 There is no greater sorrow / Than to be mindful of the happy time / In misery - Dante Alighieri

 Ch 9

 Or Eastern Roman Empire, remember??? o Constantine split the Roman Empire in 324 by moving capital o Rome is officially sacked in 476 and Germanic people rule o Justinian the Great ( ) considered to be the last Roman for his efforts to reconquer the West Roman Empire o Created the Corpus Juris Civilis (Code of Justinian) Cannon Law, Napoleonic Code, and western legal tradition are based on it o Empire was slowed by a plague (50 million dead), the first case of Bubonic Plague in Europe o Justinian also commissioned the Hagia Sofia

 An Empire Beleaguered o Single political and religious leader kept the Byzantine Empire together o The Sassanid Empire falls replaced by Umayyad Caliphate o Egypt, Syria and Tunisia are capture by Umayyad and convert to Islam o Disagreements with Rome over papal authority begin the rift that would be come the East-West Schism

 Society and Urban Life o Much like its European brother, urban life declines o The middle class disappears as the income gap widens o Byzantine emperors controlled prices and creating monopolies to retain wealth and kept Constantinople relevant o The East-West rivalry begins as each views the other unfavorably  Cultural Achievements o Byzantine architectural achievements and art strongly influence Europe throughout this time period o Christian missionaries bring the religion to the Slavic peoples and create a new writing system, Cyrillic

 The Time of Insecurity o Muslim Arabs and Berbers take the Iberian Peninsula o Charles Martel stops the Islamic invasion of Europe o Grandson Charlemagne unites Europe for first, time since Rome

 A time of Insecurity o With Charlemagne’s death, Europe is once again divided and never unites again o Vikings (Scandinavians) pose a constant threat to northern Europe o They create settlements in Iceland, Greenland, Vinland, and Normandy (later conquer England in 1066)  A Self-Sufficient Economy o Cities gave way to self-sufficient manors and rural life o Regional elites govern the land and people who are tied to it (serf) o Manors provided protection against attack for the serfs and the lord received cheap labor for their lands

 Early Medieval Society in the West o Feudalism describes the relationship between lords and knights o As a class of nobles emerged, military service and landholding became inseparable o New technologies (the stirrup, armor, larger horses) made warfare expensive, only landowners could afford to be knights o Kings and nobles granted land (a fief) in return for military service o Vassals control the land and promise support for the lord or king

Feudalism

 Politics and the Church o The papacy becomes independent and a more united church emerges o Popes align themselves with powerful kings to increase the reach of the church o In 962 the first “Holy Roman Emperor” is crowned, but no real empire exists o Arguments on who appoints Bishops is know as the investiture controversy o Competing legal traditions created confusion and agurments: Germanic feudal law (king); Canon (Church) law; and Corpus Juris Civilis (Roman) law

 Monasticism o Living in a religious community apart from society and devoting ones life to worship of God was a prominent element of both medieval Christianity and Buddhism o Developed in fourth century Egypt, monasteries focused on celibacy, devotion to prayer, and isolation o St. Benedict ( ) organized monasteries and created rules for the nuns and monks to live by o They were centers of literacy and learning o Widows and vulnerable women could find sanctuary there o Monasteries managed agricultural estates and functioned as inns and orphanages o Whereas the Benedictine Rule advocated for independent monasteries, the abbey of Cluny created more control

 The Rise of the Kievan Empire o Area between the Black and Baltic Seas with navigable rivers throughout o Slavs in the east, Finns in the north, and Turks in the south o Forest dwellers, farmers, and steppe nomads complimented each other in trade o Varangians (Swedish Vikings) controlled the rivers and Khazar Turks build a kingdom on the Volga

 The Rise of the Kievan Empire o The Rus (Russia) were societies of western Slav farmers ruled by Varangian nobles; Kiev and Novgorod were important cities o Vladimir I (980) became grand prince of Kievan Russia o Chose Orthodox Christianity as the religion (perhaps due to Islamic ban on alcohol) and imitated the culture of the Byzantine Empire o Vladimir marries a Byzantine princess and all trade is directed to Byzantium o Churches are built, missionaries welcomed, and the Cyrillic alphabet is adopted o Kievan Russia flourishes until internal political struggles coupled with invasion by the Mongols ends the empire

 Society and Culture o Poor soil and a short growing season limited agricultural production o As food production was low, economy was relied on trade o Kiev and Novgorod had populations of 30-50k, much smaller than Constantinople and many Muslim cities o Cities were full of craftspeople and artisans who had higher social status than peasants o Christianity spread slowly, but triumphed over Pagan customs by the twelfth century with the clergy functioning as tax collectors

 The role of Technology o Western Europe’s population and agriculture production increased enabling kings to strengthen their control o Heavy moldboard plow and the horse collar greatly increased crops  Cities and the Rebirth of Trade o Independent, self-governing cities emerged in Italy and Flanders o Legal independence allowed them to make laws that favored the manufacturing and trade industries that they relied on o Venice emerged as a dominant sea power trading in Muslim ports o Flanders turned English wool into cloth for export o As trade increased, gold and silver coins were minted

 The Roots of the Crusades o A series of Christian military campaigns against Muslims to recapture the Holy Land (Jerusalem) o Reasons – Religious zeal; knights’ willingness to engage in church- sanctioned warfare, younger sons of the nobility to gain wealth, and interest in trade routes o The tradition of pilgrimages, Muslim control of Christian religious sites, and the Byzantine Empire’s request for help against the Muslims made the Holy Land the focus of the Crusades o Pope Urban II initiated the First Crusade, urging Europeans to stop fighting each other, and fight Muslims instead  The Impact of the Crusades o Crusades had a limited impact on the Muslim world o Europe benefited due to the introduction of Arabic and Greek manuscripts

 Initially, the Byzantine Empire, following Roman political and legal heritage that had mostly faded in the west, enjoyed more economic prosperity and sophistication in the arts and culture than the west.  Christianity became embedded in Byzantine society before it did in the western church.  The Byzantine Empire did not witness the improved military techniques, new agricultural technologies, population growth, and trade of Western Europe, leading to its decline in prosperity and cultural innovation in comparison to the west.