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The World of
Christendom
500-1300
Chapter 10
Byzantine Empire
How the empire changed…
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286 CE: empire splits into eastern and western
halves
313 CE: Christianity accepted in empire
330 CE: Constantine converted and reunites the
empire
395 CE: Empire splits again, eastern half known as
Byzantine Empire
476 CE: Fall of the Western Roman Empire
800 CE: Holy Roman Empire established in Rome
(in the West)
1054 CE: Christianity splits into Roman
Catholicism and Christian Orthodoxy
Difference Between East and West

East
◦ Used Greek
◦ Architecture had
distinct domes
◦ Art was mosaic
◦ Culture more in
common with
eastern cultures like
Persia
◦ Orthodox
Christianity
◦ Centralized rule
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West
◦ Used Latin
◦ Culture more a
Germanic/Roman
mix
◦ Roman Catholic
Christianity
◦ Decentralized
rule
Why did the Eastern half prosper?
Geography: Able to defend its borders
 East had higher population: more men and
supplies for an army
 Urbanization in the East continued to be
politically, socially, and economically strong
 Strong economy: lucrative trade and
productive territory
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Justinian (527 to 565)
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Flourished in trade and arts, Constantinople
rivaling Baghdad for cultural supremacy
Justinian Code
◦ Codification of Roman law that kept ancient
Roman legal principles alive (based on Twelve
Tables)
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Flowering of arts and sciences
◦ Hagia Sophia: large cathedral that stands
today…church turned mosque turned museum
◦ Mosaic art that decorated churches
The Church Splits…
Byzantium did not consider the pope the head of
their church, secular leaders ruled their church
 Over time disagreements continued over…
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The sacrament of communion
Whether priests should marry
Use of local languages in the church
Nature of God, as in the trinity
Placement of icons during worship
The Great Schism: in 1054 the pope
excommunicated patriarch of Constantinople, who
did the same to the pope
 Orthodoxy influenced the east while Roman
Catholicism influenced the west
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Comparing Roman Catholicism and
Christian Orthodoxy
East was more a secular empire with an
official state religion, while the West was
more a religious empire with submissive
political units
 Unlike their political structures, Roman
Catholicism was highly centralized while
Orthodoxy was more localized
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Byzantine GRAPES…
Geography: allowed prosperity
 Religious: Christian Orthodox
 Achievements: libraries filled with Greek,
Latin, Persian and Hebrew texts
 Political: strong central government,
hereditary monarchy
 Economic: location leads to strong trade
(silk from China, artisans of glassware,
linen, jewelry, gold)
 Social: some social mobility in bureaucracy,
army, trade or Church, but rare
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The Height of Byzantium
Golden Age during the 10th century
(Macedonian Dynasty)
 Expanding trade with Western Europe
 Missionary efforts expand cultural
influence
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◦ Eastern Orthodox spreads to Eastern
Europeans such as Bulgars and Serbs
◦ Prince of Kiev in Russia converts in 987
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Expansion of empire in Bulgaria, Syria and
Crete and Cyprus
Challenges to empire
Incompetent successors and struggles for
power
 Split in the Church in 1054
 External threats: Seljuk Turks in Asia
Minor
 Lacking resources for campaigns against
threatening Turks, they turn to the West
for help…leading to the Crusades
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Western Europe
Political life in Western
Europe after the fall of
Rome
 Legacy of Rome
 Charlemagne 800 CE
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The New Kingdoms of the Old Western Empire
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The Franks
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Germanic tribes settle throughout
western Europe
◦ Convert to Christianity
◦ Conflict, alliances, expansion
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Franks
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United under King Clovis in late 5th c.
Germany through Belgium into France
Converted to Roman Catholicism
When he died, land divided among sons
Charles Martel
Frankish kingdom helped unify the area
under common culture, helping fend off
Muslim invasion
 Martel led revolt against advancing Muslim
armies in 732 defeated them at Battle of
Tours
 Founded the Carolingian Dynasty
 His son Pepin had his succession certified
by the pope
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Charlemagne
Crowned by the pope in 800
 His empire came to be known as the
Holy Roman Empire after coronation of
Otto the Great in 962
 Different than earlier Roman Empire
 Marked beginning of empire-building in
western Europe, especially with the
church
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©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
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Charlemagne’s Rule
◦ Focus on arts and
education
◦ Rule was not absolute
 Society structured around
feudalism
 Local lords held power
over local territories
◦ Did not levy taxes
◦ Empire divided among
three grandsons in
Treaty of Verdun in 843
Feudalism
Decentralized: no ruler
could provide central
authority or govern
effectively
 Lords and monarchs
awarded land to loyal
followers (vassals)
 Vassals guaranteed their
fiefs (land) would be
governed, law and justice
dispensed, crops grown
 Sub-infeudation
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http://ashlinbsocialstudies.weebly.com/quest-3-feudalism-and-government.html
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Feudal Pyramid
◦ Monarch, powerful nobles, lesser nobles, serfs
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Feudal nobility served as a military
◦ Armored cavalry known as knights (nobles)
◦ Chivalry: knight was supposed to be virtuous,
Christian warrior who was loyal to lord, treat
lower classes with justice and gentlemen to
women
◦ In reality: code was broken and knights often
had violent behavior
Manors
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Basic unit of feudal landholding
If feudalism was the social/political unit of
Europe, manorialism was the economic unit
Included lord’s residence (castle) and
peasants’ village
Surrounding this were fields of farming and
woodland for gathering food and hunting
animals
A Medieval Manor
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Serfs
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Not technically slaves, but legally unfree
Not allowed to change residence or profession
without permission
Portion of their crops and livestock had to be
given to lord
Had to spend certain number of days: building
roads, clearing forests, farming lord’s fields
Had to pay to use facilities on manor
Had to fight as foot soldiers
Remnants of Feudalism
Outlasted original purpose
 Serfdom took centuries to disappear,
especially in central and eastern Europe
 Set into place class differences that led to
tensions between rich and powerful and
poor and powerless
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The Power of the Church
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Leader of the Catholic Church was the pope
(bishop of Rome)
Hierarchy: priests (monks and nuns), bishop,
archbishops, cardinals
In the West, the church was very powerful and
saw itself as superior to kings
Heresy, excommunication, and calls for holy wars
Ultimate goal: a united Christendom
Owned vast amounts of land
Control over education, thought and culture
Holy Inquisition (1231)
Spread of Christianity
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning ™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Vikings (800 to 1100)
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Overcrowding sends Vikings pouring from
north in 800s to 1100s
Colonized Iceland and Greenland, landed in
North America
Terrorized Europe, banded them together
Impact of Vikings
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Vikings from Scandinavia
◦ Their attacks prompted nations to centralize
◦ Converted to Christianity and assimilated into
common civilization in western Europe because
of religion
 Normandy (1066) and invasion of England
 Rus and foundation of first Russian state
◦ Opened up trade and revived the economy
Crusades
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Fought by European
Catholics against
Muslims of Middle
East and North
Africa from 1095 to
1291
The Crusades
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Motivations
◦ Religious fervor
◦ Geopolitical conflict between Europe and ME
◦ Europeans’ desire to be more involved in
international trade network (Mediterranean
to China)
◦ Personal ambitions of wealth and land
◦ Racial and religious prejudice
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The Spark 1095
◦ Byzantine Emperor asked for military
assistance against Seljuk Turks
◦ Pope Urban II called for Crusade to retake
Jerusalem at Council of Clermont
Crusaders reached Jerusalem in 1099,
butchering almost every Muslim and Jew
 1st Crusade a success due to lack of
unity among Turks, Arabs, and Muslims
 Established Latin Kingdoms
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Jerusalem fell back to Muslims in 1187
 Fourth Crusade in 1202-1204 turned into
a sack of Constantinople
 Children’s Crusade failed miserably
 In 1291, Europeans abandoned last major
outpost in ME (middle east)
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Effects of Crusades
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Worsening relationship between Muslim and
Christian worlds
Greater awareness of rest of world in Western
Europe
Increased knowledge of economic wealth: trade in
herbs, spices, foods, and other goods
Contributed to myth of knighthood and chivalry
European unity and papal dominion
New knowledge of: guitar/violin, Arabic numbers,
algebra, cotton papermaking, telescope, surgery,
preservation of ancient texts
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Crusades
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Fourth Crusade sacking Constantinople
Encouraged trade with Muslim merchants
Demand for Asian goods increased
Rise of city-states like Venice and Genoa
Reintroduced to goods, technology, and
culture of outside world
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Disease (1340s to 1600s)
◦ Black Plague
 Spread along trade routes from SW Asia
 Population decreased dramatically = labor shortages and
creation of labor saving technology, peasant rebellion and
demanding higher wages = weakening of feudal system
 Anti-Semitism increased & some Christians questioned
faith
Describe the
scene in this
painting.
Who are these
people, and what
type of building
are they in?
This fourteenth-century
manuscript painting shows
a lecture hall in the
University of Bologna, Italy.
To the left, behind a tall
lectern, sits a lecturer with
a long beard and robe. In
front of him and to his side
are rows of benches and
desks where mostly men
and two or three women
sit in long robes, some of
them with books before
them.
Christianity in Asia and Africa
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Why does Christianity decline in Asia and
Africa?
◦ The rise and spread of Islam
◦ Creation of a large Arab Empire
◦ Emergence of cosmopolitan and
transcontinental Islamic civilization
Asian Christianity
“Middle East” is SOUTHWEST Asia
 Importance of Jerusalem to 3 major
religions
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◦ Umayyad Caliphate’s construction of the
Dome of the Rock
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Arab conquest
◦ Versus Byzantine and Persian forces
◦ Many Jews and Christians allowed to practice
their faith, but paid a tax
◦ How Christians were treated varied
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Nestorian Christians of Syria, Iraq, & Persia
◦ Survived spread of Islam but shrank in numbers
◦ Second-class citizens not allowed to spread
message
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Nestorian Christians of China
◦ Spread by using Buddhist and Daoist concepts
◦ Example of syncretism
◦ Withered during Tang backlash against foreign
religions
◦ 13th century Mongol rule allowed religious
toleration, but this rule was short-lived
African Christianity
Expanding Islam also threatened
Christianity in Africa
 Egyptian Coptic Christians
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◦ Legally inferior and paid tax but protected
◦ Crusades prompt violent anti-Christian
pogroms
◦ Small percentage still remained
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Nubian Christianity
◦ Introduced by and protected by Egyptians
◦ By 1500 hostility nearly eliminated it
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Ethiopia
◦ An exception to the decline in other areas
◦ Geography helped its resilience
◦ Distinct features
 Stories traced lineage to Jesus himself
 12th c. New Jerusalem and underground churches