Transcript Byzantine - roelkehistory


Diocletian had originally split the Roman
Empire.
 Constantine reunited the empire, but after
his rule was over it continued as two
empires.
 Constantine had made Byzantium the new
capital (renamed Constantinople.)

The Western Roman Empire fell in 476.
 There was no good way to choose good
emperors, so they were usually bad.
 The economy was terrible, people weren’t
working and inflation made money
worthless.
 Barbarians were attacking, people were
rebelling, and Rome did not have effective
armies to defend the huge empire.
In A.D. 476 a barbarian
named Odoacer took
command of Rome. He
removed the powerless
emperor Romulus Augustus.

Barbarians almost entirely ignored the
Eastern Roman Empire (while
destroying the west)

The east was much wealthier than the
west.
 The west included, Gaul (France),
15 barbarian tribes
attacked the Western
Roman Empire, while only
1 attacked the Eastern
Empire.
Germania (Germany), and Hispania
(Spain and Portugal) these lands are
agrarian.
 The East had MANY ancient cities (due to
Greece and then Alexander the Great’s
empire.

The east had a more unified culture.
 The east was Hellenistic, the people
adopted Greek culture and language.
 The west had many different cultures and
languages.
Constantinople

Constantine had chosen this city
because it was surrounded on three
sides by water.
 This allows Constantinople to be a
trade hub.
 Makes the city easy to defend.

Stays the most advanced city in the
world for 1000 years.
 Had a sewer system, which the rest of
Europe had lost.
 Hippodrome gave entertainment
through chariot races.
 Had gigantic walls making it a fortress
to protect amazing architecture.
 Had hospitals and homes for old and
orphans.
The Byzantines were masters
of naval warfare due to Greek
Fire. This is an early napalm.
It would burn even more
when in contact with water.
Byzantine Trade Routes

Considered one of Byzantium’s greatest
emperors.
 Married an actress, not a princess, named
Theodora.
 A large riot almost cut his reign short in 532, but
his wife convinced him to put down the rebellion
as opposed to flee.

Justinian attempted to restore a
united Roman Empire.
Constantinople was in ruins, but Justinian uses
this as an excuse to build new bridges, public
paths, parks, roads, hospitals, and grand
churches.
 He also conquers many lands lost in the Empire,
including much of the old Roman Empire.

Created Justinian’s code which simplified
Roman law making it easier to understand,
removing bad laws, and extending rights to
women.

The emperor of Byzantium became the
head of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
 Orthodox means “in agreement with right
belief”
 They believed they were going back to
Jesus’ teachings and that of the early
church.

Religion became a daily part of people’s
lives.
 People would use icons, which are pictures
of Christ, Mary, or other saints.

The church’s architecture influences much
of Eastern Europe.
 These churches have domes, which
represents the “dome of heaven.”
The Hagia Sophia

After Rome adopted Christianity,
the Pope became the head of the
Christian church.
 This is where we get the Roman
Catholic.
 The Pope was in charge all Catholic
priests and bishops.

In the east, the Byzantine
emperor said he was the head of
the Christian church.
 This means, two different people
were saying they were in charge.
 The patriarch of Constantinople
was a bishop but equal to all
Eastern Orthodox bishops.

Schism means split or division.

Iconoclasm – Many people used
pictures to help them worship and
pray. Byzantine Emperor Leo III
banned the use of icons because he
thought people were worshiping the
icon and not God.
 This was stopped in 843, and is still a
large part of the Orthodox church today.

In 800 C.E. Pope Leo III crowned a Holy
Roman Emperor, Charlemagne.
 The Byzantines saw themselves as
Roman.

In 1054 all churches that Byzantium
controlled that followed western rites
(were Roman Catholic) were closed by
Cerularius, the Patriarch of
Constantinople.
 This infuriated Pope Leo IX, especially since
Byzantium had taken control over parts of
Italy. In return he excommunicated
Cerularius.
 Cerularius then excommunicated Pope Leo
IX
 Excommunication is when you are not
allowed to participate in church activities or
go to heaven.

This division lasted until 1964.
 They finally unexcommunicated each other.

Byzantine Empire lasts almost 1000 years.
 This is attributed to an excellent geographic
position, massive wealth, huge walls, and
Greek Fire.

They will be later conquered in 1453 by the
Ottoman Turks (we’ll get to that much
later.)

Justinian’s code is an excellent example of
law.

While Europe digressed and lost
knowledge, the Byzantines recorded and
saved the ancient knowledge of the Greeks
and Romans by copying many scrolls and
books.