Byzantine Empire

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Byzantine Empire

• Conversion to Crusades

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Constantine (324-337)

• Founded Constantinople as an ideal Christian
  capital
• Eusebius described him as the transformer of the
  pagan tyranny of Rome into a Christian kingdom
• Became chief minister of God on earth rather than
  a god to be worshipped by the people
• Reformed the army and economy/coins
• Created a Christian civil bureaucracy

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Justinian (527-565)

• Put down the Nika revolt and secured the throne
• Great power and wealth
• Retook North Africa, Italy, Spain
• Stopped by bubonic plague, Slavs
• Codification of Roman law
• Monument buildingHagia Sophia

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Collapse

• Military campaigns and building projects
  bankrupted the government
• Bubonic plague/population decline
• Threats from Slavs, Persians, Lombards
• Rebellion, civil war, anarchy, invasion by
  Sasanids
• Brief resurrection under Heraclius who increased
  military strength against Arab Muslims

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Age of Crisis (636-802)

• Things were so grim people talked about the end
  of the world
• Arab threat--attack on Constantinople abated only
  by heavy fortifications and Greek fire
• Slavic and Bulgar Threats (overrun the Balkans)
• Only immediate area around Constantinople is
  spared Empire becomes a military state

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Empress Irene (780-802)

• Tyranny and mismanagement almost sent empire over
  the edge
• Acted successfully as regent for son until he was
  ready to assume the throne
• She then had him blinded and took the throne
• Charlemagne tried to marry the empress, but was
  rebuffed
• Neglected army and military affairs

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Imperial Age (867-1071)

• Empire rises again as Arab caliphate begins to
  fragment
• Converted Slavic invaders to Christianity (as
  well as Russians)
• Expansion of farmland, end of plague
• Iconoclast controversy ends
• Macedonian war-emperors take over
• Return to military offensive, ideas about
  Crusades to take Jerusalem begin
• Height of empire in 1025

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Government/Military

• Absolute authority of the emperor
• Emperor is without physical imperfection
• Bureaucrats trained at University
• Fair taxation and tariff system
• Heavily armed horse archers (Persian idea)
• Fortifications of Constantinople
• Military decline due to lack of farmer-soldiers
  due to military aristocracy

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Society and Economy

• Membership in Orthodox religion was the same as
  citizenship in the empire
• Defended empire through conversions
• Court bureaucracy, military, clergy, artisans,
  and peasants were classes
• Loss of Egypt prompted search for new
  agricultural methods
• State monopoly over certain resources
• Trade was key element of economy
• Silk worms-industrial espionage
• Constantinople viewed as ideal city

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Eastern Orthodox Christianity

• Ecclesiastical leader was patriarch of
  Constantinople
• Tensions with patriarch of Rome
• All were subjects of the emperor
• Controversies shaped early church nature of
  Trinity, Arianism, monophysitism, Iconoclast
• Monasticism was a key characteristic
• Caesaropapism (Unity of State/Church)
• Privileges including tax exemptions and special
  courts

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Art/Architecture/Literature

• Mosaics and icons dominate art
• Hagia Sophia is the greatest example
• Operatic style of liturgy included drama, music,
  art, and costumes
• Preservation of Greek classics
• Hagiography-form of religious literature about
  lives of saints
• Eusebiuss, History of the Church
• Anna Comnena, famous woman scholar
• Preserved the Greek and Roman ideals until the
  Renaissance

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