Byzantine Emperors Family Tree

Buy the chart:

Roman Emperors Family Tree | Part 1: Augustus to Diocletian

Roman Emperors Family Tree | Part 2: Diocletian to Irene of Athens

Roman Emperors Family Tree | Part 3: Irene of Athens to Constantine XI

CREDITS:
Charts & Narration by Matt Baker
Animation by Syawish Rehman
Audio editing by Ali Shahwaiz

[zeppelinmage]

The medieval period lasted exactly from the fall of the Roman Empire, lasting until the fall of the Roman Empire.

[fydofire]

One started with an Augustus and ended with an Augustus...the other one started with a Konstantin and ended with a Konstantin.

[matthewleach]

Wake up babe, UsefulCharts just posted a video.

[brendenwright]

Great to see a new North / East Chart, I really liked the poster that came with the "Timeline of the British Monarchy" book I got as a gift from my school graduation, and seeing the start of this video is telling me to buy all three of these charts as soon as I am able.

Oh, and great video, Matt!

[gillesjacquemin]

Great video! I would recommend changing the dynasties names from « Doukids », « Komnenids » and « Angelids », because no one really uses these names, and they’re not really accurate. The more commonly used names are « Doukai », « Komnenoi », and « Angeloi ». It would also be more consistent with the « Palaiologos » later in the chart.

[Dorgpoop]

16:53 The interesting thing about the Norman conquest of southern Italy, is that it saw a Norman vs Anglo-Saxon rematch just 15 years after the battle of Hastings. After the Norman conquest of England, all the anglo Saxon nobility were replaced by normans, and so many fled abroad and ended up joining the Varangian guard, so much so that by the 1080s it was mostly composed of Anglo-Saxons. When the Norman army of Robert Guiscard faced off against the Byzantines at the battle of Dyrrachium in 1081, the Varangian guard was the vanguard of the Byzantine army, but they ended up loosing the battle in the exaxt same way that they did in the battle of Hastings. The norman cavalry charged at the Anglo-Saxons in a feint, waited for them to break ranks and give chase and then slaughtered them. Imagine how heartbroken you'd be if you were an Anglo-Saxon veteran of both battles. Even when you fled to the other side of the world you couldn't escape being defeated by your archenemies.

[lacintag]

It's important to note that the Great Schism of 1054 was only one step in a very long process of separation between the churches that started centuries earlier and was still happening for some time after. Even after the schism there were eastern churches who were in communion with Rome and western ones in communion with Constantinople.

[Nick-ctob]

Thank you for these charts, I cannot stop looking at them

[michellewalsh]

Hi Mat, I’m glad to see your videos again, I remember watching one of your videos last year that you’re not feeling too well and you were explaining in the video that you’ll be taking so time off from making videos for a while, I hope you’re feeling a lot better. Your videos are AMAZING. Best wishes to you and your family.

[anubratabit]

You could have mentioned a few more things.

1. From Manuel I, Byzantine economy became increasingly dependent on the Venetian Republic. Venice, which had to accept the Byzantines as their nominal overlords, didn't like it when the Byzantines sought to break their monoploy by negotiating trade with Genoa & Pisa, & so they financed the 4th Crusade. In return, they got a huge chunk of Byzantine territory along the Dalmatian coast & a no. of greek islands, notably Crete, making Venice reach its peak of power.

2. Although popular media refers to the Great Schism of 1054 to be the breaking point between the Roman Catholic Church & the Eastern Orthodox Church, actually it began all the way up the Photian schism in 860s over the Pope being jealous of Patriarch Photius of Constantinople's sucess in converting Boris I of Bulgaria to Christianity. It wasn't until the Palaiologian civil wars that this schism strongly materialised. The Crusades & Byzantine marriages with Catholic royalty was the main reason that the schism was heavily downplayed by both sides. But the sacking of Constantinople in 1204 permanently alienated the Eastern Orthodox Church from the Roman Catholic Church. By the 1330s, a serious dispute arose within the Eastern Orthodox Church. This was a essentially a struggle between the primacy of Aristotlean reason espoused by Thomas Aquinas & Christian mysticism based on the works of Pseudo-Dionysous the Areopagite as interpreted by the Greek theologian Gregory Palamas. John VI sided with Gregory Palamas while his opponents supported the followers of Thomas Aquinas. The 9th Ecumenical council held by John VI saw Palamas' doctrine being made the official dogma of the Eastern Orthodox Church & Thomas Aquinas condemned. However, the downturn of the Byzantines as a result of the Palaiologian civil wars caused the later Byzantine emperors to turn to the Pope for military aid, but the Popes wouldn't commit unless the Eastern Orthodox Church condemned Gregory Palamas & accepted the primacy of the Pope (effectively becoming Byzantine Rite Catholics). The last Byzantine emperors John VIII & Canstantine XI had converted to Catholicism at the Council of Florence, for which they were widely hated by their people & the wider Eastern Orthodox Church. Mark of Ephesus, a follower of Gregory Palamas, vigorously campaigned against union with the Roman Catholic Church, which weakenend the authority of the Byzantine emperors among its people. Serbia, inspite of being Eastern Orthodox, aided the Muslim Turks in the 1453 fall of Constantinople. The Russian Church protested against the union achieved in the Council of Florence (through force, duress & promises of military aid) by rebelling against the Patriarch of Constantinople's authority, so they didn't send any military aid.

3. The issue of Third Rome was rather disputed in its time. Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II assumed the title Kaiser-i-Rum (Caesar of Rome in Turkish) & ceremonially appointed Gennadius Scholarius, a follower of Mark of Ephesus, as the new Patriarch of Constantinople, mimicking the ceremonial role of the Byzantine emperors. The Greeks of those days considered the 1453 fall of Constantinople to less traumatic than the 1204 sack of Constantinople & Gennadius not only strongly distanced the Eastern Orthodox Church from the Roman Catholic Church (in order to dissuade Eastern Orthodox Christians from seeking aid from the Pope after the events of 1453), but legitimised the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople as divine punishment meted out for the last Byzantine emperors' conversion to Catholicism.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman emperors Mehmed II, Bayezid I, Selim I & Sulaiman the Magnificent emphasised their rule as a continuation of the Byzantine Empire by bearing the Turkish title of Kaiser-i-Rum. Mehmed II had even invited the Armenian Church (excommunicated by the Eastern Orthodox Church in 451 for not accepting the Council of Chalcedon) to create a Patriarchate in Constantinople. However, Selim II dropped this title in order to emphasis his Islamic titles of Caliph & Custodian of the 2 Holy Mosques.

[thomasdixon]

Nice to hear your voice again Matt, hope you are well

[levanikojulakidze]

20:05 There's also continuation of komnenians in Trebizond after andronikos named as "Megas komnenos". will be interesting if we will see video about them too

[abolishthestate]

Hey Matt love the videos!!! My wife and I watch every upload. Keep em coming dude! Much love from Texas.

[duxae]

Basil II and his brother not producing any male heirs was one of the greatest fumbles of all time. Politcal chaos

[MisterBoggins]

As the old saying goes, "You can choose your friends, But you cannot choose your family."

[TheJrpacman]

This was very informative. Makes me think if we had another part that followed the Ottomans, we would cover something like 1000 years of history!

[mlfett]

Thanks for this, Byzantium has always been of interest to me. Some scholars say that the loss of Constantinople to the Turks may have helped jump start the Renaissance, as the remaining eastern scholarly and artistic community made its way to Italy.

[micahbonewell]

It’s a crime that you didn’t mention Nikephoros II phokas nickname, “Pale death of the Saracens”

[connorfour]

Great video, though it would've been cool to also look at the modern Greek Monarchy, as it was seen as sort of a continuation of the Byzantine Empire.

[funwithrandomnesable]

Michael I is like the only sensible roman emperor. Get out of there before the power kills you or makes you go crazy.