1. Byzantine Empire Orthodox Christianity
Chapter 9

2. Vocabulary:
1. Justinian
2. Hagia Sophia
3. Bulgaria
4. Icons
5. Iconoclasm
6. Kiev
7. Vladimir I
8. Russian Orthodoxy
9. Boyars
10. Tatars
11. Byzantine Empire
12. Constantinople
13. Orthodox Christian Church
14. Constantine
15. Huns
16. Hellenistic culture
17. Greek fire
18. Tsar
19. Cyrillic alphabet

3. 1. Emperor Constantine – 4th Century C.E.
I. The Byzantine Empire
A. How it started
1. Emperor Constantine – 4th Century C.E.
a. Constantinople built – replaced Byzantium
b. Empire divided (originally by Diocletian)
--Capitals at Rome and Constantinople
c. Greek, not Latin, became the official language in the th century
Why
was
this
necessary?
The Eastern Empire flourished economically as the western empire faded.

4. Emperor Justinian and Theodora
B. Justinian & Theodora
1. Attempts reconquest of Italy
a. Ultimately fails…weakens the east militarily & economically
2. Rebuilds Constantinople
a. Hagia Sophia
3. Legal codification – foundation of later European law “Justinian’s code”
Emperor Justinian and Theodora

5. The Byzantine Empire under Justinian

6. C. Defending the Empire
1. Center of empire shifts to east – Emperors realized that expanding wasn’t possible…needed to defend the east
2. Constant external threats
a. Arab Muslims
--Attacks took almost half of Byzantine territory
--Were still unable to conquer Constantinople
b. Sassanid Empire
c. Huns
d. Germanic tribes
e. Venice

7. D. The End of the Byzantine Empire
1. Beginning in the mid 9th century the Byzantines were prosperous and militarily successful. However, in the 11th century the empire lost lands in Asia and effective control over much of the Balkan peninsula
2. Seljuk Turks take most of Asian provinces in Anatolia after defeating the Byzantines
The Byzantine Empire,

8. 3. The Crusades
a. Call to West for help against Seljuk Turks…agree to use Constantinople as a base for operations
b. 1204, crusaders sack Constantinople during the 4th Crusade
--Done at the request of traders from Venice
--Eventually Constantinople is brought back under Byzantine control
4. Territories lost to Ottoman Turks
5. Commerce dominated by Italian city-states of Venice & Genoa
a. Hurt the Byzantines economically
6. The Black Death in 1300’s weakened the empire
7. Constantinople taken by Ottoman Turks in 1453…the end of the Byzantine Empire

9. Byzantine Empire

10. The Byzantine Empire

11. E. Byzantine Society and Politics
1. Emperors resemble Chinese rulers
a. Court ritual – rulers have blessing of God…similar to the “mandate of heaven” in classical China
b. Head of church & state…wasn’t the case in the west
2. Imperial Senate…advised the emperor and provided a pool for higher appointments
3. Sophisticated bureaucracy – Open to all classes
a. Trained in Hellenistic (Greek) knowledge
4. Provincial governors
a. Byzantine ambassadors spied on the nations to which they were posted
b. Bribes were used to buy off enemies and pay enemies of friendly states to keep those states off-balance
c. What does the word “byzantine” mean today? Why?

12. a. Government regulated food prices, trade
5. Economic control
a. Government regulated food prices, trade
--Peasants provided food & most of the taxes
b. Silk production – allowed economic expansion
--State regulated silk trade (silkworms stolen from China)
6. Trade network – Asia (Silk Roads), Russia, Scandinavia, Europe, Africa…location along major trade routes
a. Trade concessions to foreigners
b. Trade competition with Venice and other Italian city-states
7. Arts – Architecture (domed buildings), art (mosaics)
What would
this be called
today?

13. F. The Family
1. Oldest male dominated the household…patriarchal
2. Parents were required by law to find spouses for children
a. Childlessness was viewed by society as a disaster
3. Upper-class children were educated, while lower-class children received little to no education
4. The primary duty of a woman was to marry, bear children, and run the household
5. Marriage contracts agreed upon disposition of property
6. Women could inherit and dispose of property in any way they wished
7. Upper-class females were secluded and veiled
8. Very few women were educated

14. G. Christianity Splits – East and West
1. Churches held many different beliefs…could not come to agreement
a. Roman Catholicism didn’t like the influence of secular leaders in church affairs
2. Patriarch Michael
a. 1054, attacks Catholic practices – communion bread, celibacy, church leadership (Pope vs. Patriarch)
3. Mutual excommunication leads to final split
a. Created Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches
4. Orthodox missionaries converted Slavs in Balkans, Ukraine, and Russia
5. Saint Cyril developed Cyrillic alphabet for Slavs…almost all Slavic languages, including Russian, use this alphabet
Vernacular?
Saint Cyril

16. Catholic vs. Orthodox

17. II. Byzantine Civilization Spreads A. Eastern Europe
1. Catholic vs. Orthodox
a. Ideologies battle for converts
2. Catholics “win” in some areas
a. Czechs, Hungary, Poland
b. Latin dominates
3. Jews from western Europe
a. Come to escape persecution
**Spreads through conquest, conversion, trade!**
**Orthodox Church allowed the use of the vernacular!**

18. B. The Kievan Rus’…The Beginning of Russia
1. Slavs…combine with previous settlers
--Animistic religion
2. Scandinavian merchants trade with the Byzantine empire (6th & 7th Centuries)
3. Monarchy forms at Kiev
4. Vladimir I ( )
a. Converts to Orthodoxy
b. Controls church & state

19. C. Culture in Kievan Rus’ 1. Influenced by Byzantine patterns
Church of the Dormition in Varzuga, Russia
C. Culture in Kievan Rus’
1. Influenced by Byzantine patterns
a. Rulers powerful in both religious & political matters
2. Orthodox influence
a. Ornate churches, icons, saints entered Russian culture
b. Monasticism grew in Russia
3. Boyars – Land-owning nobles
a. Less powerful than nobles in Western Europe
12th Century Russian icon…the Archangel Gabriel.

20. D. Kievan Decline
1. Asian invaders seized territory from the Rus’
2. Mongols
a. 13th century, take Russian cities
b. Were allowed to keep traditional culture as long as tribute was paid to the Mongols
E. The End of an Era in Eastern Europe
1. Mongol invasions usher in new period
a. Russia declined, Byzantines suffered