How did the histories of the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe

How did the histories of the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe
differ during the era of third-wave civilizations?
Western Europe.
Frankish Kingdoms.
Roman Catholic Church.
Holy Roman Empire.
Eastern Europe.
Byzantine Empire. (Byzantium)
Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church. (Orthodoxy)
Constantinople.
Notice how Eastern Europe and Constantinople are not invaded. Western Europe and the old Roman
Empire is destroyed. The dream is to rebuild it (Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne) but they never are able
to fully recreate the greatness of Rome.
How did the histories of the Byzantine Empire and
Western Europe differ during the era of third-wave
civilizations?
Western Europe collapsed politically in the fifth
century, never to come together again as a
single political entity,
whereas Byzantium survived as a single political
entity throughout the period.
How did the histories of the Byzantine Empire and
Western Europe differ during the era of third-wave
civilizations?
The Byzantine emperor exerted greater control over the
Orthodox Church. Caesaropapism defined the
relationship between the Byzantine state and the
Orthodox Church.
Western Europe had split control over the Roman
Catholic church and the many separate and fragmented
kingdoms.
Icon depicting the Emperor
Constantine (centre) and
the bishops.
How did the histories of the Byzantine Empire and Western
Europe differ during the era of third-wave civilizations?
The Byzantine Empire maintained a prominent role in the
long-distance trade networks of Eurasia throughout the period,
whereas Western Europe’s role declined precipitously
following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century,
only to reengage with those trade networks after 1000.
Holy Roman Empire in 1000.
How did the histories of the Byzantine Empire and Western
Europe differ during the era of third-wave civilizations?
After 1000, Western Europe’s
influence in the Mediterranean and in
Eastern Europe expanded, while the
influence of the Byzantine Empire
contracted (especially in the
Mediterranean basin) after 600 c.e.
The Siege of Constantinople (painted 1499).
The crusades changed Europe more than they changed the Holy Land. Increase
in trade brought economic recovery and an end to the feudal system.
Map of the changes in borders of the Byzantine
Empire.
The dates represented are 476 (Fall of the Roman Empire;
Basiliscus deposed and Zeno restored),
550 (Justinian I's western reclamations; Ostrogothic Kingdom),
717 (Leo III reign; 2nd Arab siege),
867 (Basil I reign begins),
1025 (Basil II dies; Constantine VIII reign begins),
1095 (Alexius I Comnenus requests western aid against the
Seljuk Turks),
1170 (Amalric I and Manuel I alliance),
1270 (Michael VIII riegn),
and 1400 (Closing of the Byzantine–Ottoman Wars).
What accounts for the different historical trajectories
of these two expressions of Christendom?
Constantine – Establishes Roman East
Capital and unites Church and State.
Vatican City – Later home of Roman
Catholic Church.
The survival of a powerful imperial state in the
Byzantine Empire resulted in greater state
control over the Orthodox Church.
Cultural differences also played a role. For
instance, in the Eastern Orthodox Church,
Greek became the language of religious
practice instead of the Latin used in the Roman
Catholic Church. Moreover, more so than in the
West, Byzantine thinkers sought to formulate
Christian doctrine in terms of Greek
philosophical concepts.
The Eastern Orthodox faith expanded into Eastern
Europe when the Byzantine Empire was at its
height, but it was driven from other regions,
particularly in North Africa and the Near East,
by the expansion of Islam.
After 1000, the Roman Catholic tradition
became the more expansive of the two
expressions, as its influence spread into
Islamic Spain, non-Christian northern Europe,
and Orthodox Eastern Europe.
Constantine I
Constantinople in Byzantine times
Does it look like Rome?
Port city on the edge of
West & East.
Great connections to
trade from the East.
Influenced by both Rome
in the West and Islam in
the East.
Today called Istanbul.
Interior view of the Hagia Sophia, showing
Islamic elements on the top of the main dome. A
former Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church. Then
converted to a Muslim Mosque. Today it is a
museum in Istanbul (then Constantinople).
Then above,
Now below.
Hagia Sophia – Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)
Restored section of Constantinople, protected the city from invasions from the East
(Islamic) and West (Roman Catholic Crusaders).