The Empire of Byzantium

Objectives

• Why is the Byzantine Empire important to history?

• Who was Justinian and how did he rebuild Constantinople?

• How did a fight over statues cause a split in the Catholic Church?

Byzantium. Basic Timeline

378. Adrianopolis's battle. We saw it in the documentary.

395. Division of the Empire.

476: End Western Roman Empire.

VI century: Heyday (peak)

A New Rome in a New Setting

• Roman Empire was split by Constantine in 395 AD.

– Rome to the West

– Byzantium (capital city of Constantinople) to the East

• Constantinople began to flourish as Rome declined.

• The Eastern leaders still saw themselves as Roman Emperors

Justinian (527-565)

• In 527, Justinian succeeded his uncle, Constantine, as Emperor.

• He decided to claim the land lost in the West (old Rome) back from the Vandals and Ostrogoths.

• He sent his best general, Belisarius, on the task.

• After numerous campaigns, Belisarius’ armies took back all of Northern Africa, Italy, and parts of Spain.

• Justinian now ruled almost all the territory that Rome had ever ruled.

Absolute Power Basileus

• The Emperor recibed the name of Basileus.

• Justinian and his successors ruled with absolute power.

• This power includee the control of the army, the administration, and the Church.

• He modernised the Roman legal system, creating the Justinian Code.

Culture

• At first, the Byzantine Empire followed the traditions of the Roman Empire.

• After Justinian’s reign, however, it adopted an increasing number of Greek customs.

• For example, Greek replaced Latin as the official language.

Preserving the Classic Culture

• Focused on Education

• Children attended school and learned from Greek and Roman literature.

• Without the Byzantine Empire, much of our knowledge from Greece and Rome would be lost.

Social Organization

Economy

Agriculture: Most population worked in agricultural activities but they were serfs ans slaves. The land was owned by the nobles and the monasteries.

Trade: Very important because of the strategic location (between Europe and Asia, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea). They had traded with all types of products.

Silk Road

Series of trade and cultural transmission routes

linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks,

soldiers... from China and India to the

Mediterranean Sea during various periods of

time.

Creating the Imperial Capital• Justinian was determined to rebuild the Byzantine

Empire.

• He began by building baths, aqueducts, law courts, schools, and hospitals.

• His greatest contributions included:

– Rebuilding Constantinople’s fortifications

– The Hagia Sophia

– Preserved Roman and Greek Literature and knowledge

The Walls of Theodosius (Constantinople’s fortress) were double layered.

In between the two was a ditch

Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia- Justinian rebuilt this church, which replaced a version that

was burned down during the Nika Riots.

- Means “Holy Wisdom” (Santa Sabiduría) in Greek

- The most splendid Church in the Christian World at the time

- Built in just 6 years

- Many architectural innovations were included, as triangular pendentives (pechinas), which allowed builders to put a dome on top of a rectangular building.

Minarets

Ottoman Muslims erected them after

capturing Constantinople in

1453.

Used to call Muslims to

prayer.

The Empire Confronts its Enemies

• Constantinople remained rich and powerful for centuries due to trade.

• However, the empire faced countless setbacks leading up to (and following) Justinian’s death in 565.

• The Empire faced many attacks from the East, West, and North.

• Byzantines used bribes, diplomacy, and political marriages to prop up their shaky empire.

– However, this was not enough

• The Empire slowly decay

– By 1350, reduced to the tip of Anatolia and a strip of the Balkans

– Constantinople still held out for another 100 years, but finally fell to the Turks in 1453

Byzantine Empire by 717

Byzantine Empire by 1000-1100

Byzantine Empire by 13551453: Turks conquer the last territories

The importance of the Church

Powerful, it had enjoyed spiritual authority over the population.

Rich, they owned numerous lands. However, many problems:

Iconoclastic controversy East-West Schism

Iconoclastic controversyIt refers to ban the representations of Christ, God,

saints.

An Icon is a statue or painting that represents an idea or object.

Two periods:

VIII century → Images banned

IX century → Images banned and Emperors ordered to removed them from temples.

The people rioted and the clergy rebelled.

East-West Schism

There were rivalry between the Pope in Rome and the patriarch in ConstantinoplePatriarch: the highest-ranking bishops in Eastern

Orthodoxy

The confrontation ended in 1054, with the split of the Church.

Since then, there is the Catholic Christian Church and the Orthodox Christian Church.

Byzantine Art

There three main things:

- Churches with a Greek-cross plan and large

domes (cúpulas). Hagia Sophia is the best example.

- Mosaics, which covered the walls and ceilings of

churches and palaces.

- Icons, religious images. Usually painted on a

wooden surface and gold paint.

Churches. The Greek-cross plan.

Four arms of equal length.

Hagia Sophia Plan

Churches. Large Domes.

Origin of the dome: ancient India and Rome.

Byzantine innovation pendentives

allowed a better distribution of

forces

greater size and height

Allow windows.

Light = God

Hagia Sophia Dome

Hagia Sophia Dome (Inside)

Hagia Sophia Dome (Inside)

Hagia Sophia Dome (Inside)

Mosaics

• Definition: Decoration of a surface with designs made up of closely set, usually variously coloured, small pieces of material such as stone, mineral, glass, wood or shell.

• Origin: Mesopotamia. Very common in Greece and Rome, especially in homes. Byzantium continues the tradition.

• Byzantine innovation: Searching for reflections, they use gold and silver colours. Why? Because Christianism identifies light with God.

• The most important examples are in Ravenna (Italy)

Hagia Sophia. Mosaics

Hagia Sophia. Mosaics

Icons. Religious images. Usually painted on a wooden

surface and gold paint.

They can represent God, The Virgin, Saints…