1. The Byzantine Empire
World History I

2. The Byzantine Empire – 565 C.E.

3. The New Eastern Empire
When the Western Roman Empire fell in 476, the eastern empire still survived as the Byzantine Empire
Lasted for 1000 years after fall of Rome
Capital city – Constantinople
Center of trade
Easily fortified site on a peninsula bordering natural harbor

4. Constantinople - Center of Trade
Byzantine Empire became wealthy due to being center of trade

5. Justinian (ruled 527 – 565) Byzantine emperors enjoyed absolute power
Expanded empire
Beautified Constantinople
Created Justinian Code of Law
Relied heavily on wife, Theodora, to help run empire

6. Justinian Conquers (Again)
Justinian reconquered lands lost by the Eastern Empire
Lands included parts of Italy, Africa, and Spain

7. Rebuilt Constantinople
Justinian began rebuilding the capital, Constantinople, after being damaged in a revolt
Rebuilt city walls
Built schools, hospitals, courts, churches
Most famous church and great architectural achievement was the Hagia Sophia

8. Hagia Sophia

9. Byzantine Art Greatly inspired by Christianity and imperial power
Icons – religious images
Mosaics - the art of creating images using small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other material

10. Icons

11. Mosaics

12. Influence of Roman Law – Justinian Code
Justinian was highly influenced by Roman law
Had 10 scholars look through thousands of Roman laws to develop own code of law
Developed Justinian Code – uniform code of law based on Roman law
Included laws on marriage, slavery, property, women’s rights, and crime
Laws were strict but fair
Gave same rights to everyone – rich or poor
Highly influential – laws became model for lawmakers in Europe and our own laws

13. Influence of Roman and Greek Culture
Byzantines spoke Greek
Studied Latin, Greek, Roman literature and history

14. Tension between Eastern and Western Christian Churches
Division of the Roman empire affected the Christian Church
In the east – emperor had control over head of church
Caused by different cultural practices
Limited contact between areas
Religious practices developed differently
In the west – lack of emperor gave pope more responsibilities
Western pope claimed control over all Christian churches in east and west
Eastern church rejected authority of pope

15. The Church Divides Christian Church split in 1054
Known as “The Great Schism”
Roman Catholic Church in the west
Catholic – “universal”
Latin – official language
Eastern Orthodox Church in the east
Orthodox – “holding established beliefs”
Greek – official language
Split led to creation of two separate European civilizations

16. Eastern Orthodox Church

17. Roman Catholic Church

18. Influence on Russia The Byzantine Empire greatly influenced Russia
Trade routes between Black Sea and Baltic Sea
Byzantine missionaries established Orthodox Churches in Russia
Russia and most of Eastern Europe adopted Orthodox Christianity as main religion
Byzantine missionaries even created an alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet, to write the Bible in Russian.

19. Russian Orthodox Church

20. Byzantine Empire Collapses
New Arabian religion of Islam began in 600s
Muslims armies attacked Constantinople
Civil wars, attacks by Ottoman Turks, Serbs, and Europeans hurt Byzantine Empire
Only small section of empire remained by 1350
Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453
This officially ended the Byzantine Empire