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The Byzantine Empire: the New Rome. Origins of Byzantium.
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Origins of Byzantium • Overcrowding in the 8th c. BCE led Greek city-states to send out colonies throughout the Mediterranean basin. In 667 BCE, the legendary Byzas from the Greek city of Megara founded the seaport of Byzantium at the entrance of the Black Sea. • In the second half of the 4th c. BCE Philip II and Alexander the Great dominated this region of the Anatolian Peninsula as they built an empire reaching from Greece to India. • After his death, Alexander's generals carved up his conquests into powerful kingdoms that valued their Greek heritage. By the 1st century BCE these nations had been absorbed into the empire of ancient Rome …and ultimately lasted for 1100 years.
Constantine’s City--Constantinopolis (Constantinople)
Constantinople: A Greek City(Istanbul today) --the new capital Easily fortified location; armies could respond quickly to threat from invaders
Byzantine Trade Routes Merchants in Constantinople got quite wealthy through their control over the trade routes between Europe and the East and the shipping lanes connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
Constantine’s Rule • Edict of Milan: established toleration for Christianity throughout the empire in 313 CE • The empire continued to be ruled by Roman law and political institutions, with the elite communicating officially in Latin. Yet the population, now Christian, also spoke Greek. • In school students studied the ancient Greek classics of literature, philosophy, science, medicine, art, and rhetoric. The church, which developed its own literature and philosophy, nonetheless looked favorably upon the intellectual tradition of classical scholarship & preserved Greco-Roman learning.
The Beauty of Constantinople! • Constantine lavished on his new capital a university, 2 theaters, 8 public and 53 private baths, 52 covered walkways, 4 law courts, 14 churches, and 14 palaces. He imported staggering quantities of the best Greco-Roman art from throughout the empire. • This infusion helped the art of the Early Byzantine period to remain close to its Greco-Roman heritage in its naturalism and classical subject matter.
Justinian’s Code Corpus Juris Civilis: 1. Digest 2. Code 3. Institutes
6th c. Arabia: A Threat to the Great Empires ? ?
End of Early Byzantine period in 7th c. CE • In the 600s, Byzantium lost Syria, the Holy Land, Egypt, and North Africa to invading Islamic armies. For a time, the Muslims merely tapped the economy of these regions, leaving intact many of the Byzantine institutions they had overrun. • The Early Byzantine period ended with the onset of the Iconoclastic Controversy, the violent debate over devotional religious images (icons) that devastated much of the empire for over a hundred years.
The emperorwas considered the representative of Christ by his subjects and he served as an absolute ruler. The court functioned with much fanfare and elaborate ceremonies. The emperor centered the government at his palace and had thousands of educated bureaucrats throughout the empire carrying out imperial legislation and operations, including the tax and justice systems. This administration was unique in its efficiency & extensiveness … leading to the modern day use of “byzantine” The Middle Byzantine Era, 843-1261 Look! A mosaic
Orthodox Christianity: Schismin 1054 Byzantine (Orthodox) Christianity was a substantially different religion and cultural practice than Latin (later Roman Catholic) Christianity. One of its predominant characteristics was the role of the emperor in matters of faith. The western Latin church had battled emperors for control of the church and with the disintegration of centralized authority in Europe and the proliferation of European kingdoms; the primacy of the Pope in matters of faith was relatively solidified. The Byzantines, however, inherited the Roman idea that the emperor was near divinity and practiced a form of Christianity where enormous church and theological authority was vested in the emperor. This would eventually create a permanent breach in the world of Christianity between west and east and the event that would produce this breach was the Iconoclastic controversy.
Theme System For administrative and military purposes; started in the 7th century
Monasticism in Byzantium • Monasticism grew during this era which guided & intensified theology, piety, and practices (including the veneration of icons). Most monasteries were in the countryside and served as agricultural communes often with huge landholdings. Monasteries also existed in the cities where they administered orphanages, craft schools, poor houses, rest homes. & hospitals. • Byzantine theology emphasized the divinity of Christ, the non-celibacy of priesthood, printed the Bible in original Greek & held services in vernacular.
Icons Icon literally means image in Greek & came to be a definitive characteristic of Byzantine art. An icon was a depiction of a sacred person or scene which was treated as holy. An iconostasis was a series of icons typically surrounding church altars and often told a biblical story(ies) for the illiterate masses.
More Icons Although an icon could be a panel painted with a sacred subject intended for veneration, it could also be an image on a mosaic, an enamel, an ivory carving, a sculpture, and even a coin. What was essential was that the icon's imitation of the holy figure enabled the image to partake of the essence and sanctity of the actual figure portrayed. By venerating the likeness, the worshiper honored the sainted figure through the gateway of the icon. The Greco-Roman tradition of having painted panels of the gods placed in homes with candles lit in front of them may have inspired the development of icons. Icons were brought out for special occasions, carried in processions, and were even used to protect cities in wartime. They were bowed to, prayed to, sung to, and kissed; they were honored with candles, oil lamps, incense, precious-metal covers, and public processions.
Iconoclasm The Iconoclastic theologians believed that the products of human hands should not be worshipped, but only Christ and God should be the proper objects of veneration. Possibly because of their pagan roots and possibly because they seemed to violate #2 of the Ten Commandments (which forbade the making of idols), segments of society rejected icons and eventually led to the iconoclastic controversy. Further, in the midst of turmoil from Islamic expansion, the emperor denied the holiness of these religious images & prohibited their use and ordered the destruction of icons. Islam is itself opposed to the worship of images, icons, and idols—one of the founding acts of Islam is Muhammad's destruction of all the idols and images in the sacred Ka’aba in Mecca. Iconoclasts were partially inspired by the religious purity of the Islamic faith & they hoped this would help Byzantium regain territory conquered by the Muslims.
Byzantine Architecture Domes & arches
Influence of Byzantium on its Neighbors The citizens of Byzantium considered themselves to be the center of the civilized world, with good reason. Their civilization had far-reaching political and cultural influences in all directions during the Middle Byzantine period. Kievan Rus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, theCrusader States, and the Latin West Although Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev became an Orthodox Christian in 988, Byzantium never politically dominated his confederation of principalities, called Kievan Rus, which was a composite society of Vikings and eastern Slavs. Known as “the third Rome,” Kievan Rus artists assimilated the style and iconography of Byzantine art and architecture. After the Mongol invaders of 123740 captured Kiev, the rest of the region suffered further attacks by the Mongols from the east and by the Teutonic knights from the west.
The Late Byzantine Period (1261-1453) • This era continued until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. • From the 13th c. onward, the continual loss of territory and resources meant that Byzantium was never again able to fully quell internal disorders or to exercise independence from outside powers. The empire became so impoverished that in 1369 Emperor John V was arrested for debt in Venice as he tried to obtain financial help from the West! • Meanwhile, the Byzantine church increased in prestige and authority as the emperors weakened. Byzantine culture enjoyed a last flowering in literature, scholarship, theology, and art, which still followed the artistic traditions of the Middle Byzantine era. Byzantium also helped transform the West intellectually, as Italian Renaissance scholars, intent on translating Greek pagan and Christian writings, received vital help from Byzantine scholars, especially after many fled to Italy from Constantinople after the city's conquest in 1453.
The Sack of Constantinople • Delacroix Painting of Crusaders Entering Constantinople in 1204
The Horses of St Mark’s The horses were long displayed at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, and in 1204 Doge Enrico Dandolo sent them to Venice as part of the loot sacked from Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade. They were installed on the terrace of the façade of St Mark's Basilica, in Venice, Italy, in 1254.
