Urban World History: An Economic and Geographical Perspective

Chapter 7 - The Great Ebb: Europe's Fight for Survival

CHAPTER 7The Great Ebb: Europe’s Fight for Survival© 2009 – Presses de l’Université du Québec Édifice Le Delta I, 2875, boul. Laurier, bureau 450, Québec, Québec G1V 2M2 • Tél.: (418) 657-4399 – www.puq.ca Tiré de: Urban World History, Luc-Normand Tellier, ISBN 978-2-7605-2209-1 • G1588 Tous droits de reproduction, de traduction et d’adaptation réservés G1588_ch7_EP4.indd 243 G1588_ch7_EP4.indd 243 10/02/09 13:39:46 10/02/09 13:39:46 © 2009 – Presses de l’Université du Québec Édifice Le Delta I, 2875, boul. Laurier, bureau 450, Québec, Québec G1V 2M2 • Tél.: (418) 657-4399 – www.puq.ca Tiré de: Urban World History, Luc-Normand Tellier, ISBN 978-2-7605-2209-1 • G1588 Tous droits de reproduction, de traduction et d’adaptation réservés G1588_ch7_EP4.indd 244 G1588_ch7_EP4.indd 244 10/02/09 13:39:46 10/02/09 13:39:46 The Great Ebb was caused by the collapse of Western Europe, but that part of the world got up again. Strangely enough, a factor which powerfully contributed to re-launch Western Europe was the progressive decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, assailed by Islam and others. The Eastern Roman Empire became the Byzantine Empire in 610 when Emperor Heraclius I ascended the throne, adopted the title of “Basileus,” and made Greek the official language of the empire. The long decline of the empire lasted a millennium, from 476 to 1453, date of the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans. The weakening of the Byzantine Empire and the loss of the Holy Land led the Occident to launch the Crusades and to directly confront the Moslem threat. From that clash resulted a new Western dynamism that led to the discovery of America. That fight of Christian Europe for survival is also a part of the Great Ebb. It is, to some extent, its reverse side. s THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE The main battleground where the survival of Christianity was played was the Byzantine Empire where, right in the Great Corridor, was concentrated the largest part of the wealth of Christianity. It must not be forgotten that the first beneficiary of the inversion of the westward movement that had benefited Rome so much was Constantinople, whose very birth marked the beginning of the eastward movement. Between 330, when Constantinople became one of the two capitals of the Roman Empire, and 636, when Islam appeared to be a true rival, the Eastern Empire presented itself as the only heir of the old Roman Empire, and as the refuge of the greatness of that empire. In 476, the population of Constantinople was around 450,000 inhabitants. After having experienced a long decline following the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire, the city of Constantinople resumed its growth from about 750, when its population was just 250,000 inhabitants. Around 1050, the city reached© 2009 – Presses de l’Université du Québec Édifice Le Delta I, 2875, boul. Laurier, bureau 450, Québec, Québec G1V 2M2 • Tél.: (418) 657-4399 – www.puq.ca Tiré de: Urban World History, Luc-Normand Tellier, ISBN 978-2-7605-2209-1 • G1588 Tous droits de reproduction, de traduction et d’adaptation réservés G1588_ch7_EP4.indd 245 G1588_ch7_EP4.indd 245 10/02/09 13:39:46 10/02/09 13:39:46 246 Urban World History© 2009 – Presses de l’Université du Québec Édifice Le Delta I, 2875, boul. Laurier, bureau 450, Québec, Québec G1V 2M2 • Tél.: (418) 657-4399 – www.puq.ca Tiré de: Urban World History, Luc-Normand Tellier, ISBN 978-2-7605-2209-1 • G1588 Tous droits de reproduction, de traduction et d’adaptation réservés its peak with half a million inhabitants (which is only half the population of Rome at its peak), and then a new period of decline succeeded. The city had just 200,000 inhabitants in 1204 when the Frankish Crusaders sacked it, and only 40,000 to 50,000 when the Ottomans captured it in 1453. However, Constantinople was just a part of the empire. Around 550, the Byzantine Empire was much more urbanized than the Western Europe dominated by the Germans. Its rate of urbanization was probably around ten to thirteen percent while the corresponding rate in Western Europe was about five to eight percent. However, urbanization receded within...