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Byzantium“The Brilliant Civilization”
330 AD to 1453 AD
Originally called the
Eastern Roman Empire
GeographyCentered among the three
continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa
Capital city of Constantinople was strategically located on the waterways of the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea.This location gave it both
protection and control of trade
The civilization was centered on former lands of Greece and therefore Greek became the language of choiceSeparate government and difficult communication from the west gave the Byzantine Empire its character
Byzantine Culture and Law
culturePreserved the cultures of both Greece and Rome
Maintained Roman because the early leaders were from Rome and Greek because it was on former Greek lands
lawEmperor Justinian reorganized
and categorized Roman Law.
This became known as the Justinian Code.Based on the laws of
precedence and the beginnings of innocent until proven guilty
Became the basis of later laws throughout Europe
Justinian’s Code contains four parts
Code: 5000 Roman laws still considered useful for the Roman Empire
Digest: summarized the opinions of Rome’s greatest legal thinkers
Institutes: instructed law students how to use the law
Novellae (new laws): laws passed in the empire after 534 AD
Justinian Code served the empire for 900 years in all areas of lifeEx. Marriage, slavery, property, inheritance, woman’s rights, etc…
Religion of the Byzantium Empire
The Christian church was introduce/made legal by Roman Emperor Constantine.
Lack of communication between the Eastern (Byzantium) and Western Roman Empire caused Christianity to develop in different ways.
Due to later influences of Greeks and Persians, the church in Byzantium became know as Eastern Orthodox Church
Byzantine emperors had tremendous influences within the Orthodox church because they were seen as God’s representatives on earth
Emperor was crowned by the Patriarch who was the head of the Orthodox Church. In return the emperor had the authority to appoint church officials.
Spread of the ChurchThrough trade and missionaries
the church began to spread to the Balkans and northward to Russia
The church influenced language and Cyril introduced the Cyrillic alphabetCyril and Methodius were the
apostles to the Slavs. They created an alphabet for the Slavic people and brought Christianity
Division of the Church: The Great Schism
As the Orthodox Church became more established in the East, their ideas on how to conduct church affairs became different from the West.
This uniqueness led to the Great Schism or split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church (Greek and Russian) in 1054 AD.
Reasons for the Great Schism
Use of iconsreligious images
used to aid in devotions.
Roman Catholics supported the use of icons in the church while many iconoclasts wanted them removed in the Orthodox Church.
Reasons for the Great Schism
Disagreement over authority.
The pope in Rome and the Patriarch in
Constantinople.
Reasons for the Great Schism
Who controlled the Churches in the Balkans?
Reasons for the Great Schism
When Constantinople refused to aid Rome while fighting the Lombards, the Franks under the leadership of Charlemagne did.
Later the Pope crowned Charlemagne Emperor.
RememberWest= Roman Catholic Church (Rome, W. Europe)
East= Eastern Orthodox Church (Greek, E. Europe)
End of the Byzantium Empire
After Justinian’s death in 565
AD the empire weakened
due to a number of reasons.
Plague- similar to
the plague in the 1300s
approximately 10,000 people died per day during outbreaks
Foreign InvasionsEast-
Sassanid Persians, Slejuk Turks, Ottoman Turks
West- Lombards
North- Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars
Poor leaders
Byzantines used bribes,
political marriages, and military power to keep empire
but lose to the Ottoman Turks
in 1453 AD.