Students will be able to:
Understand the political and economic development of
Western Europe during the medieval period and undertake a
critical analysis of feudalism.
Explain the development and the significance of Roman
Catholic dogma, the hierarchical system of the Roman
church, and the monastic movement.
Compare medieval Western society, politics, culture, and
religion with those of the Byzantine Empire.
Understand the respective roles of the Varangians, Vladimir
I, and the Byzantine Empire in the rise of the Kievan state.
Discuss the possible causes of the European recovery of
1000-1200.
Explain the causes of the Crusades and discuss their
consequences in Europe and the Middle East.
Western Roman Empire Eastern Roman Empire
Official Religion: Christianity Official Religion: Christianity
Lost Roman Imperial rule:
transitioned to family based
traditions of Germanic peoples
Maintained Roman Imperial rule
Provincial forms of Roman law:
imperial legal framework
disappeared!
Inherited imperial law intact
Various kings, nobles, and
chieftains change the political
landscape.
Emperors became all powerful,
Christian monarchs
People lived in fear/insecurity Steadily shrinking empire
People became dependent on
strong rulers for protection
Deprived of long periods of
peace because of military
pressures: north and south!
3
What prevented the destruction of the Eastern Roman Empire?
Having a single ruler with supreme legal and religious power
Territorial losses:
Between 634 and 650, Arab armies had destroyed the Sasanid Empire
Arab armies captured Byzantine lands:
Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia
Greatest challenge to the Byzantine Empire:
Islam
Religious and political challenge
End of 12th century – 2/3 of the Christians from Egypt, Syria, and
Tunisia had adopted Muslim practices
Effects on the Empire
Loss of populations and provinces reduced power
Crusading armies will establish (briefly) Christian provinces in the
lost regions
Crusading armies were almost as hostile as the Islamic armies
Byzantium will fall to Muslim forces in 14534
Originally sheltered
Imperial authority and urban prosperity were found in the
eastern provinces
Byzantium was protected from economic problems
Byzantium was protected from population losses
Eastern and Western Roman provinces
Shared a common demographic crisis
The “plague of Justinian” – a 6th century epidemic of the
bubonic plague
Social transformation emerge (the east is impacted)
Further epidemics
The loss of Egypt and Syria to the Muslims
Eastern saints (originating as peasants) change the lives of
people in the east
Bartering replaced money transactions
City populations declined
Traditional class of urban notables disappeared
5
Effects of urban elite decline
Aristocrats are found at the imperial courts
Rural landowners increased
Power was organized by family
By the 11th century – family based military aristocracy forms
Alexius Comnenus (r. 1081-1118)
Byzantine emperor
Considered himself a lord (not a ruler
Changed the status of women
7th century status: confined to the home and possibly veiled
faces when in public
Socialization with males in family only
1028-1056, More freedom in public and women ruled
Byzantium along with their husbands
6
Maintaining Late Roman traditions:
Byzantine emperors continued to
set prices like the Late Roman emperors
Organize trade shipments to the capital
Monopolize trade of luxury goods (Tyrian purple cloth)
Effects of government intervention
May have slowed technological development
Farmers continued using oxcarts and scratch plows (behind
western European farming techniques)
May have slowed economic innovation
Other Byzantine cities suffered because of the focus on
Constantinople
Trade thrived
Merchants and pilgrims from various points continued to trade
in Constantinople
As long as trade thrived, the aristocracy thrived
7
The Greatest Achievement: Hagia Sophia
Cathedral of Sacred Wisdom
Dates to the reign of Justinian
Artists used creativity in design and ornamentation
Byzantine Religious Art
Featured stiff (but arresting) images of holy figures on gold
backgrounds
Strongly influenced painting in western Europe through the 13th
century
Byzantine Music
Affected the chants of medieval Latin churches
Establishment of the Orthodox Church
Cyril and Methodius took religious practices to the Slavs of
Moravia (modern Czech Republic)
Began the competition between Greek and Latin Church
doctrine
Adopt the Cyrillic alphabet for the Orthodox church9