The Byzantine Empire & Rise of Islam Unit V

The Reign of Justinian While Germanic tribes were moving into the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire stayed strong with its new capitol in Constantinople When Justinian became emperor in 527, he was determined to reestablish the Roman Empire ◦By 552 his empire included Italy, part of Spain, North Africa, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Syria ◦His most important contribution was his simplification of Roman law into The Body of Civil Law, which was the basis of imperial law until 1453 Justinian’s accomplishments were spectacular, but it left the empire too far-flung to protect

The Byzantine Empire The most serious challenge came from the rise of Islam ◦Islamic forces defeated armies of the Eastern Roman Empire taking over different provinces (i.e. Syria and Palestine) By the beginning of the 8 th century, the Eastern Roman Empire was much smaller, consisting only of the eastern Balkans and Asia Minor ◦This area was renamed the Byzantine Empire, which lasted until 1453 The Byzantine Empire was both a Greek and Christian state ◦Greek replaced Latin as the official language and was built on Christian faith ◦The Christian church came to be known as the Eastern Orthodox Church The emperor was portrayed as chosen by God and was crowned in sacred ceremonies ◦The emperor also appointed the head (patriarch) of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which showed his control over the church

Life in Constantinople Emperor Justinian rebuilt the city after the riots of 532 with an appearance it would keep for almost a thousand years Constantinople was the largest city in Europe during the Middle Ages, with a population in the hundreds of thousands Justinian’s greatest achievement was the Hagia Sophia – the Church of the Holy Wisdom

New Heights & New Problems The Byzantine Empire expanded through a new dynasty known as the Macedonians (867 – 1081) ◦The Macedonian emperors expanded the empire to include Bulgaria, Crete, Cyprus, and Syria ◦This new dynasty restored much of the empire’s power, but incompetent successors undid most of the gains Relations with the Catholic Church grew worse because the Eastern Orthodox Church did not accept the pope as the sole head of Christianity ◦In 1054, the pope and Byzantine patriarch formally excommunicated each other creating a new schism that has not been healed to this day

The Rise of Islam In the 7 th century, another powerful force – the Arabs – arose in the Arabian Peninsula and spread their influence throughout the Western Asia and beyond ◦The Arabs lived in the Arabian Peninsula (a desert), because of the harsh conditions they were forced into a nomadic lifestyle to find water and food ◦The Arabs organized themselves into tribes to help one another, each tribe was ruled by a sheikh Most early Arabs were polytheistic, though they recognized one supreme god names Allah The Arabs traced their ancestors to Abraham and his son Ishmael, who were believed to have built a house of worship called the Kaaba at Mecca

The Life of Muhammad Born in Mecca to a merchant family, he was orphaned at five He grew up to become a caravan manager (so he was familiar with the dangers of trade) and married a rich widow named Khadija Over time, Muhammad became troubled by the growing gap between the generosity of most Meccans and the greediness of the wealthy elite ◦Deeply worried he began to visit the hills to meditate. During one of these visits he received a revelation from God (through the angel Gabriel) Muhammad believed that Allah had already revealed himself through Moses and Jesus and now he believed that Allah was giving him the final revelations ◦These revelations were written down in the Quran

The word Islam means “peace through submission to the will of Allah” ◦Those who practice the religion of Islam are called Muslims ◦Islam has only one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet Muhammad returned home after receiving the revelations and set out to convince people of the truth of his revelations ◦The wealthy feared that his attacks on corrupt society would upset the established social and political order In 622, year 1 of the Islamic calendar, he and his supporters moved to Yathrib, later renamed Medina (“city of the prophet”) ◦This journey to Medina is known as the Hijrah Muhammad soon became both a religious and political leader (which included building up a powerful army) In 630 Muhammad returned to Mecca with his army and converted most of the people to Islam ◦He declared the Kaaba a sacred shrine of Islam, that all Muslims must make a pilgrimage to, if possible

The Teachings of Muhammad Islam emphasizes salvation and offers the hope of an afterlife to those who subject themselves to the will of Allah ◦Muhammad is considered a prophet (not divine), like Moses, but he was also a man like other men To obey Allah Muslims must practice the acts of worship known as the Five Pillars of Islam: belief, prayer, charity, fasting, and pilgrimage After Muhammad’s death, Muslims developed a law code known as the shari’ah ◦It applies the teachings of the Quran to daily life, it regulates all aspects of life including family, business, government, and moral conduct Muslims must practice honesty and justice and they are forbidden to gamble, eat pork, or drink alcohol.

Creation of an Arab Empire Shortly after Muhammad’s death, some of his closest followers chose Abu Bakr to be their leader ◦In 632 he was named caliph, or successor, to Muhammad The Arabs began to turn the energy towards neighboring peoples as the Quran allowed fair, defensive warfare as jihad (“struggle in the way of God”) ◦In 640 the Arab army took control of the Byzantine province of Syria ◦In 642, Egypt and other areas of Northern Africa were taken ◦By 650 the Arabs had conquered the entire Persian empire The courage of the Arab soldiers was enhanced by the belief that Muslim warriors were assured a place in paradise if they died in battle In the conquered territories, Arab administrators were tolerant ◦Both Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their religions because they were “People of the Book” ◦Those who chose not to convert were required only to be loyal to Muslim rule and to pay taxes

A Split in Islam Internal struggles began to threaten the empire’s stability ◦Muslims of non-Arab background did not like the way local administrators favored Arabs ◦Since the empire was so vast, it was difficult to rule from the capital, so distant regions began developing their own power An especially important revolt took place in present-day Iraq in 680 led by Hussein, second son of Ali (Muhammad’s son-in-law) ◦Hussein encouraged his followers to rise up against rule, but his soldiers defected leaving him with an army of 72 warriors This struggle led to a split of Islam into 2 groups ◦The Shia – accept only the descendants of Ali as the true ruler of Islam ◦The Sunni – did not agree with rule but accepted caliphs This split still exists today, with the Sunnis as majority in the Muslim world, but most people in Iraq and Iran consider themselves to be Shia

Islamic Civilization Overall the period of the Arab Empire was prosperous ◦They carried on extensive trade throughout the Islamic world, China, the Byzantine Empire, India, and Southeast Asia With flourishing trade came prosperous cities ◦Islamic cities had a distinctive physical appearance with the most impressive buildings being palaces and mosques ◦There were also public buildings with fountains, public baths, and bazaars (covered marketplaces)  The bazaar was an important part of every Muslim city as it allowed customers to compare prices and seek the best bargains. Inspectors also enforced rules to guarantee high standards The Arab Empire was more urbanized than most other areas at this time, but a majority of people still lived in the country making their living by farming

Islamic Society According to Islam, all people are equal in the eyes of Allah, but this was not the case in the Arab Empire ◦There was a well-defined upper class (ruling families, senior officials, wealthy merchants, nomadic elites) that all enjoyed a degree of respect ◦Slaves were not seen as equals. Since Muslims could not be slaves, most of their slaves came from Africa or other non-Islamic populations. They served in the army or acted as domestic servants. They could purchase their freedom and it was considered a good act to free them The Quran granted women spiritual and social equality with men ◦They had the right to the fruits of their work and to own and inherit property ◦Every woman had a male guardian, parents arranged marriages for their children, Muslim men could have more than one wife (no more than four), woman had the right of divorce The custom of requiring women to cover all parts of their bodies when appearing in public was more owed to tradition than the Quran

Culture of Islam Muslim scholars helped preserve Greek and Roman culture by translating works and making them available to other scholars ◦It was through the Muslim world the Europeans recovered the works of Aristotle and other Greek philosophers Islamic scholars also made contributions to mathematics and the natural sciences that were passed on to the West ◦Adopted and passed along the numerical system of India, including the use of 0 (known as the Arabic system) ◦Developed the discipline of algebra ◦Perfected an instrument called the astrolabe, used by sailors to determine their location by observing the positions of stars They also developed medicine as a field of study, creating basic medical textbooks that were used by university students in medieval Europe

The Crusades From the 11 th to the 13 th centuries, European Christians carried out a series of military expeditions to regain the Hold Land from the Muslims, these are known as the Crusades A push for the Crusades came with Alexius I (Byzantine) asked Europeans for help against Muslim forces ◦Pope Urban II responded to the request and rallied European warriors to free Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the infidels (unbelievers) The First Crusade began as three organized bands of mostly French warriors made their way to the East ◦They first captured the city of Antioch in 1098 and then proceeded down the Palestine coast, avoiding well-defended cities, until they reached Jerusalem in June 1099 ◦The crusaders organized 4 Latin crusader states that relied on Italian cities for supplies By the 1140s, the Muslims began to strike back and the fall of one Latin kingdom called for another crusade

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux enlisted two powerful rulers, King Louis VII (France) and Conrad III (Germany), in the Second Crusade ◦This campaign was a total failure In 1187, Jerusalem fell to Muslim forces under Saladin ◦Three rulers agreed to lead a Third Crusade: German emperor Frederick Barbarossa, English king Richard I (Richard the Lionhearted), and French king Philip II Augustus ◦Once they reached the East in 1189 they struggled to overcome the problems they faced  Frederick drowned in a local river  The English and French captured coastal cities but were unable to move inland ◦After Philip returned home, Richard negotiated a settlement with Saladin that permitted Christian pilgrims access to Jerusalem

About 6 years after Saladin’s death in 1193, Pope Innocent III initiated a fourth crusade ◦As they headed East the Venetian leaders used the situation to weaken their greatest commercial competitor, and sacked Constantinople in 1204 ◦Not until 1261 did a Byzantine army recapture the city, but the Byzantine Empire was no longer a great power The Crusades had some unfortunate side effects on European society ◦The first widespread attacks on the Jews began as some people felt fighting Muslims while the “murderers of Christ” ran free was unthinkable ◦Jews were now subjected to periodic defamations, attacks, and expulsions The greatest impact of the Crusades was political as it helped to break down feudalism ◦As kings levied taxes and raised armies nobles joined the Crusades, sold their lands, and freed their serfs  Thus making kings more powerful as nobles lost their power

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