History of the Byzantine Empire. Volume 4, period VI–VII

The bloody eleventh century was the century of the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, beginning with the fall of Bulgaria under Byzantine rule during the time of Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer, and of the Komnenos dynasty, which produced a series of remarkable emperors and the immortal historical accounts left by Anna Komnene.

Among the fateful events described in the superb style and marked by the profound knowledge of Academician Fyodor Uspensky in the penultimate fourth volume of his “History of the Byzantine Empire” are: the appearance of the adventurer Robert Guiscard and the actions of his successors; the fatal clash between the Roman and Byzantine Churches and the fruitless attempts at church union; the struggle for supremacy between East and West; the first steps toward the establishment of Serbian statehood; the important role of Hungary during these two historical periods; the settlement and aggressive incursions of the Turko-Tatar element along the borders of Byzantium and the rise of the Seljuk Turks over all other Muslim tribes and dominions before the Turkish conquest; the four Crusades, culminating in the capture of Constantinople; the beginning of the liberation movement initiated by the brothers Peter and Asen, which led to the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire; the brief chronicle of the only Bulgarian emperor, Kaloyan.

These were times steeped in blood and death, in palace intrigues and coups, in dynastic marriages, and in the complete moral decline of the clergy and the diminishing influence of the Church. Uspensky’s works go far beyond the boundaries of purely scholarly research—they immerse the reader in a breathtaking narrative of those often unspoken destinies of peoples and states, without which the present day would remain forever unclear.

The book is published in Bulgarian in five volumes, with the first volume divided into two parts.

• Volume 1, Period I
  Period I (up to 527). Elements of the formation of Byzantinism
• Volume 1, Period II
  Period II (518–610). From Justinian I to Heraclius
• Volume 2, Periods III–IV
  Period III (610–716). Heraclius and his successors. Period of Iconoclasm (717–867)
• Volume 3, Period V
  Period of the Macedonian dynasty (867–1057)
• Volume 4, Periods VI–VII
  Period VI. Komnenoi (1057–1185). Period VII. Disintegration of the Empire (1185–1204)
• Volume 5, Periods VIII–IX
  Laskarids (1204–1261). Palaiologoi (1261–1453)