The Battle of Manzikert 1071 | Part One: Wolves At The Door

*Transcript is autogenerated and may contain errors*

Hello and welcome back to Anthology of Heroes, a podcast sharing stories of epic figures and
events that changed the course of history. Anthology of Heroes is part of the Evergreen
podcast network and I'm your host Elliot Gates. Not too long ago I came across this quote that I
thought was really thought provoking. I'm paraphrasing but the gist of the message was that
we're currently living in one of the only periods in history where the Asian step isn't important.
For anyone unaware the Asian step is the planes that make up Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
and Mongolia. They're not exactly tourist hotspots are they? This sleepy region of the world flies
under the radar in national news. We don't really hear much about what goes on there and when we do
it's usually a special interest story about some weird Soviet-esque dictator's cult of personality.
But throughout world history this was not the norm. Since the beginning of recorded history the
sprawling grass plains of Central Asia have been home to some of the wildest, most terrifying
troublemakers the world has ever known. Men who learnt to ride a horse before they could walk and
draw a bow before lacing their shoes. When China was first unified in the third century BC one of
the first things the emperor did was build the Great Wall of China to keep out the people he
referred to as the fierce slaves the Zhongnu. Eight hundred years later the mighty emperor of
Rome trembled behind his walls as the scourge of god Attila the Hun burned, raped and looted his
way through the empire. In 1258 AD when the prideful Abbasid Caliph dared to defy the grandson of
Chinggis Khan he got a warning in the form of a letter that read quote I will not leave a single
person alive in your country I will turn your city lands and empire into flames. Listen carefully
to my advice if you refuse to accept it I will show you the meaning of the will of god. Refuse he
did and Baghdad one of the most beautiful cities in the Islamic world was reduced to a smoking ruin.
The Zhongnu the Mongols the Huns all these people have one thing in common they all began life on
the steplands of West Asia this area was the wild west a lawless wasteland where only the strongest
and meanest lived long enough to carry on their bloodline its inhabitants were too wild to conquer
but too dangerous to ignore and so every king sa or emperor heeded the same warning never take your
eyes off the step because all it took was one man with a bit of charisma and a few loyal soldiers
to convince the tribes to stop killing each other and unite and when that happened empires crumbled
in this series we're going to see exactly that today that unlucky civilization is the eastern
roman empire sometimes called Byzantium in this episode we're journeying back to the 11th century
when the roman empire was riding high its old rival the Abbasid Caliphate had been in decline
and slowly but surely it was reconquering many of the provinces lost to Islam centuries ago
but as the tendrils of Rome crept west another power moved east a dynasty of Turkic step warriors
called the Seljuks the roman empire had fought its share of step warriors but none with the kind of
enterprising mindset these seljuks had battle after battle was lost to them and those hard
one gains looked like they were as good as gone not to be deterred a brave but rather unlucky
emperor romanus the fourth would raise an army intent on sending these scruffy Turkmen back to
asia for good on a little known plane in western Anatolia modern turkey the two armies would clash
and result in what historian sir steven rusman called the most decisive disaster in Byzantine
history he is not being overly dramatic the consequences of this battle will haunt every
emperor from this point onwards until the fall of the roman empire around 300 or so years later
you're about to hear the story of one of the most decisive battles in history
widely celebrated in turkey Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan and just as widely mourned in Greece
as the moment their great empire had its kneecaps broken there are a few battles we've covered that
have had as many long lasting consequences as the battle of manzikert if this battle had gone another
way the sky's the limit in terms of what could have happened perhaps Greece lives on as a european
superpower into the present day maybe islam doesn't make its way down into europe or spread into
indonesia modern turkey maybe it doesn't even exist who knows and if you've ever wondered why the
roman empire fell the battle of manzikert in 1071 is where all the dominoes began to fall
this is going to be a two-part series this episode is going to be a lead up to the battle
we're going to follow emperor Constantine the ninth who ruled the roman empire from 1042 to 1055 AD
during one of the most tumultuous periods in the empire's history with normans in the east
patchnegs in the north and selgics in the west along with internal rebellions
bankruptcy and a major religious schism the emperor will be facing crises at every turn
while you're listening please remember to give the show a five-star review on apple podcast or
spotify and afterwards check out our website and patreon both links are in the bio let's get started
on the 11th of june 1042 the people of constantanople got their first glimpse at the new emperor
the streets bustled with a lively crowd merchants mingled with laborers and catholics with jews
as the royal entourage made its way towards the towering aya sofia church waving and grinning
was their new ruler their autocrat their augustus emperor Constantine the ninth towering and lean
the 40 year old emperor's strawberry blonde hair blew carelessly in the wind as he beamed at the
crowd spectators pointed out that lights seemed to radiate from him and others whispered about his
uncanny resemblance to the mythical greek figure achilles whatever way you cut it the emperor was
undeniably an incredibly handsome man and he knew it too his chiseled jaw and silver tongue had
led many wealthy dowagers to forsake their marriage vows only a few weeks back he was stuck in exile
on the greek island of lesbos banished for catching the eye of the roman empress zoe unable to keep
his wife and this serial womanizer apart the then emperor had banished him now that emperor was dead
and zoe unable to forget Constantine had summoned him back to the capital and married him before a
husband's body was even cold these were strange times in rome but even stranger was the situation
Constantine had married into he was entering the imperial palace as a threesome there was now one
emperor and two empresses his new wife zoe had a younger sister theodora and wouldn't you know
it the two sisters despised each other zoe the older and prettier was an old hand at court politics
she'd been a choice bride back in her youth and realizing a woman's shelf life was tied to a beauty
had created her own perfumes and creams to keep her looking young she was now in her 60s but with
a long blonde hair and flawless complexion the empress looked not a day over 40 shrewd and
determined zoe had outplayed and outlived many empress and courtesans who underestimated what
a woman was capable of Constantine was now the third emperor she'd been wed to her younger sister
theodora was a different story raised in zoe's shadow she'd grown accustomed to a quiet almost
aesthetic lifestyle she was a plain girl who really just wanted to be left alone today we'd
probably call her a spinster though the sisters were very different they shared one personality
trait neither allowed themselves to be pushed around theodora had been caught plotting to
overthrow a sister and just like a disney film had been locked away in some far off tower zoe
hoping to never hear from her again but the citizens of eastern rome and the senate never
forgot theodora the younger sisters quiet yet forceful personality had made her many friends
in high society so a decade later when zoe found herself alone on the throne the roaring crowds of
rome wanted no insisted theodora return and the two sisters ruled jointly zoe would have begged
pleaded with the senate anything but that but the people had spoken and theodora who had grown
accustomed to her life as a nun resisted vehemently as she was dragged back to the capital she had to
be physically restrained as a nun's habit was torn off and the imperial purple dress forced over
her head zoe desperate to reduce the power of her sister back at the capital quickly began
the hunt for a new husband and that is how constant in the ninth came to be waving and
smiling at the crowd beneath his strong jawline and muscular frame an unfamiliar sense of
apprehension nor did him he had no experience in government nor military matters was he up to
the task of running an empire he was right to be nervous little did he know he was taking
the reins at one of the most turbulent periods in the empire's long history the new emperor's
first challenge was factionalism the two sisters had been there so long that factions had calcified
around them courtesans were split between team zoe or team theodora and for the government
to function everyone needed to be pulling in one direction the emperor charismatic and generous
ease tensions wherever he could letting his checkbook do the talking quickly became clear
that he was no cheapskate the treasury opened and money flowed out like water to celebrate
his coronation the emperor gave expensive gifts to anyone and everyone a subtle way to secure
support for a later day this was not unusual in itself part of the reason everyone looked forward
to a coronation was thanks to the money they were expecting but Constantine really stepped things up
as far as gifts when money was good but titles for what court aristocrats craved above all else
there were all kinds of titles and while many had real duties attached to them others were
honorific the doorkeeper the hand washer or the inkkeeper there weren't much duties involved
in these but they came with a yearly salary because they effectively gave passive income
they were highly sought after and could be sold to aristocrats for a sizeable fee
it was a trade-off the empire's operating cost rose in exchange for immediate cash and
political loyalty but in many cases Constantine the ninth waived the upfront cost to acquire these
titles he simplified the deal if you support me i'll pay you each year this quickly made him
lots of allies but was financially very reckless the impure debt list grew exponentially and someone
maybe not him but an emperor further down the line would have to pay the piper following this
extensive spending spree Constantine seemed to assume his position was secure but the new
emperor forgot it wasn't just the rich that needed to be placated just two years into his reign a
single stupid decision almost unraveled everything Constantine had been married twice before zoe
and based on what we know about him it's a pretty safe bet to imagine he probably wasn't faithful
for a provincial bureaucrat in the outer regions an extra marital affair probably wouldn't incite
riots in the streets but when you were the emperor it was a different story in 1044 Constantine moved
another woman into the imperial palace this mistress of his seems to be in around since the
beginning but moving her into the palace and giving her an allowance well that was really
stepping things up wasn't it there were now three empresses living with him and strangers
that may seem his wife zoe didn't seem to mind in fact the two women became friends and for a
brief blissful moment of time there was finally peace in the imperial palace a source claims
the feud between zoe and theodora even calmed down and the four of them the mistress the two
sisters and Constantine quote settled into relax pursue their hobbies and have a good time
Constantine's marital affair may not have bothered the two sisters but the public were incensed
the people of Constantine had quite a unique relation with their monarch one that wasn't
really replicated anywhere else in the world Constantine was one of the most populous and
highly urbanized cities in the world at the time consequently its citizens had a sense of familiarity
with their monarchs who were regularly seen going about their business in the city as a result
citizens could and did harangue the emperor as he passed them in the street they would shout out to
him whether to cheer to complain or anything in between after too many ails at the chariot races
teasing chance could quickly spiral into all-out riots and that's exactly what happened on the
9th of March 1044 flanked by a squad of bodyguards the emperor left the safety of the palace and
marched out into the streets of constantanople perhaps from the beginning he knew something
wasn't right the citizens looked at him sideways and whispered as his entourage passed the people
were angry they hated his new mistress and the special treatment she'd received a rumor had
also spread that the two of them were planning to poison their beloved zoe and theodora as the
emperor's retinue passed a few men began to boo and jeer a small crowd formed following the monarch
the emperor kicked the spurs into his horses but around every corner there seemed to be more people
a mob growing angry by the minute the emperor's guards beat a few of them and carved a path through
but still the mass grew and soon blocked the emperor's path completely rocks flew and the
energy of the crowd grew darker before he knew what was happening the emperor was cornered
and the crowd began to push and heckle his guards as they formed up around him soon their lines buckled
under the weight of the crowd in the commotion bakers and laborers clambered over the shields and
spears of his men shouting and hurling rocks at the emperor grabbing his purple robes in a fury
ready to tear him apart constantine had finally found himself in a situation that neither his
good looks nor his charisma could get him out of just as the crowd got the hands on him zoe hearing
the commotion rushed to the viewing window outside the palace and talked the crowd down
insisting that there was no truth to the rumor that she and her sister were being poisoned
the crowd dispersed slowly and the badly shaken emperor breathed a sigh of relief
little did he know his troubles were just beginning
zoe and theodora weren't just crowd favorites because of how long they'd been around
through the veins of these forceful women ran old blood these sisters were the last of the
masodonian dynasty founded by a peasant in the ninth century the masodonian dynasty were an
unbroken chain of emperors and emperors that had slowly reversed the muslim conquest of Muhammad
and his successors there had been setbacks big ones are that but through this family over the
centuries the roman empire was recovering among the masodonian emperors and all roman emperors
one figure emerged as the epitome of leadership a figure so exceptional that none could surpass him
emperor basil the second many of the policies and decisions that basil put in place have a
direct impact on our story so it's important to spend a few minutes getting to know him
basil the second ascended to the throne about 70 years prior to this point and began a transformative
period in Byzantine history government reforms conquest and above all glory basil was an astute
man he went against the grain of almost everything it was to be a Byzantine he hated luxuries and
ceremonies he hated music and if science couldn't make his arrows fly faster or his armor harder
he was interested he had no sexual interest in women or men and conversations with him were short
and gruff there was only one thing basil cared about and that was rome he had no interests beyond
expanding his empire and restoring glory to rome when basil took the throne the empire was besieged
by external threats and internal discord and he quickly emerged as a strong and incorruptible force
and after training the recruits himself he soon extended roman influence far beyond its borders
and bought roman boots to areas that had been lost for centuries loved by his army who saw him as
one of their own basil began the custom of importing viking soldiers for imperial service these Nordic
shock troopers would go on to serve the empire for many centuries riding off the coattails his
success abroad he took aim at the mega rich the landowners and the court elites who for centuries
had been sucking the imperial tea dry some weren't willing to accept this but always two steps ahead
basil mauled any rebel leaders before they could gain momentum emperor basil II reigned for just
shy of 50 years he is one of the longest serving monarchs in all history and was one of the greatest
emperors in all of roman history as his body was laid to rest the wealth and conquest he left behind
were vast land barrens were neutered and caught rivals cowering in the shadows it was a rain that
could never and would never be topped this quote by john julius norwich will summarize quote no
lonely a man ever occupied the Byzantine throne and it's hardly surprising basil was an ugly
coarse dirty boorish philistine and almost pathologically mean he was in short deeply
unbizantine he cared only for the greatness of his empire no wonder that it was in his hands that
it reached its apogee it was this man who constant in the ninth had to live up to he had to prove
quickly he was more than a pretty face but since basil's death about 20 years prior crown authority
had been slowly but surely degraded power had been re concentrated into the hands of a few
wealthy families the two most prominent were the dukes family and the commemnoy family
constantine had to pay very close attention to these families because the biggest threat to a
sitting emperor was by far caught rivals external enemies may raid sack and pillage but they just
lacked the staying power to rival the oldest wealthiest and strongest christian empire on earth
but there was a sign that things were changing in the year 9 11 thousands of kilometers away in
the little northern city of paris a particularly aggressive and cunning band of vikings attacked
the city the vikings were fought off just but both defender and attacker knew they'd be back
so the french king proposed a deal he would allow these heathen vikings to permanently settle
on his northern border providing they would defend his kingdom and convert christianity
and just like that the normans literally translating as the northmen were born within a
generation or two the descendants of these original normans outgrew the little patch of land the king
had granted to them france was full but no longer confined to the frigid wastes of scandinavia the
world was their oyster they were after all vikings sailing off into the sunset in search of glory
was in their dna very quickly little bands of normans found employment at the hands of kings
across europe it's not hard to see why either they were a terrifying blend of french knights and
viking shock troopers and a few years of gentrification had done nothing to dull their edge
one story tells of a norman captain who after being told he needed to surrender walked over to
the envoy's horse padded it gently drew back his fist and punched the animal in the face so hard
that it killed it another witness describes a norman cavalry charge as quote irresistible even
just one hundred or so of these guys could be enough to turn the tide in battle their services
were in high demand and they accordingly charged a high price but there was one drawback of hiring
normans their word was certainly not their bond if their enemies offered them a higher price they'd
switch sides without a second thought and if their original employers paid them to return they'd
switch right back soon the normans were fabulously wealthy but once their campaigns came to an end
they returned home to their cramped tiny home on the french coastline there were too many people
too much money and not enough space they needed their own land and soon realized just how to get it
more often than not the normans were employed by empires powerful yes but also slow old and
usually facing many crises at once a few particularly industrious norman captains began to realize that
after their service had ended instead of returning home to normandy they could just take to the
countryside of the empire they were defending storm a local castle and just set up shop the ruler could
complain he could threaten or maybe he'd even send an army but if the normans held their nerve
for a year or two they'd usually be left alone and forgotten about in the meantime they robbed the
civilians for money extorted land tax and took overhead from town markets when they'd done this
for long enough and felt confident enough they'd request official recognition of their rule from
the same sovereign they'd stolen the land from and more often than not they'd get it it was a
strategy that was arrogant bold and completely at odds with the gentry of european society but it
worked they were in essence termites you started off with just a few of them and maybe a couple
little weird marks on the outside of your house and before you knew it the place was crawling with
them and they were almost impossible to get rid of soon tens of these little norman fiefdoms had
sprung up all over southern italy an area just barely being held on to by the roman empire
previous emperors had been extorted into paying them just to maintain the land they'd already
stolen and to keep them from harassing neighboring duchies but from the beginning Constantine seems
to have wanted to draw a line in the sand the normans were growing into a significant internal
threat and he sent out several armies led by some of his best generals to flush them out
but the normans were smarter than that as good as they were in battle a few hundred norman soldiers
could never match tens of thousands of roman soldiers so when the emperor was watching they
played by the rules they swore that they were humble vassals of the illustrious emperor who
served as bidding taxes were sent onwards to Constantinople gifts were given and loyalty was
assured a few skirmishers who fought against normans who wouldn't toe the line but Constantine's
options were limited aside from leaving behind an expensive standing army permanently in Italy
what was he to do as soon as his troops had departed the normans resumed their plundering
and by the end of 1043 roman control of the area had receded to the very edges of the heel of italy
while the norman advance into italy was gradual and calculated reports came in thick and fast of a
new power emerging on the eastern flank of the empire an area where cattle wrestling had turned
into raiding and raiding had turned into battles during the last few centuries it had been the
Shia Fatimid Caliphate that sat on the empire's eastern flank but for the past few decades it
had become clear that the Fatimid Caliphate was in terminal decline Basil II's conquests had
gobbled up the caliphate's territory from the west but another previously unknown entity ate
away at it from the east in the emperor's council room they were known by a few different names
barbarians Turkmen Mamluks but more often than not Seljuks though the Seljuks make up a core
part of the story their origins are pretty murky the Seljuks were Turkmen ethnic stepwives who
inhabited the wide open plains of central Asia many were slave soldiers men who had been captured
during raids by muslim caliphates and trained for combat the roman empire had actually fought Turkmen
on at least one occasion about 200 years back on that occasion the Turkmen fought in service of
the Islamic caliph now they fought for themselves and they fought hard their step homeland was one
big swirling battlefield where only the strongest survived Darwinism law of the jungle survival
of the fittest whatever you call it there was no room for rants on the step the Seljuks were
hardy innovative and freakishly talented warriors whose simple life meant they spent almost all
of their time riding horses and firing bows like so many other step warriors these guys were freaks
of nature with their bows they used a different type of bow to the Byzantines a bow that was
entirely step in design the composite bow the composite bow was short stout and very portable
perfect for lengthy journeys on horseback unlike the european bow which was usually crafted from
a single piece of wood the Seljuk bow was constructed from multiple layers of flexible
wood and animal horn while time consuming to create and demanding an upkeep was a small price to pay
for wielding the ancient equivalent of a desert eagle the multiple layers of wood and glue in
this bow gave it a huge amount of flex i mean you can pull one of these things back to the point
where the ends are almost touching storing up an incredible amount of energy for such a small weapon
put one of these in the hands of someone who is well almost like a trick rider in terms of skill
on horseback and you have yourself a very very deadly foe these guys would gallop in stop short
in front of the enemy lines let loose one arrow every five seconds wheel around steer the horse
with their knees and fire backward from the saddle as they retreated allegedly retaining accuracy to
around 350 yards 320 meters although Byzantine archers never matched this level of skill Byzantine
scholar and historian walter amil kegi junior states that in earlier centuries mounted horse
archers were a core element of the Byzantine army and almost wholly responsible for the empire's
earlier reconquests but over the centuries that skill set slowly dissipated and by the 10th century
it was well and truly gone emperor leo the fourth spelled it out explicitly writing in his combat
manual quote archery has been wholly neglected and fallen into disuse among the romans using bows
especially on horseback was a skill that required constant practice throughout life you couldn't
just stick a peasant on a step pony and hand him a compass and bow because of this the islamic
caliphs like the phatomans or the avicids found themselves in a situation remarkably similar
as did europe with the normans an addiction to foreign mercenaries completely reliant on lethal
foreign soldiers to fight their battles after a few centuries of taking orders and money from pompous
overindulged caliphs bands of Turkmen began to assert themselves as the power behind the caliph
the seljuks were merely the latest band of Turkmen who'd rallied and organized a few
thousand step archers into some shabby resemblance of a political entity a horde the emperor's
advisors would have called them but constantine the ninth had his own answer to these grumblings in
the east if his roman soldiers couldn't fight the seljuks he had ones that could they were called
the petchnigs the petchnigs were step warriors too at least they had been they'd been bouncing
around the roman borders near modern ukraine for the best part of 200 years early on in his rule
will constantine the ninth had defeated them disarmed them removed them from their chiefs and
scattered them across the frontiers this was the classic roman strategy conquer the barbarian
break down his cultural identity and rebuild him as a roman citizen with a barbarian edge
but that took time a generation or so at least barely a year after disarming them
constantine the ninth gathered all 15 000 petchnig warriors he paid them gave them good horses
weapons and supplies and sent them east in preparation for the seljuq invasions play one
barbarian against another another time-ordered roman strategy but as soon as the men had left
the capital their chieftains came to an obvious conclusion they had all their old warriors new
horses new armor why go east and fight people they had no quarrel with maybe it was time for
round two with the romans and so spurring their horses back into the bosphorus river the petchnig
swung back and headed north constantine the ninth now had three wars to fight at once
by the seventh year of his reign constantine the ninth faced a slew of problems his health was
failing riddled with gout the tall handsome emperor now winced with every step he took
yet more urgent than his personal health was his empire that seemed to be collapsing around him
with each day the normans pushed his roman soldiers closer and closer to the heel of
italy his garrisons begged for reinforcements but he had little to give the petchnigs armed and
supplied by him were rampaging through the Balkans and every generally sent there came back in a
coffin and the seljuqs though thankfully occupied with securing their own backyard would soon turn
their attention to his empire too the constant military defeats loss of taxable land and breakdown
of trade was causing severe financial stress leading to the emperor taking the highly unpopular
move of debasing the currency reducing the gold portion of his coin so he could make more remember
all those court titles he had to pay paying the salary of so many bloated pointless government
roles was slowly bankrupting the empire but the emperor knew if he cut these salaries his head
would likely go with him the historical record is a bit murky here but it seems like at this point
the emperor did the unthinkable he demobilized the eastern army with the seljuqs massing on the
border he stood the troops down told them to go home so he didn't have to pay them this decision
seems so boneheaded so utterly stupid it's usually highlighted as the worst decision made by
constant in the knife and many say that this moment virtually guaranteed the disaster that
would follow a few years later at manzikert but why did he do it primary sources talk of the emperor's
greed in trying to save money one even says that he blew the money on prostitutes all of it but
Byzantine historian Anthony Caldellus has a different theory he theorized that perhaps the
eastern army was serving instead of paying taxes in other words doing army duty instead of paying
this was a common arrangement in some parts of the empire and considering the imperial army had
never performed well against the seljuqs the emperor disbanded it took the tax dollars and
instead paid for mercenaries mostly normans or virangian vikings the records show posting of
these soldiers on the border provinces so this could have well been the case it sounds counterintuitive
for the leader of a nation to stand down his armies while the wolves gathered at the door but
we've got to remember the greatest threat to a sitting emperor was internal strife some hot
shot general taking his place for 200 years at least there had been no external power equal to
the empire raids from neighboring states would mess up things in the short term but civil wars
romans against romans while the aftershocks of these could be felt for decades and this is exactly
what happened in 1047 since Constantine had taken the throne the Balkan army had seen their ranks
thinned their generals replaced and their pay cut the men were raging and clamouring to replace
the miserly emperor Constantine the ninth with someone more amenable to their needs
Leo Tornicius was the emperor's second cousin according to a primary source he was short crafty
proud and ambitious he was also disloyal and Constantine knew it having already caught him
plotting against him the emperor shaved his head forced him to become a monk and ordered him to
return to the capital so he could keep an eye on him but Tornicius never took to life in a monastery
and when the disgruntled Balkan troops asked if he wanted to become an emperor he gladly accepted
and threw the habit aside this was the exact situation Constantine the ninth had been trying to
prevent barrelling towards Constantinople came most of his Balkan field army with Tornicius at the
helm Tornicius's plan was to take Constantinople before the emperor could summon the western armies
to assist time was of the essence with his usual vigor Constantine leapt into action the western
army was summoned but he'd have to hold on until they got there entrusting the overall defense of
the city to a palace eunuch emperor Constantine the ninth took his place on the walls alongside his
convicts and mercenaries the mammoth walls of Constantinople were the greatest of the ancient
world because of them no man had ever taken the city by force but if leo could convince the citizens
to turn on him it was all over when the rebel army reached the outskirts of the city they crowned
leo Tornicius as a new emperor in a mock coronation as they yelled insults at Constantine from the
ground the theatrical performance was undertaken in full view of the city's defenders Tornicius and
his rebels knew that they could avoid bloodshed entirely if they could make the population
turn on Constantine as the drums and fanfare died down the ceremony came to an end perhaps an eerie
silence fell over no man's land as the two armies waited to see what would happen next
Constantine knew from firsthand experience how fickle the population of Constantinople could
be his heart pounding in his chest he waited to see which way public opinion would blow
then it came relief flattered over him as a man standing next to him began booing the pretender
the rest of his defenders joined in insults and rocks broke the silence as the defenders
yelled abuse at the stocky pretender emperor outside the walls Constantine breathed this
sigh of relief as Tornicius retreated back to his lines under the cover of his men's shields
while the defenders blood was up Constantine's unique general advised that they should
capitalize on the energy of the crowd and sally out to meet the rebels in open battle the emperor
agreed it was a stupid idea regardless of their energy convicts and civilians were no match for
a trained army almost as soon as they were out the gate the militia were butchered by Tornicius's
army the terrified recruits fled from the walls in such a panic that they actually left the gate
open it seemed all was lost but for an inexplicable reason Tornicius held back everything he'd wanted
was within his grasp but perhaps remembering the reaction from the crowds he didn't advance
Michael Sellas our primary source insists that quote he was confidently awaiting our invitation
to assume the throne he assumed that he would be led to the palace by flaming torches in a
procession worthy of a sovereign if that was the case he'd be sorely disappointed the emperor
desperately rallied his deserting conscripts barred the gate and by nightfall the city was
secure over in Tornicius's camp support was melting away many troops had joined his rebellion
because Tornicius had lied to them saying that Constantine the ninth was dead so the next morning
when the sun rose over the walls the rebels were greeted by the sight of the emperor dressed in
full imperial regalia his tall broad frame in all its majesty caught the eyes of his adversaries
and allies alike shining like a jewel his gold purple cloak shimmered with gold despite his
worsening gout and intestinal problems Constantine though not a general displayed unwavering energy
and courage throughout this siege the fighting was intense but after a week of little progress
Tornicius's support had all but melted away after retreating to a monastery the would be
emperor was dragged back to Constantinople and blinded on the spot and with this act the rebellion
was over as far as civil wars went Constantine the ninth had gotten off lightly but the stress
of ruling was clearly getting to the emperor following the siege the emperor's gout had
worsened to the point of him needing to be carried unfortunately there was no time to rest as one
crisis ended another began when the western portion of the roman empire fell in the fifth
century two different flavors of christianity began to emerge this was no real surprise i mean think
about it if you took two people from one city and supplanted one in the mountains and one in the desert
if you checked back on their descendants 500 years later they'd be different wouldn't they
that have different foods tradition practices maybe even languages that were unique to them
and the environment they lived in sometimes this is called cultural drift and this is exactly what
happened in the early christian church Constantinople had been founded as a christian city and when
the western and eastern roman empire were united it was unquestionably the head of church authority
but after the roman empire lost control of the western portions of its empire the major cities
like paris arc and venice or winchester began to look to roam and the pope as the spiritual
leader of their religion the patriarch the leader of the church in constantinople continued to
dictate how church liturgy should be performed and how scripture should be interpreted but far
away in the cities of western europe his orders began to fall on deaf ears as time went on some
popes began to challenge the accepted norm that constantinople and its patriarch held supreme
authority on church affairs the way they saw it it was roam where every king and queen of europe
looked paid homage to or took pilgrimage to whose souls did the patriarch speak for a couple of
greek islands and some scruffy half frozen slabs in the past when difficult theological questions
the emperor was support of the patriarch called a council of influential figures across the roman
empire a theological debate took place and once an answer to a question had been agreed upon
that answer was added to the long codex of christianity it became orthodoxy but as the power
of constantinople declined successive popes in roam decided that they were no longer happy being
another participant in these debates for centuries now the western catholic church and the eastern
orthodox church have been growing more resentful of the power the other held but it would be now
during the reign of constantin the ninth that a perfect storm of coinciding events would lead
to what we still refer to today as the great schism a day when the two churches east and west
stopped looking at the other as a wayward brother in need of guidance and instead viewed them as
dangerous heretics beyond redemption it all started with a letter from the pope to the patriarch
scolding him for the use of yeast in church bread silly as it sounds the use of yeast in church
bread had been and continues to be a longstanding quarrel between the two churches owing to the
bible being translated into different languages to sort this out the pope sent a delegation to
constantinople the delegation was led by a man called humber humber didn't like the eastern church
he didn't like the greek language they used he didn't like how they performed their ceremonies
and he especially didn't like having to debate theological matters with them in fact he planned
to spend not a moment longer than he had to in this stinking hedonistic city of the east upon
his arrival with a scowl of disapproval on his face he hitched up his cloak and walked briskly
for his meeting with the head of the eastern church patriarch michael carolarius carolarius
was a character in himself opinionated and egotistical he had played kingmaker for a number
of emperors and enjoyed an almost celebrity status in the city needless to say he too was not pleased
with outsiders questioning his authority on church affairs it's important to know that by the time
humber's entourage arrived at constantinople the pope who'd sent him had died meaning that
humber it was technically no longer authorized to conduct the business of the church there is
debate about what happened next traditionally carolius is blamed for getting in a half and
derailing the meeting but Byzantine historian anthony caldellus asserts that this couldn't
have been the case because by the time the pope's letters were delivered humber and carolius hadn't
actually met yet to keep the story moving and to keep my email free of hate mail i'm not going
to speculate on who was to blame but what happened next was clear on saturday the 16th of july 1054
humber and his delegates entered the iosophia church noses held high they walked brusquely
past the attendance and the pews to the high altar and dropped on it a rolled sheet of paper
without a word they turned around walked back to the entrance and stopped only to dust off
their boots and departed back to Rome written on that paper was an order of excommunication against
patriarch and his followers excommunication was like being kicked out of a club for the
recipient it was a formal severance and exclusion from the church of god leaders from both churches
had excommunicated each other in the past and disagreements had fled up before but this time
there would be no going back when humber dropped that scroll on the altar of the iosophia the
fraying rope that connected the two churches was cut this time for good from this day onwards the
two churches would go their own way any feelings of brotherhood were over this was a heavy blow
to the empire because the delegates weren't just there to bicker over church bread they were supposed
to discuss a mutually beneficial alliance against the norman threat in southern italy the greatest
hope the empire had in holding onto their italian possessions was gone the delegates abrupt exit
all but confirmed the emperor would get no help from the pope in dealing with the normans from
this point onwards successive popes would take the opposite approach cozying up to norman lords and
officially recognizing their conquests to this day nearly a thousand years later the debate between
orthodox and catholic christians as to who was to blame for the great schism continues
in 1055 ad constant in the ninth lay on his deathbed his 13 year reign had come to an end
both his body and his empire bore the marks of a stressful and difficult life
once strong handsome and full of energy the challenges he'd faced and taken their toll
leaving him broken and tired the seljuks in the east had bashed their way through the out of muslim
buffer states through the christian buffer states and were now raiding deep into the roman heartland
barry the last roman stronghold in italy was nearing surrender to the normans and the pope who
would have made a perfect ally against them was now cowering in their shadow the patchnegs though
they'd finally settled down were now a semi-hostile power sitting dormant within the borders of the
empire things were bad but how many of these issues were actually constant in the ninth fault
most historians hold harsh opinions on the rule of constant in the ninth and it's not hard to see
why lost italy to the normans rearm the patchnegs leading to widespread rebellion weaken the army
and let the seljuks raid with impunity upset the pope and throughout it all spent money like a man
possessed but did he cause these problems the fact of the matter is that the reign of constant in
the ninth saw more challenges than the roman empire had seen in the last 200 years at least
most of them happening at the same time the addition of the normans and seljuks had changed
the game permanently these two powers were experts in styles of warfare that the empire had no prior
experience with age-old roman tactics like bribery divide and conquer or playing one barbarian
against the other weren't going to work anymore the roman army had been in decline long before
constantines rule and while his choice to rearm the patchnegs was a failed gamble this was really
the only option he had the only thing that beat step archers were more step archers
likewise the great schism with the western church had been a long time coming if the emperor had more
time perhaps he could have mended the relationship but the two churches had been diverging for centuries
for whatever he'd done or not done as emperor constantine the ninth closed his eyes for the
final time he could take solace in the fact that his empire shaky as it was was still standing
the men that followed him would not be so lucky just 16 years later his successor would meet a
horrific demise screaming in agony he would die alone on the filthy floor of some distant
monastery the excruciating pain from his festering ice sockets was nothing compared to the guilt he
felt for his role in the empire's greatest catastrophe his name was romanus the fourth
and his tragic tale awaits us in the next episode thanks for listening guys just like constantine
relying on his generous benefactors to hold the Byzantine empire together i a humble indie
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