Byzantine Empire Flashcards
What should you think of when u think about the Byzantine empire ?
Turkey
What became the capital of the Byzantine empire ?
It was formally known as _______.
Then it was renamed ________.
Also known as _________.
Constantinople
Byzantine
Constantinople
New Rome
Why was Constantinople an important place (why was it the capitol) ?
It remained secure as the western Roman Empire was destroyed
Where is Constantinople located ?
On the Bosporus straight
What did the Bosporus straight do?
Linked Mediterranean and black seas
What was good about Constantinople / Bosporus straight ?
Had excellent harbor because 3 sides were water
What was Constantinople guarded by ?
Large land and sea walls
What was Constantinople known for ?
It was the center of key trading routes that linked Europe and Asia.
It was European busiest market place for centuries
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was still in existence for ___ years.
______, ________, and ________ influences blended with the traditions of _______________.
1000
Greek
Roman
Christian
Mediterranean World
The byzantine empire reached its peak during whose rule ?
What was he determined to do ?
Justinian
Revive Ancient Rome
Who was a very successful general under Justinian’s rule ?
General Belisaris
What did General Belisarius reconquer in 527 to 565 ?
North Africa
Italy
Southern Spain
Who was the last of the romans ?
General Belisarius
Why were the victories temporary ?
Justinian’s successors would lose the land again
What was emperor Justinian known for ?
Rebuilding Constantinople
What important building was rebuilt under Justinian’s rule ?
Hagia Sophia
What did Hagia Sophia mean ?
Holy Wisdom
Hagia Sophia
What did they improve ?
What did the interior look like ?
Improved Roman architecture (it was a huge arching dome)
Colored marble and embroidered silk curtains
What was Justinian’s most important contribution ?
He reformed the law
What does Corpus Julie’s civillis mean ?
Body of law
What did the body of law become known as ?
Justinian’s code
Laws were organized and revised
What were the final 4 parts of Justinian’s Code.
Code
Digest
Institutes
Novalle
How did Justinian’s Code impact Western Europe ?
it guided legal thinkers in later centuries who put together international law in use today
What did Justinian use the laws for ?
to unify the empire under his control
what is an autocratic ruler ?
Sole ruler with complete authority
How are autocratic rulers different from roman rulers ?
They had control of the church
What did Justinian see himself as ?
Christ’s co-ruler on earth
Justinian was aided by his wife, ______?
Theodora
What did Justinian do with the power ?
he combined political and spiritual power
Sole ruler with complete authority
Autocratic Ruler
What are 3 things that peasants did that formed the backbone of the empire ?
worked the land
paid taxes
soldiers for military
Byzantine currency
bezant
What was the Byzantine’s secret weapon called ?
Greek Fire
what was greek fire
liquid that contained petroleum, ignited on impact, and couldn’t be out out with water
Bezant
Byzantine gold coin stamped with emperor’s image circulated from England to China.
What created problems between east and west ?
They had different opinions on religion
who controlled the church affairs ?
byzantine emperor
Byzantine Christians rejected the __________.
the pope’s claim to authority over all christians
who was the highest church official ?
patriarch
what kept their right to marry ?
the clergy
what was their language ?
Greek
what caused disputes and disagreement between the east and west and contributed to the split of the church ?
the use of icons
what did the pope do about the icon disagreement ?
he condemned the use of icons
Great schism
split between eastern and western christianity
what was the western branch ?
Roman Catholic church
what was the eastern branch ?
Byzantine church
greek orthodox church
5 reasons the empire declined ?
- struggles over succession
- constant wars
- local rulers gained control over large areas of land
- enemies attacked empire
- Seljuk Turks (Asia Minor) and Normans & Lombards (Europe)
who was the byzantine emperor ?
Alexis I
what did Alexis I do ?
called for western help
Alexis I called for western help from who ?
Pope Urban II
Why did Alexis I call for help from the west ?
to fight the Seljuk Turks
What was the result of Alexis I asking for help from the west ?
the first crusade
during later crusades _______ created violence between byzantine and ______.
trade rivalry, Italy
Venice
What happened in the 4th crusade ?
knights attacked constantinople
what happened in the 4th crusade when the knights attacked Constantinople ?
the burned and plundered the city
sent treasures back to western europe
When does Constantinople fall/ captured ?
To/ by whom?
1453 ottoman turks
After Constantinople was captured what was it renamed ?
Instanbul
what did the ottomans turn the Hagia Sophia into ?
an Islamic mosque
what is the largest nation today ?
Russia
where did russia begin ?
Present day ukraine
where does russia lie ?
on the Eurasian plain (Europe to China borders)
What is seen as the divider between Europe and Asia?
Ural Mountains
What was good and bad about the northern forests ?
they supplied lumber and fuel
had poor soil and the cold,snowy climate hindered farming.
Since the northern forest weren’t good where did farmers go ? why ?
farther south
there was fertile land
where was a good place for nomadic people ?
what was it ?
southern steppe
open, treeless grassland that offered pasture for herds and horses
what did the network of rivers provide ?
provided transportation for both people and goods
2 rivers that became productive trade routes
Dnieper River
Volga River
major rivers linked _______ in the _____ to the _______ in the _____.
Russians North
Byzantines South
How were the Slavs like the Germanic people ?
they had no political organization more complex than the clan.
what are some characteristics of the Slavs ?
lived in small villages, farmed, traded along the rivers connecting the Baltic and the black sea
in the 700s and 800s the vikings came out of ________ and worked their way south along _____, trading with _____.
Scandinavia
rivers
Slavs
Later, what did the Russians call the vikings ?
Vargangians
Constantinople later sent ________ to convert the Slavs.
christian missionaies
What did Cyril and Methodius do to help convert the slavs ?
adapted the Greek alphabet so they could translate the bible into Slavic languages
The ____ alphabet became the written script used in _______ and _______.
Cyrillic
Russian, Ukraine
In 957, who converted to Byzantine Christianity ?
Olga
Who is Olga ?
remaining princess of kiev
It was not until the reign of _____ that Byzantine Christianity spread widely.
Vladimir
Who is Vladimir ?
grandson of Olga
What architectural feature did churches begin to have ?
Onion domes
What did Byzantine Christianity set the patterns for ?
The close ties between church and state
What was a pillar of state power ?
Russian Orthodox Church
Who ruled under the golden age in Kiev ?
Yaroslav
From what years did yaroslav rule ?
1019 - 1054
3 things that yaroslav did in the golden age ?
Issued a law code
Translated Greek words into his language
Arranged marriages between his children and the royal families in Western Europe
When did Kiev decline ?
1100’s
What cause Kiev to decline ?
- Rival families battling for the throne
- As the Russian princes fought mongol invaders attacked
- Russian trading cities were hurt because byzantine prosperity faded
What was the mongol conquest ?
Unification of the nomadic mongols of Central Asia by Genghis khan
When did the mongol conquest occur ?
1200’s
Who was Genghis khan ?
World emperor
Who is the grandson of Genghis Khan ?
Batu
What did Batu do ?
When did he do it ?
He led mongol armies into Russia
1236-1241
What were mongols known as ?
Why ?
Golden Horde
The color of their tents
What did the mongols do when they entered Russia ?
Burned Kiev and other Russian towns
What are 2 ways that the mongols affected Russia ?
- Peasants felt the burden of heavy taxes.
2. Some fled to remote regions while others sought protection by becoming surfs of Russian nobles.
What did mongols do about the Russian Orthodox Church ?
They tolerated it even tho they were Muslim
What served as a model for later Russian rulers ?
The absolute power of the mongols
____________ began to develop a strong desire to __________ without inference from __________________.
Russian princes
Centralize their own power
Nobles clergy or merchants
What did mongol rule do that affected Russia later on ?
They cut of the Russians contacts with Western Europe at the time when Europeans were making rapid advancement.
In what period did princess of Moscow steadily increase their power?
Mongol period
What was the Moscow princess’ success due to ?
The city’s location which is near important river trade routes
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church made _______ his capital.
At the same time that city became Russia’s ________ ?
Moscow
Russia’s spiritual center
As mongol power declined, the princess of Moscow took on a new rule as a __________________________.
Patriotic defenders of Russia against foreign rule
1380
Who ?
Did what ?
Where ?
The princess of Moscow
Rallied up other Russians and defeated the Golden Horde
at the battle of Kulikovo
Who was the driving force behind Moscow’s rising power ?
Ivan the great
Ivan III
What was the best contribution Ivan the great had ?
Expanding
Between 1462 - 1505 Ivan the great _____________ and ____________.
Bought much of northern Russia
Recovered Russian territories that had fallen to the neighboring Slavs
Ivan the great tried to limit the power of __________.
Landowning nobles
Who did Ivan the great marry ?
What did he do after he married ?
The niece of the last Byzantine emperor
Adapted Byzantine court rituals
What did Ivan The great use as his symbol ?
Double headed eagle
Ivan the great took the title of _______ which means ______.
Czar
Caesar
Who built the framework for absolute power ?
Ivan the great
Ivan the great was also Ivan the _____ (#) ?
3
III
Who further centralized royal power after Ivan the great ?
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the terrible was also Ivan the _____ (#) ?
IV
4
How was Ivan the terrible related to Ivan the great?
He was his grandson
What did Ivan the terrible do to get people to serve in the military ?
Granted land to nobles in return they would serve
Ivan the Terrible introduced new laws that ________.
Tied Russian serfs to the land
In what year did Ivan the Terrible become increasingly unstable?
1560
During one of Ivan the terrible’s fits of rage he __________.
Killed his own son
He organized the ________. (Group of people)
Oprichniki
What was the oprichniki ?
Agents of terror who enforced the czars will
How did the oprichniki look ?
Black robes
Rode on black horses
What did the oprichniki do ?
Slaughtered people and sacked towns suspected of disloyalty
When did Ivan the Terrible die ?
1584
What are 3 ruins that plunged Russia into a period of disorder ?
- Disputes over succession
- Peasant uprisings
- Foreign invasions
In what century was Russia an emerging power ?
1600’s
