Chapter 10 Summary Civilization in Eastern Europe: Byzantine and Orthodox Europe

Chapter Summary: In addition to the great civilizations of Asia and Africa forming during the postclassical period, two related, major civilizations formed in Europe. The Byzantine Empire, with its capital in the great city of Constantinople, was based in western Asia and southeastern Europe, and expanded into eastern Europe. The Byzantine Empire was most seen as a continuation of the Roman Empire. The other was defined by the influence of Catholicism in the western and central Europe. The Byzantine Empire, with territory in the Balkans, the Middle east, and the eastern Mediterranean, maintained high levels of political, economic and cultural life between 50 and 140 C.E. The empire continues many Roman patterns and spread its Orthodox Christian civilization through most of eastern Europe, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Catholic Christianity, without an imperial center, spread in western Europe. Two separate civilizations emerged from the differing Christian influences.

Vladimir and Russian Orthodoxy page 204 -A choice confronted the Russian King Vladimir in the late 10th century: 1) either to maintain the traditional religion, or 2.)adopt either Catholicism or Byzantine Orthodoxy -Vladimir’s decision to choose Byzantine Orthodoxy was very important because it shaped Russian history with Byzantine influences in art, literature, etc. -alliance with Constaninolple meant being part of a larger commercial world, a gateway to international trade, and an influx of cultural influences. -the Byzantine Empire was in many ways a continuation of the Roman Empire, -it lasted for almost 1,000 years and was able to spread its cultural and political influence to the Balkans and southern Europe -The Byzantine Empire began with the building of Constantinople, the capital, far outstripped any European city in this period in size and sophistication

The Byzantine Empire-the Byzantine empire once part of the great Roman Empire, continued to flourish in eastern Mediterranean base after Roman decline. Although it inherited and continued some of Rome’s cartage, the Byzantine state developed its own form of civilization. The Byzantine Empire lasted from approximately 500 to 1450. It lasted for almost 1,000 years. The Balkan Peninsula was always part of the Byzantine Empire

The Origins of the Empire ( The Byzantine Empire) -in the 4th century CE, the emperor Constantine established a capital at Constantinople -rule of the vast empire was split between two emperors, the ruling from Rome and one from Constantinople -each produced different versions of Christianity - although the Latin language served at a from the 6 th century; Greek became the official tongue -the empire benefited from the high levels of civilization from the former Hellenistic world and from the region’s prosperous commerce -it held off barbarian invaders and developed a trained civilian bureaucracy

Justiinian' Achievements -Justinian was a eastern emperor who tried to reconquer western territory to create a united Roman Empire (he failed) -in the 6th century Justinian, with a secure base in the east, attempted to reconquer western territory, without lasting success -these campaigns weakened the empire as Slavs and Persians attacked the frontiers, and also created serious financial pressure His achievements: 1. -Justinian rebuilt Constantinople in classical style; among his achievements was the he church of Hagia Sophia 2.. -his codification of Roman law reduced legal confusion in the empire 3. -the code later spread Roman legal concepts throughout Europe 4. after the reign of Justinian the official language of the eastern empire was Greek 5. great architectural achievements -Belisarius was a great general who helped Justinian achieve military gains in north Africa and Italy

Arab Pressure and the Emperor’s Defense -Justinian’s successors concentrated upon the defense of their eastern territories the empire henceforth centered in the Balkans, and western and central Turkey, a location blending a rich Hellenistic culture with Christianity -the revived empire withstood the 7th century advance of Arab Muslims, although important regions were lost along the eastern Mediterranean and the northern Middle Eastern heartland -the wars and the permanent Muslim threat had significant cultural and commercial influences -Bulgaria was a strong rival. Bulgaria was a Slavic kingdom that attacked the Byzantine territory in the Balkans after the 8th century CE, but Basil II defeated and conquered it in the 11th century. Basil was known as the slayer of the Bulgars by restoring Byzantine rule in the Balkans - at the close of the 10th century, the Byzantine emperor was probably the strongest ruler of the time -by the 7th century the Arab Muslims was the greatest threat to the eastern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire -Greek Fire was a new technological innovation used in withstanding the siege of Constantinople -the wars with Muslims added a new economic burden to the empire: innovations and taxes weakened small farmers and resulted in greater aristocratic rule -despite all the difficulties with its neighbors, the conflict between the Byzantine and Arab Muslims demonstrated the empires had core strength

Byzantine Society and Politics -Byzantine political patterns resembled the earlier Chinese system, both were open to talented commoners, not just aristocrats -an emperor, ordained by god and surrounded by elaborate court ritual, headed both church and state -the officials trained in Hellenistic knowledge in a secular school system, could be recruited from all social classes, although -provincial governors were appointed from the center and a spy system helped to preserve loyalty (Byzantine culture centered around Hellenism) -troops were recruited locally and given land in return for military service -socially and economically , the empire depended upon Constantinople’s control over the countryside -peasants provided the food and most tax revenues -the large urban population was kept satisfied by low food prices. A widespread commercial network extended into Asia, Russia, and Scandinavia, western Europe and Africa -silk production techniques brought from China added a value product to the luxury items, exported (also exported cloth and carpets) -despite the busy trade, the large merchant class never developed political power due to government control -Byzantine was not strong in innovative literary forms -cultural lie centered upon Hellenistic secular traditions and Orthodox Christianity -one major military difference between the Byzantine and western Roman empires was that the Byzantine recruited armies from the Middle East

The Slit between eastern and western Christianity -Byzantine culture, political organization and economic orientation helped to explain the rift between the eastern and western versions of Christianity -different rituals grew from Greek and Latin versions of the Bible -emperors resisted papal attempts to interfere in religious issues -in 1504, the Patriarch Mica Michael attacked Catholic practices more strenuously, raising contentious issues that separated churches -the conflict resulted in mutual excommunication by the Patriarch and the Roman pope -even though the two churches remained separate, they continued to share a common classical heritage and informal contact persisted

The Schism -in 1054 church patriarch in Constantinople raised some questions: What kind of bread to use for the last supper? The celibacy of priests? -the pope banished this patriarch excommunicating him from all Roman Catholics -this split or schism between Roman Catholic church and Eastern Orthodoxy (the Byzantine or the Greek) continues to this day -there is also a difference in artistic forms philosophy, art in the Roman church depicts Christ’s suffering and Orthodox art emphasizes Christ’s majesty -Christian Orthodox was the name given to the form of Christianity that emerged in the Byzantine Empire

The Emperor’s Decline

-a long period of decline began in the 11th century. Muslim Turkish invaders, the Seljuk’s, seized almost all the empire’s Asian provinces, removing the most important sources of taxes and food -the empire never recovered from the loss f its army at Manzikert in 1071. -independent Slavis states appeared in the Balkans -an appeal for western European assistance did not help the Byzantines, and indeed, crusaders led by Venetian merchants sacked Constantinople in 1204, temporarily establishing a Western kingdom there (known as the western crusades of 1204) -the greatly reduced empire struggled to survive for another two centuries against western Europeans, Muslims, and Slavic Kingdoms -in 1453, the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and by 1461 the empire disappeared

The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe -The Byzantines Empire influence spread among the people of the Balkans and southern Russia through conquest, commerce, and Christianity. In the 9th century, the 2 missionaries Cyril and Methodius devised the written Cyrillic script for the Slavic language, providing a base for literary in eastern Europe. Unlike western Christians, the Byzantines allowed the use of local languages in church services -Cyrillic is the Slavic alphabet created by Orthodox missionaries

The East Central Borderlands -both eastern and western Christian missionaries competed in eastern Europe -Roman Catholics and their Latin alphabet, prevailed in the Czech region, Hungary, and Poland -competition in this area between western and eastern influences was long-standing -a series of regional monarchies with powerful, landowning aristocracies developed in Poland, Bohemia, and Lithuania -Eastern Europe also received an influx of Jews from the Middle East and western Europe -they were more barred from agriculture, but participated in local commerce The Emergence of Kievan Rus’ -Slavic people from Asia migrated into Russia and eastern Europe during he period of the Roman Empire. They mixed in and incorporated earlier populations and later invaders. The Russians eventually converted to Orthodox Christianity

New Patterns of Change -the Slavs worked iron and extended the amount of land under cultivation in Ukraine and western Russia -political organizations centered around family tribes and villages, organized ultimately into regional kingdoms -a monarchy emerged at Kiev around 855 under the legendary Danish merchant, Rurik. Rurik was the 1st king of Kievan Russia -Kiev was established by traders from Scandinavia -Kiev became a prosperous commercial center -Vladimir I preferred Orthodox Christianity to Roman Catholicism because he believed Roman Catholicism implied papal interference, while Orthodox Christianity embraced control of the church by the state -Yaroslave was a Kievan prince who issued a formal legal code based on Byzantine codes

Institutions and Culture in Kievan Rus’ -Russia’s religious, cultural, social and economic patterns developed differently from the western European experience -Kiev borrowed much from Byzantium ceremonials and the concept of a strong central ruler -Orthodox Christian practices entered Russian culture; devotion to divine power and to saints, ornate churches, icons, and monasticism -polygamy yielded to Christian monogamy -almsgiving emphasized the obligation of the wealthy toward the poor -literature using the Cyrillic alphabet, focused on religious and royal events, while art was dominated by icon painting and illuminated religious manuscripts -church architecture adapted Byzantine themes to local conditions -peasants were free farmers, and aristocratic landlords (boyars) had less political power than similar westerners

Kievan Decline -Kievan decline began in the 12th century by Mongol (Tatars) -rival princes established competing governments while the royal family quarreled over the succession -Asian invaders seized territory as trade diminished due to Byzantine decay -the Mongol invasions of the 13th century incorporated Russian lands into their territories -Mongol )Tartar) dominance further separated Russian from western European developments -commercial contacts lapsed _Russian Orthodoxy survived because of tolerant Mongols did not interfere with Russian religious beliefs or daily life as long as tribute was paid -thus when Mongol control ended in the 15th century, a Russian cultural and political tradition incorporating the Byzantine inheritance reemerged -the Russians claimed to be the successors to the Roman and Byzantine states, the “third new Rome”

Thinking Historically: Eastern and Western Europe: The Problem of Boundaries Determining where individual civilizations begin and end is a difficult exercise. The presence of many rival units and internal cultural differences complicated the question. If mainstream culture is used for definition, the Orthodox and Roman Catholic religions, each with its own alphabet, can be used to distribute East from West -political organization is harder to use because of the presence of loosely organized regional kingdoms. Commercial patterns and Mongol and Russian expansion also influenced cultural identities

The End of an Era in Eastern Europe -with the Mongol invasions, the decline of Russian and the collapse Byzantine, eastern European civilization entered into a difficult period. Much of the Kievan social structure disappeared, but Christianity and other socio-political and artistic patterns survived. Western and Eastern Europe evolved separately, with the former pushing ahead in power and cross cultural sophistication