byzantine notes. location of constantinople constantinople was protected by the eastern frontier...
TRANSCRIPT
Byzantine Notes
Location of Constantinople
• Constantinople was protected by the eastern frontier
• Constantinople was far away from the Germanic invasions in the western empire
• Constantinople was where many traders came – “crossroads of trade”
• Constantinople was on a peninsula so it could be defended and it had good harbors for boats
Role of Constantinople
• Seat of the Byzantine Empire until Ottoman conquest
• Saved classical Greco-Roman culture• Center of Trade
Justinian• Codified (wrote
them down) Roman law; European countries used these laws
• Reconquest of former Roman territories
• Expanded trade
Art and Architecture• Got ideas from
Christianity and powerful empire
• Icons– religious images
• Mosaics in public an religious buildings
• Hagia Sophia—domed church
Byzantine Culture• Greco-Roman traditions
continue• Greek Language – not
Latin like the West• Greek Orthodox
Christianity -- not Catholic like West
• Greek and Roman knowledge was saved by Byzantine libraries
Influence of Byzantine Culture on Eastern Europe and Russia
• Trade routes between Black Sea and Baltic Sea
• Eastern Europe and Russia adopt Orthodox Christianity – no Catholicism
• Russia adopts the Cyrillic alphabet – St. Cyril’s Bible
• Church architecture and art