Chapter 7 & 8 Presentation - The Making of the West

Part I

Byzantium: A Christian

Empire Under Siege

The Byzantine Empire in the Time of Justinian

• Invasions from Persia– New Persian Focus

– Founding of Ctesiphon and its influence

– New labels

– Choroes II

Wars on the Frontiers 570 A.D. – 750 A.D.

• Attack on All Fronts

– The Lombards

– The Slavs and the Avars

– The Bulgars


• Consequences of Constant Warfare

– Permanent cut-off between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires

– Ruin of the Latin language

– The rise of Islam and Arabs


The Byzantine Empire in 814 A.D.

• From an Urban to a Rural Way of Life

– Destruction of cities

– Distribution of Resources and Priorities

– The curiales

– Land ownership

The Byzantine Empire

• New Military – “Greek Fire”– Decline of the curial class and the

birth of farmer-soldiers– The concept of themes

and strategos


• Culture Forms– Byzantine Education


• Powerful Bishops and Monks– Functions of Bishops

– Three-tier system

– Monasteries

Religion, Politics, and Iconoclasm

• Conflict over Icons– Icons, worship and detestation

– Emperor Leo III

Religion, Politics, and Iconoclasm

Part II

Byzantium: Renewed Strength

and Influence

• Imperial Power– The tagmata– New wealth and prestige to the

Emperors– Agricultural economy organized for

trade– Commerce and trade as a political

weapon

Byzantium: Renewed Strength and Influence

• The Macedonian Renaissance, (870 A.D. - 1025 A.D.)

– Basil I (867 A.D. – 886 A.D.) from Macedonia,

– Thriving of the scholarly elite– Production of new works of art – Sponsorship of the Emperor– Merging of Christian and Pagan

traditions (i.e. Manuscript Illumination)


The Byzantine Empire in the Time of Justinian

• The Dynatoi: A New Landowning Elite

– Military heroes of the tagmata

– The Phocas family


• Bulgaria and Serbia– The Byzantine offensive and

Emperor Nicephorus I (802 A.D. – 811 A.D.)

– Nicephorus’ death and Pliska – Emperor Basil II, the Bulgar-Slayer– Serbia and its unusual birth

In Byzantium’s Shadow

• Kievan Russia– Not under direct rule but influenced

in Religion and Culture – Religion united Kievan Russia and

Byzantium– Grand Prince Vladimir and

Christianity

In Byzantium’s Shadow

The Byzantine Empire in 1045 A.D.

• The new religion of Islam grew out of Bedouin society

• Islam emphasizes the relationship between the individual and God

• Religion grew from town Mecca, a commercial and religious center

• The Qur'an is understood to be God's revelation as told to Muhammad

– emphasizes the nuclear family– ummah: community of believers

A New Religion and a New Empire

• Mecca was the birthplace of Muhammad (570)

• Mecca contained the Ka’Ba

• In 610, he heard a voice speaking to him that he identified as that of God, or Allah

• In 622, Muhammad made the Hijra, or emigration, to the city of Medina

• Under Muhammad, politics and religion were inseparable

Muhammad and Mecca

• In 624, Muhammad led a small ambush of a Meccan caravan at the battle of Badr

– Transformed the traditional Bedouin plundering into the Muslim duty of jihad

• Muhammad had the Jews of Medina expelled, executed, or enslaved

Islam and the Jihad

• Muhhamad put in new practices: Zaka, Hajj, Salat, Shahadah

• Rivalry between Mecca's tribes and Medina's Muslims led to Muhammad's march into Mecca in 630

• The new society functioned as a "supertribe"

Islam and the Jihad (cont’d)

• The caliphs (successors) conquered much of Roman and Persian world

• Unified under the banner of jihad

• The first caliphs came not from the traditional elite but from the new circle of men close to Muhammad who had been participants in the Hijra

• The first two caliphs ruled peacefully

Muhammad’s Successors

• Conflict arose when the third Caliph, Uthman, was accused of favoritism

– His opponents supported his rival Ali

• After Uthman was murdered, civil war broke out between the two factions

• Ali’s followers were Shi'ites, continued to shun the caliphs, who were supported by mainstream Muslims, the Sunni

The Beginning of the Shi’ite and Sunni Conflict

• Islamic warriors brought peace and prosperity to the territory they conquered

• Allowed their subjects to work and worship as they pleased, as long as nonbelievers paid a special tax

Peace and Prosperity in Islamic Lands

• Muslim scholars began writing down the formerly oral Arabic literature, determining the definitive version of the Qur'an and compiling pious narratives about Muhammad

• By the close of the Umayyad period in 750, Islamic civilization was multiethnic, urban, and sophisticated

Peace and Prosperity in

Islamic Lands (cont’d)

• In 750, a civil war ousted the Umayyads and established a new caliphate, the Abbasids, to rule over Islam

• The Abbasids were supported by an uneasy coalition of Shi'ites and non-Arabs who had been excluded from the Umayyad gov’t.

• The Abbasid caliphs made their administration more centralized and controlled the appointment of regional governors

From Unity to Fragmentation

in the Islamic World

• The Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786-809) ruled over a flourishing empire, but it bgan to decline after his death.

• Governors of regions such as Syria and Egypt often refused to send tax revenues

• In the tenth century, the caliphs became only figureheads, and independent rulers began establishing themselves in various Islamic regions

From Unity to Fragmentation

in the Islamic World (cont’d)

• Islamic world was very fragmented since it was based on the conquest of many diverse regions, each with its own traditions and culture

• By the tenth and eleventh centuries,– Islamic states were built upon local traditions

and local rulers– The split within the Islamic religion between

Sunnis and Shi'ites remained a constant• One group of Shi'ites, the Fatimids, began a

successful political movement– established themselves as rulers in Tunisia in

909 and, by 969, declared themselves rulers of Egypt

Regional Diversity and the

Abbasid Revolution

• During the Abbasid revolution (756), a member of the Umayyad family, Abd al-Rahman, fled to Morocco, gathered an army, and invaded Spain

• Victorious, he took the secular title emir, meaning "commander," and fixed his capital at Córdoba

– The Spanish emirate ruled over a broad range of peoples that included Jews and Christians

• Despite their diversity, the regions of Islam maintained a measure of unity through trade networks and language

Regional Diversity and the

Abbasid Revolution (cont’d)

• Political entities multiplied the centers of learning allowing the "renaissance of Islam" to occur

• This renaissance was particularly strong in court centers such as Córdoba

• Al-Khwarizmi wrote a well-known book on equation theory in 825

• Long before there were universities in the West, institutions of higher learning existed in the Islamic world

• The use of cheap paper made the writings of the intellectual elite widely available

The Islamic Reinassance790 A.D. – 1050 A.D.

• Core of the kingdom was Roman Gaul

• Ruled by the Merovingians• “Romans” were south of the Loire

River, while “Franks” were north of the Loire River

• Church was a very important part of society

Frankish Kingdoms with Roman Roots

• Most economic transactions were a part of a gift economy

• Trade kept Western, Byzantine, and Islamic descendents in contacts with one another

Economic Activity in Peasant Society

• Monarchs

• Aristocrats

• Women

• Merovingian Dynasty

The Elite in Merovingian Society

• Anglo-Saxon England

• Blended traditions

• Established schools

Christianity and Classical Culture in the British Isles

• Spain: The Merovingian King defeats the Visigoths

– People were united because everyone converted to Christianity

• Italy: Power struggle between the pope, Lombard Kings, and the Byzantine Emperor

Unity in Spain,Diversity in Italy

Section IIThe Creation and Division of a

New Western Empire

• Carolingians were an Aristocratic family

• Came to power with the help of the pope

The Rise of the Carolingians

• Most famous of the Carolingians

• Wanted to combine the military and traditions of the Roman and Germanic culture with Christianity

• “Romanized” his kingdom

• Pope Leo III crowned him emperor

Charlemagne and His Kingdom

• Studied works of the past

• Established schools

The Charlemagne Renaissance

• Had four sons, three from his first wife, one from his second wife

• Land was divided between the sons

Charlemagne’s Successors

• Carolingian economy was based on trade and agriculture

• Land provided wealth and power

Land and Power

• North – Vikings

• South – Muslims

• East – Magyars

Vikings, Muslims, and Magyars Invade

Section III

The Emergence of Local Rule in

the Post-Carolingian Age

• Kings stayed in power by gaining personal loyalty

• Kings had Counts

• Lords had Vassals

• Serfs were the lowest social class

Public Power and Private Relationships

• Primogeniture – entire inheritance was handed down to the eldest son

• Society was highly militarized and constantly in war

• Everyone wanted peace

• Peace of God and Truce of God movements

War and Peace

• Italy: Cities were the center of power

• England: Strong Kings– Mostly Rural

• France: Strong Lords– Weak Kings

Political Communities in Italy, England, and France

• Otto I

• German Kings appointed Bishops and Archbishops

• Bishops held a lot of power

• Many of the Central European countries converted

Emperors and Kings in Central and Eastern Europe

Documents

Chapter 7 & 8 Presentation - The Making of the West