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During the 12th century, the civilization of the Byzantine Empire experienced a period of intense change and development. This has led some historians to refer to a 12th-century 'Renaissance' in Byzantine cultural and intellectual achievement. [1] These changes were particularly significant in two areas of Byzantine civilization: its economic prosperity, and its artistic output.
Recent research has revealed that the 12th century was a time of significant growth in the rural economy, with rising population levels and extensive tracts of new agricultural land being brought into production. The widespread construction of new rural churches is a strong indication that prosperity was being generated even in remote areas. A steady increase in population led to a higher population density in many areas of the empire, and there is good evidence that the demographic increase was accompanied by the return of a thriving network of revitalised towns and cities. According to Alan Harvey in his book Economic expansion in the Byzantine Empire 900–1200, 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. For example, Harvey explains that in Athens the medieval town experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the 11th century and continuing until the end of the 12th century. The 'agora' or 'marketplace', which had been deserted since late antiquity, began to be built over, and soon the town became an important centre for the production of soaps and dyes. Thessaloniki, the second city of the Empire, hosted a famous summer fair which attracted traders from across the Balkans and even further afield to its bustling market stalls. In Corinth, silk production fuelled a thriving economy.
Unlike complex systems of governance where different factions and government positions conducted law differently and according to their own needs such as in the Angevin Empire, Byzantine law of this period was generally more efficient and applied to almost everyone with the most powerful and certain kinds of royal officials being exceptions, spurring patriotism and optimism among people in different roles in Byzantine society which led to reform and increased effectiveness of the state and local areas. [2] Violence in punishment saw a decrease from previous centuries, most theme leaders were loyal to the emperor, and cultural diversity aided the Empire unlike in the Angevin lands, where "barons [and lands] of the north[ern borderlands]" near Scotland were generally not loyal to the king and de facto independent, [2] and the Kingdom of France during this era due to its rivalry with the Angevin part of its domain. [3]
Further evidence is provided by the coinage of the empire in this period. After a long period in the early Middle Ages during which the only coins were struck in Constantinople, the 12th century saw the return of a provincial mint regularly operating at Thessaloniki. Yet the most convincing evidence for what Harvey calls a "substantial increase in the volume of money in circulation" comes from the quantity of coins found on archaeological sites. Thousands of coins have been found both at Athens and at Corinth. Some idea of the scale of the expansion that took place here can be gained from comparing the number of Corinthian coins dating from the reign of Theophilos (813–842), at the start of the expansion, with the number of coins dating from other periods. Harvey states that "About 150 coins can be attributed to this emperor compared with only twenty from the previous century". By contrast, excavations in 1939 revealed 4495 coins dating from the reign of Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118) and 4106 coins from that of Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180). At Athens, coins from the Komnenian period have also been found in abundance (over 4,000 from Manuel's reign).
Similar evidence of economic expansion has been discovered elsewhere in the empire, especially in the European provinces. In Asia Minor, some areas had become depopulated due to Turkish raiding in the late 11th century. Yet as the Komnenian emperors built up extensive fortifications in rural areas during the 12th century, repopulation of the countryside took place. The restoration of order in western Asia Minor enabled the demographic trend to resume its upward course after the setbacks of the late 11th century, and indeed it was in the 13th century that this process reached its peak. It is quite possible that an increase in trade, made possible by the growth of the Italian city-states, may have been a factor in the growth of the economy. Certainly, the Venetians and others were active traders in the ports of the Holy Land, and they made a living out of shipping goods between the Crusader Kingdoms of Outremer and the West while also trading extensively with Byzantium and Egypt.
Overall, given that both population and prosperity increased substantially in this period, economic recovery in Byzantium appears to have been strengthening the economic basis of the state. This helps to explain how the Komnenian emperors, Manuel Komnenos in particular, were able to project their power and influence so widely at this time. Yet this is by no means the only effect of economic expansion in the empire; the effect on Byzantine culture and society was also quite profound.
The new wealth being generated during this period had a positive impact on Byzantine cultural life. In artistic terms, the 12th century was a very productive period in Byzantine history. There was a revival in the mosaic art, for example, with artists showing great interest in depicting natural landscapes with wild animals and scenes from the hunt. Mosaics became more realistic and vivid, with an increased emphasis on depicting three-dimensional forms. In the provinces, regional schools of architecture began producing many distinctive styles that drew on a range of cultural influences. All this suggests that there was an increased demand for art, with more people having access to the necessary wealth to commission and pay for such work.
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Manuel I Komnenos, Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus, was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnenian restoration, during which the Byzantine Empire had seen a resurgence of its military and economic power and had enjoyed a cultural revival.
John II Komnenos or Comnenus was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good", he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina and the second emperor to rule during the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire. As he was born to a reigning emperor, he had the status of a porphyrogennetos. John was a pious and dedicated monarch who was determined to undo the damage his empire had suffered following the Battle of Manzikert, half a century earlier.
The AIMA prophecy was a prophecy current during the reign of the Byzantine emperor, Manuel I Komnenos and at the same time an example of a medieval contrived acronym.
Sebastos was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of Augustus. The female form of the title was sebaste (σεβαστή). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-century Byzantine Empire, and came to form the basis of a new system of court titles. From the Komnenian period onwards, the Byzantine hierarchy included the title sebastos and variants derived from it, like sebastokrator, protosebastos, panhypersebastos, and sebastohypertatos.
The Byzantine Empire experienced cycles of growth and decay over the course of nearly a thousand years, including major losses during the early Muslim conquests of the 7th century.
The Byzantine economy was among the most robust economies in the Mediterranean for many centuries. Constantinople was a prime hub in a trading network that at various times extended across nearly all of Eurasia and North Africa. Some scholars argue that, up until the arrival of the Arabs in the 7th century, the Eastern Roman 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 marked the beginning of a revival that continued until 1204. From the 10th century until the end of the 12th, 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.
The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The Komnenian period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I. It was a period of sustained, though ultimately incomplete, restoration of the military, territorial, economic and political position of the Byzantine Empire.
Andronikos Doukas Kamateros was a Byzantine aristocrat, senior official under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and theologian, best known for his theological treatise Sacred Arsenal.
The title of protosebastos was a high Byzantine court title created by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
The title of panhypersebastos was a Byzantine court title created by Alexios I Komnenos using the imperial root sebastos. It was always conferred to members of aristocratic families closely allied to the imperial family.
The mesazon was a high dignitary and official during the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire, who acted as the chief minister and principal aide of the Byzantine emperor. In the West, the dignity was understood as being that of the imperial chancellor.
The logothetēs tōn sekretōn was an official supervising all the sekreta of the Byzantine Empire during the Komnenian period. In the early 13th century, his office evolved into the megas logothetes.
The Hetaireia was a term for a corps of bodyguards during the Byzantine Empire.
The Vardariotai, sometimes Anglicized as Vardariots, were an ethnic and territorial group in the later Byzantine Empire, which provided a palace guard regiment during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The mystikos was an important Byzantine office of the imperial chancery from the 9th through to the 15th centuries. Its initial role is unclear; he was probably the Byzantine emperor's private secretary. In time, the office also exercised judicial duties. It became an important fiscal official in the Komnenian period, and remained one of the highest-ranking state offices into the Palaiologan period as well.
John Roger or Rogerios, also known as John Dalassenos, was a Byzantine aristocrat of Norman descent, son-in-law of Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos and Caesar. In 1143, he unsuccessfully conspired to seize the throne.
An episkepsis was a fiscal district in the middle Byzantine Empire. In its strict technical sense, it refers to a domain or other property, in some cases including entire villages or towns, allocated for the support of individuals of the imperial family, noble houses or churches and monasteries. As the historian Paul Magdalino shows, these episkepseis were overwhelmingly situated in the coastlands around the Aegean Sea, which comprised the Empire's best arable land, or in fertile inland areas such as Thrace and Thessaly. In the 12th century, the term refers also to the fiscal divisions of the themes.
Michael III of Anchialus was Patriarch of Constantinople from January 1170 to March 1178.
Gregory Kamateros was a senior Byzantine official. Of low birth but very well educated, he reached high office under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and eventually became logothetes ton sekreton, de facto prime minister, under both Alexios and John II Komnenos. Through his marriage with Irene Doukaina, an imperial relative, he founded the bureaucratic dynasty of the Doukai–Kamateroi.
Nicholas Hagiotheodorites was a Byzantine scholar, official, and Metropolitan of Athens.
