conversations.from: human
conversations.value: a title for a book about Bury, Edmunds, England with the genre: History, Ancient Civilizations
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A title for this book could be 'A History of Greece'
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the first five paragraphs for this book.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A History of Greece
  The challenges facing Michael VIII were immense. Constantinople had been stripped bare. Its buildings were in a deplorable condition; even the Blachernae Palace was declared uninhabitable. Repopulating the city and rebuilding its physical environment would prove a major undertaking. The most pressing concern, however, was the reaction within Western Christendom. Retaliation was inevitable. The last Latin emperor, Baldwin II (1228–1261), joined forces with the Venetians and William of Villehardouin, the prince of Achaea (1246–1278), but Michael despatched three military expeditions that nullified this threat and in the process netted a series of islands and Peloponnesian fortresses. In the meantime, Michael also enjoyed successful military campaigns against the Despotate of Epiros and the Bulgarians, while also driving Seljuk Turks out of the Maeander River basin in Asia Minor. In 1269, a new anti-Greek crusade had been organized by Charles of Anjou, the ruler of Sicily and Naples, but it was diffused when Michael suddenly opened negotiations with the Papacy on ecclesiastical union, which was ratified at the Council of Lyon in 1274. Charles's second attempt to launch a crusade was foiled by the so-called Sicilian Vespers in 1282, perhaps the greatest mass revolt in the island's history. There were strong suspicions that Byzantine money may have played a role.
  The outlook for the Byzantine Empire in 1282 looked promising. At the end of his busy reign, Michael had seen off threats on all fronts, expanded the empire and re-established Byzantium as a major political force. Even Constantinople was beginning to take on the appearance of an imperial capital. With some reason, Michael VIII saw himself as the 'New Constantine', but in Byzantine eyes his reputation was sullied by his dealings with the Papacy. For that, he shared the same fate as the early Iconoclast emperors. The rapprochement with the Papacy might have saved the empire from a major military assault, but it caused great distress within Orthodox communities, where the mere talk of union with the Papacy was anathema. Brutal state retaliation against protesters in Constantinople merely made things worse. When Michael died in 1282, the Church refused him final rites and he was buried on unconsecrated ground.
  With his exceptional military and diplomatic talents, Michael had nevertheless restored Byzantium to a respectable position within a hostile international environment. It did not last. In the deeply unstable political conditions of the fourteenth century, every state in the eastern Mediterranean world led a precarious existence, and in the hands of Michael's markedly less talented son, Andronikos II (1282–1328), the empire slid rapidly back to the precipice.
  The overall effect was greatly to diminish the state's fiscal base and its ability to raise mercenary armies. Andronikos fielded armies that often numbered less than 2,000, and there was the additional problem that mercenaries could be treacherous when they smelled weakness. In 1303, the Catalan Grand Company offered the services of 1,500 cavalry and 5,000 infantry at a price that was possibly greater than the state's annual revenue, but Andronikos was desperate. The Catalans went on to enjoy considerable success against the Turks, but they also attacked and plundered the Greek population and inevitably turned on their cash-strapped employer. For several years, the company ran amok in Byzantine Anatolia, Thrace and then Macedonia. The empire was plunged into disarray. As a consequence, the Turks occupied more territories in Anatolia, while the Genoese seized control of many port cities and islands. The pressure had abated by the 1310s, but by then all that was left of the empire was Constantinople, Thrace, the region around the Sea of Marmara and a few enclaves in Greece.
  Ottoman military strength depended on the number of retainers it could attract with promises of land and slaves. The earliest Ottoman armies therefore included many Christian warriors, although Osman's core-following appeared to be Turkic warriors from Central Asia. As with traditional pastoral armies from that zone, the earliest Ottoman armies were potent but not particularly sophisticated. They were composed of horseback archers whose forte was mobility and surprise attacks. They were reluctant to meet disciplined Byzantine armies in open battle, and their only siege tactic was to starve a city into submission. And yet by this stage Byzantium did not have the means to keep the countryside clear of these lethal mobile warriors.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me another paragraph.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: With the new dynasty also came a new constitution that set a new compromise between monarchy and representative government. The king retained enormous powers. He enjoyed the right to dismiss governments and ministers, to declare war and sign treaties, and he remained the head of the armed forces. Governments were now formed by political coalitions that could muster a parliamentary majority. In practice, however, forming government coalitions required a great deal of wheeling and dealing between political patrons and potential clients. The result was a rapid succession of coalition governments and political turmoil that ultimately prompted excessive intervention from the monarchy – there were 23 governments during the first 11 years of the new king's reign.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the last paragraph.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Thessaloniki, Thessalonica, Salonica , , , , ; Roman , , , ; Byzantine , , , , , , , ; Ottoman ; Greek 192–3, , , , , , , ,