The Byzantine Empire The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe

Chapter Nine

The Byzantine Empire

Emperor Constantine

 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  Court ritual  Head of church and state Sophisticated bureaucracy  Open to all classes Provincial governors  Economic control Regulation of food prices, trade Silk production Trade network Asia, Russia, Scandinavia, Europe, Africa Arts  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)   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   Seljuk Turks - Take most of Asian provinces 1071 - Manzikert - Byzantine defeat Slavic states emerge – Christianity expands Appeal to West brings crusaders  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 - 7

th

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:   Kingdoms of Poland & Bohemia; converted to Catholicism by German missionaries in the 9-10th centuries 2) Southern Slavs in the Balkans   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 – 6 th  century: 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'  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

What was one of the things that the Mongols brought to Europe?

Rival governments



Succession struggles

Asian conquerors



Mongols (Tartars)

Starting in13th century conquer territory, but did not rule directly

Traditional culture survives

The End of an Era in Eastern Europe

  Mongol invasions usher in new period East and West further separated