Byzantium“The Brilliant Civilization”

330 AD to 1453 AD

Originally called the

Eastern Roman Empire

GeographyCentered among the three

continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa

Capital city of Constantinople was strategically located on the waterways of the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea.This location gave it both

protection and control of trade

The civilization was centered on former lands of Greece and therefore Greek became the language of choiceSeparate government and difficult communication from the west gave the Byzantine Empire its character

Byzantine Culture and Law

culturePreserved the cultures of both Greece and Rome

Maintained Roman because the early leaders were from Rome and Greek because it was on former Greek lands

lawEmperor Justinian reorganized

and categorized Roman Law.

This became known as the Justinian Code.Based on the laws of

precedence and the beginnings of innocent until proven guilty

Became the basis of later laws throughout Europe

Justinian’s Code contains four parts

Code: 5000 Roman laws still considered useful for the Roman Empire

Digest: summarized the opinions of Rome’s greatest legal thinkers

Institutes: instructed law students how to use the law

Novellae (new laws): laws passed in the empire after 534 AD

Justinian Code served the empire for 900 years in all areas of lifeEx. Marriage, slavery, property, inheritance, woman’s rights, etc…

Religion of the Byzantium Empire

The Christian church was introduce/made legal by Roman Emperor Constantine.

Lack of communication between the Eastern (Byzantium) and Western Roman Empire caused Christianity to develop in different ways.

Due to later influences of Greeks and Persians, the church in Byzantium became know as Eastern Orthodox Church

Byzantine emperors had tremendous influences within the Orthodox church because they were seen as God’s representatives on earth

Emperor was crowned by the Patriarch who was the head of the Orthodox Church. In return the emperor had the authority to appoint church officials.

Spread of the ChurchThrough trade and missionaries

the church began to spread to the Balkans and northward to Russia

The church influenced language and Cyril introduced the Cyrillic alphabetCyril and Methodius were the

apostles to the Slavs. They created an alphabet for the Slavic people and brought Christianity

Division of the Church: The Great Schism

As the Orthodox Church became more established in the East, their ideas on how to conduct church affairs became different from the West.

This uniqueness led to the Great Schism or split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church (Greek and Russian) in 1054 AD.

Reasons for the Great Schism

Use of iconsreligious images

used to aid in devotions.

Roman Catholics supported the use of icons in the church while many iconoclasts wanted them removed in the Orthodox Church.

Reasons for the Great Schism

Disagreement over authority.

The pope in Rome and the Patriarch in

Constantinople.

Reasons for the Great Schism

Who controlled the Churches in the Balkans?

Reasons for the Great Schism

When Constantinople refused to aid Rome while fighting the Lombards, the Franks under the leadership of Charlemagne did.

Later the Pope crowned Charlemagne Emperor.

RememberWest= Roman Catholic Church (Rome, W. Europe)

East= Eastern Orthodox Church (Greek, E. Europe)

End of the Byzantium Empire

After Justinian’s death in 565

AD the empire weakened

due to a number of reasons.

Plague- similar to

the plague in the 1300s

approximately 10,000 people died per day during outbreaks

Foreign InvasionsEast-

Sassanid Persians, Slejuk Turks, Ottoman Turks

West- Lombards

North- Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars

Poor leaders

Byzantines used bribes,

political marriages, and military power to keep empire

but lose to the Ottoman Turks

in 1453 AD.