WHI.6
Describe the rise and achievements of the Byzantine Empire. (H) A. the influence of Constantine, including the establishment of Christianity as an officially sanctioned religion. B. the importance of Justinian and the Code of Justinian |
C. the preservation of Greek and Roman traditions D. the construction of the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia). |
ch_10_byzrus.ppt | |
File Size: | 1109 kb |
File Type: | ppt |
Summary of the Byzantines (excerpt by Paul Halsall)
Byzantine civilization constitutes a major world culture. Because of its unique position as the medieval continuation of the Roman State, it has tended to be dismissed by classicists and ignored by Western medievalists. Its internal elite culture was archaicizing and perhaps pessimistic. But we should not be deceived. As the centrally located culture, and by far the most stable state, of the Medieval period, Byzantium is of major interest both in itself, and because the development and late history of Western European, Slavic and Islamic cultures are not comprehensible without taking it into consideration.
While few would claim elevated status for much Byzantine literature [although its historiographical tradition is matched only by China's], in its art and architecture, Byzantine culture was genuinely, and despite itself, innovative and capable of producing works of great beauty. As an area of study........... Byzantine studies is complex, full of conflict, and still open to new questions and
methods.
While few would claim elevated status for much Byzantine literature [although its historiographical tradition is matched only by China's], in its art and architecture, Byzantine culture was genuinely, and despite itself, innovative and capable of producing works of great beauty. As an area of study........... Byzantine studies is complex, full of conflict, and still open to new questions and
methods.
TOPIC #1: Byzantine Dynasties
Understanding the general history of each era will certainly help you understand the history of the entire empire, and will break the 1200 year history up into a few manageable chunks of information.
1. I have combined and generalized the dynasty list to simplify it for our needs.
2. I don't expect you to know the individual rulers within each dynasty.
3. Be able to put this list in order, and give the "identity" of each for an upcoming quiz.
4. This is supplemental information that won't be found in the book.
5. Don't always rely on the blog for detailed notes, but when I do provide information like this, be sure to compare with what you have taken in class. That is probably the most important step you can take to assess how well you are able to grasp information
in class.
Justinian Dynasty (518 - 610)
the largest area and most "Roman" of all these dynasties
Heraclian Dynasty (610 - 717)
unable to keep all of the land conquered by the Justinians; organized into themes, constant
warfare with Persia & Muslims; first to have a "Byzantine" identity
Isaurian Dynasty (717 - 867)
Iconoclasm (religious problems) and Invasions weakened the Byzantines.
Macedonian Dynasty (867 - 1057)
revival of Byzantine power and culture; trade increased, territory and power grew.
Komnenoi Dynasty (1057 - 1204)
stable government, but power began to fade due to Crusades and the growing strength of both Western Europe
and the Muslim world.
Latin Occupation (1204 - 1261)
Western Christian crusaders took control of Constantinople.
Palaiologoi Dynasty (1261 - 1453)
The final dynasty, scrambling over the last 200 years to hold off the invading Ottoman (Muslim) Turks, with
Constantinople falling in 1453
Understanding the general history of each era will certainly help you understand the history of the entire empire, and will break the 1200 year history up into a few manageable chunks of information.
1. I have combined and generalized the dynasty list to simplify it for our needs.
2. I don't expect you to know the individual rulers within each dynasty.
3. Be able to put this list in order, and give the "identity" of each for an upcoming quiz.
4. This is supplemental information that won't be found in the book.
5. Don't always rely on the blog for detailed notes, but when I do provide information like this, be sure to compare with what you have taken in class. That is probably the most important step you can take to assess how well you are able to grasp information
in class.
Justinian Dynasty (518 - 610)
the largest area and most "Roman" of all these dynasties
Heraclian Dynasty (610 - 717)
unable to keep all of the land conquered by the Justinians; organized into themes, constant
warfare with Persia & Muslims; first to have a "Byzantine" identity
Isaurian Dynasty (717 - 867)
Iconoclasm (religious problems) and Invasions weakened the Byzantines.
Macedonian Dynasty (867 - 1057)
revival of Byzantine power and culture; trade increased, territory and power grew.
Komnenoi Dynasty (1057 - 1204)
stable government, but power began to fade due to Crusades and the growing strength of both Western Europe
and the Muslim world.
Latin Occupation (1204 - 1261)
Western Christian crusaders took control of Constantinople.
Palaiologoi Dynasty (1261 - 1453)
The final dynasty, scrambling over the last 200 years to hold off the invading Ottoman (Muslim) Turks, with
Constantinople falling in 1453
Topic #2 : Byzantine Bureacracy
The Empire was a centralized union of culture, politics, and religion. The Byzantines used a massive bureaucracy (government with many departments and levels) to administer the empire, to collect taxes, to enforce the laws, and protect the borders.
A few terms stand out when investigating the Byzantines. The Empire was divided into "themes" or districts, each one led by a "strategos", who was a governor-general. Each theme had an army which provides an interesting look into Byzantine strategy and society. The thematic army was smaller, and consisted of citizens from the theme itself; it wasn't expected to be able to defeat a massive enemy army all by itself, but instead it was expected to be a buffer or obstacle to an invasion. Instead of fighting a battle it might lose, the army was instead expected to delay the enemy, and send messengers (the Byzantines had an efficient system of beacons, roads and couriers) to get the armies from other provinces to help.
The Byzantines were experts at getting maximum security for minimum expense. Instead of having massive armies protecting the frontiers, the Byzantines had a system of fortifications that protected the borders (the Danube River had 52(!) forts, with another 27 smaller fortresses behind those...), then the thematic armies. Then, if an enemy still persisted beyond that, the Byzantines often attempted to buy them off with gold (the Byzantines were one of the few in the time period who minted their own coins).
Remember, the Byzantines had a mostly defensive strategy after the Justinian dynasty. They weren't trying to actively conquer as many territories as before, but instead were concentrating on protecting their trade. A great quote I found from a book is below:
"The Byzantines had no appetite for indigestible territories." (Preston/Roland/Wise)
The Empire was a centralized union of culture, politics, and religion. The Byzantines used a massive bureaucracy (government with many departments and levels) to administer the empire, to collect taxes, to enforce the laws, and protect the borders.
A few terms stand out when investigating the Byzantines. The Empire was divided into "themes" or districts, each one led by a "strategos", who was a governor-general. Each theme had an army which provides an interesting look into Byzantine strategy and society. The thematic army was smaller, and consisted of citizens from the theme itself; it wasn't expected to be able to defeat a massive enemy army all by itself, but instead it was expected to be a buffer or obstacle to an invasion. Instead of fighting a battle it might lose, the army was instead expected to delay the enemy, and send messengers (the Byzantines had an efficient system of beacons, roads and couriers) to get the armies from other provinces to help.
The Byzantines were experts at getting maximum security for minimum expense. Instead of having massive armies protecting the frontiers, the Byzantines had a system of fortifications that protected the borders (the Danube River had 52(!) forts, with another 27 smaller fortresses behind those...), then the thematic armies. Then, if an enemy still persisted beyond that, the Byzantines often attempted to buy them off with gold (the Byzantines were one of the few in the time period who minted their own coins).
Remember, the Byzantines had a mostly defensive strategy after the Justinian dynasty. They weren't trying to actively conquer as many territories as before, but instead were concentrating on protecting their trade. A great quote I found from a book is below:
"The Byzantines had no appetite for indigestible territories." (Preston/Roland/Wise)
Topic #3: The Effect of the Crusades on the Byzantine Empire
The history of the Crusades, and especially their impact on the Byzantine Empire, is very confusing and complex. I will try to highlight the major events below, so that it will be easy to understand how the Byzantine Empire was weakened by the Western European crusades .
- 1054 - Great Schism: The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches split forever.
- 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Byzantines lose a major battle to their Muslim Turkish enemies.
- 1095 - Byzantines ask for Western help: Despite having recently fought the Normans, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos asks the Western Christians for help in recovering the "Holy Land", which is under Muslim control.
- 1095 - Council of Clermont: Pope Urban II sees a tremendous opportunity to reunite the Eastern and Western Christians, and save the Holy Land; he asks for crusaders to organize and retake the Holy Land.
- 1096 - 1101 - First Crusade: Western Christians retake the Holy Land, and set up Western Christian kingdoms in the Middle East.
- 1100-1204 - Muslims retake the Holy Land, Byzantines and Western powers bicker over the failures of the Crusades.
- 1204 - Fourth Crusade: An Italian-led crusade is tempted by the wealth of Constantinople, and instead of continuing to retake Holy Land, surprise-attacks Constantinople, ruling it for over 50 years.
- 1261-1453 - Byzantines are weakened permanently, and never completely recover, falling to the Turks in 1453.