The Byzantine Empire
in Postclassical Times
Origins
 Roman Emperor Constantine
moves capital to Byzantium
(Constantinople) - 330 CE
 Roman Empire divided - 395 CE
 In 7th century CE Greek adopted
by Byzantine Empire
Why did the Eastern
Roman Empire survive?
 Large cities (Constantinople, Alexandria,
Antioch)
 Productive agriculture (Egypt)
 Capital Constantinople easy to defend
 Shorter borders with Asiatic nomads and
Germanic peoples
 Eastern Rome wealthier, more urbanized,
stronger military than Western Rome
Constantinople
Government – What is old
 Referred to themselves as Romans (even after
switch to Greek)
 Preserved Greek and Roman culture
 wore Roman style robes and sandals
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Preserved Roman law
Kept up Roman roads
Roman taxation system
Church – Christianity
Centralized government, thousands of
bureaucrats in Constantinople, bureaucrats
come from land owning elite
 Elaborate court life
Government – What is new
 Caesaropapism: emperor is head of both
church and state
 Emperor has absolute power
 Church legitimizes absolute rule of the
emperor (anointed by God)
 Generals in the provinces have also civil
authority, raise armies from land owning
peasants in times of war
Justinian
 Emperor Justinian (527-565)
 regained much territory
 codified Roman law, became basis
of legal systems in West (Justinian´s
Code)
 large building program in
Constantinople
 (Hagia Sophia)
Constantinople and
International Trade
 Constantinople one of the largest cities in
the world
 Sits at cross roads of trade routes
 Important both as market and
manufacturing center (jewelry, linen and
woolen cloth, silk, dyes)
 Government control silk production
 Byzantine gold coins used widely in trade
in Mediterranean
The Demise of the Empire
 Loss of possessions in North Africa and Syria to
Arab empire
 Balkan Peninsula invaded by Slavic tribes and
tribes from Asia (Bulgarians, Magyars, and
others)
 Loss of Anatolia to Seljuk Turks (Battle of
Manzikert 1071)
 1204 Constantinople invaded and conquered by
crusaders, Constantinople shrinks
 1453 Constantinople conquered by Ottoman
Turks (size of Constantinople: 50.000)
Byzantine
Influences and
Eastern Europe in
the Postclassical
Era
Schism between Catholic and Orthodox Church
in 1054
Orthodox
 Pope crowns Emperor of
Holy Roman Empire
 Popes, bishops often
interfere in politics
Monks and village priests,  All priests are celibate
who can marry
 Monasteries
monasteries
 Centralized organization
Decentralized
organization
 Church service in Latin
Localized churches,
church service in local
languages
 Emperor nominates
patriarch, church under
political control
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Catholic
The Christianization of Eastern
Europe
 Emperor and Orthodox Church sponsor
missionaries to Slavic tribes in Eastern Europe
 Most of Balkan region (Serbia, Romania,
Macedonia, Bulgaria) and Russia converted to
Orthodox Christianity
 Cyril and Method, invent script for Slavic
languages (based on Greek letters)
 Orthodox Church decentralized, church service
in local languages, church leaders appointed by
political leaders
 Kievan Prince Vladimir converts to
Orthodox Christianity
 Byzantine priests, artists, architects
invited
 Have big impact on Eastern European art
and architecture (churches, mosaics,
icons)
 Russia follows different path than
Western Europe (Byzantine-Greek, but
not Latin)
Byzantine Icon (St.
George)
Russian Icons (Sts. Boris
and Gleb)
Byzantine influences on early
Muslim architecture, Dome of
the Rock 691 CE
Byzantine Empire in 1450
The Rise of Russia
 Eastern Europe settled by Slavic
speaking tribes
 Viking traders in 9th century founded
state of Rus in Kiev, only small
minority
 Become Orthodox Christians
 Close ties to Byzantium (trade,
religion, culture)
 destroyed by Russian princes and
Asiatic nomads
Society in Kievan Russia
 shifting cultivation, low
agricultural production
 no manorial system
 few large cities, based on trade
 artisans higher status than
peasants
 taxes on trade main income for
government
Mongol Invasions and the
Rise of Moscow
 Mongols conquer Russia in 1240
 Rule from afar, only interested in tribute
 Moscow became the main power to
extract tribute
 Russia culturally isolated, follows
different cultural path than rest of Europe
 pressure to pay tribute leads to increased
serfdom, more organized and efficient
state