THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Look at the images of the Byzantine art

• According to all those images…

– Where does the Byzantine legacy come from?

– Can you enumerate POLITICAL-ECONOMICAL-SOCIAL-CULTURAL characteristics about the Byzantine Empire?

– Do you observe any difference between the Roman art and the Byzantine art?

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

• It kept the government, laws and tradition of the Roman Empire.

• It was a powerful state.

• Constantinople was its capital.

• The empire was influenced by Greek culture:

– The official language changed from Latin to Greek.

– The emperor received the title of Basileus.

JUSTINIAN (527-565)

• In the 6th century, the Emperor Justinian conquered many places of the old Roman Empire.

• He took North Africa, Italy and the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula.

• Justinian is famous for:

– Expanding the Byzantine Empire.

– Building the Hagia Sophia Church.

– Writing the Justinian Code (Corpus Iuris Civilis).

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

BYZANTINE SOCIETY

• The organization of the empire was very efficient:

– The head of the state was the basileus (=emperor).

– Civil servants worked for the government to collect taxes and make sure that people obeyed the laws.

– The empire was divided into provinces called themes. Each theme was governed by a strategos. The strategoi were members of the aristocracy (=nobility).

– A strong army defended the empire against the barbarians, Persians and Muslims.

– Most of the population were peasants. There were slaves, too.

BYZANTINE ECONOMY • Constantinople was the gateway between

Europe and Asia.

• Luxury items like spices, perfumes and silk came from India and China.

• Trade and craftwork was very important.

• The Byzantine coin was the solidus.

• Constantinople was the richest and biggest city in the world.

CONSTANTINOPLE TODAY

RELIGION

• The Byzantine Empire was Christian.

• At first, they continued to respect the pope in Rome.

• However, churches in the Byzantine Empire gradually developed their own rites.

• This caused problems between Western churches and Byzantine churches.

• In 1054, the Great Schism split the Christian Church into two: – The Roman Catholic Church.

– The Eastern Orthodox Church.

TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT • After Justinian died, the Byzantine Empire

soon lost many territories.

• The Visigoths took the south of the Iberian Peninsula.

• The Lombards took Italy.

• In the 7th century, the Islamic Empire took North Africa, Palestine and Syria.

• From then on, the Byzantine Empire was centred around Greece and the Anatolian Peninsula.

Byzantine_Empire.GIF

Bizancio hacia 1400

The fall of Constantinople

• In 1453, the Ottoman Empire attacked Constantinople for the last time.

• After a long siege, the Ottomans took the Byzantine capital.

• This was the end of the Byzantine Empire.

• That point is considered to be the start of the Modern Age.

THE END

By Daniel Quijano Ramos

Geography & History teacher

IES Puerta de la Axarquía