I started this book this summer after reading several volumes of Roman history. This book outlines what we call the Dark Ages - after the introduction of Christianity into the Roman Empire. The book is divided into 4 Parts.
Part I - The Roman Empire and its Break Up, 400-550 (Summer 13)
Part II - The Post-Roman West, 550-750
Part III - The Empires of the East, 550-1000 (Winter 14)
Part IV - The Carolingian and Post-Carolingian West, 750-1000
Jan 26, 2013- Today I'm in Delhi, India. Went to Qutab Minar Archaeological Park and saw some amazing ruins. One shot reminded me of the cover of the book, so I will share. I know it's not Rome. I know the date is off. These arches are Indo-Islam and date from the 1200s, but still, how lovely and Romanesque. Their influence is everywhere. ATB/PFD! PS- That's me below :)
This is the type of book you need to read in pieces as it is very intense and filled with information. Sadly I did not take notes on Part I this summer, but I have it outlined in the book and hope to back fill the info here. I am endeavoring to take my notes digitally on Part III. I have notebooks filled with notes that have not made it to the blog. Someday... I have time on my hands! (No, I'm not blogging from my parents basement. I am the parent and the basement is a real mess! I write from the kitchen table in my very uncomfortable chair/lol?) .
What gets to me in this book in the cyclic nature of history. Rome was emulated in the Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantium Empire from the 800s on. The use of Greek and the continuation of the institutions used to govern the populace. It never ceases to amaze: man's glee for power and riches. "Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely," Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince. If we flash forward to the Renaissance we see the same themes and topics ever present. The ruling families stay in power for 1 - 2 centuries. Art for Arts sake etc... The best thing coming out of all these wars and struggle for power is knowledge.
On several occasions I have had discussions with friends on knowledge for knowledge's sake. When we see history repeated over and over again. You would think more people would come up with this conclusion. I digress.. onto the text.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part I - The Roman Empire and It's Break Up, 400-500
Chapter 2 - The Weight of Empire
After 324 AD permanent capitals were set up in Rome and Constantinople, newly founded. Eastern Roman Empire (ERE) spoke Greek and Western Roman Empire (WRE) spoke Latin. Rome had a population of 500,000 in 400; but was no longer the administrative capital of the WRE. The capital was Trier in northern Gaul and Ravenna in 402.
Some Roman traditions continued & changed over time...
Roman Army - always the Empire's biggest expense. 500,000 soldiers mostly stationed on the Empire's boarders and the eastern frontier. There were also detachments in every province acting as garrisons and police. Half of the imperial budget went to feeding the army! The logistics of army supply were the most important element that linked the provinces together. Transportation lines. The land tax was the primary revenue to support the army. There were also factories to make the supplies the army needed to function.
Gladiatorial shows continued on into the late Roman Empire even though they were banned by Constantine in 326 AD. They finally ended in the late 5th century. It also is relevant to note the mass corruption of the Roman government in the Empire.
The grain and olive oil dole maintained the urban poor. Grain moved northward from Africa, Sicily and Egypt. Olive oil came from Africa, the Aegean and Syria. Supplies moved on ships. Gaul, Rhineland and Britain formed a smaller network for moving food and goods. Same with Spain. Land sales were recorded and there was a land tax.
Therefore, taxation underpinned the imperial unity itself. The book talks about the breaking of the Rome-Carthage tax spine when the Vandals invaded Northern Africa in 439.
Peasants - There were free and un-free peasants; but their lives were very similar. They made up to 90% of the population at this time. There were peasant land owners. There were more peasant land owners in the East that the West. One difference between the peasants of the East and West was that peasants in the East more peasants lived in villages. Land owners and tenants lived side by side. Many large estates were named.
Tribal communities still existed in some areas of the empire. Tribes had entered into alliances to protect themselves.
Patron-Client relationship still existed in the late Roman Empire. Everyone needed a patron at every level to be successful. Old families rarely held their prominence for more than a century or two. Anyone who wasn't Roman was considered a barbarian.
Chapter 3 - Culture and Belief in the Christian Roman World
Family structure and roles did not change much from the late Roman Empire. Charity to the poor increased due to the Christian Church. Marriages were still arranged by the family, the parents to ensure property rights. Husbands were a decade older than their wives. Women were legally subject to fathers or husbands. Widows could not be legal guardian of children. Women did have inheritance rights, equally with their brothers. Husbands fronted for their wife in public affairs. Women had [full] legal rights in the later Roman Empire. Women ran the home.
The Roman Empire was not fully Christian in 400. Many Roman traditions were falling by the wayside, but pagan tradition still continued mostly in Rome by the aristocracy. Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Africa were also still pagan. There was a substantial Jewish population in Palestine. The aristocracy still continued to be secular minded. Pagan festivals continued until the 5th century. Than it went extinct. Christians were dominant by the late 5th century. Christianity had absorbed pagan tradition. eg. processions and "Christmas (itself, ironically, the direct replacement of a pagan festival, the Winter Solstice.)"
There was a stress placed on Sunday as a day of rest by the church. Churches were built over temple sites. "Traditional public religion had been focused on the ceremonial building around the forum it the center of the city, but churches for Christian worship were often on the edges of town, or outside, in cemetery areas." No church was built in Rome, Forum area until 526.
Paganism and Christianity operated on different levels. Paganism paying more attention to public ritual and Christianity paying more attention to belief. Boundaries need between secular and sacred. Between good and bad. The belief in demons and angels. Demons lived among pagan shrines and deserted tombs and Angels were considered holy. Many peasants saw Christianity as a path to freedom. They were not free in life, but would be free in the after life. Uneducated rationale.
Pagan traditions were assimilated into Christian pageantry. Many towns and cities held processions to commemorate pagan ritual or to commemorate a martyr or saints remembrance.
There was a shift in what was considered sacred. In the Roman Empire, dead people were treated as dangerous. No adult could be buried in the city walls or inhabited areas. Cemeteries were beyond the city walls. In Christianity, martyrs and saints were considered differently, as people to venerate. Clergy and then ordinary people wanted to be buried closer to the church. In the late 5th or 6th century this started happening; first clergy than ordinary people. By the 7th century, cemeteries by the church were common.
"Shifts in cult practices and religious culture went together with three innovations brought by Christianity to the Roman world:
Donatist - "accepted no African bishop consecrated by Caecilian, they created their own rival hierarchy. There were 270 Donatist bishops by 335. Schism or heresy limited to Africa and lasted about 100 years." It did not disturb the Roman Empire, but they were persecuted.
Pelagianism - "most lasting effect of this division was Augustine's development of his theory of predestination to salvation through God's grace.
Arianism - First among doctrinal disputes which trouble the Christians after Constantine recognized the church in 313. An Eastern attempt to rationalize the Nicean Creed by stripping of it mystery with the relation of Christ to God.
Nestorianism - Emphasizes the disunion between the human and devine natures of Jesus. Nestor was a Patriarch in Constantinople during the time of Justinian and Theodora.
Bubonic Plague - 750 - There was an outbreak of plague during Justinian's rule. Justinian contracted the plague and survived. First recorded instance of bubonic plague, arriving from Egypt. Killing 40% of population at the time.
Ecumenical Councils-
Part III - The Empires of the East, 550-1000
Chapter 11 - Byzantine Survival, 550-850
Personal Impression: I learned a lot reading this chapter. I am fascenated with Rome, but reading Roman history has made me wonder about the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium Empire that it developed into. The Western Roman Empire fell 200 years later than the Eastern Roman Empire. It has that mystique that makes you wonder why the Persian weren't more aggressive. There are many movies that make you want to time travel back in time and be a Princess like Eirene. (Yup, I'm a girl. And no son, I promise not to ever depose and blind you. Yes Princessa, You Rock!!!) Digression again... To the text!
Istanbul was Constantinople (They Might Be Giants) back in 550. Hagia Sophia, the great church of that city and the Hippodrome was in front of the palace, a location for public acts. Public displays of art are still available in the Constantinople, the center of the Western Roman Empire. Statues representing as memory, to what the empire was. Roman traditions had morphed, changed over time. The city was more culturally homogeneous. Less conquest did this and the decrease in size of the empire.
Break down and split of the two sides of the empire between 609 - 642; east versus west. Still over time, the west lost strategic areas, parts of the empire to war from various opposing forces. "The Arabs took Syria in 636, Palestine in 638, and Egypt in 639-42." [Remember Egypt was the Roman bread basket. Providing grain/food to the populace.] The book goes onto state the "empire lost 2/3's of it's land and 3/4's of it's wealth in 610." Ouch! The population of Constantinople declined as a result; from 500,000 to 40,000 to 70,000 in the 600s as a result. "The paired down state survived the Arab conquest."
The empire relied on sea traffic to integrate its economy. In the Byzantium empire the same was true. The army was stronger than the navy it states. The author does not talk much about the navy. He goes on to state that the army was still ran in the Roman mode. Locally recruited soldiers paid by the state. The army had to defend the empire against the Arabs who were ever present. Like the Roman empire of old, many soldiers became land owners -- if they lived [Evil laugh... Muuhaha!]
The church was closely associated with the state. The emperor chose the patriarch and the patriarch could easily be replaced if he fell out of favor with the emperor. There were still processions on church holidays. (Does this smack of pagan festivals??? Just sayin') The author goes into a big discussion of Iconology and Orthodoxy. Interesting. I didn't know these two disciplines had there roots in the 600-800s. I think I would have attacked the topic differently, through the political climate of the times via the various emperors.
Fact that didn't fit into a paragraph: The government was run by 6 or 7 major departments. The most influential being the genikon, which controlled the land tax monies.
Eirene - You go girl! Anyho, she ruled with her newly appointed patriarch Tarasios, 785. She organized a coup against her son in 797 where she deposed (and blinded) him. She made herself empress after that and lasted 5 years. Nikephoros I (802 - 811), her senior financial administrator, deposed her. Nikephoros was a good administrator and stabilized the government via reforms.
West Africans Arabs invaded Sicily in 827 and began a conquest that would remove the island from the Byzantium empire by the early 10 century. Crete fell to Spanish Arab pirates in 828 opening the Aegean Sea to raiding again.
Relative prosperity existed in the 800s allowed for the development of education in religion and classical literature. Schools ran and educated the wealthy in the 800s. They went back to read the Greek scholars; just like in the Roman empire. (Cyclic historical reference - eg. Renaissance)
Chapter 12 - The Crystallization of the Arab Political Power, 630-750
*Kingdom of Heaven (2005) - takes place in France and Jerusalem in the late 1100s during the 2nd crusade - It just reminded me of this chapter and Orlando Bloom is super cute in this film ;)
The division between Sunni and Shi'a Islam goes straight back tot 656.
Part I - The Roman Empire and its Break Up, 400-550 (Summer 13)
Part II - The Post-Roman West, 550-750
Part III - The Empires of the East, 550-1000 (Winter 14)
Part IV - The Carolingian and Post-Carolingian West, 750-1000
Jan 26, 2013- Today I'm in Delhi, India. Went to Qutab Minar Archaeological Park and saw some amazing ruins. One shot reminded me of the cover of the book, so I will share. I know it's not Rome. I know the date is off. These arches are Indo-Islam and date from the 1200s, but still, how lovely and Romanesque. Their influence is everywhere. ATB/PFD! PS- That's me below :)
Qutab Minar Archaeological Park, Delhi, India
This is the type of book you need to read in pieces as it is very intense and filled with information. Sadly I did not take notes on Part I this summer, but I have it outlined in the book and hope to back fill the info here. I am endeavoring to take my notes digitally on Part III. I have notebooks filled with notes that have not made it to the blog. Someday... I have time on my hands! (No, I'm not blogging from my parents basement. I am the parent and the basement is a real mess! I write from the kitchen table in my very uncomfortable chair/lol?) .
What gets to me in this book in the cyclic nature of history. Rome was emulated in the Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantium Empire from the 800s on. The use of Greek and the continuation of the institutions used to govern the populace. It never ceases to amaze: man's glee for power and riches. "Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely," Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince. If we flash forward to the Renaissance we see the same themes and topics ever present. The ruling families stay in power for 1 - 2 centuries. Art for Arts sake etc... The best thing coming out of all these wars and struggle for power is knowledge.
On several occasions I have had discussions with friends on knowledge for knowledge's sake. When we see history repeated over and over again. You would think more people would come up with this conclusion. I digress.. onto the text.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part I - The Roman Empire and It's Break Up, 400-500
Chapter 2 - The Weight of Empire
After 324 AD permanent capitals were set up in Rome and Constantinople, newly founded. Eastern Roman Empire (ERE) spoke Greek and Western Roman Empire (WRE) spoke Latin. Rome had a population of 500,000 in 400; but was no longer the administrative capital of the WRE. The capital was Trier in northern Gaul and Ravenna in 402.
Some Roman traditions continued & changed over time...
An affiliation of cities made up the Western Roman Empire. Each had it's own council called a curia that was traditionally autonomous. There were close to 1000 at the high point of the empire. As time passed more functions were taken up the the central government, making cities less autonomous and more informal.
- 30,000 gov officials in Roman Empire
- Inefficient record keeping
- Communication & [long] travel time between cities
- Gov funded Senate, Legal System, Army & Civil Administration of the Empire
- Introduction of a new political structure - The Church
But it was the network of political structure that held the remnants of the together. The stability of the political offices themselves. The Senate for example was an entity unto itself. Senators had political privileges. There were 3 grades of Senators.
- Illustres - full members of the Senate
- Nobilis - aristocratic Senators
- Clarissimi - lowest Senatorial grade
Education was still something for the aristocratic and wealthy. Romans pulled from the Greek. They tried to emulate them at the height of the Republic/Empire. This theme is seen throughout history; into the Dark Ages - 800s [See C11] and into the Renaissance [The Swerve.] Rhetoric was the basis of learning. Roman law was still used to govern the land and it was uniform across the Empire.
- Theodosian Code - (429-438) - had imperial laws collected and written down
- Justinian* - revised and expanded the code twice
- 528-534
- 530-533 - Digest - Juristic literature of the 2nd and 3rd centuries excerpted & systematized
- *Justinian's laws survived as the law of Byzantium (C11) & separately revived in the West until the 12th century.
Roman Army - always the Empire's biggest expense. 500,000 soldiers mostly stationed on the Empire's boarders and the eastern frontier. There were also detachments in every province acting as garrisons and police. Half of the imperial budget went to feeding the army! The logistics of army supply were the most important element that linked the provinces together. Transportation lines. The land tax was the primary revenue to support the army. There were also factories to make the supplies the army needed to function.
Gladiatorial shows continued on into the late Roman Empire even though they were banned by Constantine in 326 AD. They finally ended in the late 5th century. It also is relevant to note the mass corruption of the Roman government in the Empire.
The grain and olive oil dole maintained the urban poor. Grain moved northward from Africa, Sicily and Egypt. Olive oil came from Africa, the Aegean and Syria. Supplies moved on ships. Gaul, Rhineland and Britain formed a smaller network for moving food and goods. Same with Spain. Land sales were recorded and there was a land tax.
Therefore, taxation underpinned the imperial unity itself. The book talks about the breaking of the Rome-Carthage tax spine when the Vandals invaded Northern Africa in 439.
Peasants - There were free and un-free peasants; but their lives were very similar. They made up to 90% of the population at this time. There were peasant land owners. There were more peasant land owners in the East that the West. One difference between the peasants of the East and West was that peasants in the East more peasants lived in villages. Land owners and tenants lived side by side. Many large estates were named.
Tribal communities still existed in some areas of the empire. Tribes had entered into alliances to protect themselves.
Patron-Client relationship still existed in the late Roman Empire. Everyone needed a patron at every level to be successful. Old families rarely held their prominence for more than a century or two. Anyone who wasn't Roman was considered a barbarian.
Chapter 3 - Culture and Belief in the Christian Roman World
Family structure and roles did not change much from the late Roman Empire. Charity to the poor increased due to the Christian Church. Marriages were still arranged by the family, the parents to ensure property rights. Husbands were a decade older than their wives. Women were legally subject to fathers or husbands. Widows could not be legal guardian of children. Women did have inheritance rights, equally with their brothers. Husbands fronted for their wife in public affairs. Women had [full] legal rights in the later Roman Empire. Women ran the home.
The Roman Empire was not fully Christian in 400. Many Roman traditions were falling by the wayside, but pagan tradition still continued mostly in Rome by the aristocracy. Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Africa were also still pagan. There was a substantial Jewish population in Palestine. The aristocracy still continued to be secular minded. Pagan festivals continued until the 5th century. Than it went extinct. Christians were dominant by the late 5th century. Christianity had absorbed pagan tradition. eg. processions and "Christmas (itself, ironically, the direct replacement of a pagan festival, the Winter Solstice.)"
There was a stress placed on Sunday as a day of rest by the church. Churches were built over temple sites. "Traditional public religion had been focused on the ceremonial building around the forum it the center of the city, but churches for Christian worship were often on the edges of town, or outside, in cemetery areas." No church was built in Rome, Forum area until 526.
Paganism and Christianity operated on different levels. Paganism paying more attention to public ritual and Christianity paying more attention to belief. Boundaries need between secular and sacred. Between good and bad. The belief in demons and angels. Demons lived among pagan shrines and deserted tombs and Angels were considered holy. Many peasants saw Christianity as a path to freedom. They were not free in life, but would be free in the after life. Uneducated rationale.
Pagan traditions were assimilated into Christian pageantry. Many towns and cities held processions to commemorate pagan ritual or to commemorate a martyr or saints remembrance.
There was a shift in what was considered sacred. In the Roman Empire, dead people were treated as dangerous. No adult could be buried in the city walls or inhabited areas. Cemeteries were beyond the city walls. In Christianity, martyrs and saints were considered differently, as people to venerate. Clergy and then ordinary people wanted to be buried closer to the church. In the late 5th or 6th century this started happening; first clergy than ordinary people. By the 7th century, cemeteries by the church were common.
"Shifts in cult practices and religious culture went together with three innovations brought by Christianity to the Roman world:
- The church as an institution - power grab
- The political import of correct belief - power grab
- new social spaces for religious rigorists and ascetics
- Pope
- Bishops had two levels:
- Metropolitan Bishops - Archbishops
- Intermediate Bishops
- Clerics
- Monks - most monks were not educated
Donatist - "accepted no African bishop consecrated by Caecilian, they created their own rival hierarchy. There were 270 Donatist bishops by 335. Schism or heresy limited to Africa and lasted about 100 years." It did not disturb the Roman Empire, but they were persecuted.
Pelagianism - "most lasting effect of this division was Augustine's development of his theory of predestination to salvation through God's grace.
Arianism - First among doctrinal disputes which trouble the Christians after Constantine recognized the church in 313. An Eastern attempt to rationalize the Nicean Creed by stripping of it mystery with the relation of Christ to God.
Nestorianism - Emphasizes the disunion between the human and devine natures of Jesus. Nestor was a Patriarch in Constantinople during the time of Justinian and Theodora.
Justinian & Theodora
Bubonic Plague - 750 - There was an outbreak of plague during Justinian's rule. Justinian contracted the plague and survived. First recorded instance of bubonic plague, arriving from Egypt. Killing 40% of population at the time.
Hand of Plague Victim - Not too pretty
Ecumenical Councils-
- Nicean Council -325 [Constantine]
- Nicean Creed - Christ, human and capable of suffering, was seen as divine as well
- Constantinople Council - 391 [Theodosis I] - Nicean Creed adopted as orthodox
- Ephesos Council -431
- Chalcedon Council - 451
- Constantinople Council - 553 [Justinian m. Theodora/powerful woman]
- Monothelitism - a teaching on how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus. Know as the Christological doctrine. Formally emerged in Armenia & Syria in 629
Education still based on rhetoric as it was in the Roman Empire.
Chapter 4 - Crisis and Continuity 400 - 550
Constantine legalizes Christianity in the Roman Empire 313
Patriarch of Constantinople established 381
Vandals arrive in Northern Africa 429
Geiseric - Huneric's father - brought Vandals from Spain to Numidia, Carthage in 439 and Rome in 455 - "The Sack of Rome"
Huneric most successful king
Carthage-Rome tax spine ended
Population of Rome began to drop over the next century by 80%
Rome faced a fiscal crisis to fund the army
Ravenna, not Rome, was the center of the Western Roman Empire with a traditional Roman administration
425 Economic revival continues into 500s
End of the Roman Empire 476 w/the over throw of the last emperor, Romulus Agustulus
500s-
West - Vandal Africa, VisiGoth Spain, South-West Gaul, Burgundian South-East Gaul, Frankish Northern Gaul & Ostrogoth Italy
Fiscal structures weaker
Fewer economic inter-relationships
The Byzantine empire and Arab caliphate still maintained the Roman tradition of taxation.
Patriarch of Constantinople established 381
Vandals arrive in Northern Africa 429
Geiseric - Huneric's father - brought Vandals from Spain to Numidia, Carthage in 439 and Rome in 455 - "The Sack of Rome"
Huneric most successful king
Carthage-Rome tax spine ended
Population of Rome began to drop over the next century by 80%
Rome faced a fiscal crisis to fund the army
Ravenna, not Rome, was the center of the Western Roman Empire with a traditional Roman administration
425 Economic revival continues into 500s
End of the Roman Empire 476 w/the over throw of the last emperor, Romulus Agustulus
500s-
West - Vandal Africa, VisiGoth Spain, South-West Gaul, Burgundian South-East Gaul, Frankish Northern Gaul & Ostrogoth Italy
- Northern Gaul was the most militarized part of the region and is the best documented part of the RE in the 500s
- Goths were military figures and Arian, not Catholic (see above)
Fiscal structures weaker
Fewer economic inter-relationships
- Artisanal production became less professionalized and more localized
- Simplified fiscal, judicial and administrative systems
- early medieval property law had Roman roots/parallels
- Provincialization was a consequence and cause of the breakdown
The Byzantine empire and Arab caliphate still maintained the Roman tradition of taxation.
Part III - The Empires of the East, 550-1000
Chapter 11 - Byzantine Survival, 550-850
Personal Impression: I learned a lot reading this chapter. I am fascenated with Rome, but reading Roman history has made me wonder about the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium Empire that it developed into. The Western Roman Empire fell 200 years later than the Eastern Roman Empire. It has that mystique that makes you wonder why the Persian weren't more aggressive. There are many movies that make you want to time travel back in time and be a Princess like Eirene. (Yup, I'm a girl. And no son, I promise not to ever depose and blind you. Yes Princessa, You Rock!!!) Digression again... To the text!
Byzantium Empire
Istanbul was Constantinople (They Might Be Giants) back in 550. Hagia Sophia, the great church of that city and the Hippodrome was in front of the palace, a location for public acts. Public displays of art are still available in the Constantinople, the center of the Western Roman Empire. Statues representing as memory, to what the empire was. Roman traditions had morphed, changed over time. The city was more culturally homogeneous. Less conquest did this and the decrease in size of the empire.
Hagia Sophia Church, Constantinople
Break down and split of the two sides of the empire between 609 - 642; east versus west. Still over time, the west lost strategic areas, parts of the empire to war from various opposing forces. "The Arabs took Syria in 636, Palestine in 638, and Egypt in 639-42." [Remember Egypt was the Roman bread basket. Providing grain/food to the populace.] The book goes onto state the "empire lost 2/3's of it's land and 3/4's of it's wealth in 610." Ouch! The population of Constantinople declined as a result; from 500,000 to 40,000 to 70,000 in the 600s as a result. "The paired down state survived the Arab conquest."
The empire relied on sea traffic to integrate its economy. In the Byzantium empire the same was true. The army was stronger than the navy it states. The author does not talk much about the navy. He goes on to state that the army was still ran in the Roman mode. Locally recruited soldiers paid by the state. The army had to defend the empire against the Arabs who were ever present. Like the Roman empire of old, many soldiers became land owners -- if they lived [Evil laugh... Muuhaha!]
The church was closely associated with the state. The emperor chose the patriarch and the patriarch could easily be replaced if he fell out of favor with the emperor. There were still processions on church holidays. (Does this smack of pagan festivals??? Just sayin') The author goes into a big discussion of Iconology and Orthodoxy. Interesting. I didn't know these two disciplines had there roots in the 600-800s. I think I would have attacked the topic differently, through the political climate of the times via the various emperors.
Fact that didn't fit into a paragraph: The government was run by 6 or 7 major departments. The most influential being the genikon, which controlled the land tax monies.
Eirene - You go girl! Anyho, she ruled with her newly appointed patriarch Tarasios, 785. She organized a coup against her son in 797 where she deposed (and blinded) him. She made herself empress after that and lasted 5 years. Nikephoros I (802 - 811), her senior financial administrator, deposed her. Nikephoros was a good administrator and stabilized the government via reforms.
Empress Eirene
Relative prosperity existed in the 800s allowed for the development of education in religion and classical literature. Schools ran and educated the wealthy in the 800s. They went back to read the Greek scholars; just like in the Roman empire. (Cyclic historical reference - eg. Renaissance)
Chapter 12 - The Crystallization of the Arab Political Power, 630-750
*Kingdom of Heaven (2005) - takes place in France and Jerusalem in the late 1100s during the 2nd crusade - It just reminded me of this chapter and Orlando Bloom is super cute in this film ;)
The division between Sunni and Shi'a Islam goes straight back tot 656.
- 656 Uthman ibn 'Affan, Commander of Believers and Deputy of God - Calip - killed in his home in the capital of Medina
- Syrian army vs. 'Ali Iraqi army to Siffin on the Euphrates in 657
- 'Ali's concession led to the Kharijites, [Shi'a Islam] leaving the Iraqi army
- Political - Caliphate built on Roman & Sassanian Persian foundations - preserved imperial Roman society longer than anywhere else in the post-Roman world up to 750
- Economic - Caliphate richer and more powerful than any other post Roman society
- Social - Arabs broke the Byzantium Empire [Eastern Roman Empire] in half
Jewish before starting to have revelations from Allah
Part of the Quraysh tribe - Future caliphs from this tribe
Had to flee to Medina from Mecca, his home town. This marks the beginning of Islam in 622
Mecca - spiritual center of Islam
Medina - political center of Islam
Sassanian empire collapses 628
Arabs + 15 years Sassanian empire and half of Eastern Roman empire taken & the Arabs kept the territories together for 3 centuries
Rome-Persia war - Rome defeated 636 at Yarmuk River (Syria & Palestine - Roman provinces open to conquest.)
Persian defeated at Qadisyya - 637 in what would become Iraq
South of Turkish moutains - 640
Egypt 639 - 642
Iraq & Egypt - power houses of the caliphate
Iran - 640
Arab armies reached Iran-Afghanistan border
Tax system Roman & Sassanian based & it supported the Arab army
Islamization/Arabizaiton - Muslims paid lower taxes
Societies & Cities remained similar until the 8th century - 700s
Greek used less often
Syria was the core province of the Umayyad government
Tax Revolt in Egypt 726
Umayyad fall 812-813 - biggest critique of Umayyad was that they were Arab, not Muslim. Also, the Syrian army split and they lost their military supremacy.
First Civil War 656 - 661
Second Civil War 680 - 692
Third Civil War 744-746
Arab army in Africa 640s
Southern parts of Byzantium Empire 640s & 670s
Berber tribes 690s
Carthage 698
Burhara & Samarkand 706-712
Arabs occupied central Asia and parts of north-west India
Siege of Constantinople 717-718
Long Arab conquest of Sicily
Chapter 13: Byzantium Revival, 850-1000
Book of Ceremonies 913-920 & 945-959 - Ceremonies were constantly changing and in flux
800s - Secular and Ecclesiastic figures were educated - still based on rhetoric of the Romans. What goes around, comes around; just like in the Renaissance
Network of offices and titles. To be powerful you had to have land, money and education. The Byzantines stove to emulate the classical Roman way of life. Bible and Church of great import.
Slavic was the prevelant language in the Bulgar society. Development of Cyrillic alphabet developed in Preslav in the late 9th cent.
Bogomilism - dualists and believed the world had been created by devils. This allowed them to create a social critique of the growing social difference in Bulgar society. [Balkans] Influenced Cathar heresy in western Europe in 12th-13th centuries.
Great Famine of 927-928
Chapter 14: From Abbasid Bagdad to Umayyad Cordoba, 750-1000
Chapter 14: From Abbasid Bagdad to Umayyad Cordoba, 750-1000
Abbasid Caliphate -
Fatimid Caliphate -
Spain as a Abbsid Calipal Province -
Berbers in Spain - 711
Converted to Islam in 710s
Berbers & Arab diversity - in settlements & way of life eg. Spain (Muslim armies raided into France for another decade w/out much success.) Spain on the edge of the Arab frontier.
Major cities under Visigoths & Arabs - Cordoba, Sevilla, Merida, Toledo & Zaragoza (considered small in size by others of the same time in the Med.) Almeria - port city for trade in Med.
Spain - Caliphal province - decentralized - fragmentary tax system - military/political fragmentation - regionally diverse - bad communications - Muslim conquest caused society to move in separate directions - Spain a part of Western Roman Empire and Arab political environment
Christians and Jews continued to be influential in Al-Andalus culture, but political leaders were mostly Muslim now. Cordoba had a strong Christian community.
Abd al-Rahman III 912 - 961 started three generations of strong central power in Spain, the strongest known in Spain between the Roman and the 13th century. Within 2 years he established control over the Gaudalquivir Valley, between Cordoba & Sevilla; Badajoz in 930 and Toledo in 932. Incorporated the Lords into his army and established a tax-based political system. Military service remained very similar. Also, in the 900s the ceremonial nature of the ruler developed fully.
Chapter 15 - The State and the Economy: Eastern Mediterranean Exchange Networks, 600-1000
Tradesmen in Constantinople had a robust guild system to abide by.
Bread was no longer free as it was in the Roman Empire as the Persians had take over Egypt, the bread basket. Constantinople got their grain from the Agean and southern Black Sea possessions. The city was smaller now.
WRE, "which was a strong and centralized state and which moved large quantities of good around on it's own behalf. Exchange in the post-Roman kingdoms depended for it's intensity on the wealth of landowners: aristocrats, churches and kings." The peasantry was exploited by the rich land owners. The richer the land owner the greater the exploitation.
Life in the the Byzantium West changed. They adopted a localized tax structure that funded a localized military used for defense after the Persian invasions of the 600s. Transportation routes start to break down. They don't re-emerge until the crusades. There was a crisis in urbanism. Building did not continue readily after 650 in major cities. Coins are not unearthed in archaeological digs from 660 to 710. Economic fragmentation.
The city structure from that of the Roman empire changed too. Roman temples fell out of favor and were converted to other uses. Tree lined streets were replaced merchant shops. Things started to pick up again in the 800s in the Byzantium empire. There is a demographic expansion after 1000. Agrarian base expands.
Syria did not see the crisis in the 600s the rest of the WRE. Center of Umayyad caliphate, saw building in the capital of Damascus. Whereas Abbasid taxes went directly to Iraq. Caliphs were wealthy men themselves. Arabs had more respect for merchants than did the Roman empire. [Iraq faltered in the 10th century.
Egypt had great stability. The richest Roman province with the most complex economy. This continued until the 14th century. Stability was due to the flooding of the Nile River and the production of grain. Agricultural economy was carried out through a series of subordinate villages that supplied tax money to the capital. The leaders of these villages would collect the tax money and forward to the capital.
Abbasid Calaphate
Fatimid Caliphate -
Fatimid Caliphate
Spain as a Abbsid Calipal Province -
Berbers in Spain - 711
Converted to Islam in 710s
Berbers & Arab diversity - in settlements & way of life eg. Spain (Muslim armies raided into France for another decade w/out much success.) Spain on the edge of the Arab frontier.
Major cities under Visigoths & Arabs - Cordoba, Sevilla, Merida, Toledo & Zaragoza (considered small in size by others of the same time in the Med.) Almeria - port city for trade in Med.
Spain as a Caliphal Province
Spain - Caliphal province - decentralized - fragmentary tax system - military/political fragmentation - regionally diverse - bad communications - Muslim conquest caused society to move in separate directions - Spain a part of Western Roman Empire and Arab political environment
Christians and Jews continued to be influential in Al-Andalus culture, but political leaders were mostly Muslim now. Cordoba had a strong Christian community.
Abd al-Rahman III 912 - 961 started three generations of strong central power in Spain, the strongest known in Spain between the Roman and the 13th century. Within 2 years he established control over the Gaudalquivir Valley, between Cordoba & Sevilla; Badajoz in 930 and Toledo in 932. Incorporated the Lords into his army and established a tax-based political system. Military service remained very similar. Also, in the 900s the ceremonial nature of the ruler developed fully.
Sack of Cordoba 1023
Cordoba - View of Cathedral
Chapter 15 - The State and the Economy: Eastern Mediterranean Exchange Networks, 600-1000
Tradesmen in Constantinople had a robust guild system to abide by.
Bread was no longer free as it was in the Roman Empire as the Persians had take over Egypt, the bread basket. Constantinople got their grain from the Agean and southern Black Sea possessions. The city was smaller now.
WRE, "which was a strong and centralized state and which moved large quantities of good around on it's own behalf. Exchange in the post-Roman kingdoms depended for it's intensity on the wealth of landowners: aristocrats, churches and kings." The peasantry was exploited by the rich land owners. The richer the land owner the greater the exploitation.
Life in the the Byzantium West changed. They adopted a localized tax structure that funded a localized military used for defense after the Persian invasions of the 600s. Transportation routes start to break down. They don't re-emerge until the crusades. There was a crisis in urbanism. Building did not continue readily after 650 in major cities. Coins are not unearthed in archaeological digs from 660 to 710. Economic fragmentation.
The city structure from that of the Roman empire changed too. Roman temples fell out of favor and were converted to other uses. Tree lined streets were replaced merchant shops. Things started to pick up again in the 800s in the Byzantium empire. There is a demographic expansion after 1000. Agrarian base expands.
Syria did not see the crisis in the 600s the rest of the WRE. Center of Umayyad caliphate, saw building in the capital of Damascus. Whereas Abbasid taxes went directly to Iraq. Caliphs were wealthy men themselves. Arabs had more respect for merchants than did the Roman empire. [Iraq faltered in the 10th century.
Egypt had great stability. The richest Roman province with the most complex economy. This continued until the 14th century. Stability was due to the flooding of the Nile River and the production of grain. Agricultural economy was carried out through a series of subordinate villages that supplied tax money to the capital. The leaders of these villages would collect the tax money and forward to the capital.
No comments:
Post a Comment