Transcript The Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire
The last stand of the
Roman Empire
The Division of the
Roman Empire
In 284 AD Diocletian became
Roman emperor. He decided
that the huge Roman empire
could only be ruled effectively
by splitting it into two parts.
In 330 Diocletian’s
successor,
Constantine, rebuilt
the old Greek port of
Byzantium, at the
entrance to the
Black Sea. He
renamed it
Constantinople and
made the city the
capital of the
Eastern Roman
Empire.
The Byzantine Empire Under
Justinian
At first, this Empire
controlled only a
small area around
the eastern
Mediterranean, but
during the reign of
Justinian (527-565),
it started to recover
much of the territory
of the old Roman
empire.
Justinian and Theodora
Justinian ruled as
an autocrat with
the help of
Theodora.
Created a huge
Christian empire
Empire reached
its greatest size
Built Hagia
Sophia
The Byzantine economy

The Byzantine
Empire was wealthy
and produced: gold,
silk, grain, olives
and wine. It traded
these for spices,
ivory and precious
stones from
countries as far
away as China and
India along the Silk
Road trade routes.
Justinian’s Code of Laws
Laws were fairer to women. They could own
property and raise their own children after
their husbands died.
 Children allowed to choose their own
marriage partners.
 Slavery was legal and slaves must obey their
masters.
 Punishments were detailed and fit the crime
 His work inspired the modern concept and,
indeed, the very spelling of "justice".

The Fall of the Western
Roman Empire
By 395 AD, the Roman Empire was
formally divided into two empires:
East and West. With the invasion
of Germanic forces from the north,
the Western Roman Empire was
conquered and further divided.
This left the eastern part of the
Roman empire to carry on the
Greco-Roman tradition.
The shrinking Byzantine Empire
I The events leading to this
reduction in size were:
 Repeated
attacks from the Ottomans
 Constantinople was a very desirable
port
 It had fallen into disrepair because of
attacks by Christians during the
Crusades
 The Bubonic Plague had weakened
areas and left them vulnerable to
northern nomadic tribes
II To wrest control of
Constantinople from the Byzantines
Mehmed II…..
 Built
a huge fortress (called “Throatcutter” in Turkish) on the opposite
coast from Constantinople
 Had about 80,000 soldiers and 5,000
Janissaries (mercenaries-paid
soldiers)
 Had a naval fleet to attack from the
sea
Constantine begged Europe for
help in holding back the Ottomans
but…
 Europeans
were too consumed with
the Schism in the Catholic church
and other battles that were going on
at the same time.
 A few troops arrived from north Italy
but it was too few.
The only defense for
Constantinople was…
 14
miles of thick, strong, walls
 About 7,000 soldiers, 2000 of which
were mercenaries
III Both sides had weapons and
strategies that they used in this
history-making contest…
 Mehmed
had…
 27 foot long cannon called “Basilic”
 BUT, the cannonballs weighed 1200
lbs. and only went one mile!
 AND it took 3 hours to re-load it!
 And even worse, it couldn’t hit
anything and after 6 weeks it
collapsed under it’s own recoil!
B. The Byzantines had….
Smaller cannons
AND
Their recoil actually
damaged their own
defense walls!
As for tactics…
 A.
The Byzantines built a blockade
across the entrance to the Golden
Horn to stop Mehmed’s ships from
entering
 B. Mehmed II then built a road of
greased logs across the peninsula
and ROLLED his ships across!
Another tactic tried…
A. The Ottomans tried to build tunnels
under the walls of Constantinople
 B. So the Byzantines built counter tunnels
that allowed them to kill Turkish workers.
Finally, the Byzantines captured an
Ottoman tunnel engineer and tortured him
until he told them where all the tunnels
were

And then the Byzantines…
Flooded
the tunnels and
destroyed them!
IV Finally, Mehmed II made an
offer…
 That
the Byzantines would pay
an astronomical fee and he
would lift the seige
 When the Byzantines refused, he
planned to overpower them by
sheer force.
The foreshadowing of the fall…
 The
symbol of Constantinople was a
moon and on 5/22/1453 there was
an lunar eclipse and they saw this as
an omen
 A thick unusual fog covered the city
and when it lifted there was a firelike
glow over the Hagia Sophia. They
thought it meant the Holy Spirit was
leaving the church.
These phenomena were actually
caused by…
A
volcanic eruption in the Pacific
whose ashes were thrown high into
the atmosphere and caused the eerie
glow
The Fall of Constantinople
 Constantine
XI led the last attack
and died
 The Ottomans began to rape, pillage
and enslave the population
 The Hagia Sophia was converted to a
mosque
 The
Fall of Constantinople was seen
as a key event in ending the Middle
Ages and starting the Renaissance
due to…..
* use of cannon and gunpowder
in battle
* end of the old religious order
Results of the Fall of
Constantinople
 It
severed the main overland trade
link between Europe and Asia so
Europeans began to look for ways to
reach Asia by sea…..
This led to the discovery of the New
World!
The Schism in the Catholic Church
 Bishop
of Rome- represented center
of the Roman Empire and it was
considered to be the seat of Saint
Peter.
 Bishop of Constantinople- because it
was the center of the Byzantine
Empire and the seat of Saint Andrew
(Peter’s brother)
Factors that led to the schism…
 Separation
of the Roman Empire into
western and eastern segments
 The western empire crumbled but
the Byzantine empire continued to
thrive.
 Language of the West was Latin and
the language of the East was Greek.
Made communications difficult
Continued…
 Cultural
unity began to crumble too
 Different approaches to religious
practices
Tensions increased to the point…
 Led
to the mutual excommunication
of leading clergy of both sides
 Excommunication-to be refused
ability to communicate with God
Recent movements towards
healing the split
 1999-
Pope John Paul II met Teoctist
(Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox
Church)
 2002- Teoctist visited the Pope in
Rome
 2004- Pope John Paul II, to promote
unity returned the bones of former
Eastern Orthodox patriarchs to
Istanbul (Constantinople)
2005- Patriarch Bartholomew attended the
funeral of Pope John Paul II. First time a
patriarch had attended a pope’s funeral in
centuries. Considered to be a serious sign
of possible reconciliation.
 May 2005- Pope Benedict XVI said
reconciliation is his goal. He scheduled a
visit to Turkey in Nov. 2006.
 Nov. 2006- Meeting was warm and
productive. New hope for reconciliation in
future

Kievan Rus
Begun by invasion
of Viking tribes –
also known as Slavs
– from north of the
Baltic.
 Both trade partner
and sometime
enemy of the
Byzantine Empire.




During Roman times, the Slavs expanded
into southern Russia. Like the Germanic
peoples who pushed into western Europe,
the Slavs had a simple political organization
divided into clans. They lived in small
villages, farmed, and traded along the rivers
that ran between the Baltic and the Black
seas.
In the 700s and 800s, the Vikings steered
their long ships out of Scandinavia. These
expert sailors were as much at home on
Russian rivers as on the stormy Atlantic.
The Vikings, called Varangians by later
Russians, worked their way south along the
rivers, trading with and collecting tribute
from the Slavs. They also conducted a
thriving trade with Constantinople.
Located at the heart of this vital trade
network was the city of Kiev. In time, it
would become the center of the first Russian
state.
Ivan the Great
(Ivan III Vasilevich)
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Grand Duke of Muscovy
Adopted the title of Grand Duke of all
Russias
Quadrupled the territory of his state
Claimed Moscow to be the third Rome
Built the Moscow Kremlin
Laid the foundations for Russian
autocracy
Longest reigning Russian ruler
Ivan the Great
Accomplishments
 Conflict
with Khan Ahmed of the
Golden Horde of Mongols led to
finally defeating this branch of the
Mongols for a time
 He had peaceable relations with the
Ottomans and other Mongol leaders
 Eventually took over Lithuania
The Pope hoped to heal the Great
Schism so…
 He
encouraged Ivan to marry Sophia
(Zoe) Paleologue, niece to the last
Byzantine emperor.
 He failed because Ivan took up the
Orthodox faith rather than the
Roman Catholic faith
Influence of the Grand Duchess
 Wanted
Moscow to be the third Rome
so she introduced grand Byzantine
ceremonies and etiquette.
 She also encouraged imperial ideas
in Ivan and suggested he adopt the
imperial double-headed eagle as his
symbol.
Ivan wanted to be a worthy
successor to the Byzantine
empire…
 Invited
many artists and thinkers to
Moscow
 Led in the construction of cathedrals
and palaces in the Kremlin (center of
Russian government and power) in
Moscow which showed Ivan’s power
St. Basil’s Cathedral