1. Byzantine Empire
The ancient city of Byzantium was originally founded by the Greeks. At its height the Byzantine Empire controlled most of the territory around the Mediterranean Sea.
Due to being strategically located on an Isthmus called the Bosporus Straits, Constantinople became very prosperous by controlling trade routes between Asia, Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
The Byzantine Empire, once part of the greater Roman Empire continued flourishing for 1000 years after the fall of Rome.
The empire continued many Greco-Roman life style patterns and spread its Orthodox Christian civilization through most of eastern Europe ( Kievian Russia) by using its missionaries.

2. Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th c
Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th c. moved his capital to Constantinople calling it the ”New Rome”.
Moving was necessary due to ROME constantly being invaded by the barbarians.
After seeing a vision of a cross before a battle Constantine adopts Christianity for his empire
Greek became the official language
Constantinople –Capital of the Byzantine Empire; constructed on the site of Byzantium, an old Greek city on the Bosporus

3. Remember…… Germanic invaders pounded the Roman empire in the west
Huns – Group of nomadic tribes that pushed through central Europe in the 4th and 5th c. instigating the migration of the Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire
Most emperors that were conquered moved their empire back in the east
Remember……

4. Important New Center Constantinople “New Second Rome”
Located on a strait that linked Aegean/Mediterranean and Black Seas
Key trading route linking Europe, Africa and Asia
Buffer between Western Europe and Asia
Hellenistic culture – After Alexander’s death, Greek art, education, and culture merged with those in the Middle East
Trade and important scientific centers were established, such as Alexandria, Egypt

5. Byzantine Empire-(Eastern Roman Empire)

6. The Age of Justinian 527-565 Byzantine empire reached greatest size
Wanted to recover what had been lost during the fall of Rome
Re-conquered N. Africa, Italy and southern Spain
Victories were temporary
Justinian rebuilt Constantinople in classical style; among the architectural achievements was the huge church of Hagia Sophia

7. Justinian – 6th c. Byzantine emperor; failed to reconquer the western portions of the empire; rebuilt Constantinople; codified Roman law
Hagia Sophia – Great domed church constructed during the reign of Justinian
Body of Civil Law – Justinian’s codification of Roman law; reconciled Roman edicts and decisions; made Roman law a coherent basis for political and economic life
Justinian helped preserve and transmit the Greek and Roman culture into his empire.
Icons – Images of religious figures prohibited from being worshipped by the Byzantine Christians. This leads to the Great Schism between the Eastern/Western Catholic church.

8. Justinian codification of Roman law was his greatest achievement
The revived empire withstood the 7th c. advance of Arab Muslims although important regions were lost along the eastern Mediterranean and the northern Middle Eastern heartland
Hagia Sophia
Byzantine political patterns resembled the earlier Chinese system
Emperor, ordained by God and surrounded by elaborate court ritual, headed both church and state

9. During Middle Ages
Dispute over worshipping icons (Holy Images) contributed to split (Great SCHISM) between Eastern and Western Churches
Byzantine Emperor Leo III outlawed prayer to icons because it was idol worship.
1054 provoked a permanent split between Byzantine, Eastern (Greek) Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church no longer recognized the supremacy of the Pope as their leader.

10. A Divided Christian Church
Western Roman Catholic
Pope is head
Located in Rome
Latin Language
Priests cannot marry
Most important holy day Christmas
Can use Icon Worship
Excommunicated Byzantine Emperor
Eastern Orthodox
Emperor is head
Patriarch in Constantinople
rejected Pope’s authority
Clergy could marry
Greek Language
Most important holy day Easter
No Icon worship

11. Compare churches…..
The final break between the two churches occurred in 1054 over arguments about the type of bread used in the mass and the celibacy of priests

12. Byzantine Heritage Built on the Hellenistic culture Christian beliefs
Greek science, art and literature
Roman engineering

13. Byzantine Contributions
Preserved classic works of ancient Greece
Mostly concerned with writing about their own times
Many went and taught at universities in Italy,
Contributed to the birth of the next cultural time in European history, Renaissance

14. Religion will play a major role in decline of Byzantine Empire
The long decline began in 11th c.
Muslim Turkish invaders seized almost all of the empires Asian provinces, removing the most important sources of taxes/food
Crusaders, led by Venetian merchants, sacked Constantinople in WHY??????????????
A smaller empire struggled to survive for another two centuries
In 1453, the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople

15. What happened to the Byzantines?
Crusades
Byzantine emperor called for help to fight the Muslims headed for Jerusalem
Western Christians drained $$$ from the Byzantine Empire outfitting armies

16. Crusades

17. 1453 A.D.
With the use of cannons Ottoman Turk Muslims (Mehmed II) eventually took Constantinople and renamed it Istanbul

18. Benefits
Long term cultural diffusion took place between the Middle East and Europeans
The same sharing of ideas and products took place between members of all the different armies during Crusades
With conquest of Constantinople, the Ottoman empire will be able to expand its borders because they now control the strategic spot between Asia and Europe
Europe must now find new trade routes to get the goods from the far East