Ms. Sheets

AP World History

Chapter 9:Civilization in Eastern

Europe: Byzantium and Orthodox Europe

• Two major Christian civilizations develop• East and West• Each developed close relations with

Islamic world• Each play major roles in trade (N/S,

not E/W)• Civilizations spread north because of

missionaries• Religions are culturally, even

organizationally, separate

Overview

The Byzantine Empire:Introductions

• Maintained high levels of political, economic, and cultural activity during much of 500-1450

• Controlled territory in Balkans, northern Middle East, and eastern Mediterranean

• Rulers saw themselves as Roman emperors• Government in many ways is

continuation of eastern portion of Roman Empire

The Byzantine Empire:Introductions

• Constantinople = capital, is cosmopolitan, opulent, and most important city in Europe

• Practice Orthodox Christianity (will become dominate throughout most of Eastern Europe)

• Spreads culture, religion, and politics to parts of the world that had not previously been controlled by any major civ• Balkans, western Russia

The Byzantine Empire:Origins of the Empire

• Emperor Constantine of Roman Empire• Built Constantinople in 4th c. CE as

capital• Thriving city, fend off Mongol

invasions• Empire divided into East/West- end of 4th c.• Capitals at Rome, Constantinople

• Political style in East: complex administration around emperor, elaborate ceremonies• Justinian makes Greek language official,

6th c.• Greek = read freely classical texts• Latin becomes inferior, barbaric

• Involved in Mediterranean commerce

The Byzantine Empire:Justinian’s Achievements

• Justinian – 527-565 (wife Theodora)• Military gains and great expansion• Wanted to capture old Roman Empire itself• Belisarius, brilliant general• Gains in North Africa and Italy• Temporary capital at Ravenna, artistic

center• Lost Italy: unable to withstand Germanic

pressure• Systemizes Roman legal code• Influences future law codes in Europe• Reduces confusion, united and organized the

new empire• Building Projects to Rebuild Constantinople• Hagia Sophia – engineering and architectural

achievements (dome)• Slavs, Persians attack from East

The Byzantine Empire:Justinian’s Achievements

• Map of byzantine empire under Justinian

The Byzantine Empire:Arab Pressure and the Empire’s Defenses• Constant external threats

• Justinian’s successors’ primary concern is defense against Slavs, Russians, and Arab invaders

• Able to hold off Arab Muslims from the east but with massive losses in Mediterranean provinces• Arab naval fleet; battle over Mediterranean• “Greek fire”

• Empire’s size/strength reduced• Economic burdens from wars with Muslins• Increase in taxes; increase in wealth for upper

class• Weak emperors

• Bulgars from Bulgaria• Press onto Byzantine territory, some marriage

alliances• Defeated by Basil II, 1014, and Bulgaria becomes

part of empire

The Byzantine Empire:Byzantine Society and Politics

• Emperors resemble Chinese rulers• Center of elaborate court rituals: divinely inspired, all

powerful ruler• Ordained by God• Head of church and state

• Women could (and did) serve as emperor despite patriarchal society• Empresses Theodora and Zoë (sisters)

• Sophisticated bureaucracy• Open to all classes (but aristocrats dominate) and

highly educated• Organize empire militarily, socially, economically

• Provincial governors appointed• Economic control

• Regulation of food prices, trade, and silk production

• Trade network• Asia, Russia, Scandinavia, Europe, Africa

The Byzantine Empire:Byzantine Society and Politics

• Arts• Creativity in Architecture (domed buildings)• Richly colored religious mosaics• Icon paintings – paintings of saints and other

religious figures• Distinct Byzantine style

• Cultural life blended Hellenism and Orthodox Christianity

The Byzantine Empire:The Split Between Eastern and Western

Christianity• Separate paths emerge starting in 11th c.

• Disagreements about Christian doctrine and policy• Papal interference in Byzantine political and

religious affairs• Clerical celibacy (W – yes, E – no)• Dispute over the type of bread to be used in

religious ceremonies• Byzantine state controlled church in the eastern

lands• West translate Greek Bible into Latin

• Patriarch Michael attacks Catholic practice in 1054 (bread, celibacy)

• Mutual excommunication• Church splits into two traditions

• Western (Roman Catholic)• Eastern (Orthodox)

The Byzantine Empire:The Empire’s Decline

• Period of decline from 11th century after church schism• Able to survive by careful diplomacy but there

are still problems• Seljuk Turks take most of Asian provinces in 1071

at Manzikert• Slavic states emerge which diminish Byzantine

power• Appeal to West for help against Turks brings

Crusaders but no help• 1204, Venetian crusaders sack Constantinople

but West is not powerful enough to hold on• 1453, Constantinople taken by Ottoman Turks,

and by 1461 empire gone

The Byzantine Empire:The Empire’s Decline

• Who contributed to destruction of Byzantine Empire?• Seljuk Turks• independent Slavic states in the Balkans

(Bulgaria and Serbia)• Western crusaders and Roman Catholic Church• Italian trading city-states (Venice and Genoa)

• Byzantium important because they maintained a strong empire even amid rapid surge of Islam, as well as cultural innovations and Orthodox Christianity

The Byzantine Empire (1000-1100)Byzantine Empire went from a major to minor power

after the Turkish defeat at Manzikert in 1071

The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe

• Influence through Byzantine conquest, Christian missionaries and conversion, new trade routes

• Christian missionaries (Cyril and Methodius) helped bring Orthodoxy northward into Russia and the Balkans• Create new alphabet: Cyrillic script• Possibility of literature and literacy

developed in eastern Europe

The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe:The East Central Borderlands

• The East Central Borderlands• Competition from Catholics and Orthodox

Greeks for converts• Those who become Catholic are largely in

Hungary, Poland• Regional monarchies prevail

• Influx of Jews to Borderlands from W Europe and Middle East due to persecution• Migrate into region in large numbers

(Poland = greatest number)• Value education and literacy with Jewish

culture• Gain strength in local commerce• Resented by Christian community

The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe:The Emergence of Kievan Rus’

• Slavs from Asia moved into region during Roman Empire• Mix with earlier populations• Iron working, agricultural society of family

tribes, and villages• Eventually, develop loose kingdoms• Animist religion (sun, thunder, wind, fire)

• 6th, 7th centuries• Scandinavian merchants• Trade between Byzantines and the North

(Scandinavia)• Luxury products from Silk Roads traded for

furs from North• 855, trading city (Kiev) become site of monarchy

under Rurik, first Prince of Kievan Rus’, principality

The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe:The Emergence of Kievan Rus’

• Vladimir I (980-1015)• Ponders religious choices• Converts to Orthodoxy, 1000, on behalf of all

his people• Organizes mass baptisms, forcing

conversions with military pressure• Controls church and creates literate Russian

priesthood• Develops own Russian Orthodox Church

• Yaroslav (1019-1054)• Issues unifying law code• Translates religious literature from Greek to

Slavic

• Kievan Rus’ forms core of Russian culture and politics• Largest single state in Europe

The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe:The Emergence of Kievan Rus’

East European kingdoms and Slavic expansion, 1000

The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe:Institutions and Culture in Kievan Rus’

• Russian culture borrowed much from Byzantium• Russian bureaucracy and education were not as

developed• Attracted to ceremony and luxury of Byzantium• Generally peaceful and trade-oriented relationship

between Byzantium and Kievan Rus’• Orthodox influence

• Ornate churches, filled with icons and incense• Monasticism develops, stress prayer and charity• Fervent religious devotion

• Art (icons, illuminated manuscripts), literature (using Cyrillic) dominated by religion, royalty• No philosophy or science

• Free farmers and aristocratic landowners• Boyars, landlords and Russian nobility, less powerful

than in West

The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe:Kievan Decline

• Decline from 12th century• Regional princes set up rival governments • Succession struggles within royal family

• Asian conquerors and invaders chip away at territory

• Fall of Byzantium reduces Russian trade and wealth

• Mongols (called Tartars in Russian) invade• 13th century, take territory and major cities

easily• Mongols are aided by rival princes• Control much of Russia for over two

centuries

The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe:The End of an Era in Eastern Europe

• Fall of Byzantine empire and Mongol invasions end this period of Russian history• Key features of Kievan social structure

disappear• Orthodox Christianity and lively artistic

culture remain, however

• As result, East and West further separated• East is cut off from western contacts,

stifling economic, political, and cultural sophistication

Global Connections:Eastern Europe and the World

• Byzantine Empire • participated actively in interregional

trade• Constantinople: great trading city,

connection between East and West (signified by silk trade)

• Russia• Dependent of Byzantium as main trading

contact with rest of world• When Byzantium declines, and Mongols

invade, period of isolation for Russia

Chapter 9 Homework Questions

• What were some achievements of Justinian and the Byzantine Empire?

• Describe the split between Western and Eastern Christianity? (Great Schism)

• What led to the decline of the Byzantine Empire?

• Describe the emergence of Kievan Rus and the Russian Orthodox Church.

• In what ways was Vladimir’s conversion to Christianity a key event in European history?