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by mr_toad
1603 days ago
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> In fact, the ERE/Byzantines had already been making gains against the Arabs in the Levant up until the Schism The Patriarch in Rome had been operating effectively independently for centuries before the schism. The Romans made gains after the collapse of the Caliphate, retaking Anatolia, Crete, Bulgaria and Antioch and even Armenia and Georgia, but then they experienced a series of setbacks when the Turks appeared. |
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Tarchaneiotes
I'm not an expert on the motivations of medieval generals, but if you've spent your whole life fighting for "God" and suddenly the people who are supposed to be close to God don't seem to have a clue what they're doing, don't you think that might impact your willingness to fight?
The Roman Empire had always centered on Italy, Greece and Anatolia. Until 1050 the ERE had always had a toehold in Italy and most of Anatolia. By 1100 they had lost all of Italy and most of Anatolia:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Byzantin...
It's true that theological disputes accumulated gradually before the Schism and were interleaved with political disputes, but this doesn't really dispute the importance of the theological split and instead smears it over the previous two centuries (arguably beginning with the coronation of Charlemagne).