Questions to Consider as You work
through this Chapter
 How did the Byzantine Empire interact with western
Europe?
 How did the Byzantine Empire interact with the rising
Islamic World?
 How did Christianity come to be divided into eastern
and western traditions?
 How did the Byzantine Empire interact with eastern
Europe?
The Early Byzantine Empire
 Byzantine Empire – Sometimes called the Byzantine
Commonwealth, existed for nearly one thousand years as
the “economic and political powerhouse of the
postclassical era.”
 Dominated the wealthy and productive eastern
Mediterranean region
 Led to the formation of large, multicultural zones of trade
and communication, and sustained interactions with Slavic,
Arab, European, and Asian peoples and traditions.
 Had readily available overland and sea access to Asia, Europe,
and Africa.
 Capital was Constantinople, later name Istanbul by the
Ottoman Turks.
The Early Byzantine Empire
 The Later Roman Empire and Byzantium
 Early Byzantine Empire, more accurately called the
eastern Roman Empire, struggled against pressure from
the SASANID Dynasty of Persia and the migratory
peoples of the east and north.
 Survived the fall of western Rome in 476 CE and served
as the “powerhouse of the eastern Mediterranean basin”
into the 13th century.
The Byzantine empire and its
neighbors 527-554 C.E.
5
The Early Byzantine Empire
 The Later Roman Empire and Byzantium
 Two element of Byzantium more responsible for its
survival:


Caesaropapism – Gave the emperor absolute secular power
and religious power to appoint the patriarch of the Eastern
Christian Church (Pope).
Elaborate Government Bureaucracy – Large and intricate,
essential in enforcing Byzantine laws.
The Early Byzantine Empire
 Justinian and His Legacy
 Famous for his wife, his building projects, and his laws
 Theodora – Justinian’s wife and his closest advisor
 Rebuilt Constantinople and the Church of Hagia Sophia
 Justinian’s Code (Known as Corpus iuris civilis) – Served
as the source of legal inspiration in the Byzantine
empire for nearly one thousand years and influenced
law codes throughout western Europe as well.
Church of Hagia Sophia
The Church of Hagia Sophia was coverted into a
mosque in 1453. Can you find the Muslim influences?
The Church of Hagia Sophia was coverted into a
mosque in 1453. Can you find the Muslim influences?
Early Byzantine Empire
 Islamic Conquest and Byzantine Revival
 By early eighth century, the Byzantines had lost control
of Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa.
 Got it back through use of the theme system

Territories divided into themes ruled by a general who had
military and political power and used land to recruit peasants
into their armies.
Early Byzantine Empire
 Byzantium and Western Europe
 Relations were often strained between Byzantium and
Western Europe
 Differences in church language, ecclesiastical practices,
and secular ties provoked conflict between these two
branches of Christianity.
 Byzantines maintained their claim to the remains of the
Roman empire in the west despite the rising power of
Germanic groups, especially Charlemagne and the
Franks.
 Rise of the Holy Roman Empire after 962 severed and
antagonized both formerly connected empires.
Byzantine Economy and Society
 Location at a trade crossroads, abundant agricultural
surpluses, and the tradition of a strong craft and
artisan class formed the basis of a strong economic
class.
Byzantine Economy and Society
 Rural economy and society
 Free peasants who worked on and owned small plots of
land formed the basis of the rural economy in
Byzantium.
 Eventually driven off land by wealthier land owners.
Economy and Society
 Industry and Trade
 Produced glassware, textiles, gems, jewelry, fine gold,
and silver metalwork.
 Smuggled silkworms and silkworm technology from
China.
 Revived trade along the silk road and taxes on goods
produced and brought to Byzantine empire made them
very wealthy.
Economy and Society
 Urban Life
 Aristocrats had elaborate homes
 Artisans and merchants lived in shops
 Poor lived in tenements or apartment homes
 Entertainment included horse races, baths, taverns,
restaurants, theaters, circuses, and gaming houses.
Classical Heritage and Orthodox
Christianity
 Philosophy and literature of classical Greece had a
major influence on Christianity in Byzantium.
 By the mid-eleventh century, differences in doctrine,
ritual, and church authority had lead to a formal split
between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman
Catholic Christianity.
Classical Heritage and Orthodox
Christianity
 The Legacy of Classical Greece


Greek was the language of Byzantium
Most Byzantines had some form of education and the Greek
classics formed the basis of much of that education
The Byzantine Church
 Caesaropapism defined the relationship between the
church and state in Byzantium.
 Emperors treated the church as a part of their
government
 Appointed the patriarch of Constantinople and
instructed church officials to preach obedience to
imperial authority as obedience to God.
Monasticism and Popular Piety
 Orthodox Christianity has a strong tradition of
asceticism and monasticism.
 Monks sought mystical union with God through
meditation and prayer.
 Some orthodox monks and nuns served God by
providing social services such as providing food and
medical care in times of crisis.
Tensions between Eastern and
Western Christianity
 By seventh century only Constantinople and Rome
remained as the principal centers of Christian authority.
 Soon clashed over religious and theological issues
 Use of icons
 Type of bread used during communion
 Whether priests should marry or even shave
 Relationship between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit
 Language of mass
 Split between Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church is
know as the great schism of east and west and was finalized in
1054 CE.
The Byzantine empire and its neighbors
527-554 C.E.
22
Influence of Byzantium in Eastern
Europe
 By the eleventh century, Byzantium was in a period of
decline. Surrounded by Islamic and western European
societies, Byzantium turned its political, social, and
cultural attention to Russia and eastern Europe where
it had an enduring impact on the Slavic peoples of that
region.
The Byzantine empire and its
neighbors about 1100 C.E.
24
Byzantium Decline
 Domestic Problems and Foreign Pressures
 Reduction in land availability to the free peasants meant
fewer recruits available for military service and lower tax
revenues for the imperial government.
 Eventually lead to the end of the Byzantine empire.