The Ancient World to Medieval Times

Journal Paper

University of Phoenix

Introduction to Humanities - The Ancient World to Medieval Times

HUM/100

Jose Groovier

December 5, 2013

As the Byzantine Empire was starting to fall down in the 12th century BC, Greece was gradually conquered by the Venetians. Till 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, the Venetians had already conquered the western side of the old Byzantine Empire, as the eastern side had been conquered by the Ottomans. Therefore, almost all the mainland of Greece and the Greek islands were at the hand of Venice. The Venetians reconstructed the towns with stone houses, paved streets and many public buildings. They also reinforced the ports, as the largest part of the Venetian societies was coming from trade. The most famous Venetian towns in Greece are the Old Town of Rhodes, Corfu, Chania and Rethymno in Crete. The Venetians had no large army, but they had a very powerful fleet. Their war strategy was to build strong castles that could resist the Turkish or Arabian attacks till help would arrive from the sea. This they built huge castles in every strategic part of the Greek mainland and in almost all the Greek islands. The majority of these castles underwent few reconstructions along time and survives till today.

The Byzantine Empire existed for nearly 1,125 years, and it’s one of the greatest empires of all time. Yet many people know little about it, other than the word “byzantine” being synonymous for highly intricate, complex, and devious dealings.

Beginning its adult life as the capital for the Eastern part of the Roman Empire, the city of Constantinople—later Byzantium, and Istanbul today—became the center of an extremely vibrant society that preserved Greek and Roman traditions while much of Western Europe slipped into the Dark Ages.  The Byzantine Empire protected Western Europe’s legacy until barbarism waned, when finally the preserved Greek and Roman masterworks opened the eyes of Europeans and stoked the fires of...