Byzantine Empire Notes

I. Justinian: Military Victories A.becomes emperor of eastern empire in 527CE B.decided to reunite fallen western empire

C. sent his best general, Belisarius, to recover North Africa from Vandals 1. Belisarius does so in matter of months D.Belisarius took Rome away from Ostrogoths 2 years later E.after numerous campaigns, Justinian’s armies had re- conquered nearly all of Italy & most of Spain

II. Building the New Rome A. Byzantine Empire had its own character 1. citizens thought of themselves as sharing Roman tradition 2. most citizens in east spoke Greek, not Latin 3. they also belonged to eastern branch of Christian Church

B. Corpus Juris Civilis 1. Corpus Juris Civilis--Justinian Code: a single, uniform law code; contained 4 parts i.The Codex (Code) contained nearly 5,000 Roman laws ii.The Digest quoted & summarized opinions of Rome’s greatest legal thinkers (50 volumes) iii.The Institutes was textbook that told law students how to use the law iv.The Novellae (New Laws) presented legislation after 534 AD Code of Justinian still underlies legal system of most countries in modern western Europe today

C. Justinian rebuilt the crumbling fortifications of Constantinople

D. Hagia Sophia 1. Hagia Sophia (HAY-ee-uh so-FEE-uh-- means “Holy Wisdom” in Greek) i. Justinian wanted to make it most splendid church in the world ii. had form of square topped by central giant dome iii. gold, marble, & countless precious stones were used in its construction & decoration

E. other building projects 1.enlarged the palace complex 2.baths, aqueducts, law courts, schools, hospitals F. Hippodrome (from 2 Greek words meaning horse & track)

III. Byzantium Preserves Learning A. Byzantine families valued education 1.basic courses included Greek & Latin grammar 2.Philosophy 3.classics of Greece & Rome (Homer) 4.geometry (Euclid) 5.history (Herodotus) 6.medicine (Galen) B. Byzantine scholars helped preserve many of great works of Greece & Rome

IV. The Empire Confronts Its Enemies A. bubonic plague struck Constantinople & Byzantine Empire 1. at its peak in 542 CE it is estimated that 10,000 people were dying every day 2. plague reoccurred every 8-12 years until 700 CE 3.plague devastated population of Byzantine Empire 4. left it exposed to enemies

B.attacked by barbarians in west C.pillaged by Crusaders in 1204 D.also attacked by Persians & Arabs from east E.empire slowly shrank under impact of foreign attacks F.Constantinople fell to Ottoman Turks in 1453 CE

V. The Church Divides A.Bishop of Rome: pope B.Bishop of Constantinople: patriarch C. Emperor Leo III banned use of icons (religious images) in worship (CE 730) 1. army supported him 2. iconoclasts (icon-breakers) broke into churches to destroy images 3. people rebelled 4. in West, pope supported using icons in worship 5. more than 100 years later, empress restored use of icons to Eastern churches

Icon

D. Other differences between the two Christian traditions Roman CatholicEastern Orthodox services conducted in Latinservices conducted in Greek or local languages pope has authority over all other bishops patriarch and other bishops head the church as a group pope claims authority over all kings and emperors emperor claims authority over the patriarch and other bishops in the empire priests may not marrypriests may marry divorce is not permitteddivorce is allowed under certain conditions

E. The Great Schism 1054 pope & patriarch excommunicated each other over religious dispute after this schism, or split, Christianity was permanently divided between Roman Catholics in West and Orthodox Church in East