Byzantine Empire & Kievan Rus – Flashcards
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What was the Byzantine Empire?
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The remnants of the Roman Empire (Eastern Roman Empire)
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Who established the Eastern capital Constantinople?
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Constantine
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Why did the Byzantine Empire survive and not the Western Roman Empire?
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-Higher level of civilization (Hellenistic influence) -Fewer nomadic invasions (geography) -Prosperous commerce -Stronger military
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The Byzantines called themselves ____
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Romans
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What Roman ideas did the Byzantines use?
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Roads, taxation, military structure, court system, law codes, Christianity
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Who was Justinian?
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Most important Byzantine emperor
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What were Justinian's greatest accomplishments?
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-Justinian's Code -The empire reached greatest size (wanted to rebuild the Roman Empire) -Hagia Sophia
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Who was Belisarius?
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A brilliant general who helped Justinian try to recapture the old Roman Empire
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Who was Theodora?
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Justinian's wife, had considerable power
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What is Greek fire?
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Napalm weapon (mixture of a lot of stuff)(helped to slow decline of Byzantines)
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What did the emperor claim to be?
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God's representative
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What was the relationship between church & state in Byzantium?
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Closely intertwined
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What industry did the Byzantines steal from China?
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The silk industry
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When did the empire begin to decline? When was it actually conquered?
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1085 1400s
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What kind of decline did the Byzantines have?
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Long slow one
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Who conquered the Byzantine Empire?
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The Ottoman Turks
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Describe Byzantine Economy
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-Byzantine coins were the standard currency of Eastern Europe -Manufacturing center -Established banks/business partnership -Taxed merchandise that passed through the empire
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Constantinople was the _____, ______, and ______ of the empire
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Political, economic, cultural
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What Byzantine city was an important trade city and largest city in Europe?
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Constantinople
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What type of system did the Byzantines have?
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Theme system (army recruited soldiers from peasant class, they then received land for service)
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What was the result of the free peasantry being replaced by large estates in the 11th century?
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-Declining tax revenue -Size of the army decreased -Frequent peasant revolts
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Who prevented the wealthy from seizing peasants' land?
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Early emperors
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What was the cultural foundations of the Byzantine culture?
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-Christian beliefs -Greek learning -Roman engineering (best of everything)
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What was the big sporting event in the Byzantine culture?
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Chariot Races (blue vs. green)
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What is caesaropapism?
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The emperor ruled as both secular lord and religious leader
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Who appointed the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church?
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The emperor
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What are the similarities between the Orthodox and Catholic churches?
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-The Bible -Sacraments -Church hierarchy of patriarchs -Missionary activity -Intolerant of other religions
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What are the differences?
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*Orthodox vs. Catholic* Eastern vs. Western Constantinople vs. Rome Greek vs. Latin iconoclasm vs. use of icons Priests could marry vs. Celibate Easter vs. Christmas Caesaropapism vs. Pope -Disagreed on: nature of the Trinity, relative importance of faith and reason
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What was the Great Schism?
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The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches split up
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Who were the famous missionaries from the Byzantine Empire?
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Cyril and Methodius
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What did Cyril do?
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Helped develop a written script for the slavic language when he went to that area
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Where was the capital of Russia?
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Kiev
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Who inhabited Russia?
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Either the viking descendants or slavs
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Why did Prince Vladimir convert to Christianity?
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Trade, commercial reasons (he also wanted to drink)
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What did Christianity do for Byzantine culture in Russia?
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Helped spread it
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What is Kievan Rus sometimes called?
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The "Third Rome"
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What kind of government did the Kievan Rus have?
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Decentralized (provinces, constant strife between boyars and princes)
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Who were the boyars?
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Landholding Russian aristocrats
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What was Kievan Rus under constant threat of?
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Nomadic invasion
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What nomadic group ended up conquering the Kievan Rus?
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Mongols/Tatars (wanted to add the entire Europe to their empire)
