Byzantium, Islam, and the Latin West: The Foundations of Medieval Europe, 550-750

The WestThe West

CHAPTER 7

Byzantium: The Survival of the Roman Empire

• After the death of Justinian, the Byzantine empire began to shrink

• Byzantium lost territory in the Balkans, Italy and North Africa

• Defeat of Persian king Chosroes II, in 628, left both Byzantium and the Persians too exhausted to resist the rise of Islamic armies

• 740: Battle of Akroinon slowed the Islamic advance, but the Byzantines could not regain their lost possessions

Imperial Administration and Military System

• Emperor stood at center of Byzantine society and at the head of a hierarchical bureaucracy

• Color of clothing indicated status in bureaucracy• Economy shriveled as empire shrank• Four themes (military districts), each with a

separate army and administration• By 750, themes possessed considerable

independence

The Church and Religious Life

• Unity of religious identity as Orthodox Christians • Church hierarchy headed by the Patriarch of

Constantinople• Classical learning abandoned in favor of Christian

education• Iconoclasm Controversy (ca.726-842) - fueled

divisions between Latin and Orthodox Christianity

Arabs Before Islam

• Tribal people with a shared language, but diverse forms of community

• No formal government• Code of honor led to cyclical feuding• Military strength due to use of camels• Wealth from trade in luxury items: incense,

silk, gold and ivory

The Recitation of Muhammad

• The Qu’ran (“recitation”) records Muhammad’s revelations

• Hijra (622): migration from Mecca to Medina, starting date of Muslim calendar

• By 632, most of Arabia was unified under Islam: a single community and identity

• Islam (“submission”) rested on five basic principles: the Pillars of Islam

The Islamic Community After Muhammad

• Evolution of the caliphate: an Islamic form of government

• Formation of Shi’ite sect, from conflict over succession

• Wars of Apostasy reunited Arabia under control of the caliphate

• By 651, Islamic armies had seized Egypt and Syria from Byzantium and conquered the Persian Empire

The Umayyad Caliphate

• Divided the world into the “House of Islam” and the “House of War”

• Expanded west, across North Africa into Spain, and east, to India and Central Asia

• Umayyad caliphs established a hereditary monarchy and a centralized administration

• Arabic provided a common, unifying language for the Umayyad empire

Society and Culture in the Umayyad Caliphate

• Cities remained important centers, but were transformed physically and culturally

• Mosques formed the chief public space and the spiritual and political heart of the city

• Only Muslims could be full participants in community

• Other monotheistic religions were tolerated, but had lower status

• Arab trading routes extended into Africa and as far east as Indonesia and the Philippines

Germanic Kingdoms on Roman Foundations

• Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England: Mercia, Wessex and Northumbria

• Frankish Kingdom: modern France and Germany

• Visigothic Kingdom: Spain • Kingdom of the Lombards: Italy• The pope (Bishop of Rome) established

political independence

Administration and Law in Germanic Kingdoms

• Roman infrastructure and administrative systems survived in western Europe, except in England

• Germanic kings became source of all law and head of administration

• Adoption of Germanic law unified ruling minority and Roman majority, as one people under one law

• Women’s property rights, from Roman Law, were maintained in the new systems

Society and Community in the Germanic Kingdoms

• Hierarchical society based on networks of loyalty and kinship

• Evolution of clan leaders into a landed aristocracy

• Social status defined by wergild• Evolution of ethnic identities, based on a

shared history, culture, kinship and monarchy

The Spread of Catholic Christianity

• Acceptance of Catholic Christianity by Germanic monarchs led to religious unity in western Europe

• Missionaries from Ireland and Rome worked to convert nonbelievers and polytheists

• Pope Gregory the Great (r. 590-604) hoped to forge a Christian society, following the collapse of Roman government

Monastic Intellectual Life

• Monasteries replaced cities as the centers of intellectual life

• The work of monks preserved classical learning and knowledge of Latin

• Missionaries transported this literary heritage across Latin Christendom

• Monastic schools taught reading and writing to boys (and some girls)

Jews in a Christian World

• European monarchs generally protected Jewish populations

• Legal discrimination and violent persecution of Jews did occur

• The papacy sought the peaceful conversion of all Jews

Three Cultural Realms

• Division of the old Roman Empire into three distinct cultural and linguistic realms:– Byzantium: Orthodox Christianity and Greek

language– Umayyad Caliphate: Islam and Arabic language– Latin Christendom: Catholic Christianity and

Latin language