Key Terms – The Byzantine Empire
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Constantinople
Justinian
Justinian’s Code
Heraclius
Greek fire
Seljuk Turks
Eastern Orthodox
Christianity
• Patriarch
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Primacy
Icons
Iconoclast
Hagia Sophia
Cyril and Methodius
Kiev
Constantinople
• Constantinople, in the year
330, became the center of a
new empire after the fall of
the Western Roman Empire.
• The Byzantine Empire was
built upon the wealth of
Constantinople and control
of neighboring territories.
• Constantinople provided a
good site for control of
eastern and western trade
Justinian (527-565)
• Justinian, upon becoming
emperor, had three major
goals he sought to
accomplish.
• These goals would make
him one of the best
emperors of the
Byzantine Empire.
• Goals were:
– Construct a comprehensive
legal code.
– Reconquer lost lands
– Beatify Constantinople
Justinian’s Code
• Justinian’s Code
comprehensive legal code
that incorporated the laws of
the roman Empire with those
of the Roman Empire.
• Was broken into four parts:
– The Institutes  instruction
manual used to read the code
– The Digest  collection of
ideas that could be used to
construct new laws.
– The Novellae  any laws
created after 530 A.D.
– The Codex Justinian  any
laws written during the period
of the Roman Empire
Reconquest of Outer Territories
• Justinian would send out one of his best
generals, Belisarius to recapture lost territory.
• The Byzantines would:
– Reacquire Italy, southern Spain
– Acquire the Balkans
– Acquire Western Asia
– Acquire Northern Africa
The Hagia Sophia
• As a part of Justinian’s
beatification project, he
asked for the largest
church in the world to be
built in Constantinople.
• The Hagia Sophia would
be built  also known as
the Church of Holy
Wisdom, used
magnificent structures
and a massive dome,
would later be converted
into a mosque.
Heraclius
• Heraclius  led the
Byzantines against
invading foreign forces.
• Broke the empire into
military districts 
generals were placed in
control of each district.
• Soldiers who fought to
defend the empire were
given a grant of land 
provided extra motivation
to defend their territory.
Greek Fire
• In the 8th century, the Arabs
began to use their navy and
land army in an attempt to
invade Constantinople from
two sides.
• The Byzantines made use of a
new weapon to prevent the
advance of the Arabs  this
invention was known as Greek
fire  mixture of sulfur, oil,
and resin which would be fired
from a tube and ignited or
placed in pouches and used as
molotovs
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
• Upon the establishment of the Byzantine
Empire and the Edict of Milan, a new sect of
Christianity was created in the East.
• This sect of Christianity was known as the
Eastern Orthodox Church.
Eastern Orthodox Beliefs
• The Eastern Orthodox faith differed from that of
Roman Catholicism (western).
• Some of these ideas include:
– The patriarch as the head of the Eastern Orthodox
Church
– The lack of icons  religious depictions
– Masses were said in Greek instead of Latin
– Patriarchs were dominated by emperors due to their
abolition of the idea of primacy  church leaders
being above kings.
The Great Schism (1054)
• A major division occurred within Christianity with the establishment of the
Orthodox Church.
• As Christians made pilgrimages to Constantinople, many western
Christians brought their icons.
• Citizens of Constantinople who were Orthodox Christians who did not
believe in icons and chose to destroy those icons brought into the city.
• These people who broke icons were known as iconoclasts  people who
break icons.
• The pope made decrees stating that icons were allowed anywhere
Christians could travel  the patriarch would refuse the papal orders and
state that the pope held no power in Constantinople
– The pope would excommunicate (complete refusal of rites and removal from
the church) the patriarch and the patriarch would do the same
– This event would set off a major split known as the Great Schism.
Cyril and Methodius
• The Byzantines sent missionaries
to many different areas in an
attempt to spread Eastern
Orthodox Christianity.
• Two monks, Cyril and Methodius
would be sent to Kiev  the
classical capital of Russia.
• Considering the people of Russia
had no written language, Cyril
and Methodius would create one
based on the Slavic languages.
– The written language would be
known as Cyrillic and would
become the written language of
Russia
The Fall of Constantinople
• After numerous attempts to
enter Constantinople by
foreign tribes, the Seljuk Turks
would be successful in
breaking through.
• Seljuk Turks  eastern
oriented Turks who would take
up the mantle left by the
Abbassids.
• The Seljuk Turks would invade
and capture Constantinople in
1453.
• Constantinople would become
Istanbul and also would
become the Turkish capital.
So What’s the Big Deal?
• The fall of Constantinople had incredible effects on
World History.
• It led to:
– A complete change of perspective in terms of trade with
Asia  countries in Europe now had to find new ways to
arrive in Asia which would lead to the Age of Exploration.
– A reliance on a new trading system known as the Hanseatic
League which involved north European city-states.
– The rise of new empires in Europe as a result of the new
strength of the Hanseatic city-states and the Spanish and
Portuguese colonial landholdings.