chapter 16

2 worlds of christendom

what did Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid gave Charlemagne

elephant named Abu al-Abbas

early byzantine

great location, defensible peninsula - Golden Horn

connected to Bosporus, Aegean Sea, and Med

Close to Anatolia, W Asia, SE Europe

Constantinople

made capital by Constantine

CAESAROPAPISM

constantine and future emperors claimed divine favor, intervened in theological disputes

emperor ruled as secular Lord and played an active role in church

byzantine emperor showed authority by…

reserving purple clothes

high officials basically crawled over

mechanical devices (ex. mechanical roaring lions)

Justinian and Theodora (527-625)

most imp early emperor and empress

justinian came from peasant fam

theodora came from “circus” fam

• she was totally a “circus” girl

both smart and strong

Justinian’s Code + Hagia Sophia + Conquests

Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom” Christian church later became mosque

Code: codification of Roman law

tried to reconquer W Roman empire, got Italy but lost it soon after Justinian’s death

muslim conquests

7th cent ce, expansion of Islam posed serious threat to Byzantium

constantinople under 2 Muslim sieges (674-678) (717-718)

Greek Fire

highly effective weapon used against Muslims (burned even on water) created great fear

Theme system!!!!!!

imperial province = theme

each theme ran by a general responsible for civil admin and mili defense

generals closely watched by emp to prevent decentralization of pw and authority

generals recruited armies from peasants, who got land for service

theme system armies very effective, reconquered syria region

by mid 11 dominated e med again

Odoacer

476 - deposed last W Roman Emperor, no one became next emperor, position simply empty

germanic kingdoms became successor states

visigoths, ostrogoths, Lombards, franks displacing Roman authorities

Germanic people absorbed lots of Roman influence

many became Christian and adapted Roman law

most successful Germanic kingdom

FRANKS - early 16th cent conquered “Roman Gaul(???)”

gained popular support after converting to christianity

what dynasty was established by a frankish noble fam

Carolingian Dynasty

founder Charles Martel (Charles the hammer)

battle of tours 732 in central france

Franks (led by Charles Martel) fought Muslim army, stopped Spanish Muslims from expanding into W Europe

Charlemagne (Charles the great)

grandson of Charles Martel

reign 768-814

est centralized imperial rule, expanded empire a ton, also got lots of tributes

maintained relation with Abbasid and byzantine

who does textbook like to compare charlemagne to

King Harsha

Carolingian capital

aachen (Germany)

charlemagne’s admin

mostly traveled around to maintain authority, no elaborate bureaucracy

relied on counts who had poli, mili, and legal authority in local area

MISSI DOMINICI

traveled everywhere and reviewed accounts of local authorities

charlemagne becomes emperor

“hesitated” b/c challenging Byzantine emperors however in 800 christmas day Pope Leo III crowned him emperor

end of Carolingian dynasty

charlemagne died, only son Louis the Pious (814-840) sucked at ruling

lost control of local authorities

louis’ 3 sons fought and split empire

couldn’t fend off intruders

back to regional/local authorities

3 external pressures came to attack Carolingian/Franks

Muslims (S), Magyars (E) descendants of Nomads from Hungary

Vikings (N) feared

viking expansion - why

scandinavia population up, need more wealth so vikings started raiding euro

Norse expansion how

great ships, seafaring skills

boats allowed them to navigate ocean and rivers

vikings who+why extended (I'm sorry this sucks)

norse merchants seeking commercial opportunities or migrants

however they realize they good at raiding and stuck w/ that

viking raids

Fast,

790s started to attack monasteries (smart)

845 - attacked hamburg

885 - paris

994 - London

raided Constantinople at least x3

W Euro became series of political states

unlikely to be reunited b/c internal conflict and external invasion

Economy in byzantine

econ powerhouse

abundant agri surplus = large urban pop = manufacturing (artisans + crafts) = long dist trade

west christ econ

bad agri, weak cities

10 cent slight recovery b/c political recovery

byzantine strong because of what class of people

peasants!!! free labor in theme system = agri surplus

theme system declined b/c…

wealthy accumulated large estates

silk manufacturing in byzantine

got the secret from China

major contributions to econ

by late 6th cent primary supplier of silk

gov let people only learn one part of process to prevent monopolization

byzantine trade

constantinople served as clearinghouse for trade in W Eurasia

traded w/ muslims

bezant (byzantine coin) became standard of med basin 6-12th cent

clearinghouse

tbh idk smth about being in the middle of traders (I'm sorry)

constantinople was one for eurasia b/c location

• got wealthy js from taxes and levying (whatever that is) customs duties

why Constantinople got rich

location = clearinghouse 🤷

got rich as W anchor of Eurasian trading network

turned raw products into secondary sector stuff

agri innovations

heavy plows - helped in northern soils

water mills, fish ponds, special horse collar

led to rural prosperity by 1000

trade in W christendom

existed, local markets and sea trade flourished

norse merchants

kinsmen of vikings

trade sometimes plundered

traded w/ Byzantine and abbasid

byzantine urban society

until late 7th/8th cent Byzantine emp was most urbanized

large cosmopolitan cities

aristocrats - palaces

artisans/craft workers, clerks, gov officials lived in apt buildings

worker+poor shacks

constantinople attractions

baths (ew), taverns, restaurants, hippodrome

w euro was rural

cities disappeared after Germanic invasions + collapse of w Roman empire

there were towns = local econ hubs

feudalism or no

feudal

• lords + vassals (between lords and peas)

• peasants

• too simplified

feudal peasants

halfway to slavery

stuck to lord’s land, worked a ton

5/6 cent - pop down

invasions and shit

after 8th cent pop up

political stability in both E and W, demographic recovery

agri better

food from Muslims help rice, wheat variant, citrus etc

800 christendom population E and W combined

900

1000

29 mil

32 mil

36 mil

both e and w Christianity served as

religious moral and cultural authority

both supported religious hierarchies w/ networks of monasteries

both tried to extend missionary work esp up north

Russia, Slavic lads, Scandinavia, British isles

mid 11th cent both denounce each other lmaoo establishing…

eastern orthodox in Byzantium and Roman Catholic in w

papacy

w euro natural heirs of Roman emperors

pope

beginning late 6th cent started to differentiate

patriarchs

constantinople , e euro

not as much independence as papacy

treated church as part of state

caesaropapism source of tension between imperial and church authorities

surprise I don't have anything to say on this side

iconoclasm (717-741)

emperor Leo III

destroyed religious images and icons

people HATED it protests riots

843 leo’s followers abandoned it

christian monasticism

ascetic, celibacy, fasting, prayer, some hermits, others in communes

st basil (329-379)

st benedict (480-547)

st scholastica (482-543)

bb: mild asceticism, meditation, church work

gave up personal possessions

communal, celibate lives

scholastica: set standards for women in convents

monks and nuns services

spiritual, relief efforts (food/med)

orphanages/inns/ basic edu

center of community gradually spread into peasants

pope Gregory I sent missionaries to england

worked, 7th cent Christianity had stable foothold in england

franks and charlemagne supported efforts

balkan and slavic missionaries

saint cyril - Cyrillic alphabet

saint methodius - brothers

989 prince Vladimir of Kiev converted

basically all of russia converted

danggg prince vladimir had like 800 gfs

SCHISM + Rivalry

deep resentment in Byzantium as charlemagne took emp title

icon disputes, w ok, E not

w shave beards, e don’t

bread dispute

god, Jesus, holy spirit differences dispute

1054 excommunicated each other lol