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Chapter 13
The Commonwealth of Byzantium
Byzantine Empire
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-After the collapse of the western half of the
Roman Empire the Byzantine eastern section
survived for another millennium.
- Byzantium dominated the eastern Mediterranean
world politically and economically for centuries.
- Even after its collapse the Byzantine Empire’s
influence could be seen in the Slavic peoples of
Eastern Europe and Russia.
The Early Byzantine Empire
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At its height Byzantium included Greece,
Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, northeast
Africa, and the Balkans.
Byzantium faced threats from the Sasanid
dynasty in Persia but managed to escape
the Germanic invasions that had
devastated the western half of the empire.
Political Structure
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the Byzantine state was marked by a
highly centralized rule centered around a
remarkably powerful emperor.
Byzantine emperors wielded a mixture of
political and religious authority known as
caesaropapism.
In theory, the emperor possessed absolute
authority in all political, military, judicial, and
religious affairs
Justinian
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Justinian, despite humble origins, became
the most influential of the Byzantine
emperors.
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attempted to re-create the Roman Empire.
Justinian’s codification of Roman law, as seen in
the Corpus iuris civilis, was the emperor’s most
influential legal and political contribution.
The general Belisarius’s conquests reconstructed
most of the Roman Empire.
Did it last???
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A combination of limited Byzantine resources and
Arabic expansion made holding the old empire
together impossible.
The former western half of the empire increasingly
fell to successor states.
The Frankish king Charlemagne received an
imperial crown from the pope in 800 and Otto of
Saxony claimed to rule the west in 962.
Byzantine Economy and Society
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While its political authority fluctuated over
the centuries, Byzantium remained an
economic power.
Byzantium was at its strongest when free
peasants formed the engine that drove the
state.
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free peasants were bolstered by the theme
system that provided land in return for military
service.
Byzantine Economy and Society
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The consolidation of power and land in the hands of the
nobles not only hurt the peasants but also damaged the
Byzantine empire militarily.
Constantinople remained the major center of trade and
industry in the Mediterranean world.
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major innovation was the rise of a silk industry
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Byzantium’s domination of trade is best shown in the bezant,
which became the standard currency in the Mediterranean for
centuries.
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Constantinople—the largest city in Europe, with a population
of around one million—stood in the center of everything and
was a worthy successor to Rome as “the city” of the
Mediterranean basin.
Classical Heritage and Orthodox Christianity
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Byzantium was most strongly influenced by
Greek culture.
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Greek became the official language
Byzantine education clearly showed the
Greek influence
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a state-supported school system provided for
widespread literacy.
A school for the study of law, medicine, and
philosophy in Constantinople survived for a
thousand years.
Classical Heritage and Orthodox Christianity
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Big difference between the western and
eastern halves of the empire in
ecclesiastical matters
The Byzantine emperors played a very
active role in religious issues
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Constantine calling together the Council of
Nicaea to attack Arian views on the nature of
Jesus
Leo III’s iconoclasm is a classic example of
imperial meddling in religious affairs.
Council of Nicaea, 325 CE
Classical Heritage and Orthodox Christianity
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Monasticism
Byzantine monasteries were known for their
spiritual and social aid to their communities
Tensions over issues ranging from doctrine to
power led to the patriarch and pope mutually
excommunicating each other in 1054,
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the beginning of the schism between the Eastern
Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
The Influence of Byzantium in Eastern Europe
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Byzantine power was threatened by
internal social problems and challenges
from the west and east.
The sacking of Constantinople by the
Fourth Crusade in 1204 devastated
Byzantium and increased tensions between
the old halves of the Roman Empire.
The 4th Crusade and Constantinople
falls
The Influence of Byzantium in Eastern Europe
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The victory of the Saljuq Turks at Manzikert in
1071 led to the loss of Anatolia and economic
devastation.
After centuries of decay, Constantinople fell to the
Ottoman Turks in 1453.
While Byzantium’s direct hold on the
Mediterranean world threatened by Islamic
expansion,
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its influence on the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe and
Russia only increased.
The Influence of Byzantium in Eastern Europe
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Greek Orthodox missionaries spread the
faith northward
Two missionaries, Saints Cyril and
Methodius, adopted the Greek alphabet to
the Slavic tongue to create the Cyrillic
alphabet,
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which allowed for the further spread of religious as
well as secular thought.
The Influence of Byzantium in Eastern Europe
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Prince Vladimir’s conversion turned Kiev,
the first center of Russian power, into a
center of Byzantine culture.
By the sixteenth century Russians spoke
of Moscow as the world’s third Rome.