Byzantium The Eastern legacy of the Roman empire

Byzantium The Eastern legacy of the Roman empire

Byzantium • Barbarians are now the Western masters – Military strength, but they get culture from the Romans they subdued • Partly Christianized by missionaries already • Roman culture becomes dominant over Germanic tribal culture in the West – Marks the beginning of European Middle Ages • Break between East and West • Early Middle Ages in Europe: 476 -1000 ad • A mix of Greco Roman culture, new Germanic culture, and evolving Christian traditions

Byzantium • In the East, imperial power survives • 324 ad: Constantine defeats Licinius and becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire • 330 ad: Byzantium is dedicated as new capitol city: Constantinople • 324 -632: The Eastern Empire’s greatest territorial expansion and cultural golden age

Byzantium • Latin is official language of empire until 610 • Greek (which the majority of the population knew) becomes the official language until its fall in 1453 • Foreshadowing of the major differences in cultural and religious development between East and West

Byzantium • Justinian comes to power in 527 • Wages wars in the West to regain imperial territory from barbarian settlers • Wins most campaigns until his death in 565 • Succeeding emperors lose most of Italy to the Lombards (the West), but secure tribute from Persia (the East)

Byzantium

Byzantium • Major cultural achievements in the Byzantine golden age (under Justinian) – Ancient Roman legal code updated as the Corpus Juris Civilis (“body of civil law”) which comes to be known as “Justinian’s Law Code. ” – Christianity continues to outshine Greco-Roman paganism in culture and philosophy; the Hagia Sophia (Church of the Holy Wisdom) built between 532 -537

Byzantium • Major challenge to the Eastern Empire in the centuries following Justinian was Islam – Muhammad’s prophecy: 610 – Byzantine-Arab wars occur from the 7 th century till the 12 th century, the age of the Crusades – Other people groups were constantly putting pressure on the Empire also: Serbs and Avars (Slavs) in the Balkans, Lombards (Goths) in Italy, Persians in the East, and even African Abyssinians in the Mediterranean

Byzantium

Byzantium • 8 th century Byzantine Empire – Leo iii the Isaurian inherits war with the Muslims – At least partially credits Muslim success with a puritanical, no-idolatry kind of religious practice – Bans icons, starting the “Iconoclastic Controversy” – Further weakens the connection between East and West

Byzantium • 9 th - 11 th century Byzantine Empire – Relations between emperors and aristocracy frequently leads to Civil War – Major people groups conquered and brought into the sphere of Byzantine empire: Bulgaria and the Rus (Russia) – The apex of Byzantine conquest was the beginning of the 11 th century under Basil ii – Eastern and Western Christianity formally split at this time also: 1054: Humbert excommunicates Cerularius

Byzantium • The Great Schism – This is when we can begin talking about Roman Catholic Church in the west and Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the east – Pope Leo ix / Patriarch Michael Cerularius – Several controversies over the course of history that contributed to the split

Byzantium • Great Schism controversies – A matter of language: Greek versus Latin – The church leaders suppress languages in their domains – Primacy • Bishops of various geographies from the beginning of the church’s history frequently consulted and collaborated, but some geographies were more important than others • Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch were all important centers

Byzantium • Great schism controversies (continued) – Primacy (continued) • Papal authority therefore becomes an issue • Jurisdiction over certain geographies (Balkans, Sicily) • Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem are silent: why? – Filioque: a matter of accepted practice becoming a dividing issue – Liturgical practices – Iconoclasm (as we’ve noted) – Celibacy

Byzantium • 11 th century defeat by Seljuk Turks fragments Empire in Anatolia • Age of Crusades • Western Crusaders sack Constantinople 1204 • Constantinople finally falls to the Ottoman Turks in 1453