1. Early Middle Ages/Byzantine
Dates:

2. Map of the Byzantine Empire

3. Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the Greek speaking, eastern part of the Mediterranean.
Byzantium was the name of a small, but important town at the Bosphorus.

4. Byzantium
In Greek times the town was the frontier between the Greek and Persian world.
In 4th century AD, Alexander the Great made both Greek and Persian worlds part of his hellenistic universe.
Later Byzantium became a town of growing important within the Roman Empire

5. Constantinople
By the 3rd century, the Romans had to defend thousands of miles of border.
The growing pressure caused a major crisis.
The emperor Constantine the Great realized that is was impossible to manage the empire’s problems from distant Rome.
In 330 AD Constantine decided to make Byzantium his new residence.

6. Byzantium Byzantium was to become the name for the East-Roman Empire.
Constantine the Great died in 337 and after his death the Roman Empire was divided into an eastern and western part.

7. Christianity
During the 4th century the Byzantine Empire was a Christian State.
Constantine spread his Christian beliefs and that definitely had a huge impact on the people.
It was the first empire to be founded not only on worldly power, but also on the Church.
After the Great Schism of 1054 AD the Eastern church separated from the Western church.

8. Hierarchy

9. Social Class

10. Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was quite modern considering how old it is.
Their tax system and administration were very efficient that the empire survived more than a thousand years.
Byzantium culture was rich and affluent.
Science and technology was growing during this period.
Byzantine’s tradition of rhetoric and public debate is very important for us today.
These debates kept knowledge and admiration for the Greek philosophical and scientific heritage alive.

11. Justinian
Byzantine history goes from founding of Constantinople on 330 AD-1453 AD when the Ottoman conquered the city.
The history of the empire is divided into three parts.

12. AD
When Justinian was in power, there was a last attempt to reunite the whole Roman Empire under one ruler, the one in Constantinople.
This attempt succeed and they celebrated their unity with the construction of the church of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople.
Justinian had to pay off the Sesanian Persians, and had to deal with firm resistance, for example Italy.

13. 330-887 AD The Lawyer Tribonian created the famous Corpus luris.
The Code of Justanian, all the imperial laws, was published in 529 CE.
Shortly after the project was completed with some additional laws added.
Tribonian was temporarily relieved of his function during the Nika riots in 532 CE, which weakened the position of the patricians and senators in the government, and strengthened the position of the emperor and his wife.
The empire however, was weakened and soon lost Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Cyrenaica, and Africa to the Islamic Arabs.
Humiliation took place in 800 CE when the leader of the Frankish barbarians claimed that he was the Christian emperor and not the ruler in Constantinople.

14. AD
After the empire was weakened it was expanded again and almost every Christian city in the East was within the empire’s borders.
However, wealthy Egypt and large parts of Syria were forever lost, and Jerusalem was not re-conquered.
In 1014 the Bulgarian empire, which had been a big threat to the Byzantine empire, was overcome after a bloody and became part of the Byzantine empire.

15. AD
During this period the Byzantine currency was the leading currency in the Mediterranean world.
This shows how important the Byzantium was in economics and finance.
In the city of Constantinople people of every religion and nationality live next to one another.
They lived in their own quarters and with their own social structures.
This was unique

16. Crisis Trade in the Byzantine world was declining.
Pope and patriarch of Constantinople went separate ways in 1054 AD.
After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 AD the Byzantine Empire was decaying.
The Byzantine emperor was beaten by an army of the Turks.
After the battle the Byzantine Empire lost Antioch, Aleppo, Manzikert, and Asia Minor to the Turks.
This crisis lead to a new dynasty, the Comnenes, came to power.

17. Decline & Fall
During the 12th century the Byzantines created a system of diplomacy.
Diplomacy was deals that were concluded with towns like Venice that secured trade by offering favorable positions to merchants of friendly cities.
Italians were also everywhere and they weren’t very accepting of the Byzantines because they believed in a different faith.
The Greek Orthodox Church became a target of violence.

18. Decline & Fall
For more than half a century the empire was ruled by monarchs from the West.
However, they never succeeded gaining full control.
Local rulers made sure to continue the Byzantine traditions.
In 1261 the Byzantine Empire lost Constantinople to the Palaiologans and was now in decline.
They kept losing more and more territory until the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453 and took over government.

19. Byzantine Artists
After the Ottoman take-over, many artists went to the West taking precious manuscripts.
Their art was very appreciated and western artist were ready to copy their art.
Painter Giotto- one of the important artists of the early Renaissance.

20. Fall of Constantinople

21. Byzantine Costume

22. Byzantium Fashion 5th Century
Byzantium was the center of fashion from the 5th-12th century.
This picture is examples of the Byzantine costume from AD.
5th century shows the beginning of more extravagant clothing.

23. Paludamentum Always purple Went down to the ankles
First made of plain material (silk being the richest)
As time went one the material became more rich
Often embroidered in heavy gold and encrusted with jewels, and pearls until it was almost completely covered.
A distinctive feature was the square decoration placed on the edge of sides.
This was called the tablion

24. Paludamentum
The paludamentum was worn by the emperor and then shortly later by the empress also.
No other women was allowed to wear this.
It was worn by courtiers and high officials in the empire, but they weren’t as richly decorated and was not the imperial purple color.

25. Tunic The Byzantines also wore the tunics that came from Rome.
T-shaped

26. Dalmatica The dalmatica became merged into the tunic
The difference was in the sleeves.
The sleeves were close in the tunic and wide in the dalmatica.
The dalmatica in brought back into use in the 6th century when the emperor would use them as Imperial robes.
Women wore the dalmatica with the stola.

27. Men’s costume The emperor wears the tunic with close long sleeves.
The tunic only goes down the knee and has slits up the sides.
The tunic is white and is decorated with beautiful embroidery.
The tunic is belted low on the waist.
Over the tunic they wear the paludementum that is purple and fastened over the shoulder with a jeweled ornament suspended with stings of pearls.
The tablion is embroidered in red and gold.
Their shoes are made of red leather and fastened by buckles at the ankle.
They would wear a crown with stings of pearls hanging down from the sides and a jewel.

28. Emperor Costume

29. Noble Costume
The Nobles would wear the tunic with close fitting sleeves.
Tunic went down to the knees.
The tunic was of patterned material and worked with embroidery.
They also wore the paludamentum over the tunic which was of rich silk.
The paludamentum was fastened at the shoulder with an elaborate fibula.
The sword, belt, shield and spear, show semi-military dress.

30. Noble Costume

31. Man of Inferior Rank These men wore the dalmatica.
It was also belted low on the waist.
A loose piece of drapery that was in the form of a rectangular cloak is carried of his shoulder.
Cloaks were of various colors fastened at the neck in front with a circular fibula.

32. Women Costume The Greek Chiton, or stola, was worn in the 5th century.
Cylinder shaped
The neck part was hollowed out and the arms went through armholes at the sides.
The Greek Chiton was worn by all women.

33. Empress
The empress would usually wear about 4 different garments at once.
She wears an underdress with tight sleeves.
She would wear the stola over the underdress and then another stola with the angustus clavus.
Then over all is the palla draped on top with the panel attatched.
The empress would wear a jeweled collar with pear drop pearls.
The jeweled collar was a distinctive feature of Byzantine dress.

34. Empress

35. Noble Lady An underdress was worn with close fitting sleeves.
The new shaped stola is worn over the underdress and is tied at the waist with a girdle.
You will also find pictures of the noble lady wearing the palla draped on top.

36. Women of Lower Class They wore the dalmatica with the angustus clavus.
The palla is worn over the head with a portion of the edge being fastened tight around the head.
Another fold of it is pushed to the front over the tight portion.
The rest of the palla hangs on both sides and is draped.

37. Byzantium Fashion 6th Century
Introduction of the silk-worm
Practice of “faking” first came into use in the art of dressmaking.
Introduction to trousers

38. Trousers Made of silk or cotton
Decorated with many patterns and stripes
Close fitting, almost look like tights
Often times called hose

39. Men Costume
The Emperor dress did not change much other than the paludamentum is made of heavier and richer silk.
It is also specially woven for him on his own looms.
The Emperor would wear the new trousers made of silk.
The shoe switches from the sandal to a shoe.
The crown is more elaborate

40. Dress of Consuls
Consuls were the official representatives of the Senate.
They wore a toga that was folded and wrapped in a very elaborate way.
Later the toga was “faked” (shortcut), for the sake of convenience.

41. Courtier/Nobleman
Wears a short tunic that is embroidered and wears the paludementum over the tunic.
The tablion is usually plain purple.
He wears the trousers on his legs and wears a more pointed shoe.
You will also see them wearing a tunic that is longer.
They can gird it with a small scarf to form a pouch.
Toeless boots

42. Courtier/Nobleman

43. Women’s Costume
The Empress wore a whit stola that is ornamented with gold and emeralds.
Over the stola she wears a purple paludamentum, lined with blue, and embroidered inside and out with gold.
She wears a heavy jeweled collar and crown that has ropes of pearls hanging down.

44. Noble Lady They wear an under stola with close sleeves to the wrists.
Over this they wear the new chiton in white cut wide enough to form draped sleeves.
Over all they wear the gold palla, with a boarder of sapphires and pearls.
The palla passes the left shoulder, then drawn across the back, and pulled over the right shoulder.
The palla is belted by a rich girdle with a large ornament of jewels in the center.
They wear a band of gold and jewels around the top of their head.
From the band hangs a white gauze veil with fringed ends.

45. Noble Lady

46. Middle Class Women
These women wore the stola and then the dalmatica over the stola.
The dalmatica was worn unbelted.
The women wore a cap on their head made of white linen, with a roll brim and soft crown.

47. Men Hair Dress
Men wore their hair short cut straight across the forehead.
They called this the Caesar cut named after Julius Caesar.
They also wore the inherited the phrygian cap and the petasos from the Greeks.
Beards weren’t typically worn, but by about 900 AD the Emperors and the Noble started wearing them.

48. Men Hair dress
The customary hair dressed was cut to form a fringe over the forehead.
It was significantly long at the back to allow it to puff at the nape of the neck. AD

49. Women Hair Dress
Women wore their hair pretty long and either braided it or piled it on top the head in a variety of different ways.

50. Women’s Hair Dress
Here is a picture of a cap that is rolled and fits closely to the head.
Ornamented with bands and edged with pearls.
This cap covers the ears only leaving the lobes visible.
For imperial use the cap was black, purple, or red.
Lighter colors were worn by women of lower rank.

51. Byzantine Art Byzantine art was focused around religion.
The architecture was very circular. Churches had circular domes.

52. Mosaic’s

53. Bibliography