The second city of the Byzantine Empire, Thessalonica served as a major strategic and symbolic center throughout Byzantine history. Basil II stopped there at the outset of his decades-long Bulgarian campaign to seek the blessing of a monk who had witnessed his baptism. In 1185 the city fell to a Sicilian invasion under William II after just nine days, its governor having made no preparations for the siege — a catastrophic failure that underscored the broader collapse of Andronicus's regime.
What each episode says
Episode 13 (1 mention)
Basil II's first stop before entering Bulgaria on his great campaign was Thessalonica, where he tracked down a monk who had been present at his baptism and obtained his blessing and a promise to pray for him every night for the duration — a campaign that would last more than three decades.
“His first stop was Thessalonica, where he tracked down a monk who had been present”
Episode 15 (3 mentions)
The second city of the Byzantine Empire, whose fall to the Sicilian invasion under William II highlighted the catastrophic failures of Andronicus's regime. The incompetent governor had made no preparations: he ran out of arrows, catapult stones, and even water, and after just nine days German mercenaries were bribed to open the gates to the brutal Sicilian sack.
“and arrived unopposed before the walls of Thessalonica,”
“The fall of Thessalonica spurred Andronicus into action.”
“If Thessalonica, the second city of the empire, had just taken nine days to fall,”
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