Transcript Byzantium, Islam, and the Latin West

Byzantium, Islam, and the Latin
West: The Foundations of
Medieval Europe, 550-750
The West
CHAPTER 7
Byzantium: The Survival of the
Roman Empire
• After the death of Justinian, the Byzantine empire
began to shrink
• Byzantium lost territory in the Balkans, Italy and
North Africa
• Defeat of Persian king Chosroes II, in 628, left
both Byzantium and the Persians too exhausted to
resist the rise of Islamic armies
• 740: Battle of Akroinon slowed the Islamic
advance, but the Byzantines could not regain their
lost possessions
Imperial Administration and
Military System
• Emperor stood at center of Byzantine society and
at the head of a hierarchical bureaucracy
• Color of clothing indicated status in bureaucracy
• Economy shriveled as empire shrank
• Four themes (military districts), each with a
separate army and administration
• By 750, themes possessed considerable
independence
The Church and Religious Life
• Unity of religious identity as Orthodox Christians
• Church hierarchy headed by the Patriarch of
Constantinople
• Classical learning abandoned in favor of Christian
education
• Iconoclasm Controversy (ca.726-842) - fueled
divisions between Latin and Orthodox Christianity
Arabs Before Islam
• Tribal people with a shared language, but
diverse forms of community
• No formal government
• Code of honor led to cyclical feuding
• Military strength due to use of camels
• Wealth from trade in luxury items: incense,
silk, gold and ivory
The Recitation of Muhammad
• The
Qu’ran
(“recitation”)
records
Muhammad’s revelations
• Hijra (622): migration from Mecca to
Medina, starting date of Muslim calendar
• By 632, most of Arabia was unified under
Islam: a single community and identity
• Islam (“submission”) rested on five basic
principles: the Pillars of Islam
The Islamic Community After
Muhammad
• Evolution of the caliphate: an Islamic form of
government
• Formation of Shi’ite sect, from conflict over
succession
• Wars of Apostasy reunited Arabia under control of
the caliphate
• By 651, Islamic armies had seized Egypt and
Syria from Byzantium and conquered the Persian
Empire
The Umayyad Caliphate
• Divided the world into the “House of Islam”
and the “House of War”
• Expanded west, across North Africa into
Spain, and east, to India and Central Asia
• Umayyad caliphs established a hereditary
monarchy and a centralized administration
• Arabic provided a common, unifying
language for the Umayyad empire
Society and Culture in the
Umayyad Caliphate
• Cities remained important centers, but were
transformed physically and culturally
• Mosques formed the chief public space and the
spiritual and political heart of the city
• Only Muslims could be full participants in
community
• Other monotheistic religions were tolerated, but
had lower status
• Arab trading routes extended into Africa and as far
east as Indonesia and the Philippines
Germanic Kingdoms on
Roman Foundations
• Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England: Mercia,
Wessex and Northumbria
• Frankish Kingdom: modern France and
Germany
• Visigothic Kingdom: Spain
• Kingdom of the Lombards: Italy
• The pope (Bishop of Rome) established
political independence
Administration and Law in
Germanic Kingdoms
• Roman infrastructure and administrative systems
survived in western Europe, except in England
• Germanic kings became source of all law and head
of administration
• Adoption of Germanic law unified ruling minority
and Roman majority, as one people under one law
• Women’s property rights, from Roman Law, were
maintained in the new systems
Society and Community in the
Germanic Kingdoms
• Hierarchical society based on networks of
loyalty and kinship
• Evolution of clan leaders into a landed
aristocracy
• Social status defined by wergild
• Evolution of ethnic identities, based on a
shared history, culture, kinship and
monarchy
The Spread of Catholic
Christianity
• Acceptance of Catholic Christianity by Germanic
monarchs led to religious unity in western Europe
• Missionaries from Ireland and Rome worked to
convert nonbelievers and polytheists
• Pope Gregory the Great (r. 590-604) hoped to
forge a Christian society, following the collapse of
Roman government
Monastic Intellectual Life
• Monasteries replaced cities as the centers of
intellectual life
• The work of monks preserved classical
learning and knowledge of Latin
• Missionaries transported this literary
heritage across Latin Christendom
• Monastic schools taught reading and writing
to boys (and some girls)
Jews in a Christian World
• European monarchs generally protected
Jewish populations
• Legal
discrimination
and
violent
persecution of Jews did occur
• The papacy sought the peaceful conversion
of all Jews
Three Cultural Realms
• Division of the old Roman Empire into
three distinct cultural and linguistic realms:
– Byzantium: Orthodox Christianity and Greek
language
– Umayyad Caliphate: Islam and Arabic language
– Latin Christendom: Catholic Christianity and
Latin language