Nomads and Byzantium. Problematic aspects of maintaining diplomatic relations with the Pechenegs
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The Byzantine Empire made extensive use of diplomacy during its existence; either in order to protect its territory, or to expand it. A very important portion of these diplomatic activities was represented by the relations with various nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe belt. With regard to different cultural, political and social characteristics of the nomadic polities it’s necessary to say that pursuing of diplomacy among the nomads was not always an easy task for the Byzantines. In this chapter we describe these problems in detail, as well as strategies used by Byzantines to counter them, and we illustrate them on the case of the Byzantine contacts with the Pechenegs. The Pechenegs became Byzantine allies at the beginning of the 10th century and this situation lasted unchanged roughly 150 years. |
| Related projects: |