Byzantium, Russia, & Eastern Europe

AD 330s - 1480

Roman Transition from West to East

• AD 285: Emperor Diocletian divides administration of Rome into two halves

• AD 330: Emperor Constantine I moves the Eastern Roman capitol from Nicodemia to Byzantium (later called Constantinople)

• AD 610: official language of Eastern Rome changed from Latin to Greek

• AD 476: traditional date for the fall of Western Rome

Rome at its peak: 117 AD

Rome before the fall: 460 AD

Justinian

• Ascended to throne in 533, began rebuilding Constantinople

• Greatest architectural contribution was Hagia Sophia church, long considered a wonder of the world

• Codified Roman law, ultimately spreading to many parts of Europe

Military Conquests

• Justinian had dreams of re-uniting all of old Rome, and did so briefly

• With the help of his general Belisarius, Justinian re-conquered Italy & North Africa by 555 AD

• Unable to resist pressure from Germanic tribes, or Persia and Arab pressure in the east

• Justinian dies in 565 AD

Justinian’s Conquests: 555 AD

Shrinking Empire: 867 AD

650 AD

Arab threats in the 7th Century

• Byzantium strong enough to withstand the Muslim expansion in the 600s and 700s, but took heavy toll

• Arab Muslims built powerful navy to challenge Byzantine dominance of eastern Mediterranean

• Major siege of Constantinople in 717-718 AD• Greek fire: mixture of petroleum, quicklime, &

sulfur; Byzantines used it to destroy Arab ships

Greek Fire: Napalm before there was Napalm

Constant Pressures: 700-1100

• Arab Muslim surge after 700• Muslim wars added economic strain; the

invasions and higher taxes weakened small farmers and created greater aristocratic estates

• Kingdom of Bulgaria pressured the Balkans in the 10th & 11th centuries; Byzantines able to combat threat through war and diplomacy

• Despite threats, BE strong imperial core

Religion, Society & Politics

• Emperor: ordained by God, head of church & state

• Women sometimes held the throne: Empress Theodora (981-1056)

• One of history’s most elaborate bureaucracies• Military: run hereditary leaders, recruited

local troops and “outsiders” (Slavs & Armenians)

• Economy: large peasant class supplied cities with food and paid most of the taxes

• Trade: produced silk & luxury items, trade network established with Asia, Russia, & Scandinavia

• Government controlled trade, merchant class never developed

Social

• Icon: paintings of saints & other religious figures, often richly ornamented; caused iconoclasm controversy in 8th century

• Wide social class gaps (pg 201)

Women

• Theodora: wife of Justinian, ambitious courtesan, eager for power; helped convince her husband to re-conquer Rome

• Empress Theodora: Byzantine princess, strong and austere; refused to marry her heir, so he married her sister Zoe; Zoe sends Theo to a monastery

• Popular rebellion makes Theo & Zoe co-empresses• Zoe dies, Theo (aged 70), reasserts her royal rights

East/West Split in 1054• Rome vs. Constantinople; Roman Catholicism vs. Eastern

Orthodoxy• Both religions had been developing independently since the

fall of Rome in 476• In Byzantium, the Emperor controlled church & state; in

Rome, the pope controlled church while various kings controlled the state

• Byzantines viewed themselves as true heirs of Rome, resented Charlemagne labeling himself a “Roman Emperor”

• BE recognized the pope as first among equals, but not above any church or state official in the east

• 1054: Ambitious patriarch raises old issues, like what bread to use during eucharist and celibacy for priests (Orthodox priests could marry, R. Catholic priests could not)

• Delegations from both sides meet, only causes more hostility

• Both sides excommunicate each other

Decline

• Turkish Muslim invaders in central Asia pressed on BE’s eastern borders

• The Seljuk Turks seized almost all Asiatic provinces in 11th century

• Lost Battle of Manzikert in 1071; empire staggered along for 4 more centuries, but never recovered

• Appeal to the West for help; West is lukewarm at best, actually sack Constantinople in 1204

• 1453: Constantinople conquered by Ottoman Turks; traditional dating of the official end of Byzantium

The Ottoman Empire…

Eastern Europe & Russia

• Orthodox missionaries based in Constantinople spread Christianity in the Balkans and southern Russia

• Cyril and Methodius: Orthodox missionaries who attempted to spread OC into Czechoslovakia; more successful with the Slavs and southern Russians

• Orthodoxy allowed church services in the vernacular language, Roman Catholicism did not

Kievan Rus’

• Slavs had moved from central Asia into western Russia during the days of old Rome; Slavs mixed with other peoples and tribes

• Slavs used iron, farmed, believed in animism• Norse traders from Scandinavia set up trade

routes with BE in the 6th & 7th centuries that ran through Slavic lands

• Militarily superior to the Slaves, the Norsemen started to govern Slavic lands from the city of Kiev

• Rurik: native of Denmark; legend says he was the first Kievan Rus’ prince in 855

• Contact between BE & KR increased steadily after the Norsemen moved into Russia

• Vladimir I (980-1015): descendant of Rurik, converted to Orthodoxy personally and on behalf of his subjects; why didn’t he choose Roman Catholicism or Islam????

• Vlad organized mass baptisms and used military pressure on his people to convert

• An independent Russian Orthodox Church developed; who do you think was in charge of it?

Rus’ Society

• Influenced heavily by BE: issued formal law code, used vernacular language for religious literature (Slavic)

• Russian kings liked the ceremony & pomp of the Byzantine Emperors

• Churches: ornate mosaics of saints, _______?• Architecture: domed churches and cathedrals,

like what famous church in Constantinople?

• Peasants were free farmers in Russia. How was this different?

• Boyars: Russian aristocrats; had less power than those in western Europe

Decline• Other Russian principalities started to compete with Kiev

after the 12th century• Byzantine decline cut off trade to Russia• Mongol invasions of 1237-1241: easily defeated Russia;

isolated Russia from western Europe and further cut into trade with BE

• Tatars: Russian term for the Mongols• Mongols only demanded tribute from Russia, allowed

religion and local government to exist• When Mongols left in 15th c., Russian culture was able to

reemerge

“A 3rd, new Rome, under the king’s mighty rule, sends out the Orthodox Christian faith to the ends of the earth and shines more brightly than the sun.”

-Russian monk in 1511-