The Roman-Byzantine Emperor

The Roman-Byzantine Emperor

It is worth noting, in her book titled “The Alexiad,” it is Anna’s first historical account of the crusade. She describes the narrative of the first crusade from a Greek Christian and byzantine perspective. In addition to demonstrating classical literary technique, opinionated voice, and great attention to detail, the author depicts byzantine reaction to the arrival of the Frankish army at Constantinople. Annes’ history focuses on the life achievements of her father, Alexios I, who is the byzantine emperor. In book 10, Anna’s account, the first crusade begins with the arrival of the Frankish armies at Constantinople.

The account continues with the people’s crusade led by Peter the Hermit. The second wave of the first crusade begins with the arrival of the western leader Hugh of Vermandois, the brother of the France king, King Philip I, at Constantinople.It evident that Comnene highlights the events and battles of her father, even the defeat of the Byzantine forces as Manzikiert.In book 11, Comnene ends her account of the first crusade after Jerusalem’s conquest. The last sections of this book focus on Bohemond ‘s death. Again in Book II, she explains her father’s decision not to support the crusaders as means to shift blame form him bringing his decision into context.

In her statement, “He dreaded their arrival for he knew their irresistible manner of attack, their unstable and mobile character and all the peculiar natural and concomitant characteristics which the Frank retains throughout; and he also knew that they were always agape for money, and seemed to disregard their truces readily for any reason that cropped up.” Ann Comnene repeatedly expressed her distrust for Franks since they lacked religious convictions warranting their journeying to Jerusalem to protect Christianity. She refers to the western crusaders as barbarians, not worthy of comparison with the wealthy byzantine cosmopolis.

The crusaders believed in the awarding of spiritual rewards to those against Muslims and protected Christians and as such Comnene disregarded preaching’s by Urban II for lack of understanding their customs and tenets. She neither acknowledged nor accepted the capture and massacre of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Ann Comnene’s disbelief for the Franks is evident as she claimed the simple men and women had the right of worship at the Holy Sepulture, but Bohemond’s journey to Jerusalem was for material wealth and selfish gain. The most shocking custom she found in Jerusalem was the presence of a militant priest whom she though was more violent than a priest.

According to her statement, “In fact, he [Godfrey of Bouillon] he was waiting for Bohemond and the rest of the counts to arrive…They were all of one mind…to all appearances they were on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; in reality, they planned to dethrone the emperor and seize the capital.” She describes Frank’s deceitfulness for not arriving at Jerusalem but instead chooses to come at Byzantine to invade and conquer Constantinople. Besides disliking Bohemond for the many disagreements he had with Alexios, Anna had earlier before the advent of the first crusade, considered Bohemond an enemy.

In the historical narrative recorded (in Alexias’ book 10 and 11), Anna Comnena describes -the roman byzantine emperor-Alexias’ heroism by praising his martial prowess during oath-breaking. She contrasts Alexia’s oath-breaking accusations with his enemy Bohemond, to stress their barbarism, naming them Franks and Celts. In her statement, “He had no time to relax before he heard a rumor that countless Frankish armies were approaching, “pp297. Anna also acknowledges Alexia’s lack of awareness of the crusader’s call and approach. In her account, Anna describes sensible policies implemented by Alexia to control barbarians crossing the empire.

Byzantine’s rightful place in the world is its influence on many cultures today due to its role in forming Christian orthodoxy. Today, the Eastern Orthodox Church is the second-largest modern Christian church worldwide. Christian orthodoxy shapes the history and societies of Russia, Greece, Bulgaria, and other countries. The religious buildings of Egypt and Russia manifest byzantine architecture. The ancient Greeks and Romans adopted a mixture of Christian themes and sophisticated and naturalistic style of art during the Byzantine renaissance. Orthodox Christianity was a central feature of byzantine culture. Byzantine society held absolute values highly with respect for traditional hierarchies and order. The family was the core of society. Byzantine social structure respected and celebrated marriage and other social benefits such as chastity and celibacy

Anna viewed the western crusaders with contempt for not following her father’s instruction to prevent Constantinople’s threat of attack by the Muslims. Her father sought help by sending an envoy to Pope Urban I, to stop the Turkish invasion on the southern and eastern borders of the byzantine empire. She also narrated another problem created by the presence of the aggressive Normans in the east. She describes the struggles and victory of Alexias in facing the challenges built by both western crusaders and the Normans. In book II, She continues to narrate the development of the crusade and the struggles between the Normans of the West and the Eastern Byzantines.

In her view, the western crusade was as a result of vested interest for the crusaders to get the spoils of war at Constantinople. At the end of book II, She then describes the peace treaty between the Normans and the Byzantine that see the end of the war. She also blamed natural disasters for the rise of the western crusade. In the beginning, She viewed the campaign as the act of God. Comnene introduces western crusade as a surprising contrast between the east and the west.Throughout book II, she describes the reshaping of   the twin capitals at Byzantine that had been previously established by Constantine and destroyed, hence

resolving the narrative of the crusade in book 11.

The relationship between the Byzantines and the western crusaders were economically and religiously related. The military campaign strategy was to seize Jerusalem from the Muslims.The eastern successor of the byzantine empire capital of Constantinople played a vital role in the wake of the western crusade. By dividing the Eastern Orthodox church in the East of Byzantine from the Roman Catholic church of the west, he created a mutual understanding between the two churches. However, severed relations occurred between eastern and western churches with the sacking of Constantinople in 1204.

In my view, Anna Comnene had religious inclinations due to her description of intentions that western crusaders displayed. She blatantly calls the western crusaders villains and barbarians because she does not support their deeds when they choose to stop at Constantinople to steal the property of the people for their selfish interest. She also posits her sincere support for Christianity when she advocates peacekeeping between the western people and the eastern people of the byzantine empire. The  Devol treaty sought to bind the Normans of the west for life, which led to the establishment of the twin capital at Constantinople. Later the twin capital was destroyed and reconstructed to form the New Jerusalem at Constantinople by Alexios. Annas’ response to the crusade transfered the city of God from Jerusalem to the capital of Constantinople.