The Byzantine Empire and
Emerging Europe
Ch 2.1 The First Christians
Place & Time
• 50 – 800 AD
• Christianity blooms
• Roman Empire splits and evolves
Ch 1.1 Vocab
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•
•
•
•
Procurator
Clergy
Laity
Transformation
Structure
The Roman Empire
Judaism in the Roman Empire
• 6 AD, Judaism in Rome
• Pontius Pilate
– Governor of Judaea
• Different groups
• Family Guy w/ Judas
– Sadducees: cooperative
– Pharisees: sought to
avoid Roman influence
– Essenes: hermits, waited
for God
– Zealots: into violent
overthrow
(AD 26-36)
Rise of Christianity
Jesus and the Fundamentals
• Salvation
• Inner Transformation
– Follow Hebrew Bible, but
focus on inner
transformation
• Controversy and
Crucifixion
– Revolutionary?!?
• Followers’ belief in
Jesus as Messiah
Viking Stone, emphasizing Christianity far from home
Spread of Christianity
• Early apostles of Christianity
• Epistles (written accounts)  eventually
become Gospels
• Establishment of churches
• Change in Roman attitudes
– Christianity suddenly viewed as harmful to public
order/morals
Christianity, cont’d.
• Christianity becomes organized!
• Constantine and the Edict of Milan
– 313, official tolerance
• Christianity accepted in the Roman Empire
– Becomes official religion in late 4th century
Spread of Christendom Cont’d.
Religions of Today
Discussion & Review
• Which group of violent Jews called for the
overthrow of Roman rule?
– Zealots
• Which Roman official ordered the execution of
Jesus?
– Pontias Pilate
• What is the vocab term for a Roman official in
charge of a province?
– Procurator
Stuff to Chew On
• What are the beliefs that define Christianity?
• How did Christianity spread through the
Roman empire?
– How do you think the division of the Christian
church into clergy and laity helped spread
Christian beliefs?
Decline and Fall of Rome
Ch 2.2
Vocab
•
•
•
•
Plague
Inflation
Military
Collapse
Factors of Decline
Factors of Decline
Political/Economic Reforms
Emperor Diocletian
• Established a tetrarchy
– Rule divided among
four leaders, while
he maintained
overall control
• Started ‘Late Roman
Empire’
Constantine
• ‘New Rome’ @Constantinople
– Eastern Roman Empire
– Greek city of Byzantium became Constantinople
Diocletian/Constantine Cont’d.
Goodbye….Western Roman Empire
• Massive migrations by:
– Visigoths’ sack Rome in 410, fleeing from Huns
– Germanic tribes, the Vandals
• Alternate Theories:
– Lead poisoning, plague, use of slaves
• In 486 CE, a Germanic military official deposed
the last West Roman Emperor: Romulus
Augustus
Ch 2.2 Discussion & Review
• What city was the capital of the Eastern
Roman Empire?
– Constantinople
• Among other impacts, what was a major
negative consequence plague outbreaks?
– Labor shortages
• By the 5th Century, Western Rome was
controlled by whom?
– Germans
Stuff to Munch On
• How did plague help lead to an economic
collapse in Rome?
• How did the migrations of Germanic tribes
contribute to the fall of the Roman empire?
• Why would the introduction of Christianity
weaken Roman military virtue?
The Early Christian Church
Ch 2.3, p. 31
Ch 2.3 Vocab2Know
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bishopric
Monk
Monasticism
Missionary
Nun
Abbess
Pursue
Conversion
Church & Collapse of Rome
• During 5th Century, German tribes and other
factors cause Western Rome to fall apart
– Even so, Christian church becomes more
influential
• Church offered stability and faith
–Priests and parishes
–Bishops and bishoprics
–Archbishops and provinces
–Pope
Organization of the Christian Church
• Roles of priests and
bishops
• Ascendancy of ‘bishops
of Rome’ as popes
• Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I
• AKA Gregory the Great
– Gregorian Chant named after him
• Gregory took control of Rome and
surrounding land…called the areas Papal
States
– Used the monastic movement to gain converts
Monasticism
• Early hermits
• Communal monasticism and Benedictine rule
– Prayer + manual labor = work of God
• Monasteries were the centers of:
– Christian civilization
– Learning
– Manuscript production
– Missionary work
Queries
• How were the lives of nuns similar to monks?
– They lived as a group, removed from the world;
education and learning was an important part of
their lives.
• What role did nuns play in spreading
Christianity?
– They provided missionaries with books and funds
and established convents in newly converted
areas.
Women in Monasticism
• At first…nuns hid from
society like monks
– In convents headed by
abbesses.
• BUT in the 7th and 8th
centuries they went out
and spread Christianity.
Ch 2.3 Discussion & Review
• Which Pope was the first to extend papal
power over the Christian church in western
Europe?
– Gregory I
• What is another title for the pope?
– Bishop of Rome
• Local Christian communities, led by priest,
were called _______.
– Parishes
Stuff to Ponder
• What rules did Benedict set up for those who
practiced monasticism?
• What role did monks and monasteries play in
the early Catholic Church
• How did the Catholic Church affect the
emerging medieval European civilization?
The Age of Charlemagne
Ch 2.4, p. 34
Ch 2.4, Vocab2Know
•
•
•
•
Wergild
Ordeal
Excluded
Ensure
Western Roman Empire Falls
• Germanic ppl move into former Roman lands around
3rd century
– German States Arise
• Visigoths in Spain
• Ostrogoths in Italy
• Angles and Saxons in Britain
• Franks in France and Western Germany
Germanic Kingdoms
• Incursions into Roman Empire
• Clovis’ conversion
• Frankish kingdom – AD 500
• First German ruler to convert to Catholicism
• Importance of family
• Revenge and wergild in German law
• “money for a man”
• Trial by ordeal
• Like divine intervention, but more awesome…
And then…
Charlemagne
•Carolingian Empire
•Pepin’s assumption of
Frankish kingship
•Charlemagne, Pepin’s son,
expands empire
•THEN crowned as
Roman emperor
•Leads to Carolingian
Renaissance
•Combining of cultures,
ideas, knowledge, etc.
Charlemagne Clip
Ch 2.4 Discussion & Review
• The kingdom of Franks was established by
whom?
– Clovis
• Charlemagne created the __________ Empire.
– Carolingian
• What is the primary difference btwn Germanic
and Roman Law?
– Roman: crimes against the State; German: crimes
against individuals
Masticate on This!
• What was the difference btwn wergild and the
ordeal?
– Do you think either would make an effective
means of punishment for wrongdoers?
• What was the significance of Clovis’s
conversion to Christianity?
• What impact did Charlemagne have on the
Frankish kingdom?
The Byzantine Empire
Ch 2.5, p. 38
Vocab
•
•
•
•
•
Patriarch
Icon
Idolatry
Legal
Enormous
Emperor Justinian
•527 to 565 AD
•Emperor of Eastern Rome
•Attempted to restore
Rome to former glory
•BUT lost gains after death
•The Body of Civil Law
•Basis of imperial law until
1453
•The Hippodrome!
•Like a tiny Coliseum
•Specialized in chariot
races
But Eastern Rome Isn’t Secure
• The rise of Islam unifies Arab tribes
– Armies sweep through the Empire
– The Eastern Roman Empire loses territories and
starts to change into something new!
And, to Make Matters Worse
• The Eastern Roman Empire started to run out
of money
• Population declined after plague
• And the frontiers kept being attacked
– EVEN SO
• Emperor Justinian rebuilt Constantinople in the mid
500s and created a magnificent capital city.
• By the 700s, the Eastern Roman Empire turns into the
Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire, Cont’d.
• Macedonian Emperors kicked some serious butt.
– 867 to 1081
Byzantine Empire, Cont’d.
• Macedonian Emperors kicked some serious
butt.
Constantinople
•Center of
trade/commerce for
Byzantine
•Foreign visitors were
astounded by size, wealth,
and physical surroundings.
•“To them, it was the
stuff of legends.”
Religious Schism
• Catholic vs. Eastern Orthodox
– Leo III outlaws the use of icons as ‘idolatry’ in
730
– Later reversed, but damage was done
Riddle me this.
• How did the split btwn the Eastern Orthodox
Church and the Roman Catholic Church affect
the future of the Byzantine Empire?
– Byzantine Empire could no longer call on west for
help
• Religious disagreements fatally weakened the empire
This Too Shall Pass
• Byzantine Empire weakens b/c:
– Successors of Macedonians were incompetent
– Schism in Roman Catholicism and Eastern
Orthodox Church
– Military actions against the Turks and in Crusades
Siege of Constantinople
EXAM QUESTION
• What factors led to the decline of the
Byzantine Empire?
Ch 2.5 Discussion & Review
• T/F: Leo III outlawed crucifixes as idolatry.
– False, Icons
• What becomes the official religion of the
Byzantine Empire?
– Eastern Orthodox
• What dynasty ruled the Byzantine Empire
btwn the 10th and 11th Centuries?
– Macedonian