N O T E B O O K
G U I D E
The Byzantine Empire
How did the Byzantine Empire develop and form its own
distinctive church?
P R E V I E W
How do you think your experience exchanging paper tokens may be similar to trading goods in
Constantinople? Examine the map your teacher is projecting. Copy the T-chart below into your
notebook. For each item, make an entry in the second column that connects your experience in the
trading activity to history.
Historical Connection
Classroom Experience
• Traders came from various regions of the world, such as
Africa, France, and China.
• Various goods were traded, such as ivory, wool, and silk.
• Many traders came to Constantinople to trade.
• Traders traveled to Constantinople by land and water routes.
• Traders brought new products back to their homelands after
trading in Constantinople.
R E A D I N G
Key Content Terms
As you complete the Reading Notes, use these
terms in your answers.
Constantinople
Byzantine Empire
Eastern Orthodox Church
patriarch
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
N O T E S
Section 2
1. What about Constantinople’s location made
it an ideal capital of the Byzantine Empire?
2. Suppose that you are a trader visiting
Constantinople for the first time. Write a
postcard to a friend back home describing
what you see as you walk through the city’s
streets. Address your postcard to a friend in
a faraway land selected from the map in this
section of your book.
The Byzantine Empire 1
N O T E B O O K
G U I D E
Section 3
1. What event forced Justinian I to start rebuilding parts of Constantinople?
2. What were some of the improvements made to Constantinople as a result of Justinian’s public
works projects?
3. Why was Justinian’s Code significant?
Section 4
1. Describe the relationship between religion and government in the Byzantine Empire.
2. For each image below, list at least two important details. Then, explain how each image
illustrates aspects of Eastern Orthodox faith.
In this cathedral icon, saints Cyril and
Methodius hold a document with Cyrillic
letters.
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
This is a Byzantine icon of Jesus. He
is holding a Gospel.
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N O T E B O O K
G U I D E
Section 5
Three major disagreements contributed to a complete split in the Christian Church by 1054.
Create the chart below in your notebook. Then fill it in with details of those three events and how
they led to the final split.
Date
People
Involved
Event That Led to the
Disagreement
Result of the
Disagreement
730 C.E.
800 C.E.
1054 C.E.
P R O C E S S I N G
Create a real-estate advertisement to encourage people to move to Constantinople after the schism
of 1054. Your advertisement must include the following elements:
• a memorable slogan
• a map that shows the location of Constantinople
• information about the city’s geography, government, religion, and daily life
• four visuals that represent key ideas in the written information
• extra creative touches that make the advertisement look authentic
• writing that is free from spelling and grammatical errors
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
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