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WHI Byzantine Empire
World History; Voorhees
Byzantine Empire and Russia
The Eastern Roman Empire lives on!
western half
Western Roman Empire
Western Empire
eastern half
Byzantine Empire
Byzantium is renamed
Constantinople
The Eastern Roman Empire lives on
as the Byzantine Empire
Empire too big!
Issues- economic, military, moral, and
political
Barbarians
Capital moved east
By 500 AD (CE), the Western Roman Empire
is dead

Constantinople- 330 AD (CE) becomes capital of Roman Empire
o Constantine- 1st Roman
o emperor to convert to Christianity
o Location of Constantinople
 protection of the eastern frontier
 farther away from barbarians
 crossroads of trade
 easily fortified site on a peninsula
o Role of Constantinople
o seat of the Byzantine Empire until Ottoman conquest
o preserved classical Greco-Roman culture
(Greco-Roman= Greece and Roman)
o center of trade

Byzantine Emperor Justinian
o Justinian I
 Codification of Roman law
 impact on European legal codes
 Re-conquest of former Roman territories
 Expansion of trade

Empire wealthy from trade
o Constantinople= huge trade center
o Mediterranean Sea- > Black Sea
World History
Voorhees
2016
Division between Western and Eastern Churches
o Eastern Church= Orthodox (Greek Orthodox/ Eastern Orthodox)
 Centered in Constantinople
 Close to seat of power after Constantinople became capital
 Use of Greek language in the liturgy
 Authority of the Patriarch accepted in the East
o Western Church= Roman Catholic (Catholicism)
 Authority of the Pope eventually accepted in the West
 Practices such as celibacy eventually accepted in the West

Byzantine achievements in art and architecture
o Inspiration provided by Christian religion and imperial power
o Icons (religious images)
o Mosaics in public and religious structures
o Hagia Sophia- Byzantine domed church
 built by emperor Justinian I
o Greco-Roman traditions
 Greek language
 Greek Orthodox Christianity
 Greek and Roman knowledge preserved in Byzantine libraries
o Influenced Eastern Europe and Russia
 Trade routes between Black Sea and Baltic Sea
 Adoption of Orthodox Christianity by Russia and much of Eastern
Europe
 Adoption of Greek alphabet to the Slavic languages by St. Cyril
(Cyrillic alphabet)
 Cyrillic alphabet world distribution
 Church architecture and religious art

Byzantine Empire- Decline and Fall
o First Crusade 1096- 99
o Islam occupies Jerusalem
o Western Europe responded with the First Crusade
o Italian merchant cities gained control of much of the empire's commerce
and wealth
o Crusaders plunder Constantinople
o OTTOMAN CONQUEST:
 Ottoman Turks conquer remnants of Byzantine Empire
 Finally- Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople 1453
 The Byzantine Empire is dead
World History
Voorhees
2016