Download PART 3: THE POST-CLASSICAL ERA - Mr. Bowers Classroom

CHAPTER 9: CIVILIZATION IN EASTERN EUROPE:
BYZANTIUM AND ORTHODOX EUROPE
Page 192 – 211
I.
SUMMARY
A. The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire unfolded as part of the larger and older Roman Empire. As
this classical framework shattered with Roman decline, the eastern provinces that
became the Byzantine Empire took on a life of their own, particularly from the
reign of the Emperor Justinian onward. It centered on a territory different from
and smaller than the eastern Mediterranean as Rome had defined it. This was the
result of pressures, particularly the surge of Islam throughout north Africa and the
Middle East, and popular migrations throughout the Balkans. Despite many
invasions and domestic trends, the empire flourished until the 11th century invasion
by the Seljuk Turks. The collapse of the empire in Anatolia led to repeated conflicts
with Turkish border states and spurred the Byzantines to ask the Pope for help. The
Western Crusaders reconquered some old imperial lands but eventually sacked
Constantinople.
B. The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe
Christian missionaries, Byzantine conquests in the Balkans, and trade routes
running through western Russia and Ukraine created abundant contacts with
portions of eastern Europe. Regional states formed. After the creation of a state by
the Varangian Swedes and its conversion to Orthodox Christianity, Kiev developed
some of the formative features of Russian culture and politics. Mongol invasions
ended this period of Russian history, cutting parts of the region off from western
contacts. A Turkish tribe migrated into the Balkans, intermarried with local Slavs,
warred with Byzantium but converted to Orthodox Christianity; the Bulgars
became the empire’s chief Balkan rival and threat.
C. Conclusion: The End of an Era in Eastern Europe
After Byzantium and Russia fell under foreign rule, east European civilization fell
on hard times at the end of the era. The struggle to redefine a civilization after 1453
would not be easy. In the meantime, the connection of border territories such as
Poland to the west European cultural zone would deepen, while the Balkans lay
under Turkish rule. These difficulties confirmed the largely separate paths of west
and east in Europe. Western Europe remained free from outside control and,
despite some new problems, maintained a clearer vigor in politics, economics, and
culture. When eastern Europe did reemerge, it was at a major disadvantage to the
West in terms of power and economics and cultural sophistication, a very different
situation from that of the days of Byzantium and Kievan Rus.
II.
CHAPTER REVIEW
A. How did Byzantium originate?
B. Which peoples threatened the empire? How did the state survive 1,000 years?
C. How did Byzantium combine classical traditions to create a new civilization?
D. What were the significant Byzantine political, social, and religious institutions?
E. What led to the split between Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches?
F. How did Orthodoxy spread throughout eastern Europe and with what results?
G. How did Christianity influence society in Byzantium and eastern Europe?
H. What contributions did the Byzantines make to the development of Europe?
I. What considerations and influences led to the rise of a Russian state in Kiev?
J. What were the significant Russian political, social, and religious institutions?
III.
VOCABULARY
A. Byzantine
B. Orthodoxy: Greek and Russian
C. Byzantine Empire
D. Tsar
E. Icon, Iconoclasm
F. Cyril and Methodius
G. Kievan Rus
H. Boyars
I. Tartars
J. Caesaro-papism (see page 198)
K. Schism
IV.
MAP EXERCISES (Use maps on pages 98 and 99 in addition to the pages listed)
A. Map 9.1: The Byzantine Empire (Page 197)
1. What Germanic kingdoms did Justinian destroy?
2. What defensive problems would this larger empire create?
3. If someone seized Egypt, how would it affect the Empire?
B. Map 9.2: The Byzantine Empire 1000 – 1100 (Map 201)
1. Why are the borders of the empire during this period easier to defend than
the borders of Map 9.1?
2. What happened that would reduce the Byzantine Empire to a minor power?
C. Map 9.3: East European Kingdoms and Slavic Expansion (Page 205)
1. Identify the Slavic states on the map. [It would help if you read the first few
paragraphs on pages 204 – 206].
2. What peoples probably played a key role in the rise of Russia? Why?
3. Why did not the Slavs (Russians) control the area immediately north of the
Black Sea?
V.
DOCUMENT ANALYSIS: Russia turns to Christianity (Page 207)
A. Document Analysis
1. Who wrote it? (Attribution includes biographical references)
2. What was the author’s point of view?
3. How reliable is the document? Why?
4. What was the intent or purpose behind the document?
B. Understanding the Reasons for Conversion
1. According to the account, why did the Russians convert?
2. Describe the relationship between church and state.
VI.
PHOTO ESSAY: Heir to Three Traditions (Pages 192, 196, 198, 199, 200, and 202)
Orthodox Christianity and the Byzantine Empire were heirs to three traditions,
Caesar and Rome, Christ and Christianity, and Greek civilization. How does their
art confirm this belief?
VII.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Unlike the Romans in the western part of the empire, the Eastern Roman
Empire or Byzantine Empire,
A. was never invaded or threatened by pastoral nomads.
B. recognized the political influence of the Pope and Catholic Church.
C. continued to use Latin as its chief language until its fall.
D. became Muslim.
E. did not succumb to Germanic invasions in the 5th century.
2. As had Hammurabi’s Code (Mesopotamia), Justinian’s Code (Byzantine)
A. dealt primarily with church law and religious issues.
B. became the basic law and unified code for states, which existed after its
original creator.
C. led to internal disruptions and faced harsh opposition.
D. greatly influenced the laws of Islam.
E. deviated sharply from previous legal traditions when it sought to create a
new tradition.
3. Under the emperors after Justinian, the chief concern of the Byzantine state was
A. religious heresy and controversy.
B. the overtaxation of the peasants and frequent peasant rebellions.
C. defense against Slavs, Russians, and Arab invaders.
D. the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity.
E. support of the arts, including new building projects such as the Hagia
Sophia.
4. Within the Byzantine state, as had been the case with government in most of the
dynasties of China, the chief power and influence was
A. emperors and their trained bureaucrats.
B. the Church and clergy.
C. large aristocratic landowners.
D. the military.
E. merchants and artisans.
5. Unlike monarchs in Catholic western Europe but like the Muslim caliphs, the
Byzantine emperor
A. held political but not religious power.
B. headed both church and state; there was no separation of power.
C. was considered divine.
D. was uninterested in running the daily affairs of government and left all but
ceremonial duties to his advisors.
E. was the head of the military but not the government.
6.
Intellectually and culturally, Byzantine life often
A. centered on the secular aspects of classical Hellenism.
B. produced great innovations in literature.
C. borrowed heavily from the Muslims.
D. slavishly copied Roman secular traditions in art and architecture.
E. was censored and controlled by the Church.
7. Contacts with Islam and the Muslims led the Byzantines to
A. blend Islam and Christianity.
B. restrict trade and contacts in order to protect the empire.
C. attack the use of icons as graven images.
D. adopt Islamic government policies and institutions.
E. conclude a peace treaty and stop their wars with the Muslims.
8. Although Byzantine society was patriarchal, elite and educated women enjoyed
considerable influence because
A. Greek traditions accorded women great freedom and influence.
B. Roman traditions granted women extensive legal rights.
C. contacts with Islam led the Byzantines to protect women’s rights.
D. women could inherit the imperial throne and own aristocratic estates.
E. wars kept men and husbands away from their traditional societal functions.
9. The schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches was due to all of these
issues EXCEPT:
A. papal interference in Byzantine political and religious affairs.
B. clerical celibacy; Catholic priests could not marry but the Orthodox could.
C. the Pope’s support for a rival, revived Catholic empire in the west.
D. the Byzantine state controlled the church in the eastern lands.
E. Muslim influence on the Orthodox branch of Christianity.
10. All of these peoples and states contributed to the destruction of the Byzantine
Empire EXCEPT the:
A. Kievan Rus.
B. Seljuk Turks.
C. independent Slavic states in the Balkans such as Bulgaria and Serbia.
D. Western crusaders and the Roman Catholic Church.
E. Italian trading city-states such as Venice and Genoa.
11. The Byzantine’s greatest contribution to post-classical (Medieval) civilization
was
A. its centuries-long economic stability and opportunities for trade.
B. its development of a uniquely Christian tradition in art and architecture.
C. the defeat of the Arabs and its reconquest of the Middle East.
D. to protect eastern Europe from the Muslims before the Europeans were
strong and developed enough to resist.
E. the preservation of the classical, Greco-Roman Mediterranean civilization.
12. Christianity spread to the Balkans and Russia through
A. mass migration by Greeks to these regions.
B. forced conversions of the Slavs by the victorious Byzantine armies.
C. military conquest.
D. Christian merchants who intermarried and settled amongst non-Christians.
E. missionary activities, which converted the ruling elites of regional states.
13. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, Byzantine Orthodox missionaries
A. were frequently merchants and traded while they preached.
B. permitted people to use local languages in religious services and literature.
C. were sent out by the religious, not political, authorities.
D. never intermarried into the local populations.
E. rarely established monasteries, hospitals, and convents to further
conversions.
14. The first state in Russia arose due to
A. nomadic pastoralists who established a sedentary Jewish state.
B. Byzantine missionaries.
C. Viking traders and warriors who set up a state to protect trade routes.
D. Arabs who conquered the area and established a province of the Muslim
empire.
E. Catholic influences from western Europe.
15. All of these influences served to differentiate western Slavs (Poles and Slavs)
from Eastern and Southern Slavs (Russians, Serbs, and Bulgars) EXCEPT:
A. different sects of Christianity.
B. Mongols and Turks ruled eastern and southern Europe for centuries.
C. the Western Slavs were subjected to German culture and influences.
D. Western Europe escaped violence and wars, which the East suffered.
E. different alphabets.
VIII. ESSAY QUESTIONS
A. Compare and contrast Byzantine and Chinese imperial institutions.
B. Compare and contrast Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
C. Compare and contrast the decline and fall of the Byzantines or Kievan Rus with
(1) the Arab caliphate or (2) any classical civilization.
D. Compare and contrast the spread of civilization to Russia with the spread of
Islam and civilization to sub-Saharan Africa.
E. Compare and contrast Byzantine and Muslim religious and political institutions.