ABSTRACT
Western Christendom owed a common allegiance to the pope; most of it had once formed part of the empire of Charlemagne. If Persia was passing its zenith when our period opened, Muslim Spain was still clearly waxing. In Cordoba Muslims, Jews and Christians lived side by side. In the Mediterranean plied Muslim navies, trading ships and pirates, Byzantine naval forces and merchants, Christian pirates and merchants. The Roman emperors were elected, but they had always had the right of adopting heirs and arranging for their nomination and election as their successors. The presence of Varangian's in Constantinople reminds us that in tenth century we are still in heyday of Viking influence and expansion. Emperor Otto III and Pope Sylvester II were instrumental in establishing bishoprics in Hungary and Poland. Encircled by the sea, empires of Islam and Byzantium, and the pirate kingdoms of Russia and the Vikings, the shape of Europe between the tenth and the twelfth centuries was defined.
