Part 6/14:
The seeds of this moment did not arise in isolation. A broader narrative involving the Byzantine Empire and the upheaval of the Islamic world set the stage for Urban's call. The Byzantine Empire, once a dominant force in the eastern Mediterranean, had been in steep decline since the death of Byzantine Emperor Basil II in 1025. Political instability, military failures, and the emergence of the Seljuk Turks, a formidable Islamic power, led to a series of catastrophic losses for Byzantium, most notably at the battle of Manzikert in 1071 where Byzantine forces crumbled under Seljuk cunning and betrayal.