Byzantium and eastern European empires Mr. Kallusingh World History Topic 6

Constantine Credited with supporting Christianity, some believe because he had a vision "Around noontime, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw before him in the sky the sign of a cross of light. He said it was above the sun and it bore the inscription, 'Conquer with this.' The vision astounded him, as it astounded the whole army that was with him."

Constantine After taking sole control of the Roman empire he moved the capital to Constantinople He was able to stabilize the Roman empire, but the western portion continued to get weaker with the east becoming the center of power and wealth

Justinian & Byzantine empire Justinian was credited with reviving the glory and power of Rome. The Justinian Code was a collection of laws from the Roman Empire that became the basis for Byzantine Law. It covered many topics like crime, marriage, property, and slavery.

Justinian Justinian had many good advisers with one being his wife Theodora. He gave women more rights improving their status in society, like the right to half their dowry. He was able to conquer back parts of the western Roman empire.

Religion and State The Christian Church was an important part of life in the Byzantine Empire. The Church was split in two the Roman Catholic(west) and Eastern Orthodox(east). An important disagreement was over the use of icons and this became known as the Iconoclastic Controversy.

Iconoclastic controversy An icon is a holy picture. Iconoclasts believed having icons was the same as having idols. Heresy is disagreeing with an official church belief, and excommunication is being kicked out of the church. The Eastern Orthodox church initially rejected the use of icons after the Pope made iconoclasts heretics.

Schisms and divide Schisms are when the two Churches began to disagree on certain ideas. Some of the reasons for divide in the churches are icons, patriarch vs. pope, ecclesiastical authority, and celibacy.

Decline of the byzantine empire After Justinian died in 565AD the Byzantine empire fought many wars. The Arab empire conquered Syria, Palestine, and most of North Africa by 650AD. During 1000AD’s the Seljuk Turks conquered most of Asia Minor, this was an important source of food.

Decline of the byzantine empire A plague broke out that killed up to 5,000 people a day in Constantinople, 25% of the Eastern Mediterranean, and up to 100 million people worldwide. Ottoman Turks began attacking in 1300AD and eventually conquered Constantinople in 1453AD.

Crusades 1096-1272 ad Began because the Seljuk Turks(Muslim) started to attack parts of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire turned to the Pope Urban II for help and got it. People joined the crusades for different reasons usually spiritual or financial.

Crusades The first crusade won back the Holy Land and introduced European culture to the area. The first crusade also opened up very important trade routes. The second crusade resulted in stopping the forward momentum of the Turks.

Crusades In the third crusade the Muslim leader Saladin was able to hold off the crusaders but made a truce that allowed Christians to move freely in Jerusalem. The fourth crusade saw crusaders attacking Christian cities and they were later excommunicated for these actions.