How did the Byzantine Empire develop and form its own distinctive church?

How do you think your experience exchanging paper tokens may be similar to trading goods in Constantinople? Examine the map your teacher is projecting. For each item in the first column of the chart, make an entry in the second column that connects your experience in the trading activity to history.

I N T E R A C T I V E S T U D E N T N O T E B O O K

The Byzantine Empire

© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute The Byzantine Empire 1

P R E V I E W

Historical Connection Classroom Experience

• Traders came from various regions of the world, such as Africa, the Middle East, and Western Europe.

•

• Various goods were traded, such as gold, spices, and silk.

•

• Many traders came to Constantinople to trade.

•

• Traders traveled to Constantinople by land and water routes.

•

• Traders brought new products back to their homelands after trading in Constantinople.

•

Traders came from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, including Bruges, Cordoba, Tunis, Damascus, Shiraz, Samarkand, and Novgorod.

Various goods were traded, such as gold, cumin, silk brocade, paper, wax, linen, and leather.

Many traders came to Constantinople to trade.

Traders didn’t follow actual land and water routes.

Traders brought new products back to their homelands after trading in Constantinople.

ANSWER KEY

R E A D I N G N O T E S

I N T E R A C T I V E S T U D E N T N O T E B O O K

© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute2 The Byzantine Empire

Social Studies VocabularyAs you complete the Reading Notes, use these terms in your answers.

Constantinople Eastern Orthodox ChurchByzantine Empire patriarch

1. What about Constantinople’s location made it an ideal capital of the Byzantine Empire?

2. Suppose that you are a trader visiting Constantinople for the first time. On the left side of the postcard below, write a few sentences to a friend back home describing what you see as you walk through the city’s streets. On the right side, address your postcard to a friend in a faraway land selected from the map in this section of the Student Text.

Section 1

Constantinople was easy to defend, being surrounded by water on three sides, and it lay at the crossroads of many sea and overland trade routes linking east and west.

Answers will vary. Sample answer:

Dear Habib,Constantinople is like nothing you have ever seen! The marketplace here overflows with ivory and silk. Traders walk the streets speaking every language imaginable. There is even a sewer system! Many in the city are very rich. Even the poor are given jobs sweeping the streets and weeding the gardens in exchangefor bread. It is a beautiful city, Habib. Your friend, Kalim

Answers will vary, but should be an address in a country shown on the map in Section 1 of the Student Text.

I N T E R A C T I V E S T U D E N T N O T E B O O K

© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute The Byzantine Empire 3

1. What event forced Justinian I to start rebuilding parts of Constantinople?

2. What were some of the improvements made to Constantinople as a result of Justinian’s public works projects?

3. Why was Justinian’s Code significant?

Section 2

Large parts of the city were ruined when fighting in the Hippodrome between the Blues and Greens escalated into a rebellion.

New bridges, public baths, parks, roads, and hospitals were built. In addition, Hagia Sophia was built.

Under Justinian’s direction, a committee studied thousands of laws inherited from the Roman Empire and revised those that wereoutdated or confusing. They also made some revisions, such as expanding women’s property rights. In doing so, they created a code that served as the basis for many legal codes in the western world.

© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute4 The Byzantine Empire

I N T E R A C T I V E S T U D E N T N O T E B O O K

In this altar icon, saints Cyril and Methodius hold a document with Cyrillic letters.

This is a Byzantine icon of Jesus. He is holding a Gospel.

1. Describe the relationship between religion and government in the Byzantine Empire.

2. For each image below, circle at least two details that illustrate aspects of Eastern Orthodox beliefs. Then, draw a line from each detail and explain how it is important to Eastern Orthodox faith.

Section 3

Religion and government were closely linked. The emperor was both the head of the government and the living representative of Jesus Christ.

Jesus, shown as Pantocrator, is holding a Gospel and giving a blessing. He rules over everything, according to Eastern Orthodox belief.

St. Cyril helped create the Cyrillic alphabet, which allowed scholars to translate the Bible for people in the Byzantine Empire.

Many Orthodox Christians Many Orthodox Christians believe that icons such as believe that icons such as these bring them closer to these bring them closer to God. There are still practicing God. There are still practicing members of this church.members of this church.

© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute The Byzantine Empire 5

I N T E R A C T I V E S T U D E N T N O T E B O O K

Three major disagreements contributed to a complete split in the Christian Church by 1054. Fill in the chart below with details of those three events and how they led to the Great Schism.

Section 4

Date People Involved

Event That Led to the Disagreement

Result of the Disagreement

730 C.E.

800 C.E.

1054 C.E.

Emperor LeoIII and PopeGregory III

Pope LeoIII, EmpressIrene, and EmperorCharlemagne

Patriarch Cerularius,Pope LeoIX, CardinalHumbert

Emperor Leo III bans the use of all religious images in Christian churches and homes, leading to a policy of iconoclasm.

Pope Leo III refuses to recognize Empress Irene as the ruler of the Empire because she is a woman; instead, he crowns Charlemagne as Holy Roman emperor.

Patriarch Cerularius closes all churches that worship with western rites. In response, Cardinal Humbert, on the pope’s orders, excommunicates Cerularius, who in return, excommunicates the cardinal.

Pope Gregory III, angered by Leo’s ban, excommunicates the emperor.

The pope’s action outrages the Byzantines who feel their empress isthe rightful ruler of the remains of theRoman Empire.

The schism is final, andfuture attempts to heal the division are ineffective.

I N T E R A C T I V E S T U D E N T N O T E B O O K

© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute6 The Byzantine Empire

P R O C E S S I N G

In the space below, create a real-estate advertisement to encourage people to move to Constantinople after the schism of 1054. Your advertisement must include the following elements:• a memorable slogan• a map that shows the location of Constantinople• information about the city’s geography, government, religion, and daily life• four visuals that represent key ideas in the written information• extra creative touches that make the advertisement look authentic• writing that is free from spelling and grammatical errors

Use this rubric to evaluate the Processing assignment.

Score Description

3

The advertisement is persuasive, unified, and memorable, as well as well-written. It includes a map showing Constantinople’s location, information about relevant aspects of the city, four key visuals that match well with the written information, and creative touches that make it look authentic.

2

Students have most of the required elements and combined them to good effect, creating a product that does a pretty good job of being persuasive, unified, and memorable. The writing may be less than perfect, the visuals may not link closely to the writing, or one or two elements may be missing.

1

The assignment is notably incomplete. Some elements—such as the map, the written information, the visuals, or the extra creative touches are missing. The visuals and text may not align, and the writing may contain many spelling and grammatical errors.

I N T E R A C T I V E S T U D E N T N O T E B O O K

© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, Inc. The Byzantine Empire 7

I N V E S T I G A T I N G P R I M A R Y S O U R C E S

Source Evidence How does this support the claim?

Identifying and Evaluating Evidence

Use the reading to create a claim that answers this question: What kind of ruler was Justinian I?

Claim:

What evidence from the primary source documents supports your claim? Fill out the chart below. Circle the two strongest pieces of evidence.

You can use this evidence to strengthen your claim. Write your revised claim below.

Claims will vary. Accept all reasonable responses.

Evidence will vary, but should relate to the claim. Students should provide evidence from multiple sources. The evidence should come from the primary sources themselves, but students may use the supporting text to explain how the source supports the claim. Explanations should be reasonable.

I N T E R A C T I V E S T U D E N T N O T E B O O K

© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, Inc.8 The Byzantine Empire

Constructing an ArgumentCreate an argument to answer the question: What kind of ruler was Justinian I? Your argument should:• clearly state your claim.• include evidence from multiple sources.• provide explanations for how the sources support the claim.

Use this rubric to evaluate your argument. Make changes as needed.

Score Description

3 The claim clearly answers the question. The argument uses evidence from two or more primary sources that strongly support the claim. The explanations accurately connect to the evidence and claim.

2 The claim answers the question. The argument uses evidence from one or more primary sources that support the claim. Some of the explanations connect to the evidence and claim.

1 The claim fails to answer the question. The argument lacks evidence from primary sources. Explanations are missing or are unrelated to the evidence and claim.