Chapter 10

 Great location  Constantinople=capital in 340 C.E. (kept name until controlled by Ottoman Turks in 1453 C.E. when it was renamed Istanbul)  Named Byzantium after Byzantion, fishing village  Eastern half of classical Roman Empire that remained intact

 Sasanids were a threat  Tightly centralized rule under a highly exalted and absolute emperor  Caesaropapism=emperor not only over secular affairs but also religious affairs

 Justinian ( ): “the sleepless emperor”, wife Theodora, built Hagia Sophia, codified Roman law, reconquered some of the western Roman empire for a time  Theme system=a province was under the jurisdiction of a general who was responsible for military defense and civil administration

 Basil II ( ): “Basil the Bulgar- Slayer”  Byzantine claim to western European lands was challenged by Charlemagne, Otto of Saxony  Western Europe and Byzantium had bad relations, tension

 Had abundant agricultural surpluses, supported large number of crafts workers, participated in trade  Large class of free peasants who owned small plots of land was good  Wealthy owning large estates was bad because of tax loopholes and lack of recruits for military

 In spite of this problem, still wealthy  Crafts= glassware, linen and woolen textiles, gems, jewelry, gold and silver work, silk  Connected lands of the Black Sea with lands of the Mediterranean Sea, dominated trade  Collected customs duties  Banks and partnerships

 Constantinople had no rival  “the City”  Imperial palace, palaces of aristocrats  Women often were not at parties  Apartments, tenements  Baths, taverns, restaurants, theatres, stadiums, chariot races

 Local inhabitants spoke Greek  Scholars didn’t learn to read Latin, read New Testament and Greek philosophy  Private tutors for the rich, others had state school system that taught Greek philosophy and literature

 Basic literacy was widespread  School of higher learning in Constantinople  Focused on humanities  Saw themselves as direct heirs of classical Greece

 Emperors participated in theological debates, more than just government leaders  325 C.E. Constantine calls Council of Nicaea  Church and state not separate  Patriarch of Constantinople

 Iconoclasm=the breaking of icons, Emperor Leo III ( )  Extreme ascetism  St. Basil of Caesarea, patriarch of Constantinople, rules for monastic life, devotion, piety, provided for the needs of the laity

 Constantinople and Rome were the centers of Christian authority  They did not see eye to eye on all issues including iconoclasm, shaving of beards, jurisdiction of the papacy of Rome, etc.  In 1054, the patriarch and the pope excommunicated each other  This schism created two churches, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic

 Byzantium began to decline by the 11 th century  The Theme system created problems internally  The Crusades damaged Constantinople beyond repair  Saljuq (Seljuk) Turks invaded from the East

 1071, defeat at the Battle of Manzikert allowed Saljuqs to take over Anatolia  Constantinople captured by Ottoman Turks in 1453

 Slavic people (Bulgars, Serbs, Croats) moved into Byzantine empire  St. Cyril and St. Methodius: Cyrillic alphabet, conversions to Orthodox Christianity

 Another Slavic group (Russians) organize states with trade centers like Kiev  989, Prince Vladimir of Kiev converted to Orthodox Christianity  Byzantine culture spread to Russians: architecture, Russian Orthodox Church, written law code  Moscow= world’s third Rome

Church of the Resurrection on the Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia ONION DOMES