FREE ESSAY ON EUROPEAN HISTORY 622 JUSTINIAN

EUROPEAN HISTORY 622 JUSTINIAN

1. Justinian's court was much like the Eastern's rule; the subjects were spaced from the
rulers in space, dress and obedience. The laws were in Latin, even though the common
language was Greek.
2. 
-  622- Heraclius opened a successful attack on the Persians.
-  628- At Ctesiphon a peace treat was signed in favor of Heraclius
-  632- Muhammad's followers conquered and ran the Empire.
-  717-718- Leo III beat back Muslim attack on Constantinople.
3. Iconoclastic policy under Leo III forbid showing respect to holy images within
churches and it also allowed the destruction of then images. This had a disastrous effect
but brought the Western and Eastern churches together.
4. The issues that indicate how the Byzantium Emperor was associated with the church
while also acting as the secular head of the state has to do with his responsibilities in
protecting and aiding in the perseverance of his empire. This is what the people of the
empire thought God wanted, so by doing his job emperor was thought as a holy figure,
which placed him as the head of the churches with some restrictions.
5. The Byzantium Empire bureaucracy differed from the Roman Empire in that the Roman
Empire did not have a fiscal system, a state postal service or a secret police. They also
collected money from the 10 percent tariff on trade and from the monopolies, while the
Roman Empire did not have a budget. The Byzantium bureaucracy had skilled diplomats,
which kept the enemies divided and used bribes, tributes and subsides, the Roman Empire
used a basic administration without a professional civil service. The Eubuchs were used
for important positions in the government in the Byzantium Empire, while queens and woman
of the court preformed that job in the Roman Empire. 
6. The Byzantine bureaucracy was run mostly by the emperor, who also controlled justice,
with the aid of a civil service. The government had a fiscal system, a state postal
service and a secrete army. It collected a 10 percent tax from the trade and more money
from state monopolies. The Eunuchs filled the most important positions in the government.

7. 
Roman Catholic Greek Orthodox
Control of the Churches Clergy Emperor
Filioque dispute Holy spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son Holy spirit
proceeds only from the father 
Rules for churches No divorce and no married priests Divorce because of adultery and
married priests
Languages Latin and no vernacular languages Allowed vernacular languages (Greek,
Coptic…)
Centralization Centralized control over Christianity under the papacy Relied on secular
authority for the individual churches
Conversion of Slavs Used force to gain more land and to convert people Converted Slavs
and Serbs into Christianity
8. As a result of Cyrillic and Methodius' work, today the Serbs and Slavs are Christians.

9. The Byzantium society was divided into two parts, the urban and rural. In the urban
parts there were paved and illuminated streets and magnificent churches and palaces. The
rich lived along excellent surroundings in huge palaces and where divided from the poor,
who lived in sprawling slums with a criminal environment. The rural society consisted of
soldier/sailor farmers and laborers. The farmers made decisions about uncultivated or
common land, collected taxes, elected judges and other officials needed for the
government.
10. Guilds were creates to ensure the products had good quality. These guilds helped make
a state monopoly and the products produced where sent all over the world giving the
empire more money.
11. The women's role in the Byzantium Empire where centered on the home with limitations
in contacting with men outside the family. The Byzantine women wore veils over their
heads, but not their faces. The nuns where not allowed to perform charity work or run
schools. The only women who had power were those that were at the imperial and
aristocratic level. Poor women had to aid in family agriculture, become street vendors,
enter the theater or become prostitutes. The male relatives protected the women and
children, but the women did have protection for their goods, money and land. In the East
women were discouraged by the churches to remarry.
There were three types of institutions of higher learning: a palace school for the
laymen, trained civil servants in language, law and rhetoric; patriarchal schools
instructed priests in rhetoric and theology; and monastic schools taught young monks the
mystical writings of the past. With the decrease of public grammar schools in the sixth
and seventh centuries, the poor depended on their guild for their education. The boys
were learned Greek from a Psalter instead of from classical authors.
After the sixth century scholars used Greek instead of Latin when composing school
manuals, histories, saints' lives, biblical commentaries and encyclopedias of ancient
science and lore. The Byzantine scholars concentrated on Plato and religious writers
instead of Aristotle. Their greatest accomplishment was the preservation of the classical
Greek literature. 
After the rejection of iconoclasm in the middle of the ninth century, art and
architecture flourished again. The artists started decorating many churches in the
Empire. Mosaics at that time showed the emperor as grand and Christ was never shown as
suffering because of the close relationship between him and the emperor.
The people were in a debate about the nature of Christ and the use of icons. With the
evolvement of the laity there was a possibility that it would lead to riots. There was
entertainment in the Roman coliseums and there was chariot racing, the most popular,
animal shows and theatre. The fans divided themselves into two groups, the "Blues" and
"Greens".
12. When the theme system collapsed the military manpower was reduced, which led to a
rural aristocracy of landlords. This weakened the strength of the central government. The
emperors had to seek help from Constantinople for naval power, while also under pressure
for ground troops.
13. The ending of the Byzantine Empire as a great power began with the weakness in their
troops; the Byzantine Empire had little defense against the Seljuks. The Seljuks
shattered the Byzantine troops and took emperor Ramaus in 1071. The weakening of the
defense brought down Asia Minor to the Seljuks. The loss of Asia Minor forced the
Byzantine Empire to appeal to the west for help, showing that the empire had lost its
great power in the East.
14. Schism- a formal breach of union within a Christian church.
15. The cause of the schism was due to competition in the southern churches, different
languages, and other rivalries, disputes and snobbery. 
16. Muhammad began establishing the Islamic faith by preaching his religion in Mecca.
After he was rejected he went to Yathrib, where he gained much support and became the
political leader and governor. With this he had a military base which he used in war to
spread his beliefs to Mecca in 624.
17. Contributions 
Christianity Concepts of Last Judgment, personal salvation, heaven and hell, charity to
the poor and weak and a Universal religion
Judaism Prophecy
Arab paganism Veneration of Kaaba and the requirement of pilgrimage to the sacred city
Zoroastrianism Figures of Satin and evil demons. 
18. I don't go to a church, temple or mosque and I do not know rabbi or a minister or
anything else.
19. The beliefs of the religion Islam are that the prophet is Allah and that the
collection of prophecies is known as the Koran. The Koran was written in Arabic and Allah
could only be addressed in Arabic. Islam was seen as the final revelation, completing the
message of God. The Arabs were given the mission of carrying the final message.
20. The expansion of Islam was strengthened since the Arabs will familiar with camels,
which enabled them to move much more easily in the desert than the Byzantines and the
Persians, who had horses. With this they were able to retreat easily whenever needed. The
Byzantines and the Persians were tired from their wars, which made them easier to
conquer. There were parts in both Byzantine and Persia that were Semitic and their
religion were closely related to those of the Arabs, making it easier for them to join.
The warriors were inspired by the Prophet's promise of vast rewards to those who died and
booty to those who won. Since the Arabs did not have enough skilled people they placed
the newly conquered people in the government. After Muhammad's death his successors
conquered Byzantine, Syria, Persia and Egypt by the 640s.
21. The Umayyads were the first line of hereditary rulers of the Arab Empire. 
22. Sunnas- traditions that were writings that purported to describe how the first
companions of Muhammad or how Muhammad himself dealt with various problems.
Sunnites- people who believed the Sunnas.
Shiites- people who apposed the Sunnites. 
23. The Islamic community became disunited in 655 with the birth of Ali, Muhammad's son
in law. The Shiites believed that he should rule the Islamic community and thought of the
Umayyads as usurpers. The Shiites started antagonisms, protests, and revolts. Then, one
of Muhammad's uncle revolted against the Umayyads and killed all of the except for one,
Abdurrahman. Abdurrahman fled to Spain and set up a dependent caliphate. Others were
formed at Morocco in 788, Tunisia in 800, eastern Persia in 820 and Egypt in 868.
24. The unifying factor across all of the Islamic lands was Arabic, the language of the
Koran. This unified literature, learning, and commerce.
25. Islam embraced numerous economic systems. The Bedouins in the Arabian peninsula, the
Berbers in North Africa and the Turkish people of Eurasia continued to have pastoral
economy. The majority of people living in Egypt, Persia, Sicily and Spain lived by
settling agriculture. The inhabitants of cities relied on commerce. Islam improved
communications with a universal language and with a pilgrimage in Mecca. The agriculture
expanded with new plants form Asia and with some advanced ways of agriculture. The steel,
leather, cotton, linen and silk were traded to India and Indonesia for spices.
The Arabs improved the technology that they borrowed form China and India. They also got
the formula for the Greek fire and improved other weapons and fortress buildings. They
introduced the windmill, the spinning wheel, papermaking, blocking printing, and
specialized textile weaving. The caliph was the supreme religious and civil head of the
Muslim world. He was primarily the military chief and a judge. The chief administrator
was primarily the judge and his task was to see that the faithful lived according to the
lad of the Koran.
The Koran helped preserve the family by encouraging the people to marry and for men to
support their wives. The position of women depended on their social class and the period
of society in which they lived in.
26. The Greek embraced the Islamic culture with their achievements that the Arabs wanted
to preserve. Scholars translated many great Geek authors and were especially interested
in astronomy, astrology, mathematics, medicine and optics.
27. There are abundant resources that exist for the study of women's lives during the
medieval history. Few writings by women survive today since not a lot of women in the
West were literate. Nuns left religious literature, plays, and histories. Some of women's
poems written in Arabic survive and also Greek histories written by women. Another source
is the recording of the priests about the women. These sources are biased since men wrote
them and because they were used for a number of motives. To interpret the overall
information about the history of medieval women, a historian needs to know a great deal
about the context which they were written. They might have been written to help
accomplish a goal, like to strengthen families. Another source is the laws, which might
not be useful since historians might not know if they were actually applied, but there
are court cases that can be useful.
28. The halls and chambers of the Alhambra Palace surround a series of open courts, which
include the Court of Lions containing arcades resting on 124 white marble columns. The
interior of the building is decorated with examples of the so-called honeycomb and
stalactite vaulting. Its walls and ceilings are decorated with geometric ornamentation of
great detail and complexity, executed with skilled marble, alabaster, glazed tile, and
carved plaster. 
At the center of the Court of Lions is a garden, which is divided into four parts, with a
fountain marked with references to the warriors of the holy war. Rooms and halls lead to
the courts, either directly or through arcades. Muhammad V redesigned the Alhambra in the
last half of the 14th century.
A striking feature of the Court of Lions is the limitless delicacy of its forms. The
architectural structures are arranged in a manner that creates sudden, ever-changing
impressions. The design of the court seems perfectly symmetrical, but it is modified by
axes of composition that do not agree to the features of the plan.
29. The early circumstances that brought on the decline of medieval Islamic civilization
was the growing weakness in the military of various Islamic states during invasions. The
Christian armies were attacking on the West, the Byzantine offensive was in Jerusalem and
Turkish nomads were attacking the East. The Islamic states were giving their warriors
grants for land instead of money, which weakened the central authority.
30. 
-  732- Charles Martel defeated the Arabs in a battle at Tours
-  744- Charlemagne conquers Kingdom of the Lombards
-  788- Charlemagne conquers Bavaria
-  800- Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as the emperor of Rome.
-  804- Charlemagne conquers Saxony
-  811- Charlemagne conquers Brittany
-  811- Charlemagne conquers Spanish March
31. Charles the Great was a large man that liked physical exercise such as hunting,
riding, bathing and swimming. He was passionate for woman and food and had an
intellectual curiosity and alertness. He was probably illiterate, but he spoke and
understood Latin, he understood Greek and enjoyed the company of intellectual men.
32. The Pope confirmed the Frankish monarchy/papacy alliance by crowning Charlemagne the
emperor of the Romans on the Christmas night.
33. A rebellion would not have been staged against the cult of the emperor because the
people were made to think that the emperor was a figure of holiness and brilliance and
could not be rebelled against. In this way the emperor and the cult were protected from
any rebellion.
34. The court chaplain oversaw the court chancery since its job was to advise the emperor
and the entire court in matters of conscience, which include the official documents that
were written in the chancery.
35. 
Emperor Head of the government
Chaplain Head of the palace, advised the emperor and the entire court in matters of
conscience
Chancery Where the official documents were written
Chief lay official Supervised the administration, judged cases the emperor did not
handle, and acted as regent during the emperor's absences
Chamberlain Looked after the royal bedroom, and treasury
Seneschal Kept the palace food and servants
Constable Cared for the horses
County The fundamental administrative unit
Count Administrator, judge, and military leader of the county
Vicarius Heard minor cases.
36. Charlemagne managed control over such a large empire by maintaining an effective
supervision and control over the local officials. He traveled to check how the land was
being administered and heard appeals from the decisions of the counts. He appointed
traveling inspectors to inspect specific counties. The last thing was to require that the
important men of his realm to attend a general assembly every year.
37. Charlemagne standardized weights, measures and money throughout the empire.
38. The need for literacy jumpstarted the Carolingian Renaissance because in the sixth
and seventh centuries different styles of writings developed and there were other changes
that needed to become unified. Literate people in one part of Europe had a great
difficulty reading a text written in another part of Europe. There was also a widespread
decline of education, which prevented some priests from performing their jobs completely.
These were weakening the unity of the Church and the state.
39. The benefits derived form the Carolingian Renaissance were the unity of the Church,
well-educated priests and unity of the empire.
40. The benefit derived from the Carolingian Minuscule was the development of a new
handwriting that included lower case letters. This made books easier to read and more
letters could be put on a page, which made books less expensive. 
41. The benefits derived from the invention of Medieval Latin were that the language
enabled travelers, administrator and scholars to make themselves understood in all parts
of Europe, which helped unit European unit.
42. The unique element of the illuminated manuscript that I saw on the web page was the
use of lower case letters, which was developed during the Carolingian Minuscule. 
43. The texts were standardized when Charlemagne told Alcuin of York to prepare a new
edition of Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Bible. This edition became the common
biblical text for the entire Western church. Charlemagne bought a copy of the Benedictine
rule and had it copied and distributed to the monks. The schools were standardized when
Charlemagne ordered all bishops and monasteries to establish schools to educate boys.
Alcuin helped devise the standards for the school curriculum into verbal arts or
mathematical arts. This was standard in the twelfth century.
44. When Louis the Pious assumed the throne to the Carolingian Empire it was weakened by
his indecisiveness, which led to a rebellion by his sons. When he died the Empire was
divided by his sons.
45. The conclusion to be drawn from the map on page 231 is that the Vikings expanded in
the East very quickly by using their ships. They conquered many cities in a short period
of time conquering Paris, Constantinople and other major cities.
46. The paragraph about women on page 231 is gratuitous because the authors wrote
different stories about women. Even in the paragraph there are two different viewpoints.
It first says that women were probably treated roughly and then in the next sentence it
says that they were esteemed and played the role of advisor in politics. These are
completely opposite leads that do not conclude to anything. 
47. Viking- one of a seafaring Scandinavian people who plundered the coasts of northern
and western Europe from the eighth through the tenth century.
48. Viking ships were a major factor in the immigration of the Vikings because they were
able to travel up rivers and on high seas. The ships were large enough to carry horses
and provisions as well as men. The Vikings were skilled seamen that used their ships to
an advantage when in war.
49. A chain mail is a flexible armor made of joined metal links or scales.
50. During the Middle Ages, Christianity did not rise that much in Scandinavia. Some
Vikings converted to be able to trade in Western Europe and there were conversions in
Sweden and Denmark but most of these conversions were incomplete. Christianity did not
have strong enough effect to hold the Vikings from attacking and looting in England and
France.
51. A saga is a prose narrative usually written in Iceland between 1120 and 1400, dealing
with the families that first settled Iceland and their descendants, with the histories of
the kings of Norway, and with the myths and legends of early Germanic gods and heroes.
52. The Vikings ended up in the principality of Kiev because they were invited by the
Slavs to aid them in their internal affairs. The Vikings became a part of the first East
Slavic state.
53. The Kiev kept close ties to Western Europe because they needed the trade route. They
did this by arranging a marriage between the Euroslav and the Byzantine, England, France,
Germany, Norway, Poland and Hungry.
54. The head of the Kievan government was the prince, who selected nobles, to help govern
with him. The prince consulted the towns for advice, but he was not the keeper of
justice. Most cases were settled in courts, which had no organized system.
55. The principality of Kiev declined because after Yaroslav's death the territory was
divided between his male heirs, which resulted in frequent fights and civil wars. These
struggles left people unable to resist the menace of the steppe nomads and later on Kiev
was cut off from the Black Sea, which devastated the commerce and culture.