The Byzantine Empire
I.
The Byzantine Empire – Successor to Rome
-
A.D. 306-337 = Constantine is the roman emperor
He granted freedom of worship for Christians
He would become the first emperor to convert to Christianity
Before this time, both Christians and Jews were often persecuted
for believing in only one God (monotheism)
- Constantine would also move the capital from Rome to Byzantium,
which he would rename Constantinople = 330
A. Constantine’s NEW Capital
- Constantine decided a change of scenery for the empire’s capital
city was necessary
- He moved the capital away from the city of Rome because
Germanic people kept invading and attacking
- He also wanted to keep tabs on the Persians
- He moved the capital east
- Byzantium was a fishing village and market town
- It was location a strategic position on a peninsula
- This location made it easy to defend against invading armies
- It had a natural harbor known as the Golden Horn
- It also offered the Romans the chance to control strategic trade
routes along the Mediterranean and Black Seas
-
Constantine had walls built to enlarge the city
He changed the name of the city to Constantinople
He offered people food (grain) if they would move into his city
He loved to build = adding to his legacy
He had palaces, churches, theaters, a university, four courts of law,
etc built
- He brought art and examples thereof from all over the empire in to
his city
- Constantinople became the “New Rome”
- 476 AD = ROME ITSELF FELL TO Germanic invaders
B. The Empire Extends
- There were several rulers to follow Constantine after he cashed in
his chips
- 527 = Justinian gets to play emperor for awhile
- Under Justinian’s rule, the empire would grow to its largest extent
- He was bent on reuniting the western and eastern portions of the
empire
- 532 = Nika Riots in the Hippodrome = broke out during a chariot
race
- Rioters set fire to buildings and crowned a new emperor
- Justinian was ready to board a ship and cut his losses when his
wife, Theodora, convinced him to stand and fight
- He decided to tough it out
- He organized his army, corralled the rioters into the Hippodrome,
and had his army kill them all = 30,000 died
- He would go on to rebuild Constantinople
- He added 25 churches as well as bridges and aqueducts
- Justinian is also known for his codifying – or standardizing –
Roman laws
- The original laws had been added to for centuries
- Justinian reviewed the laws and simplified them
- These civil law codes influenced the laws in many parts of
Western Europe
- Civil law = laws that govern daily rules of society
C. Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire
- For most of its existence, Constantinople was the largest city in
Europe
- The population was about 1,000,000 people
- The population relied on farmers to supply the grain they needed
- These farmers were often free peasants who worked on their own
land
- There was also a class of citizens who owned large amounts of
land
- Even they these peasants were not slaves, they were bound to the
land and could not leave
- Some of these peasants were sharecroppers and had to give part of
their harvest to the owner of the land
- Very few of these people could ever earn enough money to own
their own land
- Constantinople was a very important trade center
- It was the crossroads of trade that went north-south and east-west
- Traders used their gold called bezant as the form of currency
- Learning was important in the Byzantine Empire
- Most people in Byzantine society could read and write
- Theodosius II set up a school of higher learning in philosophy,
medicine, and law in 425 = Constantinople University = lasted for
more than 1,000 years
- Greek literature and history was studied and appreciated
- Constantinople was part of the Silk Road = used by traders to
transport goods between Asia and Europe
- All the goods that came through were subject to taxes
- Customs duties = helped to make the city rich
- Artisans would buy goods and add to their value and then they
would resell these items to make a profit after they made
something from them
- After Justinian dies, the Byzantine Empire begins to decline
- It began to lose territory that had once been part of the Roman
Empire
- They lost territory that Justinian had reclaimed during his rein
- It would go on till the middle of the 15th century
- The Turks would come in and take over
- Constantinople would be renamed Istanbul
- The Hagia Sophia would become a place of Muslim worship
- The influence of the Empire is still felt in such nations as Greece,
Serbia, Russia, and Turkey
D. Religion and Art of the Byzantine Empire
- Religion would become a point of contention in the Byzantine
Empire
- Two groups would form in the Christian Church
- They argued over beliefs and practices
- One argument was whether a priest should be able to wear a beard
- Power was also an issue = Rome’s part in the matter
- The pope claimed to rule all Christian churches
- The head of the church in Constantinople called the patriarch
disagreed
- 1054 = pope and the patriarch call it quits
- This called the Great Schism
- The Eastern Church became known as the Eastern Orthodox
Church
- The Western Church was the Roman Catholic Church
- The split continues till this day
- Istanbul was well known as a center for artisans
- People worked in gold and silver, made glassware, and wove
textiles
- The textile, or fabric, industry grew even more when silkworms
were illegally imported from China
- Byzantines were known for their architecture
- They were also known for their mosaics and icons
- Mosaics were pictures made from pieces of stone, gems, glass, etc
- They decorated floors, ceilings, domes, etc with mosaics
- Religious icons – or pictures of religious figures – could be painted
on wood or made of mosaics
- The Church had arguments about whether icons should be allowed
- Some though that the icons were being worshipped instead of God
- Others believed it was wrong to make any image of God
- Islam, which was becoming important in the east, did not allow
images either
- Many of these icons were burned or painted over
- 843 = church began to allow icons, as long as they were not
worshipped