Notes on the Byzantine Empire (The 101 Notes Series)

Ch. 1 introduces the topic of the Byzantine Empire, summarizing some of the themes and events that took place during its reign. After doing so, Ch. 1 discusses the origins of the Byzantine Empire as the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Ch. 2 discusses the system put in place by the Romans to establish two co-emperors to rule western and eastern halves of the empire during the 4th century. Ch. 2 then discusses Constantine’s conversion and establishment of Constantinople as the capital of the eastern half. Ch. 3 discusses why the western half of the empire fell while the eastern half continued. Then Ch. 3 further discusses the Byzantines’ culture, most prominently its religion. Even after Rome fell in 476 A.D., the Byzantines continued to consider themselves as part of the Roman Empire. Thus it was a prerogative to attempt to reconquer the western half of the Roman Empire. Ch. 4 looks at the Byzantines’ expansion under the Justinians during the 6th-7th centuries. Ch. 5 details the rise of Islam in the Middle East, which led to an Islamic caliphate’s attempt to push westward across North Africa and even into Spain, bringing it into direct conflict with the Byzantine Empire. Ch. 6 looks at the constant battles the Byzantines fought during the 8th-10th centuries, as the Byzantines fought to maintain their supremacy in the region. As the Byzantine empire’s territory continued to shrink at the turn of the new millennium, they hoped to utilize their shared faith with Western Europe to assist them in expelling the Turks. The result was the most famous series of religious conflicts in history. Ch. 7 profiles the Crusades. Ch. 8 discusses the eventual fall of the Byzantines at the hands of the Ottomans. But Ch. 8 also details how, before the empire was dissolved, much of the works of antiquity safely possessed in the Byzantine Empire had made their way west and helped spark the Renaissance.