Download Chapter 10-The Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire
The New Empire
 Roman
Empire divides into east
and west
 East half-Byzantine Empire-varied
peoples and cultures
 capital -Constantinople-center of
early Christianity
Constantinople
 330AD
Roman Emperor-Constantine
picked the city as capital of the empire
 lies near 2 straits could control movement between the
Mediterranean and Black seas
 Natural protection on 3 sides
 triple walls on one side- and a chain
across the harbor
Constantinople
 Wealthiest
city in the empire-After
Rome falls
 duty is to protect traditions of empire
 new Rome not just Latin and RomanGreek history and language
 Christianity-Eastern Orthodoxy
Justinian-the Emperor
 became emperor at age
that never sleeps
44-married an actress
(held in low esteem)
named Theodora-active
in women's rights-own
land and property
 equal to that which they
had when the entered the
marriage
 widow's would need
support of government if
they-could not inherit
Justinian
 Rebellion
by taxpayers (actually
argument over gladiatorial contest)-city
set on fire-at the palace gates
 Theodora talks Justinian into stayinginspired crushed rebels (killed 30,000)
 ruled without challenge
Challenge to get back Rome
 Persia-Choroses-peace
by pay
 Empire plans to get Italy back
 Gen. Belisarius does but it is all
lost after his death and cost big
bucks
 Code of Laws-legal reform-codify
Roman laws
 legal expert Tribonian-Corpus of
Civil Law
 church
-Hagia
Sophia-Holy Wisdom
 Art-icons
 mosaic-pictures made
of tiny pieces of
colored glass or flat
stones
 illuminated
manuscriptsdecorated books
Arts
Mosaic
Religion
 Emperors
were God's representatives
on Earth
 crowned by the church-oath to defend
faith
 major role-appoint church officials-set
style of worship-one faith
 clergy-church officials (bishops and
priest)
 laity-church members not clergy
Icon debate
 heated
debate among Christians
 icons-religious images in worship
 Bible forbids--false images or are
they reminders of God
 For -John of Damascus Against
Emperor Leo III supporters known
as Iconoclast-image breakers
 many
resisted-supported
by Roman Church
 strained by east and west
division
 Leo-against heavyremoves all icons
 787AD Empress Irenefirst woman to hold the
throne-allowed icons
 843AD-allowed pictures
but not statues
Icon debate
The Great Schism
 Conflict
with Rome-Pope supreme
head of church in Rome
 Patriarch head in Constantinople
 700AD Italy invaded by Lombards
Byzantines would not help -turned to
the Franks named Charlamagne
emperor
 west and east churches now totally
divided called the Great Schism
City life
 Theology-religious
teachings
 social groups-room to move-marriage
sacred-divorce hard to get-one remarriage
 women-lived partly in seclusion-Theodora
changed a lot several educated held
government positions--some even ruled
 most of people farmers and herders-heavy
taxes on them
 commerce thrived in the city
Education
 Schools-government
university-church
schools
 tutors for girls literature-salvation of the
soul major topic
 monasteries-religious communities
(monks and nuns)
 missionaries-people sent to carry the
religious message
 successful ones Cyril and Methodiusconverted the Slavs
Decline
 After
the death of Justinian-empire
started to decline
 Slavs--Lombards --and Muslims all
tried to invade
 stopped short of Constantinople
but large chunks of territory lost
 Byzantines used chemical weapon
called Greek Fire
Church Terms
 Heresy-
disagree with church
teachings Catholic church charged
iconoclast with this
 Excommunication- not allowed to
be a part of church Celibacy- Catholic priest not
allowed to marry-Orthodox
allowed to marry
Slavs
 Eventually
Slavs take over
immense plain called the steppe
rich soil-bad weather-not farmed
 3 rivers of the Slavic area
1.Dnieper
2. Dniester
3.Volga
Slavs
 little
known about the Slavs other than
they came from Poland
 Southern Slavs Serbs-Croats--Orthodox Church
 Bosnians-Islam
 Eastern Slavs
 Russians-Ukranians
 hunted-lived in log houses called
izbas
 used rivers for transportation
Rurik and the Vikings
 Vikings
protected
-Rurik invited to
lead area Rus
(Russia)
 SuccessorsPrince Olegfortress village of
Kiev
 rulers called
Grand Prince
Government
 Collection
of city-states and principalities
or territories ruled by princes
1. administer justice
 2. defend frontiers

 princes
assisted by councils of wealthy
merchants and land-owning nobles-called
boyars
 Assemblies represented all free adult male
citizens
1. daily affairs of the state
 2.power to accept or remove princes

Christianity
 Before
900AD worshipped many
gods of nature
 Olga-princess of Kiev is the first
member of royal family to adopt
Christianity
 Grandson Vladmir adopted it as
official religion
Russia
–Russian town meetings,
when the prince calls a town
meeting the head of all households
comes to the meeting
 Yaroslav the Wise-Built churches
and Introduced the first law code
called the Pravda Russkia
 Veche
Russian Tsars


In Russia the Mongols created the Tatar
khanates to control Russia. They imposed
heavy taxes. Tsar Ivan III refused to pay
and the armies faced off. The Tatar
backed off.
Ivan IV finished off the Tatars by defeating
them. He gained the name Ivan the
Terrible by waging a campaign of Terror
against Russian nobles called boyars.
Russia
 Ivan
IV Vasilyevich,
called The Terrible,
became ruler in 1533 at
the age of three
 became the first
Muscovite grand duke to
be formally crowned as
czar;
 in the same year he
married Anastasia
Romanovna, a member
of the Romanov family.