In Focus: Byzantium and the Middle Ages“Third Wave Civilizations”

POST-CLASSICAL EUROPE

Reconciliation of 1964

Represents the path of European Civilization since the fall of Rome

BYZANTINE CIVILIZATION: MODERN CONTEXT

Rome had become too large to govern from a singular administrative district

City formed in 330

Geographic advantages?

ORIGINS OF BYZANTIUM

The Greek and Roman Character of Byzantium

Greek in language and culture

Roman in organization and politics

ROMAIOI

With the collapse of Rome West the empire continued to the East.

Rome’s collapse in 476…but occurred over centuries.

Rome part 2…and 3?

ROME EAST

Byzantium consisted of: Egypt

Greece

Syria (Assyria)

Anatolia

A HODGE PODGE OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

CaesaropapismReflection of Caliphates

in regionGoals and objectivesThe empire was the

source of all authority Surrounded by an

elaborate bureaucracy and military organization to carry out his wishes

BYZANTIUM BY THEME: POLITICS

Byzantine urbanization ‘eis ten polin’

The blue-green factions and the Nika Revolts.

30,000 dead

THE PERIL OF AUTOCRACY

“unnecessarily complex”

Byzantine government and bureaucracy

A NEW WORD…BYZANTINE

BYZANTIUM: GEOGRAPHY

Cultural Bridge

Neighbors

Rise of Islam

Benefits of geography

A PEARL OF GEOGRAPHY

Church and state

Orthodox Christianity and its influence on Byzantine life

Opposition to Latin Christianity

BYZANTINE CULTURE: THE CHURCH

Iconoclasm

Pope v. Patriarch

Political differences

Monasticism

Great Schism 1054

CrusadesFourth Crusade

BYZANTINE ORTHODOXY VERSUS LATIN CHRISTIANITY

Characteristic of most “Third Wave” civilizations—Byzantium was very active in interacting with the outside world

Conflicts: Persia

Islamic Empires

Trade Regional

Trans-regional (Silk Roads)

BYZANTIUM AND THE WORLD

Transmission of Greek learning to the Middle EastHouse of Wisdom

Restoration of Greek past to the European world

BYZANTINE CULTURAL INFLUENCE

Kiev and the spread of Orthodoxy

Conversion of the Rus and the impact of the conversion.

The Third Rome

BYZANTINE RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES

WESTERN EUROPE AFTER THE FALL OF

ROME

POST CLASSICAL EUROPE

A Case Study

CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY M.E

Hard-won political order, restored out of disruption caused by the fall of the Roman Empire, centuries of destructive invasions, and dramatic depopulation. This order was based on a highly decentralized but flexible system that vested political, military, and judicial authority in local and regional rulers.

A long, slow process of economic recovery based first on increased agricultural production within the rural manorial system to be followed by gradually increasing trade, industry, and commerce and the eventual reurbanization of Europe.

The cultural unity provided by the Christian church based in Rome. During this period Roman Christianity provided the impetus for cultural continuity and unity in western Europe. The office of the papacy and the monastic movement were two powerful institutions that helped to preserve Roman traditions and develop and consolidate a uniquely European culture.

CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH M.E

The consolidation and expansion of regional states. These powerful states sometimes were organized by local rulers and based on lord-retainer relationships, as in France. Other times they were direct conquests, as with the Norman invasion of England. At other times, they were supported or encouraged by the Roman church, like the Holy Roman Empire.

Economic revitalization. With renewed agricultural surplus, the population expanded and Europe began to reurbanize. Cities grew, and with them grew business, industry, trade, and educational institutions. Long-distance trade networks reappeared, especially in the Mediterranean and Baltic and North Sea regions.

Continued presence of the Roman Catholic Christianity in virtually all aspects of high medieval life. Through both traditional church institutions and the mass appeal of popular religious practices, the church prospered during this period. The Roman church's influence was felt in education, philosophy, literature, conquest, and travel

POLITICS

Largely decentralized, employing Feudalism.

Regional centralization, in persons like Alfred the

Great, Charles the Great, and Otto I.

POLITICAL SIDENOTE…

The conflict between Church and State. The only PC state in which secular and religious control clashed.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Between 200 and 600 Medieval Europe’s population plummeted, only to slowly increase.

This trend in the Post-Classical World is unique.

ECONOMICS

Manorialism

Agriculture-the “plow story”

Agriculture-slow to evolve

Cross cultural trade—very slow to evolve

Disruption of commerce by invasions

Little to no cross cultural interaction.

Unique to the Post-Classical World.

SOCIAL CLASS

Peasantry/Manorialism—bound to land, social mobility very limited.

Class system of Feudalism.

Lords—Vassals—Clergy—Knights—Peasants, social diversity limited as specialization is limited.

Urbanization slow to evolve

Similar to India in that class mobility was rigid.

RELIGION

Intense cooperation between Franks and Papacy to develop control over Europe

Conversion of Clovis

Charlemagne spread the faith

Monastic orders and rules lead to Monastic expansion—St. Benedict and St. Scholastica

Unique in the PC World with some similarities to India and China

GEOGRAPHY

Invasions from three directions. Crusades

Vikings from the North, Magyars the

East, and the Muslims from Spain

and the South.

Similar to China and India