Greece, Byzantium, and the Ottoman Empire: Geography, Religion, Economy, and Society

Vocabulary flashcards covering geography, religion, major empires, key events, peoples, and socio-political structures discussed in the lecture notes.

Relief map

A map showing terrain elevations; brown indicates mountains and green indicates plains/valleys—Greece is largely mountainous (majority of land is over 70% mountains).

Dodecanese Islands

A group of Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean; the last part of the modern Greek state to be incorporated in 1947 after WWII, received from Italy.

Macedonia (region)

A northern Greek region whose name is politically contested in modern times (Macedonia naming dispute).

Thrace

Region in northeastern Greece that is part of the Balkan area and crucial to geography and history.

Epirus (Ipiros)

Region in northwestern Greece (Ipiros in transliteration).

Thessaly

Central Greece region with historical importance in the ancient and modern periods.

Attica

Region containing Athens; a core area of Greek political, cultural, and economic life.

Peloponnese

Large peninsula in southern Greece; a central part of ancient and modern Greek history.

Crete

Greece’s largest island, a key part of Greek geography and seafaring history.

Evia

Large Greek island off the mainland, contributing to Greece’s island geography and maritime connection.

Cycladic Islands

Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea; popular summer islands that illustrate Greece’s island geography.

Seafaring by geography

Greece’s many islands and long coastline foster a history of seafaring and trade.

Paganism

Ancient Greek religion before Christianity; a major cultural factor in antiquity.

Judaism in Rhodes

Earliest European Jewish settlement noted in Rhodes; part of the Balkans’ religious mosaic.

Christianity in Greece

Arrival and spread of Christianity via apostles; Saint Peter’s interactions with Thessalonians and Corinthians mentioned in relation to Greece.

Parthenon as Christian shrine

The Parthenon was converted into a Christian shrine as paganism declined in antiquity.

Islam in the Balkans

Islam arrived with the Ottoman Empire (from the 13th century onward) and coexisted with Judaism and Christianity.

Ottoman Empire

A multi-ethnic Muslim empire that expanded from the Balkans into Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Osman (Othman)

Founder of the Ottoman Empire; from the town of Nicea; origin of the empire’s name.

Nicaea (Nicea)

Early base of the Ottoman expansion; location of Osman’s base and origin of the empire’s name.

Mehmed II (Mehmet II)

Ottoman sultan who conquered Constantinople in 1453 and transformed Hagia Sophia into a mosque.

Constantinople/Istanbul

Capital of the Byzantine Empire, later captured by the Ottomans in 1453; strategic hub linking East and West.

Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofia)

Originally a Byzantine cathedral; converted to a mosque after 1453 conquest; later a museum; reconverted to a mosque in 2020.

Byzantine Empire

Eastern Roman Empire; a theocracy with religion and politics intertwined; centered in Constantinople; about a thousand-year span before 1453.

Ecumenical Patriarch

Head of the Orthodox Church within the Byzantine/Islamic milieu; a senior religious authority without papal power.

Catholicism vs Orthodoxy

Split within Christianity—Roman Catholicism in the West and Eastern Orthodoxy in the East—formalized after the Nicene Council; ongoing attempts at reunion.

Suleiman the Magnificent

Ottoman sultan (1520–1566); greatest territorial extent and a famed lawgiver; height of Ottoman power.

Janissaries

Elite Ottoman infantry; initially prohibited from marrying to maintain loyalty; later involved in policing and taxation, contributing to their decline.

Millet system

Ottoman community-based administration where religious communities (millets) managed internal affairs; Orthodox millet led by a millet bey; millets collected taxes and maintained some autonomy.

Ulema

Islamic scholars whose authority ensured laws aligned with the Quran; advised the sultan on regulation and policy.

Cyprus 1974

Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus; island remains divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots since then.

Fourth Crusade

Crusade that diverted to sack Constantinople in 1204, weakening the Byzantine Empire and altering its trajectory.

Tuesday superstition

In Balkan memory, the fall of Constantinople on a Tuesday fuels an old belief that starting ventures on Tuesday brings bad luck.