A History of World Societies Ninth Edition

CHAPTER 8Continuity and Change in

Europe and Western Asia, 200–850Modified by J. Usher

Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

John P. McKay ● Bennett D. Hill ● John BucklerPatricia Buckley Ebrey ● Roger B. Beck

Clare Haru Crowston ● Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks

I. The Byzantine Empire

A. Sources of Byzantine Strength• 1. Legal, administrative, and military systems were

maintained from the Roman Empire, which helped establish a strong and secure state.

• 2. The Byzantine Empire had to confront numerous adversaries, one of which was the Xiongnu, the same barbaric group that threatened the Chinese Empire. The Greeks and Romans called them Huns.

• 3. Constantinople enjoyed a prime location for defensive fortifications. Strong walls were constructed around the city that made attacks by land or sea difficult. Cisterns of water and vegetable gardens within Constantinople’s walls could sustain a besieged population.

Notes on “Sassanid Cameo” This may help you with evaluating non-document primary sources.

• Sassanid Cameo (p. 207)

• 1. This cameo is a Sassanid commemoration of victories over the Roman Empire in the 250s C.E. Which of the two figures is the Sassanid Emperor Shapur and which the Roman Emperor Valerian? How do you know?

• (Answer: The figure on the right is Shapur. He and his horse are portrayed as larger than Valerian. The figure of Shapur is muscular and grasps Valerian’s hand in a gesture of control and victory. The cameo can be viewed as a kind of Sassanid propaganda. )

• 2. How might historians use this cameo?• (Answer: Sources on the wars between Shapur and the Roman Emperors in the mid-200s CE are scarce,

particularly on the Sassanid side. Historians might use the cameo as evidence about how Shapur or Sassanid elites in general remembered the capture of Valerian. Roman sources, for example, claim that Valerian came to negotiate with Shapur and the latter tricked the Roman Emperor, capturing him. The Sassanid presentation, obviously, is that Shapur defeated Valerian in hand to hand combat. )

• 3. Shapur was only the second emperor of the Sassanid dynasty, which was founded by his father

Ardashir in 224 CE. How might the defeat and capture of a Roman Emperor have affected the standing of a new and relatively fragile Persian dynasty? How does the cameo reflect this?

• (Answer: Rome was the greatest center of power in the Mediterranean world at this time. The defeat of a Roman Army and capture of Valerian must have been a source of great prestige to the Sassanids. The cameo reflects the pride of the dynasty in that victory. )

I. The Byzantine Empire

B. The Sassanid Empire and Conflicts with Byzantium• 1. The Sassanid empire was centered in the Tigris-Euphrates

Valley and had access to the Persian Gulf. Sassanid wealth depended on agricultural production and the caravan trade routes that crossed through the region.

• 2. Zoroastrianism was the official religion of the Sassanid Persians. Other religions throughout the empire were persecuted.

• 3. Sassanid foreign policies focused on expansion of the empire. This brought the Sassanid empire into conflict with the Byzantine Empire.

I. The Byzantine EmpireC. The Law Code of Justinian• 1. Roman law had become extremely complicated and impracticable. Jurists were appointed to a

committee by Emperor Justinian to organize and clarify the laws, resulting in the Code. • 2. Justinian’s lawyers also produced the Digest and the Institutes, which, along with the Code, are the

backbone of the corpus juris civilis (the “body of civil law”), which is the foundation for almost all modern European law.

D. Byzantine Intellectual Life• 1. A strong sense of Greek influences flavored Byzantine literature. Historical events such as Justinian’s

reconquest of North Africa and Italy were favorite Byzantine subjects.• 2. Greco-Roman learning in math and science traveled through the Byzantine Empire to the Arabs.

Byzantine science is best known for the discovery of “Greek fire,” a flammable liquid pumped through a tube, then ignited and used as a flamethrower. “Greek fire” became a military weapon that saved Constantinople from Arab conquest in 678.

• 3. Byzantine medicine was much more advanced compared to other populations. However, like all other empires, the Byzantines could not handle the “Justinian plague.” The epidemic weakened the Byzantine military and left it vulnerable to enemy forces.

I. The Byzantine Empire

E. Life in Constantinople• 1. The city was a major crossroads for overland trade routes because it

connected the Eastern and Western empires. The markets of Constantinople offered merchandise from distant lands. Many products were produced in and shipped from Constantinople, making the city a center of production and trade.

• 2. Merchants and craftsmen could achieve wealth in Constantinople’s vibrant economy, but they could not achieve first-class status. Only landed aristocracy could hold that position in Byzantine society.

• 3. The Byzantine government constantly confronted political rivalries within the empire, assassination plots, and military revolts.

• 4. Constantinople was home to numerous apartment complexes. The typical Byzantine household included family members and servants, some of them slaves. Upper-class women were segregated from the outside world in an effort to maintain chastity and family honor. Marriage was intended for social advancement.

II. The Growth of the Christian Church

A. The Evolution of Church Leadership and Orthodoxy• 1. The Roman Empire had been divided into units called dioceses for

administrative purposes. The early Christian community based the church’s organization on that pattern. Each of the church’s dioceses, or geographical districts, was placed under the authority of a bishop. The cathedral was the bishop’s center of authority.

• 2. Disputes within the Christian community created concerns for Constantine. Arianism questioned the exact nature of Jesus. At the Council of Nicaea, Constantine and church leaders developed the Nicene Creed, which defined the church’s official position that Christ is of the same substance as God the Father.

• 3. Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of Rome and banned the practice of the old Roman state religion. The church was then allowed to construct its own canon law to settle ecclesiastical disputes.

II. The Growth of the Christian Church

B. The Western Church and the Eastern Church• 1. The hierarchy of the Western Church was based on Jesus’s

statements that Peter was the rock on which the church would be built, creating the concept of the Petrine Doctrine.

• 2. Tradition has it that Peter lived in Rome and was the church’s first bishop. As successors of Peter, the bishops of Rome, or popes, claimed to be supreme over Christian society.

• 3. In the East the emperor continued to have a level of control over the Orthodox Church, which was led by the patriarch. Eastern emperors saw religion as a branch of the state.

• 4. Eastern bishops did not accept Rome’s claim to primacy, and so the Eastern Christian Church, called the Orthodox Church, and the Roman Church grew further and further apart.

II. The Growth of the Christian ChurchC. The Iconoclastic Controversy• 1. Images of God, Jesus Christ, and the saints were presented in sculptures, mosaics, or

paintings. The church allowed people to venerate these icons in the belief that they fostered reverence.

• 2. Iconoclasts felt the faithful were worshiping the icons themselves rather than what they represented, which was a violation of church law and the Ten Commandments. Emperor Leo III ordered that the icons be destroyed. His son Constantine attacked the monasteries, seizing property and executing some monks while forcing others into the military.

• 3. Leo’s and Constantine’s actions raised the issue of how involved the emperor should be in church affairs. The controversy influenced the pope to seek an alliance with the Frankish monarchy. The pope of Rome and the patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other, creating the schism between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches.

D. Christian Monasticism• 1. Individuals removed themselves from society and went into deserts or mountains to seek

God through devotional prayer. The church encouraged those who chose this path to live in communities, creating a life known as monasticism.

• 2. The Rule of Saint Benedict, a guide for monastic life written by Benedict of Nursia, influenced religious life within the Roman Church. The monastic life outlined by the guide struck a balance between asceticism and activity, thus providing opportunities for men of widely different abilities. The Benedictine form of monasticism became the basis of all western monasteries.

III. Christian Ideas and Practices

A. Christian Beliefs and the Greco-Roman Tradition• 1. Saint Jerome translated the Old and New Testaments from

Hebrew and Greek into vernacular Latin. He believed that the study of classical writings was important in directing one’s mind to God.

• 2. Jesus held women to be the equal of men. Women were some of the first and most faithful Christian converts. Later church leaders assigned women a lesser status and portrayed them as a temptation and sometimes as evil. This attitude eventually eroded women’s active role within the church.

Notes on “Procession to A New Church”• 1. Can you find any evidence in the carving of the fusion of Christian and Greco-

Roman culture that took place in the centuries after Jesus’ time?• (Answer: The church under construction includes Greco-Roman columns (apparently

Corinthian) and an arch – both elements of Classical architecture. Several crosses – the central symbol of Christianity – are visible. )

• 2. What does the carving suggest about the power of the Church in Europe in the sixth century CE?

• (Answer: The church is quite large and three stories high. The procession is also large, and seems to include dignitaries. The overall impression is of a large and elaborate ritual. This suggests that the Church as a whole was a wealthy and powerful institution by the 500s.

• 3. Does this carving suggest that the Church in the 500s was relatively egalitarian, or

more hierarchical?• (Answer: The men riding the cart as well as the figure to the right who is apparently

welcoming them seem to be of higher rank than the other figures in the procession. The figure of Jesus looks down on the whole scene from an arch on the top left. )

III. Christian Ideas and Practices

B. Saint Augustine• 1. An influential figure in the Western Church, Saint

Augustine produced an autobiography, The Confessions, that documents his moral struggle between spirituality and self-indulgence.

• 2. According to Augustine, the basic force in any man or woman is the will. Adam’s “original sin” corrupted and weakened the will in all human beings. But Augustine believed that the strength of the will could be restored through God’s grace, as transmitted in the sacraments maintained by the church.

III. Christian Ideas and Practices

C. Missionary Activity• 1. Since leaders often determined the religion of their

people, missionaries concentrated on converting the leaders and their family members. Barbarian kings accepted Christianity because they believed the Christian God was powerful and would deliver victory on the battlefield, or because Christianity taught obedience to (royal) authority, or because the priests’ charisma and knowledge could be associated with kingly power.

• 2. Saint Patrick, who had studied in Gaul and became a bishop, converted the Irish tribes by baptizing the king.

• 3. Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius traveled to eastern Europe and converted the Russians and other east European peoples to the Orthodox Church.

III. Christian Ideas and Practices

D. Conversion and Assimilation• 1. Missionaries eased acceptance of Christianity by

assimilating pagan traditions and practices. Aspects of midwinter celebrations were incorporated into Christmas celebrations, and pagan spring rituals were added to the observance of Easter.

• 2. Confessing one’s sins was the only way to reconcile with God. Sins were confessed to a priest, who then set a penance through which the confessant could atone for those sins.

• 3. Saints were spiritually heroic individuals who were able to provide protection and help the faithful. Relics of the saints served as links between the material and spiritual worlds.

IV. Migrating Peoples

A. Social and Economic Structures• 1. The tribe was the basic social unit of barbarian peoples.

Tribe members believed they were descended from a common ancestor. Barbarian groups often lived in small villages with agricultural fields producing grain.

• 2. Within the barbarian household, the father maintained authority over his wife, children, and slaves. Women had few rights, but widows could sometimes gain the rights of their late husbands.

IV. Migrating Peoples

B. Chiefs, Warriors, and Laws• 1. Each tribe was led by a chieftain, who was elected from

among the male members of the strongest family. In some tribes the chief was tied closely to the tribe’s warriors.

• 2. Law codes were compiled to reduce interpersonal violence. Any crime that involved a personal injury was assigned a certain amount of financial value, identified as the wergeld. The wergeld varied according to the severity of the crime.

IV. Migrating PeoplesC. Migrations and Political Change• 1. Originally located in central Europe, the Celts spread out across the continent. Many

Celtic tribes assimilated to Roman ways after being defeated by Julius Caesar. Celtic-speaking peoples in Britain clashed with Germanic-speaking invaders following the withdrawal of Roman troops.

• 2. The Huns, moving west from the central Asian steppes, threatened eastern Roman settlements along the Danube and Rhine Rivers. A plague and a lack of supplies forced the Huns to retreat from eastern Europe.

• 3. Roman emperors depended on barbarian kings for military assistance. Odoacer, a barbarian chieftain, deposed the last Roman emperor.

D. The Frankish Kingdom• 1. The Franks were a Germanic group located in the region of Gaul. The Merovingian

Dynasty was founded by Clovis, who was converted to Christianity by his wife, Clotild. Clovis’s kingdom was divided among his sons following his death.

• 2. During the Dark Ages that followed Clovis’s death, a new dynasty arose from a powerful family identified as the Carolingians.

• 3. Charles Martel established the Carolingian Dynasty following his victory over Muslim forces at the Battle of Poitiers. The defeat of the Muslims strengthened the relationship of the Carolingians with the Roman Church.

IV. Migrating Peoples

E. Charlemagne• 1. Charles the Great was the most powerful Carolingian leader. Known as

Charlemagne, he was crowned emperor by the pope. This crowning sealed the schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

• 2. Charlemagne’s greatest endeavor was to create a unified kingdom consisting of the majority of continental Europe. Charlemagne divided his kingdom into counties for administrative purposes.

• 3. Though barely literate himself, Charlemagne instigated the Carolingian Renaissance, a renewal of interest in the study and preservation of classical Greek and Roman ideas and achievements.

• 4. Charlemagne left his empire to his only surviving son, Louis the Pious. After Louis’s death, the kingdom was divided into thirds, one section for each of Louis’s three sons. This agreement, identified as the Treaty of Verdun, laid the foundation for the development of modern Europe.

Notes on “Charlemagne and His Wife”• 1. Based on this image, what seems to have been the accepted “correct” roles for husband and wife to play

at this time in western Europe?• (Answer: Charlemagne appears to be admonishing his wife, who seems to show both some fear and close

attention to him. Here the husband acts as a teacher and disciplinarian, the wife as a humble student. The husband acts as an adult who must care for and instruct the woman, who is analogous to a child. )

• 2. Compare the mosaic of Byzantine Empress Theodora (p. 210) with this image (drawn in a manuscript from the 800s CE). How are the women portrayed differently? What about the artistry and sophistication of the two images?

• (Answer: Theodora is presented as a ruler, and in combination with her husband Justinian, she was. Charlemagne’s wife is shown as a powerless and subordinate creature. Whether this is due simply to the different personalities and political roles of the two women, or to general differences in the standing of women among Carolingian and Byzantine elites, is hard to tell. It is also worth noting that the images and artistry of the Carolingian manuscript illustration appear more “primitive” than those of the Theodora mosaic. One might connect this to the fact that Byzantium and its capital of Constantinople were far wealthier at this time than western Europe and its towns. )

• 3. Do you think that the manuscript in which these illuminations were drawn was primarily an item for

elite or common use?• (Answer: The pages of the manuscript in which these illuminations were drawn was almost certainly made

of vellum or parchment – i.e. specially treated animal skins. Europe did not have paper-making technology at this time. Monks would have written/drawn the whole manuscript by hand – there were no printing presses. Most of the population of Europe at this time was illiterate. Given the expense of making such manuscripts, it can be concluded that they were for elite use. )