<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . (September 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Byzantine Empire (the Eastern Roman Empire during the medieval period, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire) following the crisis of the Gothic Wars managed to re-establish itself in a golden age under the Justinian dynasty in the 6th century, and during the Early Middle Ages it continued to flourish even after the Muslim conquest of the Levant and the constant threat of Arab invasion . </P> <P> But in the High Middle Ages, under pressure from the Seljuk Empire, it suffered serious setbacks and fell into decline . After the Battle of Manzikert (1071) it lost control of Anatolia, and while the Komnenos dynasty restored a degree of stability in the 12th century with help from the First Crusade, the empire was captured and partitioned by the Crusaders themselves in the Fourth Crusade in 1204 . </P> <P> Even after Byzantine rule was restored in 1261, the empire was now a shadow of its former self, and after the end of the Crusades, the empire had little to set against the rise of the Ottoman Empire during the late medieval period, and was eventually conquered with the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 . </P>

When did the byzantine empire start to decline