Byzantium and the Crusades

Jonathan Harris's classic text chronologically surveys Byzantine history in the time of the Crusades. The book reveals the attitudes of the Byzantine ruling elites towards the Crusades and their ultimate inability to adapt to the challenges this presented. Using evidence amassed in a wealth of primary sources, Harris successfully makes the point that Byzantine interactions with Western Europe, the Crusades and the crusader states is best understood in the nature of the Byzantine Empire and the ideology which underpinned it, rather than in any generalised hostility between the peoples.
Incorporating recent scholarship, this 3rd edition has 25 further images, as well as additional maps and genealogical tables. This new edition also comes with two significant additions to the text:
* Appendix I sees the inclusion of seven critical Latin primary sources taken from across three centuries. Translated by the author, these sources are then discussed in detail, providing multiple first-hand perspectives on the subject in the process
* Appendix II provides assessments of various representations of the subject in key fiction and non-fiction works, thereby enriching your appreciation of the way that Byzantine interaction with the Crusades has been constructed at different times, from various standpoints and in other languages
This book remains the keystone to understanding the East-West relationship during the Crusades and what this meant for the Byzantine Empire.

Jonathan Harris is Professor of the History of Byzantium at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. He is the author of Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium (Bloomsbury Academic, 2nd Ed., 2017), Introduction to Byzantium, 602-1453 (2020) and The End of Byzantium (2010).

List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Acknowledgements
Timeline
Genealogical Tables
Introduction
1. The Empire of Christ
2. The Power behind the Throne
3. Response to Crisis
4. The Passage of the First Crusade
5. Jerusalem and Antioch
6. The Friend of the Latins
7. Andronicus the Tyrant
8. Iron not Gold
9. Paralysis and Extortion
10. The Rivers of Babylon
11. And so the Land is Lost!
Epilogue: The Impact
Appendix I: Author Translations and Discussions of Key Latin Primary Sources
Appendix II: Assessing Representations in Fiction and Non-Fiction
Notes
Bibliography
Index