Transcript Byzantium - Ms. Byrne's Social Studies Class Website

The Byzantine
Empire:
the New Rome
Byzantium Becomes the New
Rome
• Eastern half of the Roman Empire that
did not fall to the invaders.
• It survived for almost a millennium after
the collapse of the Western Roman
Empire in the 5th century CE.
And when Diocletian divided
the Roman Empire in 294 CE…
Geography
• Centered on the Bosporus Strait which
connects the Black Sea to the Sea of
Marmara to the Aegean and on to the
Mediterranean Sea
• The empire included Greece, Asia Minor,
and part of the that bordered the
Mediterranean Sea
• Surrounded by Islamic lands to the south
and east, Slavic peoples to the north, and
western Europeans who had organized
powerful states to the west
Constantine’s City-Constantinopolis (Constantinople)
Capital city was built by the Roman emperor Constantine in
330 CE
Constantinople
• Constantine chose
location to respond to
the threat of Germanic
tribes and to be closer
to rich eastern
provinces.
• He filled the city with
libraries, museums,
marble palaces, baths,
and public buildings.
Constantinople: A Greek
City
(Istanbul today) --the new capital
Easily fortified location; armies
could respond quickly to threat from
invaders
Barbarian Invasions of the Roman
Empire
• Germanic invaders
pounded the Roman
empire in the west
• Huns – Group of
nomadic tribes that
pushed through
central Europe in the
4th and 5th c.
instigating the
migration of the
Germanic tribes into
the Roman Empire
• Most emperors that
were conquered
moved their empire
back in the east
Remember……
Sunset on the “Golden
Horn”
Byzantine Trade Routes
• Merchants in
Constantinople got
quite wealthy through
their control over the
trade routes between
Europe and the East
and the shipping
lanes connecting the
Black and
Mediterranean Seas.
Constantine’s Rule
• Edict of Milan: established toleration for
Christianity throughout the empire in 313 CE
• The empire continued to be ruled by Roman
law, with the elite communicating officially in
Latin. Yet the population, now Christian, also
spoke Greek.
• Students studied the ancient Greek classics
of literature, philosophy, science, medicine,
and art.
• The church, which developed its own
literature and philosophy, nonetheless looked
favorably upon the intellectual tradition of
classical scholarship & preserved GrecoRoman learning.
Emperor Justinian [ruled 527-564 CE]
Justinian’s Rule
• Byzantine empire reached greatest size
• Wanted to recover what had been lost during
the fall of Rome
• Re-conquered N. Africa, Italy and southern
Spain
– Victories were temporary
• Justinian rebuilt Constantinople in classical
style; among the architectural achievements
was the huge church of Hagia Sophia
• The revived empire
withstood the 7th c. advance
of Arab Muslims although
important regions were lost
along the eastern
Mediterranean and the
northern Middle Eastern
heartland
• Byzantine political patterns
resembled the earlier
Chinese system
• As emperor, ordained by
God and surrounded by
elaborate court ritual,
Justinian headed both
church and state
Church of Hagia Sophia [Holy
Wisdom]
•Hagia Sophia – Great domed church constructed during the
reign of Justinian
Justinian’s Code
•Body of Civil Law – Justinian’s codification of
Roman law; reconciled Roman edicts and decisions;
mad Roman law a coherent basis for political and
economic life
Corpus Juris Civilis:
1. Digest
2. Code
3. Institutes
Icons
Icon literally means image in Greek &
came to be a definitive characteristic
of Byzantine art. An icon was a
depiction of a sacred person or scene
which was treated as holy.
An iconostasis was a series of icons typically
surrounding church altars and often told a biblical
story(ies) for the illiterate masses.
Empress Theodora
• The wife of the emperor Justinian
• She was very powerful and considered to be very
intelligent
Justinian’s Empire at its
Peak
Byzantine & Sassanid Empires,
6th c.
th
6
c.
Arabia:
?
A Threat
to the
Great
Empires ?
Contrast
these
maps
End of Early Byzantine period in 7th c.
CE
• In the 600s, Byzantium lost Syria, the Holy
Land, Egypt, and North Africa to invading
Islamic armies. For a time, the Muslims merely
tapped the economy of these regions, leaving
intact many of the Byzantine institutions they
had overrun.
• The Early Byzantine period ended with the
onset of the Iconoclastic Controversy, the
violent debate over devotional religious images
(icons) that devastated much of the empire for
over a hundred years.
The Middle Ages
• Dispute over use of icons (Holy Images)
contributed to split
• Byzantine Emperor outlawed prayer to icons
• Two branches of Christianity grew further
apart
• 1054 - provoked a permanent split between
Byzantine, Eastern (Greek) Orthodox and
Roman Catholic Church
• Iconoclasm – The breaking of images;
religious controversy of the 8th c. Byzantine
emperor attempted, but failed to suppress
icon veneration
CHRISTIANS BUT DIFFERENCES
DIVIDED!!!
****Divisions in the Church
•
•
•
•
West
Pope in Rome
Latin Language
Most important holy
day Christmas
• East, Constantinople
• Patriarch in the
Byzantine-rejected
Pope’s authority
• Clergy could marry
• Greek Language
• Most important holy
day Easter
Monasticism in Byzantium
• The use of Monasteries grew
during this era.
• Most monasteries were in the
countryside and served as
agricultural communes often with
huge landholdings.
• Monasteries also existed in the
cities where they administered
orphanages, craft schools, poor
houses, rest homes & hospitals.
• Byzantine theology emphasized
the divinity of Christ, the noncelibacy of priesthood, printed
the Bible in original Greek & held
services in vernacular.
What happened to the Byzantine?
• Crusades
– Byzantine emperor called for help to fight
the Muslims headed for Jerusalem
• Western Christians drained $$$
• Muslims took control of northern
territories
– Muslims eventually took Constantinople
and renamed it Istanbul
Influence of Byzantium on its Neighbors
The citizens of Byzantium considered themselves to be
the center of the civilized world, with good reason. Their
civilization had far-reaching political and cultural
influences in all directions during the Middle Byzantine
period.
Kievan Rus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, the
Crusader States, and the Latin West
Although Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev became
an Orthodox Christian in 988, Byzantium never
politically dominated his confederation of
principalities, called Kievan Rus, which was a
composite society of Vikings and eastern Slavs.
Known as “the third Rome,” Kievan Rus artists
assimilated the style and iconography of
Byzantine art and architecture. After the Mongol
invaders of 123740 captured Kiev, the rest of the
region suffered further attacks by the Mongols
from the east and by the Teutonic knights from
the west.
The Late Byzantine Period (12611453)
• This era continued until the fall of Constantinople to the
Ottoman Turks in 1453.
• From the 13th c. onward, the continual loss of territory and
resources meant that Byzantium was never again able to
fully quell internal disorders or to exercise independence
from outside powers. The empire became so impoverished
that in 1369 Emperor John V was arrested for debt in
Venice as he tried to obtain financial help from the West!
• Meanwhile, the Byzantine church increased in prestige and
authority as the emperors weakened. Byzantine culture
enjoyed a last flowering in literature, scholarship, theology,
and art, which still followed the artistic traditions of the
Middle Byzantine era. Byzantium also helped transform the
West intellectually, as Italian Renaissance scholars, intent
on translating Greek pagan and Christian writings,
received vital help from Byzantine scholars, especially
The Sack of Constantinople
• Delacroix Painting of Crusaders Entering
Constantinople in 1204
The Horses of St Mark’s
The horses were long displayed
at the Hippodrome of
Constantinople, and in 1204
Doge Enrico Dandolo sent them
to Venice as part of the loot
sacked from Constantinople in
the Fourth Crusade. They were
installed on the terrace of the
façade of St Mark's Basilica, in
Venice, Italy, in 1254.