The Byzantine Empire, Russia,

and Eastern Europe

By Cameron Rasmus, Jack, Edge

Capitol: Constantinople -Heart of trade, located on the shores of

Bosporus guarded by three sides of water, Natural seaborne and land defenses defended from attack

Lands contained: North Africa, Italy, Southern Iberian Peninsula, Asia Minor, Egypt, Middle east

Byzantine: Geography

The City of Constantinople

Regions of The Byzantine Empire

330 Constantine founded Constantinople heart

of the Byzantine empire. 527 Justinian came into power. 529-565 Justinian's code of law is in power. 1054 the Church split 1040 The empire called upon the western

church to help fight the Seljuks and launch the first Crusade.

1204 The Western Church took over Constantinople

1261 The Byzantine empire took back Constantinople

1453 The Ottomans took over Constantinople renaming it Istanbul.

Byzantine: Timeline

The Byzantine Churches two sides argued over

indifferences 1054 The ban of worshipping icons such as

Jesus and mother mary was the tipping point between the churches

Split into the Western Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church was known as The Great Schism

Worship of icons were eventually reintroduced

Byzantine: Major Event

Corpus Julius Civilis “Body of Civil law” Helps

strengthen the empire. Justinian ruled as an Autocrat “Sole Ruler”. His

wife Theodora acted as his adviser. Bezant was a gold coin used for currency

helped strengthen the Economy. Trade routes created by Constantine

throughout Europe and Asia created the trade of: Silk-China, Wheat-Egypt, Gems-India, Spices- Southeast Asia.

Byzantine: Government and

Economy

King and queen in charge of the Empire Justinian used a special code of law to unify

the empire making him an autocrat. Military power was in full strength during

justinians reign. Industry and traders were below the king and

the military. Justinians wife acted as his advisor.

Social Structure and the Role of Women

There were two different main Christian churches,

the Eastern Orthodox Church, focused on Easter and Greek while the Western Catholic Church focused on Christmas and Latin.

Byzantine Christians rejected the Pope who was appointed by the Emperor.

The emperor used the western church to fight the Seljuks to protect Jerusalem sparking the Fourth Crusade.

Byzantine: Religion

532 AD riots and fires decimated

Constantinople Suffered attacks from Persians, slavs, vikings,

huns, turks. An emperor bans the worship of Icons and

graven images, causing a rift in the church. During the time Period the Seljuks captured

most of Asia Minor. Constantinople fell to the fourth crusade.

Cultural Interactions and Conflicts

Russia lies in Eurasian plane stretching from

Europe to china. Contains 3 Regions: Northern forest that

supplies lumber and fuel, fertile land for farmers in current Ukraine, southern steppe used for livestock.

Southern steppe with no natural barriers was used as a highway for trade.

Rivers in the land allowed for transportation like the Egyptian Nile.

Russia: Geography

800’s The Slavs settled in the 3 regions of

Russia 988 The Slavs were converted to the Eastern

Orthodox Church 1200 The Mongols conquered Russia 1480 Russian princes rebelled against the

Mongols 1547 Ivan the Terrible became the first Czar of

Russia

Russia: Timeline

Russia: Major Event

When Batu led the Mongols to conquer Russia, the armies were known as the Golden Horde

The Mongols burned down or raided any part of Russia they did not wish to rule

Russian Princes were allowed little power The Mongol rule lasted through the 1200’s to

the 1300’s

Slavic people were organized by individual clans. Thriving trade between the Byzantine empire

allowed the Byzantine empire to have influence in kiev a major trading station.

Yaroslavl setup the connection between religion and government.

Mongols took over most of Russia and reformed its laws. Royalty had to pay tribute.

Mongols absolute power influenced later Russian rulers to centralize government around their own power

Mongols cut off Western Europe well Europe was expanding

Russia: Government and Economy

Converted to Byzantine Christianity by Princes Olga in

1457 Ties to Byzantine history through Vladimir led to

Russians adopting byzantine Culture. Yaroslavl set up connections between state and

religion and added religious text into the code of law. Christianity from Russia was spread through Military. When Mongols invaded Russia they allowed the

Russian Orthodox church to continue practicing mistakenly allowing it to grow during the period.

Russia: Religion

The Czar had absolute power above all else he

was considered a god. Below him was the military and his advisers. Farmers, traders, slaves made up the lowest

structure.

Russia: Social structure and the role

of women

The Golden Horde (The Mongols) burns Kiev. Russian princes were made to pay tribute to

the Mongols. Some Russian rulers based their laws and

ideas off of Mongol rule. Over time the Russian Princes were able to

gain power and rebel against the mongols. During this period Ivan the Great establishes

Absolute power. Ivan the terrible during his reign became

unstable and killed people because of speculation.

Russia: Cultural Inter-actions and Conflicts