POST-CLASSICAL
EUROPE
In Focus:
Byzantium and
the Middle
Ages
“Third Wave
Civilizations”
BYZANTINE CIVILIZATION: MODERN
CONTEXT
Reconciliation of
1964
Represents the
path of European
Civilization since
the fall of Rome
ORIGINS OF BYZANTIUM
Rome had become
too large to govern
from a singular
administrative
district
City formed in 330
Geographic
advantages?
ROMAIOI
The Greek and
Roman Character of
Byzantium
Greek in language
and culture
Roman in
organization and
politics
ROME EAST
With the collapse of
Rome West the
empire continued to
the East.
Rome’s collapse in
476…but occurred
over centuries.
Rome part 2…and 3?
A HODGE PODGE OF ANCIENT
CIVILIZATIONS
Byzantium consisted
of:
 Egypt
 Greece
 Syria (Assyria)
 Anatolia
BYZANTIUM BY THEME: POLITICS
Caesaropapism
Reflection of Caliphates
in region
Goals and objectives
The empire was the
source of all authority
Surrounded by an
elaborate bureaucracy
and military organization
to carry out his wishes
THE PERIL OF AUTOCRACY
Byzantine
urbanization
 ‘eis ten polin’
The blue-green
factions and the
Nika Revolts.
30,000 dead
A NEW WORD…BYZANTINE
“unnecessarily
complex”
Byzantine
government and
bureaucracy
BYZANTIUM: GEOGRAPHY
A PEARL OF GEOGRAPHY
Cultural Bridge
Neighbors
Rise of Islam
Benefits of geography
BYZANTINE CULTURE: THE CHURCH
Church and state
Orthodox Christianity
and its influence on
Byzantine life
Opposition to Latin
Christianity
BYZANTINE ORTHODOXY VERSUS LATIN
CHRISTIANIT Y
Iconoclasm
Pope v. Patriarch
Political differences
Monasticism
Great Schism 1054
Crusades
 Fourth Crusade
BYZANTIUM AND THE WORLD
Characteristic of
most “Third Wave”
civilizations—
Byzantium was very
active in interacting
with the outside
world
Conflicts:
 Persia
 Islamic Empires
Trade
 Regional
 Trans-regional (Silk
Roads)
BYZANTINE CULTURAL INFLUENCE
Transmission of
Greek learning to
the Middle East
 House of Wisdom
Restoration of Greek
past to the European
world
BYZANTINE RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES
Kiev and the spread
of Orthodoxy
Conversion of the
Rus and the impact
of the conversion.
The Third Rome
WESTERN EUROPE
AFTER THE FALL OF
ROME
POST CLASSICAL
EUROPE
A Case Study
CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY M.E
Hard-won political order, restored out of disruption caused by the fall of the Roman
Empire, centuries of destructive invasions, and dramatic depopulation. This order was
based on a highly decentralized but flexible system that vested political, military, and
judicial authority in local and regional rulers.
A long, slow process of economic recovery based first on increased agricultural production
within the rural manorial system to be followed by gradually increasing trade, industry,
and commerce and the eventual reurbanization of Europe.
The cultural unity provided by the Christian church based in Rome. During this period
Roman Christianity provided the impetus for cultural continuity and unity in western
Europe. The office of the papacy and the monastic movement were two powerful
institutions that helped to preserve Roman traditions and develop and consolidate a
uniquely European culture.
CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH M.E
The consolidation and expansion of regional states. These powerful states
sometimes were organized by local rulers and based on lord-retainer
relationships, as in France. Other times they were direct conquests, as with the
Norman invasion of England. At other times, they were supported or encouraged
by the Roman church, like the Holy Roman Empire.
Economic revitalization. With renewed agricultural surplus, the population
expanded and Europe began to reurbanize. Cities grew, and with them grew
business, industry, trade, and educational institutions. Long-distance trade
networks reappeared, especially in the Mediterranean and Baltic and North Sea
regions.
Continued presence of the Roman Catholic Christianity in virtually all aspects of
high medieval life. Through both traditional church institutions and the mass
appeal of popular religious practices, the church prospered during this period.
The Roman church's influence was felt in education, philosophy, literature,
conquest, and travel
POLITICS
Largely decentralized,
employing Feudalism.
Regional centralization, in
persons like Alfred the
Great, Charles the Great,
and Otto I.
POLITICAL SIDENOTE…
 The conflict between Church and State. The only PC state in
which secular and religious control clashed.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Between 200 and 600 Medieval
Europe’s population plummeted,
only to slowly increase.
This trend in the Post-Classical
World is unique.
ECONOMICS
Manorialism
Agriculture-the “plow story”
Agriculture-slow to evolve
Cross cultural trade—very slow to evolve
Disruption of commerce by invasions
Little to no cross cultural interaction.
Unique to the Post-Classical World.
SOCIAL CLASS
Peasantry/Manorialism—bound to land, social mobility very
limited.
Class system of Feudalism.
Lords—Vassals—Clergy—Knights—Peasants, social diversity
limited as specialization is limited.
Urbanization slow to evolve
Similar to India in that class mobility was rigid.
RELIGION
Intense cooperation between Franks and
Papacy to develop control over Europe
Conversion of Clovis
Charlemagne spread the faith
Monastic orders and rules lead to Monastic
expansion—St. Benedict and St. Scholastica
Unique in the PC World with some similarities
to India and China
GEOGRAPHY
Invasions from three
directions.
Crusades
Vikings from the
North, Magyars the
East, and the
Muslims from Spain
and the South.
Similar to China and
India