The Byzantine Empire

[grecka]

I have always been most interested in the Byzantine Royal Family or Families when it comes to royal and European history. I suppose it's because of the fact that I'm Greek and they, as Greeks, dominated European culture and history for more than 500 years. They were, certainly, the most revered, powerful, wealthy, and illustrious monarchy in Europe and The Middle East during the Middle Ages. I was wondering if anyone else shared my interest in the Byzantines, as I most certainly find them perhaps some of the most fascinating figures of medieval and world history.

It will likely be no surprise to anyone who's heard my comments concerning the Greek Royal Family of modern days that I am no fan of the Oldenburgs, butI have always been most interested in the Byzantine Royal Family or Families, their predecessors, when it comes to royal and European history. I suppose it's because of the fact that I'm Greek and they, as ethnic Greeks (rather than Danish pretenders), dominated European culture and history for more than 500 years. They were, certainly, the most revered, powerful, wealthy, and illustrious monarchy in Europe and The Middle East during the Middle Ages. I was wondering if anyone else shared my interest in the Byzantines, as I most certainly find them perhaps some of the most fascinating figures of medieval and world history.

 

[grecka]

Now, back to the topic of the Byzantines. Here's a short history of the empire and of the royals of Byzantium.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overview

It is not possible to effectually distinguish between the later empire in Rome and the Byzantine empire centered around Constantinople. For the Byzantines were the Roman Empire, not simply a continuation of it in the East. The capital city, Constantinople, had been founded as the capital of Rome by the Emperor Constantine, but a uniquely Greek or Byzantine character to the Roman Empire can be distinguished as early as Diocletian. When Rome was seized by Goths, this was a great blow to the Roman Empire, but it didn't effectively end it. Although Rome was under the control of foreigners who themselves claimed to be continuing the empire, the Byzantine empire continued as before, believing themselves to be the Roman Empire.

Over the centuries, however, Byzantium evolved into a very different civilization. The eastern Empire had always had a predominately Greek character, but the Byzantines through the course of the first millenium [size=-1]AD[/size] had to deal with cultural influences and political threats from European cultures, Asian cultures and, primarily, Islam after the seventh century.

Through the later Middle Ages, however, Byzantium both gradually declined politically and became more isolated from the rest of Europe. While the last centuries of the European Middle Ages saw the consolidation of the idea of Europe and the incorporation of European cultures into a larger, overarching European monoculture, Byzantium was left out of this new European concept. By the beginning of the modern period, when "Europe" had become a solid, cultural idea, Byzantine had come to an end with the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.

Byzantine history, then, stretches in a continuous line from the latter centuries of Rome to the very beginning of the modern period. It transmited the classical culture of Greece and Rome but it also developed a unique historical and cultural character based on a synthesis of Greek, Roman, European, and Islamic elements.

 

[grecka]

Reign of Justinian I

Most historians consider the reign of Justinian (527-565) as marking a significant break with the Roman past. This is difficult to support—Justinian not only considered himself the emperor of all of Rome, including the territories occupied by the Goths, but also spoke Latin as his primary language.

After the fall of Rome, the Byzantine emperors never gave over the idea of reconquering Rome. They did, however, take a lesson from the fall of Rome and all throughout the fifth century, the Byzantine emperors wrought a series of administrative and financial reforms. They produced the single most extensive corpus of Roman law in 425 and reformed taxation dramatically. Most importantly, however, they did not entrust their military to German generals—this had been the downfall of the Latin portion of the empire. They could not, however, maintain a powerful military—the loss of territory in the west had dramatically shrunk their financial resources.

Justinian was perhaps the last emperor that seriously entertained notions of reconquering the west—the institution of the western emperor fell permanently vacant in 476 and the Byzantine emperors claimed as theirs. His expeditions against Italy, however, failed. Although he conquered North Africa and retook Italy from the Ostrogoths, this Gothic War drained the Byzantine Empire of much-needed resources. Most importantly, the Gothic War devestated Italy economically. The economic destruction of Italy was so total that it destroyed Italian urban culture for centuries. The great cities of Rome and her allies would be abandoned as Italy would fall into a long period of backwardness. The impoverishment of Italy and the drain on Byzantium made it impossible for the Byzantines to hold Italy—only three years after the death of Justinian, the Italian territories fell into the hands of another Germanic tribe, the "Long Beards," or Langobardi (Lombards).

Justinian, however, is most famous for the body of laws that he promulgated—the Corpus iuris civilis. This was not only a great legal achievement in codifying Roman law, it was also the first systematic attempt to synthesize Roman law and jurisprudence with Christianity. Although Byzantium would eventually fade in influence, from the eleventh century onwards, Justinian's Corpus iuris civilis became the foundation of all European law and legal practice (except for England).

Justinian is also credited for founding Byzantine architecture with his building of the Santa Sophia in Constantinople and the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. The Santa Sophia continued the Roman tradition of building domes, the architecture of the Roman basilica, but it was carried out on a scale unheard of in earlier centuries. In fact, it would remain the largest dome ever built until Sinan built the Selimye Mosque in the sixteenth century. Both Santa Sophia and San Vitale are decorated inside with a uniquely Byzantine mosaic style, a style that was to characterize Byzantine architecture for nearly another millenium. It is a style that fuses both Roman mosaic realism and an otherworldly, almost abstract use of simple forms and dramatic colors.

The most serious and lasting mistake of Justinian's reign was the persecution of heretical Christians. The eastern empire had always been distinguished from the western empire by the proliferation of religions and metaphysical speculation as a characteristic of religions. This did not substantially change with the advent of Christianity. Although non-Christians were stamped, the eastern Christians engaged in high intellectual specuation on theological and Christological questions with a fervor unmatched in the West. You might say that the model of Christian belief in the east was more mystical and philosophical while the Christian belief in the west was more practical and obedience-centered. This meant that a number of competing doctrines circulated in the Greek-centered areas of the Byzantine world. One of these doctrines, the Monophysite doctrine, was so serious a challenge to the western church that it was declared heretical.

The Monophysite doctrine arose from Christological speculation. What was the nature of Christ? This was one of the dominant speculative questions in the eastern empire from the fifth century onwards. The Monophysites argued that Christ had one and only nature (mono=one, physis=nature) and that nature was divine—the orthodox Christian church held that Christ had a double nature, that of divinity and humanity. In the latter decades of the fifth century, the Byzantine Emperor declared himself to be a Monophysite—this estranged the Byzantines from the Roman Pope.

But Justinian—and his father before him, Justin I—needed the support of the Pope in order to retake Italy. So both Justin and Justinian renounced Monophysite belief and were reincorporated into the Latin church. But Justinian went even further—to demonstrate his commitment to Latin Christianity, he began a series of oppressive persecutions of Monophysites in Syria and Egypt. This would have a profound effect on later history—the Monophysite Christians, horribly persecuted by the Byzantines, welcomed Muslim conquerors with open arms based on their promise to tolerate their religion

 

[grecka]

The Byzantines and Islam

Almost all of Byzantine energy over the next centuries would be focussed on Islam. The Muslims very quickly conquered Byzantine territory in Syria and Egypt largely because of disaffected populations of Christians and Jews who had been persecuted since the time of Justinian. The patriarchal caliphs and later the Umayyad caliphs, however, really had their sights on Byzantine territory—in fact, the conquest of Byzantium itself. They easily conquered all the Persian territories, but they could never quite conquer the heart of Byzantium itself. In 670, they attempted this conquest with a large fleet; in 717, they tried again with a land and sea operation against the city.

This operation, however, turned the tide away from the Muslims. Under the emperor Leo the Isaurian (717-741), the Muslim invasion was turned back and the Byzantines began to hold their own against Islamic incursions.

As the centralized Islamic government under the caliph began to disintegrate in the ninth century, the Byzantines began to reassert their dominance over Asia Minor. By the middle of the tenth century, they reconquered most of Syria and were once again and powerful and influential empire stretching from Greece to Arabia.

In 1071, however, the Seljuk Turks conquered the Byzantine army at Manzikert in Asia Minor—after this victory, the Seljuks quickly overran all of Byzantine territory in the east.

 

[grecka]

Byzantine Christianity

Byzantine Christianity was a substantially different religion and cultural practice than Latin Christianity. One of its predominant characteristics was the role of the emperor in matters of faith. The Latin church had battled emperors for control of the church and with the disintegration of centralized authority in Europe and the proliferation of European kingdoms, the primacy of the Pope in matters of faith was relatively solidified.

The Byzantines, however, inherited the Roman idea that the emperor was near divinity and practiced a form of Christianity where enormous ecclesiastical and theological authority was vested in the emperor. This would eventually create a permanent breach in the world of Christianity between west and east and the event that would produce this breach was the Iconoclastic controversy.

The Iconoclastic theologians believed that the worship of images, or icons, was a fundamentally pagan belief. Products of human hands should not be worshipped, they argued, but only Christ and God should be the proper objects of veneration. The movement was inaugurated by Leo the Isaurian. It was Leo, remember, that turned the tide against the Muslim in 717. Islam is itself opposed to the worship of images, icons, and idols—one of the founding acts of Islam is Muhammad's destruction of all the idols and images in the sacred Ka'aba in Mecca. There is no doubt that the Iconoclasts were in part inspired by the religious purity of the Islamic faith. There is also little doubt that Iconoclasm would help the Byzantines regain territory conquered by the Muslims since it made Christianity more in line with the Islamic faith.

Iconoclasm, however, was fiercely opposed by the papacy which saw it as a threat not only to Latin ecclesiastical practices, but to the authority of the pope himself. When Leo's son, Constantine V even more zealously carried out the Iconoclastic program during his reign (740-775), the breach between the Latin and Byzantine church became permanent. Eventually, Iconoclasm would be abandoned in the ninth century—the breach, however, would never be healed.

The most significant result of the Iconoclastic controversy was the adoption of a strict traditionalism in the Byzantine church. The eastern church had long been characterized by speculation and innovation, but the Iconoclastic controversy was too disorienting. Almost overnight, the Byzantine church became averse to innovation and speculation. This created a more or less static religious culture and it also permanently ended the intellectual dynamism of Byzantine life.

 

[grecka]

Byzantine Philosophy and Culture

Perhaps the single most salient aspect of Byzantine culture was the transmission of classical culture. While classical studies, science, and philosophy largely dissipated in the Latin west, Byzantine education and philosophy still zealously pursued these intellectual traditions. It was in Byzantium that Plato and Aristotle continued to be studied and were eventually transmitted first into the Islamic world and then back into western Europe. A basic education in Byzantium consisted first of the mastery of classical Greek literature, such as Homer (largely unknown in the West during this period)—almost all of the Greek literature we have today was only preserved by the Byzantines.

Unlike Greece and Rome during the classical period or the Latin West during the Middle Ages, women actively participated in the intellectual life of the culture. While they could not attend schools, aristocratic women were often well-educated at home by tutors in literature, history, composition, and philosophy. The greatest of Byzantine writers, in fact, was the historian Anna Comnena, the daughter of the emperor Alexius. Her biography of her father is one of the greatest works of medieval historiography in existence—this includes the histories written in Europe

Byzantine culture is important because of two lines of transmission. One of line of transmission involved the exporting of classical Greek and Roman culture into Islam and, to a lesser extent, the transmission of Byzantine theological speculation into Islamic theology. The second is the transmission of Byzantine culture and religion to Slavic peoples, especially to the Russians.

We know very little about the Slavs before the Middle Ages—what we do know we only know through archaeology. As Byzantium, however, turned less of its attention towards Europe and the west, they became increasingly interested in the peoples to the north. We don't know how cultural contact was initiated between these two peoples, but sometime around 988 a Russian ruler named Vladimir converted to Byzantine Christianity. From that point onwards, the Slavs in Russia became a kind of cultural inheritor of Byzantine culture, adopting the religion, theology, some social structures, and writing from the Byzantines to the south. In many ways Russian and Slavic culture is the continuance of Byzantine culture and many Byzantine cultural practices and beliefs are still practiced among Slavs today. Russian religion, art, philosophy, and even literature, such as the writings of Chekhov and Dostoevsky, show profound influences from Byzantine culture. The Byzantine inheritance also included the sense that Byzantine culture and practice was fundamentally different from European culture and practice. This sense of Byzantine distinctiveness would also impress itself on Slavic cultures up until the present.

So close was this cultural connection, that Russians believed that they were the inheritors of the Byzantine Empire when it finally collapsed in 1453. The Russian rulers assumed the title of "Caesar," the title bestowed on Byzantine emperors—in Russian, the word is "Tsar." With the government centered in Moscow, the Russian Tsars declared Moscow to be the "third Rome," after Rome and Byzantium, and so located themselves in a cultural and historical trajectory that began with the Roman empire.

 

[grecka]

The Decline of the Empire
Frederick Barbarossa attempted to conquer the empire during the Third Crusade, but it was the Fourth Crusade that had the most devastating effect on the empire. Although the intent of the crusade was to conquer Egypt, the Venetians took control of the expedition, and under their influence the crusade captured Constantinople in 1204. As a result a short-lived feudal kingdom was founded (the Latin Empire), and Byzantine power was permanently weakened.

Three Byzantine successor states were left - the Empire of Nicaea, the Empire of Trebizond, and the Despotate of Epirus. The first, controlled by the Palaeologan dynasty, managed to reclaim Constantinople in 1261 and defeat Epirus, reviving the empire but giving too much attention to Europe when the Asian provinces were the primary concern. For a while the empire survived simply because the Muslims were too divided to attack, but eventually the Ottomans overran all but a handful of port cities.

The empire appealed to the west for help, but they would only consider sending aid in return for reuniting the churches. Church unity was considered, and occasionally accomplished by law, but the Orthodox citizens would not accept Roman Catholicism. Some western mercenaries arrived to help, but many preferred to let the empire die, and did nothing as the Ottomans picked apart the remaining territories.

Constantinople was initially not considered worth the effort of conquest, but with the advent of cannons, the walls, which had been impenetrable except by the Crusaders for over 1000 years, no longer offered adequate protection from the Ottomans. The Fall of Constantinople finally came after a two-month siege by Mehmed II on May 29, 1453. Mehmed II also conquered Mistra in 1460 and Trebizond in 1461. Mehmed styled himself the proper successor to the Eastern Roman Emperors and by the end of the century the Ottoman Empire had established its firm rule over Asia Minor and most of the Balkan peninsula.

Meanwhile, the role of the Emperor as patron of Eastern Orthodoxy had started being claimed by the Grand Dukes of Muscovy starting with Ivan III. His grandson Ivan IV would become the first Tsar of Russia. Their successors supported the idea that Moscow was the proper heir to Rome and Constantinople, a Third Rome. Both the Ottoman and the Russian Empires would continue to consider themselves proper heirs to the Byzantines until their own demises early in the 20th century.

The Byzantine empire was for several hundred years Christianity's great wall of defense against Islam. The empire's victory in the two giant sieges of Constantinople in the seventh and eighth centuries is arguably one of the most important events in human history, since it effectively broke the will of the Arab jihadists. Without this victory, Western Europe might gradually have been overrun by the Caliphate and eventually converted to Islam (whether or not this would have been a bad thing or a good thing is not the issue here).

In addition Byzantium played an important role in the transmission of classical knowledge to the Islamic world and to Renaissance Italy. The influence of its theologians on medieval Western thought (and especially on Thomas Acquinas) was profound, and their removal from the "canon" of Western thought in subsequent centuries has only served to impoverish the canon. Byzantium's influence on Western art and architecture is so well-known as to scarcely need mentioning. Its most lasting effect, though, lies in its spreading of Orthodoxy to surrounding peoples (the so-called "Byzantine commonwealth," a term coined by 20th century historians). Early Byzantine missionary work spread Orthodox Christianity to various Slavic peoples, and it is still predominant among the Russians and many other Slavic peoples as well as among the Greeks. Less well known is the influence of the Byzantine style of religion on the millions of Christians in Ethiopia, the Egyptian Coptic Christians, and the Christians of Georgia and Armenia. The start and end dates of the Empire's independence, 395 to 1453, are one of the traditional dates for the period of the Middle Ages. It was 1177 years from the original split of the Roman Empire under Diocletian in 284 until the fall of Trebizond in 1461; whatever the measurement, the Empire certainly lasted for over a millennium.

 

[Warren]

spare post
PLEASE DO NOT HARD DELETE OR MOVE

 

[grecka]

Here are a few examples of Byzantine royal architecture. Some of the pics are of buildings which are over a millenia old and have been through countless conflicts and wars.

This is the church of Hagia Sophia (pronounced aya-sofeea and meaning Holy Wisdom). It was built during the reign of Justinian I around 600 AD and as such is around 1400 years old. At the time of its construction, it was the largest building in the world, had the largest and widest dome, and was the greatest church in the world. It's since been turned into a mosque and since then, a museum. Many mosaics the Byzantine emperors commissioned to glorify themselves still adorn many of the walls.

This is a reconstructed portion of the walls of Constantinople. The walls were originally built by Constantine and were the strongest walls of any city in the medieval world. They were penetrated only twice in over a thousand years, once by the Crusaders who stormed the city during the 4th Crusade, and second, by the Ottoman Turks, who conquered the city in 1453 and claimed it as their capital. The city is now known as Istanbul and is the largest city in Muslim Turkey and perhaps, the whole Middle East (except maybe Cairo) with around 10 million inhabitants in and around the city.

This is a small chapel at Mystras, a site near ancient Sparta. It's around 1000 years old. In the later period of Byzantine royal history, from around 1250-1450, Mystras was the unofficial royal residence of the last Byzantine royal family, the Paleologus. The last emperor, Constantine XI, was of this line. He died childless and unmarried in Constantinople on May 29, 1453, when Constantinople was taken by the Turks. His head was cut off and paraded around the city on a pike; his body has never been discovered.

 

[Natalija]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine


Read here for more info regarding the Byzantine Empire, kingdom and crusaders.

 

[abir]

Interesting thread .
Simple thing to start with is the origin of the empire. The ancient roman empire was divided into two parts: eastern and western. The eastern was kept subject to successors of Constantine and the capital was at Byzantium or Constantinope. In the other side the word Byzantine refered to the eastern of the ancient roman empire.


More from http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/EastEurope/Byzantium.html


The Byzantine (Later or Eastern Roman) Empire 312-1453

The reign of the first Christian emperor, Constantine, is often taken to mark the beginning of a new period in the history of the Roman Empire. Certainly there were significant changes: Christians come to play a more important and more public role in the life of the empire; Christian concerns come to dominate public discourse; the capital was moved from Rome to Constantinople (Byzantium). Yet there were also significant points of continuity: the legal and political structure remained largely the same, the economy and the military were largely the same. Even the form of Christianity in the Empire acquired significant aspects of Greco-Roman culture. The Byzantine Empire would last until the city of Constantinople was finally conquered by Ottoman Turks in 1453.
​

Formation of a Christian Empire: 300-527

• 306-337: The Emperor Constantine
• 325: The Council of Nicea
• 378: Battle of Adrianople
• 410: Rome is sacked by the Visigoths
• 354-430: St. Augustine of Hippo
• 455: Rome is sacked by the Vandals.
• 476: Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor in the West is deposed.

The Restoration of the Roman Empire in the East: 527-1056

• 527-565: Reign of Justinian
• 532-537: Justinian builds the Church of Hagia Sophia
• 568: Lombards invade Italy
• 680: Monophysitism is declared unorthodox.
• 690s: Muslims conquer Byzantine North Africa
• c. 858-867: The Missionary Journeys of Sts. Cyril and Methodius
• 867-1056: Macedonian dynasty
• 988: Kievan Russ adopts Orthodoxy

1056-1453: Decline of the Byzantine Empire

• 1071: Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert
• 1204: Constantinople falls to Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade.
• 1261: Constantinople is liberated from the Crusaders.
• 1453: Fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Turks

 

[abir]

Lovely and interesting gold peices of Early Byzantine Art from http://www.doaks.org/byzcollimages.html


1th: Gold and Lapis Lazuli Pendant with Aphrodite
Early Byzantine, Constantinople
late 6th-7th century

2nd: Gold and Niello Marriage Ring with Holy Land Scenes
Early Byzantine, Constantinople or Syria-Palestine
6th-7th century

3rd: Gold Marriage Belt (detail): "Joining of the Right Hands"
Early Byzantine, Constantinople
6th-7th century

4th: Gold Marriage Ring with Portraits of Aristophanes and Vigilantia
Early Byzantine, Constantinople
late 4th-early 5th century


5th: Gold Openwork Bracelet with Jeweled Clasp
Early Byzantine, late 4th century

 

[Natalija]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great

Constantine was born in a city that is in modern day Serbia, and today is called Nis.

This is also an interesting link.

Enjoy!

 

[Toledo]

Let's start the time machine with the past before Byzantium, the original Greeks Royal Houses that somehow look so modern-like when you read about them. To understand Byzatium you need to see where that fascinating culture evolved from, the even more fascinating greek culture.
This website presents the original Royal Greek Houses them in a very organized way, scroll down to see the names of the major Houses:
http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/houses.html

One ancient Greek Royal House that I have failed to find informatin about is the Athaneids. I read about it in the Robert Graves book, The White Goddess, and they are mentioned as one of the Houses that founded Greece, but it's a foot note mention. There is more on the other clan, the Perseids, than on the Athaneids.

My own foot note: Robert Graves is the author who wrote the book turned into two TV series called I Claudius.

And now that we got aquainted with the past let's fast forward to All Things Byzantium sites: This is a formidable scholar's site that contains information that will have you reading for days:
The Internet Medieval Source Book: the Byzantium section

And here is the best site ever to find one of the most complete and extensive research on Byzantine Genealogy. Even though is a Spanish site, the lineages are on PDF in the form of family trees, the names are easy to understand, so happy reading. I hope that helps your quest an all things Byzantine:

The Homar family research on the Byzantine family trees http://www.homar.org/genealog/pais.asp?pais=biz

And just to round up, their Greek genelogy section http://www.homar.org/genealog/pais.asp?pais=hel

The Nicolas Homar family has a great site also dedicated to find extensive PDF family trees on most Royals, they include everything like side mistresses and the kids they gave the Royals. I've never seen such a detailed work. From what I read, the head of the family, Mr. Nicolas Homar, has been doing this collection on Royal Genealogy online research since the 1990's and his son Bartolome Homar, the webmaster, has helped him to put it online. Quite a family!
Here is the main page, juts click on the blue World map to get to the data: http://www.homar.org/

 

[Toledo]

And this is extra:
Some years ago I found at the local library an architectural book that had pictures on Royal buildings that were never made, like the Orianda Palace in Crimea. One of the photos had the floor plan for what was to be a new Greek Royal palace to be built in the 19th Century right on the Acropolis around the ruins! The monstrous project never came to be, but I found the floor plans on a German site and they are worth printing since I have not come across any other match on that forgotten piece of modern Royal Greek history:

Palace for the Acropolis Athens (Greece), 1834

Floor plan for the project from above: the new palace is shown surrounding the ruins all over. This was the picture I saw in a book that got me to track down the rest. Thanks to the internet (thank you Bill Gates!) I was able to find the rest years and years apart from when I saw that picture in a library book.

Front elevation

Sections -- Palace for the Acropolis, Athens (Greece), 1834

Side elevation -- Palace for the Acropolis

Sections -- Palace for the Acropolis,

Great interior hall -- Palace for the Acropolis, Athens (Greece), 1834

Found another one of my old links: The Balkan states nobility or noble families

The Roman and Byzantine Worlds Directory of Royal Genealogical Data: http://www3.dcs.hull.ac.uk/genealogy/royal/#Roman

 

[Doktoras]

Fourthly, the "Paleologos" dynasty, as you call it, is extinct.

If you claim direct descent (not to mention '100 percent Greek blood') please show a family tree going back to the Paleologos.

1.1.2.1.1.1.2.5.1. Princess Theodora Paleologo, married to Isaac Flavius Comnenos, Prince of Trebizond.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.6. Prince Demetrios Paleologo, (1407-70), Despot of Mistra, married (1) 1436 to Zoe Paraspondylina, married 1441 to Theodora Asanina, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.6.1. Princess Helena Paleologo, (1442-70), married to Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7. Prince Tomaso Paleologo, (1409-65), Despot of Morea, Titular Emperor of the Byzantine (r. 1453-65)., married 1430 to Aikaterina Zacaria, Baroness of Arcadia, Princess of Achaia., with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.1. Prince Andreas Paleologo, (1453-1502), Titular Emperor of the Byzantine, (r. 1465-1502), Titular Despot of Morea, married in Rome to Caterina N, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.1.1. Prince Constantine Paleologo, Commander of the Papal Guard., Titular Emperor of the Byzantine, (1502- 43). dspl.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.1.2. Princess Marie Paleologo, married to Prince Vassili of Moscow.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2. Prince Manuel Paleologo, (1455-1516), married Princess Malkhatoun Zulkadr of Cappadocia, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1. Prince John Paleologo., married to Maria Phocas de Colneat, died in Turkey. 1558., with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1. Prince Theodore Paleologo, (1504-40)., with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.1. Prince Prospero Paleologo of Pesaro, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.1.1. Prince Camillo Paleologo, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.1.1.1. Prince Theodore Paleologo, (d. 1636) of Landulph Castle Cornwall, England, married to Mary Balls of Suffolk, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.1.1.1.1. Prince John Paleologo, died in the battle of Naseby 1645.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.1.1.1.2. Prince Theodore Paleologo, Captain in the Parliamentary Army in England, (buried at Westminister Abbey London), dsp 1644.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.1.1.1.3. Prince Ferdinando Paleologo, (d. 1671), buried in Barbados Is., married to Rebecca Pomfret, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.1.1.1.3.1. Prince Theodore Paleologos of Wrapping Kent, England, died at Corunna Spain 1693, married but dsp.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2. Prince Riccardo Paleologo of Strettle, Isle of Wight, England, (1506-51), married to Joanne Dauntsey, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1. Prince William Paleologo, (1525-96), married to Frances Turges, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1. Prince Barnabas Paleologo, (1556-1606), married to Elzabeth Myll, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1. Prince John Paleologo, (1602-83), married to Joanna Meux, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1. Prince James Paleologo, (1640-1705), married to Sarah Dillington, (d/o Sir Robert Dillington Bt), with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1. Prince Abraham Paleologo, (1674-1753), married to Elzabeth Cooke, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1. Prince Abraham Paleologo, (1707-73), married to Mary Oglander-Smythe, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Capt. Prince James Paleologo RN., (1741-1822), married to Jenny Urry-Jacobs, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Prince John Paleologo, (1769-1835), married to Elizabeth Stevens, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Princess Phoebe Paleologo, dunm.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2. Prince Isaac Paleologo, (1806-76), married to Marie de Meulan, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2.1. Prince Samuel Paleologo, (1842-92), Officer of the French Army, married to Mary de Comyns, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2.1.1. Princess Robina Paleologo, (1880-1976), married to Francis Miles.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3. Prince Abraham Paleologo, (1812-92), married to Anne Wells, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3.1. Prince James Paleologo, (1848-86), married to Louise Wheder, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3.1.1. Princess Nellie Louise Paleologo, married to John Edward Wright.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.4. Princess Elizabeth Paleologo, married to Ivan Dolgorouky.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2. Princess Sarah Paleologo, married 1801 to Fedor Jaloweicki.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.2. Princess Maria Paleologo, married to Sergei Dolgorouky.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.2. Prince Riccardo Paleologo, (1506-51), married to Joanne Dauntsey.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3. Prince Andrea Paleologo, Nobile of Messina Sicily, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1. Prince Demetrios Paleologo, (d. 1662), married to Giovanna N., with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1. Prince Andrea Paleologo, (1626-64), married to Lucrezia Bonianno, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.1. Prince Antonio Paleologo, (1658-83), dsp.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2. Prince Gaetano Paleologo, married to Margherita Magretti, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1. Prince Andreas Pietro Paleologo, married to Anna Nobili, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1. Prince Gaetano Antonio Paleologo, (1711-), married to Benedetta Cullura, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1. Prince Giuseppe Raffaele Paleologo, (1777-), married to Maria Corica, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1. Prince Gaetano Salvatore Paleologo, (1817-1909), married to Paola Busacca, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1. Prince Giuseppe Paleologo, (1837-1929), married to Concetta Alessandro, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1. Prince Gaetano Paleologo, (1874-1962), married to Maria Fegino, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Prince Giuseppe Paleologo, (1925-., married to Anna Grasso, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Prince Costantino Paleologo, (1959-1962), d.inf.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.2. Prince Giovanni Paleologo, (1879-1937), married to Teresa Forzano, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.2.1. Prince Gius Gaetano Paleologo, (1901-64), married to Angela Mannino, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.2.1.1. Prince Dr. Giovanni Paleologo, (1930-., married to Mary Fisher-Rowe, sp.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.2.1.2. Prince Gian Giorgio Paleologo, (1937-., married to Maria Grazia Cortoggiani, with issue.
1.1.2.1.1.1.2.7.2.1.3.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.2.1.2.1. Prince Gius Andrea Paleologo, (1967-.

As for the '100 percent Greek blood', there is not such a thing as 100% one origin. Not even Queen of England, who can trace her descendants more than 800 years back is 100% English.

Regards
D

 

[Warren]

Royal Academy Exhibition: Byzantium

Byzantium: Treasures of a lost empire

Crosses, frescoes, carvings and silks...the Royal Academy's new show has all the swagger of a blockbuster

Byzantium: Treasures of a lost empire - Times Online

Together they must capture the story of a vast empire that, ruled from its fabled capital of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), encompassed at its most extensive a long belt of North Africa, Egypt, the Holy Land, Italy and Greece, large parts of the Balkans and the southern regions of Spain. They must capture a sense of its shifting fortunes as it waxed and waned, diminished by plague, ransacked by barbarians, besieged by Muslims or enlarged and enriched by plundering conquests. They must convey its colourful, turbulent and often sensational history as a succession of 90 emperors fought (often viciously) for power, as well as the richness and diversity of its artistic output as it subsumed myriad cultures into its melting pot. Lastly the artefacts must highlight the power and importance of its spiritual vision as, with the conversion of Constantine the Great to Christianity on his deathbed, the religion that he had so radically legalised in 313 spread.

Byzantium certainly has its brutal and barbarous moments. Here are stepmothers boiled alive in overheated baths, an emperor with his nose and tongue cut off to prevent him ever ruling again (he survived and returned to power wearing a golden nose patch and using an interpreter to speak) and an empress who, in her determination for power, blinds her own son in the same purple chamber in which she had given birth to him 26 years earlier.

 

[principessa]

Historical royal families of the HRR

At Kloster Lorch guided tours about the life of Queen Irene of Byzanz (daughter-in-law of Barbarossa) are offered.

Irene – Königin der Herzen - Gmünder Tagespost

 

[Kasumi]

Bulgaria: Bulgarian Archaeologists Uncover Major Church Built by Byzantium's Last Emperors - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency
Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed the main church of a 14th century Byzantine monastery built by the last dynasty of the Eastern Roman Empire located in the Black Sea town of Sozopol.

 

[Artemisia]

Today is actually the day the Roman Empire broke into two parts (ruled by two different Emperors) for good. After Theodosius the Great - the last Emperor who ruled over the entire Roman Empire - passed away on January 17 395, his sons and co-Emperors became sole Emperors in the Eastern and Western parts. If you are a history fun like me, you can read a bit more here.

 

[catalinusd]

byzantine families

Can tell me anyone if there are any byzantine family left in modern Istanbul or all of them emigrated?

 

[Artemisia]

Can tell me anyone if there are any byzantine family left in modern Istanbul or all of them emigrated?

Do you mean any of the descendants of the Palaiologos Dynasty? I couldn't pinpoint exact people but there definitely are descendants of the family in Turkey, including Istanbul.

Many members of the Palaiologos family inter-married with most Royal and Noble Houses of the region (Ottoman, Bulgarian, Georgian, Armenian, Serbian) so yes there are numerous descendants. Some of the Ottoman Royals are descended from Palaiologos dynasty as well through matrilineal lines, and quite a few of them live in Istanbul.

If you mean members of the Byzantine Imperial Family, I am not sure one exists as such any more.

 

[l.m.a.ilkersancak]

Some noble byzantine families and pontos, smyrnia, cappodocia noble families, Bulgar and Armenian, Erdel(Transilvania) noble families and numerous Levantine (Frank, Dutch, German...) aristocratic families live in istanbul

Lord Minister Evaoglou Captain Alexakis A. Ilker Sancak of Manahosz of Surmenia-Trabzon (Καπετανος Αλεχακις δο Ποντος

 

[Imperial]

I would like to speak on the statement the OP made regarding their disdain for the Greek Royal family because of their non-Greek blood but favoritism for the Byzantine Emperors because of their supposed Greek ethnicity. Both dynasties heled Greece immensely including the Danish one. But the Byzantine Emperor's were far from ethnically Greek. Firstly the Leonid dynasty was Dacian, Justinian Dynasty was Illyro-Roman; the Heraclian dynasty was Armenian; the Isaurian dynasty was Syrian; the Amorian dynasty was Phrygian; the Macedonian dynasty was Armenian and called the Armenian dynasty; the Doukid dynasty were of also of likely Armenian origin and from Paphlagonia; the Komnenos also came from Paphlagonia; and finally the Palaiologos originated in Italy. So to make a long story short the Byzantine Emperors were not ethnically-Greek if anything they were more Armenian or mixed-race. In conclusion I don't think Greece has a had a native monarch since Antigonid dynasty of Hellenistic times.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Under Emperor Alexios I (reigned 1081 to 1118), the hyperpyron, a new gold coin was established in 1092.

 

[An Ard Ri]

On this day 1453 : The Fall of Constantinople

https://www.historytoday.com/judith-herrin/fall-constantinople

 

[M. Payton]

Interesting reading and Thank you! I enjoy reading about this type of culture during this time period, if only the world would read it's history and learn from it!

 

[An Ard Ri]

The city was doomed following the 53-day siege by the Ottomans and the city was plundered and its population either butchered or sold in slavery such was the sad end for Constantinople.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Quite a few Byzantine Emperors met grisly ends!

http://www.medievalists.net/2017/06/murder-byzantine-emperor/

 

[shaikhatif1987]

There are many descendants of the Angelo, Doukas, Komneno and Palailogos Family of the Byzantine Imperial Family , me being one of them on my mother's side. I would like to talk more on the subject if anyone is interested, do message me.