1. AP World History: The Byzantine Empire
Period Three: 600 CE – 1450 CE
NY State Standards 2, 3
Common Core RS 6, 9, WS 1

2. I Rome Wasn’t Dead Yet!
Recall that Diocletian divided the Roman Empire in half. Under Constantine, Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire fell in the West in 476 CE, the Empire continued in the East for almost 1000 more years! Historians remember it as the Byzantine Empire. Throughout their history, the people of Byzantium continued to refer to themselves as Romans even though the Byzantines rarely controlled Rome, and spoke mainly Greek!
Constantinople was located on the Bosphorus, a strait that links the Black and Mediterranean Seas. *It also links Europe and Asia!
Constantinople’s former name was Byzantium. Today, it is the city of Istanbul in modern day Turkey.

3. C) The Hippodrome was a horse-racing track, as well as a place for coronations and parades.
GREAT TRADE!!!

4. II Age of Justinian (Ruled 527 – 565 CE)
A) His goal was to revive the glory of Rome.

5. Age of Justinian Continued…
B) He built the Hagia Sophia Church “Holy Wisdom” in 537 CE. The interior dome is covered in gold. “O Solomon I have surpassed you!”
When Constantinople was captured by the Ottoman Turks, the Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque. Today it is a museum.

6. Hagia Sophia

7. Age of Justinian Continued…
C) Justinian organized Roman laws into the “Body of Civil Law”. Today it is known as the Justinian Code. It protected Roman laws from disappearing. “The maxims of laws are these: to live honestly, to hurt no one, to give everyone his due.”
Byzantine Weapon:
“Greek Fire”

8. III Theodora (500 – 548 CE)
Born into the lowest class of Byzantine society, but married Justinian 523 CE (before he became Emperor)
She acted as a joint ruler with her husband
In 532 CE, a 5 day rebellion broke out at the Hippodrome (the Nika Revolt). The protesters set many buildings on fire, and declared a new emperor. Justinian wanted to flee but Theodora convinced him to stay. Approximately 30,000 people died as a result.
D) She helped create reforms to help women.
Banned killing of unwanted babies
Gave women property rights in divorce
Banned the murder of a wife who committed adultery
Closed brothels

9. IV The East – West Schism
The Great Schism is the split between the Eastern (Byzantine) church and the Western (Orthodox) church.
Causes:
Catholic Church
Orthodox Church
Latin
Greek
Never banned icons (religious images)
Banned icons 730 – 843 CE due to Muslim influence
Clergy are celibate
Clergy can marry
Pope
Patriarch
“If the Roman Pontiff, seated on the lofty throne of his glory wishes to thunder at us and, so to speak, hurl his mandates at us from on high, and if he wishes to judge us and even to rule us and our Churches, not by taking counsel with us but at his own arbitrary pleasure, what kind of brotherhood, or even what kind of parenthood can this be? We should be the slaves, not the sons, of such a Church, and the Roman See would not be the pious mother of sons but a hard and imperious mistress of slaves.” Nicetas, Archbishop of Nicomedia

10. Pope John Paul II and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, 2005, Istanbul.

11. V Collapse of the Byzantine Empire
A) 1071 the Ottoman Turks won a major victory over the Byzantines at Manzikert.
B) Fourth Crusade 1201 began against Muslims in the Holy Land. Along the way, they diverted to Constantinople and sacked the city. This weakened the Empire and drained its treasury.
C) 1453 the Ottoman Turks used cannons to breach the city walls and renamed Constantinople Istanbul.

12. VI Geography of Russia
A) Most of Russia is steppe (grassland) between the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe and the Ural Mountains in Asia.
B) Main river: Volga.
C) Staple Russian foods include wheat, barley, rye, beets, caviar (sturgeon eggs) and dairy (cattle are herded on the Russian steppes).
D) As the Baltic Sea freezes in winter, Russian monarchs have always looked south for a warm water port to allow seafaring year round.
F) Siberia is in northeastern Russia. Temperatures can dip to -50 degrees Celsius!
Ural Mountains in Asia

14. VII Early Russian Civilization
A) During the time of the Roman Empire, Slavs settled by the Baltic and Black Seas. B) By the 800s CE the Norsemen came as well. C) Kiev, at the heart of Viking trade, became the center of the 1st Russian state.
Descendants of the Slavs live in many eastern European countries such as Croatia and Serbia. As many were forced into slavery in the Middle Ages, the Slavs are the origin for the word “slave”.

15. Novgorod, a Medieval Russian City

16. VIII The Byzantines Brought All This??
A) In the 9th century CE the Byzantines brought Eastern Orthodox Christianity, domes and the Greek alphabet (cyrillic) to Russia. B) Russians adapted the Byzantine dome, and developed their “onion domes”.
The Cyrillic Alphabet
Russian Onion Dome

17. IX Russia Under the Mongols
A) Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, led the Mongol army from Asia into Russia. The Mongols controlled Russia from s. Though Russian princes in Moscow became wealthy by working with the Mongols, Russian infrastructure (roads, buildings, etc.) had been destroyed, leaving Russia cut off from Western Europe for centuries!
B) In 1480 Ivan III “the Great” gained independence from the Tatars (what the Russians referred to the Mongols as). He then tripled the size of Russia.
Batu
Ivan III “the Great”

19. V The Norsemen
A) Norsemen were Germanic tribes who settled in Scandinavia 1000 BCE. They built long ships that allowed them to travel long distances. B) Norsemen were mostly farmers! Vikings were Norsemen who went on raids and pillages temporarily. C) Religion: Polytheistic. Odin- god of war. Thor- god of thunder. Valhala- Odin’s palace/heaven. D) Government: Tribal, but with a democratic “thing” (assembly)!
Leif Eriksson

21. The Norsemen Continued…
F) 800 – 1000 CE the Norse expanded into the North Atlantic due to an increased population and political unrest in Scandinavia.
Iceland settled 860 CE
975 CE famine  discovery of Greenland 982 CE by Erik the Red. Herded sheep and goats. Deforestation  erosion and soil damage.
1000 CE settled Vinland (Newfoundland). Left after a few decades, probably due to skirmishes with natives
1250 CE "Little Ice Age" began
Icelandic legends called sagas recounted Leif Eriksson’s exploits in the New World around 1000 CE (son of Erik the Red). These Norse stories were spread orally before becoming recorded in the 12th and 13th centuries.

22. The Norsemen Continued…
L'Anse aux Meadows is a Norse settlement discovered by archaeologists in It is located in the northernmost tip of Newfoundland, Canada.

23. Classwork/HW Questions
Fill in your Period 3 Civilization chart for the Byzantine Empire, Russia, AND the Norsemen.
How should Theodora be remembered?
How much do you think the Muslim Arabs influenced the Byzantine Empire?
Explain the East-West Schism. Which side is more justified?
Does Russia owe its early history and culture to the Byzantines?
Do you think the stereotypical depiction of the Vikings is historically accurate?
How would history have changed had the Norsemen remained in North America? Why do you think they left?

24. Key Vocabulary 4th Crusade Kiev Baltic Sea L'Anse aux Meadows
Battle at Manzikert
Leif Eriksson
Batu
Little Ice Age
Bosphorus
Mongols
Byzantine Empire
Moscow
Nika Revolt
Carpathian Mountains
Norsemen
Constantine
Onion Domes
Constantinople
Ottoman Turks
Cyrillic Alphabet
Patriarch
Diocletian
Sagas
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Scandinavia
Erik the Red
Schism
Excommunicate
Siberia
Great Schism
Slavs
Hagia Sophia
Steppe
Hippodrome
Tatars
Iceland
Theodora
Iconoclastic Controversy
Ural Mountains
Icons
Vikings
Istanbul
Vinland
Ivan III “The Great”
Volga River
Justinian
Warm Water Port
Justinian’s Code