Do you think that between 720 and 1070 AD, any Byzantine Emperor was realistically capable of making a blunder along the lines of Manzikert in 1071? I'm asking about this because these 350 years (720-1070) were a rather good period for the Byzantine Empire, when it underwent a significant territorial recovery after previously losing a lot of its territories to the Muslims. The 1071 Battle of Manzikert was, of course, a huge shock because it paved the way for the conquest of almost all of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks within the next ten years and thus eventually paved the way for the First Crusade (and, of course, for the subsequent Crusades after that one). In turn, this makes me wonder if, had things went a bit differently, the Byzantine Empire could have experienced a comparable crisis point earlier, specifically sometime between the 720 and 1070 AD time period.
Anyway, what do you think about this?
Anyway, what do you think about this?
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