Essential Question:  How did Justinian 's codified laws influence the development of the Byzantine Empire and the future empires which arose in Europe?


The Byzantine Empire

Justinian- In 527 this high ranking Byzantine nobleman named Justinian succeeded his uncle to the throne of the Eastern Empire.

Justinian Code:

1. The Code contained nearly 5,000 Roman laws that were still considered useful to the Byzantine Empire.

2.  The Digest quoted and summarized the opinions of Romes's greatest legal thinkers about the laws. (0 Volumes)

3. The Institutes was a textbook that told law students how to use the laws.

The Novellae ( New Laws) presented legislation passed after 534.

The Justinian Code decided legal questions that regulated whole areas of Byzantine life.  Marriage, slavery, property, inheritance, women's rights, and criminal justice were just some of the areas. Although Justinian himself died in 65, his code served the Byzantine Empire for 900 years.

Justinian viewed churches as the most visible sign of the close connection between church and state in his empire.

The crown and glory of his reign was Hagia Sophia, which means “Holy Wisdom” in Greek.

Constantinople – busy city whose main street, Mese or Middle Way, was the hub of activity.

Hippodrome – large area where chariot races and free entertainment took place.

The Empire falls

Bubonic plague

Attacks by tribes form the East and West

The Church Divides

Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy

Similarities:

 *both based their teachings on the gospel of Jesus in the Bible

*they use sacraments such as Baptism

*their religious leaders are priests and bishops

*they seek to convert people

patriarch – leading bishop in the Ease

icons – religious images used by Eastern Christians to aid in their devotions

example: rosary

Cyrillic Alphabet – the alphabet that many Slavic languages , like Russia, use.

 The Russian Empire

Russia grew out of a blending of Slavic and Byzantine cultures and adopted Eastern orthodox traditions.

Early Russia was separated from the West, leading to a difference in culture that still exists today.

Terms

Slavs - people from the forests north of the Black Sea, ancestors of many people in Eastern Europe today

Vladimir - came to the throne of the Russian Empire about the year 980, he converted to Byzantine Chrisitanity and made all his subjects convert, too.  In 989, a baptism of all citizens of Kiev was help in the Dnieper River.

Listening Example: The Great Gates of Kiev: Borodin

Listening Motiviation: 
What instruments does the composer, Borodin, use to signal the opening of the great gates of the city, Kiev?

Yaroslav the Wise - Yaroslav was Vladamir's son. He came to the throne in 1019.  He led Kiev to even greater glory.  He achieved this by marrying off his daughters and sisters to kings and princes of Western Europe. Through these marriages he formed trading alliances.  He created a legal code that fit Kiev's commercial culture.  Some of his achievements were;
*the first library of Kiev
* 400 churches

Kiev's Decline started with the death of Yaroslav in 1054.  He made one mistake that turned out to be a crucial error.  Instead of passing his throne to his eldest son when he died he divided amongst all his sons.  His son's fought over the choicest territories and weakened the entire country.

As Kiev declined during the middle of the 1200's it was taken over by a group of nomads called the Mongols.  Their leader was the ferocious Genghis Khan.  They demolished the beautiful city of Kiev.  The Mongols ruled southern Russia for 200 years.

The Mongols let the Russian people follow all their usual customs as long as they did not rebel. The Mongols tolerated all the church practices.  In fact the church would sometimes act as a mediator between the two cultures.

The Mongols demanded two things from the people of Russia.
1. absolute obedience
2. massive amounts of tributes (payments)

Alexander Nevesky advised his fellow princes to go along with the Mongols.  

In class activity - analyzing primary sources and document based questions

Russia Breaks Free

In 1320 a strong Russian prince emerged Ivan I. Because Ivan I acted as a tax collector and acquired large amounts of money for the Mongols they gave him the title "Grand Prince". He was the most powerful of all Russian princes.

Ivan III - a descendant of Ivan I ruled for 43 years and took on the name czar, the Russian versian for Ceasar.  During his reign Russia was referred to as the "Third Rome".