The document provides an overview of developments in the Byzantine Empire and Western Asia between 200-850 CE. It discusses: 1) Sources of strength for the Byzantine Empire including maintaining Roman administrative systems and Constantinople's strong defensive fortifications. 2) Conflicts between the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires, with the Sassanids controlling Persia and seeking expansion, bringing them into conflict with Byzantium. 3) The growth and evolution of the Christian church, including the establishment of the Nicene Creed, the split between the Western and Eastern churches, and the development of monasticism according to the Rule of Saint Benedict.

1. John P. McKay Bennett ● D. Hill ● John Buckler
Patricia Buckley Ebrey ● Roger B. Beck
Clare Haru Crowston ● Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
A History of World Societies
Ninth Edition
CHAPTER 8
Continuity and Change in
Europe and Western Asia, 200–850
Modified by J. Usher
Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

2. I. The Byzantine Empire
A. Sources of Byzantine Strength
• 1. Legal, administrative, and military systems were
maintained from the Roman Empire, which helped establish
a strong and secure state.
• 2. The Byzantine Empire had to confront numerous
adversaries, one of which was the Xiongnu, the same
barbaric group that threatened the Chinese Empire. The
Greeks and Romans called them Huns.
• 3. Constantinople enjoyed a prime location for defensive
fortifications. Strong walls were constructed around the city
that made attacks by land or sea difficult. Cisterns of water
and vegetable gardens within Constantinople’s walls could
sustain a besieged population.

5. Notes on “Sassanid Cameo”
This may help you with evaluating non-document primary sources.
• Sassanid Cameo (p. 207)
• 1. This cameo is a Sassanid commemoration of victories over the Roman Empire in the 250s C.E. Which
of the two figures is the Sassanid Emperor Shapur and which the Roman Emperor Valerian? How do you
know?
• (Answer: The figure on the right is Shapur. He and his horse are portrayed as larger than Valerian. The
figure of Shapur is muscular and grasps Valerian’s hand in a gesture of control and victory. The cameo
can be viewed as a kind of Sassanid propaganda. )
• 2. How might historians use this cameo?
• (Answer: Sources on the wars between Shapur and the Roman Emperors in the mid-200s CE are scarce,
particularly on the Sassanid side. Historians might use the cameo as evidence about how Shapur or
Sassanid elites in general remembered the capture of Valerian. Roman sources, for example, claim that
Valerian came to negotiate with Shapur and the latter tricked the Roman Emperor, capturing him. The
Sassanid presentation, obviously, is that Shapur defeated Valerian in hand to hand combat. )
• 3. Shapur was only the second emperor of the Sassanid dynasty, which was founded by his father
Ardashir in 224 CE. How might the defeat and capture of a Roman Emperor have affected the standing of
a new and relatively fragile Persian dynasty? How does the cameo reflect this?
• (Answer: Rome was the greatest center of power in the Mediterranean world at this time. The defeat of
a Roman Army and capture of Valerian must have been a source of great prestige to the Sassanids. The
cameo reflects the pride of the dynasty in that victory. )

6. I. The Byzantine Empire
B. The Sassanid Empire and Conflicts with Byzantium
• 1. The Sassanid empire was centered in the Tigris-Euphrates
Valley and had access to the Persian Gulf. Sassanid wealth
depended on agricultural production and the caravan trade
routes that crossed through the region.
• 2. Zoroastrianism was the official religion of the Sassanid
Persians. Other religions throughout the empire were
persecuted.
• 3. Sassanid foreign policies focused on expansion of the
empire. This brought the Sassanid empire into conflict with
the Byzantine Empire.

7. I. The Byzantine Empire
C. The Law Code of Justinian
• 1. Roman law had become extremely complicated and impracticable. Jurists were appointed to a
committee by Emperor Justinian to organize and clarify the laws, resulting in the Code.
• 2. Justinian’s lawyers also produced the Digest and the Institutes, which, along with the Code, are the
backbone of the corpus juris civilis (the “body of civil law”), which is the foundation for almost all
modern European law.
D. Byzantine Intellectual Life
• 1. A strong sense of Greek influences flavored Byzantine literature. Historical events such as Justinian’s
reconquest of North Africa and Italy were favorite Byzantine subjects.
• 2. Greco-Roman learning in math and science traveled through the Byzantine Empire to the Arabs.
Byzantine science is best known for the discovery of “Greek fire,” a flammable liquid pumped through a
tube, then ignited and used as a flamethrower. “Greek fire” became a military weapon that saved
Constantinople from Arab conquest in 678.
• 3. Byzantine medicine was much more advanced compared to other populations. However, like all other
empires, the Byzantines could not handle the “Justinian plague.” The epidemic weakened the Byzantine
military and left it vulnerable to enemy forces.

8. I. The Byzantine Empire
E. Life in Constantinople
• 1. The city was a major crossroads for overland trade routes because it
connected the Eastern and Western empires. The markets of Constantinople
offered merchandise from distant lands. Many products were produced in and
shipped from Constantinople, making the city a center of production and trade.
• 2. Merchants and craftsmen could achieve wealth in Constantinople’s vibrant
economy, but they could not achieve first-class status. Only landed aristocracy
could hold that position in Byzantine society.
• 3. The Byzantine government constantly confronted political rivalries within the
empire, assassination plots, and military revolts.
• 4. Constantinople was home to numerous apartment complexes. The typical
Byzantine household included family members and servants, some of them
slaves. Upper-class women were segregated from the outside world in an effort
to maintain chastity and family honor. Marriage was intended for social
advancement.

9. II. The Growth of the Christian Church
A. The Evolution of Church Leadership and Orthodoxy
• 1. The Roman Empire had been divided into units called dioceses for
administrative purposes. The early Christian community based the
church’s organization on that pattern. Each of the church’s dioceses, or
geographical districts, was placed under the authority of a bishop. The
cathedral was the bishop’s center of authority.
• 2. Disputes within the Christian community created concerns for
Constantine. Arianism questioned the exact nature of Jesus. At the
Council of Nicaea, Constantine and church leaders developed the Nicene
Creed, which defined the church’s official position that Christ is of the
same substance as God the Father.
• 3. Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of Rome
and banned the practice of the old Roman state religion. The church was
then allowed to construct its own canon law to settle ecclesiastical
disputes.

10. II. The Growth of the Christian Church
B. The Western Church and the Eastern Church
• 1. The hierarchy of the Western Church was based on Jesus’s
statements that Peter was the rock on which the church
would be built, creating the concept of the Petrine Doctrine.
• 2. Tradition has it that Peter lived in Rome and was the
church’s first bishop. As successors of Peter, the bishops of
Rome, or popes, claimed to be supreme over Christian
society.
• 3. In the East the emperor continued to have a level of
control over the Orthodox Church, which was led by the
patriarch. Eastern emperors saw religion as a branch of the
state.
• 4. Eastern bishops did not accept Rome’s claim to primacy,
and so the Eastern Christian Church, called the Orthodox
Church, and the Roman Church grew further and further
apart.

11. II. The Growth of the Christian Church
C. The Iconoclastic Controversy
• 1. Images of God, Jesus Christ, and the saints were presented in sculptures, mosaics, or
paintings. The church allowed people to venerate these icons in the belief that they
fostered reverence.
• 2. Iconoclasts felt the faithful were worshiping the icons themselves rather than what they
represented, which was a violation of church law and the Ten Commandments. Emperor
Leo III ordered that the icons be destroyed. His son Constantine attacked the monasteries,
seizing property and executing some monks while forcing others into the military.
• 3. Leo’s and Constantine’s actions raised the issue of how involved the emperor should be
in church affairs. The controversy influenced the pope to seek an alliance with the Frankish
monarchy. The pope of Rome and the patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each
other, creating the schism between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches.
D. Christian Monasticism
• 1. Individuals removed themselves from society and went into deserts or mountains to seek
God through devotional prayer. The church encouraged those who chose this path to live in
communities, creating a life known as monasticism.
• 2. The Rule of Saint Benedict, a guide for monastic life written by Benedict of Nursia,
influenced religious life within the Roman Church. The monastic life outlined by the guide
struck a balance between asceticism and activity, thus providing opportunities for men of
widely different abilities. The Benedictine form of monasticism became the basis of all
western monasteries.

12. III. Christian Ideas and Practices
A. Christian Beliefs and the Greco-Roman Tradition
• 1. Saint Jerome translated the Old and New Testaments from
Hebrew and Greek into vernacular Latin. He believed that
the study of classical writings was important in directing
one’s mind to God.
• 2. Jesus held women to be the equal of men. Women were
some of the first and most faithful Christian converts. Later
church leaders assigned women a lesser status and
portrayed them as a temptation and sometimes as evil. This
attitude eventually eroded women’s active role within the
church.

14. Notes on “Procession to A New Church”
• 1. Can you find any evidence in the carving of the fusion of Christian and Greco-
Roman culture that took place in the centuries after Jesus’ time?
• (Answer: The church under construction includes Greco-Roman columns (apparently
Corinthian) and an arch – both elements of Classical architecture. Several crosses –
the central symbol of Christianity – are visible. )
• 2. What does the carving suggest about the power of the Church in Europe in the
sixth century CE?
• (Answer: The church is quite large and three stories high. The procession is also
large, and seems to include dignitaries. The overall impression is of a large and
elaborate ritual. This suggests that the Church as a whole was a wealthy and
powerful institution by the 500s.
• 3. Does this carving suggest that the Church in the 500s was relatively egalitarian, or
more hierarchical?
• (Answer: The men riding the cart as well as the figure to the right who is apparently
welcoming them seem to be of higher rank than the other figures in the procession.
The figure of Jesus looks down on the whole scene from an arch on the top left. )

15. III. Christian Ideas and Practices
B. Saint Augustine
• 1. An influential figure in the Western Church, Saint
Augustine produced an autobiography, The Confessions, that
documents his moral struggle between spirituality and self-indulgence.
• 2. According to Augustine, the basic force in any man or
woman is the will. Adam’s “original sin” corrupted and
weakened the will in all human beings. But Augustine
believed that the strength of the will could be restored
through God’s grace, as transmitted in the sacraments
maintained by the church.

16. III. Christian Ideas and Practices
C. Missionary Activity
• 1. Since leaders often determined the religion of their
people, missionaries concentrated on converting the leaders
and their family members. Barbarian kings accepted
Christianity because they believed the Christian God was
powerful and would deliver victory on the battlefield, or
because Christianity taught obedience to (royal) authority, or
because the priests’ charisma and knowledge could be
associated with kingly power.
• 2. Saint Patrick, who had studied in Gaul and became a
bishop, converted the Irish tribes by baptizing the king.
• 3. Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius traveled to
eastern Europe and converted the Russians and other east
European peoples to the Orthodox Church.

18. III. Christian Ideas and Practices
D. Conversion and Assimilation
• 1. Missionaries eased acceptance of Christianity by
assimilating pagan traditions and practices. Aspects of
midwinter celebrations were incorporated into Christmas
celebrations, and pagan spring rituals were added to the
observance of Easter.
• 2. Confessing one’s sins was the only way to reconcile with
God. Sins were confessed to a priest, who then set a
penance through which the confessant could atone for those
sins.
• 3. Saints were spiritually heroic individuals who were able to
provide protection and help the faithful. Relics of the saints
served as links between the material and spiritual worlds.

19. IV. Migrating Peoples
A. Social and Economic Structures
• 1. The tribe was the basic social unit of barbarian peoples.
Tribe members believed they were descended from a
common ancestor. Barbarian groups often lived in small
villages with agricultural fields producing grain.
• 2. Within the barbarian household, the father maintained
authority over his wife, children, and slaves. Women had few
rights, but widows could sometimes gain the rights of their
late husbands.

21. IV. Migrating Peoples
B. Chiefs, Warriors, and Laws
• 1. Each tribe was led by a chieftain, who was elected from
among the male members of the strongest family. In some
tribes the chief was tied closely to the tribe’s warriors.
• 2. Law codes were compiled to reduce interpersonal
violence. Any crime that involved a personal injury was
assigned a certain amount of financial value, identified as the
wergeld. The wergeld varied according to the severity of the
crime.

22. IV. Migrating Peoples
C. Migrations and Political Change
• 1. Originally located in central Europe, the Celts spread out across the continent. Many
Celtic tribes assimilated to Roman ways after being defeated by Julius Caesar. Celtic-speaking
peoples in Britain clashed with Germanic-speaking invaders following the
withdrawal of Roman troops.
• 2. The Huns, moving west from the central Asian steppes, threatened eastern Roman
settlements along the Danube and Rhine Rivers. A plague and a lack of supplies forced the
Huns to retreat from eastern Europe.
• 3. Roman emperors depended on barbarian kings for military assistance. Odoacer, a
barbarian chieftain, deposed the last Roman emperor.
D. The Frankish Kingdom
• 1. The Franks were a Germanic group located in the region of Gaul. The Merovingian
Dynasty was founded by Clovis, who was converted to Christianity by his wife, Clotild.
Clovis’s kingdom was divided among his sons following his death.
• 2. During the Dark Ages that followed Clovis’s death, a new dynasty arose from a powerful
family identified as the Carolingians.
• 3. Charles Martel established the Carolingian Dynasty following his victory over Muslim
forces at the Battle of Poitiers. The defeat of the Muslims strengthened the relationship of
the Carolingians with the Roman Church.

23. IV. Migrating Peoples
E. Charlemagne
• 1. Charles the Great was the most powerful Carolingian leader. Known as
Charlemagne, he was crowned emperor by the pope. This crowning
sealed the schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern
Orthodox Church.
• 2. Charlemagne’s greatest endeavor was to create a unified kingdom
consisting of the majority of continental Europe. Charlemagne divided
his kingdom into counties for administrative purposes.
• 3. Though barely literate himself, Charlemagne instigated the Carolingian
Renaissance, a renewal of interest in the study and preservation of
classical Greek and Roman ideas and achievements.
• 4. Charlemagne left his empire to his only surviving son, Louis the Pious.
After Louis’s death, the kingdom was divided into thirds, one section for
each of Louis’s three sons. This agreement, identified as the Treaty of
Verdun, laid the foundation for the development of modern Europe.

25. Notes on “Charlemagne and His Wife”
• 1. Based on this image, what seems to have been the accepted “correct” roles for husband and wife to play
at this time in western Europe?
• (Answer: Charlemagne appears to be admonishing his wife, who seems to show both some fear and close
attention to him. Here the husband acts as a teacher and disciplinarian, the wife as a humble student. The
husband acts as an adult who must care for and instruct the woman, who is analogous to a child. )
• 2. Compare the mosaic of Byzantine Empress Theodora (p. 210) with this image (drawn in a manuscript
from the 800s CE). How are the women portrayed differently? What about the artistry and sophistication
of the two images?
• (Answer: Theodora is presented as a ruler, and in combination with her husband Justinian, she was.
Charlemagne’s wife is shown as a powerless and subordinate creature. Whether this is due simply to the
different personalities and political roles of the two women, or to general differences in the standing of
women among Carolingian and Byzantine elites, is hard to tell. It is also worth noting that the images and
artistry of the Carolingian manuscript illustration appear more “primitive” than those of the Theodora
mosaic. One might connect this to the fact that Byzantium and its capital of Constantinople were far
wealthier at this time than western Europe and its towns. )
• 3. Do you think that the manuscript in which these illuminations were drawn was primarily an item for
elite or common use?
• (Answer: The pages of the manuscript in which these illuminations were drawn was almost certainly made
of vellum or parchment – i.e. specially treated animal skins. Europe did not have paper-making technology
at this time. Monks would have written/drawn the whole manuscript by hand – there were no printing
presses. Most of the population of Europe at this time was illiterate. Given the expense of making such
manuscripts, it can be concluded that they were for elite use. )