AP World History: The Byzantine Empire
Period Three
NY State Standards 2, 3
Common Core RS 6, 9, WS 1
I Rome Wasn’t Dead Yet!
A) Recall that Diocletian divided the Roman Empire in half.
Under Constantine, Constantinople became the capital of
the Eastern Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire fell
in the West in 476 CE, the Empire continued in the East for
almost 1000 more years! Historians remember it as the
Byzantine Empire.
Constantinople’s former name was
Byzantium. Today, it is the city of
Istanbul in modern day Turkey.
Reconstruction of the Forum of Constantine,
Constantinople
Rome Wasn’t Dead Yet! Continued…
B) Constantinople was located on the Bosphorus, a strait that
links the Black and Mediterranean Seas. *It also links
Europe and Asia!
Walls of Theodosius
E) Hippodrome
A sports arena for chariot racing.
II Age of Justinian (Ruled 527 – 565 CE)
A) His goal was to revive the glory of Rome.
Age of Justinian Continued…
B) He built the Hagia Sophia Church“Holy Wisdom” in 537 CE. The
interior dome is covered in gold. “O Solomon I have surpassed you!”
When Constantinople was captured by the
Ottoman Turks, the Hagia Sophia was
converted to a mosque. Today it is a
museum.
Age of Justinian Continued…
C) Justinian organized Roman laws into the “Body of Civil
Law”. Today it is known as the Justinian Code. It protected
Roman laws from disappearing.
Justinian Code Excerpts
Book One, Of Persons
3. The maxims of laws are these: to live honestly, to hurt no one, to give
everyone his due.
Book Two, Of Things
5. The public use of the seashore is part of the law of nations, as is that
of the sea itself; and, therefore, any person is at liberty to place on it a
cottage, to which he may retreat, or to dry his nets there, and haul
them from the sea; for the shores may be said to be the property of no
man.
Book XVII Buying & Selling
1. It is necessary that a price should be agreed upon, for there can be no
sale without a price… a sale is not considered to be completed unless
an instrument of sale has been drawn up…
III Theodora (500 – 548 CE)
A) Born into the lowest class of Byzantine society, but
married Justinian 523 CE (before he became Emperor)
B) She acted as a joint ruler with her husband
Theodora's father was the bear keeper at
the Hippodrome. Theodora began her
career first as an actress, which was
considered to be a disgraceful profession.
Theodora Continued…
C) In 532 CE, a rebellion broke out at the Hippodrome (the Nika
Revolt). The protesters set many buildings on fire, and declared a
new emperor. Justinian wanted to flee the city, but Theodora
convinced him to take strong action. Justinian sent in his army,
causing the death of 30,000 protesters.
Theodora Continued…
D) She helped create reforms to help women.
- Banned killing of unwanted babies
-Gave women property rights in divorce
-Banned the murder of a wife who committed adultery
- Closed brothels
The Byzantines vs. the Muslim Arabs
A) In 674 a Muslim fleet entered the Bosphorus to attack
Constantinople. It was greeted, and greatly deterred, by a new weapon
which can be seen as the precursor of the modern flamethrower. It has
never been discovered precisely how the Byzantine chemists achieve
the jet of flame for their 'Greek fire.
B) Contemporary accounts imply that the inflammable substance is
petroleum-based, floats on water, and is almost impossible to
extinguish. It can be lobbed in a canister. But in its most devastating
form it is projected, as a stream of liquid fire, from a tube mounted in
the prow of a ship. Sprayed among a wooden fleet, its destructive
potential is obvious.
“Greek Fire”
IV The East – West Schism
A) The Great Schism is the split between the Eastern (Byzantine) church
and the Western (Orthodox) church. The bad relations between the two
sides were mainly caused by political and theological disputes.
B) One of the big issues was whether or not the church should use
unleavened or leavened bread for the Eucharist. This leads to
Constantinople ordering the closing of all the Latin churches in the city
the stomping of all unleavened bread. The church would split on pother
issues to: political, geographical, theological, and doctrinal. Each side
would accuse the other to heresy, in each of their respective divisions.
C) Another factor leading to the east-west split is language and culture.
During the time of the split the dominant language in the west was Latin
and the dominant language in the east was Greek. After the Western
Empire began to fall there began be less and less of those who spoke
both. With the unity of language gone, cultural unity began to disappear
as well.
The East – West Schism Continued…
D) In 726 the Byzantine emperor Leo III issued a dramatic order. Above
the bronze gates leading into his imperial palace there has been, since
the time of Justinian, a vast golden image of Jesus Christ. Leo sent a
body of troops to destroy this great icon (image). Local outrage is so
great that the crowd killed the officer in charge! The event began
century+ of the so-called Iconoclastic Controversy, contributed
considerably to the developing split between Rome and Constantinople.
Icons were greatly venerated within the Byzantine and Catholic
churches. However, Leo had been influenced by the neighboring
Muslims, who saw religious icons as sinful. In 730 Leo declared the
possession of icons to be illegal, and ordered their destruction. Pope
Gregory III in Rome will have none of it, and Roman Catholics have
always remained passionate about their icons. The controversy lasts
until 843. In that year Theodora, the widow of the emperor Theophilus,
lifted the ban, making it legal to venerate icons in the Orthodox Church
once again. Ironically, as Orthodox Cristianity spread to Russia, Russian
icons, still being painted today, preserve much of the ancient Byzantine
style.
The East – West Schism Primary Source
The Orthodox attitude to the Papacy is admirably expressed by a
twelfth-century writer, Nicetas, Archbishop of Nicomedia:
My dearest brother, we do not deny to the Roman Church the primacy
amongst the five sister Patriarchates; and we recognize her right to the
most honorable seat at an Ecumenical Council. But she has separated
herself from us by her own deeds, when through pride she assumed a
monarchy which does not belong to her office ... How shall we accept
decrees from her that have been issued without consulting us and even
without our knowledge? If the Roman Pontiff, seated on the lofty throne
of his glory wishes to thunder at us and, so to speak, hurl his mandates
at us from on high, and if he wishes to judge us and even to rule us and
our Churches, not by taking counsel with us but at his own arbitrary
pleasure, what kind of brotherhood, or even what kind of parenthood
can this be? We should be the slaves, not the sons, of such a Church,
and the Roman See would not be the pious mother of sons but a hard
and imperious mistress of slaves.'
The East – West Schism Continued…
Roman
Greek Orthodox
Catholicism (West) (East)
Political &
Religious
Power
Clerical
Celibacy
Eucharist
Bible
Religion > State
Caesaropapism
(State > Religion)
Yes
No
Influences
Roman law
Unleavened
Leavened
Latin (inaccessible) Greek (accessible)
Greek philosophy
Byzantine Icons
Reconciliation?
On November 27, 2004, in an attempt to "promote Christian
unity", Pope John Paul II returned the bones (relics) of
Patriarchs John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzen to
Istanbul. The former of the two relics was taken as war booty
from Constantinople by Crusaders in 1204, and many believe
the latter was taken then as well. However, the Vatican says
the bones of the second saint were brought to Rome by
Byzantine monks in the 8th Century. Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I together with other heads of self-governed
Eastern Churches were present at Pope John Paul II funeral on
April 8, 2005. This is the first time for many centuries that an
Orthodox Patriarch has attended the funeral of a Roman
Pope. Perhaps this is the beginning of reconciliation?
Pope John Paul II and Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I, 2005, Istanbul.
V Collapse of the Byzantine Empire
A) The Eastern Roman Empire had survived the 5th century with their
superior economy, military, and bureaucracy. Their western brothers
lacked these resources and quickly disintegrated. These advantages
served Constantinople for the next few centuries. The Byzantine Empire
seemed immortal and immune to the same issues that plagued Rome.
B) However, the Ottoman Turks showed little respect for Roman
tradition. In 1071, the Turks won a major victory over the Byzantines at
Manzikert. The decisive battle did not destroy the empire. However, it
proved a short term setback and long term disaster for Constantinople.
C) In a strange twist, the Muslims enjoyed inadvertent Christian support
in their conquest. In the early thirteenth century, Christendom declared
a Fourth Crusade against Muslims in the Holy Land. In 1202, the army
began their journey to the Middle East. Along the way, they diverted to
Constantinople and sacked the city. The attack lasted three days and the
westerners destroyed priceless art and the Library of Constantinople!
Eventually, the Byzantines reestablished control over their territories.
However, the attack severely weakened the empire politically and
economically as the Crusaders depleted the imperial treasury.
Collapse of the Byzantine Empire Continued…
D) The sack of Constantinople horrified Western European leaders who
looked to Byzantium as a bulwark against Islamic invasion. Meanwhile,
by the fifteenth century, the Turks had penetrated into Eastern Europe,
whittling the Byzantine Empire down to the city itself. The massive city
walls remained the only thing for the Ottoman Turks to conquer.
E) The Ottomans began the final assault on April 6, 1453. The Emperor
Constantine XI refused to surrender the city to the Muslims and felt
secure behind the city walls. However, the Turks brought cannons and
used them to slowly demolish Byzantine defenses. The new technology
rendered medieval military defense obsolete. Constantinople’s walls fell
and the Byzantine Empire, and Middle Ages, collapsed alongside the
rubble. Constantinople’s demise shocked and horrified Europe.
Monarchs began searching for new trade routes to India and China.
Meanwhile, the Turks immediately made the city their capitol and
renamed it Istanbul. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of the
Roman Empire.
Classwork/HW Questions
1. Fill in your Period 3 Civilization chart for the Byzantine
Empire.
2. Fill in your Period 3 Religion chart for Orthodox
Christianity. The section may be missing in which case
please create a new section for it.
3. How should Theodora be remembered? Explain your
answer.
4. How much do you think the Muslim Arabs influenced
the Byzantine Empire? Explain your answer.
5. Explain the East-West Schism in 1-2 paragraphs. Do
you think it makes sense? Why or why not? Which
side is more justified? Explain your answer.
Key Vocabulary
 4th Crusade
 Battle at Manzikert
 Bosphorus
 Byzantine Empire
 Constantine
 Constantinople
 Diocletian
 Excommunicate
 Great Schism
 Hagia Sophia
 Hippodrome
 Iconoclastic Controversy
 Icons
 Istanbul
 Justinian
 Justinian’s Code
 Nika Revolt
 Ottoman Turks
 Patriarch
 Schism
 Theodora