Alternate Byzantine Empire by 1453

Oops, I tried to copy and paste the map into my post, but it didn't work properly. How do I insert an image from Microsoft paint into my post?
 

Sargon

Donor
Monthly Donor
Depends what you mean by powerful. Territorially? Culturally? Militarily? Politically? A combination of them? Under the Macedonians the Empire may not have had the territorial extent of Maurice for example, but in terms of military, economic and cultural power, it was at it's apogee.

So, my suggestions of POD's are as follows:

1. Justinian I does not reign as long, resulting in overextending and practically bankrupting the Empire.

2. Maurice pays the army and is not executed by Phocas with all the chaos the Tyrant's reign subsequently brought to the Empire.

3. Heraclius wins the Battle of Yarmuk, stemming the Arab tide, and securing Byzantine power in the Levant and perhaps preventing the fall of Egypt.

4. Justinian II Rhinotmetos doesn't concentrate on revenge and uses his undoubted skills to good effect to reconquer lost territory and continue his development of the themata. For a TL in progress about this go here.

5. Constantine V Copronymus doesn't die at an inopportune moment. Butterflies affect whether Irene ever happens.

6. John I Tzimisces reigns for considerably longer.

7. Basil II Bulgaroctonus fathers an heir who only needs to have half his abilities.

8. Isaac I Comnenus doesn't pass on the Empire to Constantine X Ducas, instead passing it on to his brother John. Alternatively, he reigns for much longer, perhaps passing the Empire on to his nephew Alexius.

9. Romanus IV Diogenes wins at Manzikert (probably the last decent chance to change things so that you have a powerful Byzantium in 1453).

10. John II Calajohannes lives longer. Alternatively his other son, Isaac, becomes basileus instead of Manuel, whose pro-western policies and tendency towards insane largesse caused problems for the Empire later on.

11. No sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade. (this is almost certainly the last chance to do anything useful and have some sort of miracle of a renaissance of power somehow).


Sargon
 
I'll try and upload the map later. Basically, by 1453 the Byzantine Empire controls most of the Middle-East [including Egypt], all of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
 
Since we are looking at 1453 as an end point I think the PODs should be as close to that as possible. I'd suggest a considerably better second half of the 12 century as a starting point, focusing on Christian solidarity and coupled with a longer lived Comnenos dynasty and a fair amount of luck.

Outremer-Byzantine cooperation and success in the 1160s is countered by the rise of Saladin, this in turn is countered by the 3rd Crusade. Barbrossa captures Iconium and presents it to the Empire, and is rewarded by Imperial forces accopnaying his army to the Hold land. This combination of Crusaders, Imperial and Outremer forces destroys Saladin and splinters Muslim unity allowing the local Christain powers to make easy gains in the power vacum.

Christina ascendency and missionary activity begins to re-form the 'Orthodox Commonwealth' of the Macedonian dynasty. Christian minorities throughout the Middle East gain strength, wealth and coverts and become in effect a fifth column in the Islamic realms. A combined atatck from the 4th Crusade and Outremer, auided by a local Christain uprising causes Egypt to fall to the Christians, and begin to integrate into the 'Orthodox Commonwealth'. Links are forged with the Nubian and Ethiopian Christians to the south, who are also bought into the 'commonwealth'.

The result is that by 1250 the Byzantine Empire rules a defensible territory similar to that of 1025 and is surrounded by smaller Christin powers over whom it wields considerable influence and Islamic powers who have important Christian minorities that they must take into consideration. This power waxes and wanes over the next 200 years but is largely the case by 1453 when Portuguese ships appear in the Indian Ocean.
 
John Julius Norwich brought up an interesting POD in the planned marriage between Holy Roman Emperor Otto III and Basil II's daughter in the year 1002. Only the young emperor's tragic and unexpected death prevented the marriage from taking place, but Norwich wondered what would've happened had Otto lived and stayed alive past 1025, when the Bulgaroktonos died without a son. Otto could've taken the place of Basil's idiot brother, and perhaps the empire would come out of his reign even better than it had under Basil.
 
Top