Byzantine and Russian Empires Flashcards
Rome Recap
284 AD - Diocletian divides empire
Constantine moves capital to Byzantium
395 AD - after Theodosius’s death empire divided again
influence in culture from Persia, Greece, and Rome
500-1200 AD - Byzantine civilization one of ,oat advanced
New Rome
Constantinople becomes New Rome
1) Byzantine Empire considered themselves heir to Roman power
2) after the split Byzantine emperors were Romans who spoke Latin
3) many Byzantine people spoke Greek and maintained Greek culture and tradition, developed Greek Orthodox Christianity
Justinian - 527-565 AD
ruled with wife Theodora
1) helped improve the social standing of women - wife could own land equal in value to the wealth she brought into the marriage
2) 523 AD - Nika Revolt - Theodora convinced Justinian not to flee but to stay and fight
Justinian’s Military Campaigns
battled Persians from Iran on eastern front
533 - began reconquest of Italy (Ostrogoths), North Africa (Vandals), Spain (Visigoths) - recaptured lands but lost them short time later
555 - ends with recaptured lands and Byzantine Empire near bankruptcy
Justinian Code of Laws - established legal reforms that still exist today, basis for most European law systems, established scholars, supervised by Tribonian, Corpus of Civil Law
Byzantine Art
Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom)
- largest and most beautiful church in empire, architectural wonder
- symbolized importance of Christianity and the Emperor’s authority in the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine art and architecture distinctive
roads, fortresses, aqueducts, monasteries, and other buildings
Byzantine Economy
1) most worked as farmers, laborers, and herders
2) commerce and trade thrived in Constantinople - weaving silk became a major industry
3) most of the tax burden was placed on farmers
Byzantine Art and Learning
one religion(Greek Orthodox), one language(Greek), one culture
beautiful icons - jewel encrusted crosses, carved ivory boxes for sacred items
religious subjects for art - saints, Christ
mosaics - pictures made of tiny pieces of glass, flat stone, or tile placed in plaster
illuminated manuscripts - books decorated with elaborate designs, beautiful lettering
850 - University of Constantinople established
Byzantine scholars preserved Greco-Roman manuscripts from earlier times
Byzantine Religion
Emperors and Orthodox Church closely linked
1) emperors regarded as God’s representatives on Earth - leader called patriarch of Constantinople - crowned emperors
2) emperors would appoint Church officials, design style of worship, and used wrath of Church for gov’t purposes
icons - political issue - 843 AD use of pictures (mosaics) allowed, but no statues
Conflict with Rome - cultural split
1) disagreement over religious and political issues
a) Pope in Rome claimed to be leader of the
entire Church - Catholic and Byzantine
2) 1054 - doctrinal, political, and geographical differences led to schism
a) divided into Roman Catholic (pope) and
Eastern Orthodox (emperors)
Byzantine Downfall
empire under constant attack - extremely wealthy and at crossroads between Asia and Europe
1071 - Seljuk Turks attack
1204 - Venetian Christians invade Constantinople and capture it, created Crusader states
1204-1261 - condemned for their actions byPope Innocent III - did not stop them
1453 - Ottoman Turks attack and conquer Constantinople
Byzantine Contributions
Greek fire - chemical of highly flammable oil, pitch, quicklime, resin and sulfur, shot it at ships
shielded Western Europe from attacks
culture passed onto Eastern Slaves (Eastern Europe)
Early Russia - 8th century
By the 8th century AD Russia was inhabited by Slavs
1) Cyril and Methodius - Greek monks - created
Cyrillic alphabet
2) converted Slavs to Christianity (Orthodox)
Early Russia - 9th century
settled by Vikings called the Rus
Early Russia - 10th century
Kiev emerges as center of prosperous state - Dnieper River
1) trade helps it prosper
2) Prince Vladimir orders the people to convert
to Christianity
3) 988 - adopted Byzantine ways of life - Vlad
controlled gov’t and church
Early Russia - 13th century
Russia conquered by Mongols (Tarters) - held Russia until the 1500s
1) Genghis Khan and his army - Golden Horde)
- conquered areas had to pay him and
Mongols a large tribute
2) Russian princes were allowed to rule their
cities, unless they failed to pay tribute - dead
Moscow
leadership moves from Kiev to Moscow
Ivan III (Ivan the Great) - 1462-1505
1) Grand Duke of Moscow - ends Mongol rule in western Russia
2) Founder of modern Russia - by creating a strong gov’t that reflected Byzantine traditions
3) extended territory - became autocracy
4) adopted title of Czar (Caesar) - built Kremlin - where important gov’t was housed
Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) - 1533-1584
Cossacks sent to discover/explore Pacific, reached manifest destiny
1565 - abandoned Moscow, his men attacked hostile boyars
when he dies - chaos
Time of Troubles
1) after Ivan the Terrible’s death, no princes, boyars, gov’t officials,or nobles as a result of his terrorism
2) Russia endured foreign invasion and civil war, boyars fought for control
Michael Romanov - 1613
1613 - named czar by popular assembly
lasted until 1917, when Czar Nicholas and his family were executed
Peter I (the Great)
1) strengthened rule of the czar by creating strong army loyal to him
a) ruthlessly crushed a couple of noble revolts
against him
b) appointed noble governors to replace local
officials
c) extended gov’t control over Russian
Orthodox Church
2) Westernized Russia - introduced western ideas in science, education, military training, and industry
a) created an elite special segment of
population that was educated in European
manners - split upper class
b) gained seaport - built it from ground - St.
Petersburg - capital - land from Sweden
Catherine II (the Great) - 1762-1796
1) gained more territory from south and west and fought against Turks along northern coast of Black Sea - got land
2) made Russia an 18th century European power
3) expanded art, literature, and science, encouraged modernized legal reforms
Mohammed - 570-632
born in Mecca, Arabia
became religious reformer who condemned idol worship and urged new religion
had to flee from Mecca to Medina, where the people accepted his religion
his flight or Hegira in 622 marks first year of Moslem Calendar
Five Pillars of Islam
- Shahadah - “there is no god but Allah and Muhammed is his prophet”
- Salat - ritual prayer 5 times a day
- Sawm - fasting and self control during Ramadan
- Zakat - giving 2.5% of ones earnings to the poor and needy
- Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your lifetime, if able
Muslim Teachings
Muslim Bible - Koran
Muhammed preached holy war (jihad) against pagans and non believers
making alliances with other Bedouin (Arabian nomads), he ordered his followers to raid the trading caravans from Mecca and subdue unfriendly tribes
630 - Mecca surrendered to Muslim armies without a fight
632 - by time of his death, Muhammed had united the often feuding Arabian tribes
Caliphs
called caliphs - have religious and political power - regarded as “Defender of Faith”
Sunnis and Shi’ites always fighting
Later Islam history
capital - Damascus and later Baghdad
10th century - Muslim Empiure gradually disintegrated as rival chieftains gradually gained absolute power of their own areas
15th century - Muslims of Spain called Moors were conquered by the Christian states of Spain
Islam’s Two Major Defeats
- 717-718 – Muslims defeated at Constantinople by the Byzantine Empire
- 732 – Muslims defeated by Franks and Charles Martel
Significance of Islam’s Two Major Defeats
- Muslim attempt to conquer Europe was ended
- American culture based on Europe not Islam
- Countries of Europe allowed to develop onto the countries they are today
Muslim Contributions to Civilization
- while Christian European culture declined in the Dark Ages, the Arabs developed a flourishing civilization which spread throughout the Muslim world
- Arabic numerals with concept of zero (from India)
- used anesthetics, performed surgery, progressed in eye operations
- extensive libraries, The Thousand and One Nights and Rubiyat if Omar Khayyam
- designed graceful mosques and palaces typified by rounded domes, and tall, slender minarets (towers)
