Key Terms – The Byzantine Empire

Key Terms – The Byzantine Empire • Constantinople • Justinian • Justinian’s Code • Heraclius • Greek fire • Seljuk Turks • Eastern Orthodox Christianity • Patriarch • Primacy • Icons • Iconoclast • Hagia Sophia • Cyril and Methodius • Kiev

Constantinople • Constantinople, in the year 330, became the center of a new empire after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. • The Byzantine Empire was built upon the wealth of Constantinople and control of neighboring territories. • Constantinople provided a good site for control of eastern and western trade

Justinian (527-565) • Justinian, upon becoming emperor, had three major goals he sought to accomplish. • These goals would make him one of the best emperors of the Byzantine Empire. • Goals were: • Construct a comprehensive legal code. • Reconquer lost lands • Beatify Constantinople

Justinian’s Code • Justinian’s Code comprehensive legal code that incorporated the laws of the roman Empire with those of the Roman Empire. • Was broken into four parts: • The Institutes  instruction manual used to read the code • The Digest  collection of ideas that could be used to construct new laws. • The Novellae  any laws created after 530 A.D. • The Codex Justinian  any laws written during the period of the Roman Empire

Reconquest of Outer Territories • Justinian would send out one of his best generals, Belisarius to recapture lost territory. • The Byzantines would: • Reacquire Italy, southern Spain • Acquire the Balkans • Acquire Western Asia • Acquire Northern Africa

The Hagia Sophia • As a part of Justinian’s beatification project, he asked for the largest church in the world to be built in Constantinople. • The Hagia Sophia would be built  also known as the Church of Holy Wisdom, used magnificent structures and a massive dome, would later be converted into a mosque.

Heraclius • Heraclius  led the Byzantines against invading foreign forces. • Broke the empire into military districts  generals were placed in control of each district. • Soldiers who fought to defend the empire were given a grant of land  provided extra motivation to defend their territory.

Greek Fire • In the 8th century, the Arabs began to use their navy and land army in an attempt to invade Constantinople from two sides. • The Byzantines made use of a new weapon to prevent the advance of the Arabs  this invention was known as Greek fire  mixture of sulfur, oil, and resin which would be fired from a tube and ignited or placed in pouches and used as molotovs

Eastern Orthodox Christianity • Upon the establishment of the Byzantine Empire and the Edict of Milan, a new sect of Christianity was created in the East. • This sect of Christianity was known as the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Eastern Orthodox Beliefs • The Eastern Orthodox faith differed from that of Roman Catholicism (western). • Some of these ideas include: • The patriarch as the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church • The lack of icons  religious depictions • Masses were said in Greek instead of Latin • Patriarchs were dominated by emperors due to their abolition of the idea of primacy  church leaders being above kings.

The Great Schism (1054) • A major division occurred within Christianity with the establishment of the Orthodox Church. • As Christians made pilgrimages to Constantinople, many western Christians brought their icons. • Citizens of Constantinople who were Orthodox Christians who did not believe in icons and chose to destroy those icons brought into the city. • These people who broke icons were known as iconoclasts  people who break icons. • The pope made decrees stating that icons were allowed anywhere Christians could travel  the patriarch would refuse the papal orders and state that the pope held no power in Constantinople • The pope would excommunicate (complete refusal of rites and removal from the church) the patriarch and the patriarch would do the same • This event would set off a major split known as the Great Schism.

Cyril and Methodius • The Byzantines sent missionaries to many different areas in an attempt to spread Eastern Orthodox Christianity. • Two monks, Cyril and Methodius would be sent to Kiev  the classical capital of Russia. • Considering the people of Russia had no written language, Cyril and Methodius would create one based on the Slavic languages. • The written language would be known as Cyrillic and would become the written language of Russia

The Fall of Constantinople • After numerous attempts to enter Constantinople by foreign tribes, the Seljuk Turks would be successful in breaking through. • Seljuk Turks  eastern oriented Turks who would take up the mantle left by the Abbassids. • The Seljuk Turks would invade and capture Constantinople in 1453. • Constantinople would become Istanbul and also would become the Turkish capital.

So What’s the Big Deal? • The fall of Constantinople had incredible effects on World History. • It led to: • A complete change of perspective in terms of trade with Asia  countries in Europe now had to find new ways to arrive in Asia which would lead to the Age of Exploration. • A reliance on a new trading system known as the Hanseatic League which involved north European city-states. • The rise of new empires in Europe as a result of the new strength of the Hanseatic city-states and the Spanish and Portuguese colonial landholdings.

Key Terms – The Byzantine Empire