Byzantine Empire III

  General Description   The Byzantine period (1073-1204 CE) began with Michael VII Ducas (r.1071-1078 CE ^[1] and ended in disintegration with court in-fighting over the regency agenda for Manuel’s heir Alexios II ^[2] , which preceded the devastating 1204 CE conquest of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade. ^[3] The state had controlled about 500,000 km2 territory and upwards of 6 million people.
In ideology the Byzantine Empire carried the Roman worldview of its rightful domain of influence. Byzantine Emperors "recognized neither the western Frankish Empire nor the Bulgarian Emperor" and "never gave up its claims to universal rule. It claimed to be at the apex of the family of kings; it was the father, they were the sons." ^[4] The reality was that, although the state could maintain a professional army of over 100,000 soldiers, ^[5] increasingly the Byzantine state was dependent on allies for the the projection of military power. "Emperors from the time of Basil II found it cheaper to call upon allies and dependents, such as Venice, to supply warships, than to pay for an expensive standing fleet at Constantinople." ^[6]
Nevertheless the Byzantine government was, in terms of sophistication, with its legion of professional officials employed on state salary, a cut-above that which was present in the western states of the middle ages. ^{[7] [5]} The Emperor headed a complex imperial government that was led by a Mesazon (Prime minister) who had secretaries and an official called Master of Petitions who took feedback from the people. Provinces were governed by doukes (provincial governors) who had provincial administrations staffed with multiple levels of fiscal administrators. ^[8]

[1]: (Haussig 1971, Chronological Table) H W Haussig. J M Hussey, trans. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson.

[2]: (Holmes 2008, 276) E Jeffreys. J Haldon. R Cormack. eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[3]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences

[4]: (Haussig 1971, 201) H W Haussig. J M Hussey, trans. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson.

[5]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences)

[6]: (Haldon 2008, 560) E Jeffreys. J Haldon. R Cormack. eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[7]: (Haussig 1971, 54) Haussig, H W. trans Hussey, J M. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson.

[8]: (Haldon 2008, 550) E Jeffreys. J Haldon. R Cormack. eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford.