Chapter 10 - The Byzantine Empire and Russia. (330-1613).
(1) The Byzantine Empire.
(2) The Rise of Russia.
(3) Shaping Eastern Europe.
Constantinople. Justinian. Kiev. Fall. Ivan. Romanov.
becomes. Byzantine. Russia. of. the. dynasty.
capital. empire. Constantinople. Great. starts.
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330. 527. 1019. 1453. 1462. 1613.
(1) The Byzantine Empire.
Vocabulary.
autocrat - sole ruler.
patriarch - highest Eastern Church official.
icon - holy picture.
Setting the Scene.
While Roman empire in west crumbled Constantinople in east prospered.
Growth of Byzantine Power.
330. Constantine makes Byzantium his capital. Renamed Constantinople.
(Now Istanbul.) City comes to be seen as ‘New Rome.’
Eastern Roman empire becomes known as ‘Byzantine empire.’
1453. Constantinople falls to Ottoman Turks.
Most of Byzantine empire came down to samll area around city.
The word ‘Byzantine’ has various meanings relating to (1) Ancient city of Byzantium.
(2) Architecture developed from 5th century: central dome on cube.
(3) Painting and decorative style of time in the eastern Roman empire.
Frontal stylized figures, rich in color and religious subject matter.
(4) Eastern Orthodox Church.
The word ‘byzantine’ (small ‘b’) has meaning relating to (5) intrigue, scheming, highly complicated.
Byzantine rulers became skillful diplomats with intrigue and played one off against another.
Age of Justinian.
527. Justinian rules for 38 years.
-565. He wants to revive ‘Rome’ by recovering provinces overrun by invaders. Wins battles. Germans (west). Ostrogoths (Italy).
Vandals (Spain). Temporary. Successors lose lands. Within few years after his death Lombards oust Byzantines ex Italy.
Hagia Sophia.
Justinian builds church ‘Hagia Sophia’ (‘Holy Wisdom’).
Immense, arching dome improves on earlier Roman buildings.
Justinian exclaims: “O Solomon, I have surpassed you!”
Code of Laws.
Justinian reforms the law - civil law - known as Justinian’s Code.
He organizes laws of ancient Rome: laws of assemblies and emperors.
Justinian’s Code travels by 1100s into Western Europe. Big influence.
Roman Church and medieval monarchs model laws on its principles.
Absolute Power.
Justinian is an autocrat (sole ruler) with complete authority.
In fact, Justinian rules with Theodora (500-548), a shrewd politician.
Changing Fortunes.
After Justinian, Byzantine empire rises, then falls, through centuries.
Attacks are unsuccessful: Persians. Slavs. Vikings. Mongols. Turks.
Byzantine empire stands tall as a buffer for Western Europe.
Arabs then (700) get control of Mediterranean. Empire has to hang on.
Empire’s strength: strong central government and prosperous economy.
Byzantine Christianity.
Religious divisions grew between Byzantine empire and Western Europe.
Differences East and West.
*Eastern emperor is the head of church in empire.
As absolute ruler, he controls Church affairs.
Appoints patriarch.
Rejects pope’s claim to authority over all Christians.
* Byzantine clergy keep their right to marry.
* Byzantine clergy use Greek. Not Latin.
* Byzantine holy day is Easter. Not Christmas.
Schism.
Many Byzantine Christians are used to praying to icons which are images of Christ, Virgin Mary and saints.
700s. Byzantine emperor (into reform) bans praying to icons.
He cites commandment against ‘graven images.’
Pope differs. Thinks icons help people grasp teachings.
The pope excommunicates the emperor.
Later. An empress restores the use of icons. But rancor to pope remains.
1054. Other controversies provoke a schism or final split between Eastern (Greek) Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
The pope excommunicates the patriarch.
And the patriarch excommunicates the pope.
Crisis and Collapse.
1095. Emperor asks pope for help against Sejuk Turks.
1202. Fourth Crusade. Crusaders attack Constantinople!
Kill many. Including business foes of Venetian merchants.
1453. Constantinople falls. Ottoman Turks. Siege. Two months.
Muhammad II. Istanbul. Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
(2) The Rise of Russia.
Vocabulary.
boyar - landowning noble.
czar - ruler.
Vikings. Cyril. Olga. Yaroslav. Ivan. Ivan.
Methodius. Great. Terrible.
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700s. 863. 957. 1019. 1500. 1560.
Setting the Scene.
‘Two Romes have fallen,’ a Russian monk wrote (1500s) ‘and a third stands.’
Geography of Russia.
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North forests with water.
But cold, poor soil.
*St. Petersburg.
*Moscow.
Ural.
Mountains.
*Ukraine.
Fertile Land.
Steepe.
Open, treeless grassland.
No natural barrier.
No protection from invaders.
Russia lies on vast Eurasian plain from Europe to borders of China.
Ural Mountains are boundary between Europe and Asia.
But Urals are no more than wooded hills. No obstacle to migration!
Russian rivers: Dnieper (knee purr) and Volga. Productive trade routes.
Growth of Kiev.
The country of Ukraine today was home to Russia’s first civilization.
500s. Slavs expand into southern Russia. (Germans in western Europe.) Slavs, like Germans, had a simple political organization: clans.
700s. Vikings (Varangians) come. Kiev city was center first Russian state.
Viking names Helga/Waldemar became Slavic Olga/Vladmir.
Byzantine Influence.
863. Cyril and Methodius develop Cyrillic alphabet.
Cyril (827-869) and his brother Methodius (826-885) were Greek
monks called ‘Apostles of the Slavs) who became saints in both Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. Modern Russian script is based on the Cyrillic alphabet developed by two monks. The Slavic alphabet (Greek and Hebrew) is called Cyrillic alphabet after Cyril.
957. Princess Olga (Kiev) converts to Byzantine Christianity.
Her grandson, Vladmir, marries sister of Byzantine emperor.
988. Vladmir invites Greek priests to Kiev to preside over mass baptisms organized by prince. Byzantine Christianity is in.
(Byzantine Church allows Slavs to use own language in service.) (Byzantines allow secular ruler, not pope, to head the Church.
Vladmir is thus the head of Church in his land.)
Kievans built churches (aping Byzantines) in own architecture, including distinctive onion-shaped domes.
Yaroslav.
1019. Yaroslav the Wise rules in ‘golden age.’
-1054. He (like Justinian) issues a law code to improve justice.
A scholar, he translates Greek works into his language.
1100s. Kiev goes into decline!
Rival families battle for throne.
Russian trading cities suffer when Byzantine prosperity fades.
As Russians quarrel with themselves, Mongol invaders come.
Mongol Conquest.
1200s. Genghis Khan (1162-1227) unites nomadic Mongols of central Asia.
1236. Batu, Genghis’s grandson, leads Mongols into Russia.
-1241. Mongol invaders capture and destroy Kiev.
Known as ‘Golden Horde’ because of color of their tents.
Mongols, fierce fighters, were tolerant rulers.
Mongols demand heavy tribute from Russian princes.
But when they get it, they leave everybody alone.
Some Russian princes adopt manners and practices of Mongols.
(*Kublai Khan (1212-1294). Another grandson. Attacks China.) Mongol Influences.
Peasants feel burden of heavy taxes. Flee to remote regions.
Seek protection from Mongol raids. Become serfs of Russian nobles.
Russian Orthodox Church grows in power. Mongol tolerance.
Even though Mongols themselves convert to Islam.
Women become (in 1200s) totally subject to male authority.
Husband could sell wife into slavery to pay off family debts.
Absolute ruler of Mongols became ‘model’ for Russina rulers.
Country was cut off from Western Europe when it was making rapid advances in both arts and sciences.
Moscow Takes Lead.
1380. Moscow princes defeat Golden Horde at battle of Kulikovo.
1400s. When head of Orthodox Church makes Moscow his capital it becomes both political and spiritual center of country.
Ivans.
Ivan I.
_________
1353.
Grand Duke of Moscow.
Makes Moscow capital 1326.
Ivan II.
(1353-1359).
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1359.
Only three years.
Ivan III.
(1462-1505).
Ivan the Great.
______________
1440. 1505.
Prince of Moscow.
Founder of Modern Russia.
Marries niece of last Byzantine emperor.
Adopts two-headed eagle.
Takes title of ‘czar’ (tsar).
Starts absolute rule: Limits power of boyars (landowning nobles).
Brings much of northern Russia under his rule.
Ivan IV.
Ivan the Terrible.
(1533-1584).
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1530. 1584.
Grandson of Ivan III.
Gets throne at three years old.
Further centralizes royal power.
Kills hundreds boyars opposing him.
Unstable.
Kills son accidently. Terror agents.
Looking Ahead.
1613. Michael Romanov, 17, is chosen as new czar. Dynasty until 1918.
(3) Shaping Eastern Europe.
Vocabulary.
ethnic group -people with same language, same customs.
diet - assembly.
Setting the Scene.
Turbulent events emanate from Eastern Europe where different people live.
Geography of Eastern Europe.
Eastern Europe stretches from Ural Mountains (east) to Germany, Austria and Italy (west) ... the lands between Baltic Sea and Arctic Ocean (north) and Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Caspian Sea (south).
Diverse Mix of People.
The South Slavs descended into Balkans where other ethnic groups went.
Through missionaries (and Catholic German knights) -
Orthodox Christianity and Byzantine culture got to Balkans.
Catholicism got to Poland, Hungary, Czech area, western Balkans.
Early Kingdoms.
Text looks at three kingdoms: Poland, Hungary, and Serbia.
Poland.
900s. Missionaries bring Roman Catholicism to West Slavs in Poland.
1000. First Polish king is crowned.
Poland has to battle Germans, Russians, Mongols.
1386. Queen Jadwiga (yahd vee gah) marries duke of Lithuania.
She supports Cracow university. Major center of science and arts.
Poland assembly was diet where one veto blocked a law.
Veto made it hard to get anything done.
Without a strong government Poland declines!
1683. Final moment of glory.
King Jan Sobieski broke Ottoman siege of Vienna.
1700s. Poland gets gobbled up. Disappears from map.
Hungary.
Magyars settle in Hungary. Adopt Roman Catholicism.
1222. Hungarian king has to sign Golden Bull of 1222 that limits royal power. (Timing is coincident to Magna Carta in 1215.)
1241. Mongols overrun Hungary. Kill half the population.
1526. Ottoman Turks end Hungarian independence.
Serbia.
600s. South Slavs become Serbs, Croats, Slovenes. Orthodox Christians.
1100s. Stefan Dusan sets up his own state.
1389. Ottoman Turks win Battle of Kosovo. Serbs fight to the death!
Looking Ahead.
There is no melting pot. Desire to rebuild separate states spell trouble.
