4.1 The Byzantine Empire

Notes

The eastern Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, lasted from the 300s CE until 1453, with its capital at Constantinople.

• Constantinople sat on the Bosporus strait between Europe and Asia, making it a rich trade center that was easy to defend.
• Justinian (ruled 527 to 565) reconquered parts of the old western empire and built the Hagia Sophia church (537).
• Justinian's Code organized Roman law into one clear system and later influenced European legal systems.
• Byzantines spoke Greek and preserved Greek and Roman learning.
• The Eastern Orthodox Church developed in the Byzantine world. In the Great Schism of 1054, it split from the Roman Catholic Church over the pope's authority and other disputes.
• Missionaries Cyril and Methodius brought Orthodox Christianity to Slavic peoples; the Cyrillic alphabet is named for Cyril. Russia later saw itself as Byzantium's heir.
• The Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, ending the empire.