Byzantines

Byzantines



The location of Byzantine capital of Constantinople was at the center of converging cultures. From the East, they would be influenced by the Persians and the Arabs. From the West, the capital would be influenced by white Christian cultures. They would also have the option of maritime trade with the Mediterranean and could trade with Europe and Asia. __Origins of the Empire__ __Justinian's Achievements__ **Justinian** ruled from 527-565 C.E. - Daniel Glynn
 * The Byzantine Empire was started in the 4th century C.E. when Rome set up the eastern capital of Constantinople.
 * The town before Constantinople was Byzantium, which was small and modest.
 * Emperor Constantine constructed elegant buildings including churches.
 * Invasions
 * Invasions were often warded off by the location of Constantinople.
 * Created armies out of the Middle East
 * Language
 * The legal system was based on Latin.
 * The common tongue becomes Greek.
 * In 533 C.E. Justinian attempted to reconquer much of the old Roman Empire.
 * Had moderate success in Italy and parts of North Africa. Very short lived.
 * **Belisarius** was the general that was able to regain Italy for a while.
 * Ravenna became the capital of of the short lived reconquer of Italy. Beautiful Mosaics.
 * Justinian unified the Empire under a code based off the Roman law code.
 * Architecture was a continuation of Roman architecture with the addition of domes.
 * **Hagia Sophia** became a symbol of the Christian world.





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Cyril and Methodius were two missionaries that were sent by the Byzantines to Czech and Slovak republics. They failed there but were successful in their efforst in the Balkans and Southern Russia. They created the **Cyrillic** alphabet when they converted Greek scriptures to Slavic. __**How did events in the Middle East affect the demographics of the East Central borderlands?**__ The Middle East would eventually harbor a large migration of Jews into Europe. They would be disciplined enough to maintain their own separate culture. __**Outline the development of the Kievan Rus**__ __**What important decision was made by Vladimir I?**__ Vladimir I's important decision would be to convert himself and his people by force to the Christian Orthodox. __**What were some of the major similarities and differences between Byzantium and the Kievan Rus?**__ Well in Kievan Rus, the farmers were fairly free. The aristocrats of Russia also had a lot less political power. Russia would inherit the architecture and religion of the Byzantines. However, they would adapt these things like Christian Orthodox and the dome on buildings to fit their culture. Didn't follow bureaucratic system of government. __**What factors led to the decline of the Kievan Rus?**__ The Kievan Rus fell to internal weakness. Regional princes raised separate governments. This would weaken them so they would not be able to effectively defend themselves against the **Tatars** or more famously known as the Mongols. __**"Eastern and Western Europe: The Problem of Boundaries"**__ Defining the distinction between Western and Eastern Europe is often very difficult to do. Today modern historians make the distinction between the Roman Catholics and the Christian Orthodox. These would foster different ideals as the Western would develop using Latin and the Eastern would develop using Greek and Slavic. Their area of influence was very different as Western Europe was heavily influenced by Germanic tribes as the East was influenced by Mongols, Turks, and Muslims. These divisions would ultimately be magnified in the Cold War. **__Summary__** The post-classical history of Eastern Europe begins with the division of the Roman Empire into two, the Western and the Eastern. Eventually the East would harbor its own culture as it would be heavily influenced by the Turks, Muslims, and Mongols. The Western Empire would fall to Germanic tribes and the Byzantine Empire would be left to carry on the glory of Rome. Justinian would establish a written law code that would influence surrounding areas. The division in religious beliefs between the Roman Catholics and the Christian Orthodox would also harbor unique development of the East. This would help the Byzantines establish a special trading bond with the developing Viking settlement in Kiev. This special relationship would promote the development of Russia.
 * __Who were Cyril and Methodius? What did they accomplish?__**
 * Scandinavian traders would use the rivers of modern day Russia that flow from South to North to trade with Constantinople
 * Their military dominance would aid them in gaining power over the local Slavs. Set up a government in the city of **Kiev**
 * **Rurik** according to legend, became the first prince of Kievan Rus' at __855 C.E.__ (he was from Denmark)
 * They tried to model themselves after the Byzantines
 * Prince **Vladimir I** converted his people to the Orthodox Christianity of the Byzantines which would eventually become its own **Russian Orthodox**
 * **Yaroslav** the last of the great princes, took the law code of the Byzantines and translated it to Slavic.