2.  Origins – Greek city-state, A.D. 324 Roman Empire shifts capital to Constantinople  Marks the beginning of the Byzantine Empire  Early Period A.D. 324 – A.D. 730  Fall of Roman Empire in the West  Justinian  Iconoclastic Controversy  Middle Period A.D. 843 – A.D. 1261  End of Iconoclastic Controversy  Crusaders sack Constantinople in A.D. 1204  Late Period A. D. 1261 - 1453

3.  Christians lived together in communities  Elect leaders  Leaders eventually chosen by existing church leaders  Diocletian – divided empire into dioceses for administrative purposes  Bishop –  Center of authority –

4.  Many bishops were former Roman gov’t. officials – very good administrators  Emperors support church  Church helps maintain order and unity for the emperors  Result: interconnection of the Empire and the Christian Church

5.  Church played different role in Byzantine East and Germanic-dominated West.  Lack of unity: Germanic invasions prevented church from unifying West and East  Bishops of Rome asked emperors in Constantinople for military support, but emperor could rarely send them  Important difference: Church in the West relies less on the emperor – begins to take over political authority  Taxes, troops, laws

6.  Bishop in West has no competitor for power  Roman bishops emphasized their “special” role  Successors to Peter  Bishop of Rome becomes known as the pope – Latin papa – “father”  Began to stress importance over others

7.  In the East, bishops of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Constantinople had more power than other bishops BUT emperor’s authority over the church was acknowledged  Emperor nominated a patriarch – highest position in the Eastern church.  Religion viewed as a branch of the state

8.  East:  West:

9.  During the Roman Empire, disputes within the church created:  Heresy – denial of a basic doctrine of faith  Canon law – laws and procedures that governed church matters  Allows for immense growth of the church

10.  Icons – images or representations of God, Jesus, Mary, or saints in a painting, bas-relief, or mosaic  Began as a practice in private homes, eventually the images started to appear in the Church  Prayer had to be directed to God  Some felt icons helped people worship  Some felt icons were actually the ones being worshipped (idolatry) and wanted them destroyed – Iconoclasts

17.  A.D. 730 emperor Leo III in Constantinople ordered the destruction of the images throughout the empire  Entire provinces revolted – empire and Roman papacy severed relations completely  Constantine V seized the property of monasteries that did not cooperate, executed monks or forced them to join the army  Use of icons restored in A.D. 843 – no sculptures

18.  Implications  Did the emperor have the right to interfere in church affairs?  The pope looked at an alliance with the Frankish monarchy  Fostered further division between the two Christian churches.  A.D. 1054 – The pope in Rome and the patriarch in Constantinople excommunicated each other from the church – Schism  Christianity splits with Judaic and Islamic tradition

19.  Like Buddhism, Christianity developed an ascetic component  Some felt that the only way to avoid the decadence of urban life was complete separation from the world.  Eremetical (isolated)  Coenobitic (communal)

20.  Church encouraged communal living to teach and promote charity, poverty, and freedom from self-deception  A.D. 529 Benedict of Nursia writes Rule, a set of regulations for communal monasteries.  Later known as The Rule of Saint Benedict – influences all aspects of organized religious life in the Roman church.

21.  Regular clergy vs. secular clergy  Regular = those living in monasteries  Secular = Bishops/priests that staffed churches  Not cut off from society  Monastic life of regularity, discipline, and moderation in an atmosphere of silence  Popularity  Balance between asceticism and activity  Commercially successful  Schools for young children