%0 Journal Article
%T Holy land, lost lands, Realpolitik. Imperial Byzantine thinking about Syria and Palestine in the later 10th and 11th centuries
%A Shepard
%A Jonathan
%J Al-Qantara : Revista de Estudios Arabes
%D 2013
%I Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient¨ªficas
%X This study reviews Byzantine attitudes and state policy towards the region between Antioch and Mount Sinai, stressing the general cautiousness of imperial strategy and, from the late tenth century onwards, the government¡¯s preference for peaceful coexistence and commerce with the Fatimid caliphate. Caliph al- ¨¡kim¡¯s destruction of the church of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009 did not overturn this state of affairs, and the main bone of contention between Cairo and Constantinople was the city of Aleppo, not Jerusalem. Even here, the two powers were inclined to leave the initiative to local parties, rather than insisting on direct rule, and communications between Muslim and Byzantine-ruled territories were mostly fairly straightforward. During the relative d¨¦tente of the first half of the eleventh century, pilgrimages to the Holy Land increased, and it may well have been primarily in order to impress pilgrims ¨C those travelling from Byzantium itself, but especially those from the Christian west ¨C that emperors lavished resources on reconstructing the church of the Holy Sepulchre in the 1030s and 1040s. Militant intervention on behalf of the Christian populations of south ern Syria and Palestine was not on their agenda. These conclusions rest on the collation of miscellaneous evidence, whose components are mostly well-known but have seldom received consideration side by side. The study highlights the value of trade to Fatimids and Byzantines alike, the esteem for ¡®the holy places¡¯ among Byzantines besides westerners, and the emperors¡¯ desire to demonstrate concern for the Holy Sepulchre without jeopardising relations with the Fatimids Este estudio pasa revista a la pol¨ªtica oficial del estado bizantino con respecto a la regi¨®n situada entre Antioqu¨ªa y el Monte Sina¨ª, haciendo ¨¦nfasis en la prudencia adoptada por lo general en la estrategia imperial as¨ª como, a partir de finales del siglo X, en la voluntad del gobierno a favor de una coexistencia pac¨ªfica con el califato fatim¨ª y el respeto a las relaciones comerciales. La destrucci¨®n de la iglesia del Santo Sepulcro por el califa al-  ¨¡kim en 1009 no alter¨® este estado de cosas, en el que la piedra angular de la pol¨ªtica de contenci¨®n entre el Cairo y Constantinopla estaba representada por la ciudad de Alepo, y no por Jerusal¨¦n. Incluso en esta, los dos poderes estaban inclinados a dejar la iniciativa a los partidos locales, m¨¢s que en reivindicar el control directo. Las comunicaciones entre los territorios gobernados por musulmanes o bizantinos fueron as¨ª por lo general bastante regulares. Durante el par¨®n rel
%K Byzantine emperors
%K Fatimids
%K Caliph al- ¨¡kim
%K Egypt
%K Jerusalem
%K Holy Sepulchre
%K Aleppo
%K Relics
%K Pilgrims
%K Palestine
%K Monks
%K Lazaros
%K Mount Galesion
%K Holy Cross
%K Trade
%K Communications
%K Church
%K Reconstruction
%K Mosaics
%K Realpolitik
%K Melkites
%K Oriental Christians
%K emperadores bizantinos
%K fatim¨ªes
%K califa al- ¨¡kim
%K Egipto
%K Jerusal¨¦n
%K Santo Sepulcro
%K Alepo
%K reliquias
%K peregrinos
%K Palestina
%K monjes
%K L¨¢zaro
%K Monte Galesio
%K Santa Cruz
%K comercio
%K comunicaciones
%K iglesia
%K recons
%U http://al-qantara.revistas.csic.es/index.php/al-qantara/article/view/289/280