Byzantine Empire and
Orthodox Christianity
Europe During PostClassical Period
 Following fall of Roman Empire, 2
Christian societies emerged in Europe
 Western Europe: Roman Catholicism
 Eastern Europe: Orthodox Christianity
 The religion and culture of Eastern
Europe was largely shaped by the
Byzantine Empire.
Map of Byzantine Empire
http://guide-martine.com/images/history_byzantine3.jpg
Origins of the Byzantine
Empire
 Late in the Classical Period, Rome
established an eastern capital at
Constantinople (formerly Byzantium)
 Attempt to keep empire from collapsing
 Roman Empire eventually split into
eastern and western halves
 East began to thrive, west experienced
decline
Byzantine Empire
 Both empires were hit hard by foreign invasion and
disease in the late-classical period.
 BUT, Byzantine Empire survived, the Roman Empire did not
 Why was the Byzantine Empire stronger than that of
Rome????
 Thrived on trade
 Trade with Rome in decline
 Military derived from Middle Eastern provinces
 Rome hired foreign mercenaries
 Strong political and religious leadership in form of the
Byzantine Emperor
 Roman Emperor and Pope competed for power
Emperor Justinian
 Byzantine Empire flourished under Justinian’s rule
 Art, architecture, construction projects
 Hagia Sophia- church with world’s largest dome (at the time)
 Engineering marvel
 Created standardized system of law codes (Justinian Law Code)
 Maintain stability, unity, consistency
 Under Justinian, the Byzantine Empire extended its influence
 533: Emperor Justinian attempted to reunite eastern and western
halves of the old Roman Empire
 Failed
 Gained territory in N. Africa and Italy
 However, the Muslim empires will later conquer about half of the
territory once controlled by the Byzantine Empire
Mosaic of
Emperor
Justinian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ima
ge:Meister_von_San_Vitale_in
_Ravenna_004.jpg
Byzantine Society
 Emperor was ordained by God to be
head of Church and state
 Patriarchal rule, but some women were able
to hold throne temporarily
 In early days, women enjoyed some
freedom, but became more restricted as
time passed
 Practiced veiling and confinement of women
 Muslims later adopt these practices
Religion in Byzantine
Empire
 Initially, the Byzantines were under the
authority of the Pope
 Over time, conflict arose between the Pope in Rome
and the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople
 Began to develop differences in religious practices
 1054: Great Schism
 Official split in Church
 Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox
Government Under
Byzantine Empire
 Complex centralized bureaucracy
 Mostly aristocrats in power positions
 Possible for other social classes to hold office
 Bureaucrats had to be well educated
 Most positions that were closest to the Emperor
were held by eunuchs
 Provincial governors and spy network to maintain
order
 Close tie between church and state
Government Under the
Byzantine Empire
 Focus on military
 Recruited local troops
 Exchanged military service for land that could be passed on to
children
 Military helped fend off foreign invasions
 Regulation of the economy
 Controlled food prices
 Adopted silk making from China, allowing them to compete in
luxury markets
 Government Sponsored trade with Europe, Asia, Arab
Muslims, India
 Role of merchant class was diminished due to govt. involvement
in trade
Art and Architecture
 Strong Hellenistic Influence
 Domed buildings (adopted from Rome)
 Mosaics: use of small, colored pieces of
glass, tile, stone to create an image
 Icon Painting: paintings of religious
figures
 Often used rich colors such as blue and gold
to signify the purity and brilliance of heaven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Architecture
Mosaic of Christ from Hagia
Sophia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_art
Hagia Sophia
http://www.wayfaring.info/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/copy-of-hagia-sophia-west-view.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hagia_Sophia_interior_March_2008.jpg
Decline of Byzantine
Empire


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Long decline
Muslim Invasions
Turkish Troops seized territory in Asia
Slavic peoples rebelled and created
independent kingdoms in Balkan Peninsula
 Crusaders
 1453: Turkish Sultan and his army attacked
Constantinople and seized the city
 Established the Ottoman Empire under Muslim
control
STOP
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 QUIZ !!!!!!!!!
Legacy of the Byzantine
Empire
 Although the Byzantine Empire fell to
Muslims in 1453, it left behind a cultural
legacy in Eastern Europe
 Sent missionaries into Eastern Europe
 Conversions to Eastern Orthodox Christianity
 Taught the Slavic peoples a written
language called Cyrillic
 Still used by many cultures of Eastern Europe
Russia
 6th-7th Centuries: ppl. From Scandinavia
navigated the rivers of Russia on their
way to trade with the Byzantine Empire
 Known as Varangians
 Established cities along major rivers
 Most important city was Kiev
 Legend states it became a monarchy in 855
 First ruler was Viking named Rurik
 Became ruler of kingdom known as Keivan Rus
Kievan Rus
 Kiev maintained close ties to the Byzantine Empire
 Adopted many cultural practices from the Byzantines
 Adopted use of Cyrillic alphabet (created by Byzantine
Missionaries)
 988: Vladimir I converted to Orthodox Christianity
 Most Russians were polytheistic before this conversion
 Went from polygamy to monogamy
 Began to model their art & architecture after those of Byzantine
Empire
 Used wood rather than stone in most buildings
Government in Kievan Rus
 Series of independent, rival kingdoms
 Local, decentralized rule
 Most people lived on communes, very little private
ownership of land
 Created strong sense of community
 Kiev most powerful city, but did not create a
centralized bureaucracy to unite all of Russia
 Close tie between church and state after the
conversion to Orthodox Christianity
Kievan Rus
 Religion became the center of life for
people of Kievan Rus
 King of Kiev played major role in church
 Church was center of life in Russian towns
and villages
 Scientific thought was overshadowed by the
teachings of religious leaders
 Art was centered around religious figures
Decline of Kievan Rus
 Over time, Kievan Rus went into decline
 Rivalry among various kingdoms
 Decline of Byzantine Empire affected the Russians
 1240: Kiev and Russia fell under Mongol rule
 Russia forced to take orders from and pay tribute to
the Mongol rulers (known as the Golden Horde)
 Mongols maintained rule until mid-1400’s
Ivan the Great
 Under the rule of Ivan III, Moscow began
campaign to end Mongol rule in Russia
 Quit paying tributes in mid-1400’s
 Conquests in Russia to unite major cities
under Muscovite rule
 Mongol rule over by end of 1400’s
 More on Russia in next unit!