THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

The ByzanTine empireFrom the fourth century until the sixth century

After the division of the Roman Empire, Arcadius was the first Byzantine emperor.

The Eastern Roman Empire was known as the Byzantine Empire.

Why? Because its capital was Constantinople, which was known as

Byzantium before.

The Byzantine Empire was stronger and richer than the

Western Roman Empire.

As a result, it resisted the Germanic

invasions

The most important period of the Byzantine history was the 6th century, the time of the

Emperor Justinian

The Byzantine Empire in the 6th century

Justianian ruled with his clever wife Theodora between 527 and 565

Justinian tried to rebuild the old Roman Empire

Three factors were important to achieve that objective:

1.Having a great army

As result, they conquered the north of Africa, Italy and the south of Spain.

2. The Emperor, which was known as Basileus, had three powers to be the only ruler in the Empire:

- He commanded the army

(against the power of the generals)

- He was the main person in the goverment

(against the power of nobles and senators)

- He was the religious leader (against the power of the priests)

3. He made new laws because the Roman Law was weak in those times. These new laws were called “The Justinian Code”

The Byzantine Empire from the 7th century until the 9th century

During these centuries the Byzantine Empire had a decline. There were two reasons:

1. The new emperors were weaker than Justinian

2. The Byzantine Empire was attacked by:

- The Lombards in Italy

- The Visigoths in Spain

- The Muslims in theMediterranean coasts

The Byzantine

Empire under

Justinian

The Byzantine

Empire after

Justinian

The Byzantine Empire from the 9th century until the 11th century

In these centuries, a new dynasty ruled the Byzantine Empire:

The Macedonian Dynasty

They resisted the attacks from the powerful Muslims and Slavian peoples. Thus, they kept a big part of the Empire.

The most important

Macedonian emperor was

Basil the Great

The Byzantine Empire from the 11th century until the 15th century

• Since the end of the Macedonian Dynasty, the Muslims started to conquer all the Byzantine Empire.

• The economy of the Byzantine Empire was weak because they were isolated from the other Christian kingdoms due to the Muslim expansion in the Mediterranean Sea.

• As a result, they lost their lands little by little and by the 15th century the Byzantine Empire was only its capital: CONSTANTINOPLE

• In 1453, the city of Constantinople was conquered by a Muslim power: The Turks. The Byzantine Empire was over.

EVOLUTION OF THE BYZANTINE’S DECLINE

TRADITION AND RELIGION IN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Until the Justinian’s death, Byzantines

followed the Roman traditions.

They spoke latin and they were Catholics.

After Justinian, the Byzantines retook Greek traditions.

They spoke Greek and the Christianity was divided between Catholics (in Western Europe) and Orthodox (in

Eastern Europe).

That division was the East-West Schism.

The Orthodox Church was very important in the Byzantine Empire

Since the death of Justinian, the Orthodox Church and their priests – the popes – had a big power.

Thus, the new emperors wanted to limit their power. For example they tried to prohibit the icons in the 8th century, because people admired too much those

pictures.

As a result there were many riots and finally the icons were legal again

BYZANTINE ARTThe Byzantine Art was mainly conected with religion

They built impressive churches with Greek-cross plan and large domes

They also built monasteries were the monks lived together

CHURCHES

MONASTERIES