1. The Byzantine Empire: Chapter 11.1

2. I. Background Info. Rome divided 395 CE - East and West
330 CE Emperor Constantine made Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire in the East
1. He renamed the city Constantinople
2. City was Christian and the
language Greek not Latin
3. City combined both Eastern and
Western ways of life
4. City became center of world trade
and wealthy through trade

4. Constantinople = strategic city with multicultural character
Located near centers of early Christianity & trade the crossroads of Europe and Asia
People spoke Latin, Greek, and had influences from Persia – blended Christian beliefs with Greek science, etc.
C. Byzantine Empire was rich and powerful
1. Unified
2. Educated (University of Constantinople est. 850 CE
3. Trade center
4. Cultural blending
5. Most advanced city in world btwn 500 CE & 1200 CE =
highest standard of living
D. Rulers had:
Absolute power
Headed church
High risk of assassination

5. E. Byzantine Empire promoted Christianity
1. appointed church leaders
2. defined style of worship
3. unified empire under Christianity at expense of non-
Christians and Jews

6. II. Eastern Empire - A New Rome
A. Justinian, Greatest Byzantine Emperor - took throne CE (died 565 CE)
1. Greek - official lang.
2. Expanded empire to greatest size
3. Strong central government
4. Head of the Church
5. Wife Theodora - powerful – helped him rule
a. Responsible for women gaining the right to own
land
b. Women gained right to manage
late husband’s property
c. Widows could raise their
children as they wished
d. Taxpayers revolted, she told
Justinian not to flee  he then
ruled w/0 challenge

7. III. Byzantine Empire under Justinian
Expansion of Empire; by 550s, Byzantines controlled all lands around the Mediterranean except France
1. Wars to gain new lands left empire weak
2. Justinian faced constant threat of attack from the
Persian Empire

8. B. Justinian Code
Justinian gathered and organized 400 years of Roman Law and Byzantine Law
Code Served empire for 900 years
Through this code the basic ideas of Roman law passed into the legal system of most nations of western Europe

9. Built bridges, churches, forts & fortified walls
C. Architectural achievements; Justinian’s most lasting architectural achievement = building program
Built bridges, churches, forts & fortified walls
Greatest success = Church of Hagia Sophia – huge dome & mosaics lined the marble walls
Schools
Hippodrome - horse races - free
Hagia Sophia

10. Hagia Sophia

11. D. Byzantine Church
1. Church was combined with the state = theocracy
a. Church leader appointed by the emperor
2. Believed that faith, not reason, was the way to find
God’s truth
3. Used icons in their worship
4. Church united the empire
E. Stable Society
1. Efficient government: well organized with educated
people working for the government
2. Strong economy
a. wealthy from trade btwn Europe, Asia, and Middle East
b. industries of its own: farming did not depend on slave
labor

12. IV. Muslim invasions: 630s & 640s Muslims took
over many parts of the Byzantine Empire
Wanted to spread their religion and gain wealth
717 Muslims attacked Constantinople
Emperor Leo stopped attack with secret weapon called Greek Fire
D. Leo’s victory in 717
important… STOPPED
Muslims from invading
Europe, which was too
weak to resist

13. V. The relationship between the Roman Empire and the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire adopted Christianity from the Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire was created from the division of the Roman Empire into the Eastern and Western Empires
Byzantine Empire adopted and modified Roman Law Code under the rule of Justinian (Justinian’s Code)

14. VI. Religious disputes Dispute over the use of Icons
Emperor Leo forbade the use of icons.
a. Issue of icons divided the empire
b. 787, Council of Bishops said that use of icons was
heresy
c. 843, compromise reached– people could worship
pictures, not statues
d. Icon issue increased split btwn Byzantine and
Roman Catholic Churches
Christian Church split = Schism over use of icons
1. separation of church into Roman Catholic (western empire) and Eastern Orthodox church (eastern empire
B. Source of religious authority
1. Pope in Rome & Patriarch in Constantinople
a. Charlemagne given title of emperor by Pope…
Patriarch ticked = his job

16. C. Conversion of the Slavs: 800s missionaries from Byzantine
Empire went to eastern Europe to convert the Slavs
1. Only converted the
Bulgarians and Russians
2. Cyril and Methodius,
missionaries, invented
Cyrillic alphabet
3. Russia and Byzantine
Empire developed strong
ties

17. VII. Decline of the Empire: 1000s Byzantine Empire weakened
A. lost trade with European cities
B Seljuk Turks from central Asia and Normans from
Europe captured Byzantine lands
1. Pope sent armies of crusaders to save the Byzantine
Empire from Turks, instead armies took Byzantine
lands and attacked Constantinople
Byzantines retook Constantinople and held it
for about 200 years
C Bubonic Plague “Black Death” killed two–thirds
of the people of Constantinople
D. 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople
(changed the name to Istanbul)
1. Used new weapon – the canon = End of Byzantine
Empire