THE’Byzantine Empire It extended to Anatolia, on part of the Balkan peninsula and, for some periods, also in the Middle East, North Africa and some Italian territories; The capital was Constantinople, originally called Byzantium, and now known as Istanbul. Generally it is considered as the date of the foundation on the 395 ADyear of death of Theodosiuswhen the Roman Empire was definitively divided between his two children, Arcadio and Honorius, giving rise to the Eastern Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire. In the 6th century, Justinian regained most of the western territories, however lost in the following century, after the rise of Islam. The Byzantine Empire was Christianbut in the 11th century his church definitively separated from the western one with the Great schism of 1054giving rise to Eastern Orthodox Church. The Empire survived with alternate fortunes, up to 1453when Constantinople was conquered by Ottoman Turks.
- 1What was the Byzantine Empire
- 2The origins of the Empire and the conquests of Justinian
- 3The birth of Islam and the schism of the East
- 4The crusades and the first collapse of the Byzantine Empire
- 5The fall of Constantinople
- 6The culture and economy of Byzantium
What was the Byzantine Empire
The Eastern Empire, sometimes called simply Byzantium, remained standing for over a thousand yearsfrom the 4th century AD. C. until the end of the Middle Ages in the fifteenth century. It is also known as “Byzantine” because the capital, Constantinople, was originally called Byzantium, the name, however, was introduced by scholars some centuries after the collapse of the empire, which was known, during its existence, as a Roman Empire. In the Byzantine empire he professed the Christian religion and the Greek languagein a slightly different variant than the classic Greek. The extension of the territory changed many times, but the beating heart always remained Constantinople.
The origins of the Empire and the conquests of Justinian
The origins of Byzantium must be traced in the division of the Rome Empire. Already the emperor Diocletian, at the end of the third century AD, had established to divide the territory into an oriental and western part, to be governed separately. The definitive split was introduced a century later by the emperor Theodosius, who assigned control of the territory to his two children: The West in Onorio, the East in Arcadio.
The two emperors ascended to the throne in 395, upon the death of the father, and since then the empire remained divided. The western part ceased to exist in the fifth century, when the last emperor, Romolo Augustolowas laid by the barbaric chief Odoacre. The Eastern Empire, on the other hand, survived and, in the 6th century, the Justinian emperor embarked on a series of military campaigns that allowed him to regain most of the territories lost of the Western Roman Empire. Among these were North Africa, Italy and some regions of Spain, marking a short period of restoration of the imperial unit under its guide.
The birth of Islam and the schism of the East
However, the conquests of Justinian were not preserved for a long time: other populations settled in the European territories, such as the Lombardthat subtracting most of the territories to the Byzantines. In the East, however, the Arabswho in the seventh century converted to Islam and started a powerful expansion, during which they subtracted about half of the territory from Byzantium: all North Africa and most of the Near East. The Arabs they besieged the same Constantinople Twice, in 674 and 717, but they were unable to conquer it.

The empire, moreover, was a real military power and in the 11th century conquered vast territories in the Balkan peninsula. But after the year 1000, another Muslim population emerged, that of Selgiuchidal Turksoriginally from Central Asia, which in the year 1071 He influenced a harsh defeat to the Byzantines in the battle of Manzikent and conquered a large part of the Anatolian peninsula. In the same century the church of Byzantium separated from the western church, establishing, with the Great schism of 1054, also known as Schism of the Eastnot to recognize the Pope’s authority anymore. Thus was born the Orthodox Christianityin which the Church was in fact subjected to the authority of the emperor.
The crusades and the first collapse of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire could not fail to be involved in the Crusaderbeing a Christian state engaged in the fight against Muslims. However, during the Fourth crusadethe dynastic disputes led him to conflict with the Venetians, who commanded the European Army. In the 1204the Crusaders sacked Constantinople, placed the emperor and founded theLatin Empire in its place. The rest of the Byzantine territory framed in three political entities: the Empire of Nicea, the Trebisonda Empire and the despotic of Epirus. In the 1261Emperor Michele Paleologist, starting from Nicea, he regained Constantinople And he founded a new Byzantine dynasty. However, the Latin occupation had weakened the empire, which in the following centuries had to face civil wars and a new, threatening power: The Ottoman Turkswhich in the fourteenth century became one of the main forces of the Near East. The Ottomans attached almost the whole of the Byzantine territory, and at the beginning of the fifteenth century the empire survived Only in Constantinople and Peloponnese.
The fall of Constantinople
Constantinople was besieged in 1453 by the troops of the Ottoman sultan Mehmet II. The city was defended by very powerful walls and the emperor, Constantine XI Paleologo, who had agreed to reunite the church of the East with that of Rome, enjoyed the support of the Christian powers. All the efforts, however, were in vain: the May 29, 1453after two months of siege, the Ottoman troops entered the city and ended the Byzantine empire. The fall of Constantinople In general, the conclusion of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern age is considered.

The culture and economy of Byzantium
In the empire, and in particular to Constantinople, a refined culture was widespread. The Greek and Latin works, which continued to circulate throughout the Middle Ages, were prerequisite to new Literary and scientific progress. In the field of law, at the time of Justinian a collection of Roman laws was created, the Corpus Juris Civiliswhich was the basis of the right to the threshold of the contemporary age.
From the point of view of architecture, the Byzantines were capable of building buildings of great splendor: the best known is the Cathedral of Santa Sofia In Constantinople, still existing today, although converted to the mosque. The empire, moreover, was economically prosperous because, thanks to its geographical position, it was one of the main joints of commercial exchanges between East and West along the Silk Road.
