Byzantine

Empire

How did we get here: Fall of Rome• 235-284

• 285 – 305

• Crisis of the 3rd Century:

–Barracks Emperors usurped

power

– Rulers died of unnatural causes

– Revolts, plagues, fires, Christian persecutions

• Diocletian divided Empire

• Added junior emperors 4 caesars?!

– Civil war resulted when he and Maximian abdicated…

Constantine – 312 CESingle Ruler of Rome

Converted to ChristianitySigned Edict of Toleration for Christians, rights to own property restored, built churches & basilicas…

Constantinople

379 – Theodosius reunited the Empire, declared Christianity State Religion410 – Vandals sacked Rome440-454 – Huns paid not to attack455 – Vandals sacked Rome476 – last Roman Emperor deposed; Odoacer ruled Italy

Fall of Western Roman Empire - 476

Cataclysmic one-time event, or gradual slipping with some major calamities along the way?

A Rich Blend of Roman & Greek Cultures

Byzantium Flourished:

- Politically

- Economically

- Socially

- Religiously

1. Politics• Highly centralized state

• Caesaropapism– “one foot…”

• Large, Complex Bureaucracy

– “Byzantine”

Emperor Justinian• The Emperor Who Never Sleeps; The

Thirteenth Apostle…

• Attempted Reconquestof Western Rome

- General Belisarius & Church at Ravenna, Italy

• Blossoming of Byzantine art & culture– Rebuilt city after riot– Built Hagia Sophia, etc.– Last Latin-speaking and first Greek-

speaking Emperor

Justinian527-565

• Codified Roman Law:

–Corpus iuris civilis

Justinian …& Theodora

• Adopted by Uncle Justin, Emperor – he was a commoner, from a poor family– Educated him

• Scandal: Theodora– Courtesan/ actress/ daughter of a circus

owner. – 20 years younger.

– VERY influential at court, which Procopiusdid not like!

– She died relatively young of cancer; he continued on, involving himself in Church doctrinal questions.

Theme System• Themes (Provinces) under Generals

• Land for Service – peasant armies good for Ag Economy

Forerunner of Manrorialism / Feudalism

Conquest of Byzantium

• Prolonged siege

of Constantinople

– Turkic conquest

– Islamic armies

– Western Europeans

sacked Constantinople –

4th Crusade

Greek Fire, Thick Walls

FORTRESSES!

2. Economics

• Rural Agricultural Society– Theme System successful economy of free

peasants

Byzantine Style = Opulent

• Manufacturing & Crafts

– Glass, linen, textiles, gems, jewelry,

gold, silver

– SILK!!

Constantinople

Crossroads of Trade• Location, location, location…

• Partnerships, Banks

Bezant

3. Byzantine Society

URBAN Constantinople!

• Drama inspired by the Greeks

• Roman Baths

• Aqueducts

• Taverns

• Libraries

• Chariot races

JUSTINIAN RE-BUILT CONSTANTINOPLE AFTER A RIOTBY THE BLUES AND GREENS TORE IT APART… SO HE BUILTIT OPULENTLY!!

Constantinople’s Hippodrome

4. Religion

Council of Nicaea (325 CE)

-Pivotal statement of doctrine &practice, agreed upon by council of bishops. i.e.: Set liturgical calendar, such as Easter.

- The Nicene Creed definitive authority of ecumenical belief. (3rd

Ecumenical Council, the Council of Ephesus in 431, forbad changes, except by another Council).

- Heresies: Non-Trinitarian

Wait… Why was Religion so IMPORTANT?

• Legitimization!• Religion of the Masses

– Hope of Heaven earned

• Traditions, education, wealth, power, glory that was Rome survived ONLY in the power and glory of the Church…and Byzantium.

Iconoclasm Controversy• 726 – 843

• Leo III

• Idolatry – or - aid to concentration and prayer?

• Possible effect of beliefs from a neighboring empire?

HAGIA SOPHIA

“Holy Wisdom”

Justinian

San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy

St. Mark’s in Venice – Byzantine Architecture

Modern Byzantine / Eastern Orthodox Church

Monasteries

Away from Society

Mt. Athos

“Popular Piety”• MONASTIC movement

Monks / Nuns– Very Popular “calling”

– Earned own salvation and

served community

– Opposed Iconoclasm

• Ascetics / Hermits– Inspired b y east, Egypt…

• Pillar Saints

July 16, 1054

Afternoon prayers were about to begin in the Hagia Sophia, the grandest Christian church in the Eastern Roman Empire. Suddenly the main doors were flung wide and a cold breeze snuffed out the candles at the back of the church.

Cardinal Humbert, official representative of the Roman Church and legate to Pope Leo IX, a stern expression on his face, strode into the cathedral, up the main isle, and paused to genuflect before the main altar. On that altar he placed a parchment that he had carried all the way from Rome: a Papal Bull declaring the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, to be excommunicated.

Without a word, he genuflected again, turned , and marched back down the main aisle to the amazement of the assembled faithful. Just before he exited the great doors, never to return again, he glanced back. Shaking the unholy dust of Eastern Christianity from his Roman boots, and adjusting his cloak, some witnesses were sure they heard a great sigh.

A week later the patriarch solemnly condemned the cardinal, and in turn excommunicated Pope Leo.

Centuries later, this dramatic incident was thought to mark the beginning of the schism between the Latin and the Greek churches, a division that still separates Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox (Greek, Russian, and other). Today, however, no serious scholar maintains that the schism began in 1054. The process leading to the definitive break was much more complicated, and no single cause or event can be said to have precipitated it.

Mounting East/West Tensions Rome - West

• POPE as heir to Peter, so absolute head of the Church• Barbarian Invasions in West

centralization of power • Filioque UNILATERALLY ADDED to

Nicene Creed – Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father AND the Son.

• Uneducated masses• Rituals changed over time in isolation

ie: UNLEAVENED bread

• Celibate (by tradition, by law only after 1139, 1533) priests shaved in “civilized” Roman fashion. Monks added “tonsure” as symbol of piety.

• Latin (Language of Civilization, Roman Empire, Strength)

• Viewed Eastern clerics as sneaky, overly educated snobs

Constantinople - East

• All Bishops shared Peter’s responsibility • Sieges, but no invasion in East power

shared by bishops under auspices of Emperor

• NO additions to agreed-upon Nicene Creed – so Holy Spirit proceeds ONLY from the Father

• More educated populace• Rituals seen as remaining true, standard; ie:

Leavened bread

• Priests could be married (unless in monastery) and grew manly beards and had full heads of hair.

• Greek (much of Bible in Greek, language of Byzantine Emperors, Classical Greeks)

• Viewed Western clerics as uneducated, vulgar, barbarians

Missionaries to the Slavs

• Sts. Cyril & Methodius

• 9th c.

• Education tied to Religion–Cyrillic writing– Teaching aid for religion

– Organization & Administration

– Written Law, History

Byzantine Culture Espoused by Russia…

…through missionary work

– Byzantine & Greek literature, history, philosophy

– Byzantine culture: art, architecture, music, values

• Conversion of Prince Vladimir, 989 – Kiev – earliest

organized state

– Caesaropapism– Russian Orthodox

Church

St. Basil:

“Father of the

Monastic

Movement”

Softened

aesthetic

practices

Proper

balance:

manual

labor &

prayer

Care for

sick, poor

St. Basil’s CathedralRed SquareMoscow

Moscow as “Third Rome”

Inside St. Basil’s Cathedral

Next Stop…

The Rise of Islam