as a dual opportunity to cement Western Europe and reunite the Eastern Orthodox churches with the Catholic Church under his rule. On 27 November 1095, Pope Urban II called together the Council of Clermont, and urged all those present to take up arms under the sign of the Cross and launch an armed pilgrimage to recover Jerusalem and the East from the Muslims. The response in Western Europe was overwhelming.

Alexios had anticipated help in the form of mercenary forces from the West, but was totally unprepared for the immense and undisciplined force which soon arrived in Byzantine territory. It was no comfort to Alexios to learn that four of the eight leaders of the main body of the Crusade were Normans, among them Bohemund. Since the crusade had to pass through Constantinople, however, the Emperor had some control over it. He required its leaders to swear to restore to the empire any towns or territories they might conquer from the Turks on their way to the Holy Land. In return, he gave them guides and a military escort. Alexios was able to recover a number of important cities and islands, and in fact much of western Asia Minor. Nevertheless, the crusaders believed their oaths were invalidated when Alexios did not help them during the siege of Antioch (he had in fact set out on the road to Antioch, but had been persuaded to turn back by Stephen of Blois, who assured him that all was lost and that the expedition had already failed). Bohemund, who had set himself up as Prince of Antioch, briefly went to war with the Byzantines, but agreed to become Alexios' vassal under the Treaty of Devol in 1108, which marked the end of Norman threat during Alexios' reign.

John II, Manuel I and the Second Crusade

Alexios's son John II Komnenos succeeded him in 1118, and was to rule until 1143. John was a pious and dedicated Emperor who was determined to undo the damage his empire had suffered at the Battle of Manzikert, half a century earlier. Famed for his piety and his remarkably mild and just reign, John was an exceptional example of a moral ruler, at a time when cruelty was the norm. For this reason, he has been called the Byzantine Marcus Aurelius.

In the course of his twenty-five year reign, John made alliances with the Holy Roman Empire in the West, decisively defeated the Pechenegs at the Battle of Beroia, and personally led numerous campaigns against the Turks in Asia Minor. John's campaigns fundamentally changed the balance of power in the east, forcing the Turks onto the defensive and restoring to the Byzantines many towns, fortresses and cities right across the peninsula. He also thwarted Hungarian, and Serbian threats during the 1120s, and in 1130 allied himself with the German emperor Lothair III against the Norman king Roger II of Sicily. In the later part of his reign, John focused his activities on the East. He defeated the Danishmend emirate of Melitene, and reconquered all of Cilicia, while forcing Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, to recognize Byzantine suzerainty. In an effort to demonstrate the Emperor's role as the leader of the Christian world, John marched into the Holy Land at the head of the combined forces of the Empire and the Crusader states; yet despite the great vigour with which he pressed the campaign, John's hopes were disappointed by the treachery of his Crusader allies. In 1142, John returned to press his claims to Antioch, but he died in the spring of 1143 following a hunting accident. Raymond was emboldened to invade Cilicia, but he was defeated and forced to go to Constantinople to beg mercy from the new Emperor.

John's chosen heir was his fourth son, Manuel I Komnenos, who campaigned aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and in the east. In Palestine, he allied himself with the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and sent a large fleet to participate in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt. Manuel reinforced his position as overlord of the Crusader states, with his hegemony over Antioch and Jerusalem secured by agreement with Raynald, Prince of Antioch, and Amalric, King of Jerusalem respectively. In an effort to restore Byzantine control over the ports of southern Italy, he sent an expedition to Italy in 1155, but disputes within the coalition led to the eventual failure of the campaign. Despite this military setback, Manuel's armies successfully invaded the Kingdom of Hungary in 1167, defeating the Hungarians at the Battle of Sirmium. By 1168, nearly the whole of the eastern Adriatic coast lay in Manuel's hands. Manuel made several alliances with the Pope and Western Christian kingdoms, and successfully handled the passage of the Second Crusade through his empire.

In the east, however, Manuel suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Myriokephalon, in 1176, against the Turks. Yet the losses were quickly made good, and in the following year Manuel's forces inflicted a defeat upon a force of "picked Turks". The Byzantine commander John Vatatzes, who destroyed the Turkish invaders at the Battle of Hyelion and Leimocheir, not only brought troops from the capital but also was able to gather an army along the way; a sign that the Byzantine army remained strong and that the defensive program of western Asia Minor was still successful.

Twelfth century Renaissance

John and Manuel pursued active military policies, and both deployed considerable resources on sieges and on city defenses; aggressive fortification policies were at the heart of their imperial military policies. Despite the defeat at Myriokephalon, the policies of Alexios, John and Manuel resulted in vast territorial gains, increased frontier stability in Asia Minor, and secured the stabilization of the Empire's European frontiers. From c.1081 to c.1180, the Komnenian army assured the empire's security, enabling Byzantine civilization to flourish.

This allowed the Western provinces to achieve an economic revival which continued until the close of the century. It has been argued that Byzantium under the Komnenian rule was more prosperous than at any time since the Persian invasions of the 7th century. During the 12th century, population levels rose and extensive tracts of new agricultural land were brought into production. Archaeological evidence from both Europe and Asia Minor shows a considerable increase in the size of urban settlements, together with a notable upsurge in new towns. Trade was also flourishing; the Venetians, the Genoese and others opened up the ports of the Aegean to commerce, shipping goods from the Crusader kingdoms of Outremer and Fatimid Egypt to the west and trading with the Empire via Constantinople.

In artistic terms, there was a revival in mosaic, and regional schools of architecture began producing many distinctive styles that drew on a range of cultural influences. During the 12th century, the Byzantines provided their model of early humanism as a renaissance of interest in classical authors. In Eustathius of Thessalonica, Byzantine humanism found its most characteristic expression.

Decline and disintegration

Dynasty of the Angeloi

Manuel's death on 24 September 1180 left his 11-year-old son Alexios II Komnenos on the throne. Alexios was highly incompetent at the office, but it was his mother, Maria of Antioch, and her Frankish background that made his regency unpopular. Eventually, Andronikos I Komnenos, a grandson of Alexios I, launched a revolt against his younger relative and managed to overthrow him in a violent ''coup d'état''. Utilizing his good looks and his immense popularity with the army, he marched on to Constantinople in August 1182, and incited a massacre of the Latins. After eliminating his potential rivals, he had himself crowned as co-emperor in September 1183; he eliminated Alexios II and even took his 12-year-old wife Agnes of France for himself.

Andronikos began his reign well; in particular, the measures he took to reform the government of the Empire have been praised by historians. According to George Ostrogorsky, Andronikos was determined to root out corruption: Under his rule, the sale of offices ceased; selection was based on merit, rather than favoritism; officials were paid an adequate salary so as to reduce the temptation of bribery. In the provinces, Andronikos's reforms produced a speedy and marked improvement. The aristocrats were infuriated against him, and to make matters worse, Andronikos seems to have become increasingly unbalanced; executions and violence became increasingly common, and his reign turned into a reign of terror. Andronikos seemed almost to seek the extermination of the aristocracy as a whole. The struggle against the aristocracy turned into wholesale slaughter, while the Emperor resorted to ever more ruthless measures to shore up his regime.

Despite his military background, Andronikos failed to deal with Isaac Komnenos, Béla III who reincorporated Croatian territories into Hungary, and Stephen Nemanja of Serbia who declared his independence from the Empire. Yet, none of these troubles would compare to William II of Sicily's invasion force of 300 ships and 80,000 men, arriving in 1185. Andronikos mobilized a small fleet of 100 ships to defend the capital but other than that he was indifferent to the populace. He was finally overthrown when Isaac Angelos, surviving an imperial assassination attempt, seized power with the aid of the people and had Andronikos killed.

The reign of Isaac II, and, still more, that of his brother Alexios III, saw the collapse of what remained of the centralized machinery of Byzantine government and defense. Although, the Normans were driven out of Greece, in 1186 the Vlachs and Bulgars began a rebellion that was to lead to the formation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The internal policy of the Angeloi was characterized by the squandering of the public treasure, and fiscal maladministration. Imperial authority was severely weakened, and the growing power vacuum at the center of the Empire encouraged fragmentation. There is evidence that some Komnenian heirs had set up a semi-independent state in Trebizond before 1204. According to Alexander Vasiliev, "the dynasty of the Angeloi, Greek in its origin, [...] accelerated the ruin of the Empire, already weakened without and disunited within."

Fourth Crusade

In 1198, Pope Innocent III broached the subject of a new crusade through legates and encyclical letters. The stated intent of the crusade was to conquer Egypt, now the centre of Muslim power in the Levant. The crusader army that arrived at Venice in the summer of 1202 was somewhat smaller than had been anticipated, and there were not sufficient funds to pay the Venetians, whose fleet was hired by the crusaders to take them to Egypt. Venetian policy under the aging and blind but still ambitious Doge Enrico Dandolo was potentially at variance with that of the Pope and the crusaders, because Venice was closely related commercially with Egypt. The crusaders accepted the suggestion that in lieu of payment they assist the Venetians in the capture of the (Christian) port of Zara in Dalmatia (vassal city of Venice, which had rebelled and placed itself under Hungary's protection in 1186). The city fell in November 1202 after a brief siege. Innocent, who was informed of the plan but his veto disregarded, was reluctant to jeopardize the Crusade, and gave conditional absolution to the crusaders—not, however, to the Venetians.

After the death of Theobald III, Count of Champagne, the leadership of the Crusade passed to Boniface of Montferrat, a friend of the Hohenstaufen Philip of Swabia. Both Boniface and Philip had married into the Byzantine Imperial family. In fact, Philip's brother-in-law, Alexios Angelos, son of the deposed and blinded emperor Isaac II Angelos, had appeared in Europe seeking aid and had made contacts with the crusaders. Alexios offered to reunite the Byzantine church with Rome, pay the crusaders 200,000 silver marks, join the crusade and provide all the supplies they needed to get to Egypt. Innocent was aware of a plan to divert the Crusade to Constantinople and forbade any attack on the city, but the papal letter arrived after the fleets had left Zara.

The crusaders arrived at the city in the summer of 1203 and quickly attacked, started a major fire which damaged large parts of the city, and seized control of it (first of two times). Alexios III fled from the capital, and Alexios Angelos was elevated to the throne as Alexios IV along with his blind father Isaac. However, Alexios IV and Isaac II were unable to keep their promises and were deposed by Alexios V. Eventually, the crusaders took the city a second time on 13 April 1204 and Constantinople was subjected to pillage and massacre by the rank and file for three days. Many priceless icons, relics, and other objects later turned up in Western Europe, a large number in Venice. According to Choniates, a prostitute was even set up on the Patriarchal throne. When Innocent III heard of the conduct of his crusaders, he castigated them in no uncertain terms. But the situation was beyond his control, especially after his legate, on his own initiative, had absolved the crusaders from their vow to proceed to the Holy Land. When order had been restored, the crusaders and the Venetians proceeded to implement their agreement; Baldwin of Flanders was elected Emperor and the Venetian Thomas Morosini chosen as Patriarch. The lands divided up among the leaders included most of the former Byzantine possessions, however resistance would continue through the Byzantine remnants of the Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus.

Fall

Empire in exile

After the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Latin Crusaders, two Byzantine successor states were established: the Empire of Nicaea, and the Despotate of Epirus. A third one, the Empire of Trebizond was created a few weeks before the sack of Constantinople by Alexios I of Trebizond. Of these three successor states, Epirus and Nicaea stood the best chance of reclaiming Constantinople. The Nicaean Empire struggled, however, to survive the next few decades, and by the mid-13th century it lost much of southern Anatolia. The weakening of the Sultanate of Rûm following the Mongol Invasion in 1242–43 allowed many Beyliks and ghazis to set up their own principalities in Anatolia, weakening the Byzantine hold on Asia Minor. In time, one of the Beys, Osman I, created an empire that would eventually conquer Constantinople. However, the Mongol Invasion also gave Nicaea a temporary respite from Seljuk attacks allowing it to concentrate on the Latin Empire only north of its position.

Reconquest of Constantinople

The Empire of Nicaea, founded by the Laskarid dynasty, managed to reclaim Constantinople from the Latins in 1261 and defeat Epirus. This led to a short-lived revival of Byzantine fortunes under Michael VIII Palaiologos, but the war-ravaged Empire was ill-equipped to deal with the enemies that now surrounded it. In order to maintain his campaigns against the Latins, Michael pulled troops from Asia Minor, and levied crippling taxes on the peasantry, causing much resentment. Massive construction projects were completed in Constantinople to repair the damages of the Fourth Crusade, but none of these initiatives was of any comfort to the farmers in Asia Minor, suffering raids from fanatical ghazis.

Rather than holding on to his possessions in Asia Minor, Michael chose to expand the Empire, gaining only short-term success. To avoid another sacking of the capital by the Latins, he forced the Church to submit to Rome, again a temporary solution for which the peasantry hated Michael and Constantinople. The efforts of Andronikos II and later his grandson Andronikos III marked Byzantium's last genuine attempts in restoring the glory of the Empire. However, the use of mercenaries by Andronikos II would often backfire, with the Catalan Company ravaging the countryside and increasing resentment towards Constantinople.

Rise of the Ottomans and fall of Constantinople

Things went worse for Byzantium during the civil wars that followed after Andronikos III died. A six-year long civil war devastated the empire, allowing the Serbian ruler Stefan IV Dushan to overrun most of the Empire's remaining territory and establish a short-lived "Serbian Empire". In 1354, an earthquake at Gallipoli devastated the fort, allowing the Ottomans (who were hired as mercenaries during the civil war by John VI Kantakouzenos) to establish themselves in Europe. By the time the Byzantine civil wars had ended, the Ottomans had defeated the Serbians and subjugated them as vassals. Following the Battle of Kosovo, much of the Balkans became dominated by the Ottomans.

The Emperors appealed to the West for help, but the Pope would only consider sending aid in return for a reunion of the Eastern Orthodox Church with the See of Rome. Church unity was considered, and occasionally accomplished by imperial decree, but the Orthodox citizenry and clergy intensely resented the authority of Rome and the Latin Rite. Some Western troops arrived to bolster the Christian defence of Constantinople, but most Western rulers, distracted by their own affairs, did nothing as the Ottomans picked apart the remaining Byzantine territories.

Constantinople by this stage was underpopulated and dilapidated. The population of the city had collapsed so severely that it was now little more than a cluster of villages separated by fields. On 2 April 1453, Sultan Mehmed's army of some 80,000 men and large numbers of irregulars laid siege to the city. Despite a desperate last-ditch defense of the city by the massively outnumbered Christian forces (c. 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreign), Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans after a two-month siege on 29 May 1453. The last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, was last seen casting off his imperial regalia and throwing himself into hand-to-hand combat after the walls of the city were taken.

Aftermath

By the time of the fall of Constantinople, the only remaining territory of the Byzantine Empire was the Despotate of the Morea, which was ruled by brothers of the last Emperor and continued on as a vassal state to the Ottomans. Incompetent rule, failure to pay the annual tribute and a revolt against the Ottomans finally led to Mehmed II's invasion of Morea in May 1460; he conquered the entire Despotate by the summer. The Empire of Trebizond, which had split away from the Byzantine Empire in 1204, became the last remnant and last ''de facto'' successor state to the Byzantine Empire. Efforts by the Emperor David to recruit European powers for an anti-Ottoman crusade provoked war between the Ottomans and Trebizond in the summer of 1461. After a month long siege, David surrendered the city of Trebizond on August 14, 1461. With the fall of Trebizond, the last remnant of the Roman Empire was extinguished.

The nephew of the last Emperor, Constantine XI, Andreas Palaeologos had inherited the title of Byzantine Emperor. He lived in the Morea (Peloponnese) until its fall in 1460, then escaped to Rome where he lived under the protection of the Papal States for the remainder of his life. He styled himself ''Imperator Constantinopolitanus'' ("Emperor of Constantinople"), and sold his succession rights to both Charles VIII of France and the Catholic Monarchs. However, no one ever invoked the title after Andreas's death, thus he is considered to be the last titular Byzantine Emperor. Mehmed II and his successors continued to consider themselves heirs to the Roman Empire until the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. Meanwhile, the Danubian Principalities (whose rulers also considered themselves the heirs of the Eastern Roman Emperors) harboured Orthodox refugees, including some Byzantine nobles.

At his death, the role of the emperor as a patron of Eastern Orthodoxy was claimed by Ivan III, Grand Duke of Muscovy. He had married Andreas' sister, Sophia Paleologue, whose grandson, Ivan IV, would become the first Tsar of Russia (''tsar'', or ''czar'', meaning ''caesar'', is a term traditionally applied by Slavs to the Byzantine Emperors). Their successors supported the idea that Moscow was the proper heir to Rome and Constantinople. The idea of the Russian Empire as the new, Third Rome was kept alive until its demise with the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Culture

Economy

The Byzantine economy was among the most advanced in Europe and the Mediterranean for many centuries. Europe, in particular, was unable to match Byzantine economic strength until late in the Middle Ages. Constantinople was a prime hub in a trading network that at various times extended across nearly all of Eurasia and North Africa, in particular being the primary western terminus of the famous ''silk road''. Some scholars argue that, up until the arrival of the Arabs in the 7th century, the Empire had the most powerful economy in the world. The Arab conquests, however, would represent a substantial reversal of fortunes contributing to a period of decline and stagnation. Constantine V's reforms (c. 765) marked the beginning of a revival that continued until 1204. From the 10th century until the end of the twelfth, the Byzantine Empire projected an image of luxury, and the travelers were impressed by the wealth accumulated in the capital. All this changed with the arrival of the Fourth Crusade, which was an economic catastrophe. The Palaiologoi tried to revive the economy, but the late Byzantine state would not gain full control of either the foreign or domestic economic forces. Gradually, it also lost its influence on the modalities of trade and the price mechanisms, and its control over the outflow of precious metals and, according to some scholars, even over the minting of coins.

One of the economic foundations of the Empire was trade. Textiles must have been by far the most important item of export; silks were certainly imported into Egypt, and appeared also in Bulgaria, and the West. The state strictly controlled both the internal and the international trade, and retained the monopoly of issuing coinage. The government exercised formal control over interest rates, and set the parameters for the activity of the guilds and corporations, in which it had a special interest. The Emperor and his officials intervened at times of crisis to ensure the provisioning of the capital, and to keep down the price of cereals. Finally, the government often collected part of the surplus through taxation, and put it back into circulation, through redistribution in the form of salaries to state officials, or in the form of investment in public works.

Science, medicine, law

The writings of Classical antiquity never ceased to be cultivated in Byzantium. Therefore, Byzantine science was in every period closely connected with ancient philosophy, and metaphysics. Although at various times the Byzantines made magnificent achievements in the application of the sciences (notably in the construction of the Hagia Sophia), after the 6th century Byzantine scholars made few novel contributions to science in terms of developing new theories or extending the ideas of classical authors. Scholarship particularly lagged during the dark years of plague and the Arab conquests, but then during the so-called ''Byzantine Renaissance'' at the end of the first millennium Byzantine scholars re-asserted themselves becoming experts in the scientific developments of the Arabs and Persians, particularly in astronomy and mathematics.

In the final century of the Empire, Byzantine grammarians were those principally responsible for carrying, in person and in writing, ancient Greek grammatical and literary studies to early Renaissance Italy. During this period, astronomy and other mathematical sciences were taught in Trebizond; medicine attracted the interest of almost all scholars.

In the field of law, Justinian I's reforms had a clear effect on the evolution of jurisprudence, and Leo III's ''Ecloga'' influenced the formation of legal institutions in the Slavic world.

Religion

The survival of the Empire in the East assured an active role of the Emperor in the affairs of the Church. The Byzantine state inherited from pagan times the administrative, and financial routine of administering religious affairs, and this routine was applied to the Christian Church. Following the pattern set by Eusebius of Caesarea, the Byzantines viewed the Emperor as a representative or messenger of Christ, responsible particularly for the propagation of Christianity among pagans, and for the "externals" of the religion, such as administration and finances. The imperial role, however, in the affairs of the Church never developed into a fixed, legally defined system.

Christianity was never fully united and the Christians in the Byzantine Empire were diverse throughout the Empire's history. The state church of the Roman Empire, which came to be known as the Eastern Orthodox Church, never represented all Christians in the Empire. Nestorianism, a view promoted by Nestorius who was a 5th century Patriarch of Constantinople, split from the imperial church leading to what is today the Assyrian Church of the East. In a greater schism during the 6th century the Myaphysite churches split from the imperial church over the declarations of the Council of Chalcedon. Aside from these communions, Arianism and other Christian sects existed in the early Empire, although by the time of Rome's fall in the 5th century Arianism was mostly confined to the Germanic peoples of Western Europe. By the Empire's late stages, though, Eastern Orthodoxy represented most Christians in what remained of the Empire. Jews were a significant minority in the Empire throughout its history. Despite periods of persecution, they were generally tolerated, if not always embraced, during most periods.

With the decline of Rome, and internal dissension in the other Eastern Patriarchates, the Church of Constantinople became, between the sixth and 11th centuries, the richest and most influential center of Christendom. Even when the Empire was reduced to only a shadow of its former self, the Church, as an institution, had never exercised so much influence both inside and outside of the imperial frontiers. As George Ostrogorsky points out:

The Patriarchate of Constantinople remained the center of the Orthodox world, with subordinate metropolitan sees and archbishoprics in the territory of Asia Minor and the Balkans, now lost to Byzantium, as well as in Caucasus, Russia and Lithuania. The Church remained the most stable element in the Byzantine Empire.

Art and literature

Byzantine art is almost entirely concerned with religious expression and, more specifically, with the impersonal translation of carefully controlled church theology into artistic terms. Byzantine forms were spread by trade and conquest to Italy and Sicily, where they persisted in modified form through the 12th century, and became formative influences on Italian Renaissance art. By means of the expansion of the Eastern Orthodox church, Byzantine forms spread to eastern European centers, particularly Russia. Influences from Byzantine architecture, particularly in religious buildings, can be found in diverse regions from Egypt and Arabia to Russia and Romania.

In Byzantine literature, therefore, four different cultural elements are to be reckoned with: the Greek, the Christian, the Roman, and the Oriental. Byzantine literature is often classified in five groups: historians and annalists, encyclopedists (Patriarch Photios, Michael Psellos, and Michael Choniates are regarded as the greatest encyclopedists of Byzantium) and essayists, and writers of secular poetry (The only genuine heroic epic of the Byzantines is the ''Digenis Acritas''). The remaining two groups include the new literary species: ecclesiastical and theological literature, and popular poetry. Of the approximately two to three thousand volumes of Byzantine literature that survive, only three hundred and thirty consist of secular poetry, history, science and pseudo-science. While the most flourishing period of the secular literature of Byzantium runs from the ninth to the 12th century, its religious literature (sermons, liturgical books and poetry, theology, devotional treatises etc.) developed much earlier with Romanos the Melodist being its most prominent representative.

Government and bureaucracy

In the Byzantine state, the emperor became the sole and absolute ruler, and his power was regarded as having divine origin. The Senate ceased to have real political and legislative authority but remained as an honorary council with titular members. By the end of the 8th century, a civil administration focused on the court was formed as part of a large-scale consolidation of power in the capital (the rise to pre-eminence of the position of ''sakellarios'' is related to this change). The most important reform of this period is the creation of themes, where civil and military administration is exercised by one person, the ''strategos''.

Despite the occasionally derogatory use of the word "Byzantine", the Byzantine bureaucracy had a distinct ability for reinventing itself in accordance with the Empire's situation. The Byzantine system of titulature and precedence makes the imperial administration look like an ordered bureaucracy to modern observers. Officials were arranged in strict order around the emperor, and depended upon the imperial will for their ranks. There were also actual administrative jobs, but authority could be vested in individuals rather than offices. In the 8th and 9th centuries, civil service constituted the clearest path to aristocratic status, but, starting in the 9th century, the civil aristocracy was rivaled by an aristocracy of nobility. According to some studies of Byzantine government, 11th century politics were dominated by competition between the civil and the military aristocracy. During this period, Alexios I undertook important administrative reforms, including the creation of new courtly dignities and offices.

Diplomacy

After the fall of Rome, the key challenge to the Empire was to maintain a set of relations between itself and its neighbors. When these nations set about forging formal political institutions, they often modeled themselves on Constantinople. Byzantine diplomacy soon managed to draw its neighbors into a network of international and inter-state relations. This network revolved around treaty making, and included the welcoming of the new ruler into the family of kings, and the assimilation of Byzantine social attitudes, values and institutions. Whereas classical writers are fond of making ethical and legal distinctions between peace and war, Byzantines regarded diplomacy as a form of war by other means. For example, a Bulgarian threat could be countered by providing money to the Kievian Rus. The Orthodox Church also maintained a diplomatic function, and the spread of Orthodox Christianity was a key diplomatic goal of the Empire.

Diplomacy in the era was understood to have an intelligence-gathering function on top of its pure political function. The Bureau of Barbarians in Constantinople handled matters of protocol and record keeping for any matters dealing with "Barbarians", and thus had, perhaps, a basic intelligence function itself. J. B. Bury believed that the office exercised supervision over all foreigners visiting Constantinople, and that they were under the supervision of the Logothete of the Course. While on the surface a protocol office—its main duty was to ensure foreign envoys were properly cared for and received sufficient state funds for their maintenance, and it kept all the official translators—it clearly had a security function as well. ''On Strategy'', from the 6th century, offers advice about foreign embassies: "[Envoys] who are sent to us should be received honourably and generously, for everyone holds envoys in high esteem. Their attendants, however, should be kept under surveillance to keep them from obtaining any information by asking questions of our people."

Byzantines availed themselves of a number of diplomatic practices. For example, embassies to the capital would often stay on for years. A member of other royal houses would routinely be requested to stay on in Constantinople, not only as a potential hostage, but also as a useful pawn in case political conditions where he came from changed. Another key practice was to overwhelm visitors by sumptuous displays. According to Dimitri Obolensky, the preservation of civilization in Eastern Europe was due to the skill and resourcefulness of Byzantine diplomacy, which remains one of Byzantium's lasting contributions to the history of Europe.

Language

The original language of the government of the Empire, which owed its origins to Rome, had been Latin and this continued to be its official language until the 7th century when it was effectively changed to Greek by Heraclius. Scholarly Latin would rapidly fall into disuse among the educated classes although the language would continue to be at least a ceremonial part of the Empire's culture for some time. Additionally, Vulgar Latin continued to be a minority language in the Empire, and among the Thraco-Roman populations it gave birth to the (Proto-)Romanian language. Likewise, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, another neo-Latin vernacular developed, which would later give rise to the Dalmatian language. In the Western Mediterranean provinces temporarily acquired under the reign of Justinian I, Latin (eventually evolving into Italian) continued to be used both as a spoken language and the language of scholarship.

Apart from the Imperial court, administration and military, the primary language used in the eastern Roman provinces even before the decline of the Western Empire had always been Greek, having been spoken in the region for centuries before Latin. Indeed early on in the life of the Roman Empire, Greek had become the common language in the Christian Church, the language of scholarship and the arts, and, to a large degree, the lingua franca for trade between provinces and with other nations. The language itself for a time gained a dual nature with the primary spoken language, Koine, existing alongside an older literary language with Koine eventually evolving into the standard dialect.

Many other languages existed in the multi-ethnic Empire as well, and some of these were given limited official status in their provinces at various times. Notably, by the beginning of the Middle Ages, Syriac and Aramaic had become more widely used by the educated classes in the far eastern provinces. Similarly Coptic, Armenian, and Georgian became significant among the educated in their provinces, and later foreign contacts made the Slavonic, Vlach, and Arabic languages important in the Empire and its sphere of influence.

Aside from these, since Constantinople was a prime trading center in the Mediterranean region and beyond, virtually every known language of the Middle Ages was spoken in the Empire at some time, even Chinese. As the Empire entered its final decline, the Empire's citizens became more culturally homogeneous and the Greek language became integral to their identity and their religion.

Legacy

As the only stable long-term state in Europe during the Middle Ages, Byzantium isolated Western Europe from newly emerging forces to the East. Constantly under attack, it distanced Western Europe from Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and for a time, the Ottomans. The Byzantine-Arab Wars, for example, are recognized by some historians as being a key factor behind the rise of Charlemagne, and a stimulus to feudalism and economic self-sufficiency.

For centuries, western historians used the terms ''Byzantine'' and ''Byzantinism'' as bywords for decadence, duplicitous politics and complex bureaucracy, and there was a strongly negative assessment of Byzantine civilization and its legacy in Southeastern Europe. ''Byzantinism'' in general was defined as a body of religious, political, and philosophical ideas which ran contrary to those of the West. The 20th and 21st centuries, however, have seen attempts by historians in the West to understand the Empire in a more balanced and accurate fashion including its influences on the West, and as a result the complex character of Byzantine culture has received more attention and a more objective treatment than previously.

See also

Byzantine architecture

Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy

Byzantine army

Byzantine art

Byzantine calendar

Byzantine dance

Byzantine diplomacy

Byzantine dress

Byzantine coinage

Byzantine cuisine

Byzantine gardens

Byzantine Greeks

Byzantine law

Byzantine literature

Byzantine medicine

Byzantine music

Byzantine navy

Byzantine science

History of Greece

Index of Byzantine Empire-related articles

Legacy of the Roman Empire

List of Byzantine emperors

List of Byzantine inventions

List of Byzantine revolts and civil wars

List of Byzantine wars

Annotations

Notes

References

Primary sources

Secondary sources

(Excerpts)

Further reading

External links

Byzantine studies, resources and bibliography

Adena, L. "The Enduring Legacy of Byzantium", ''Clio History Journal'', 2008.

Ciesniewski, C. "The Byzantine Achievement", ''Clio History Journal'', 2006.

Fox, Clinton R. What, If Anything, Is a Byzantine? (Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors)

The Cambridge Medieval History (IV) The Eastern Roman Empire (717–1453).

Byzantine studies homepage at Dumbarton Oaks. Includes links to numerous electronic texts.

Byzantium: Byzantine studies on the Internet. Links to various online resources.

Translations from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries, c. 700–1204. Online sourcebook.

De Re Militari. Resources for medieval history, including numerous translated sources on the Byzantine wars.

Medieval Sourcebook: Byzantium. Numerous primary sources on Byzantine history.

Bibliography on Byzantine Material Culture and Daily Life. Hosted by the University of Vienna; in English.

Constantinople Home Page. Links to texts, images and videos on Byzantium.

Byzantium in Crimea: Political History, Art and Culture.

Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (with further resources and a repository with papers on various aspects of the Byzantine Empire)

Miscellaneous

De Imperatoribus Romanis. Scholarly biographies of many Byzantine emperors.

The Fall of the Empire. Byzantine Lesson (2007). (Russian: Гибель империи. Византийский урок) A film explaining the political and economical reasons for the fall of the Empire, filmed by the Russian Orthodox Church.

12 Byzantine Rulers by Lars Brownworth of The Stony Brook School; audio lectures. NYTimes review.

18 centuries of Roman Empire by Howard Wiseman (Maps of the Roman/Byzantine Empire throughout its lifetime).

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Name	Anwar al-Awlaki
Residence	Yemen
Ethnicity	Arab
Citizenship	U.S. and Yemen (dual)
Birth name	Anwar Nasser Abdulla Aulaqi
Birth date	April 22, 1971
Birth place	Las Cruces, New Mexico,United States
Occupation	Lecturer, former Imam, Al-Qaeda regional commander
Religion	Islam
Children	5
Parents	Nasser al-Aulaqi (father)
Relatives	Yemen Prime MinisterAli Mohammed Mujur
Known for	Alleged senior Al-Qaeda recruiter and motivator linked to various terrorists; committed to killing Americans and others worldwide
Alma mater	Colorado State University;San Diego State University;The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development
Organization	Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Influences	Sayyid Qutb
Influenced	*Nawaf al-Hazmi Khalid al-Mihdhar Hani Hanjour Michael Finton Fort Hood shooter Christmas Day bomber Sharif Mobley Times Square bomber Roshonara Choudhry Mohamed Alessa Carlos Almonte Zachary Chesser
Height
Weight	}}

Anwar al-Awlaki (also spelled Aulaqi; ''Anwar al-‘Awlaqī''; born April 22, 1971) is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen, of Yemeni descent. He is an Islamic lecturer, spiritual leader, and former imam . According to U.S. officials, he is a senior talent recruiter and motivator, who has also become “operational” as a planner and trainer, "for al-Qaeda and all of its franchises". The U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence warned that al-Awlaki "is extraordinarily dangerous, committed to carrying out deadly attacks on Americans and others worldwide". With a blog, a Facebook page, and many YouTube videos, he has been described as the "bin Laden of the Internet".

Al-Awlaki's sermons were attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers. He reportedly met privately with two of them in San Diego. Investigators suspect al-Awlaki may have known about the 9/11 attacks in advance. In 2009, he was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials.

His sermons were also attended by accused Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. U.S. intelligence intercepted at least 18 emails between Hasan and al-Awlaki in the months prior to the Fort Hood shooting, including one in which Hasan wrote: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]." After the shooting, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions. In addition, according to U.S. officials, "Christmas Day bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab said al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers, who met with him and was involved in planning or preparing his attack, and provided religious justification for it. In March 2010, alAwlaki said in a videotape that ''jihad'' against America was binding upon every able Muslim.

Al-Awlaki's targeted killing was approved by U.S. President Barack Obama, with the consent of the U.S. National Security Council by April 2010, making him the first U.S. citizen ever placed on the CIA target list. Officials said it was appropriate, as he poses an imminent danger to national security. In May 2010, Faisal Shahzad, who pled guilty to the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators he was "inspired by" al-Awlaki. Sources said Shahzad had made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet. U.S. Representative Jane Harman called him "terrorist number one", and ''Investor's Business Daily'' called him "the world's most dangerous man". In July 2010, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and the UN added him to its list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda. In August 2010, al-Awlaki's father sued the U.S. government with the help of the ACLU, challenging its order to kill al-Awlaki, but a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in December 2010. In November 2010, Yemen began trying al-Awlaki ''in absentia'' with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda, and a Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive". In a video posted to the internet in November 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims around the world to kill Americans “without hesitation”, and overthrow Arab leaders.

Awlaki is believed to be in hiding in Southeast Yemen. On May 6, 2011, US officials stated that they are currently using predator drones to patrol the country. One missile strike using one of these vehicles has so-far been directed at Awlaki, but it did not succeed in killing him.

Early life

Al-Awlaki's parents are from Yemen. His father, Nasser al-Aulaqi, was a Fulbright Scholar. The father earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977.

The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when Anwar was 7. Al-Awlaki lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School. His father has served as Agriculture Minister and as President of Sana'a University, and is a prominent member of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ruling party. Yemen's Prime Minister since March 2007, Ali Mohammed Mujur, is a relative of al-Awlaki.

Al-Awlaki returned to Colorado in 1991 to attend college. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was President of the Muslim Student Association. He attended the university on a foreign student visa and a government scholarship from Yemen, apparently by claiming to be born in that country, according to a former U.S. security agent. He spent a summer of his college years training with the Afghan ''mujahideen'' who fought the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan with US and Saudi backing. Al-Awlaki also earned an M.A. in Education Leadership from San Diego State University. He worked on a Doctorate degree in Human Resource Development at George Washington University Graduate School of Education & Human Development from January to December 2001.

Al-Awlaki's Islamic education consists of a few intermittent months with various scholars, and reading and contemplating works by several prominent Islamic scholars. Puzzled Muslim scholars say they do not understand his popularity, because while he speaks English and can therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, alAwlaki lacks formal Islamic training or study. Douglas Murray, executive director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, a right-wing think tank that studies British radicalization, says his followers "will routinely describe Awlaki as a vital and highly respected scholar, [while he] is actually an al-Qaida-affiliate nut case."

Ideology

Al-Awlaki has been called an Islamic fundamentalist, and accused of encouraging terrorism. He developed animosity towards the U.S. and became a proponent of ''Takfiri'' and ''Jihadi'' thinking, while retaining ''Islamism'', according to one research paper. While imprisoned in Yemen, al-Awlaki became influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, an originator of the contemporary "anti-Western ''Jihadist'' movement." He would read 150–200 pages a day of Qutb's works. He described himself as "so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly.” Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann calls al-Awlaki "one of the principal ''jihadi'' luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of ''jihad'' and ''mujahideen'' organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He calls al-Awlaki's lecture "Constants on the Path of ''Jihad''", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists." Philip Mudd, formerly of the C.I.A.’s Counterterrorism Center and the F.B.I.'s top intelligence adviser, said: "He’s a magnetic character. He’s a powerful orator."

Later life, and alleged ties to terrorism

In the United States; 1991–2002

In 1993, while he was a college student and the same year as the first World Trade Center bombing, al-Awlaki took a vacation trip to Afghanistan like "many other thousands of young Muslim men with jihadist zeal". Much of the nation was under the control of various ''mujahideen'' factions, after the withdrawal of the Soviet occupation. Mullah Mohammed Omar would not form the Taliban until 1994. When al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in politics and religion. He wore Afghan hats and Eritrean t-shirts, and quoted Abdullah Azzam—who theologically justified the ''jihad'' to liberate Muslim lands such as Afghanistan and Palestine by fighting infidel invaders, and was later known as a mentor to Osama bin Laden.

In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen. He served as Imam of the Denver Islamic Society from 1994–96. Although he preached eloquently against vice and sin, he left two weeks after he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a student at the mosque to fight ''jihad''. He then served as Imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque at the edge of San Diego, California, from 1996–2000. There, he had a following of 200–300 people.

Although he hesitated to shake hands with women, he patronized prostitutes. Al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego in August 1996 and in April 1997 for soliciting prostitutes. In the first instance, he pled guilty to a lesser charge on condition of entering an AIDS education program, and paying $400 in fines and restitution. The second time, he pled guilty to soliciting a prostitute, and was sentenced to three years' probation, fined $240, and ordered to perform 12 days of community service.

In 1998 and 1999, he served as Vice President for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW) in San Diego. That charity was founded by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani of Yemen, who has been designated by the U.S. government as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" who has worked with Osama bin Laden. During a terrorism trial, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Brian Murphy testified that CSSW was a “front organization to funnel money to terrorists,” and U.S. federal prosecutors have described it as being used to support bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

The FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible fundraising for Hamas, links to al-Qaeda, and a visit in early 2000 by a close associate of "the Blind Sheik" Omar Abdel Rahman (who was serving a life sentence for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center attack, and plotting to blow up NYC landmarks). The FBI's interest was also triggered because he had been contacted by an al-Qaeda operative who had bought a battery for bin Laden's satellite phone, Ziyad Khaleel. But it was unable to unearth sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.

Planning for the 9/11 attack and USS ''Cole'' bombing was discussed at the January 2000 Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit. Among the planners were Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who later on 9/11 hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon. After the summit they traveled to San Diego, where witnesses told the FBI they had a close relationship with al-Awlaki in 2000. Al-Awlaki served as their spiritual adviser, and the two were also frequently visited there by 9/11 pilot Hani Hanjour. The ''9/11 Commission Report'' indicated that the hijackers "reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure." Authorities say the two hijackers regularly attended the mosque al-Awlaki led in San Diego, and had many long closed-door meetings with him, which led investigators to believe al-Awlaki knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance.

Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque "after an uneventful four years", despite his contacts with 9/11 participants. He took a brief sabbatical and a trip overseas to various countries, which have not been identified or explained.

When al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., he settled in January 2001 on the East Coast. There, he served as Imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in the Falls Church metropolitan Washington, DC, area, and was also the Muslim Chaplain at George Washington University. Esam Omeish hired al-Awlaki to be the mosque's imam. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki: "has no inclination or active involvement in any events or circumstances that have to do with terrorism." Fluent in English, known for giving eloquent talks on Islam, and with a mandate to attract young non-Arabic speakers, al-Awlaki "was the magic bullet," according to mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik; "he had everything all in a box." "He had an allure. He was charming."

Soon afterward, his sermons were attended by two of the 9/11 hijackers (Al-Hazmi again, and Hani Hanjour, which the ''9/11 Commission Report'' concluded "may not have been coincidental"), and by Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg, Germany, apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh (the "20th hijacker"), al-Awlaki's telephone number was found among bin al-Shibh's personal contact information.

The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki “was at the center of the 9/11 story.” And an FBI agent said that “if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been” him, since “someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused.” One 9/11 Commission staff member said: “Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it." A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suspected that al-Awlaki might have been part of a support network for the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. "In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure," said House Intelligence Committee member Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA).

Writing on the ''IslamOnline.net'' website six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI "went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default."

Months after the 9/11 attacks, as the U.S. Secretary of the Army was eager to have a presentation from a moderate Muslim as part of an outreach effort to ease tensions with Muslim-Americans, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel.

Al-Awlaki was the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association’s first imam to conduct a prayer service at the U.S. Capitol in 2002. The prayers were for Muslim congressional staffers and officials for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The FBI conducted extensive investigations of al-Awlaki, and he was observed crossing state lines with prostitutes in the D.C. area. To arrest him, the FBI considered invoking the little-used Mann Act, a federal law prohibiting interstate transport of women for "immoral purposes." But before investigators could detain him, al-Awlaki left for Yemen in March 2002.

Weeks later, he posted an essay in Arabic titled "Why Muslims Love Death" on the ''Islam Today'' website, praising the Palestinian suicide bombers' fervor. Months later, at a videotaped lecture in a London mosque, he lauded them in English. By July 2002, he was under investigation for having been sent money by the subject of an U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was placed on an early version of what is now the federal terror watch list.

In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed off on an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss its complaint, and vacate the arrest warrant. It did so because prosecutors felt ultimately that they lacked evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. While al-Awlaki had falsely listed Yemen as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. social security number, which he then used to obtain a passport in 1993, he later changed his place of birth information to Las Cruces, New Mexico. Prosecutors could not charge him, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. The motion was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10, and filed on October 11. As a result, agents were unable to arrest him when he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in the U.S. on October 10, 2002, the day the judge signed the order rescinding his warrant.

''ABC News'' reported that the decision to cancel the arrest warrant outraged members of a Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego who were monitoring al-Awlaki, and wanted to "look at him under a microscope". But Gaouette said there had not been any objection to the warrant being rescinded during a meeting attended by Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette opined that if al-Awlaki had been convicted, he would have faced about 6 months in custody. "The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces," Gaouette said. ''The New York Times'' noted, however, that al-Awlaki apparently did it so he could qualify for scholarship money given to foreign citizens. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that it was his understanding that by doing so al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students, for which he was not eligible.

Al-Awlaki's return to the U.S. may have been connected to his return to Northern Virginia, where he visited radical Islamic cleric Ali al-Timimi, and asked about recruiting young Muslims for "violent ''jihad''". Al-Timimi is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the U.S.

In the United Kingdom; 2002–04

Al-Awlaki left the U.S. before the end of 2002, because of a "climate of fear and intimidation" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque.

Moving to the UK for several months, he gave talks to up to 200 youths at a time. He urged young Muslim followers: "The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a ''kuffar'' [non-Muslim]. Do not trust them! [They] are plotting to kill this religion. They’re plotting night and day." "He was the main man who translated the ''jihad'' into English," said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.

He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs receive in paradise, and developing a following among ultraconservative young Muslims. He was a "distinguished guest" speaker at the U.K.’s Federation of Student Islamic Societies’ (FOSIS) annual dinner in 2003. He began a grand lecture tour of Britain, from London to Aberdeen, as part of a campaign by the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured for the Islamic Forum Europe (IFE), based at the East London Mosque, and appeared at an event at the East London Mosque in which he told his audience: “A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.”

In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), a Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

In Yemen; 2004–present

Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, and lived in his ancestral village in the southern province of Shabwa with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, who is on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with Al-Qaida. Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and that it is an incubator of radicalism, and point to the fact that John Walker Lindh and others accused of terrorism are alumni. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his "direct teacher."

On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was one of a group of five people arrested on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and involvement in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. Al-Awlaki blamed the U.S. for pressuring Yemeni authorities to arrest him. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects, and John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention. His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, he was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe, an indication by the U.S. that it did not insist on his incarceration, and—according to a Yemeni security official—because he said he repented. He reportedly moved to his family home in Saeed, a tiny hamlet in the rugged Shabwa mountains.

Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners organization campaigned for al-Awlaki when he was in prison in Yemen. Shortly after his release, Begg obtained an exclusive telephone interview with him. According to Begg, prior to his incarceration in Yemen al-Awlaki had condemned the 9/11 attacks.

In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somalian terrorist group Al-Shabaab, congratulating them. He thanked them for "giving us a living example of how we as Muslims should proceed to change our situation. The ballot has failed us, but the bullet has not". In conclusion, he wrote: "if my circumstances would have allowed, I would not have hesitated in joining you and being a soldier in your ranks".

|source=— Yemeni official familiar with counterterrorism operations}} He provides al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection against the government of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis. The tribal code requires it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This is an even greater imperative where the person is a member of the tribe, or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is "We are the sparks of Hell; whomever interferes with us will be burned." Al-Awlaki has also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes.

Sought now by Yemeni authorities with regard to a new investigation into his al-Qaeda ties, the authorities have been unable to locate al-Awlaki, who according to his father disappeared in approximately March 2009. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemen government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's rugged Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called "triangle of evil" (known as such because it attracts al-Qaeda militants seeking refuge among local tribes that are unhappy with Yemen's central government).

Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd, a remote mountain valley in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived. ''Pravda'' reported that the planes, using Saudi Arabian and U.S. intelligence aid, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was "raided and demolished". On December 28 ''The Washington Post'' reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said the former imam called him on December 28, and said that he was well, and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya insisted that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda, and declined to comment as to whether al-Awlaki had told him about any contacts he may have had with Abdulmutallab.

In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the U.S. to attack their country of residence. In the video, he stated:

To the Muslims in America, I have this to say: How can your conscience allow you to live in peaceful coexistence with a nation that is responsible for the tyranny and crimes committed against your own brothers and sisters? I eventually came to the conclusion that ''jihad'' (holy struggle) against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding upon every other able Muslim.

In July 2010, a Seattle cartoonist was warned by the FBI of a death threat issued by al-Awlaki in the al-Qaeda magazine ''Inspire''. Eight other cartoonists, journalists, and writers from Britain, Sweden, and Holland were also threatened with death. "The prophet is the pinnacle of ''Jihad''", al-Awlaki wrote. "It is better to support the prophet by attacking those who slander him than it is to travel to land of ''Jihad'' like Iraq or Afghanistan."

Reaching out to the United Kingdom

Despite being banned from entering the United Kingdom in 2006, al-Awlaki spoke on at least seven occasions at five different venues around Britain via video-link in 2007–09. The East London Mosque provoked the outrage of ''The Daily Telegraph'' by allowing Noor Pro Media Events to hold a conference on New Year's Day 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over al-Awlaki's involvement.

He also gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshipers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London (at which he said: "We should make ''jihad'' for our brothers"). On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have also been circulated across the United Kingdom, and until February 2010 hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2010 it was reported that the London-based Islam Channel had in 2009 carried advertisements for DVDs of al-Awlaki's sermons and for at least two events at which he was due to be the star speaker via video link.

Other connections

FBI agents have identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator.

Al-Awlaki's name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the U.S., UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to on laptops, audio clips, and CDs.

Al-Awlaki’s recorded lectures were also an inspiration to Islamist fundamentalists who comprised at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009, to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with a substantial percentage of "fans" from the U.S., many of whom were high school students.

Al-Awlaki has influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte—two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join Al Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group based there—allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which al-Awlaki warned of future attacks against Americans in the U.S. and abroad. Zachary Chesser (nicknamed Abu Talha al-Amrikee), another American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, also told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood pleaded guilty to, and received an eight-year prison sentence for, assembling a hit list of 15 targets for assassination or bomb attacks within the U.S. of people who he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood admitted to having become a “strict adherent to the violent ''jihad''-promoting ideology of cleric [Awlaki]”, which "included a personal conviction that it was [Rockwood’s] religious responsibility to exact revenge by death on anyone who desecrated Islam,” and following al-Awlaki’s ideology, “including devotion to [Awlaki’s] violence-promoting works, ''Constants on the Path to Jihad'' and ''44 Ways to Jihad''."

In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, Al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'".

Fort Hood shooter

Fort Hood shootings suspect Nidal Malik Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 emails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the emails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised "huge red flags". According to Brachman, al-Awlaki is a major influence on radical English-speaking jihadis internationally. ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that "There is no indication Mr. Awlaki played a direct role in any of the attacks, and he has never been indicted in the U.S."

In one of the emails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]". "It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. "That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind." Hasan also asked al-Awlaki when ''jihad'' is appropriate, and whether it is permissible if innocents are killed in a suicide attack. In the months before the attacks, Hasan increased his contacts with al-Awlaki to discuss how to transfer funds abroad without coming to the attention of law authorities.

A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the emails, and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the emails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service, and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation.

Charles Allen, no longer in government, said: "I find it difficult to understand why an Army major would be in repeated contact with an Islamic extremist like Anwar al-Awlaki, who preaches a hateful ideology directed at inciting violence against the United States and the West... It is hard to see how repeated contact would in any legitimate way further his research as a psychiatrist." And former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: "E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert."

Al-Awlaki had set up a website, with a blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he condemned any Muslim who seeks a religious decree "that would allow him to serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers."

In "44 Ways to Support ''Jihad''," another sermon posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to "fight ''jihad''", and explained how to give money to the ''mujahideen'' or their families after they've died. Al-Awlaki's sermon also encouraged others to conduct weapons training, and raise children "on the love of ''Jihad''." Also that month, he wrote: "I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies." He wrote as well: "We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not." On July 14, he criticized armies of Muslim countries that assist the U.S. military, saying, "the blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars." In a sermon on his blog on July 15, 2009, entitled "Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World," al-Awlaki wrote, "Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them."

A fellow Muslim officer at Fort Hood said Hasan's eyes "lit up" when gushing about al-Awlaki's teachings. Some investigators believe that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki are what pushed him toward violence.

After the Fort Hood shooting, on his now temporarily inoperable website (apparently because some web hosting companies took it down), al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions:

Nidal Hassan is a hero.... The U.S. is leading the war against terrorism, which in reality is a war against Islam..... Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the U.S. army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.

The fact that fighting against the U.S. army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. No scholar with a grain of Islamic knowledge can defy the clear cut proofs that Muslims today have the right—rather the duty—to fight against American tyranny. Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims. The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason against the Muslim Ummah and have fallen into hypocrisy.... May Allah grant our brother Nidal patience, perseverance, and steadfastness, and we ask Allah to accept from him his great heroic act. Ameen.

Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he "neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans". Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: "Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque." Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'" He added: "It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam, and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, "Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa."

Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. However, al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam because it was a form of ''jihad'', as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he "blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan".

Al-Awlaki released a tape in March 2010, in which he said, in part:

:To the American people ... Obama has promised that his administration will be one of transparency, but he has not fulfilled his promise. His administration tried to portray the operation of brother Nidal Hasan as an individual act of violence from an estranged individual. The administration practiced to control on the leak of information concerning the operation, in order to cushion the reaction of the American public.

:Until this moment the administration is refusing to release the e-mails exchanged between myself and Nidal. And after the operation of our brother Umar Farouk, the initial comments coming from the administration were looking the same – another attempt at covering up the truth. But Al-Qaeda cut off Obama from deceiving the world again by issuing their statement claiming responsibility for the operation.

In addition to the point made by al-Awlaki himself about the failure to release his emails, despite wide press coverage of al-Awlaki's role as a spiritual guide to Hasan, and many previous anti-terrorism investigations dating back pre-9/11, al-Awlaki has not been placed on an FBI Most Wanted or other terror list, indicted for treason, or publicly named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government has been reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify Hasan's motive.

Christmas Day "Underwear Bomber"

Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the suspected al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts according to a number of sources. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. "security sources" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in ''al-Jazeera'' that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.

Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect "had contact [with al-Awlaki]."

''The Sunday Times'' established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki. The two are also "thought to have met" in London, according to ''The Daily Mail''.

''NPR'' reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Bar, who resigned as trustee of the mosque, pointed to the NPR report in expressing "grave misgivings" with regard to the stewardship of the mosque. The Finsbury Park Mosque stated, however, that:

neither Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab nor Anwar al-Awlaki has ever been invited to attend NLCM since we took charge of the mosque in February 2005. We can be certain that neither man has been given a platform at the mosque in any form and in the case of Anwar al-Awlaki we can be confident that he would not have been able to enter the mosque without his presence being brought to our attention.

Abdulmutallab was also reported to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference, according to ''CBS News'', ''The Telegraph'', and ''The Sunday Telegraph''. However, ''The Sunday Telegraph'' later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that "Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks".

Evidence collected during searches of flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London indicated that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, as web traffic showed he followed al-Awlaki's blog and website.

The suspect was "on American security watch-lists because of his links with ... al-Awlaki", according to University of Oxford historian, and professor of international relations, Mark Almond.

The two were communicating in the months before the bombing attempt, reported ''CBS News'', and ''CBS'' reported that sources said that al-Awlaki at a minimum was providing spiritual support. According to federal sources, over the year prior to the attack, Abdulmutallab intensified electronic communications with al-Awlaki. "Voice-to-voice communication" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things." ''NPR'' reported that intelligence officials it did not name suspect al-Awlaki may have directed Abdulmutallab to Yemen for al-Qaeda training.

Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in remote camps in Yemen. And there were confirming "informed reports" that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki during his final weeks of training and indoctrination prior to the attack. The ''L.A. Times'' reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:

Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year, and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation.

Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that in October 2009 the suspect traveled to Shabwa. There, he met with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki and used by al-Awlaki to hold theological sessions, and Abdulmutallab was trained there and equipped there with his explosives. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other.

In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: "Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did." He also said: "I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it," adding that he was proud of Abdulmutallab. Separately, al-Awlaki asked Yemen's conservative religious scholars to call for the killing of United States military and intelligence officials who assist Yemen’s counter-terrorism program. ''Fox News'' reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing.

In his March 2010 tape, al-Awlaki also said:

To the American people ... nine years after 9/11, nine years of spending, and nine years of beefing up security you are still unsafe even in the holiest and most sacred of days to you, Christmas Day....

Our brother Umar Farouk has succeeded in breaking through the security systems that have cost the U.S. government alone over 40 billion dollars since 9/11.

In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a "direct operational role" in the plot.

Sharif Mobley

Alleged al-Qaeda member Sharif Mobley, who is charged with having killed a guard during a March 2010 escape attempt in Yemen, left his home in New Jersey to seek out al-Awlaki, hoping that al-Awlaki would become his al-Qaeda mentor, according to senior U.S. security officials as reported by ''CNN''. He was in contact with al-Awlaki, according to officials from the U.S. and Yemen, ''The New York Times'' reported. A Yemeni embassy spokesman in Washington, D.C., said he was not surprised by al-Awlaki's apparent links to Mobley, calling al-Awlaki: "a fixture in ''jihad'' 101."

Times Square bomber

Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the attempted car bombing of Times Square in May 2010, reportedly told interrogators that he was "inspired by" al-Awlaki. Shahzad reportedly said he was moved to action, at least in part, by al-Awlaki's English-language writings calling for holy war against Western targets, and he was a "fan and follower" of al-Awlaki. On May 6, 2010 ''ABC News'' reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.

Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms

After becoming radicalized by online sermons of al-Awlaki, Roshonara Choudhry stabbed British former Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010. On November 4, 2010, she was sentenced at the Old Bailey in London to life imprisonment for attempted murder.

''Seattle Weekly'' cartoonist death threat

In 2010, a female cartoonist at ''Seattle Weekly'' had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI change her name, move, and go into hiding due to a ''fatwā'' calling for her death issued by al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki cursed her and eight other cartoonists, authors, and journalists who are Swedish, Dutch, and British citizens for "blasphemous caricatures" of the Prophet Muhammad, in the June 2010 issue of an English-language al-Qaeda magazine that calls itself ''Inspire'', writing "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved" . Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled "Dueling Fatwas", "Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him."

British passenger plane plot

British Home Secretary, Theresa May, said on November 3, 2010, that an associate of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who was in touch with al-Awlaki, had been arrested in 2010 for allegedly planning a terrorist attack on passenger planes in Britain.

Cargo planes bomb plot

''The Guardian'' and ''The Telegraph'' reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believe that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010. ''The New York Times'' also reported that some analysts believe the attempted bombing may be linked to al-Awlaki. In addition, when U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: "Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern." U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said "al-Awlaki was behind the two ... bombs."

Current status

Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: "I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not." Responding to a Yemeni official's claims that his son was hiding in the southern mountains of Yemen with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: "He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now." The Awlaq tribe is large and powerful, with a number of connections to the Yemeni government. "He has been wrongly accused, it's unbelievable. He lived his life in America; he's an all-American boy", said his father.

The Yemeni government negotiated with tribal leaders, trying to convince them to hand al-Awlaki over. Reportedly, Yemeni authorities offered guarantees they would not turn al-Awlaki over to the U.S. or let him be questioned. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with a group of al-Qaeda elements from Shabwa, including Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso, who is wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS ''Cole''.

In January 2010, White House lawyers considered the legality of attempting to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. Reportedly, opportunities to do so "may have been missed" because of legal questions surrounding such an attack. But on February 4, 2010, ''The New York Daily News'' reported that al-Awlaki is "now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration."

On April 6, ''The New York Times'' also reported that President Obama had authorized the targeted killing of al-Awlaki. The CIA and the U.S. military both maintain lists of terrorists linked to al-Qaeda and its affiliates who are approved for capture or killing. Because he is a U.S. citizen, his inclusion on those lists was approved by the National Security Council. U.S. officials said it is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing. ''The New York Times'' reported that international law allows the use of lethal force against people who pose an imminent threat to a country, and U.S. officials said that was the standard used in adding names to the target list. In addition, Congress approved the use of military force against al-Qaeda after 9/11. People on the target list are considered military enemies of the U.S., and therefore not subject to a ban on political assassinations approved by former President Gerald Ford. Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote, “We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheik Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch.”

The powerful Al-Awalik tribe responded that it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons," and gave warned "against co-operating with the Americans" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, followed by announcing that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the U.S., and that "Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism".

Al-Awlaki's email conversations with Hasan have not been released, and he has not been placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government has been reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki: "has never been indicted in the U.S." Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters have denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamic terrorism.

|source=— Sajjan M. Gohel, Asia-Pacific Foundation}} In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine ''Sada Al-Malahem'', al-Awlaki said: "What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for ''jihad'' for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?". In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his "students".

In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to issue a "certificate of loss of nationality" to al-Awlaki. He said al-Awlaki "preaches a culture of hate" and had been a functioning member of al-Qaeda "since before 9/11", and had effectively renounced his citizenship by engaging in treasonous acts.

By May, U.S. officials believed he had become “operational,” plotting, not just inspiring, terrorism against the West. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he "is a terrorist, in my book", and advised shops not to carry even the earlier, non-jihadist al-Awlaki sermons. In an editorial, ''Investor's Business Daily'' called al-Awlaki the "world's most dangerous man", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" like Zindani, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. ''IBD'' criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.

On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. As a result, any U.S. bank accounts he may have will be frozen, Americans are forbidden from doing business with him, and he is banned from traveling to the U.S. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said al-Awlaki:

has proven that he is extraordinarily dangerous, committed to carrying out deadly attacks on Americans and others worldwide ... [and] has involved himself in every aspect of the supply chain of terrorism—fundraising for terrorist groups, recruiting and training operatives, and planning and ordering attacks on innocents.

A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, saying in its summary of reasons that he is a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and was involved in recruiting and training camps. That requires U.N. member states to freeze his assets, impose a travel ban on him, and prevent weapons from landing in his hands. The following week, the Canadian government ordered financial institutions to look for and seize any property linked to al-Awlaki, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud singled out al-Awlaki as a "major, major factor in radicalization.” In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West’s Public Enemy No 1.

In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror." Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said “These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder.” In November 2010, YouTube removed from its site some of the hundreds of videos featuring al-Awlaki calls to ''jihad''.

Al-Awlaki was charged ''in absentia'' in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges as part of a trial against another man, Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing a Frenchman, also saying that al-Awlaki corresponded with Assem for months, encouraging him to kill foreigners. The prosecutor said:

Yesterday a regular visitor of bars and discotheques in America ... Awlaki today has become the catalyst for shedding the blood of foreigners and security forces. He was chosen by Al-Qaeda to be the lead in many of their criminal operations in Yemen. Awlaki is a figure prone to evil devoid of any conscience, religion, or law.

A lawyer for al-Awlaki denied he was linked to the Frenchman's murder. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught "dead or alive".

In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims around the world to kill Americans “without hesitation”, and overthrow Arab leaders. He said that no ''fatwa'' (special clerical ruling) is required to kill Americans: “Don’t consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn’t require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils.” That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department’s Counterterrorism Division called him "the most dangerous man in the world."

Targeted killing and lawsuit against the U.S.

In July 2010, his father, Nasser al-Aulaqi, contracted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to represent his son in a lawsuit which sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said:

the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn’t have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we’ll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow.

Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4.

On August 30, the groups filed a "targeted killing" lawsuit (Case 1:10-cv-01469-JDB), naming U.S. President Barack Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be "targeted for death."

On November 15, 2010, Karima Bennoune, a member of the board of trustees of CCR as well as an international law professor and human rights lawyer of Muslim heritage, criticized CCR's decision to represent ''pro bono'' the interests of al-Awlaki in the lawsuit. While referring to the U.S. policy as a violation of international law, and saying she opposed it, she noted that al-Awlaki himself is calling for assassinations as he is at large. Of the belief that it is wrong to defend the principle that assassinations are wrong "by standing silently next to an advocate of assassinations", she urged CCR to find other ways to challenge the policy without associating with al-Awlaki. The director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who was approached by the CCR for advice on al-Awlaki, said:

I have considerable respect for CCR. But in this case they have made a serious error of ethical judgment. Does a highly respected organisation, founded in the midst of historic struggles for civil rights and racial justice, now wish to be perceived by some as al-Qaida's legal team? Can you fight extra-judicial assassinations by standing alongside someone who advocates extra-judicial assassinations?

Also, five Algerian non-governmental organizations sent CCR a strongly worded letter of dismay regarding their representation of al-Awlaki's interests.

On December 8, 2010, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.

On May 5, 2011 the U.S. tried to kill Anwar Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone onto a car in Yemen but Awlaki survived the attempted killing.

Works

The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation says Al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in straight-forward English enables him to be a key player in inciting English-speaking Muslims to commit terrorist acts. As al-Awlaki himself wrote in ''44 Ways to Support Jihad'':

Most of the ''Jihad'' literature is available only in Arabic and publishers are not willing to take the risk of translating it. The only ones who are spending the time and money translating ''Jihad'' literature are the Western intelligence services ... and too bad, they would not be willing to share it with you.

Written works

''44 Ways to Support Jihad''—Essay (January 2009)—A practical step-by-step guide to pursuing or supporting ''jihad''. Writes: "The hatred of ''kuffar'' [those who reject Islam] is a central element of our military creed," and asserts that all Muslims must participate in ''Jihad'' in person, by funding it, or by writing. Says all Muslims must remain physically fit, and train with firearms "to be ready for the battlefield." Considered a key text for al-Qaeda members. Al-Awlaki has also written for ''Jihad Recollections'', an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media. ''Allah is Preparing Us for Victory'' – short book (2009).

Lectures

'' Lectures'' on the book ''Constants on the Path of Jihad'' by Yousef Al-Ayyiri—concerns leaderless ''jihad''. Numerous lectures have been posted to YouTube on various channels such as this and this A U.K. government analysis of YouTube in 2009 found 1,910 videos of his videos, one of which had been viewed 164,420 times.

''The Battle of Hearts and Minds''

''The Dust Will Never Settle Down''

''Dreams & Interpretations''

''The Hereafter''—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions

''Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period''—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions

''Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period''—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions

''Lives of the Prophets (AS)''—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions

''Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times''—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions

''Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times''—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions

''25 Promises from Allah to the Believer''—2 CDs—Noor Productions

''Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)''—2 CDs—Noor Productions

''Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah''—2 CDs—Noor Productions

''Stories from Hadith''—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education ("CIIE")

''Hellfire & The Day of Judgment''—CD—CIIE

''Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)''—CD—CIIE

''Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities''—CD—CIIE

''Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)''—CD—CIIE

''Understanding the Quran''—CD—CIIE

''Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority'''—CD—CIIE

''Virtues of the Sahabah''—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation

References

External links

Internet Archive of anwar-alawlaki.com

PBS, October 30, 2001">"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki," PBS, October 30, 2001

Ragavan, Chitra, "The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel," ''US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004

"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemini-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan," The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009

Muhabbat ul Deen Extensive MP3 Audio archive of al-Awlaki lectures

Anwar al-Awlaki video conferences recordings and statements

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1971 births Category:20th-century imams Category:21st-century imams Category:Abdullah Yusuf Azzam Category:Al-Qaeda propagandists Category:American al-Qaeda members Category:American imams Category:American Islamists Category:American Muslims Category:American people of Yemeni descent Category:Anwar al-Awlaki Category:Colorado State University alumni Category:George Washington University alumni Category:Living people Category:Muslim activists Category:People associated with the September 11 attacks Category:People from Las Cruces, New Mexico Category:People investigated on charges of terrorism Category:San Diego State University alumni Category:Yemeni imams Category:Yemeni people Category:Yemeni al-Qaeda members Category:Yemeni Muslims Category:Islamic terrorism Category:Islamism Category:Islam-related controversies Category:People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee

ar:أنور العولقي de:Anwar al-Awlaki fr:Anwar al-Aulaqi he:אנוואר אל-אוולקי ms:Anwar al-Awlaki nl:Anwar al-Awlaki ja:アンワル・アウラキ no:Anwar al-Awlaki ru:Анвар аль-Авлаки fi:Anwar al-Awlaki

Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Name	Basil II (Βασίλειος Β' ο Βουλγαροκτόνος)
Title	Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign	Nominally from 960 to 976(co-emperor with his father until 963, Nikephoros II until 969, John I Tzimiskes until 976).Effectively 10 January 976 –15 December 1025()(65 years nominally)
Predecessor	John I Tzimiskes
Successor	Constantine VIII
Dynasty	Macedonian dynasty
Father	Romanos II
Mother	Theophano
Death date	(aged 67)

Basil II (, ''Basileios II''; 958 – December 15, 1025), known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.

The first part of his long reign was dominated by civil war against powerful generals from the Anatolian aristocracy. Following their submission, Basil oversaw the stabilization and expansion of the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontier, and above all, the final and complete subjugation of Bulgaria, the Empire's foremost European foe, after a prolonged struggle. For this he was nicknamed by later authors as "the Bulgar-slayer" (, ''Boulgaroktonos''), by which he is popularly known. At his death, the Empire stretched from Southern Italy to the Caucasus and from the Danube to the borders of Palestine, its greatest territorial extent since the Muslim conquests, four centuries earlier.

Despite near-constant warfare, Basil also showed himself a capable administrator, reducing the power of the great land-owning families who dominated the Empire's administration and military, and filling the Empire's treasury. Of far-reaching importance was Basil's decision to offer the hand of his sister Anna to Vladimir I of Kiev in exchange for military support, which led to the Christianization of the Kievan Rus', and the incorporation of Russia within the Byzantine cultural sphere.

Birth and childhood

Basil was the son of Emperor Romanos II and Empress Theophano, whose family was of Laconian Greek origin originating in the Peloponnesian region of Laconia, possibly from the city of Sparta. In 960, he was associated on the throne by his father, but the latter died in 963, when Basil was only five years old. Because he and his brother, the future Emperor Constantine VIII (ruled 1025–1028), were too young to reign in their own right, Basil's mother Theophano married one of Romanos' leading generals, who took the throne as the Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas several months later in 963. Nikephoros was murdered in 969 by his nephew John I Tzimisces, who then became emperor and reigned for seven years. Finally, when John died on January 10, 976, Basil II took the throne as senior emperor.

Asian rebellions and alliance with Rus'

Basil was a brave soldier and a superb horseman; he was to prove himself a strong ruler and an able general. He did not at first display the full extent of his energy. In the early years of his reign, the administration remained in the hands of the eunuch Basil Lekapenos (an illegitimate son of Emperor Romanos I), president of the senate, a wily and gifted man, who hoped that the young emperors would be his puppets. Basil waited and watched without interfering, and devoted himself to learning the details of administrative business and instructing himself in military science.

Even though Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes were brilliant military commanders, both had proven to be lax administrators. Towards the end of his reign John had belatedly planned to curb the power of the great landowners, and his death, coming soon after his speaking out against them, led to rumours that he had been poisoned by Basil Lekapenos, who had acquired vast estates illegally and feared an investigation and punishment.

As a result of the failures of his immediate predecessors, Basil II found himself with a serious problem at the very outset of his effective reign as two members of the wealthy military elite of Anatolia, Bardas Skleros and Bardas Phokas, had sufficient means to undertake open rebellion against central authority. The chief motive of these men, both of whom were experienced generals, was that they wished to assume the imperial position that Nikephoros II and John I had held, and thus return Basil to the role of impotent cypher. Basil, showing the penchant for ruthlessness that would become his trademark, took the field himself and suppressed the rebellions of both Skleros (979) and Phokas (989)

These rebellions had a profound effect on Basil's outlook and methods of governance. The historian Psellus describes the defeated Bardas Skleros giving Basil the following advice: "Cut down the governors who become over-proud. Let no generals on campaign have too many resources. Exhaust them with unjust exactions, to keep them busied with their own affairs. Admit no woman to the imperial councils. Be accessible to no one. Share with few your most intimate plans." Basil, it would appear, took this advice very much to heart.

In order to defeat these dangerous revolts, Basil formed an alliance with Prince Vladimir I of Kiev, who in 988 CE had captured Chersonesos, the main imperial base in the Crimea. Vladimir offered to evacuate Chersonesos and to supply 6,000 of his soldiers as reinforcements to Basil. In exchange he demanded to be married to Basil's younger sister Anna (963–1011). At first, Basil hesitated. The Byzantines viewed all the nations of Northern Europe, be they Franks or Slavs, as barbarians. Anna herself objected to marrying a barbarian ruler, as such a marriage would have no precedence in imperial annals.

Vladimir had conducted long-running research into different religions, including sending delegates to various countries. Marriage was not his primary reason for choosing the Orthodox religion. When Vladimir promised to baptize himself and to convert his people to Christianity, Basil finally agreed. Vladimir and Anna were married in the Crimea in 989. The Rus' recruitments were instrumental in ending the rebellion, and they were later organized into the Varangian Guard. This marriage had important long-term implications, marking the beginning of the process by which the Grand Duchy of Moscow many centuries later would proclaim itself "The Third Rome" and claim the political and cultural heritage of the Byzantine Empire.

The fall of Basil Lekapenos followed the rebellions. He was accused of plotting with the rebels and punished with exile and the confiscation of his enormous property. Seeking to protect the lower and middle classes, Basil II made ruthless war upon the system of immense estates which had grown up in Asia Minor and which his predecessor, Romanos I, had endeavored to check.

Campaigns against the Arabs

Having put an end to the internal strife, Basil II then turned his attention to the Empire's other enemies. The Byzantine civil wars had weakened the Empire's position in the east and the gains of Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes came close to being lost to the Fatimids. Following two heavy defeats of the ''doux'' of Antioch, Michael Bourtzes, in 992 and 994, Aleppo was being besieged and Antioch was threatened by the enemy. In 995 Basil II, with an army of 40,000 men (with 80,000 mules), launched a campaign against the Fatimids, relieving Aleppo, taking over the Orontes valley, and raiding further south, sacking all of the cities from Emesa to Tripoli.

Although he did not have sufficient forces to drive into Palestine and reclaim Jerusalem, his victories did restore much of Syria to the Empire. No emperor since Heraclius had been able to hold these lands for any length of time, and they remained part of the Empire for the next 75 years.

Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria

Basil also wanted to restore to the Empire territories that it had long lost. At the start of the second millennium, he took on his greatest adversary, Samuel of Bulgaria. Bulgaria had been partly subjugated by John I Tzimiskes, but parts of the country had remained outside Byzantine control, under the leadership of Samuel and his brothers.

Since the Bulgars had been raiding Byzantine lands since 976, the Byzantine government sought to cause dissension amongst them by first allowing the escape of their captive emperor Boris II of Bulgaria.

This having failed, Basil used a respite from his conflict with the nobility to lead an army of 30,000 men into Bulgaria and besiege Sredets (Sofia) in 986. Taking losses and worried about the loyalty of some of his governors, Basil lifted the siege and headed back for Thrace but fell into an ambush and suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of the Gates of Trajan.

Basil escaped with the help of his Varangian Guard and attempted to make up his losses by turning Samuel's brother Aaron against him. Aaron was tempted with Basil's offer of his own sister Anna in marriage (the same Anna wed to Vladimir I of Kiev, two years later), but the negotiations failed when Aaron discovered that the bride he was sent was a fake.

By 987 Aaron had been eliminated by Samuel, and Basil was busy fighting both Skleros and Phokas in Asia Minor. Although the titular emperor Roman of Bulgaria was captured in 991, Basil lost Moesia to the Bulgarians.

In 992, Basil II concluded a treaty with Pietro Orseolo II by the terms that Venice's custom duties in Constantinople would be reduced from 30 ''nomismata'' to 17 ''nomismata'' in return for the Venetians agreeing to transport Byzantine troops to southern Italy in times of war.

In the years of Basil's distraction with internal rebellions and recovering the military situation on his eastern frontier Samuel had extended his rule from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea, recovering most of the lands which had been Bulgarian before the invasion of Svyatoslav I of Kiev. He also conducted damaging raids into Byzantine territory as far as central Greece. The turning of the tide of the conflict occurred in 996 when the Byzantine general Nikephoros Ouranos inflicted a crushing defeat on a raiding Bulgarian army at a battle on the River Spercheios (Sperchius) in Thessaly. Samuel and his son Gabriel were lucky to escape capture.

From 1000, Basil II was free to focus on a war of outright conquest against Bulgaria, a war he prosecuted with grinding persistence and strategic insight. In 1000 the Byzantine generals Nikephoros Xiphias and Theodorokan took the old Bulgarian capital of Great Preslav, and the towns of Lesser Preslav and Pliskova. In 1001 Basil himself, his army operating from Thessalonica, was able to regain control of Vodena, Verrhoia and Servia. The following year Basil based his army in Philippopolis and occupied the length of the military road from the western Haemus Mountains to the Danube, thereby cutting off Samuel's communications between his Macedonian heartland and Moesia. Following up this success he laid siege to Vidin, which eventually fell following a prolonged resistance. Samuel reacted to the Byzantine campaign with a daring stroke; he launched a large-scale raid into the heart of Byzantine Thrace and surprised the major city of Adrianople.

On returning homeward with his extensive plunder Samuel was intercepted near the town of Skopje by a Byzantine army commanded by the emperor. Basil's forces stormed the Bulgarian camp, inflicting a severe defeat on the Bulgarians and recovering the plunder of Adrianople. Skopje surrendered shortly after the battle; its governor, Romanos, was treated with overt kindness by the Emperor. In 1005, the governor of Durazzo, Ashot Taronites, surrendered his city to the Byzantines. The defection of Durazzo to the Byzantines completed the isolation of Samuel's core territories in the highlands of western Macedonia. Samuel was forced into an almost entirely defensive stance and he extensively fortified the passes and routes from the Byzantine held coastlands and valleys into the territory remaining in his possession. During the next few years, the Byzantine offensive slowed and no significant gains were made, though in 1009 an attempt by the Bulgarians to counterattack was defeated at the Battle of Kreta, which was fought to the east of Thessalonica.

In 1014 Basil was ready to launch a campaign aimed at destroying Bulgarian resistance. On July 29, 1014, Basil II and his general Nikephoros Xiphias outmanoeuvred the Bulgarian army, which was defending one of the fortified passes, in the Battle of Kleidion. Samuel avoided capture only through the valour of his son Gabriel. Having crushed the Bulgarians, Basil was said to have captured 15,000 prisoners and blinded 99 of every 100 men, leaving 150 one-eyed men to lead them back to their ruler. Samuel was physically struck down by the dreadful apparition of his blinded army, and he died two days later after suffering a stroke. Although the extent of Basil's mistreatment of the Bulgarian prisoners may have been exaggerated, this incident helped to give rise to Basil's nickname of ''Boulgaroktonos,'' "the Bulgar-slayer", in later tradition.

Bulgaria fought on for four more years, its resistance fired by Basil's cruelty, but it finally submitted in 1018. This submission was the result of continued military pressure and a successful diplomatic campaign aimed at dividing and suborning the Bulgarian leadership. This victory over the Bulgarians, and the later submission of the Serbs, fulfilled one of Basil's goals, as the Empire regained its ancient Danubian frontier for the first time in 400 years. Before returning to Constantinople, Basil II celebrated his triumph in Athens. Basil showed considerable statesmanship in his treatment of the defeated Bulgarians; he gave many former Bulgarian leaders court titles, positions in provincial administration, and high commands in the army. In this way he sought to absorb the Bulgarian elite into Byzantine society. Bulgaria did not have a monetary economy to the same extent as was found in Byzantium, and Basil made the wise decision to accept Bulgarian taxes in kind. Basil's successors reversed this policy; a decision which led to considerable Bulgarian discontent, and rebellion, later in the 11th century.

Khazar campaign

Although the power of the Khazar Khaganate had been broken by the Kievan Rus' in the 960s, the Byzantines had not been able to fully exploit the power vacuum and restore their dominion over the Crimea and other areas around the Black Sea.

In 1016, Byzantine armies, in conjunction with Mstislav of Chernigov, attacked the Crimea, much of which had fallen under the sway of the Khazar successor kingdom of George Tzoul, based at Kerch. Kedrenos reports that George Tzoul was captured and the Khazar successor-state was destroyed. Subsequently the Byzantines occupied the southern Crimea.

Later years

Basil II returned in triumph to Constantinople, then promptly went east and attacked the Georgian ruler in Tayk, and later secured the annexation of the sub-kingdoms of Armenia (and a promise to have its capital and surrounding regions to be willed to Byzantium following the death of its king Hovhannes-Smbat). Basil created in those highlands a strongly fortified frontier, which, if his successors had been capable, should have proved an effective barrier against the invasions of the Seljuk Turks.

In the meantime, other Byzantine forces restored much of Southern Italy, lost over the previous 150 years, to the Empire's control. When Basil finally died on December 15, 1025, he was planning a military expedition to recover the island of Sicily.

Basil was to be buried in the last sarcophagus available in the rotunda of Constantine I in the Church of the Holy Apostles. However, he later asked his brother and successor Constantine VIII to be buried in the Church of St. John the Theologian (i.e. the Evangelist), at the Hebdomon Palace complex, outside the walls of Constantinople. The epitaph on the tomb celebrated Basil's campaigns and victories. During the pillage of 1204, Basil's grave was ravaged by the invading Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade.

Assessment

Basil was a stocky man of less than average stature who, nevertheless, cut a majestic figure on horseback. He had light blue eyes and strongly arched eyebrows; in later life his beard became scant but his sidewhiskers were luxuriant and he had a habit of rolling his whiskers between his fingers when deep in thought or angry. He was not a fluent speaker and had a loud laugh which convulsed his whole frame. As a mature man he had ascetic tastes, and cared little for the pomp and ceremony of the imperial court, and typically held court dressed in military regalia. Still, he was a capable administrator, who, uniquely among the soldier-emperors, left a full treasury upon his death. Basil despised literary culture and affected an utter scorn for the learned classes of Byzantium; however, numerous orators and philosophers were active during his reign.

He was worshipped by his army, as he spent most of his reign campaigning with them instead of sending orders from the distant palaces of Constantinople, as had most of his predecessors. He lived the life of a soldier to the point of eating the same daily rations as any other member of the army. He also took the children of deceased officers of his army under his protection, and offered them shelter, food and education. Many of them later became his soldiers and officers, and came to think of him as a father.

Besides being called the "Father of the Army", he was also popular with country farmers. This class produced most of his army's supplies and soldiers. To assure that this continued, Basil's laws protected small agrarian property and lowered their taxes. His reign was considered an era of relative prosperity for the class, despite the almost constant wars. On the other hand, Basil increased the taxes of the nobility and the church and looked to decrease their power and wealth. Though understandably unpopular with them, neither of them had the power to effectively oppose the army-supported Emperor.

Basil never married or had children. As a young man he was a womanizer, but when he became emperor, he chose to devote himself to the duties of state. Psellus ascribes Basil's radical change from a dissolute youth to a grim autocrat to the circumstances of the rebellions of Bardas Skleros and Bardas Phokas. Unfortunately, Basil's asceticism meant that he was succeeded by his brother and his family, who proved to be ineffective rulers. Nevertheless, 50 years of prosperity and intellectual growth followed because the funds of state were full, the borders were not in danger from exterior intruders, and the empire remained the most powerful political entity of the Middle Ages. Also, under Basil II, the Byzantine Empire probably had a population of about 18 million people. By AD 1025, Basil II (with an annual revenue of 7,000,000 ''nomismata'') was able to amass 14,400,000 ''nomismata'' (or 200,000 pounds of gold) for the imperial treasury due to his prudent management.

In literature

During the 20th century in Greece, interest in the prominent emperor led to a number of biographies and historical novels about him. Arguably the most popular is ''Basil Bulgaroktonus'' (1964) by historical fiction writer Kostas Kyriazis (b. 1920). Written as a sequel to his previous work ''Theophano'' (1963), focusing on Basil's mother, it examines Basil's life from childhood till his death at an advanced age, through the eyes of three fictional narrators. It has been continuously reprinted since 1964.

For his part, commentator Alexander Kiossev, wrote in "Understanding the Balkans: "The hero of one nation might be the villain of its neighbour (...) The Byzantine emperor Basil the Murderer (sic) of Bulgarians, a crucial figure in the Greek pantheon of heroes, is no less important as a subject of hatred for our [Bulgarian] national mythology ".

Penelope Delta's second novel, ''Ton Kairo tou Voulgaroktonou'' (''In the Years of the Bulgar-Slayer''), is also set during the reign of Basil II. It was inspired by correspondance with the historian Gustave Schlumberger, a renowned specialist on the Byzantine Empire, and published in the early years of the 20th Century, a time when the Struggle for Macedonia once again set Greeks and Bulgarians in bitter enmity with each other.

Ion Dragoumis, who was Delta's lover and was deeply involved in that struggle, in 1907 published the book ''Martyron kai Iroon Aima'' (Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Blood), which was full of resentment towards everything Bulgarian. He urges Greeks to follow the example of Basil II: "(...)Instead of blinding so many people, Basil should have better killed them instead. On one hand these people would not suffer as eyeless survivors, on the other the sheer number of Bulgarians would have diminished by 15 000, which is something very useful." Later in the same book, Dragoumis foresaw the appearance of "new Basils" who would "cross the entire country and will look for Bulgarians in mountains, caves, villages and forests and will make them flee in refuge or kill them".

Rosemary Sutcliff's 1976 historical fiction novel ''Blood Feud'' depicts Basil II from the point of view of a member of his recently created Varangian Guard.

References

Bibliography

;Primary sources:

Michael Psellus, ''Chronographia'', also published under the title ''Fourteen Byzantine Rulers,'' ed. E.R.A. Sewter. London 1953. [English translation, Full online text

Nestor, ''The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text,'', Samuel Hazzard Cross, Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor, Published by Mediaeval Academy of America, 1953

;Secondary sources:

Penelope Delta, ''The Age of the Bulgar-slayer'' (In Greek), 1911, ESTIA Publishing Co

George Finlay, (1856), ''History of the Byzantine Empire from DCCXVI to MLVII'', 2nd Edition, Published by W. Blackwood.

External links

A more detailed profile of the Emperor:http://www.roman-emperors.org/basilii.htm

Category:Macedonian dynasty Category:Porphyrogenitos Category:958 births Category:1025 deaths Category:10th-century Byzantine emperors Category:11th-century Byzantine emperors Category:Orthodox monarchs Category:Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars

ar:باسيل الثاني an:Basilio II bg:Василий ІІ Българоубиец ca:Basili II cv:II-мĕш Василий (Виcанти императорĕ) cs:Basileios II. Bulgaroktonos cy:Basileios II de:Basileios II. el:Βασίλειος Β' es:Basilio II eo:Basileios la 2-a Bulgaroktonos fa:باسیل دوم fr:Basile II gl:Basilio II ko:바실리우스 2세 hy:Վասիլ II Բուլղարասպան hr:Bazilije II. id:Basil II it:Basilio II di Bisanzio he:בסיליוס השני בולגרוקטונוס, קיסר האימפריה הביזנטית la:Basilius II Bulgaroctonus lt:Bazilijus II Bulgarmušis hu:II. Baszileiosz bizánci császár mk:Василиј II nl:Basileios II Boulgaroktonos ja:バシレイオス2世 pl:Bazyli II Bułgarobójca pt:Basílio II ro:Vasile al II-lea al Bizanțului ru:Василий II (византийский император) simple:Basil II sk:Basileios II. sr:Василије II Бугароубица sh:Bazilije II. Bugaroubojica fi:Basileios II sv:Basileios II (bysantinsk kejsare) tr:II. Basileios uk:Василій II Болгаробійця vi:Basileios II zh:巴西尔二世