Byzantium

The Eastern legacy of the Roman empire

Byzantium

• Barbarians are now the Western masters– Military strength, but they get culture from the

Romans they subdued• Partly Christianized by missionaries already• Roman culture becomes dominant over Germanic tribal

culture in the West

– Marks the beginning of European Middle Ages• Break between East and West• Early Middle Ages in Europe: 476-1000 ad• A mix of Greco Roman culture, new Germanic culture, and

evolving Christian traditions

Byzantium

• In the East, imperial power survives• 324 ad: Constantine defeats Licinius and

becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire• 330 ad: Byzantium is dedicated as new capitol

city: Constantinople • 324-632: The Eastern Empire’s greatest

territorial expansion and cultural golden age

Byzantium

• Latin is official language of empire until 610• Greek (which the majority of the population

knew) becomes the official language until its fall in 1453

• Foreshadowing of the major differences in cultural and religious development between East and West

Byzantium

• Justinian comes to power in 527• Wages wars in the West to regain imperial

territory from barbarian settlers • Wins most campaigns until his death in 565• Succeeding emperors lose most of Italy to the

Lombards (the West), but secure tribute from Persia (the East)

Byzantium

Byzantium

• Major cultural achievements in the Byzantine golden age (under Justinian)– Ancient Roman legal code updated as the Corpus

Juris Civilis (“body of civil law”) which comes to be known as “Justinian’s Law Code.”

– Christianity continues to outshine Greco-Roman paganism in culture and philosophy; the Hagia Sophia (Church of the Holy Wisdom) built between 532-537

Byzantium

• Major challenge to the Eastern Empire in the centuries following Justinian was Islam– Muhammad’s prophecy: 610– Byzantine-Arab wars occur from the 7th century till

the 12th century, the age of the Crusades– Other people groups were constantly putting

pressure on the Empire also: Serbs and Avars (Slavs) in the Balkans, Lombards (Goths) in Italy, Persians in the East, and even African Abyssinians in the Mediterranean

Byzantium

Byzantium

• 8th century Byzantine Empire– Leo iii the Isaurian inherits war with the Muslims– At least partially credits Muslim success with a

puritanical, no-idolatry kind of religious practice– Bans icons, starting the “Iconoclastic Controversy”– Further weakens the connection between East

and West

Byzantium

• 9th - 11th century Byzantine Empire– Relations between emperors and aristocracy

frequently leads to Civil War– Major people groups conquered and brought into the

sphere of Byzantine empire: Bulgaria and the Rus (Russia)

– The apex of Byzantine conquest was the beginning of the 11th century under Basil ii

– Eastern and Western Christianity formally split at this time also: 1054: Humbert excommunicates Cerularius

Byzantium

• The Great Schism– This is when we can begin talking about Roman

Catholic Church in the west and Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the east

– Pope Leo ix / Patriarch Michael Cerularius– Several controversies over the course of history

that contributed to the split

Byzantium

• Great Schism controversies– A matter of language: Greek versus Latin– The church leaders suppress languages in their

domains– Primacy

• Bishops of various geographies from the beginning of the church’s history frequently consulted and collaborated, but some geographies were more important than others

• Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch were all important centers

Byzantium

• Great schism controversies (continued)– Primacy (continued)

• Papal authority therefore becomes an issue• Jurisdiction over certain geographies (Balkans, Sicily)• Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem are silent: why?

– Filioque: a matter of accepted practice becoming a dividing issue

– Liturgical practices– Iconoclasm (as we’ve noted)– Celibacy

Byzantium

• 11th century defeat by Seljuk Turks fragments Empire in Anatolia

• Age of Crusades• Western Crusaders sack Constantinople 1204• Constantinople finally falls to the Ottoman

Turks in 1453