Civilizations in Eastern
Europe: Byzantium
and Orthodox Europe
Chapter 9 | APCIV
The Byzantine Empire
 Technically began when Rome moved its capital to Constantinople in the
4th century CE
 Gave rise to a thriving metropolis with stunning architecture
 Home to a centralized bureaucracy and Greek civilization
 The Eastern Roman empire would be more cultured and wealthy than the West
 Hellenized Egyptians and Syrians would work for the government in Constantinople
 After W Rome fell, Latin would be viewed as barbaric by the Greek-speaking Byzantines
 They would continue the Hellenistic trends, infused with Eastern Christianity
 Emperor Justinian 6th century CE
 Would stabilize external threats by relying on local efficiency and upper-class
Greek generals (Belisarius)
 Would set about reconquering the Roman Empire in the west
 Set about rebuilding Constantinople and the East after plagues and wars
 The Hagia Sophia’s suspended dome
 The revised Roman law code (Justinian code) to reorganize taxes and rights
 Religious revivalism (Byzantine mosaics) the conversion of the Slavs
Pressures on the Empire
 The wars of reconquest put a financial strain on the empire amid plagues
and economic decline (Western Dark Ages)
 War with the Sassanid Persian Empire further drained the empire’s resources
 The Arab invasion (Islam) would capitalize on Byzantium’s weakness
 Loss of Egypt, Palestine, North Africa, and Spain (but not Hellenized Anatolia)
 The Siege of Constantinople 717-718 CE, the walls of Constantinople and Greek Fire
 Byzantium’s centralized power (and economy) would recover by 10th century
 Subjugation of Bulgaria (the blinding of 15,000 soldiers and moving of nobles to court)
 The Empire greatly resembled China (a powerful emperor appointed by God)
 Females could become empresses (Theodora’s influence; Empress Zoe 10th century)
 Effectiveness of the Greek-scholarly bureaucracy and an organized provincial system
 Constantinople was critical to the control of the empire (centralization)
 Became a regional trade hub from Asia to Europe (goods on par with China)
 Central authority regulated trade networks (limiting power of merchant class)
 Continuation of Greek and Roman traditions (art as an exception, which was new)
Muslim rule is preferable to that of
the pope: “For if I am subject to
he Muslim, at least he will not
force me to share his faith. But if I
have to be under the Frankish rule
and united with the Roman
Church, I may have to separate
myself from God.”
Confrontation with the Church
 Conflict with Roman Catholic Church over spiritual authority on Earth
 After Rome translated the Greek Bible into Latin, Western Europeans sought the Pope
as their spiritual “father”
 Rome claimed to be “first among equals”
 Constantinople promoted state over religious affairs (like Rome)
 1054: a meeting called to settle differences
 Priest marriage, celibacy, yeast in bread, et cetera
 The Pope excommunicated all the other patriarchs: this gesture was returned (the Great Schism)
 Europe would be divided between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox
 A late 12th century patriarch would comment that
 The recently-converted Turks (Islam) would migrate into Anatolia c.1070
 Byzantium would suffer defeat at Manzikert 1071 and overrun by Turkish Muslims
 Emperor Alexius would call for “armed aid” c.1094
 The Crusades resulted: the Byzantines assisted in exchange for returned land
 The Crusaders would refuse citing heathens
 By 1204, the crusading movement resulted in a crusade to take Constantinople (4th Crusade)
 This went against the very idea, and the movement died over time
 Byzantium would never recover: Constantinople would fall to the Ottoman Turks 1453
Day 2
Chapter 9
The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe
 Constantinople sent missionaries to the Slavic regions of Eastern Europe c.864
 Cyril and Methodius: converted Eastern Slavs (Western Slavs converted to
Catholicism)
 These two learned the Slavic language and developed a written language for it
 Derived from Greek, this became the Cyrillic alphabet (foundation of E Slavic alphabet)
 From this, E Slavs could develop forms of written literature
 This contrasts with W Slavs, where Catholicism insisted only Latin could be used
 The East Central borderlands
 The lands between Eastern Slavs (and Eastern Orthodox faith) and Western
(Germanic) civilization
 The Poles and Czechs were Western Slavs that adopted Catholicism
 Hungary was conquered by Turkic migrants (the Magyars)
 This region would organize into various kingdoms like Western Europe
 It would not be as economically advanced
 There would be an influx of Jews to this region from the Middle East (Poland)
 A strong emphasis on education (for males) would distinguish this group from Europeans
The Kievan Rus’
 Byzantine influence would be crucial in Eastern Europe’s formative
period
 The Slavs had moved into the plains of Russia/E Europe during the Roman
Empire from Asia, bringing their Indo-European gods
 They would mix with the earlier inhabitants and newcomers (Bulgarians adopted
Slavic customs)
 The rivers of Western Russia (like the Dnieper) allowed Scandinavian traders
to reach Constantinople: regular, flourishing trade
 Constantinople would hire the famous Varangian Guard (Russia Greek for “red”)
 Scandinavian traders were militarily superior to the Slavs, setting up trading cities
 Kiev along the Dnieper as headquarters for trade to Constantinople
 Kievan Prince Vladimir I would convert to Eastern Orthodox c. 1000 CE
 He would bring in Byzantines to help develop a growing Russian culture
 Architecture, political systems, and writing would be emulated
 They would join Orthodox Christianity after the Great Schism of 1054 CE
Whereas heresy had destroyed the
first Roman Empire and the Turks
had cut down the second, a “third,
new Rome” under Russia’s “mighty
rule – sends out the Orthodox
Christian faith to the ends of the
earth and shines more brightly than
the sun… two Rome's have fallen,
but the third stands, and there will
be no fourth.”
Institutions and Culture in Kievan Rus’
 The Rus’ were intrigued by Byzantium’s elaborate culture, but could not
properly emulate it
 However, these institutions would form in the image of Byzantium
 Ornate churches and incense; prayer and charity; monogamy
 Domed churches mimicked Byzantine design
 Russian culture would develop separately and uniquely from W Europe
 Russian peasants were fairly free farmers, and there emerged an aristocratic class
 The boyars were less powerful than their Western counterparts
 Russian leaders attempted to marry into German courts, but focused on Byzantium
 As Byzantium declined, their protégé, Russia, would as well
 The Mongolian invasions during the 13th century overran Russia
 Russia would resent their 2-century overlords, the “Tatars” as they called them
 These period stagnated Russian growth (north-south and east-west trade greatly slowed)
 As Byzantium fell, Russia would begin to rise, and a Byzantine monk would write