The Byzantine Empire and the Triumph of Christianity

The last direct heir of the Roman Empire and the first Christian nation.

• - The Byzantine Empire (330-1453 A.D.) lasted for 11 centuries and formed a bridge between the Greek, Hellenistic and Roman cultures and the modern world.

Constantine the Great

Constantine

made two important decisions.

1) He gave the Christian friendship and legal status.

He had a heavenly vision before the important Battle of Milvian Bridge near Rome. A brilliant light in the form of a cross appeared in the sky with the words, “With this sign you will conquer.”

From then on, the battle flag with across became the emblem of Constantine’s soldiers.

In gratitude for his victory, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan which allowed Christians to practice their religion freely and to make new converts. He himself was baptized shortly before he died in 337 A.D.

2) On May 11, 330 A.D., Constantine made his new capital at Byzantium, a Greek sea trading town. It was renamed Constantinople.

The new empire was thus called the Byzantium Empire or Byzantium

Christ and Christianity

Byzantium embraced and preserved Christianity. Today, Christianity is the greatest religion in the world. It has played major role in the world mainly due to two reasons:

1. The person Jesus Christ. 2. The unique message of

salvation in Christianity.

Christianity’s Contributions to Mankind

It has given the world a sublime code of ethics based on the love of God and fellowmen, brotherhood of all men and races, and human virtues notably faith, hope charity, honesty, truthfulness, and kindness.

It has abolished many barbarous customs or practices of the past, such as the offering of human sacrifices to the gods, killing of infants, blood feuds, slavery, and marriage between brothers and sisters.

It has helped to improve the condition of the poor. Any orphanages, free hospitals, asylums, and other charitable works have been started by Christians.

It has improved family life. It teaches children and parents to love each other. It condemns abortion, adultery, polygamy, and immorality. Moreover, it sanctifies marriage.

It has enriched the arts and letters. It inspires artists, writers, and scholars to produce masterpieces in painting, architecture, sculpture, music, literature, and philosophy.

Finally, Christianity offers all men their last refuge of hope and solace. Only in Jesus can we put our trust and expect peace of mind and soul.

Spread of Christianity

Throughout the ages, Christianity grew until it is now the largest religion in the world, with over one billion believers. It spread through four stages as follows:

The Apostolic Age. Almost all of the first apostles who saw Christ resurrect from the dead were martyred for their testimony. Many died in public executions at the whim of the Roman emperor or authorities.

Middle Ages. Church Fathers or Scholastic like St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine and others developed Catholic dogma and authority. St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, then the official language.

Protestant reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. This was the historic collision of the Protestants, led by Martin Luther of Germany, with the Roman Catholics, led by the Pope and Catholic kings.

Modern Era. Christianity came under attack from the rise of Isla, humanism, science, materialism, and philosophical cults.

Byzantine Emperors

Julian. He tried to stop the spread of Christianity. Hence his title was the “Apostate”.

Theodosius. He made Christianity the only religion of the state.

Justinian. He was the last of the great emperors. After him, barbarian invasions resumed

Basil II. He briefly revived the greatness of Byzantine Empire. He was the “Bulgar Slayer”.

There were 88 emperors during the 11 centuries of Byzantine History. Among them were:

Contributions of Byzantium to civilization

Byzantium preserved and transmitted Christianity.

It preserved and passed on Graeco-Roman culture, language, literature and arts.

It preserved and codified Roman law in the so called Justinian Code.

It developed new art forms, architecture, language and literature.

It invented the first fire bomb or flame thrower as a weapon in the war.

Byzantine or Constantinople was called “the second Rome” because it was the direct heir of the Roman Empire in the East. Its contributions are as follows:

Decline of the Byzantine Empire

Being the first Christian nation and the second Rome did not guarantee Byzantium immortality because Jesus himself said, “my kingdom is not in this world”. Byzantine was only man’s idea of a heaven on earth, so in time it declined and collapsed, the causes were as follows:

Internal Intrigues. Since the empire had no law of succession, there were regular plots and counterplots to try to seize the throne. These struggles for power within the empire seriously weakened it.

Rivalry between the Roman and Eastern churches. The clashes between the two branches of Christianity involved theological, political and territorial disputes.

Western Competition in trade. The growth of Venice and other Italian city-states caused a big drop in Byzantine business.

The Crusades. The Catholic crusaders burned, looted, and destroyed beautiful churches palaces, monasteries, libraries, and villas of Constantinople.

The Invasions by Muslim Turks. From the 11th to 15th century, Islam Turks troubled the Byzantine Empire. All was left to Byzantium was the city of Constantinople and its immediate surroundings.

Finally, on ay 29, 1453,

Constantinople fell to the

Ottoman Turks after a 2-month

siege. The last Byzantine

emperor, seeing that all was lost

got off his horse and threw

himself into the thickest part of

the battle, never to be seen

again.

End of Byzantine Empire

With the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Byzantine Empire had ceased to exist. However, its influence and legacy passed on to Russian and modern Greece.

END