Download Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire c.280-1453 CE
 c. 280- Diocletian divided
the Roman Empire in half
 c. 312- Constantine built a
new capital city in the
eastern half
 Diocletian thought it would
be easier to govern an
eastern and a western half
 Constantine named his city
Constantinople (modernday Istanbul)
Byzantine Empire c.280-1453 CE
 476 – fall of the Western
Roman Empire
 Eastern Empire continued
to grow and prosper
 became known as the
Byzantine Empire
 capital city of the
Byzantine Empire was
Constantinople
Byzantine Empire c.280-1453 CE
 Byzantine Empire was
geographically important
 Constantinople was
located between the Black
Sea and the
Mediterranean Sea
 located along trade routes
between WE, EA, AF, and
SWA
 Silk Road & Gold Road
passed through the
Byzantine Empire
•Constantinople was located on a peninsula that stuck
out into Bosporus Strait
•The Bosporus Strait connects the Black and
Mediterranean Seas
Byzantine Empire c.280-1453 CE
 Christianity in the Eastern Empire was
different than Christianity in the Western
Empire
 Byzantines rejected the authority of the Pope
in Rome
 Byz. priests had the right to marry
 Language of the Byz. Church was Greek, not
Latin
Byzantine Empire c.280-1453 CE
 1054-Great Schism: Byzantine Church broke
away from the Roman Church
(Schism =split)
 First permanent split in the Christian Church
 Created two branches of Christianity:
Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
Other splits occurred in Christianity
 1517- Protestant
Reformation
 Martin Luther--
German priest who broke
away from the Catholic
Church to form the
Protestant Church
Importance of the Byzantine Empire
 When the Western Roman Empire fell in 476,
libraries and places of learning were
destroyed.
 knowledge gained from Greek and Roman
civilizations was lost to WE
 Byzantine Empire preserved Greek and
Roman achievements
 1090’s--Crusading armies passing through
Byz. Emp. brought Greek and Roman
knowledge back to WE
Importance of the Byzantine Empire
 530 CE
 Emperor Justinian, the
Byzantine's greatest
emperor
 Preserved and improved
Roman laws and justice
codes
 Justinian’s Code is the
basis for modern law
systems
Importance of the Byzantine Empire
 530 CE
 Church of Hagia Sophia
 built in form of a cross
 huge dome rests on
massive columns
 Byzantine architecture
was a synthesis of
Greek, Roman, and
SWA architecture
•minarets were added by Muslims
who invaded Constantinople in 1453
•Hagia Sophia was converted from a
church to a mosque
•Minarets are used to call Muslims to prayer
What caused the fall of the Byzantine Empire?
 1000 – migration of Seljuk Turks from SWA to EE
•Muslims began a massive out-migration
from the Arabian Peninsula after Islam
was established in the 630’s ACE
What caused the fall of the Byzantine Empire?
 1200-attacks by Crusading armies marching from WE to
SWA
•1090’s- Crusades began
•Religious wars between Christians
and Muslims over control of
Jerusalem in the Holy Land
What caused the fall of the Byzantine Empire?
 1453-invasion of Constantinople by the Ottoman
Turks under 24 year old Sultan Mehmet II
•The city was renamed Istanbul
•Hagia Sophia became a mosque
•Istanbul became a center of Muslim culture