The Byzantine Empire Tradition in the East
Byzantium
• 330 – Rome split into Eastern and Western • 476 - Western Roman Empire Falls
– Western Europe weakened and unable to defend self – Organized government in the west virtually
disappeared (“Dark Age”) • Stronghold of Christianity against the ‘threat’ of
Islam • Even though Eastern Roman Empire, will
ultimately become more Greek than Roman
Justinian and the Byzantine State • Justinian: “the emperor who never
slept” – Restore territory, power and prestige
of Roman Empire – Restored Roman territory held by
Augustus and Constantine – Justinian Code – Served for 900 years – Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia
Sophia) • Bankrupted Empire • Divided successors • Poorly defended borders
Lands During Justinian’s Reign
Emperors and Individuals • Classic age of Byzantine society:
~ 700s-900s • Emperor had absolute power
(autocracy) – Emperors above and beyond their
subjects – Separated from the “people” by an
unbridgeable gulf – Traditional Roman political bodies
simply for show • Only used to emphasize the dignity
and power of the Emperor
Families and Villages • Daily life focused on
family and home – Shelter & workplace
• Countryside Villages – Individual families worked
their own enclosed fields – “good fences make good
neighbors”
Constantinople
Religion • Most “Christian Empire” in the world
– Citizens discussed theology in the streets – Christianity was a part of every moment of Byzantine life
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity was the cultural “cement” that bound together the emperor and his subjects
• Emperor held power over the Church • Ceremonies provided a “foretaste (preview) of heaven”
– Adoration of Emperor, Veneration of God joined as one – “We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for on earth
there is no such splendor or such beauty.” • Long at odds with Catholicism, Constantinople split
permanently in 1054 (The Great Schism)
Apogee and Disintegration (1000-1054) • 10th & 11th centuries: dominate
Mediterranean world for the final time – Recover some lands lost to Islam
• Culturally: – Goal of art was to reflect the permanent,
classic values of Greco-Roman – Language, style and themes of classical
Greek literature, philosophy and history dominated Byzantine culture
– Innovation was rarely appreciated in the arts, literature, or religion
Conquest of Constantinople • While Islam threatens from
the outside, internal conflict threatens within – Of 88 Byzantine Emperors, 29
died violently and 13 abandoned the throne for monestaries
• West also presented a threat religiously and militarily – 1204 crusade detours from
Palastine and instead sacks Constantinople
• Constantinople pillaged for three days
Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople • Constant attack from both East and
West • Used bribes, diplomacy, political
marriages, and military power to keep enemies at bay
• Following the fall of Islam to the Mongols, many small Turkish principalities arose – Islamic Ottoman Empire began to
quickly expand • 1453: Ottoman conquest complete,
city renamed Istanbul (Greek - “the city”)