The Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire — page 5 — THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE created a distinctive style of mosaic work painting and domed architecture which influenced the cultures of Greece Italy Spain and Russia The Byzantine state religion Eastern Orthodox Christianity became dominant in the Balkan and Russian kingdoms as well as in Greece By the virtue of philanthropy which the Byzantines prized and commended in their rulers their contributions to the world were many 8

The Byzantine Empire — page 6 — THE EARLY PERIOD RISE OF THE BYZANTINES The first era of the Byzantine civilization lasted from about 324 to 640 CE During this time the empire established its separate identity from the West The Byzantine Empire formally split from Rome in 395 following the death of Emperor Theodosius I His seventeen-year-old son Arcadius ruled the Eastern Eastern Empire from Constantinople while his ten-year-old ten-year-old son Honorius was given the Western Empire to rule from Milan This division considered temporary at the time actually remained permanent BARBARIC INVADERS AND RELIGIOUS DISPUTES Conflict both at home and abroad plagued the first years of the Byzantine Empire Hordes of barbarian people eager for land and power pushed at its boundaries boundaries during the fifth century The Vandals invaded 9 Chapter 1

The Byzantine Empire — page 7 — THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE France Spain and North Africa In 455 their attack on Rome was so savage that their name has transformed transformed into a term meaning malicious destroyer The Visigoths invaded Italy in 409 and later conquered France and southern Spain The Ostrogoths also took parts of Italy defeating the city of Ravenna in 490 A Hun attack on Constantinople itself was halted only because a plague destroyed the invading army These walls built in the fifth century CE to surround and protect Constantinople are still standing in their slightly more ruined state in a historic area of Istanbul Turkey 10

The Byzantine Empire — page 8 — THE EARLY PERIOD RISE OF THE BYZANTINES At first the Byzantines attempted to form an uneasy peace with the barbarians who surrounded them Theodosius II who reigned from 408 to 450 subsidized the Huns under their chief Attila granting granting them gold in exchange for peace It was at this time that walls were first built to surround and protect Constantinople While invaders threatened the foreign affairs of the Byzantines religious arguments damaged the domestic peace of the empire A number of heresies ideas that are different from widely accepted beliefs were hotly debated by churchmen and laymen alike One of these heresies concerned the relationship of the human and divine natures of Jesus Monophysites believed that Jesus had only one nature one that was divine and not human In 451 CE a church council at Chalcedon condemned this belief as heresy Controversies such as that were more than religious disagreements they were also a means of opposing the emperor and so had political as well as religious significance In Egypt and Syria for example the persistence of Monophysitism meant that Byzantine Byzantine emperors faced continuing conflict with native subjects Periodic quarrels about religious doctrine and church practice also divided Christianity between the Western Roman Catholic and Eastern Eastern Orthodox churches These differences led to a permanent permanent schism or split in 1054 11

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