Byzantine Notes

Threats in the 6th-9th Century

o Empire was economically weak
Due to war and building during Justinian Era
Excellent Military Leadership
Muslims captured Africa and Middle East
Isaurians
o Restored empire financially
o Solidified the remaining empire
Iconclasm
o Internal religious dispute
o Emperor Leo III ordered all images to be destroyed
o Icons broken by the iconoclasts
o Provinces revolted
o The roman Church excommunicated the eastern
emperor
o Empress Irene
After 2nd Nicene Council worked out
compromise
Revived Veneration Icons
o In 843 Eastern Church allowed icons if they were not
3-dimensional
o Byzantine art has changed little because of the
connection between icon and religion
Beyond Justinian
o Successors must defend the Eastern Empire itself
o Empire was centered in the Balkans, western/central
portions of Turkey
o Byzantine Empire represented a mix of Hellenistic
tradition, Christianity, as well as Roman Engineering,
military tactics, and codified law
o Strong enough to withstand the threat of the
expanding Arab Muslim Empire
Muslim Threat
o While the Byzantines were able to withstand the
Muslim threat, they did so taking on massive losses
o Arabs built a naval fleet that challenged Byzantine
naval supremacy
o Wars witih Muslims added economic burdens to the
Empire
Invasions, taxation create larger aristocratic
estates because of burden on small farmers
Bulgaria

o Slavic territory that pressed Byzantine territory in the

Balkans
Bulgarian king takes the title, Tsar Slavic for
Caesar
Macedonian Dynasty
o Schism 1024
Due to doctrinal dispute
Continuing Attacks
o Magyars Hungary
o Normans Sicily and Southern Italy
o The Crusades
o 1453, Ottoman Turks capture and rename Istanbul
Similarities with China
o Emperor was held to be ordained by God
o Head of Church as well as state
o Women held the imperial throne at times
o Bureaucracy
Secular school system with training in Greek
Classics, Philosophy, and Science
Aristocrats predominate, but talent came from
highly educated scholars
Military
o Recruit troops locally and reward them with grants of
land
o Hereditary military leaders gained regional power,
displacing traditional and better educated aristocrats
o While this was bad for the empire, it helped to
protect a state that was under attack from the
Muslims
Center of Christian Knowledge
o Ukrainians and Russians sent representative to learn
in Constantinople
Russian Early Peoples and States
o Russias roots go back to the AD 600s
o Slav farmers, hunters, and fishers settle
o Over time, the Slavs separated into distinct cultural
groups
West Slavs Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks
South Slavs Bulgarians, Croats, and Serbs
East Slavs Russians, Ukrainians, and
Belarusians
Kievan Rus
o By the 800s, Slav communities formed into a loose
union of city-states called Kievan Rus

o Kiev was ruled by princes and controlled trading

routes between the Baltic and Black Sea
o Fighting between City-States weakened Kievan Rus
leaving it vulnerable to outside attack
Mongols
o In the early 1200s Mongol invaders from Central Asia
conquered Kiev and many of the Slav Territories
o Mongols allowed self-rule, but demanded taxes from
its subjects
o Controlled area for 2000+ years
o When the Mongols overran Kiev, many slaves fled
into the nearby forest
o Settled along the Moskva River
o In time the settlement grew into the city of Moscow
o For 2 centuries, the Muscovy princes kept peace with
the Mongols
o Gained land and wealth by helping the Mongols
collect taxes from other Slav territories
Ivan III 1440-1505
o Muscovy Prince
o Ivan the Great
o Unites the Slavs
o Drives out he Mongols
o Built a huge fortress called the Kremlin filled with
churches and palaces
Ivan IV 1530-1584
o Grandson of Ivan III
o Ivan the Terrible
o Becomes 1st crowned czar of Russia