1. Byzantine & Mongol Empires
Unit 4 Vocabulary
Byzantine & Mongol Empires

2. Byzantine Empire
The eastern part of the Roman Empire that was left over after the fall of the city of Rome and the western Roman Empire.
Differences
Religion (Christianity)
Language (Greek instead of Latin)
Architecture
Similarity = The people considered themselves as Romans

3. Justinian Most important ruler of the Byzantine Empire
Expanded empire through military conquests, but never recaptured the city of Rome.
Ordered the building of the Hagia Sophia
Ordered the writing of the Justinian Law Code
Put all Byzantines under a common law
Still influences modern law codes

4. Theodora Wife of Emperor Justinian
“Empress Theodora”
Born to a poor family, and worked as an actress and dancer (possibly a prostitute)
Influenced Justinian to start programs to help the poor (food, medical care, shelter)
Convinced Justinian to not flee the city during the Nika Revolt

5. Constantinople Capital city of the Byzantine Empire
Located on the Bosporus Strait in between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea
Center for trade by land and sea
Most famous building = Hagia Sophia
An Eastern Orthodox Church
City eventually fell to invasion by the Ottoman Empire

6. Great Schism Split in the Christian church that took place in 1054
West = Roman Catholic Church
Services in Latin
Pope was the supreme religious authority
Used “icons”
Symbols or pictures of saints or events
East = Orthodox Church
Services in Greek
Led by a Patriarch who was appointed by the emperor
Most did not like the use of icons

7. Early Russian Empire
Empire that developed to the northeast of the Byzantines
Led by the people known as the “Slavs”
Adopted the Eastern Orthodox Church as its state church
City:
Kiev = Early capital city that was heavily influenced by Constantinople

8. Mongol Empire A loosely organized group of pastorial clans
They raised and shepherded animals
Under the leadership of Genghis Khan the clans united into one nation and began to build an empire
Conquered and controlled with cruelty
Ruled land from China to Europe
Largest empire in history

9. Marco Polo
Italian who traveled on the silk road into the Mongol Empire. (One of the first Europeans to do so)
Stayed, studied, and served in the court of Mongol emperor Kublai Khan for 17 years.
His observations about the power and wealth of the Mongols were recorded in a book, but most people thought it was all made up.