The document discusses the emergence and development of the Byzantine Empire and Orthodox Christianity following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It notes that the Byzantine Empire, with its capital at Constantinople, survived invasions and disease that destroyed Rome. The Byzantine Empire influenced Eastern Europe through trade, its military, and by spreading Orthodox Christianity. It eventually declined due to invasions and lost Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, but had spread Orthodox Christianity and its cultural influences to places like Kievan Rus, the predecessor state to Russia.

1. Byzantine Empire and
Orthodox Christianity

2. Europe During Post-
Classical Period
 Following fall of Roman Empire, 2
Christian societies emerged in Europe
 Western Europe: Roman Catholicism
 Eastern Europe: Orthodox Christianity
 The religion and culture of Eastern
Europe was largely shaped by the
Byzantine Empire.

3. Map of Byzantine Empire
http://guide-martine.com/images/history_byzantine3.jpg

4. Origins of the Byzantine
Empire
 Late in the Classical Period, Rome
established an eastern capital at
Constantinople (formerly Byzantium)
 Attempt to keep empire from collapsing
 Roman Empire eventually split into
eastern and western halves
 East began to thrive, west experienced
decline

5. Byzantine Empire
 Both empires were hit hard by foreign invasion and
disease in the late-classical period.
 BUT, Byzantine Empire survived, the Roman Empire did not
 Why was the Byzantine Empire stronger than that of
Rome????
 Thrived on trade
 Trade with Rome in decline
 Military derived from Middle Eastern provinces
 Rome hired foreign mercenaries
 Strong political and religious leadership in form of the
Byzantine Emperor
 Roman Emperor and Pope competed for power

6. Emperor Justinian
 Byzantine Empire flourished under Justinian’s rule
 Art, architecture, construction projects
 Hagia Sophia- church with world’s largest dome (at the time)
 Engineering marvel
 Created standardized system of law codes (Justinian Law Code)
 Maintain stability, unity, consistency
 Under Justinian, the Byzantine Empire extended its influence
 533: Emperor Justinian attempted to reunite eastern and western
halves of the old Roman Empire
 Failed
 Gained territory in N. Africa and Italy
 However, the Muslim empires will later conquer about half of the
territory once controlled by the Byzantine Empire

7. Mosaic of
Emperor
Justinian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ima
ge:Meister_von_San_Vitale_in
_Ravenna_004.jpg

8. Byzantine Society
 Emperor was ordained by God to be
head of Church and state
 Patriarchal rule, but some women were able
to hold throne temporarily
 In early days, women enjoyed some
freedom, but became more restricted as
time passed
 Practiced veiling and confinement of women
 Muslims later adopt these practices

9. Religion in Byzantine
Empire
 Initially, the Byzantines were under the
authority of the Pope
 Over time, conflict arose between the Pope in Rome
and the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople
 Began to develop differences in religious practices
 1054: Great Schism
 Official split in Church
 Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox

10. Government Under
Byzantine Empire
 Complex centralized bureaucracy
 Mostly aristocrats in power positions
 Possible for other social classes to hold office
 Bureaucrats had to be well educated
 Most positions that were closest to the Emperor
were held by eunuchs
 Provincial governors and spy network to maintain
order
 Close tie between church and state

11. Government Under the
Byzantine Empire
 Focus on military
 Recruited local troops
 Exchanged military service for land that could be passed on to
children
 Military helped fend off foreign invasions
 Regulation of the economy
 Controlled food prices
 Adopted silk making from China, allowing them to compete in
luxury markets
 Government Sponsored trade with Europe, Asia, Arab
Muslims, India
 Role of merchant class was diminished due to govt. involvement
in trade

12. Art and Architecture
 Strong Hellenistic Influence
 Domed buildings (adopted from Rome)
 Mosaics: use of small, colored pieces of
glass, tile, stone to create an image
 Icon Painting: paintings of religious
figures
 Often used rich colors such as blue and gold
to signify the purity and brilliance of heaven

13. Mosaic of Christ from Hagia
Sophia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Architecture

14. Hagia Sophia
http://www.wayfaring.info/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/copy-of-hagia-sophia-west-view.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hagia_Sophia_interior_March_2008.jpg

16. Decline of Byzantine
Empire
 Long decline
 Muslim Invasions
 Turkish Troops seized territory in Asia
 Slavic peoples rebelled and created
independent kingdoms in Balkan Peninsula
 Crusaders
 1453: Turkish Sultan and his army attacked
Constantinople and seized the city
 Established the Ottoman Empire under Muslim
control

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18. Legacy of the Byzantine
Empire
 Although the Byzantine Empire fell to
Muslims in 1453, it left behind a cultural
legacy in Eastern Europe
 Sent missionaries into Eastern Europe
 Conversions to Eastern Orthodox Christianity
 Taught the Slavic peoples a written
language called Cyrillic
 Still used by many cultures of Eastern Europe

19. Russia
 6th-7th Centuries: ppl. From Scandinavia
navigated the rivers of Russia on their
way to trade with the Byzantine Empire
 Known as Varangians
 Established cities along major rivers
 Most important city was Kiev
 Legend states it became a monarchy in 855
 First ruler was Viking named Rurik
 Became ruler of kingdom known as Keivan Rus

20. Kievan Rus
 Kiev maintained close ties to the Byzantine Empire
 Adopted many cultural practices from the Byzantines
 Adopted use of Cyrillic alphabet (created by Byzantine
Missionaries)
 988: Vladimir I converted to Orthodox Christianity
 Most Russians were polytheistic before this conversion
 Went from polygamy to monogamy
 Began to model their art & architecture after those of Byzantine
Empire
 Used wood rather than stone in most buildings

21. Government in Kievan Rus
 Series of independent, rival kingdoms
 Local, decentralized rule
 Most people lived on communes, very little private
ownership of land
 Created strong sense of community
 Kiev most powerful city, but did not create a
centralized bureaucracy to unite all of Russia
 Close tie between church and state after the
conversion to Orthodox Christianity

22. Kievan Rus
 Religion became the center of life for
people of Kievan Rus
 King of Kiev played major role in church
 Church was center of life in Russian towns
and villages
 Scientific thought was overshadowed by the
teachings of religious leaders
 Art was centered around religious figures

23. Decline of Kievan Rus
 Over time, Kievan Rus went into decline
 Rivalry among various kingdoms
 Decline of Byzantine Empire affected the Russians
 1240: Kiev and Russia fell under Mongol rule
 Russia forced to take orders from and pay tribute to
the Mongol rulers (known as the Golden Horde)
 Mongols maintained rule until mid-1400’s

24. Ivan the Great
 Under the rule of Ivan III, Moscow began
campaign to end Mongol rule in Russia
 Quit paying tributes in mid-1400’s
 Conquests in Russia to unite major cities
under Muscovite rule
 Mongol rule over by end of 1400’s
 More on Russia in next unit!