Key Terms * The Byzantine Empire
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Transcript Key Terms * The Byzantine Empire
Key Terms – The Byzantine Empire
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Constantinople
Justinian
Justinian’s Code
Heraclius
Greek fire
Seljuk Turks
Eastern Orthodox
Christianity
• Patriarch
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Primacy
Icons
Iconoclast
Hagia Sophia
Cyril and Methodius
Kiev
Constantinople
• Constantinople, in the year
330, became the center of a
new empire after the fall of
the Western Roman Empire.
• The Byzantine Empire was
built upon the wealth of
Constantinople and control
of neighboring territories.
• Constantinople provided a
good site for control of
eastern and western trade
Justinian (527-565)
• Justinian, upon becoming
emperor, had three major
goals he sought to
accomplish.
• These goals would make
him one of the best
emperors of the
Byzantine Empire.
• Goals were:
– Construct a comprehensive
legal code.
– Reconquer lost lands
– Beatify Constantinople
Justinian’s Code
• Justinian’s Code
comprehensive legal code
that incorporated the laws of
the roman Empire with those
of the Roman Empire.
• Was broken into four parts:
– The Institutes instruction
manual used to read the code
– The Digest collection of
ideas that could be used to
construct new laws.
– The Novellae any laws
created after 530 A.D.
– The Codex Justinian any
laws written during the period
of the Roman Empire
Reconquest of Outer Territories
• Justinian would send out one of his best
generals, Belisarius to recapture lost territory.
• The Byzantines would:
– Reacquire Italy, southern Spain
– Acquire the Balkans
– Acquire Western Asia
– Acquire Northern Africa
The Hagia Sophia
• As a part of Justinian’s
beatification project, he
asked for the largest
church in the world to be
built in Constantinople.
• The Hagia Sophia would
be built also known as
the Church of Holy
Wisdom, used
magnificent structures
and a massive dome,
would later be converted
into a mosque.
Heraclius
• Heraclius led the
Byzantines against
invading foreign forces.
• Broke the empire into
military districts
generals were placed in
control of each district.
• Soldiers who fought to
defend the empire were
given a grant of land
provided extra motivation
to defend their territory.
Greek Fire
• In the 8th century, the Arabs
began to use their navy and
land army in an attempt to
invade Constantinople from
two sides.
• The Byzantines made use of a
new weapon to prevent the
advance of the Arabs this
invention was known as Greek
fire mixture of sulfur, oil,
and resin which would be fired
from a tube and ignited or
placed in pouches and used as
molotovs
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
• Upon the establishment of the Byzantine
Empire and the Edict of Milan, a new sect of
Christianity was created in the East.
• This sect of Christianity was known as the
Eastern Orthodox Church.
Eastern Orthodox Beliefs
• The Eastern Orthodox faith differed from that of
Roman Catholicism (western).
• Some of these ideas include:
– The patriarch as the head of the Eastern Orthodox
Church
– The lack of icons religious depictions
– Masses were said in Greek instead of Latin
– Patriarchs were dominated by emperors due to their
abolition of the idea of primacy church leaders
being above kings.
The Great Schism (1054)
• A major division occurred within Christianity with the establishment of the
Orthodox Church.
• As Christians made pilgrimages to Constantinople, many western
Christians brought their icons.
• Citizens of Constantinople who were Orthodox Christians who did not
believe in icons and chose to destroy those icons brought into the city.
• These people who broke icons were known as iconoclasts people who
break icons.
• The pope made decrees stating that icons were allowed anywhere
Christians could travel the patriarch would refuse the papal orders and
state that the pope held no power in Constantinople
– The pope would excommunicate (complete refusal of rites and removal from
the church) the patriarch and the patriarch would do the same
– This event would set off a major split known as the Great Schism.
Cyril and Methodius
• The Byzantines sent missionaries
to many different areas in an
attempt to spread Eastern
Orthodox Christianity.
• Two monks, Cyril and Methodius
would be sent to Kiev the
classical capital of Russia.
• Considering the people of Russia
had no written language, Cyril
and Methodius would create one
based on the Slavic languages.
– The written language would be
known as Cyrillic and would
become the written language of
Russia
The Fall of Constantinople
• After numerous attempts to
enter Constantinople by
foreign tribes, the Seljuk Turks
would be successful in
breaking through.
• Seljuk Turks eastern
oriented Turks who would take
up the mantle left by the
Abbassids.
• The Seljuk Turks would invade
and capture Constantinople in
1453.
• Constantinople would become
Istanbul and also would
become the Turkish capital.
So What’s the Big Deal?
• The fall of Constantinople had incredible effects on
World History.
• It led to:
– A complete change of perspective in terms of trade with
Asia countries in Europe now had to find new ways to
arrive in Asia which would lead to the Age of Exploration.
– A reliance on a new trading system known as the Hanseatic
League which involved north European city-states.
– The rise of new empires in Europe as a result of the new
strength of the Hanseatic city-states and the Spanish and
Portuguese colonial landholdings.