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The Byzantine Empire.mp4In this skill, you are going to learn about the Byzantine Empire. The history of the Byzantine Empire starts in 312 CE, when a man named Constantine became emperor of the Roman Empire. At this time, the Roman Empire controlled all of the land around the Mediterranean Sea. At first, the capital of the Roman Empire was the city of Rome, in present-day Italy. But in 330 CE, Constantine moved the empire's capital to a city in present-day Turkey. He called that city Constantinople, which means "The City of Constantine" in Greek. When Constantine decided to move the empire's capital, he had to weigh the advantages of both Rome and Constantinople.
Constantine's legacy
Constantine is remembered for many great achievements. Christians often remember Constantine for the work he did to improve the lives of Christians in the Roman Empire. Before Constantine's rule, it was illegal to practice Christianity there, and many Christians were persecuted. But Constantine made Christianity legal. He also became a Christian himself. So, Constantine became an important ruler to later Christians.
Byzantine artists often show Constantine as an important Christian figure. For example, artwork shows Constantine, on the right, holding the city of Constantinople in his hands. He is offering the city as a gift to Jesus, shown as a young child.
Several decades after Constantine's rule, the Roman Empire split into two different empires.
In 395 CE, a Roman emperor named Theodosius died. He wanted his two sons to rule after him, but neither son had enough experience to control the entire Roman Empire. So, the empire was divided into two smaller parts, one for each son. One part, called the Western Roman Empire, was based in Rome. The other part, called the Eastern Roman Empire, was based in Constantinople.
The Western Roman Empire couldn't afford the large military it needed to fight off invaders, and it was conquered by an invading group in 476 CE. But the Eastern Roman Empire was wealthy and had a large military to defend itself, so it remained independent. Today, historians often call the Eastern Roman Empire the "Byzantine Empire." But Byzantine rulers still saw themselves as Roman emperors. They continued to follow Roman traditions and rule their empire from the Roman capital of Constantinople.
Who conquered Rome?
Many different groups invaded the Western Roman Empire during the 400s, but most were descendants from a group of people that the Romans called "Germanic." At that time, Germanic people lived mainly in northern Europe. Sometimes Germanic people and Roman people got along, but other times they fought.
The city of Rome was eventually conquered by one of these groups, and their leader, Odoacer, was crowned as the first king of Italy. Even though he was from a foreign group, he still respected many of the Roman traditions.
In 527 CE, a man named Justinian became the Byzantine emperor. Justinian wanted to recapture the land that had been lost when the Western Roman Empire was conquered. Look at the maps of the Byzantine Empire before and after Justinian's conquests.
The Byzantine Empire reached its largest size under the rule of Justinian. The empire was tremendously wealthy, and Justinian used this wealth to improve the city of Constantinople. His most well-known construction is a church called the Hagia Sophia, which means "Holy Wisdom" in Greek. Justinian wanted the Hagia Sophia to be the most impressive church in the world. The church's builders used art and architecture, or the design of a building, to achieve this goal.
The Hagia Sophia and Byzantine art
Though Justinian built the Hagia Sophia, many later Byzantine emperors added to the church. Some of the church's most well-known works of art were added by these later emperors. Many of these works are a type of art called a mosaic (moh-ZEY-ik). Mosaics are made out of small pieces of material, usually stone or glass. Look at the mosaics from the Hagia Sophia.
In addition to building the Hagia Sophia, another one of Justinian's greatest accomplishments was writing the Codex Justinianus, or Justinian's Code. Justinian's Code was a collection of Roman laws that were brought together and simplified. These laws let people across the empire know what was or was not a crime.
Was Justinian's Code the first law code?
No! Throughout time, most societies have created some sort of laws that people are expected to live by. But often, laws from the ancient world either weren't written down or have gone missing. But historians have found some written copies of these ancient laws
Justinian succeeded in building a large, strong empire. But near the end of his reign, a crisis hit the Byzantine Empire. Around 541 CE, a deadly disease called the bubonic plague killed almost half of the people living in the empire's cities. Because Justinian was the emperor when the disease first spread to Constantinople, some historians call it the Plague of Justinian.
The plague strikes again
In the 1300s CE, about 700 years after the Plague of Justinian, the bubonic plague infected much of Europe and Asia again. The disease was sometimes called the "Black Death" because infected people's hands, feet, and noses often turned black as the skin died.
Like the Plague of Justinian, the Black Death also killed an enormous number of people. Historians estimate that within only 15 years, the Black Death killed at least 75 million people in Europe and Asia.
The Plague of Justinian was the first of several events that caused major changes in the Byzantine Empire between 500 CE and 800 CE.
Even though the Byzantine Empire lost much of the land that it controlled under Justinian's rule, the empire eventually became wealthy again. One way that the empire became wealthy was through involvement with long-distance trade, or trade with places that are far away. Archaeologists can learn about this trade by studying the materials that people exchanged.
Most people in the Byzantine Empire were Christians. But Christianity was also popular all over Europe. Look at the map that shows where Christianity was a common religion.
In the early 700s CE, there were two important centers of Christian leadership where church leaders made decisions about how Christianity should be practiced. One center was Rome and the other was Constantinople. The centers were far away from each other, which made it difficult for church leaders to communicate with each other. As a result, the religious centers started to do things differently from one another. Eventually, this led to conflict between the centers.
Were Rome and Constantinople the only important Christian cities?
No! Before Islamic rulers conquered the Byzantine Empire's territory in Asia and North Africa, there were other Christian centers in the empire, such as Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. Many Christians still live in those cities today!
In the mid-800s CE, the Byzantine emperor wanted to convert more people in eastern Europe to Christianity. So, he sent two brothers named Cyril and Methodius to spread Christianity to a group of people in eastern Europe called Slavs (pronounced: slahvs).
At this time, Slavs did not have an alphabet, so they could not read and write documents in their native languages. This made it hard to spread ideas over long distances. So, Cyril and Methodius came up with an alphabet for writing the languages spoken by Slavic people. This new alphabet allowed people to spread ideas about Christianity.
The map shows some places where Slavic writing was found hundreds of years after Cyril and Methodius's travels. Look at the map.
Missionaries for the Byzantine government
Cyril and Methodius were Christian missionaries, or people who work to spread Christianity. But they were also diplomats, or people who represent their country when they are working with other countries. For example, the Byzantine emperor sent Cyril to meet with the ruler of an Islamic empire. The Byzantine emperor hoped that Cyril would be able to improve the relationship between the two empires.
In the United States today, it is very uncommon for people to be both missionaries and diplomats. Missionaries generally work with a religious organization and not the U.S. government.
Over the centuries, church leaders in Rome and in Constantinople started to think differently about certain issues. Look at the chart that shows some of these differences.
Why were church services in Greek and Latin?
The main Christian text, sometimes called the New Testament, was originally written in Greek, and most people in the Byzantine Empire spoke Greek. So, many church services were given in that language. But most people in western Europe didn't speak Greek and couldn't understand these services.
Eventually, church leaders in Rome started holding church services that were in Latin, which was commonly spoken in the region around Rome. In the 300s CE, scholars in Rome even translated their Bible into Latin so more people could read the Bible. This Latin version of the Bible was used by church leaders in Rome for over 1000 years!
In the 700s CE, people in the Byzantine Empire were deeply divided about whether people could worship icons. Icons are a type of religious art that had been important to many Christians since the 200s CE.
In 1054 CE, disagreements between the church leaders in Rome and Constantinople led to a split. Christians on the western side of Europe mostly followed the church leaders in Rome, while those on the eastern side mostly followed the church leaders in Constantinople.
Are the two churches still separate?
Yes. The issues that caused the split left many people on both sides angry. But today, the two churches have a much better relationship, even though they are still separate.
In 2014, the leaders of the two churches met in Jerusalem to discuss some of the things that their two religious groups have in common. Some Christians from both groups would like to see the churches reunite. But the two churches still disagree about many of the things that caused the split in 1054!
In 1453, the Byzantine Empire was conquered by a group called the Ottoman Turks. By this time, the Byzantine Empire had carried on Roman traditions for almost a thousand years.
The land of the Byzantine Empire today
Today, Constantinople and the heart of the Byzantine Empire lie in the country of Turkey. The city of Constantinople is now called by its Turkish name, Istanbul. Istanbul is a thriving, modern city that attracts businesses as well as tourists. Istanbul's long history, beautiful art, and impressive architecture make it a popular vacation spot! Could you imagine visiting Istanbul?
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