1. The Byzantine Empire and The Crusades Tuesday, October 21 st

2. 1. The Byzantine Empire (pg. 263) a. Continuation of the Roman Empire b. Political, social, and religious life different than Western Europe

3. 2. Church and State a. Constantine made Byzantium the capital of Romee b. Filled the city with churches c. Council of Nicaea: Eastern church rejects the idea that Jesus was of lesser importance than God e. Single ruler with total control of government and religion g. Main threat came from new Muslim empire h. 1054: The Great Schism i. Challenged the power of the Pope, among other issues ii. Latin Church (West) and Orthodox Church (East)

4. 3. Society and Urban Life a.General decline in technology and culture after rise of Islam b.Situation of women worsened in the Byzantine Empire (compared to Rome) c.The empire declined everywhere except in Constantinople d.Better at hiding the reality of their decline than Western Europe e.Fell behind Western Europe when Crusades start f.1453: Constantinople falls to Muslim armies

5. 4. Cultural Achievements a. Code of Justinian: Law code adopted across Europe, based on Roman law and written in Latin (many modern day law terms are in Latin) b. Hagia Sophia: Great domed cathedral of Constantinople

7. The Crusades

9. 5. The Crusades a. Christian military campaigns against Muslims in the “Holy Land” b. Several reasons why they happened besides access to “Holy Land”: i. The Church desired less fighting between Christians ii. Knights wanted to fight for their faith iii. Kings and lords wanted to control more lands iv. Italian merchants wanted to increase trade across Mediterranean

10. c.Muslim’s tolerated Christian pilgrims but this changed as Byzantines lost power to Islamic kingdoms d.Crusades were essentially armed pilgrimages e.Pope Urban II: Sins will be forgiven if you go on this pilgrimage f.Crusades led to several small Christian kingdom being established but they did not last long g.Later Crusades did not even reach the “Holy Land” h.Many Greek philosophical and Arab scientific findings were brought to Europe because of the Crusades