Arab–Byzantine wars

The Arab–Byzantine wars were a series of wars between the mostly Arab Muslims and the East Roman or Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. Started during the initial Muslim conquests under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs in the 7th century and continued by their successors until the mid-11th century. The eruption of the Arabs from the Arab Peninsula (now Saudi Arabia ) in the 630s resulted in the rapid loss of Byzantium's southern provinces ( Syria and Egypt ) to the Muslims. Over the next fifty years, under the aggressive Umayyad caliphs, the Muslims would launch repeated raids into still-Byzantine Asia Minor , twice threaten the Byzantine capital, Constantinople , with conquest, and outright conquer the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa . The situation did not stabilize until after the failure of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 718, when the Taurus Mountains on the eastern rim of Asia Minor became established as the mutual, heavily fortified and largely depopulated frontier. Under the Abbasid Empire , relations became more normal, with embassies exchanged and even periods of truce, but conflict remained the norm, with almost annual raids and counter-raids, sponsored either by the Abbasid government or by local rulers, well into the 10th century. During the first centuries, the Byzantines were usually in the defensive, and avoided open field battles, preferring to retreat to their fortified strongholds. Only after 740 did they begin to launch counterstrikes of their own, but still the Abbasid Empire was able to retaliate with often massive and destructive invasions of Asia Minor. With the decline and fragmentation of the Abbasid state after 861 and the concurrent strengthening of the Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty , the tide gradually turned. Over a period of fifty years from ca. 920 to 976, the Byzantines finally broke through the Muslim defences and restored their control over northern Syria and Greater Armenia. The last century of the Arab–Byzantine wars was dominated by frontier conflicts with the Fatimids in Syria, but the border remained stable until the appearance of a new people, the Seljuk Turks , after 1060. The Muslims also took to the sea, and from the 650s on, the entire Mediterranean Sea became a battleground, with raids and counter-raids being launched against islands and the coastal settlements. Muslim raids reached a peak in the 9th and early 10th centuries, after their conquest of Crete , Malta and Sicily , with their fleets reaching the coasts of France and Dalmatia and even the suburbs of Constantinople.

The Arab–Byzantine wars were a series of wars between the mostly Arab Muslims and the Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 11th centuries AD, started during the initial Muslim conquests under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs in the 7th century and continued by their successors until the mid-11th century. The emergence of Muslim Arabs from Arabia in the 630s resulted in the rapid loss of Byzantium's southern provinces ( Syria and Egypt ) to the Arab Caliphate . Over the next fifty years, under the Umayyad caliphs, the Arabs would launch repeated raids into still-Byzantine Asia Minor , twice besiege the Byzantine capital of Constantinople , and conquer the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa . The situation did not stabilize until after the failure of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 718, when the Taurus Mountains on the eastern rim of Asia Minor became established as the mutual, heavily fortified and largely depopulated frontier. Under the Abbasid Empire , relations became more normal, with embassies exchanged and even periods of truce, but conflict remained the norm, with almost annual raids and counter-raids, sponsored either by the Abbasid government or by local rulers, well into the 10th century. During the first centuries, the Byzantines were usually on the defensive, and avoided open field battles, preferring to retreat to their fortified strongholds. Only after 740 did they begin to launch their raids in an attempt to combat the Arabs and take the lands they had lost, but still the Abbasid Empire was able to retaliate with often massive and destructive invasions of Asia Minor. With the decline and fragmentation of the Abbasid state after 861 and the concurrent strengthening of the Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty , the tide gradually turned. Over a period of fifty years from ca. 920 to 976, the Byzantines finally broke through the Muslim defences and restored their control over northern Syria and Greater Armenia. The last century of the Arab–Byzantine wars was dominated by frontier conflicts with the Fatimids in Syria, but the border remained stable until the appearance of a new people, the Seljuk Turks , after 1060. The Arabs also took to the sea, and from the 650s on, the entire Mediterranean Sea became a battleground, with raids and counter-raids being launched against islands and the coastal settlements. Arab raids reached a peak in the 9th and early 10th centuries, after the conquests of Crete , Malta and Sicily , with their fleets reaching the coasts of France and Dalmatia and even the suburbs of Constantinople. There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a template (see the help page ). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , vol. 5. Byzantium and the early Islamic conquests. War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict [3 volumes] . Palmer (with contributions from S. The Romans fled, leaving behind the patrician Yarden, whom the Arabs killed. Some 4000 poor villagers of Palestine were killed there, Christians, Jews and Samaritans. The Arabs ravaged the whole region."

The Arab–Byzantine wars were a series of wars between a number of Muslim - Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire from the 7th to the 11th century. Conflict started during the initial Muslim conquests , under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs , in the 7th century and continued by their successors until the mid-11th century. The emergence of Muslim Arabs from Arabia in the 630s resulted in the rapid loss of Byzantium's southern provinces ( Syria and Egypt ) to the Arab Caliphate . Over the next fifty years, under the Umayyad caliphs, the Arabs would launch repeated raids into still-Byzantine Asia Minor , twice besiege the Byzantine capital of Constantinople , and conquer the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa . The situation did not stabilize until after the failure of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 718, when the Taurus Mountains on the eastern rim of Asia Minor became established as the mutual, heavily fortified and largely depopulated frontier. Under the Abbasid Empire , relations became more normal, with embassies exchanged and even periods of truce, but conflict remained the norm, with almost annual raids and counter-raids, sponsored either by the Abbasid government or by local rulers, well into the 10th century. During the first centuries, the Byzantines were usually on the defensive, and avoided open field battles, preferring to retreat to their fortified strongholds. Only after 740 did they begin to launch raids in an attempt to combat the Arabs and take back the lands they had lost, but the Abbasid Empire was able to retaliate with often massive and destructive invasions of Asia Minor. The Arabs also took to the sea, and from the 650s on, the entire Mediterranean Sea became a battleground, with raids and counter-raids being launched against islands and the coastal settlements. Arab raids reached a peak in the 9th and early 10th centuries, after the conquests of Crete , Malta and Sicily , with their fleets reaching the coasts of France , Dalmatia , and Constantinople. With the decline and fragmentation of the Abbasid state after 861 and the concurrent strengthening of the Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty , the tide gradually turned. Over a period of fifty years from c. 920 to 976, the Byzantines finally broke through the Arab defences and restored their control over northern Syria and Greater Armenia . The last century of the Arab–Byzantine wars was dominated by frontier conflicts with the Fatimids in Syria, but the border remained stable until the appearance of a new people, the Seljuk Turks , after 1060. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , vol. 5. Byzantium and the early Islamic conquests. War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict [3 volumes] . Palmer (with contributions from S. The Romans fled, leaving behind the patrician Yarden, whom the Arabs killed. Some 4000 poor villagers of Palestine were killed there, Christians, Jews and Samaritans. The Arabs ravaged the whole region."

Series of wars between the 7th and 11th centuries Belligerents Byzantine Empire Bulgarian Empire Mardaites Armenian principalities Kingdom of Italy Italian city-states Muslim State : State of Medina Rashidun Caliphate Sunni States : Umayyad Caliphate Abbasid Caliphate Aghlabid Emirate of Abbasids Emirate of Bari Emirate of Crete Shia States : Fatimid Caliphate Hamdanid state Ṣiqilliya Mirdasid state Zirid state The Arab–Byzantine wars or Muslim–Byzantine wars were a series of wars from the 7th to 11th centuries between multiple Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire . The Muslim Arab Caliphates conquered large parts of the Christian Byzantine empire and unsuccessfully attacked the Byzantine capital of Constantinople . The frontier between the warring states remained almost static for three centuries of frequent warfare, before the Byzantines were able to recapture some of the lost territory. The conflicts began during the early Muslim conquests under the expansionist Rashidun Caliphate , part of the initial spread of Islam . In the 630s, Rashidun forces from Arabia attacked and quickly overran Byzantium's southern provinces. Syria was captured in 639 and Egypt was conquered in 642. The Exarchate of Africa was gradually captured between 647 and 670. From the 650s onwards, Arab navies entered the Mediterranean Sea , which became a major battleground. Both sides launched raids and counter-raids against islands and coastal settlements. The Rashiduns were succeeded by the Umayyad Caliphate in 661, who over the next fifty years captured Byzantine Cyrenaica and launched repeated raids into Byzantine Asia Minor . Umayyad forces twice placed Constantinople under siege, in 674 to 678 and 717 to 718 , but were unable to capture the heavily fortified Byzantine capital. Following the failed second siege, the border stabilized at the Taurus Mountains in Asia Minor . The Umayyads launched frequent attacks across this frontier, which was heavily fortified by both sides and the surrounding region became depopulated . During this early period, the Byzantines were usually on the defensive, avoiding open field battles and preferring to retreat to their fortified strongholds. After 740 they began to launch their own counter-offensive raids across the frontier and by sea. In 750 the Umayyads were overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate , who were less expansionist than their predecessors and did not seek to eliminate the Byzantines; embassies were exchanged and there were several periods of truce. Nevertheless conflict remained the norm, with almost annual raids and counter-raids, either by the Abbasid government or by local client rulers , which continued until the mid-10th century. Byzantine attempts to take back the lands they had lost only provoked Abbasid retaliation, in the form of destructive invasions of Asia Minor. During the social unrest and simultaneous attack of the Byzantine border by multiple factions, Arab naval raids reached a peak in the 9th and early 10th centuries: their fleets attacked the coasts of Italy and Dalmatia , while Abassid vassals conquered Crete in 827 and gradually took Sicily from 831 to 878. Due to political instability beginning in 861 , the Abbasid state entered a period of decline and fragmentation. Simultaneously, the Byzantines began a resurgence under their emperors of the Macedonian dynasty . From c. 920 to 976, the Byzantines pushed Arab forces back, recovering some of their lost territories in northern Syria and Armenia. The Emirate of Crete was reconquered in 961. By the end of the 10th century the Fatimid Caliphate had replaced the Abassids as the major Arab power; they halted the Byzantine reconquests although border conflicts continued.