Editing Aegean Sea (section)

===Medieval period===
[[File:Emirate of Crete Map.svg|200px|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Emirate of Crete]], after early conquest of Arabs]]
The [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] allowed its successor state, the [[Byzantine Empire]], to continue Roman control over the Aegean Sea. However, their territory would later be threatened by the [[early Muslim conquests]] initiated by [[Muhammad]] in the 7th century. Although the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] did not manage to obtain land along the coast of the Aegean Sea, its conquest of the Eastern Anatolian peninsula as well as Egypt, the Levant, and North Africa left the Byzantine Empire weakened. The [[Umayyad Caliphate]] expanded the territorial gains of the Rashidun Caliphate, conquering much of North Africa, and threatened the Byzantine Empire's control of Western Anatolia, where it meets the Aegean Sea.

During the 820s, Crete was conquered by a group of [[Berbers]] [[Al-Andalus|Andalusians]] exiles led by [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Iqritishi]], and it became an independent [[Islamic]] state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Makrypoulias |first=Christos |date=2000-01-01 |title=Byzantine Expeditions against the Emirate of Crete c.825-949 |url=https://www.academia.edu/108025355 |journal=Graeco-Arabica |archive-date=26 December 2024 |access-date=24 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226220315/https://www.academia.edu/108025355 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Byzantine Empire launched a campaign that took most of the island back in 842 and 843 under [[Theoktistos]], but the re-conquest was not completed and was soon reversed. Later attempts by the Byzantine Empire to recover the island were without success. For the approximately 135 years of its existence, the emirate of Crete was one of the major foes of Byzantium. Crete commanded the sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and functioned as a forward base and haven for Muslim corsair fleets that ravaged the Byzantine-controlled shores of the Aegean Sea. Crete returned to Byzantine rule under [[Nikephoros II Phokas]], who launched a huge campaign against the Emirate of Crete in 960 to 961.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Norwich |first=John Julius |title=Byzantium. 2: The apogee |date=1993 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=978-0-394-53779-5 |location=New York |pages=175–178}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] threatened Byzantine control of Northern Greece and the Aegean coast to the south. Under [[Presian of Bulgaria|Presian]] and his successor [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]], the Bulgarian Empire managed to obtain a small portion of the northern Aegean coast.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Findlay |first1=Ronald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1oU3DEpsd8C |title=Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium |last2=O'Rourke |first2=Kevin H. |date=2009-08-10 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3188-3 |pages=14 |language=en}}</ref> [[Simeon I of Bulgaria]] led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion, and managed to conqueror much of the northern and western coasts of the Aegean. The Byzantines later regained control. The Second Bulgarian Empire achieved similar success along, again, the northern and western coasts, under [[Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria]].

[[File:Aegean Sea by Piri Reis.jpg|200px|thumb|upright=1.25|A 1528 map of the Aegean Sea by Turkish geographer [[Piri Reis]]]]
The [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuk Turks]], under the [[Seljuk Empire]], invaded the Byzantine Empire in 1068, from which they annexed almost all the territories of Anatolia, including the east coast of the Aegean Sea, during the reign of [[Alp Arslan]], the second [[Sultan]] of the Seljuk Empire. After the death of his successor, [[Malik Shah I]], the empire was divided, and Malik Shah was succeeded in Anatolia by [[Kilij Arslan I]], who founded the [[Sultanate of Rum]]. The Byzantines yet again recaptured the eastern coast of the Aegean.

After [[Constantinople]] was occupied by Western European and Venetian forces during the [[Fourth Crusade]], the area around the Aegean Sea was fragmented into multiple entities, including the [[Latin Empire]], the [[Kingdom of Thessalonica]], the [[Empire of Nicaea]], the [[Principality of Achaea]], and the [[Duchy of Athens]]. The Venetians created the maritime state of the [[Duchy of the Archipelago]], which included all the Cyclades except [[Mykonos]] and [[Tinos]]. The Empire of Nicaea, a Byzantine rump state, managed to affect the [[Recapture of Constantinople]] from the Latins in 1261 and defeat Epirus. Byzantine successes were not to last; the Ottomans would conquer the area around the Aegean coast, but before their expansion the Byzantine Empire had already been weakened from internal conflict. By the late 14th century, the Byzantine Empire had lost all control of the coast of the Aegean Sea and could exercise power around their capital, Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire then gained control of all the Aegean coast with the exception of Crete, which was a Venetian colony until 1669.