1. Powerpoint will be available at wcabangladeshscience.weebly.com
World History
10th graders
Powerpoint will be available at wcabangladeshscience.weebly.com

2. 10.1 The Byzantine Empire THE GROWTH OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
Justinian: the emperor who led the Byzantines in a revival of glory & power of the Roman Empire.
THE JUSTINIAN CODE
One of the Byzantines’ greatest contribution to civilisation was the preservation of Roman law.
Justinian Code: Collection of laws that formed the basis for Byzantine law under Emperor Justinian.

3. the justinian code (Cont.)
organized into 4 parts:
1. Code → useful Roman laws
2. Digest → summarized Roman legal opinions
3. Institutes → a guide for law students.
4. Novellae → contains laws passed after AD 534.
by 1100, also used in the W. Europe → provided a framework (people should be ruled by laws, not leaders)
by 1100, also used in the W. Europe → provided a framework for many European legal sys. → preserved the Roman idea that people should be ruled by laws, not leaders. → basis for English civil law

4. Able advisers
Theodora: Justinian’s wife who urged him to change Byzantine law to affect the status of women.
alter divorce laws to give women greater benefit
allowed Christian women to own property equal to the value of their dowry (Money or goods a wife brings to a marriage)
also convinced Justinian to stay & fight the Nika Revolt.

5. Able advisers (cont.)
Belisarius: general of the army, crushed the Nika Revolt → won lands back from Germanic tribes.

6. Compare Byzantine Empire under Justinian and the Roman Empire
Compare Byzantine Empire under Justinian and the Roman Empire. What do you think happened to the Byzantine Empire when Justinian died? Why was Constantinople a good place to build a capital?

7. Strength of the empire (cont.)
The East had always been the richest part of the Roman Empire → Constantinople, located where Europe meets Asia → looked over the Bosporus Strait → allowed control over the sea trade routes btwn Asia & Europe → included goods from as far as Scandinavia & China
imperial tax policies raised huge rob, revenues → paid soldiers & gov. officials → paid large, magnificent public buildings

8. Strength of the empire
skilled, efficient, & well paid government officials made sure the empire ran smoothly
clever diplomats → created alliances through marriage with foreign powers.
military forced were well-trained → weapons & armour were well designed. → effective in protecting its frontiers.
Greek fire: flammable liquid used as weapon by the Byzantine navy.

9. the christian church Western church – led by Pope
Eastern church – led by Patriarch of Constantinople
icon: holy pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or a saint. → many Byzantines kept icons in their homes & honored them in churches
differences in church practices led to a final division in the Byzantine Christian church
though the pope was the most powerful leader in the Western church, the Byzantine did not recognise the pope’s authority → in the East, the patriarch of Constantinople was the most powerful church leader
icon: holy pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or a saint. → many Byzantines kept icons in their homes & honoured them in churches

10. the christian church (Cont.)
iconoclasts: people who opposed the use of icons in worship → some Byzantines believed that it was wrong to have icons because it was the same as worshipping idols.
Iconoclastic Controversy: Debate between opponents & defenders of icons in the Byzantine Church → one of the issues that led to the split of the Byzantine Church
Emperor Leo III, an iconoclast, ordered the destruction of icons → many people refused

11. the christian church (Cont.)
Icons used in the Western church as “teaching tools”
heresy: opinions that conflicts with official church beliefs
excommunication: official edict that bars a person from church membership. → for the iconoclasts
Split→ Roman Catholic Church (West) & Eastern Orthodox Church (East) → Ironically, the E. Church eventually accepted icons as an important part of their tradition.
in the West, church leaders also condemned the use of icons → but, b/c many people could not read or write, the icons portrayed images & symbols that help them to learn about Christianity

12. Byzantine Culture
Cyril & Methodius: created an alphabet for the Slavs (Cyrillic)
center of great civilisation → scholars produced many original works → additionally, passed on to the future generations knowledge of ancient Greece, Rome, and the East.

13. Art
mosaic: picture or design made from small pieces of enamel, glass, or stone. Goal – to inspire adoration and help people look toward an afterlife.
Religion was the main subject of Byzantine art.
mosaic: picture or design made from small pieces of enamel, glass, or stone.
location of an image indicated its importance
may appear stiff or artificially → the artists did not try to imitate reality → tried to inspire adoration of the religious figures & help people look toward an afterlife.

15. Architecture
Hagia Sophia: “holy wisdom” Great, decorative Byzantine church in Constantinople → one of the world’s great buildings
Justinian devoted a great deal of $ and energy to its completion → finished in an amazing short time of 6 yrs.
they are the first to solve the problem of placing a round dome over a rectangular building.

16. the decline of the empire
After Justinian died, the empires suffered from many wars and conflicts with the outside power → by 650, the Bzyantines had lost many lands.
during 1000s, the Seljuq Turks, a nomadic people from central Asia, captured much of Asia Minor (important source of food and soldiers for the empire). → planned to attack Constantinople → So the Byzantine Empire asked the West to help.

17. the decline of the empire (Cont.)
From AD 1096 to 1099, West did help & seized & eventually returned western Asia Minor to the Byzantines.
In AD 1204, Western forces turned against the Byzantine Empire & captured Constantinople.
In AD 1261, the Byzantines recaptured Constantinople → lasted for almost 200 more yrs, but never regained its former strength.
Ottoman Turks: Asian people who conquered Constantinople in the 1300s & established a large empire.