Byzantine Empire

& Christianity in the Middle Ages

9.4 The Byzantine Empire

Byzantium becomes Constantinople

In the 4th century Rome was already in trouble
Roman Emperor Constantine moved the
Roman capital to the old port city of
Byzantium for 2 reasons
He could respond to the danger of the Germanic
tribes
He could be closer to rich eastern provinces

He names the city Constantinople

2 Capitals of Rome

2 capitals = 2 empires
It was difficult to communicate between
Eastern and Western parts of the Roman
Empire
Because of this the Empire was divided in
two in 395
Western Rome falls in 476

The Reign of Justinian

Germanic tribes rule

western part of Roman
Empire Eastern
Roman Empire
continues to exist
Justinian became
emperor of ERE in 527
Wanted to restore
the full Roman
Empire
In 16 years
Justinian ruled
almost all the
territory that Rome
ruled

Justinian builds a new Rome in

Constantinople

Justinians Code

Justinian had 10 legal experts combine the Roman Laws

Combined 400 years of Roman law and legal opinions
It consisted of 4 works
The Code contained nearly 5,000 Roman laws, which the
experts still considered useful for the Byzantine Empire
The Digest quoted and summarized the opinions of
Romes legal thinkers
The Institutes a textbook that told law students how to
use laws
The Novellae (new laws) presented legislation passed
after 534

From Eastern Empire to Byzantine Empire

Troubles:

Too much territory (couldnt protect all of it)

Empty treasury
Population decline due to plague
Renewed threats on the frontier
Unified Arab force invaded ERE

Holy Roman Empire

Roman Catholic Church

Eastern Roman Empire

Byzantine Empire
Eastern Orthodox Church

Byzantine Empire
By 8th Century, empire consisted of only
Asia minor and the Eastern Balkans
Empire was both Christian and Greek
Empire was built on the Greek Orthodox
Church
The emperors power was absolute
because he was chosen by God
He appointed the head of the Church, the
patriarch

Life in Constantinople
Largest city in Europe
in the Middle Ages
Chief center for
trading goods
Justinian smuggled in
silkworms from China
silk became the
citys most lucrative
product

Life in Constantinople
Hagia Sophia:
Church of the Holy
Wisdom
42 windows, light
shining in
symbolizes the
presence of God in
the world
Constantine offering a model of the city and Justinian offering a model of Hagia Sophia
to the Virgin mother and Christ child.

Hagia
Sofia

Interio
r
Hagia
Sofia
today
Notice the
markings on
the church
walls. What
do they
signify?

Byzantine influence the birth of

Russia
The Slavs- people from the forest north of the Black Seatraded with the Byzantine empire
Around 880 they moved their capital to Kiev to be able to
trade with the Byzantine empire better
In 989 the ruler of the Slavs, Vladimir, converted to
Orthodox Christianityhe made all of his subjects
convert too
Kiev marks the appearance of Russias 1st important
unified territory

1.

In the Byzantine Empire, one important feature of life

was the development of
A.
B.
C.
D.

Eastern Orthodox Christianity

Social and political equality
Islam
Civil service examinations

2.

Constantinople became the center of Byzantine Empire

because
A.
B.
C.
D.

It was a religious center for Muslims

The Pope had made it the capital of the Christian world
It was geographically isolated from surrounding empires
A Roman emperor had moved the capital of the empire
eastwards

3.

The cultural contributions shown in these photographs were

developed during the
A. Mesopotamian civilizations
C. Tang Dynasty
B. Pax Romana D. Byzantine Empire

4.

Which historic figure is correctly paired with the

empire he ruled?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Charlemagne- Spanish Empire

Julius Caser Ottoman Empire
Justinian Byzantine Empire
Suleiman the Magnificent Russian Empire

6. What country did the Byzantine Empire

influence
A.
B.
C.
D.

Russia
Iran
China
France

A.
B.
C.
D.

Russia
Iran
China
France