15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
It has often been stated that the Umayyad dynasty went into decline after the unsuccessful siege of Constantinople. There is no doubt that the Caliphs had been severely weakened on land and sea. The defeat came at a difficult time for the dynasty as the Empire was also suffering from fiscal challenges. The balance of power after the siege shifted towards the Byzantine. The Umayyad dynasty was so concerned in the wake of the defeat that the considered abandoning their recent conquests in Iberia. The decline of the Caliphs was underlined at the Battle of Akroinon in 740 when once again Leo III defeated a large Arab force when he annihilated some 20,000 soldiers.
The blow to Umayyad prestige was significant and many zealous Muslims claimed that the defeats were because of the impiety of the Caliphs. This culminated in a series of revolts that ultimately led to the Abbasid Revolution when the Umayyads were deposed and almost the entire family massacred. The defeat of the Umayyads before the walls of Constantinople helped to undermine the dynasty. However, they Caliphs had also been weakened by a series of defeats in central Asia and in the Caucuses. It cannot be denied that the failure of Umar II to take Constantinople was a factor in the decline and the fall of the second Caliphate.<ref>Hawting, G.R. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415240735/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0415240735&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=06d75c26844fff0201735e07b03465a7 The first dynasty First Dynasty of Islam: the The Umayyad caliphateCaliphate, AD 661–750 ]</i> (London, Rutledge, 2000), p. 201</ref>
====Leo III and Iconoclasm====
