Justinian

succeed his uncle to the throne of the Eastern

(Byzantine) Empire and retook the western Roman

empire

Justinian Code

the body of Roman civil law collected and organized by

order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian

around 534 CE.

Patriarch

a principal bishop in the eastern branch of

Christianity

Icon

a religious image used by eastern Christians

Excommunication

the taking away of a person’s right of

membership in a Christian church.

Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Foundations

• Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, was located near the centers of early Christianity as well as on major trade routes.

• The Byzantine people spoke mostly Greek but also spoke Latin and other Persian dialects.

• Over time the Byzantine Empire would flourish and become much more advanced both socially and economically than western Europe.

Justinian’s Rule

• Justinian ruled the Byzantine Empire at its height.

• Through pressure from his wife Theodora, Justinian increased the rights of women throughout the empire.

• The Justinian Law Code remains his lasting achievement. (Corpus of Civil Law)

Justinian• Born in 483 CE to a

peasant family

• Adopted by his uncle, Justin.

• In Constantinople, Justinian is educated on Roman history, theology and Roman law.

• In 518 CE, Byzantine Emperor Anastasius dies; leaves throne to Justinian’s Uncle Justin, a close advisor and member of the imperial guard.

• Justin’s reign, 518-527 CE.

• August 1, 527 CE, Justinian becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

• His intense work habits earn him the nickname, “the emperor that doesn’t sleep.”

Chooses his cabinet of advisors based on merit, rather then choosing from the aristocracy or by popularity.

Creates a scandal by marrying a peasant girl, Theodora.

A former student of Roman law, Justinian creates a team of legal scholars to rewrite the law.

Justinian’s Code

The re-written law; a single, uniform code of 400 years of Roman law, which would become known as Justinian’s Code. It included 4 books.

1)The Code- the established or “old” law.2)The Digest- 400 volumes of legal philosophy3)The Institute- to teach the law to future lawyers.4)The Novellae- to contain the new laws.

Decided legal questions that regulated whole areas of Byzantine life.

Justinian’s Code Modern Law

1)The Code-

2)The Digest-

3)The Institute-

4)The Novellae-

• In order to solidify Constantinople’s place as the imperial city, Justinian began a massive building project.

• To show his strong belief in Christ, Justinian built massive churches throughout the empire; To protect the city from invasion, he rebuilt the perimeter wall, the Wall of Constantine.

• Justinian’s military objective was to retake the former Roman Empire.

• 1) Secures a treaty of peace with the Sassanid Empire.

• 2)Hires Belisarius to led his army and dispatches him to North Africa. Defeats the Vandals in 533 CE.

• 3) In 535, Justinian orders Belisarius’s army to Italy to recapture Rome. Defeats Ostrogoths in 540.

• 4) 541, Sassanids break treaty and attack Byzatine Empire, Belisarius fights to a draw but negotiates a new border, taking more land.

• Under the success of General Belisarius, Justinian recaptures much of the former Roman Empire, including the capital, Rome.

Empress TheodoraEarly in the reign of Justinian, Theodora adamantly encouraged Justinian to stand-up to a revolt that was threatening the government. Historians agree that Theodora’s impassioned speech to her husband saved the emperor and his government.–Created homes for abused women and prostitutes.–Helped pass of a law that classified rape as “punishable by death.”–Advocated religious tolerance–Promoted women’s rights including divorce, property ownership and inheritance.

Byzantine Religion

• The crowning glory of Justinian’s reign was the Hagia Sophia church in Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)

• In the 700’s a dispute broke out over the use of icons in worship.

• The differences between the east and the west continued to grow.

• In 1054, a schism, or complete break, separated the Eastern and Western Churches.

Byzantine Influence on Russia

• Native peoples of the region (map p. 308) were Slavic farmers.

• In early 800s bands of adventures, probably Viking, moved down from the north. They were called Varangians or Rus.

• Kiev became Orthodox Christian when Vladimir converted and required all his subjects convert also.

Mongol Empire Influences Russia• Whether forced to move out of Mongolia due to

economic or military pressure, the Mongols rode westward lured by the wealth of western cities.

• Led by Genghis Khan one of the most feared warriors of all time

• Mongols ruled southern Russia for 200 years.

• Russian Princes in the region around Moscow grew to have wealth and power under the Mongols.

• Ivan I, Grand Prince, and his family enlarged their territory by land purchases, wars, trickery, and shrewd marriages.

• When Ivan III took the name czar, he openly challenged Mongol rule and orchestrated a bloodless standoff that liberated his people from Mongol Rule.

Ottoman Empire• The Turks were a nomadic people from

the vast grasslands of central Asia. • Beginning in the 900s, they moved into

the lands of the Persian Empire and began converting to Islam.

• Over time, larger and larger numbers of Turks settled in the empire. They were called Seljuk Turks after the name of the family that led them.

• In 1055, the Seljuks captured Baghdad and took control of the government.

• In the next few decades, the Seljuks used their force to take land away from another empire—the Byzantine Empire. They won almost all of Anatolia, the peninsula where modern Turkey now sits.

• The Turks adopted Persian culture. They looked to Persian scholars to teach them the proper way to follow Islam. They began to use the Persian language for art and education. The Turkish rulers even took the Persian word for “king”—shah—as their title.

• The Seljuk Empire collapsed quickly, as a series of weak rulers were unable to maintain it. The Final Blow to the Seljuk Empire occurred when Mongols moved in from the east. They overran vast stretches of territory and captured Baghdad in 1258. The Mongols killed the last caliph and took control of the government.

Decline and Fall of Constantinople

• The Byzantine Empire suffered constant attacks by invading armies especially those of Persia and Arabia.

• During the mid 500s the bubonic plague hit the empire killing 10,000 a day at its peak.

• By the late 1300’s the empire was reduced to Constantinople and part of Greece.

• With the fall of Constantinople, Christian lands to the north were now open for Islamic attacks.