Download Chapter 12 Europe and the Byzantine Empire

Chapter 12
Europe and the Byzantine
Empire
Developments in Europe and
the Byzantine Empire
• Where we last left off…. The Roman Empire
was divided into two factions. The Eastern
Roman Empire, centered in Constantinople
became highly centralized government known
as the Byzantine Empire, whereas the west,
the empire collapsed entirely, although the
religion retained a strong foothold.
Important points to remember
• the Byzantine Empire was a lot more centralized
and organized than the western empire
• both practiced Christianity, though not in the same
way
The Byzantine Empire: The
Brief Details
The Byzantine Empire was distinct from the Roman
Empire….How?
• Greek language
• Architecture had distinctive domes
• Culture in general had more in common with Eastern cultures
like those of Persia
• Brand of Christianity became an entirely separate branch known
as Orthodox Christianity
• Emperors ruled by absolute authority
o Especially over the economy
Silk trade (learned from China) they monopolized
Justinian
Ruled from 527-565
The Justinian period is remembered for two things….
• The Justinian Code- a codification of Roman law
that kept ancient Roman legal principals alive
• Flowering of the arts and sciences, evident in the
construction of major buildings and churches. The
most notable, Hagia Sophia, an enormous cathedral
that still stands today (but now a mosque). They are
also remembered for their mastery of mosaic art
form they used to decorate the churches.
But in the West
• The Roman Catholic emperors of the West,
regarded the pope as the leader of the Byzantine
church, secular rulers headed the church (which,
remember, was Orthodox).
• For centuries the two churches managed to
tolerate each other but in time the differences
become to great.
The Disagreed over……..
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sacrament of communion
whether priest should be allowed to marry
use of local languages in church
God as trinity
Placement of icons during worship
• In 1054 the pope excommunicated the patriarch
of Constantinople, who did the same to the
pope.
• From this point forward, Orthodoxy
influenced the East and Roman Catholicism
influenced the West. Keep this schism in mind
when we get to the Crusades, Christian
Europe’s war with the Islamic world; the
Byzantine is right in the middle!
When comparing the two…
• The point to remember is that in the early
centuries of the Middle Ages, the East was
more of a secular empire with an official church
religion; the West was more of a religious
empire with subservient political units.
Impact of Orthodoxy on
Russia: Feast in the East
• In the ninth century, the Slavic peoples of
southeastern Europe and Russia were
converted to Christianity by St. Cyril, an
Orthodox Christian, who used the Greek
alphabet to create the Slavic alphabet. Most of
these areas were not part of the Byzantine
Empire itself, but were influenced by it.
• When Vladimir, a Russian prince from Kiev,
abandoned the original pagan traditions and
converted to Christianity, he also considered Islam,
Judaism, and Roman Catholicism. Rumor has it….
He chose Christian Orthodoxy because it had no
restrictions on when or what he could and could not
eat.
• The dominance of Christian Orthodoxy in this
region is significant because while western
Europe followed one cultural path, eastern
Europe followed another, and this had
tremendous impact on the developments in
Russia.
• The Russian Orthodox Church was aligned
with Byzantine but not Roman traditions. So
in the near future when the Roman church is
reformed the Russian and Greek churches do
not. As a result of this and the Mongol
invasion (remember we talked about this at
the end of chapter 10) Russia became
culturally different from the other great
powers in Europe, which grew out of the
Roman Catholic tradition.
Meanwhile Out West: The
Franks versus the Muslims
• After the Roman Empire fell apart, due in part to the
invasions of Germanic tribes, these tribes settled
throughout Western Europe. Most of the tribes
converted to Christianity quickly, though
politically they continued to run their own shows.
They formed alliance and expanded, sometime
enough to be considered kingdoms. The most
significant of the early kingdoms was the Franks.
The Franks were a Germanic tribe that united under
the leadership of King Clovis in the late fifth
century.
• he converted to Roman Catholicism
• established the capital in Paris
• empire stretched from present day Germany
through Belgium and into France
• after he died the empire was divided among his
sons, influence declined
• Remember Charles Martel- (in your notes
earlier chapter 10) led the revolt against Muslim
armies in 732 defeated them at the Battle of
Tours, not far from Paris. Again, interaction
through conflict-
• Martel founded the Carolingian dynasty,
tried to reunite the region under his control.
When his son Pepin took the reigns, he
chose to have a succession certified by the
pope, this sent a signal that the empire’s
legitimacy rested on the Roman Catholic
Church’s approval.
Charlemagne: The Empire
Strikes Back
• Pepin’s son Charles, was crowned by the
pope in 800 and became known as
Charlemagne “Charles the Great”
• The empire that Charlemagne built would be
come to called the Holy Roman Empire
upon the coronation of Otto the Great in 962.
• Important side note- this empire had very
little in common w/ the original Roman
Empire, other than the fact the power was once
again centralized and Rome began to think of
itself again as a world center.
• Marked the beginning of Western Europe
ambition in terms of empire building,
especially among those in the church
• Relatively small compared to the Roman
Empire
Under Charlemagne
• Strong focus was placed on arts and educationgreat religious bent
• Society was structured around feudalism- thus
not absolute control
• Charlemagne did not levy taxes, he failed to
build a strong and united empire
• After Charlemagne’s death and the death of his
son Louis… the empire was divided among
three grandsons according to the Treaty of
Verdun in 843
European Feudalism: Land
Divided
• The estates were granted to the vassals were
called fiefs, and these later became known as
manors. Advances in the science of agriculture
during this time helped the manors to succeed.
One such advantage was the three-field system,
centered on the rotation of crops in the three field
system. Lords were able to accumulate a food
surplus and build on the success.
• This is a big picture idea. People were then able
to become skilled in specialized ways. Towns
and cities, too, began to grow, and eventually,
the Middle Ages came to an end.
• Lord was in allegiance to the king but only had
direct contact with him when the king called
upon him for service. The lord was in charge of
the manor. Conflicts did erupt between the
feudal lords (this is where the term feud comes
from).
• These disputes were highly refined and flowed
from the code of chivalry, and honor system that
strongly condemned betrayal and promoted
mutual respect.
Landless Women
• Male dominated system
• Land equaled power so women were
powerless
• Women were regarded as property
• When the lord died under the feudal system
his land was passed down via
primogeniture, to his eldest son.
• Noblewomen had few rights- though socially
elevated. They could inherit a fief, but not
rule it. Education was limited to domestic
skills.
• Ironically, it Serfs did not have it much better
they had to ask permission from the lord. So
they were literally tied to the land. Ironically, it
was this imprisonment on the land that led the
serfs to become highly skilled workers. They
learned how to do whatever to make the manor
to be self-sufficient.
imprisonment on the land that led the serfs to
become highly skilled workers. They learned
how to do whatever to make the manor to be
self-sufficient.
Rising Middle Class
• As many of the serfs became skilled workers other
than farming , Europe slowly started trading with
the rest of the world, some skilled craft people
started earning extra income. Over time, this
chipped away at the social stratification of the
manor system. When banking began in Europe
towns and cities started gaining momentum. The
result was an emergence of a “middle class.” By
the eleventh century, western Europe was reengaging in the world.
• Towns were chartered on the lands controlled
by the feudal lords (the charters gave
townspeople certain rights) and within the
towns, the middle class merchants, or
burghers became politically powerful.
• Like their manorial predecessors, the towns
had a great deal of independence within the
empire but were intrinsically more
interdependent than self-sufficient manors of
the feudal system. Eventually towns formed
alliances, not unlike a city-state structure.
• One of the most significant alliances, the
Hanseatic League, had an economic basis; it
controlled trade throughout much of northern
Europe.
Artistic Achievements
Some of the great artistic achievements on the
Middle Ages were in architecture
• Cathedrals (Romanesque or Gothic style)
o Designed to draw people closer to God
o “Flying buttresses” gave support for tall
windows and vaulted ceilings
o Church sponsored artist
o Gregorian chants became an intrinsic part of
ceremonies
This Playground Isn’t Big
Enough for Two Bullies
European contacts with the Muslim world during the
Crusades (military campaigns by European
Christians during the eleventh through the
fourteenth centuries to take over the Holy Land
and convert Muslims and non-Christians to
Christianity.)
• You’ll recall that in the Middle Ages, the Islamic
Empire expanded, and the Moors conquered much
of Spain. The Christians felt threatened by the
expansion of the Muslims, especially as Islam
became entrenched in areas that the Christians
identified with historically.
So, in 1096 C.E. Pope Urban initiated the First
Crusade in response to the success of the
Seljuk Turks, who took control of the Holy
Land (present day Israel and Palestine). The
Pope wanted…
• Jerusalem, the most important city in
Christianity, to be in the hands of Christians
• Wanted to unite Roman Catholic Church
(RCC) and Eastern Orthodox Church (EOC)
in Constantinople, which had split 50 years
earlier
The crusades set out to…
• capture several cities, including Antioch, and
Jerusalem. However, both cities quickly fell
back into the hands of Arabs.
• Through the year 1204, a total of four
crusades failed to produce results, and the
RCC and EOC separated even further (5 more
crusades followed but were not successful in
achieving any major result)
• In the Fourth Crusade the Catholic Church
sacked Constantinople and established a short
lived Latin Empire
The Results…
• The impact on the Holy Land was violence
and uncertainty
• Most of the land remained in the hands of the
Muslims Arabs, and the whole mess led to
centuries of mistrust and intolerance
between Christians and Muslims
Global Interaction…
Big Picture Stuff
• First, the Crusades were not only motivated by
religious beliefs and purposes there were
economic and political incentives as well. No
doubt there were some who fought for religious
reasons but the lure of empire and wealth was a
factor for many.
• Second, the death, rape, pillage, and slavery
perpetrated in the name of religion was
startling. Because the religiously devout are
sometimes willing to be martyred for their
beliefs, intentional religious expansion can be
just as devastating and powerful as a
politically driven military invasion.
• Third, and most importantly…. the Crusades led to
interaction between cultures that might not
otherwise interact. The interaction fueled trade
and an exchange of ideas. It also led to western
Europe rediscovery of the ancient past, which was
preserved by the Byzantine and Islamic Empires.
That rediscovery fueled HUGE changes in
Europe… the Renaissance.
• In time, people began to question organized
religion which of course the church found
threatening . This process of reasoning gave rise
to heresies, religious beliefs that do not conform
to the traditional church doctrine. Many heretics
rejected how worldly and wealthy the church
had become.
• Another important effect of people thinking
more openly was the founding of universities,
where men (not women) could study
philosophy, law, medicine, and learn from the
advances made in the Muslim cultures
• Doubts about the supremacy of religious dogma
continued to emerge until the beginning of the
thirteenth century when Pope Innocent II issued
strict decreed on the church doctrine.
• he was responsible for the sacking the already
Christian Constantinople, and declared it a
Latin Empire (only lasted about 50 years)
• heretics and Jews were frequently persecuted
• Crusade seemed motivated by greed
Pope Gregory IX set in motion the inquisition, a
formal interrogation and persecutions process of
heretics.
• punishment ranged from torture, exile, and
execution
• Due to the power of the church at the time, it was
sometimes referred to as the Universal Church or
Church Militant
• Later in the thirteenth century, Thomas
Aquinas, a famous Christian realist made
significant inroads in altering Christian
thought. He wrote Summa Theologica, which
outlined his view that faith and reason are
not in conflict, but are both gifts from God
and each can be used to enhance each other.
His writings had a major impact on Christian
thought.