Abbasid collapse and the coming of the Crusades
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Flip to reveal answersWhat did the Buyid dynasty do to the Abbasid caliph from 945?
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All 12 Flashcards — Abbasid collapse and the coming of the Crusades
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Question
What did the Buyid dynasty do to the Abbasid caliph from 945?
Answer
Controlled him as a political figurehead while holding the real power in Baghdad themselves.
Question
What was the Zanj Revolt (869–883) and why did it matter economically?
Answer
A major slave uprising in southern Iraq that devastated farmland and irrigation, wrecking the Abbasid tax base.
Question
Who were the ghilman, and what military problem did they create?
Answer
Enslaved (mainly Turkic) soldiers used by caliphs; their commanders became powerful enough to make and unmake caliphs.
Question
What happened in Baghdad in 1055?
Answer
The Seljuk Turk leader Tughril Beg took the city and the title of sultan, taking real political-military power while the caliph kept only religious status.
Question
What was the significance of the Battle of Manzikert (1071)?
Answer
Seljuk forces destroyed a Byzantine army and captured Emperor Romanos IV, and Byzantium lost most of Anatolia.
Question
What happened to the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258?
Answer
The Mongol leader Hulagu Khan sacked Baghdad and executed the last Abbasid caliph, ending the caliphate as a political institution.
Question
What was the Fatimid Caliphate?
Answer
A rival Shi'ite caliphate ruling Egypt and North Africa from 909, claiming to be the true caliphs instead of the Abbasids.
Question
Compare the Seljuk takeover (1055) and the Mongol conquest (1258) of Baghdad.
Answer
Seljuks (1055) took political power but kept the caliph as a religious figurehead and restored Sunni strength; Mongols (1258) destroyed the city and ended the caliphate entirely.
Question
Why did Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos appeal to Pope Urban II in 1095?
Answer
Byzantium had lost most of Anatolia to the Seljuk Turks after Manzikert (1071) and needed military help.
Question
What happened at the Council of Clermont in November 1095?
Answer
Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade to help Byzantium and 'liberate' Jerusalem.
Question
Name two non-religious motives for European nobles joining the First Crusade.
Answer
Younger sons excluded by primogeniture sought land and territory; Italian trading cities (Genoa, Pisa, Venice) sought access to eastern Mediterranean trade.
Question
What is the key Paper 3 skill this micro practises?
Answer
Evaluating an argument — weighing internal versus external causes of the Abbasid collapse and reaching a substantiated judgement, not just listing causes.
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Full study notes for Abbasid collapse and the coming of the Crusades
Topic 10.1 hub
Transformation in North Africa and the Middle East (750–1291)
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