Ancient & Medival History: Byzantine Empire & Orthodox Christianity

Summarize page 234, including discussion of trade and Constantinople

• As the cities of the western Roman Empire crumbled, Constantinople prospered

• Constantinople stood as the capital of the Byzantine Empire

• For Centuries, the cities favorable location made it Europes busiest Marketplace.

• The city was located on the shores of the Bosporus, a strait that linked the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Summarize page 235 about the Church of Hagia Sophia.

• Served as an important Legacy of the Byzantine Empire.

• The church got completley destoryed in 532

• After the Empires fall in 1453 it served as a mosque.

• Emperor Justinian wanted to rebuild it to become Constantinople brightest jewel.

Summarize page 236 about Justinian and Theodora:

• The empire reached its greatest height under Emperor Justinian who ruled from 527 to 565

• Because Justinians treasury fought so much battles consistently - it weakened its defense.

• Justinians code laws had influence beyond the Byzantine Empire and it reached Western Europe.

• After Justinian, the empires fortunes were on and off, Peasants who payed taxes helped fund the soldiers in the military.

Summarize the sections on Byzantine Christianity and Icons.

• Divisions started growing in the region mostly over church leadership.

• The Byzantine Emperor controlled church officials and appointed the patriarch.

• Byzantine Christians rejected the popes claim to have authority over all Christians

• The byzantine holy day was Easter. Meanwhile in Western Europe, Christians placed emphasis on Christmas.

Summarize the section on Crisis and Collapse.

• In the 1090’s - the byzantines called for western help - to fight the seljuks.

• in 1453, ottoman forces surrounded the city of constantinople.

• Constantinople was renamed istanbul and became the capital of the ottoman empire.

• Western christains ruled Constantinople for 50 years.

Summarize the section about Byzantine Heritage and the map on 238:

• The ottoman conquerers adapted features of the Byzantine Government, social life and architecture.

• The Byzantines extended Roman Achievements in engineering and law.

• Byzantine scholars preserved the classic works of Ancient Greece

• Icons, designed to evoke the presence of god, gave viewers a personal contact with the sacred.

Summarize page 240, everything except the ‘‘Growth of Kiev’’

• A patriotic monk declared Moscow was a ‘‘third Rome’’

• Byzantine culture greatly influenced the development of Russian society.

• Russia lies on the vast eurasian plain that reaches from Europe to the borders of china.

• Mapmakers use the Ural mountains to mark the between Europe and asia.

Summarize the sections of Growth of Kiev & Varangians.

• During Roman times, the Slavs expanded into southern Russia.

• The vikings had trading routes with Constantinople.

• Viking names Helga and Waldemar became the Slavic names Olga and Vladimir.

• in the 700’s and 800’s, the viings steered their long ships out of Scandinavia.

Summarize the remainder of page 241:

• Constantinople sent Christain Missionaires to convert the Slavs.

• In 957 princess Olga of Kiev converted into Byzantine Christianity.

• The Byzantine Emperor

• Kiev enjoyed the golden age under Yaroslav the Wise.

Summarize the section on ‘‘Conversion of the Slavs’’

• Of the major importance in the history and development of Orthodoxy was the conversion of the stars.

• The mission to Moravia was ultimatley doomed to failure because of the jealousy and persecution of German missionaires working in the same area.

• This new liturgical language church slavonic became of crucial importance in the extension of the Orthodox faith.

• One of the patriarchs initiated large scale missionary labors in these regions by sending out the two brothers Constantine.

• Missionaires from Bulgaria traveled to the Romanian lands and by the end of the 9th century portions of the Romanian people had been christianized.

Summarize the section on the ‘‘Great Schism’’

• In 1054 occured one of the greatest tragedies of the Christian world, the Great schism between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches.

• Originally the two branches of Christendom had begun to drift apart because of cultural and language differences.

• Prior to the Schism, there had been another breach, the so-called Photian Schism, in the 9th century, but it had officaly terminated in the latter

• The greek speaking churches fell under the heavy yoke of Islam.

• The focus of orthodoxy shifted to the North, to the domains of the most Pious Tsars of Russia.