I have had immense frustration with finding any information on the Byzantines besides the most famous stuff, I have studied the history of the Empire extensively for well over a year now, books, Publishes papers regarding history, culture, military etc.
There seems to be an absolute lack of information on the Byzantines, the fact that I could find out virtually anything about medieval England, a minor island kingdom that was underdeveloped and puny for most of the Middle Ages yet the gargantuan cultural, economic and military Christian superpower that endured the largest wars of medieval history and head on clashed with the unstoppable capital, scientific achievements leading to moving mechanical statues with sounds emitting from them, Greek fire, avid record keeping, a military as well organised, advanced disciplined and constantly evolving military comparable to modern first world militaries in terms of organisation/professional operation capabilities; all this and yet all I can find it just the histories of the emperors lives and religious controversies. I’ve heard it all Nikephoros, Tzimisces, belisarius, Basil etc.
I want to know what Constantinople was like in detail, I want to know what the everyday people of the Muslim world, the nobles even the caliphs themselves thought of Byzantium, it’s culture, it’s cities and structures, it’s legacy and most of all its military, especially during the 850-1050 era, were there superstitions the common people of the caliphate had about the Byzantines? What did Muslim soldiers think before fighting them or what did they say it was like fighting them? Did the Caliphs/Emirs to some extent their might as the only nation to majorly ground their unstoppable conquests to a halt??
Anyone who could answer these questions and/or guide me to sources to learn more myself would be great
Hi! It's always great to see appetite for history, although your understanding of Medieval England certainly seems a bit slanted. It is worth highlighting that prior to the Norman conquest, England was one of the more centralised powers of the medieval west, and became one of the most bureaucratic powers of the medieval world by the twelfth century, but I digress.
Part of the problem you're encountering is that source survival for Byzantium is not quite as good as for other medieval polities. For instance, to continue to use England as an example, England is an entity that has continued, in one form or another, to exist into the modern world. This is not the case with Byzantium, and as such, the source survival rate is lesser. This is demonstrated well by looking at the treaties of both Byzantium and England between 900-1200. For England, we have around 25, largely surviving within English sources, kept in libraries and archives in England. For Byzantium, we have a similar number, but the vast majority come from the archives/libraries of other peoples (overwhelmingly the Italian Cities actually), and very few survive within Byzantium's own sources (Anna Komnene's Alexiad providing one such example, the Treaty of Devol (1108)). England's treaties overwhelmingly survive as the 'English copy' of the agreement, while Byzantine treaties overwhelmingly survive as the 'non-Byzantine party's copy' of the treaty.
There are other issues that contribute to the lack of populour works on Byzantium. However, unfortunately I am not the most qualified to touch on the general trends of historiography. Despite this, there are still plenty of accessible works on Byzantium in general. In fact, there is a fantastic book on how Byzantium was viewed by the Arabs by Dr. Nadia Maria El Cheikh, which focuses on your specific question.
I hope this helps somewhat! I have included online, translated, primary sources (which are free to access), below:
Sources:
Roger of Howden's Chronica Magistri (volume 1) - there are several treaties between 1174-1175, I suggest reading from pp. 385-388, 398-401, & 402-404. It should be noted Roger of Howden records a great many treaties though, so do read further if you'd like.
Anna Komnene's Alexiad - The Treaty of Devol starts on p247, and finishes on p253. However, the source is fascinating beyond the treaty, so do read further if you find it interesting.
On the scale of English history and sources that survive, Henry Bainton's 'History and the Written Word: Documents, Literacy, and Language in the Age of the Angevins' is very good, particularly the introduction, at least in regards to England's twelfth century historians.
Edit: spelling.