Outline: Byzantine

I.  The Collapse of the Western Roman Empire
II.  The Reign of Justinian (527-565 A.D.)
     a.  attempted to restore the Empire
     b.  Belisarius and the reconquest of the west
     c.  the Corpus Juris Civilis
          the legacy of Roman Law
     d.  rebuilding program
III The Byzantine Empire
    A. Reign of Justinian (527-565)
           i. Codification of Roman Law
           ii. Intellectual Life under Justinian: Procopius’ History
           iii. Justinian’s Building Program: Hagia Sophia
           iv. defense of eastern Europe
    B. Eastern Roman to Byzantine Empire
           i. Frontier Insecurity -  attacks by Moslems
           ii. Iconoclastic Controversy
           iii. Emperor and Orthodoxy
           iv. Separation from the West
IV.  Later Byzantium:
     A.  Politics:
          i.  the role of the emperor:
               "the thirteenth apostle"
          ii.  the theme system and the military
          iii.  the bureaucracy
     B.  The schism with the Latin (Roman Catholic) Church
               the issues
     C.  The Crusades
          i.  the expansion of Islam and the Battle of Manzikert -- 1071
          ii.  to the west for help:
               a.   the emperor Alexis
                    his daughter Anna Comnena
                    the attitude toward the west
               b.  the Peasants' Crusade:
                    Peter the Hermit
                    the destruction of the byzantine countryside
                    their fate
               c.  the "official crusade"
                    the western princes
                    the Latin States
                    the violation of the pact with Alexis
          iii.  the second and third crusades
               Philip of France
               Richard the Lionhearted
               Frederick Barbarosa -- his death
          iv.  the fourth crusade
                    the conquest of Constantinople in 1204
                    Christian against Christian
          v. legacy of the crusades:
               a.  conflict between east and west
               b. the new knowledge channeled to the west as a result of the crusades

                Byzantine and Islamic Cultures         Back to History Page