The Contribution of Byzantine

When a new dynasty, which came to be called Macedonian, took the throne of the Byzantine Empire, it forces began to roll back the tide of the Islamic expansion. Antioch, Syria, Georgia, and Armenia was reconquered. The Byzantine fleet regained Crete and drove Muslim pirates from the Aegean Sea, reopening it to commercial traffic. Consolidation of the Balkans was completed with the defeat of the Bulgarian Empire by Basil II in 1018.

Orthodox missionaries, including Cyril and Methodius, led the proselytization of Bulgaria, Serbia, and eventually Russia. The military conquests of the Macedonian Dynasty initiated a period of economic growth and prosperity and a cultural renaissance. Agriculture flourished as conditions stabilized and, as emperors increasingly used land grants to reward military service, the area under cultivation expanded. The prosperity of improved agricultural conditions and the export of woven silk and other craft articles allowed the population to grow.