1. THE WORLDS OF CHRISTENDOM
The Byzantine Empire and Europe,
500 – 1500

2. The Worlds of Christendom: Contraction, Expansion, and Division
Development and Transformation of Social Structures
Examines the social dynamics of Western European Christianity.
Political Structures. State Building, Expansion, and Conflict
Explores political life of the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe and the Crusades

3. The Worlds of Christendom: More SPICE
Development and Interaction of Cultures
Discusses the contraction of Christianity in Asia and Africa, and the expansion of Christianity in Russia and Western Europe.
Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems
Explores the trade connections made possible by the Byzantine Empire, and the Crusades.

4. The Worlds of Christendom: Contraction, Expansion, and Division
Learning Objectives
To examine European society after the breakup of the Roman Empire
To compare the diverse legacies of Rome in Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire
To explore medieval European expansion
To present the backwardness of medieval Europe relative to other civilizations, and the steps by which it caught up

5. The Worlds of Christendom: Contraction, Expansion, and Division

6. The Worlds of Christendom: Contraction, Expansion, and Division
Facts:
Founded in 32 C.E.
Founded in Palestine
Founded by Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish carpenter
Adherents = 2.3 billion
Largest religion (33%)
Major sects; RC, Eastern Orthodox & protestant
Sacred text is the Bible
Clerics are many
Houses of worship are many
Head of a woman BCE. Met Museum of Art New York

7. The Worlds of Christendom: Contraction, Expansion, and Division

8. The Worlds of Christendom: Contraction, Expansion, and Division
AP Tip…..
The AP World History Curriculum Framework requires that students know the Byzantine Empire as an example of a “reconstituted empire” in the wake of a collapsed one. As well, you are required to have knowledge of governments that combined traditional sources of power and legitimacy (such as the Christian religion), with innovations (such as calling Constantinople, the “new Rome”).

9. ROMAN EMPIRE

10. BYZANTINE EMPIRE: 500’s C.E.

11. Christian Contraction in Africa and Asia
A. Islam’s spread leads to contraction of Christ.
B. Asian Christianity
1. By 750 Islamic forces take Jerusalem/holy sites and Christ.
barely exists in Arabia
2. In Syria and Persia, many converted to Islam while a few
paid a special tax to worship
3. Nestorian Christ.(Church of the East) shrank in Middle East
and then saw a rise and fall in Tang China
C. African Christ.
1. N. African Christ. mostly converted to Islam
2. Coptic Christ. in Egypt survives in cities but it is limited by
Crusades and Mongol invasions

12. Christian Contraction in Africa and Asia
3. Ethiopia (Axum Kingdom) adopts Christ, in 300’s and geogr.
keeps out Muslim world and leads to a distinct Christ. cult.

13. ASIAN AND AFRICAN CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY

14. II. Byzantine Christendom: Building on the Roman Past
A. Byzantine Emp. has no clear starting point
1. Continuation of Rome and some place start at 330 with
city of Constantinople
2. Rome collapsed in 476 but East. emp. exists for another
1,000 years. (Includes Egypt, Greece, Turkey, and Syria)
3. Byz. advantages over Rome
a. more urban pop. and Constan. was easier to defend
b. smaller frontier and Black Sea = control of E. Mediterr.
c. stronger army and navy
d. continued Roman infrastructure
B. The Byz. State
1. politics centered around Emperor in Constan.

15. CONSTANTINOPLE

16. CONSTANTINOPLE

17. LOCATION OF CONSTANTINOPLE

18. II. Byzantine Christendom: Building on the Roman Past
2. territory shrank after Turks and W. Europe invaded in 1085
and by 1453 Constan. was sacked by Ottoman Turks
C. The Byz. church and Christ. divergence
1. church closely tied to state: caesaropapism
a. Byz. emperor: head of state and church
b. emperor appointed the patriarch, sometimes made
decisions on faith with church councils
2. Orthodox Christ. influenced all of Byz. life
a. legitimized imperial rule and dominated cult.
b. churches and icons everywhere
c. theological debates: how devout are you?

19. II. Byzantine Christendom: Building on the Roman Past
3. Eastern Orthodoxy starts to oppose Latin Christ.
a. Latin Christ. centered on pope and Rome
b. translated into political differences between two
c. Islam led to a shrinking of Christ. which put Rome and
Constan. as two centers of religion
d. East/West cult. differences (philosophy, language, and
church practices) led to Great Schism of and both
sides excommunicating each other.
e. Crusades from 1095 on make division worse, and during
4th crusade, Europe sacks Constan. in 1204 and rules it
for 50 years

20. III. Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse
A. W. Europe was on margins of world during third wave
civil. ( )
1. It was far from trade routes
2. geo. made unity difficult
3. coastlines and rivers helped internal trade
4. moderate climate helped pop. growth
B. Pol. life in W. Europe
1. large scale central rule stopped with fall of Rome (476)
a. urban life shrank
b. long-dist. trade outside of Italy stopped
c. decline in literacy and power in Europe shifted north
and west away from Med. region to Germanic tribes

21. Population shifts during Medieval Period

22. III. Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse
3. survival of Roman heritage
a. Germanic people who sacked Rome had already
been Romanized
b. Germ. rulers adopted Roman law
4. several Germ. kingdoms try to recreate Roman unity
a. Charlegmagne (r ) acted imperial
b. revival of Roman Emp. when Charl. was crowned emp.
by the Pope on Christmas day in 800
c. another revival of Roman Emp. happened with
coronation of Otto I of Saxony (r )

23. III. Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse
C. Society and the Church
1. Medieval kingdoms were fragmented and
decentralized
a. lots of local variation
b. landowning warrior elite exercised power
2. social hierarchies
a. lesser lords and knights became vassals of kings or
great lords
b. serfdom displaced slavery
D. Accelerating Change in W. Europe
1. series of invasions from hinders W. Europe
2. Muslim, Magyar, and Viking invasions end around 1000

24. FEUDALISM IN EUROPE

25. MEDIEVAL MANORS

26. III. Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse
3. growth of long-dist. trade
a. N. Europe
b. N. Italy
c. trading fairs (Champagne region of France) sped
up trade between N. and S. Europe
4. Rising town and city pop. in Eur.
a. Venice had 150,000 people by 1400
b. still smaller than great cities outside of Eur.
c. guilds were formed for specialized labor
5. growth of states w/ better organized gov.
a. kings consolidated rule in 11th thru 13th cent
b. appearance of professional administrators in gov.

27. MEDIEVAL GUILDS

28. III. Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse
E. Eur. and the Crusades
1. Medieval expansion of Christ. after 1000
a. occurred while Byz. Emp. shrank
b. clearance of land (E. Eur)
c. Christ. colonies formed in Newfoun., Greenland, and Ice
d. Eur. had some direct contact with E. and S. Asia in
13th thru 14th cent.
2. Crusades began in 1095
a. command of God, ordered by pope, and soldiers
got an indulgence (past sins were forgiven)
b. people in Eur. were very in favor of them
3. Most famous Crusades were to regain Jerusalem

29. MAP OF CRUSADES

30. SOLDIERS OF THE CRUSADES

31. III. Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse
a. many waves of Crusaders to Middle East
b. creation of four small Christ. states that lasted
until 1291 showed Eur. growing org. ability
4. Iberian Peninsula Crusade
5. Attacks on Byz. Emp and Russia
6. Crusades had little pol. or rel. impact on Middle East, but
they had huge impact on Eur.
a. conquest of Spain, Sicily, and Baltics
b. Crusades weakened Byz. and elevated power of pope
c. Contact with Islamic world increases demand for lux.
goods from the East
d. Muslim scholarship and Greek learning flows into Eur.

32. IV. The West in Comparative Perspective
A. Catching up
1. hybrid civ. of W. Eur was less modern than Byz.,
China, India, or Islamic world
2. Eur. was happy to trade with more developed cult.
a. Eur. welcomed science, phil., and math from Arabs,
classical Greece, and India.
b. Most borrowing during medieval era came from China
3. By 1500, Eur. had caught up w/ China and Islamic world and
surpassed them in some areas
4. Between Eur. improved upon agric., non- animal
sources of energy, and weapons tech.

33. INNOVATION IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE

34. IV. The West in Comparative Perspective
B. Pluralism in pol. shaped W. Eur.
1. Eur. became a system of competing states
2. frequent wars stimulated tech innovation
3. rulers were weaker than those to the East
a. struggle between royals and nobles
b. capitalistic ideas start since nobles rely on merchants
and if king controlled merchants, he would lose favor
w/ nobles
c. representative institutions like parliaments start
C. Intellectual tension between reason and faith
1. Education increases after 1000 and scholars have freedom
at newly founded universities that form in cathedrals

35. IV. The West in Comparative Perspective
3. Scholars start claiming reason can be used to
explain law, nature, med, and divine mystery
4. search for Greek texts will continue what Arabs did
5. deep impact of Aristotle
a. his writings formed the inspiration for universities
b. his ideas dominated Eur. philosophy from
6. Byz. Emp. largely spoke Greek but was hostile to ideas
from Ancient Greece that elevated reason over god
7. Arab translation of Greek texts were causing debates over
faith and reason in Islamic world

36. V. LEGACY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE
A. Crusades would motivate Spanish and Portugese Explorers to raise money from their governments for conquests in the name of Christ.
B. Merchants willingness to borrow knowledge and tech leads to globalization.
C. Many of the conquests during Crusades would lead to defeat of ethnic groups in Europe, and these ethnic tensions would play a part in causing World War I
D. Debate over faith and reason will pop up again when people question divine right of kings during Enlightenment(1700’s)
E. Split in Christ. remains and universities were created

37. Medieval Europe The Act of Commendation Homage Fealty
“I promise on my faith, that I will in the future be faithful to the lord, never cause him harm, and will observe my homage to him completely against all persons in good faith and without deceit”.
Once the oath of fealty was complete, a feudal relationship then existed between lord and vassal