| A | B |
|---|
| What was the city of Constantinope? | At first, it was the eastern capital of the Roman Empire and often came in conflict with the western capital, Rome, as the Roman Empire dwindled.Later, at the fall of the Roman Empire, it became the capital of the Byzantine Empire and today is the city of Istanbul and the capital of Turkey. |
| In what year and which Roman emperor built the city of Constantine? | In A.D. 330, the Roman emperor Constantine built the city of Constantine (named after him). He sort to develop a magnificent city to rival the city of Roman in the east. |
| What was the Emperor Constantine's significant contribution to history? | He made Christainity the state religion of the Roman empire. |
| Why did the emperor Constantine build the city of Constantine in the Middle East? | In order to build a great city that would be credited to him and establish a stronger Roman, thus Christain, presence in the eastern region.of teh Roman Empire. |
| After the fall of the Roman Empire, during the 5th century, what did the city of Constantinople become know as? | The city of Constantinople became known as the "New Rome". |
| After the demise of the Roman Empire,why did the city of Constantinople become known as the "New Rome"? | It became known as the New Rome because its emperors were Romans, who spoke Latin, and many of its wealthy families came from Rome. |
| During the 6th century and at the height of its power, why was the city of Constantinople considered "multicultural"? | The city of Constantine was considered multicultural because its jurisdiction covered the following peoples: Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, Arabs, Armenians, Jews, Persians, Slavs, and Turks. |
| Why was the city of Constantinople able to escape the destruction from the northern Germanic tribes that befell Rome during the 5th century? | The city of Constantinople discouraged foreigners from invasion because of its location. It was surrounded by three bodies of water and had superior defenses on its remaining side (it had a great wall on that side).. |
| Why was the city of Constaninople considered strategically located? | The city of Constantinople was considered strategically located because of the following: it was located on the Bosprus and Dardanelles Straits which controled the sea traffic to and from the Black Sea and Medeiterranean Ocean; it was located on the path of major trade routes between the far east and the west; its terrain which lead to its good natural defenses; and, it is at the dross roads of east and west with the multicultural influence it exerted. |
| At it height in teh 6th century, what land areas did the Byzantine Empire incorporate? | At its height, during the 6th century, the Byzantine Empire incorporated the following land areas; the Balkan Peninsula; Asia Minor; Syria; and, Egypt. |
| What can one say about the religion of the Byzantine Empire? | As its founder, the Roman emperor Constantine had sort, that the religion of the Constantinople would be Christian. This continued into the Byzantine Empire which soon, due to the Greek and Persian influence, developed into the Eastern Orthodoxy Christain World (with a seperate leadership than that found in Rome and the Roman Catholic Church).. |
| Who was Justinian? | At the empire's height, the Justinian became the emperor of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 537, He became known as the "emperor who never sleep" because he would stay up late studying law, music, religion, and architecture. |
| Who was Theodora? | She was the Byzantine emperor Justinian's wife She was beautiful and intelligent. She convinced her husband to pass a degree ginving women the right to own property that would sustain them in their old age. |
| How did the empress Theodora save her husband's throne? | In A.D. 532, a revolt of taxpayers errupted in the city of Constantinople. Because of this revolt, the emperor Justinian was about to flee the city as the riots grew and fire errupted in the city. His wife, the empress Theodora, urged him to stay in the city and put down the revot. The emperor followed her advice and with his army killed 30,000 people. As a result, he put down the rebellion and maintained his throne until his death in A.D. 565. |
| Who was Chosroes? | During the reign of the emperor Justinian, Choroes was the leader of the Sassanian Empire, of Persia, who grew in strength and threatened to conquer the city of Constantinople. The emperor Justian threw the Sassanian's back and gained security for the Byzantine Empire's eastern boarders by agreeing to pay tribute (money) in return for peace. |
| Did the emperor Justinian dream of restoring the Roman Empire? | Yes, the emperor Justian dreamed of restoring the Roman Empire. Between A.D. 533 and A.D. 555, he undertook the Byzantine conquest of Italy, North Africa, and Spain (the Roman lands that had fallen to the Germanic tribes) Under the leadership of general Belisarius, the Byzantine Empire defeated the Germanic tribes (Vandals in North Africa; the Ostrogoths in Italy; and, the Visigoths in Spain). Thus, the Byzantines conquered these Germanic groups and extended the Byzantine rule in the west. |
| Under the emperor Justinian, what were the results of the Byzantine conquests in the west? | Eventhough initially successful, they cost the Byzantine Empire a great amount of money and resources which left the empire's eastern boarders weakened. With the growing threath coming from the Persians in the east, this was not a good situation for the Byzantine Empire. The emperor Justinian's conquests in the west did not last long for it was within a generation of his death, that the Byzantine Empire lost many of its outlying territories. |
| What were the approximate years of the Byzantine Civilization? | The approximate years of the Byzantine Civilization were from A.D. 500 to A.D. 1200. |
| What can historians say in the final analysis about the Byzantine Civilization? | Historians can say the following about the Byzantine Civilization's long history, it was one of the most advanced in the world at the time , it had a higher standard of living than western Europe, it brought western influence into the Middle East; and, it established a foothold for Christainity in the east. |
| What effect did the Greek culture have on the Byzantine Civilization? | Since the Constaninople was located in what was once the Greek Civilization, the Greeks had the following influence on the Byzantine Civilization: the Greek language was adopted and maintained; religious scholars expressed there ideas in Greek for the Eastern Orthodox Church which eventually became known as the "Greek Orthodox Church"; and, by incorporating the Greek culture, it spread it by its influence in other lands as well. |
| What reforms did the emperor Justinian institute in the Byzantine Empire ? | For centuries, laws had accumulated without organization or claasification. Consequently, the emperor Justinian appointed a commission who gathered and deposed of the laws that were outdated. The laws that were still relevent they put into categories and classifications. It took this commissionn six (6) years to complete their work. I |
| What were the books entiled "Corpus of Civil Law" ? | The collection of books entitled "Corpus of Civil Law" were where the emperor Justinian's commission on legal reform catorized the code of laws for the Byzantine Empire. They became known as the "Justinian Code". |
| What was the significance of the "Justian Code" ? | This massive work preserved Rome's legal heritage and later became the basis for most European legal systems. |
| Under the emperor Justnian, what was the condition of the "fine arts" ? | Under the emperor Justinian, Byzantine art and architecture thrived and achieved their distinct character. |
| What did the emperor Justinian do for the "infrastructure" of the Byzantine Empire? | Under the emperor Justinian, the construction of new roads, fortresses, aqueducts, monasteries, and other buildings were ordered to be built. |
| What is the Hagia Sophia ? | The Hagia Sophia, which means "Holy Wisdom", was a magnificant church that the Emperor Justinian had built in the city of Constantinople. It was his most famous project and became, at the time, the largest and most beautiful church in the world. Today, the Hagia Sophia still stands in Istanbul, Turkey. |
| What was the nature of religion in the Byzantine Empire ? | Strong links developed between the Byzantine emperors and the Chruch. The emperors were regarded as God's representatives here on earth. Starting in A.D. 400's, the Byzantine emperors and empresses were crowned by the patriarch of Constantinople and took an oath to defend the Christain faith. The Byzantine emperors played a major role in church affairs. The emperors often appointed church officials, defined the st of worship, and used the wealth of the Church for Government purposes. |
| What was the emperor Juntinian's role in religious affairs in the Byzantine Empire ? | The meperor Justinian strenghtened his control over the Church by intervening in disputes over church beliefs. He also tried to unify the empire under one Chritstian faith. This practice sometimes led to persecution of Jews and non-Greek Christians. |
| What is the "laity" ? | The laity are church members who are not the clergy |
| What role did religion really play in the daily lives of the citizens of the Byzantine Empire ? | Religion played a sginificant role in the daily lives of those who lived in the Byzantine Empire. There was an intense interest in religious matters, and there were heated religious discussions found in the homes, the market places, and shops |
| What was a major religious controversy found in the Byzantine Civilization ? | The Byzantines often engaged in heated discussion on religious matters and such arguements often became political issues and led to fights and riots. One such major controversy developed in the A.D. 700's over the use of "icons" in the Greek Orthodix Church. This not only became a religious issue but a poitical one as well. |
| What were religious "icons" ? | Religious icons were religious images used in worship. |
| In the Byzantine Civilization", what was an arguement used against the use of religious "icons" for worship ? | An arguement used to oppose the use of religious icons in worhip was the in the Bible, in the Ten Commandants, prohibited such images. |
| During the Byzantine Civilization, what was an arguement used in defense of the use of religious icons in worship ? | During the Byzantine Empire, a defense of the use of religous icons in religious worhip was that icons were symbols of God's love and presence in human affairs. |
| Who was John of Damascus ? | John of Damascus. a theologian, is considered to be the leading champion for the use of religious icons for worship in the Byzantine Empire...Eventhough, he was a resident of the Islamic Empire, he wrote many religious articles defending the use of icons for worship. |
| In thw Byzantine Empire, what became of religous icons for worship ? | In A.D. 726, believing religious icons to be an encouragement for superstition and the worship of Idols, the emperor Leo III. backed by military leaders, ordered all icons be removed from the churches in the Byzantine Empire. He became known as an "iconoclast". |
| What is an "iconoclast" ? | An iconoclast, is one who is known as an "image breaker". |
| What was the result of the emperor Leo III's removal of all the religious icons from the churches of the Byzantine Empire ? | The emperor Leo III's decision to remove all religious icons from the churches of the Byzantine Empire was resisted by Church leaders and the general public, These people were supported by the Church of Rome which was just as an important center of Christainity. The Roman pope's involvement in the controversy strained the relations between the Eastern and Western Churches. Feeling his authority being challenged, the emperor Leo III asserted his power and suppressed demonstrations in favor of icons. Although several later emperors followed Leo's lead, they were not supported by the people. |
| What was the Council of Nicaea ? | In A.D. 787, the Church held the Council of Nicaea which once again approved the use of religious icons for worship. |
| Who was the Empress Irene ? | The Empress Irene was the first woman t o hold the Byzantine throne in her own right and she also restored the use of religious icons as long as they were not given the worship due to God. The Eastern Church further settled the issue in A.D. 843, by allowing the use of pictures but not statues in worship. |
| What was the history of the Western (Roman) and Eastern (Byzantine) Churches ? | Since the A.D. 300's, the Western and Eastern Churches had disagreed on a number of religious and political issues. As the centuries passed, the disagreements intensified. |
| What were some of the disagreements between the Western (Roman) and Eastern (Byzantine) Churches ? | Some of the disagreements between the Western and Eastern Churches, were following: the iconoclastic contrversy; the source of church authority-the pope of Rome and the patriarch of Constantonople often did not agree on matters of the church and doctrine (this was the most serious disagreement); and, who should build new churches in the Balkan Peninsula. |
| What particular incident intensified the disagreement between the Western (Roman) and Eastern (Byzantine) Churches ? | In the A.D. 700's, when the Germanic Lombards invaded central Italy, the Byzantine emperor at the time refused to provide protection for the pope in Rome. The pope had to then ask the Franks in Germany for protection. After the Franks defeated the Lombards, the pope gave the Frankish leader, Charlemagne, the title of emperor which was a title that the Byzantine emperor felt he only had the authority to grant. This action made the Byzantines even more bitter toward the pope and the Western Church. |
| What was the "schism" of A.D. 1054 ? | By A.D. 1054, the doctrinal, political, and geogaphical differences between the Western and Eastern Churches finally lead to the "schism". The "schism" was the seperation of the Christain world into two main Churches which were the Western Roman Catholic Church, in Rome, and the Eastern Orthodox Church, in Constantonople. |
| What effect did the "schism" have on the Byzantine Empire ? | The "schism" further weakened the Byzantine Empire, which had faced attacks from numerous peoples since its founding. |
| What was the title given to the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church located in Constantonople ? | The title was "patriarch". |
| What was the title given to the head of the Roman Cathoic Church located in Rome ? | The title was "pope". |
| How can one characterize "Byzantine life" ? | The Byzantine society was divided into a hierarchy of social groups. Yet, there were no barriers to pevent a person moving from one group to another. |
| What role did the "family" play in Byzantine life ? | The family was the center of social life for most Byzantines. Divorce was difficult to obtain and the church frowned upon more than one remarrigage. |
| What role did "women" play in Byzantine life ? | Byzantine women were expected to spend parts of their lives in seclusion. Consequently, seperate rooms were built for women in homes and churches. Yet, with the influence of the emperor Justinian's wife Theodora, women obtained greater stature and some could obtain an education and influence in government. Some women managed to become regents or temporary rulers, and a few ruled in their own right as empresses. |
| What was the "economy" like in Byzantine life ? | Most Byzantine's made a living through farming, herding animals, or working as laborers. Farmers paid heavy taxes that supported the government. Eventhough the base of the Byzantine economy was agricultural, commerce did thrive in the cities such as Constantonople which was located on a major crossroads for trade and commerce. Byzantine merchant ships would travel to the east side of the Black Sea and exchange products with eastern Asia and the Far East as well. Byzantine's could sell their aricultural goods, furs and slaves from northern Europe for luxury goods from the East. |
| What was the major industry of the Byzantine Empire ? | The major industry of the Byzantine Empire was weaving silk. In A.D. 550, the Byzantine emperor Justinian sent two monks to China. While there, they stole some silk worm eggs and smuggled them into Constantinople. From that point, silk grew to become a major industry for the Byzantine Empire. |
| What was the habor of Constantinople called ? | The habor of Contantinople was called the " Golden Horn" and it was a major habor for world trade at the time. |
| How could one characterize "Byzantine art" ? | "Byzantine art" flourished and was greatly sort at the time. Religious subjects were the source of most Byzantine art. Beautiful icons (religious paintings usually on wood), jewl-encrusted crosses, and craved ivory boxes for sacred items were some of their specialties. Their art was influenced by both western Europe and the Middle East.. Religious icons were placed on the walls of churches, homes, and religious shrines. Magnificant churches were embellished with gold and silver, polished and carved marble, ivory, and jewels, as well as icons and other religious images. |
| What role did "mosaics" play in Byzantine art ? | The byzantines excelled in the art of "mosaics". A "mosaics " was a piture made of many tiny pieces of colored glass or flat stone set in plaster. |
| What role did "illuminated manuscript" play in Byzantine art ? | The religious scholars of the Byzantine Empire created another art form called "illuminated manuscripts".These were books decorated with elaborate designs, beautiful lettering, and minature paintings. The brilliantly colored paintings protrayed religious themes as well as scenes of Byzantine daily life. Adopted in western Europe, they provided a vivid record of daily life between A.D. 300 and A.D. 1200. |
| What role did "education" play in the Byzantine Empire ? | Schools and learning played an important role in Byzantine culture. The government-supported University of Constantinople, established in A.D. 850, trained scholars and lawyers for government jobs. The Eastern Orthodox Church provided schools for training priests, and theological scholars. Beyond the religious subjects, other areas of study in schools were medicine, law , philosophy, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, grammar, and music. Wealthy people often hired tutors to instruct their children particularily their daughters, who were usually were not admitted to schools or universities. |
| How can "Byzantine literature" be characterized ? | "Byzantine literature" focused on salvation of the soul and abedience to God's will. Writers composed hymns and poems in praise of Christ and his mother, Mary, Instaed of popular fiction, Byzantine authors wrote books about the lives of the saints, which provided the reader moral lessons and knowledge of religious history. The foremost occupation of Byzantine scholars, however, was copying the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. By preserving ancient works on science, meidcine, and mathematics, the Byzantines helped spread classical knowledge to the Western world. |
| What were "monasteries" found in the Byzantine Empire ? | Near the end of the A.D. 300's, devout Christians throughout the Byzantine Empire formed religious communities. These religious communities were called "monasteries". Men called "monks" sort to develop a spiritual way of life apart fromt eh temptations of the world. At the same time, they could help other people by doing good deeds and by setting an example for Christian living.. Christine women who did the same were called "nuns" and lived in quarters of this own called "convnets". |
| What role did "convents" and "monesteries" play in the Byzantine Empire ? | "Convents" and "monasteries" played an important role in Byzantine life. They helped the poor and ran hospitals and schools for needy children. They also spread Byzantine arts and learning. Monasteries also sent missionaries-people who carried religious messages-to neighboring peopels to convert them to the Christian faith. |
| Who were the brothers Cyril and Methodius ? | They were among the most successful missionaries to come out of th Byzantine Empire. They reasoned that Christianity would be most acceptable to the "Slavic peoples" who lived north of the empire if it were presented in their own language. About A.D. 863, Cyril devised an alphbet for the Slavic languages. Known today as the "Cyrillic alphabet", named in honor of its inventor, this script is used by Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, and Serbs today. When Cyril and Methodius presented the Slavs with the Cyril translations of the Bible and church cermonies, they won many converts. Consequently, the Eastern Orthodix Church became, even to this day, the prevalent Christiian Church in Russia and neighboring eastern countries and states |
| Through its history, w hat outside enemies did the Byzantine Empire encounter ? | From its founding, the Byzantine Empire suffered attacks by invading armies - among them were Germaic, Lombards, Slavs, Avars, Bulgars, Persians, and Arabs. After the death of the emperor Justinian in A.D. 565, Byzantine's were confronted with advances form the Lombards in Italy, the Avars on their norhtern boarders, the Slavs in the Balkins, and the Persians resumed their attacks in the east. By A.D. 626, the Slavs were at the wall sof Constantinople but they were stopped by a brillant counterattack by the Byzantines. |
| What threath from the Arabs did the Byzantine Empire face? | A new enemy from the Middle East appeared around A.D. 630's. They were the Arabs with their newly founded religion "Islam" out of Saudi Arabrabian Peninsula. The Arabs occupied Syria, Palestine, expanded into Persia, and across North Africa. The arabs were determined to spread Islam to ever coner of the earth. The Byzantines stopped the Arabs at Constantinople, but could not regain the last territories in the Middle East and North Africa. By A.D. 700, the Byzantine Empire was reduced to the territories that were primarily Greek. |
| How did the loss of their non-Greek territories to the Arabs affect the Byzantine Empire ? | The loss of the non-Greek lands actually helped strenghten the Byzantine Empire because it now had one religion, one language, and one culture. |
| How did the conguests of other Christian peoples effect The Byzantine Empire ? | In A.D. 1071, when the Normans, from northern Europe, gained control of the Italian trading city of Venice, it badly hurt the Byzantine trade and their economy which had been already strained by wars. In the same year, the "Seljuk Turks", who had come from central Asia and converted to Islam, defeated the Byzantines at the Town of Manzikert. The Byzantine emperor at the time asked the pope in Rome for help in defending Christianity form the Islamic Turks advancing on them. Expeditions were sent by the pope but these Christian Crusaders were mainly interested in taking back Palestine form the Islamic forces. Then in A.D. 1204, Christain Crusaders from Western Europe agreed to help the Italian Venetians attack Constantinople. For three days, the attackers burned and looted the city, stealing and destroying priceless manuscripts and works of art. Their actions were so brutal, that Pope Innocent III of Rome publically condemned them. The western Christian Crusaders established "a Latin empire" in Constantinople. The Byzantine people resisted this rule successfully and reestablished their own culture in A.D. 1261.. |
| What was the "Greek fire" ? | In fighting their enemies, the Byzantines used a terrifying weapon known as "Greek fire", one of the earliest uses of chimicals in warfare. This chemical mixture exploded when it came into contact with fire or water. The formula remains a mystery; it probably included highly flammable oil, pitch, quicklime, sulfur, and resin.. |
| Explain the "fall of Constantinople". | The years of fighting had severely weakened the Byzantine Empire. Soon Serbs and Bulgars took over hte Balkin territory. New invaders from central Asia, "the Ottoman Turks, attacked the eastern provinces. By the late A.D. 1300's, the Byzantine Empire consisted of only Constantinople and part of Greece. About 100,000 people lived inside the capital; food was scarce, and the wealth was gone. In A.D. 1453, the Ottomans laid siege to Constantinople. For six weeks their hugh cannon blasted away at the dity's walls. The Byzantines fought fiercely until their last emperor was killed. Consequestly, the city of Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks.and the Byzantine Empire was no more. |
| What effect did the fall of the Byzantine Empire have on the region ? | Fora thousand years, the Byzantine empire had protected the Christian lands to its north. With the fall of Constantinople, central Europe lay open to attack by Islamic forces. Despite the empire's fall, the Byzantine heritage lived on in the civilization developed by the Eastern slavs. |
| What were the Kingdoms of Armenia and Georgia ? | They were neighboring kingdoms of the Byzantine Empire. During the time of the Byzantine Empire they underwent periods of presperity and decline. Both Armenia and Georgia, lay south of the rugged, snow capped Caucasus Mountains between the Black and Caspian Seas. Eventhough mountain made it difficult to travel, their plains and the valleys between the mountains did permit trader to pass back and forth form Europe to Asia over their lands. Through the centuries, both kingdoms experienced repeated patterns of conquest by larger neighboring powers that rivaled each other for control of the region. |
| What are some of the historical facts behind the establishment of the Kingdom of Armenia? | Around 200 B.C., the first Amenians appeared in Armenia. The Armenians inter-married with the local peoples, built walled twons, and propered on growing wheat and other cereal crops.. Around 400 B.C. the Persians absorbed Armenia and in the 300's B.C. Alexander the Great invaded Armenia. He gave the Armenians some independence. King In 95 B.C., King Tigran II of Armenia built an independent Armenian Kingdom that reached from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sae. Armenia then became part of the Roman Empire. |
| Who was Gregory the Illuminator and King Tiridates III of Armenia and the significance of his reign? | Gregory was an Armenian nobleman who turned missionary and became Know as Gregory the Illiminator. Gregory converted the Armenian King Tiridates to Christianityand the people accepted the faith quickly. Armenia became the first officially Christian country in the world. |
| What did Christianity do For Armenia? | Christianity gave Armenia a sence of national identity. |
| Who was the Armenian Mesorb? | He was a Christian monk and scholar who developed the Armenian alphabet the early A.D. 400's. |
| After the A.D. 400's, what was Armenian history liike? | Armenia was often under seige by different peoples such as teh Persians, Arabs (establishing an Islamic community in Armenia), Seljiks Turks, and the Ottoman Turks. In the A.D. 1800's, Armenia became a part of the Russian Empire to teh north. |
| What was the early history of the Kingdom of Georgia ? | Georgians were around the Middle East for thousands of years. They were part of the Kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia who later became part of the Roman Empire. Being on the Black Sea, having the Caucasus Mountains, and located on the "Silk Road" of trade to and from the Far East, Georgians prospered economically. . |
