Byzantine Empire
The greatest of medieval civilizations was the Eastern Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was divided in 395. The Western half, ruled from Rome, was ruled by the barbarians in the 5th century. The Eastern half, known as the Byzantine Empire, lasted for more than over 1,000 years. The Byzantine Empire was one of the leading civilizations in the world. In 324, Constantine, the first Christian emperor, became the single ruler of the Roman Empire. He set up his Eastern headquarters at the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium in 330. This city, later renamed Constantinople, was also known as "new Rome." It became the capital of the Byzantines after the Roman Empire was divided. Constantinople was located on the European shore of the Bosporus, between the Aegean and Black seas, in what is now the countryside of Turkey. The city brought together people from Europe and Asia. During the ten and a half centuries that the Byzantine Empire lasted, its boundaries continually changed. The territory that made up the empire in 565 included Italy, Sicily, North Africa, southern Spain and Syria. At its largest during 1000, the Byzantine Empire included Greece, Italy, Egypt, Syria, North Africa, and southern Spain.
Emperor Alexius Comnenus, who came to power in 1081, asked the Christians of Western Europe to help defend the empire against the Turks. Loss of territory and defeats by the crusaders were setbacks that the empire could not recover from. Peasants in the empire worked hard maintaining the land, paying taxes, and providing soldiers for the military. Slavs and Buglars threatened Byzantine lands in the Balkans. The Turks had invaded the Holy Land in addition to the Byzantine Empire. Many Byzantine Christians prayed to images such as Christ, the Virgin Mary, and many saints. It was completed by Justinian in 537. By the late 1300's, Constantinople and part of Greece were all that remained of the empire. Many Byzantine works of art were produced to serve the Eastern Orthodox Church. Also known as Hagia Sophia, or the church of Holy Wisdom.
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Acceptance Essays
