Michael Baizerman Author

My new paper is "out in print" after undergoing thorough editing. This chapter examines the history of Chandax, the capital of the Emirate of Crete (820s-961), and its recapture by the Byzantine army led by General Nikephoros Phokas. The author seeks to align the evidence gathered from both Byzantine and Arab chronicles. Additionally, he includes details about the use of trebuchets, the establishment of military encampments, and the methods used to undermine the walls of citadels. https://www.academia.edu/126933976/The_Siege_of_Chandax_The_Byzantine_Recovery_of_Crete_960_961 I have re-edited the opening chapter of my second book, titled "The Enchanting Encounter with the East." The paper "What If the Earth Is a Sphere" examines medieval geography and includes numerous examples and illustrations. It demonstrates that medieval scholars viewed the Earth as a spherical body at the center of a rotating universe. I plan to upload an excerpt from this paper in th...

  My new chapter is called "The Siege of Chandax." This city, the capital of the Emirate of Crete (c. 924-961), was under siege by the Byzantine army between July 960 and March 961. Despite the numerical advantage, it took the general Nikephoros Phokas over seven months to take over the fortified location.  It was a great victory since Crete, the erstwhile Roman enclave, was under Muslim domination for nearly 140 years. The island lay at the crossroads of routes connecting Greece, Anatolia, Cyprus, the Levant, and Egypt, i.e., the eastern Mediterranean. The Cretan navy endangered trade lanes in the Aegean, took control of several islands, and ravaged the mainland.  The Emirate was a wealthy polity and a convenient way station for Egyptian and Syrian fleets poised against the East Roman Empire.  There are many blank spots about Muslim Crete and the Byzantine recovery. I am trying to scramble through Byzantine and Arab sources to scribble a readable and trustworthy sto...