Duiker W.J., Spielvogel J.J. The Essential World History. Volume 1: To 1800

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

The Culture of the High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages was a time of extraordinary in-

tellectual and artistic vitality. It witnessed the birth of

universities and a building spree that left Europe be-

decked with churches and cathedrals.

The Rise of Universities The university as we know it---

with faculty, students, and degrees---is a product of the

High Middle Ages. The word university is derived from

the Latin word universitas, meaning a corporation or

guild, and referred to either a corporation of teachers or a

corporation of students. Medieval universities were edu-

cational guilds or corporations that produced educated

and trained individuals.

The first European university appeared in Bologna,

Italy, where a great teacher named Irnerius (1088--1125),

who taught Roman law, attracted students from all over

Europe. To protect themselves, students at Bologna

formed a guild or universitas, which was recognized by

Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and given a charter in

1158. Kings, popes, and princes soon competed to found

new universities, and by the end of the Middle Ages, there

were eighty universities in Europe, most of them in England,

France, Italy, and Germany (see the box on p. 305).

University students (all men---women did not attend

universities in the Middle Ages) began their studies with

the traditional liberal arts curriculum, which consisted of

grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music,

and astronomy. Teaching was done by the lecture method.

The word lecture is derived from the Latin verb for ‘‘read.’’

Before the development of the printing press in the

fifteenth century, books were expensive and few students

could afford them, so teachers read from a basic text

(such as a collection of laws if the subject was law) and

then added their explanations. No exams were given after

a series of lectures, but when a student applied for a

degree, he was given a comprehensive oral examination

by a committee of teachers. The exam was taken after a

four- or six-year period of study. The first degree a stu-

dent could earn was a bachelor of arts; later he might

receive a master of arts.

After completing the liberal arts curriculum, a stu-

dent could go on to study law, medicine, or theology. A

student who passed his final oral examinations was

granted a doctor’s degree, which officially enabled him to

teach his subject. Students who received degrees from

medieval universities could pursue other careers besides

teaching that proved to be much more lucrative. A law

degree was necessary for those who wished to serve as

advisers to kings and princes.

The Development of Scholasticism The importance of

Christianity in medieval society ensured that theology

would play a central role in the European intellectual

world. Theology, the formal study of religion, was ‘‘queen

of the sciences’’ in the new universities.

Beginning in the eleventh century, the effort to apply

reason or logical analysis to the church’s basic theological

doctrines had a significant impact on the study of the-

ology. The word scholasticism is used to refer to the

philosophical and theological system of the medieval

schools. Scholasticism tried to reconcile faith and reason,

A Group of Nuns. Although still viewed

by the medieval church as inferior to men,

women were as susceptible to the spiritual

fervor of the twelfth century as men, and

female monasticism grew accordingly. This

manuscript illustration shows at the left a

group of nuns welcoming a novice (dressed

in white) to their order. At the right, a nun

receives a sick person on a stretcher for the

order’s hospital care.



Archives Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library

304 CHAPTER 12 THE MAKING OF EUROPE

to demonstrate that what was accepted on faith was in

harmony with what could be learned by reason.

The overriding task of scholasticism was to harmo-

nize Christian teachings with the work of the Greek

philosopher Aristotle. In the twelfth century, due largely

to the work of Muslim and Jewish scholars in Spain,

western Europe was introduced to a large number of

Greek scientific and philosophical works, including the

works of Aristotle. Aristotle’s works threw many theolo-

gians into consternation, however. Aristotle had arrived at

his conclusions by rational thought, not by faith, and

some of his doctrines contradicted the teachings of the

church. The most famous attempt to reconcile Aristotle

and the doctrines of Christianity was that of Saint

Thomas Aquinas (1225--1274).

Aquinas’s reputation derives from his masterful at-

tempt to reconcile faith and reason. He took it for granted

that there were truths derived by reason and truths de-

rived by faith. He was certain, however, that the two

truths could not be in conflict. The natural mind, un-

aided by faith, could arrive at truths concerning the

physical universe. Without the help of God’s grace,

however, reason alone could not grasp spiritual truths,

such as the Trinity (the manifestation of God in three

separate yet identical persons---Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit) or the Incarnation (Jesus’ simultaneous identity as

God and human).

The Gothic Cathedral Begun in the twelfth century and

brought to perfection in the thirteenth, the Gothic ca-

thedral remains one of the greatest artistic triumphs of

the High Middle Ages. Soaring skyward, as if to reach

heaven, it was a fitting symbol for medieval people’s

preoccupation with God.

Two fundamental innovations of the twelfth cen-

tury made Gothic cathedrals possible. The combination

of ribbed vaults and pointed arches replaced the barrel

vault of earlier churches and enabled builders to make

Gothic churches higher. The use of pointed arches and

ribbed vaults created an impression of upward move-

ment. Another technical innovation, the fly ing buttress,

basically a heavy arched pier of stone built onto the

outside of the walls, made it possible to distribute the

weight of the church’s vaulted ceilings outward and

down and thus eliminate the heavy walls used in earlier

churches to hold the weight of the massive barrel vaults.

Thus, Gothic cathedrals could be built with thin w alls

containing magnificent stained-glass windows, which

created a play of light inside that varied with the sun at

different times of the day. The use of light reflected the

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND VIOLENCE AT OXFORD

Medieval universities shared in the violent atmo-

sphere of their age. Town and gown quarrels often

resulted in bloody conflicts, especially during the

universities’ formative period. This selection is

taken from an anonymous description of a student riot at Ox-

ford at the end of the thirteenth century.

A Student Riot at Oxford

They [the townsmen] seized and imprisoned all scholars on whom

they could lay hands, invaded their inns [halls of residence], made

havoc of their goods and trampled their books under foot. In the

face of such provocation the proctors [university officials] sent their

assistants about the town, forbidding the students to leave their

inns. But all commands and exhortations were in vain. By nine

o’clock next morning, bands of scholars were parading the streets in

martial array. If the proctors failed to restrain them, the mayor was

equally powerless to restrain his townsmen. The great bell of

St. Martin’s rang out an alarm; oxhorns were sounded in the streets;

messengers were sent into the country to collect rustic allies. The

clerks [students and teachers], who numbered 3,000 in all, began

their attack simultaneously in various quarters. They broke open

warehouses in the Spicery, the Cutlery and elsewhere. Armed with

bow and arrows, swords and bucklers, slings and stones, they fell

upon their opponents. Three they slew, and wounded fifty or more.

One band ...took up a position in High Street between the

Churches of St. Mary and All Saints’ and attacked the house of a cer-

tain Edward Hales. This Hales was a longstanding enemy of the

clerks. There were no half measures with him. He seized his crossbow,

and from an upper chamber sent an unerring shaft into the eye of

the pugnacious rector. The death of their valiant leader caused the

clerks to lose heart. They fled, closely pursued by the townsmen and

country-folk. Some were struck down in the streets, and others who

had taken refuge in the churches were dragged out and driven merci-

lessly to prison, lashed with thongs and goaded with iron spikes.

Complaints of murder, violence and robbery were lodged

straightway with the king by both parties. The townsmen claimed

3,000 pounds’ damage. The commissioners, however, appointed to

decide the matter, condemned them to pay 200 marks, removed the

bailiffs, and banished twelve of the most turbulent citizens from

Oxford.

Who do you think was responsible for this conflict between

town and gown? Why? Why do you think the king supported the

university?

EUROPE IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES 305

belief that natural light was a symbol of the divine light

of God.

The first fully Gothic church was the abbey of Saint-

Denis near Paris, inspired by its famous Abbot Suger

(1122--1151) and built between 1140 and 1150. Although

the Gothic style was a product of northern France, by the

mid-thirteenth century, French Gothic architecture had

spread to virtually all of Europe. French Gothic archi-

tecture was seen most brilliantly in cathedrals in Paris

(Notre-Dame), Reims, Amiens, and Chartres.

A Gothic cathedral was the work of the entire com-

munity. All classes contributed to its construction. Master

masons, who were both architects and engineers, de-

signed them, and stonemasons and other craftspeople

were paid a daily wage and provided the skilled labor to

build them. A Gothic cathedral symbolized the chief

preoccupation of a medieval Christian community, its

dedication to a spiritual ideal. The largest buildings of an

era reflect the values of its society. The Gothic cathedral,

with its towers soaring toward heaven, gave witness to an

age when a spiritual impulse underlay most aspects of life.

Medieval Europe and the World

Focus Questions: In what ways did Europeans begin

to relate to peoples in other parts of the world after

1000

C.E.? What were the reasons for the Crusades,

and who or what benefited the most from the

experience of the Crusades?

As it developed, European civilization remained largely

confined to one geographic area. Nevertheless, even in

the Early Middle Ages, Europeans were not entirely iso-

lated from the rest of the world. Some Europeans, es-

pecially merchants, had contacts with parts of Asia and

Africa, and a few goods from the east found their way

into the households of the aristocracy. The Vikings were

also daring explorers. After 860, they sailed westward in

their long ships across the North Atlantic, reaching Ice-

land in 874. Erik the Red, a Viking exiled from Iceland,

traveled even farther west and discovered Greenland in

985. A Viking site has been found in Newfoundland,

indicating that at least one group of Vikings reached

North America, but the settlement proved to be short-

lived as Viking expansion drew to a close by the end of

the tenth century. At the end of the eleventh century,

however, Europeans began their first concerted attempt

to expand beyond the frontiers of Europe by conquering

the land of Palestine.

The First Crusades

The Crusades were based on the idea of a holy war against

the infidels or unbelievers. The wrath of Christians was

directed against the Muslims, and at the end of the

eleventh century, Christian Europe found itself with a

glorious opportunity to attack them. The immediate

impetus for the Crusades came when the Byzantine em-

peror, Alexius I, asked Pope Urban II for help against the

Seljuk Turks, who were Muslims (see Chapter 13). The

pope saw a golden opportunity to provide papal leader-

ship for a great cause: to rally the warriors of Europe for

the liberation of Jerusalem and the Holy Land (Palestine)

from the infidel. At the Council of Clermont in southern

France near the end of 1095, Urban II challenged Chris-

tians to take up their weapons and join in a holy war to

recover the Holy Land.

Three organized crusading bands of noble warriors,

most of them French, made their way eastward. After the

capture of Antioch in 1098, much of the crusading host

proceeded down the Palestinian coast, evading the well-

defended coastal cities, and reached Jerusalem in June

1099. After a five-week siege, the Holy City was taken

amid a horrible massacre of the inhabitants---men,

women, and children (see the Opposing Viewpoints box

The Gothi c Cath edral. The Gothic cathedral was one of the great

artistic triumphs of the High Middle Ages. Seen here is the cathedral of

Notre-Dame in Paris. Begun in 1163, it was not completed until the

beginning of the fourteenth century.



S. Grandadam/Photo Researchers, Inc.

306 CHAPTER 12 THE MAKING OF EUROPE

‘‘The Siege of Jerusalem: Christian and Muslim Per-

spectives’’ on p. 168 in Chapter 7).

After further conquest of Palestinian lands, the cru-

saders ignored the wishes of the Byzantine emperor and

organized four Latin crusader states. Because the crusader

kingdoms were surrounded by Muslims hostile to them,

they grew increasingly dependent on the Italian com-

mercial cities for supplies from Europe. Some Italian

cities, such as Genoa, Pisa, and, above all, Venice, grew

rich and powerful in the process.

But it was not easy for the crusader kingdoms to

maintain themselves. Already by the 1120s, the Muslims

had begun to strike back. The fall of one of the Latin

kingdoms in 1144 led to renewed calls for another Cru-

sade, especially from the monastic firebrand Saint Ber-

nard of Clairvaux. He exclaimed: ‘‘Now, on account of

our sins, the enemies of the cross have begun to show

their faces. ... What are you doing, you servants of the

cross? Will you throw to the dogs that which is most holy?

Will you cast pearls before swine?’’

Bernard even man-

aged to enlist two powerful rulers, but the Second Cru-

sade proved to be a total failure.

The Third Crusade was a reaction to the fall of the

Holy City of Jerusalem in 1187 to the Muslim forces

under Saladin. Now all of Christendom was ablaze with

calls for a new Crusade. Three major monarchs agreed to

lead their forces in person: Emperor Frederick Barbarossa

of Germany, Richard I the Lionhearted of England (1189--

1199), and Philip II Augustus, king of France. Some of the

crusaders finally arrived in the east by 1189 only to en-

counter problems. Frederick Barbarossa drowned while

swimming in a local river, and his army quickly dis-

integrated. The English and French arrived by sea and

met with success against the coastal cities, where they had

the support of their fleets, but when they moved inland,

they failed miserably. Eventually, after Philip went home,

Richard the Lionhearted negotiated a settlement whereby

Saladin agreed to allow Christian pilgrims free access to

Jerusalem.

The Later Crusades

After the death of Saladin in 1193, Pope Innocent III

initiated the Fourth Crusade. On its way to the east, the

crusading army became involved in a dispute over the

succession to the Byzantine throne. The Venetian leaders

of the Fourth Crusade saw an opportunity to neutralize

their greatest commercial competitor, the Byzantine

Empire. Diverted to Constantinople, the crusaders sacked

the great capital city of Byzantium in 1204 and set up the

new Latin Empire of Constantinople. Not until 1261 did a

Byzantine army recapture Constantinople. In the mean-

time, additional Crusades were undertaken to reconquer

the Holy Land. All of them were largely disasters, and by

the end of the thirteenth century, the European military

effort to capture Palestine was recognized as a complete

failure.

Effects of the Crusades

Whether the Crusades had much effect on European

civilization is debatable. The crusaders made little long-

term impact on the Middle East, where the only visible

remnants of their conquests were their castles.

Did the Crusades help stabilize European society by

removing large numbers of young warriors who would

have fought each other in Europe? Some historians think

so and believe that Western monarchs established their

control more easily as a result. There is no doubt that the

Crusades did contribute to the economic growth of the

Italian port cities, especially Genoa, Pisa, and Venice.

The First Crusade. Recruited from the nobles of western Europe,

the first crusading army reached Constantinople by 1097. By 1098, the

crusaders had taken Antioch. Working down the coast of Palestine, they

captured Jerusalem in 1099. Shown here in a fifteenth-century Flemish

painting is a fanciful re-creation of the punishments that were meted out

to the defeated Muslim forces. Seen in the background is a panoramic

view of mutilations, crucifixions, and hangings.



Scala/Art Resource, NY

MEDIEVAL EUROPE AND THE WORLD 307

But it is important to remember that the growing wealth

and population of twelfth-century Europe had made the

Crusades possible in the first place. The Crusades may

have enhanced the revival of trade, but they certainly did

not cause it. Even without the Crusades, Italian mer-

chants would have pursued new trade contacts with the

eastern world.

The Crusades had side effects that would haunt Eu-

ropean society for generations. The first widespread at-

tacks on the Jews began w ith the Crusades. Some

Christians argued that to undertake holy wars against

infidel Muslims while the ‘‘murderers of Christ’’ ran free

at home was unthinkable. The massacre of Jews became a

regular feature of medieval European life.

TIMELINE

500 600

700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300

Germanic Kingdoms Reign of Charlemagne Pope Gregory VII and

the Investiture controversy

Rise of

universities

Thomas Aquinas

and scholasticism

Gothic cathedrals

Benedictine order established Growth of trade and towns

First Crusade

Norman conquest

of England

Innocent III and

papal power

Magna

Carta

Emergence

of English

Parliament

CONCLUSION

AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF the Han dynasty in the third

century

C.E., China experienced nearly four centuri es of internal

chaos, until the seventh century when the Tang dynast y

attempted to f ollow t he pattern of the Han and restore the power

of the Chinese Empire. The fall of the western Roman Empire

in the fifth centur y had a quit e d ifferent result as three new

civilizations emerged out of the collapse of Roman power in the

Mediterranean. A new world of Islam emerged in the east; it

occupied large par ts of the old Roman Empire, preserved much

of Greek culture, and created its own flourishing civilizati on.

As we shall see in Chapter 13, the eastern part of the old Roman

Empire, increasingly Greek in culture, continued to surv ive as the

Christian Byzantine Empire. At the same time, a new Christian

European civ ilization was establishing its roots in western

Europe. By the eleventh and twelfth centuries, these three heirs

of Rome began their own conflict for control of the lands of the

eastern Mediterranean.

The coronation of Charlemagne, the descendant of a Germanic

tribe converted to Christianity, as emperor of the Romans in 800

symbolized the fusion of the three chief components of the new

European civilization: the German tribes, the Roman legacy, and the

Christian church. Charlemagne’s Carolingian Empire fostered the

idea of a distinct European identity. With the disintegration of that

empire, power fell into the hands of many different lords, who came

to constitute a powerful group of nobles that dominated the

political, economic, and social life of Europe. But quietly and surely

during the High Middle Ages, within this world of castles and

private power, kings gradually began to develop the machinery of

government and become the centers of political authority in

Europe. Although they could not know it then, the actions of these

308 CHAPTER 12 THE MAKING OF EUROPE

SUGGESTED READING

General Histories of the Middle Ages For general histories of

the Middle Ages, see D. Nicholas, The Evolution of the Medieval

World: Society, Government, and Thought in Europe, 312--1500

(London, 1993), and B. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle

Ages (Orchard Park, N.Y., 2002). A brief history of the Early Middle

Ages can be found in R. Collins, Early Medieval Europe, 300--1000

(New York, 1991).

Carolingian Europe Carolingian Europe is examined in

P. Rich



e, The Caroli ngians: A F amily Who Forged Euro pe

(Philadelphia, 19 93). On Charlemagne, see A. Barbero, Charlemagne:

Father of a Continent, trans. A. Camer on (Berkeley, Calif. , 2004).

The Vikings and Fief-Holding The Vikings are examined in

M. Arnold, The Vikings: Culture and Conquest (London, 2006),

and R. Hall, The World of the Vikings (New York, 2007). An

introductory work on fief-holding is J. R. Strayer, Feudalism

(Princeton, N.J., 1985). For an important revisionist view, see

S. Reynolds, Fiefs and Vassals (Oxford, 1994).

General Works on the High Middle Ages Foragood

introduction to the High Middle Ages, see W. C. Jordan, Europe in the

High Middle Ages (New York, 2003); J. H. Mundy, Europe in the High

Middle Ages, 1150--1309, 3rd ed. (New York, 1999); and M. Barber,

The Two Cities: Mediev al Europe, 1050--1320 (London, 1992).

Economic and Social Conditions Urban history is covered

in D. Nicholas, The Growth of the Medieval City: From Late

Antiquity to the Early Fourteenth Century (New York, 1997). On

women in general, see L. Bitel, Women in Early Medieval Europe,

400--1100 (Cambridge, 2002), and M. P. P. Cosman, Women at

Work in Medieval Europe (New York, 2001). On peasant life, see

R. Fossier, Peasant Life in the Medieval West (New York, 1988).

On daily life in the medieval city, see C. Frugoi, A Day in a

Medieval City, trans. W. McCuaig (Chicago, 2006).

The Medieval States There are numerous works on the

various medieval states. On England, see R. Frame, The Political

Development of the British Isles, 1100--1400, 2nd ed. (Oxford,

1995). On Germany, see H. Fuhrmann, Germany in the High

Middle Ages, c. 1050--1250 (Cambridge, 1986), an excellent account.

On France, see J. Dunbabib, France in the Making, 843--1180, 2nd ed.

(Oxford, 2000). On Ru ssia, see S. Franklin and J. Shephard, The

Emergence of Rus, 750--1200 (New York, 1996).

The Christian Church in the Middle Ages For a general

survey of Christianity in the Middle Ages, see J. H. Lynch, The

Medieval Church: A Brief History (London, 1995). For a superb

introduction to early Christianity, see P. Brown, The Rise of

Western Christendom: Triumph and Adversity,

A.D. 200--1000,

2nd ed. (Oxford, 2002). On the papacy in the High Middle Ages,

see I. S. Robinson, The Papacy (Cambridge, 1990).

Culture of the High Middle Ages On medieval intellectual

life, see M. L. Colish, Medieval Foundations of the Western

Intellectual Tradition, 400--1400 (New Haven, Conn., 1997). A

good introduction to Romanesque style is A. Petzold, Romanesque

Art, rev. ed. (New York, 2003). On the Gothic movement, see

M. Cami lle, Gothic A rt: Glori ous Visions, rev. ed. (New York, 20 03).

The Crusades For a detailed survey of the Crusades, see

C. Tyerman, God’s War: A New History of the Crusades

(Cambridge, Mass., 2006). Also see J. Riley-Smith, ed., The Oxford

Illustrated History of the Crusades (New York, 1995). On the

later Crusades, see N. Housley, The Later Crusades, 1274--1580

(New York, 1992).

medieval monarchs laid the foundation for the European kingdoms

that in one form or another have dominated the European political

scene ever since.

European civilization began to flourish in the High Middle

Ages. The revival of trade, the expansion of towns and cities, and

the development of a money economy did not mean the end of a

predominantly rural European society, but they did open the door

to new ways to make a living and new opportunities for people to

expand and enrich their lives. At the same time, the High Middle

Ages also gave birth to a cultural revival that led to new centers of

learning in the universities, to the use of reason to systematize the

study of theology, and to a dramatic increase in the number and size

of churches.

The Catholic church shared in the challenges presented by the

new growth by reforming itself and striking out on a path toward

greater papal power, both within the church and over European

society. The High Middle Ages witnessed a spiritual renewal that led

to revived papal leadership and new dimensions to the religious life

of the clergy and laity. At the same time, this spiritual renewal also

gave rise to the crusading ‘‘holy warrior’’ who killed for God,

thereby creating an animosity between Christians and Muslims that

has repercussions to this day.

Visit the website for The Essential World History to access study

aids such as Flashcards, Cr itical Thinking Exercises, and

Chapter Quizzes:

www.cengage.com/history/duikspiel/essentialworld6e

CONCLUSION 309

310

CHAPTER 13

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND CRISIS

AND RECOVERY IN THE WEST

CHAPTER OUTLINE

AND FOCUS QUESTIONS

From Eastern Roman to Byzantine Empire

How did the Byzantine Empire that had emerged by the

eighth century di ffer from the empire of Justinian and

from the Germanic kingdoms in the west? How were

they alike?

The Zenith of Byzantine Civilization (750--1025)

What were the chief developments in the Byzantine

Empire between 750 and 1025?

The Decline and Fall of the Byzantine Empire

(1025--1453)

What impact did the Crusades have on the Byzantine

Empire? How and why did Constantinople and the

Byzantine Empire fall?

The Crises of the Fourteenth Century

What impact did the Black Death have on Europe and

Asia in the fourteenth century? What problems did

Europeans face during the fourteenth century, and what

impact did these problems have on European economic,

social, and religious life?

Recover y: The Renaissance

What were the main features of the Renaissance in

Europe, and how did it differ from the Middle Ages?

CRITICAL THINKING

In what ways did the Byzantine, European, and Islamic

civilizations resemble and differ from each other? Were

their relationships overall based on cooperation or

conflict?

Justinian and Theodora

AT THE SAME TIME that medieval European civilization was

emerging in the west, the eastern part of the old Roman Empire, in-

creasingly Greek in culture, continued to survive as the Byzantine

Empire. While serving as a buffer between Europe and the peoples

to the east, especially the growing empire of Islam, the Byzantine or

eastern Roman Empire also preserved the intellectual and legal

accomplishments of the Greeks and Romans.

The early Byzantine Empire was beset by crises. Soon after the

beginning of his reign, the emperor Justinian was faced with a serious

revolt in the capital city of Constantinople. In 532, followers of both

the Blues and the Greens, two factions of supporters of chariot teams

that competed in the Hippodrome, a huge amphitheater, joined to-

gether and rioted to protest the emperor’s taxation policies. The riots

soon became a revolt as insurgents burned and looted the center of

the city, shouting ‘‘Nika!’’ (victory), a word normally used to cheer

on their favorite teams. Aristocratic factions joined the revolt and put

forward a nobleman named Hypatius as a new emperor. Justinian

seemed ready to flee, but his wife, the empress Theodora, strength-

ened his resolve by declaring, according to the historian Procopius,

‘‘If now, it is your wish to save yourself, O Emperor, there is no diffi-

culty. For we have much money, and there is the sea, here the boats.

311



Scala/Art Resources, Inc.

From Eastern Roman

to Byzantine Empire

Focus Questions: How did the Byzantine Empire that

had emerged by the eighth century differ from the

empire of Justinian and from the Germanic kingdoms

in the west? How were they alike?

As noted earlier, the western and eastern parts of the

Roman Empire began to drift apart in the fourth century.

As the Germanic peoples moved into the western part of

the empire and established various kingdoms over the

course of the fifth century, the Roman Empire in the east,

centered on Constantinople, solidified and prospered.

The Reign of Justinian (527--565)

In the sixth century, the empire in the east came under

the control of one of its most remarkable rulers, the

emperor Justinian. He married Theodora, daughter of a

lower-class circus trainer, who proved to be a remarkably

strong-willed woman and played a critical role, as we have

seen, in giving Justinian the determination to crush a

revolt against his rule in 532. Justinian was determined to

reestablish the Roman Empire in the entire Mediterra-

nean world and began his attempt to reconquer the west

within a year after the revolt had failed.

J ustinian’ s army under Belisarius, probably the best

general of the late Roman world, presented a formidable

force. Belisarius sailed to North Africa and quickly defeated

the Vandals in two major battles. From North Africa, he led

his forces onto the Italian peninsula after oc cupying Sicily

in535.Butitwasnotuntil552thattheOstrogothswere

finally defeated. J ustinian appeared to hav e achieved his

goals. He had restored the imperial M editerranean world;

his empire included Italy, p art of S pain, North Africa, Asia

Minor, P alestine, and Syr ia. But the conquest of the western

empire proved fleeting. Only three years after Justinian’ s

death, the Lombards entered Italy. Although the eastern

empire maintained the fiction of Italy as a province, its

forces were limited to small pockets here and there.

The Codification of Roman Law Though his conquests

proved short-lived, Justinian made a lasting contribution

through his codification of Roman law. The eastern em-

pire was heir to a vast quantity of materials connected to

the development of Roman law. Justinian had been well

trained in imperial government and was thoroughly ac-

quainted with Roman law. He wished to codify and

simplify this mass of materials.

To accomplish his goal, J ustinian authorized the jurist

Trebonian to make a systematic compilation of imperial

edicts. The result wa s the Code of Law, the first part of the

Corpus Iuris Civilis (Body of Civil Law), completed in 529.

Four years later, two other parts of the Corpus appeared:

the Digest, a compendium of writings of Roman jurists,

and the Institutes, a brief summary of the chief principles

of Roman law that could be used as a textbook. The fourth

part of the Corpus was the Novels, a compilation of the

most important new edicts issued during Justinian’s reign.

J ustinian ’s codification of Roman la w became the basis

of imperial law in the Byzantine Empire until its end in 1453.

Atlantic

Ocean

Black Sea

Naples

Rome

Ravenna

Milan

Carthage

Antioch

Damascus

Jerusalem

Alexandria

Sicily

Sardinia

Corsica

VANDALS

SPAIN

ARABIA

PALESTINE

SYRIA

Crete

Cyprus

Red

Sea

PERSIA

The Byzanti ne Empire in the Time of J ustinian

312 CHAPTER 13 THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND CRISIS AND RECOVERY IN THE WEST

However , consider whether it will not come about after you have

been saved that you would gladly exchange that safety for death. For

as for myself, I approve a certain ancient saying that royalty is a good

burial shroud.’’

Shamed by his wife’s words, Justinian resolved to

fight. A Byzantine army, newly returned from fighting the Persians,

was ordered to attack a large crowd that had gathered in the Hippo-

drome to acclaim Hypatius as emperor. In the ensuing massacre, the

imperial troops slaughtered 30,000 of the insurgents, about 5 percent

of the city’s population. After crushing the Nika Revolt, Justinian

began a massive rebuilding program and continued the autocratic

reign that established the foundations of the Byzantine Empire.

Despite the early empire’s reversals, the Macedonian emperors

in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries enlarged the empire,

achieved economic prosperity, and expanded its cultural influence

to eastern Europe and Russia. But after the Macedonian dynasty

ended in 1056

C.E., the empire began a slow but steady decline. In-

volvement in the Crusades proved especially disastrous, leading to

the occupation of Constantinople by western crusading forces in

1204. Although the empire was restored under Byzantine rule in

1261, it limped along for another 190 years until its weakened con-

dition finally enabled the Ottoman Turks to conquer it in 1453.

In the fourteenth century, Europe, too, sustained a series of

crises and reversals after flourishing during the three centuries of

the High Middle Ages. Unlike the Byzantine Empire, however, Euro-

pean civilization rebounded in the fifteenth century, experiencing an

artistic and intellectual revival in the Renaissance as well as a re-

newal of monarchical authori ty among the western European states.

Europe was poised to begin its dramatic entry into world affairs.

More important, however, since it was written in Latin (it

was, in fact, the last product of eastern Roman culture to

be written in Latin, which was soon replaced by Greek), it

was also eventually used in the west and in fact became the

basis of the legal system of all of continental Europe.

The Emperor’s Building Progra m After the riots de-

stroyed much of Constantinople, Justinian rebuilt the city

and gave it the appearance it would keep for almost a

thousand years. Earlier, Emperor Theodosius II (408--

450) had constructed an enormous defensive wall to

protect the capital on its land side. The city was domi-

nated by an immense palace complex, a huge arena

known as the Hippodrome, and hundreds of churches.

Justinian added many new buildings. His public works

projects included roads, bridges, walls, public baths, law

courts, and colossal underground reservoirs to hold the

city’s water supply. He also built hospitals, schools,

monasteries, and churches. Churches were his special

passion, and in Constantinople he built or rebuilt thirty-

four of them. His greatest achievement was the famous

Hagia Sophia, the Church of the Holy Wisdom.

Completed in 537, Hagia Sophia was designed by two

Greek scientists who departed radically from the simple,

flat-roofed basilica of western architecture. The center of

Hagia Sophia consisted of four huge piers crowned by an

enormous dome, which seemed to be floating in space.

This effect was emphasized by Pr oc opius, the court

historian, who at Justinian’ s request wr ote a treatise on the

emperor’s building projects: ‘‘From the lightness of the

building, it does not appear to rest upon a solid founda-

tion, but to cover the place beneath as though it were

suspended from heaven by the fabled golden chain.’’ In

part, this impression was cr eated b y putting forty-two

windows around the base of the dome, which allowed an

incredible play of light within the cathedral. Light served to

remind the worshipers of God; as Proc opius commented:

Whoever enters there to worship perceives at once that it is

not by any human strength or skill, but by the favor of God

that this work has been perfected; his mind rises sublime to

commune with God, feeling that He cannot be far off, but

must especially love to dwell in the place which He has cho-

sen; and this takes place not only when a man sees it for the

first time, but it always makes the same impression upon

him, as though he had never beheld it before.

As darkness is illuminated by invisible light, so too, it was

believed, the world is illuminated by invisible spirit.

The royal palace complex, Hagia Sophia, and the Hip-

podrome were the three greatest buildings in Constantinople.

This last was a huge amphitheater, constructed of brick cov-

ered by marble, holding as many as 60,000 spectators. The

main events were the chariot races; twenty-four would usually

be presented in one day . The citizens of Constantinople were

passionate fans of chariot racing. Crowds in the Hippodrome

also took on political significance. Being a member of the two

chief factions of charioteers---the Blues or the Greens---was the

The Emp eror Justinian and His Court. As the seat of Byzantine power in Italy, the town of Ravenna

became adorned with examples of Byzantine art. The Church of San Vitale at Ravenna contains some of the finest

examples of sixth-century Byzantine mosaics, in which small pieces of colored glass were attached to the wall to

form these figures and their surroundings. The emperor is depicted as both head of state (he wears a jeweled

crown and a purple robe) and head of the church (he carries a gold bowl symbolizing the body of Jesus).



Scala/Art Resource, NY

FROM EAS TERN ROMAN TO BYZANTINE EMPIRE 313