Importance of Black Sea/Anatolia?

What was the importance of Anatolia and the Black Sea to the Byzantines and other European states of the Middle Ages? It seems that today those areas are very bland and not all that productive, but I might be wrong.

Also, were there major trade routes in the Black Sea in the Middle Ages, and if so, why have they disappeared?
 
Anatolia for the Byzantines was the backbone of their economy- the fertile plains of the western part of the subcontinent were their major tax base, and the highlands of the plateau were where the majority of the army was raised from- Cappadocia was particularly important. Other areas were important too- Thrace, the Peloponnese and (before the ninth century) Sicily in particular- but nowhere could really rival Anatolia as the heartland of the Byzantine state.

As for the Black Sea, it was somewhat more marginal, though still fairly important for the economy. It was through the Black Sea that the Byzantines got most of their fish, furs and amber, and their location on it meant that they could form alliances with first the Khazars, then the Rus.
 
What was the importance of Anatolia and the Black Sea to the Byzantines and other European states of the Middle Ages? It seems that today those areas are very bland and not all that productive, but I might be wrong.

Also, were there major trade routes in the Black Sea in the Middle Ages, and if so, why have they disappeared?
I'm not exactly an expert on the Byzantines (or possess much knowledge at all come to think of it) but I always thought Anatolia was a important source of manpower for the Byzantines. The Crimea was traditionally a source of grain, though I'm not sure how true that was by the medieval period.
 
The Byzantines and the more powerful Italian maratime states all had trading presences in the Crimea for much of the Middle Ages. Trebizond became important due to its proximity to some of the Western termini of the Silk Road.
 
The Black Sea was as important for what it was not as what it was: a huge buffer protecting it from the steppes of Eurasia, and all the warlike nomadic tribes that flowed through them.
 
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