WI: Robert Guiscard Had Successfully Overthrew the Komenids?

B-29_Bomber

Banned
What if Emperor Henry IV had been side tracked in his move to attack the Pope in Rome?

Could Guiscard pull a William the Conqueror on the Byzantine Empire? Or would he fail?


I think it's doable. He had shown some early success against the Byzantines.
 
What if Emperor Henry IV had been side tracked in his move to attack the Pope in Rome?

Could Guiscard pull a William the Conqueror on the Byzantine Empire? Or would he fail?


I think it's doable. He had shown some early success against the Byzantines.
Not happening.No one in Constantinople would accept putting a barbarian on the throne.He can rot outside Constantinople if no one is willing to open the gates from the inside.
 
Not happening.No one in Constantinople would accept putting a barbarian on the throne.He can rot outside Constantinople if no one is willing to open the gates from the inside.
Lets not get too carried away; the Byzantines are in a bad spot, and Constantinople would fall to a horde of Latin barbarians a little over a century later, after all. And it's not as if Alexios is super-secure on his throne. Even if the Normans "merely" hold on to most of Greece at the same time the Turks are seizing essentially all of Anatolia as OTL, that's a pretty serious blow.
 

Deleted member 67076

The guy was around 60/70 when he launched his invasion of Greece. Even if he can win (which is unlikely), he won't last much longer.

But should he win he still has to deal with the fact he's Catholic ruling over a much larger Orthodox population and dealing with multiple simultaneous invasions from the various Turkish warlords in the east (now with ships) and the Pechengs up north.
 
But should he win he still has to deal with the fact he's Catholic ruling over a much larger Orthodox population and dealing with multiple simultaneous invasions from the various Turkish warlords in the east (now with ships) and the Pechengs up north.

You know, a Byzantine Empire that fails is a perfectly viable outcome! The will of Allah is mysterious, but the fact that the Norms are the gateway of God's soldiers to Constantinople is a miracle.
 

Deleted member 67076

You know, a Byzantine Empire that fails is a perfectly viable outcome! The will of Allah is mysterious, but the fact that the Norms are the gateway of God's soldiers to Constantinople is a miracle.

Son did I ever imply that wasn't an option?
 
Didn't he have a puppet emperor in tow? Or am I crazy?

One that had no claim.It's clear to everyone that this 'Michael' is fake since the real one is currently working as a bishop.
Lets not get too carried away; the Byzantines are in a bad spot, and Constantinople would fall to a horde of Latin barbarians a little over a century later, after all. And it's not as if Alexios is super-secure on his throne. Even if the Normans "merely" hold on to most of Greece at the same time the Turks are seizing essentially all of Anatolia as OTL, that's a pretty serious blow.

They were in a bad spot,but not as bad as you imply.The Normans were overstretching themselves.Constantinople fell more than a century later when it was led by incompetent leaders and faced with a massive navy attacking from the sea.And Alexios' rule isn't as insecure as you think it is.There's a reason why the guy managed to survive numerous defeats against the Normans when generally one defeat (ie Manzikert) was all that's required to break an emperor's rule.He had a solid marital alliance network with the aristocratic families of the ERE and basically created a regime that fit their tastes.Besides,it was clear to everyone that Robert has no intentions to leave.It's highly unlikely Robert would have succeeded.
 
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