Post Classical Byzantine Kiev Crusades Remints of the Romans Post Classical Byzantine Kiev Crusades

What were the causes and consequences of the Crusades? Although the Crusades are popularly viewed as religiously inspired campaigns to recapture the Holy Land they were more a result of the social and economic events at that time Religious and secular leaders seeking to end the fighting among feudal lords seized upon the Crusades as a means of redirecting that aggression. Feudal knights who would not be inheriting their family properties eagerly enlisted in the Crusades as a way to win wealth or status. The idea of the pilgrimage was a powerful one, and the Crusades were basically armed pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The various Crusades ultimately failed. The sack of Constantinople was a fitting denouncement to the whole concept and this destruction leads to the weakening of the Byzantine Empire allowing the defeat of Constantinople by the Ottomans 250 years later. The interaction with the East brought to Europe not only Arabic translations of Greek texts, but also original Arabic and Iranian scientific and philosophical works.

What were the significant technological developments in the Late Middle Ages, and how were they responsible for expanding the European economy? Technological improvements in agriculture included plows that were better suited to cultivating the heavy northern European soils. These plows (moldboard) cut deep and turned the soil. The efficiency of those horses was further increased by the development of better harnesses and horse collars. The three-field system of cultivation decreased farm-labor requirements, freeing workers for other pursuits. Improvements in agricultural technology and techniques provided a growing food surplus, which stimulated the return to a money-based economy and supported manufacturing and trade. Those improvements helped cities and regions become independent from Church and feudal control. Improved central administrations and consolidated power eventually led to strong national kingdoms.

How did the development of the Byzantine Empire differ from the development of Western Europe? The Byzantine Empire was the direct descendant of Roman imperial rule and tradition. It centralized control over Byzantine politics, society, and economics, whereas Western European institutions were decentralized. Byzantine decline was slow and not always apparent. The Byzantine emperor had control over both religious and secular affairs. This prevented the eastern empire from splitting into petty principalities unlike Western Europe. Byzantium was directly threatened by Germanic Goths, nomadic Huns, the Iranian Sasanid Empire, and ultimately by Muslim expansion. The Byzantine Empire shrank steadily until Constantinople itself was captured.