Download Byzantine Empire

UNIT III: Regional
Civilizations
400-1500 C.E.
The Byzantine Empire
400-1500 C.E.
The Byzantine Empire
● In 395 C.E., the great empire of Rome was divided into two separate empires:
o The Roman Empire - Western Europe
o The Byzantine Empire - Eastern Europe
● Although the Roman Empire fell in 476 C.E., the Byzantine Empire would
continue to survive and prosper for almost one thousand years.
● The Byzantine Empire was in many ways a multicultural empire:
o At its height, the Byzantine Empire controlled Greece, Turkey, Italy,
southern Spain, the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Syria and North Africa.
o Furthermore, the empire consisted of many different peoples, including
Egyptians, Syrians, Greeks, Arabs, Armenians, Jews, Persians, Slavs, and
Turks.
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
●
The city of Constantinople:
o Constantinople was founded by Roman emperor Constantine in 330 C.E.
o
The capital of the Byzantine Empire was the city of Constantinople. The capital was
strategic for many reasons:
 The capital served as the “bridge” between Europe and Asia.
 Constantinople was at the center of most important trade routes.
 The city was also located near the center of early Christianity.
o
Constantinople was the center of most trade routes for many reasons:
 The city overlooked the straits of Bosporus and the Dardanelles, allowing the
Byzantines access to the Sea of Marmara, the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the
Mediterranean Sea.
 The city was surrounded by water on three sides, while the fourth was guarded by
heavily fortified walls.
 By 400 C.E., Constantinople had become the wealthiest part of the Roman Empire.
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
● After Rome fell in 476 C.E., the Byzantine Empire became known as the “new
Rome.” It continued Roman traditions (the position of the emperor, the Latin
language), but also incorporated important elements of Greek culture, including
the Greek language and heritage.
o From 500 C.E. until 1200 C.E., the Byzantine Empire was considered one of
the most advanced civilizations in the world.
The Byzantine Empire
● The most famous Byzantine emperor was Justinian, who ruled the empire from
527 - 565 C.E.
● Reconquering the fallen Roman Empire:
o One of Justinian’s goals was to reconquer the former lands of the Roman
Empire in western Europe, now controlled by Germanic Tribes.
o In this goal, Justinian was successful. His Byzantine armies successfully
reconquered Italy, North Africa, and Spain.
 However, the conquests bankrupted the empire, and the lands were only
held for roughly one hundred years.
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
●
However, Justinian’s greatest accomplishment was not in reconquering the former lands of
Rome, but in establishing a law code that still influences western law to this very day.
●
The Justinian Code:
o After becoming emperor, Justinian appointed a commission to organize and classify all
laws of the Roman Empire.
o The commission consisted of 10 scholars led by a legal expert named Tribonian.
o The commission examined Roman laws for six years. During this period of time, the
commission compiled a collection of law books known as Corpus of Civil Law, or more
simply as the Justinian Code.
o In compiling the work, the commission removed outdated laws, simplified other laws,
and categorized the laws.
o The Justinian Code had become the foundation for most European legal systems.
Modern law is even influenced by the works of the Justinian’s scholars.
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
● Byzantine Art & Architecture:
o Under Justinian’s rule, art and architecture thrived in the Byzantine
Empire.
o Justinian ordered the construction of new roads, fortresses, aqueducts, and
monasteries.
o Justinian's most famous architectural project was the Church of the Hagia
Sophia.
 A magnificent church in the former Byzantine capital of Constantinople.
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
● Byzantine Religion:
o The Byzantine emperor was regarded as God’s representative on earth.
o The emperor was crowned by the patriarch of Constantinople (leader of the
Eastern Orthodox Church).
o The Byzantine emperor played an important role in religious affairs, and
sought to unify his empire under one religious faith, even if it resulted in
persecution of other religious groups.
o The Byzantine people were very religious, and often debated religious issues
in their homes and marketplaces.
o The use of icons was very popular in the Byzantine Empire. Many
Byzantines used religious icons in prayer, while icons became a fixture in
Christian churches in the Byzantine Empire.
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire
●
The Birth of the Eastern Orthodox Church:
o Since the 300s C.E., the Eastern (Byzantine) and Western (Roman) Christian Churches
had disagreed over several issues.
o In the 700s C.E., the leaders of the Eastern Church (the Patriarch of Constantinople)
and the Western Christian Church (the pope) conflicted over many issues regarding
Christianity:
 Who was the supreme leader of the church?
 the iconoclastic controversy
 Church doctrine
 Control over churches in the Balkans
o In 1054 C.E., the two Christian churches could no longer compromise on issues, and
experienced a schism. The Christian Church divided into two separate churches:
 The Roman Catholic Church (Western Europe)
 The Eastern Orthodox Church (Eastern Europe)
o Following the schism, the Roman Catholic Church was led by the pope in Rome, while
the Eastern Orthodox Church was led by the patriarch of Constantinople.
The Byzantine Empire
Summary
Who: _______________________________________________________
What: ______________________________________________________
When: ______________________________________________________
Where: _____________________________________________________
How/Why: __________________________________________________
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Byzantine Society
Byzantine Society
● While western Europe was experiencing the Middle Ages (Dark Ages), culture in
the Byzantine Empire thrived.
● The Byzantines created a civilization characterized by achievements in art,
literature, scholarship, political science, law, and theology.
● Byzantine Society:
o The family was an important institution in Byzantine culture.
o Most women were expected to live apart from society, however, some
women were able to gain an education and hold influential positions in
Byzantine society.
Byzantine Society
● The Byzantine Economy:
o Agriculture:
 Most individuals in the Byzantine Empire worked as farmers, laborers, or
livestock herders.
o Commerce:
 At Constantinople, commerce became an important part of the
Byzantine economy due to its important location as a center of trade.
 Byzantine merchants traded with far away lands, including China,
northern Europe, and India.
o Industry:
 The Byzantine Empire also began developing silk, a good that most
merchants usually had to travel to China to obtain.
Byzantine Society
● Byzantine Art & Learning:
o Art:
 The main subject of art in the Byzantine Empire was religion.
 Icons: Portraits of saints and other religious figures decorated church
walls, private homes, and religious shrines.
 Mosaics: A mosaic is a picture made of many tiny pieces of colored glass
or flat stone. Like icons, Byzantine mosaics represented religious
subjects.
o Education:
 Both the Byzantine government and Eastern Orthodox Church provided
schools to educate members of Byzantine society in religious and secular
professions.
 Byzantines were taught theology, astronomy, medicine, law, philosophy,
arithmetic, geometry, grammar, and music.
Byzantine Society
Byzantine Society
Byzantine Society
Byzantine Society
● Byzantine Art & Learning:
o Literature:
 Most Byzantine literature focused on “salvation of the soul and
obedience to God’s will” (Farah & Karls, 254).
 Byzantine writers wrote books about Christian saints, these books helped
provide the Byzantine people with moral lessons.
o The Preservation of Greek and Roman Culture:
 Byzantine scholars played an integral role in preserving Greek and
Roman culture and academic ideas. Byzantine scholars copied ancient
Greek and Roman texts in order to preserve and spread classical
knowledge.
●
Valuable subjects that were preserved by the Byzantine scholars
include science, medicine, and mathematics.
Summary
Who: _______________________________________________________
What: ______________________________________________________
When: ______________________________________________________
Where: _____________________________________________________
How/Why: __________________________________________________
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The Fall of The Byzantine Empire
The Fall of The Byzantine Empire
● Since its founding, the Byzantine Empire was subject to frequent attacks from
invading armies, including Germanic Lombards, Slavs, Avars, Bulgars, Persians,
and Arabs.
● By the 700s C.E., the Byzantine Empire had lost the majority of the lands that
were conquered under Justinian’s rule.
● In the 1300s, the Ottoman Turks set out to conquer the Byzantine Empire.
● By the late 1300s C.E., the Byzantine Empire was reduced to the city of
Constantinople and part of Greece.
● The once grand empire was now reduced to a population of 100,000 people,
without wealth or food.
● In 1453 C.E., after six weeks under siege, the capital of the Byzantine Empire
was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, who would rename the city Istanbul, and
make it the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
The Fall of The Byzantine Empire
The Legacy of The Byzantine Empire
1. The Preservation of Roman and Greek Culture:
a. Without the Byzantine Empire, it is very possible to assume that ancient Greek and Roman
manuscripts would not have survived the “Dark Ages” that followed the fall of Rome.
b. The Byzantines preserved countless ancient Greek and Roman manuscripts, providing us with
invaluable insight into classic scholarship and learning.
2. The Eastern Orthodox Church:
a. The Eastern Orthodox Church, created in 1054 C.E., played a vital rule in the religious life of the
empire. Although the empire fell in 1453 C.E., the Eastern Orthodox Church survived, and
continues to play an important role in Eastern Europe culture in the modern era.
b. For example, The Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church are today two of the
largest religious bodies in Eastern Europe.
3. The Justinian Code (also known as Justinian’s Code):
a. The greatest accomplishment of Justinian’s reign was the Justinian Code. Justinian’s scholars
collected, analyzed, and edited hundreds of years of Roman legal codes into one concise body of
work - The Justinian Code.
b. The Justinian Code became the basis of most legal codes in Europe during and following the fall of
the Byzantine Empire.
c. The Justinian Code still influences law in the modern era.
Summary
Who: _______________________________________________________
What: ______________________________________________________
When: ______________________________________________________
Where: _____________________________________________________
How/Why: __________________________________________________
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