SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest

Miniseries: Rise of the Komnenoi

EPISODE 108: Cracks in the Bulwark

For centuries, Constantinople stood like a stone wall between Islamic empires and Christian Europe—absorbing wave after wave of pressure while the West largely ignored the cost. But after the disaster at Manzikert, those cracks in the wall widened. In this episode, we examine the immediate fallout: the chaos in Anatolia, the weakening of imperial authority, and the quiet terror echoing across the empire. The Byzantines had survived disasters before...but this one felt different. This time, the empire was bleeding from within.

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108: Cracks in the Bulwark