Chapter 13: The Byzantine Empire
and Crisis and Recovery in the West
 532CE: Revolt in Constantinople
under Justinian with the Blues and
the Greens joining together and
rioted…Nika Revolt…Empress
Theodora: “I approve a certain
ancient saying that royalty is a
good burial shroud.”…imperial
troops slaughtered 30,000
insurgents
From Eastern Roman to Byzantine
Empire
 Constantinople as a Christian
Empire
The Reign of Justinian (527-565)
 Wanted to reestablish the Roman
Empire
 Army led by Belisarius: sailed to
North Africa, defeated the Vandals
 Conquered a large portion of Italian
Peninsula, but lost within 3 years
post mortem
The Codification of Roman Law
 Corpus Juris Civilis
 Justinian was well trained in
imperial government and was
thoroughly acquainted with Roman
law
 1. Corpus, 2. Digest, 3. Institutes, 4.
Novels
 Written in Latin
 Basis of legal system of all of
continental Europe
The Empress Theodora
 Daughter of “keeper of bears”
 Mosaics: Justinian and Theodora:
Church of San Vitale
 Theodora was an actress and
prostitute…met 40 year old
Justinian when she was 25
 Inspired Justinian during the Nika
Revolts
The Emperor’s Building Program
 After the riots…Justinian rebuilt the
city
 Enormous defensive wall on the
land side...
 Huge palace complex, Hippodrome,
hundreds of churches
 Justinian’s Public Works projects:
roads, bridges, walls, public baths,
law courts, colossal underground
reservoirs…hospitals, schools,
monasteries, and churches
 Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy
Wisdom)
o Completed in 537 CE
o Enormous dome
 Procopius= Court historian
 Hippodrome- amphitheater…brick
covered by marble…could hold
60,000 spectators
 Gladiator fights and chariot races
(Ben Hur)
A New Kind of Empire
 After Justinian’s death: problems:
too much distant territory to
protect, empty treasury, smaller
population after Justinian’s plague,
renewed threats to the frontiers.
Problems of the Seventh Century
 Emperor Heraclius: attacks from
the Persians and Slavs
o System of defense with larger
administrative unit, called the
theme (combined civilian and
military offices in the hands of
the same person)
o Increased militarization of the
empire
 Threat of rise of Islam to the
Byzantine Empire
 Loss of Syria and Palestine
 Arabs conquered Persian Empire
 Arab attack on Constantinople was
repelled using GREEK FIRE
(petroleum-based compound with
quicklime and sulfur…it would
burn underwater…urine)
 Bulgars defeated the eastern
Roman forces and took possession
of the lower Danube valley
 By the 8th century, Eastern Roman
Empire had been transformed into
the Byzantine Empire…last until
1453
The Byzantine Empire in the 8th
Century
 Justinian’s Corpus Juris Civilis was
the last official work published in
Latin…increasingly Latin fell into
disuse with Greek as the common
language and official language
 Byzantine Empire- Christian state
 Iconoclastic controversy: use of
religious images/ idolatry (worship
of images)…opponents of iconsiconoclasts
 730: Byzantine emperor Leo III
(717-741) outlawed use of
icons…strong resistance…Roman
popes were opposed to iconoclastic
edicts
 1054-Final separation between
Roman Catholicism and Greek
Orthodoxy
The Byzantine Emperor
 Emperor had crucial position in
Byzantine state…portrayed as
chosen by God
 The power of the Byzantine
emperor was considered absolute
and was limited in practice only by
assassination
 Strong bureaucracy was one of the
most basic features of the
Byzantine Empire
 Permanent war economy
o Survival of empire depended on
careful shepherding of
economic resources and the
maintenance of the army
o State encouraged agricultural
production, regulated the guilds
o Made trade in grain and silk
government monopolies
 highly trained army, but
Byzantines preferred using
diplomacy
 Emperor appointed the patriarch,
exercised control over both church
and state
Intellectual Life
Life in Constantinople: The
Importance of Trade
The Zenith of Byzantine Civilization
(750-1025)
The Beginning of a Revival
The Macedonian Dynasty
Economic and Religious Policies
Political and Military Achievements
The Decline and Fall of the Byzantine
Empire (1025-1453)
New Challenges and New Responses
A Christian Schism
Islam and the Seljuk Turks
A New Dynasty
Impact of the Crusades
The Latin Empire of Constantinople
Revival of the Byzantine Empire
The Ottoman Turks and the Fall of
Costantinople
The Crises of the Fourteenth Century
in the West
The Black Death: From Asia to Europe
Role of the Mongols
The Black Death in Europe
Economic Dislocation and Social
upheaval
Political Instability
The Hundred Years’ War
Political Disintegration
The Decline of the Church
The Great Schism and cries for reform
Recovery: The Renaissance
The Intellectual Renaissance
Was there a Renaissance for Women?
The Artistic Renaissance
The Italian States
Western Europe
Central and Eastern Europe
Notes: Bubonic Plague