Download The Byzantine Empire The Spread of Civilization in Eastern

The Byzantine Empire
The Spread of Civilization
in Eastern Europe
Chapter Nine
The Byzantine Empire
Emperor
Constantine
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4th century C.E.,
founded
Constantinople –
disassembled Roman
buildings & recreated
them in new capital
Roman Empire divided
Capitals at Rome &
Constantinople
Constantinople – use
of Greek language
from 6th century on
Justinian's
Achievements:
-Attempted to reconquer Italy
-Slavs, Persians attack from east
-Building projects - Hagia Sophia
-Legal codification
-Constant external threats
Arab Muslims
Bulgars
Result: Center of empire shifts to east
The Byzantine Empire under Justinian
Byzantine Society and Politics
Emperors resemble Chinese
rulers
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Court ritual
Head of church and state
Sophisticated bureaucracy
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Open to all classes
Provincial governors
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Economic control
Regulation of food prices, trade
Silk production
Trade network - Asia, Russia,
Scandinavia, Europe, Africa
Arts
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Creativity in architecture
Mosaic of Justinian
Hagia Sophia
The Fourth Crusade and the Fall of Constantinople
“They were not able to believe that there could be so rich a town in the
whole world, those high walls and mighty towers, those luxurious palaces
and lofty churches.” Geoffrey de Villehardoin
Constantinople was the greatest city of Christendom in the Middle Ages.
The Split Between Eastern and Western
Christianity
Patriarch Michael (Head of Church & State in Byzantine Empire)
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1054 - attacked Catholic Pope Leo IX over church differences, especially the
use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist.
Patriarch's letter addressed Pope Leo as "brother" rather than "father."
Pope excommunicated Patriarch Michael on July 16, 1054, but notice took 3
months to arrive & Pope Leo had died - invalidated
Michael issued excommunication of Pope in response
EFFECT: later Popes ally with the Normans (French) against the Empire
The Empire's Decline – beginning in 11th century
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Seljuk Turks - Take most of Asian provinces
1071 - Manzikert - Byzantine defeat
Slavic states emerge – Christianity expands
Appeal to West brings crusaders
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1204 - Venetian crusaders sack Constantinople
1453 - Constantinople taken by Ottoman Turks
By 1461 – Byzantine empire is gone
Eastern Europe and the migration
of the Slavic Peoples - 7th century
When the Slavs arrived is uncertain
They mixed with peoples like the Huns, the Bulgars, and the Magyars;
& created 3 distinct Slavic groups
1) Western Slavs:
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Kingdoms of Poland & Bohemia;
converted to Catholicism by German missionaries in the 9-10th centuries
2) Southern Slavs in the Balkans
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Serbs converted to Orthodox Christianity and hence linked to Byzantine
cultural tradition
Slovenes and Croats became Roman Catholic and were more European
oriented
3) Eastern Slavs and the Origins of Kievan Rus – 6th century:
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contact with the Vikings who traded along Russian rivers from the Baltic to
the Black and Caspian Seas and built cities like Novgorad
Orthodox Christianity
The Spread of Civilization in Eastern
Europe
Influence through conquest, conversion, trade
Competition from Catholics and Orthodox Greeks
Czechs, Hungary, Poland establish regional monarchies
Jews flee from western Europe
The Emergence of Kievan Rus'
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Slavic from Asia
Iron working, extend agriculture
Mix with earlier populations
Family tribes, villages, Kingdoms
Animistic religion(s)
Vladimir I (980-1015)
Converts to Orthodoxy – WHY?
Controls church
Orthodox cathedral in Russia
East European Kingdoms and Slavic Expansion, c. 1000
Institutions and Culture in Kievan Rus'
What is the name
of “boyars” in
Western
Europe?
Influenced by Byzantine
patterns
Orthodox influence
 Ornate churches
 Icons
 Monasticism
Art, literature dominated by the
church & royal families
Free farmers predominant
Boyars, landlords – own serfs
 Less powerful than in the
West
Kievan Decline – beginning 12 th century
Rival governments
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Succession struggles
Asian conquerors
Mongols (Tartars)
What
was one
of the
things
that the
Mongols
brought
to
Europe?
Starting in13th century
conquer territory, but did not rule directly
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Traditional culture survives
The End of an Era in Eastern Europe
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Mongol invasions usher in new period
East and West further separated