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THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE - Contenido educativo
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Most history books will tell you the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century CE.
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But this would have come as a great surprise to the millions of people
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who lived in the Roman Empire up through the Middle Ages.
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This medieval Roman Empire, which we usually refer to today as the Byzantine Empire,
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began in 330 CE.
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That's when Constantine, the first Christian emperor,
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moved the capital of the Roman Empire to a new city called Constantinople,
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which he founded on the site of the ancient Greek city, Byzantium.
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When the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410
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and the empire's western provinces were conquered by barbarians,
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Constantine's eastern capital remained the seat of the Roman emperors.
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There, generations of emperors ruled for the next 11 centuries.
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Sharing continuity with the classical Roman Empire,
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gave the Byzantine Empire a technological and artistic advantage over its neighbors,
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whom Byzantines considered barbarians.
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In the 9th century, visitors from beyond the frontier
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were astonished at the graceful stone arches and domes
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of the imperial palace in Constantinople.
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A pair of golden lions flanked the imperial throne.
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A hidden organ would make the lions roar as guests fell on their knees.
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Golden birds sung from a nearby golden tree.
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Medieval Roman engineers even used hydraulic engines
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to raise the imperial throne high into the air.
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Other inherited aspects of ancient Roman culture
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could be seen in emperors' clothing,
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from traditional military garb to togas,
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and in the courts, which continued to use Roman law.
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Working-class Byzantines would have also had similar lives
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to their ancient Roman counterparts.
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Many farmed or plied a specific trade,
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such as ceramics, leatherworking, fishing, weaving, or manufacturing silk.
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But of course, the Byzantine Empire didn't just rest on the laurels of ancient Rome.
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Their artists innovated, creating vast mosaics and ornate marble carvings.
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Their architects constructed numerous churches,
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one of which, called Hagia Sophia, had a dome so high
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it was said to be hanging on a chain from heaven.
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The empire was also home to great intellectuals,
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such as Anna Komneny.
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As imperial princess in the 12th century,
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Anna dedicated her life to philosophy and history.
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Her account of her father's reign
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is historians' foremost source for Byzantine political history
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at the time of the First Crusade.
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Another scholar, Leo the Mathematician,
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invented a system of beacons that ran the width of the empire,
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what's now Greece and Turkey.
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Stretching more than 700 kilometers,
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this system allowed the edge of the empire
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to warn the emperor of invading armies
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within one hour of sighting them at the border.
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But their advances couldn't protect the empire forever.
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In 1203, an army of French and Venetian crusaders
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made a deal with a man named Alexios Angelos.
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Alexios was the son of a deposed emperor
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and promised the crusaders vast riches and support
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to help him retake the throne from his uncle.
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Alexios succeeded, but after a year the population rebelled,
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and Alexios himself was deposed and killed.
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So Alexios' unpaid army turned their aggression on Constantinople.
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They lit massive fires which destroyed countless works
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of ancient and medieval art and literature,
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leaving about one-third of the population homeless.
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The city was reclaimed 50 years later
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by the Roman emperor Michael Palaeologos,
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but his restored empire never regained all the territory
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the crusaders had conquered.
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Finally, in 1453,
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Ottoman emperor Mehmed the Conqueror captured Constantinople,
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bringing a conclusive end to the Roman Empire.
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Despite the Ottoman conquest,
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many Greek-speaking inhabitants of the eastern Mediterranean
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continued to call themselves Romans until the early 21st century.
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In fact, it wasn't until the Renaissance
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that the term Byzantine Empire was first used.
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For Western Europeans,
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the Renaissance was about reconnecting with the wisdom of antiquity.
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And since the existence of a medieval Roman Empire
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suggested there were Europeans who'd never lost touch with antiquity,
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Western Europeans wanted to draw clear lines between the ages.
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To better distinguish the classical, Latin-speaking, pagan Roman Empire
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from the medieval, Greek-speaking, Christian Roman Empire,
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scholars renamed the latter group Byzantines,
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and thus, 100 years after it had fallen,
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the Byzantine Empire was born.
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Want to learn more about the Byzantine church mentioned in this video?
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Check out this lesson and learn how Hagia Sophia spanned empires,
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housed multiple religions,
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and is somehow decorated with both ancient Greek columns and Viking runes.
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- Subido por:
- Alicia M.
- Licencia:
- Dominio público
- Visualizaciones:
- 257
- Fecha:
- 26 de septiembre de 2020 - 17:24
- Visibilidad:
- Público
- Centro:
- IES LA SENDA
- Duración:
- 05′ 21″
- Relación de aspecto:
- 1.78:1
- Resolución:
- 1920x1080 píxeles
- Tamaño:
- 128.00 MBytes
