Womens Role In The Byzantium Empire example essay topic

1. Justinian's court was much like the Eastern rule; the subjects were spaced from the rulers in space, dress and obedience. The laws were in Latin, even though the common language was Greek. 2.622- Heraclius opened a successful attack on the Persians. 628- At Ctesiphon a peace treat was signed in favor of Heraclius 632- Muhammads followers conquered and ran the Empire. 717-718- Leo beat back Muslim attack on Constantinople.

3. Iconoclastic policy under Leo forbid showing respect to holy images within churches and it also allowed the destruction of then images. This had a disastrous effect but brought the Western and Eastern churches together. 4. The issues that indicate how the Byzantium Emperor was associated with the church while also acting as the secular head of the state has to do with his responsibilities in protecting and aiding in the perseverance of his empire. This is what the people of the empire thought God wanted, so by doing his job emperor was thought as a holy figure, which placed him as the head of the churches with some restrictions.

5. The Byzantium Empire bureaucracy differed from the Roman Empire in that the Roman Empire did not have a fiscal system, a state postal service or a secret police. They also collected money from the 10 percent tariff on trade and from the monopolies, while the Roman Empire did not have a budget. The Byzantium bureaucracy had skilled diplomats, which kept the enemies divided and used bribes, tributes and subsides, the Roman Empire used a basic administration without a professional civil service. The Eunuchs were used for important positions in the government in the Byzantium Empire, while queens and woman of the court preformed that job in the Roman Empire. 6.

The Byzantine bureaucracy was ru mostly by the emperor, who also controlled justice, with the aid of a civil service. The government had a fiscal system, a state postal service and a secrete army. It collected a 10 percent tax from the trade and more money from state monopolies. The Eunuchs filled the most important positions in the government. 7. Roman Catholic Greek Orthodox Control of the Churches Clergy Emperor Filioque dispute Holy spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son Holy spirit proceeds only from the father Rules for churches No divorce and no married priests Divorce because of adultery and married priests Languages Latin and no vernacular languages Allowed vernacular languages (Greek, Coptic) Centralization Centralized control over Christianity under the papacy Relied on secular authority for the individual churches Conversion of Slavs Used force to gain more land and to convert people Converted Slavs and Serbs into Christianity 8.

As a result of Cyrillic and Methodius work, today the Serbs and Slavs are Christians. 9. The Byzantium society was divided into two parts, the urban and rural. In the urban parts there were paved and illuminated streets and magnificent churches and palaces. The rich lived along excellent surroundings in huge palaces and where divided from the poor, who lived in sprawling slums with a criminal environment. The rural society consisted of soldier / sailor farmers and laborers.

The farmers made decisions about uncultivated or common land, collected taxes, elected judges and other officials needed for the government. 10. Guilds were creates to ensure the products had good quality. These guilds helped make a state monopoly and the products produced where sent all over the world giving the empire more money. 11.

The womens role in the Byzantium Empire where centered on the home with limitations in contacting with men outside the family. The Byzantine women wore veils over their heads, but not their faces. The nuns where not allowed to perform charity work or run schools. The only women who had power were those that were at the imperial and aristocratic level. Poor women had to aid in family agriculture, become street vendors, enter the theater or become prostitutes.

The male relatives protected the women and children, but the women did have protection for their goods, money and land. In the East women were discouraged by the churches to remarry. There were three types of institutions of higher learning: a palace school for the laymen, trained civil servants in language, law and rhetoric; patriarchal schools instructed priests in rhetoric and theology; and monastic schools taught young monks the mystical writings of the past. With the decrease of public grammar schools in the sixth and seventh centuries, the poor depended on their guild for their education.

The boys were learned Greek from a Psalter instead of from classical authors. After the sixth century scholars used Greek instead of Latin when composing school manuals, histories, saints lives, biblical commentaries and encyclopedias of ancient science and lore. The Byzantine scholars concentrated on Plato and religious writers instead of Aristotle. Their greatest accomplishment was the preservation of the classical Greek literature. After the rejection of iconoclasm in the middle of the ninth century, art and architecture flourished again. The artists started decorating many churches in the Empire.

Mosaics at that time showed the emperor as grand and Christ was never shown as suffering because of the close relationship between him and the emperor. The people were in a debate about the nature of Christ and the use of icons. With the evolvement of the laity there was a possibility that it would lead to riots. There was entertainment in the Roman coliseums and there was chariot racing, the most popular, animal shows and theatre. The fans divided themselves into two groups, the Blues and Greens. 12.

When the theme system collapsed the military manpower was reduced, which led to a rural aristocracy of landlords. This weakened the strength of the central government. The emperors had to seek help from Constantinople for naval power, while also under pressure for ground troops. 13. The ending of the Byzantine Empire as a great power began with the weakness in their troops; the Byzantine Empire had little defense against the Seljuks.

The Seljuks shattered the Byzantine troops and took emperor Rama us in 1071. The weakening of the defense brought down Asia Minor to the Seljuks. The loss of Asia Minor forced the Byzantine Empire to appeal to the west for help, showing that the empire had lost its great power in the East. 14. Schism- a formal breach of union within a Christian church. 15.

The cause of the schism was due to competition in the southern churches, different languages, and other rivalries, disputes and snobbery. 16. Muhammad began establishing the Islamic faith by preaching his religion in Mecca. After he was rejected he went to Yathrib, where he gained much support and became the political leader and governor. With this he had a military base which he used in war to spread his beliefs to Mecca in 624.17. Contributions Christianity Concepts of Last Judgment, personal salvation, heaven and hell, charity to the poor and weak and a Universal religion Judaism Prophecy Arab paganism Veneration of Kaaba and the requirement of pilgrimage to the sacred city Zoroastrianism Figures of Satin and evil demons.

18. I dont go to a church, temple or mosque and I do not know rabbi or a minister or anything else. 19. The beliefs of the religion Islam are that the prophet is Allah and that the collection of prophecies is known as the Koran.

The Koran was written in Arabic and Allah could only be addressed in Arabic. Islam was seen as the final revelation, completing the message of God. The Arabs were given the mission of carrying the final message. 20.

The expansion of Islam was strengthened since the Arabs will familiar with camels, which enabled them to move much more easily in the desert than the Byzantines and the Persians, who had horses. With this they were able to retreat easily whenever needed. The Byzantines and the Persians were tired from their wars, which made them easier to conquer. There were parts in both Byzantine and Persia that were Semitic and their religion were closely related to those of the Arabs, making it easier for them to join.

The warriors were inspired by the Prophets promise of vast rewards to those who died and booty to those who won. Since the Arabs did not have enough skilled people they placed the newly conquered people in the government. After Muhammads death his successors conquered Byzantine, Syria, Persia and Egypt by the 640's. 21. The Umayyads were the first line of hereditary rulers of the Arab Empire. 22.

Sunnas- traditions that were writings that purported to describe how the first companions of Muhammad or how Muhammad himself dealt with various problems. Sunnites- people who believed the Sunnas. Shiites- people who apposed the Sunnites. 23.

The Islamic community became disunited in 655 with the birth of Ali, Muhammads son in law. The Shiites believed that he should rule the Islamic community and thought of the Umayyads as usurpers. The Shiites started antagonisms, protests, and revolts. Then, one of Muhammads uncle revolted against the Umayyads and killed all of the except for one, Abdurrahman. Abdurrahman fled to Spain and set up a dependent caliphate. Others were formed at Morocco in 788, Tunisia in 800, eastern Persia in 820 and Egypt in 868.24.

The unifying factor across all of the Islamic lands was Arabic, the language of the Koran. This unified literature, learning, and commerce. 25. Islam embraced numerous economic systems. The Bedouins in the Arabian peninsula, the Berbers in North Africa and the Turkish people of Eurasia continued to have pastoral economy.

The majority of people living in Egypt, Persia, Sicily and Spain lived by settling agriculture. The inhabitants of cities relied on commerce. Islam improved communications with a universal language and with a pilgrimage in Mecca. The agriculture expanded with new plants form Asia and with some advanced ways of agriculture.

The steel, leather, cotton, linen and silk were traded to India and Indonesia for spices. The Arabs improved the technology that they borrowed form China and India. They also got the formula for the Greek fire and improved other weapons and fortress buildings. They introduced the windmill, the spinning wheel, papermaking, blocking printing, and specialized textile weaving. The caliph was the supreme religious and civil head of the Muslim world.

He was primarily the military chief and a judge. The chief administrator was primarily the judge and his task was to see that the faithful lived according to the lad of the Koran. The Koran helped preserve the family by encouraging the people to marry and for men to support their wives. The position of women depended on their social class and the period of society in which they lived in.

26. The Greek embraced the Islamic culture with their achievements that the Arabs wanted to preserve. Scholars translated many great Geek authors and were especially interested in astronomy, astrology, mathematics, medicine and optics. 27. There are abundant resources that exist for the study of womens lives during the medieval history. Few writings by women survive today since not a lot of women in the West were literate.

Nuns left religious literature, plays, and histories. Some of womens poems written in Arabic survive and also Greek histories written by women. Another source is the recording of the priests about the women. These sources are biased since men wrote them and because they were used for a number of motives.

To interpret the overall information about the history of medieval women, a historian needs to know a great deal about the context which they were written. They might have been written to help accomplish a goal, like to strengthen families. Another source is the laws, which might not be useful since historians might not know if they were actually applied, but there are court cases that can be useful. 28. The halls and chambers of the Alhambra Palace surround a series of open courts, which include the Court of Lions containing arcades resting on 124 white marble columns.

The interior of the building is decorated with examples of the so-called honeycomb and stalactite vaulting. Its walls and ceilings are decorated with geometric ornamentation of great detail and complexity, executed with skilled marble, alabaster, glazed tile, and carved plaster. At the center of the Court of Lions is a garden, which is divided into four parts, with a fountain marked with references to the warriors of the holy war. Rooms and halls lead to the courts, either directly or through arcades.

Muhammad V redesigned the Alhambra in the last half of the 14th century. A striking feature of the Court of Lions is the limitless delicacy of its forms. The architectural structures are arranged in a manner that creates sudden, ever-changing impressions. The design of the court seems perfectly symmetrical, but it is modified by axes of composition that do not agree to the features of the plan.

29. The early circumstances that brought on the decline of medieval Islamic civilization was the growing weakness in the military of various Islamic states during invasions. The Christian armies were attacking on the West, the Byzantine offensive was in Jerusalem and Turkish nomads were attacking the East. The Islamic states were giving their warriors grants for land instead of money, which weakened the central authority.

30.732- Charles Martel defeated the Arabs in a battle at Tours 744- Charlemagne conquers Kingdom of the Lombards 788- Charlemagne conquers Bavaria 800- Pope Leo crowned Charlemagne as the emperor of Rome. 804- Charlemagne conquers Saxony 811- Charlemagne conquers Brittany 811- Charlemagne conquers Spanish March 31. Charles the Great was a large man that liked physical exercise such as hunting, riding, bathing and swimming. He was passionate for woman and food and had an intellectual curiosity and alertness. He was probably illiterate, but he spoke and understood Latin, he understood Greek and enjoyed the company of intellectual men. 32.

The Pope confirmed the Frankish monarchy / papacy alliance by crowning Charlemagne the emperor of the Romans on the Christmas night. 33. A rebellion would not have been staged against the cult of the emperor because the people were made to think that the emperor was a figure of holiness and brilliance and could not be rebelled against. In this way the emperor and the cult were protected from any rebellion.

34. The court chaplain oversaw the court chancery since its job was to advise the emperor and the entire court in matters of conscience, which include the official documents that were written in the chancery. 35. Emperor Head of the government Chaplain Head of the palace, advised the emperor and the entire court in matters of conscience Chancery Where the official documents were written Chief lay official Supervised the administration, judged cases the emperor did not handle, and acted as regent during the emperors absences Chamberlain Looked after the royal bedroom, and treasury Seneschal Kept the palace food and servants Constable Cared for the horses County The fundamental administrative unit Count Administrator, judge, and military leader of the county Vicarious Heard minor cases. 36. Charlemagne managed control over such a large empire by maintaining an effective supervision and control over the local officials.

He traveled to check how the land was being administered and heard appeals from the decisions of the counts. He appointed traveling inspectors to inspect specific counties. The last thing was to require that the important men of his realm to attend a general assembly every year. 37. Charlemagne standardized weights, measures and money throughout the empire.

38. The need for literacy jump started the Carolingian Renaissance because in the sixth and seventh centuries different styles of writings developed and there were other changes that needed to become unified. Literate people in one part of Europe had a great difficulty reading a text written in another part of Europe. There was also a widespread decline of education, which prevented some priests from performing their jobs completely. These were weakening the unity of the Church and the state. 39.

The benefits derived form the Carolingian Renaissance were the unity of the Church, well-educated priests and unity of the empire. 40. The benefit derived from the Carolingian Minuscule was the development of a new handwriting that included lower case letters. This made books easier to read and more letters could be put on a page, which made books less expensive. 41. The benefits derived from the invention of Medieval Latin were that the language enabled travelers, administrator and scholars to make themselves understood in all parts of Europe, which helped unit European unit.

42. The unique element of the illuminated manuscript that I saw on the web page was the use of lower case letters, which was developed during the Carolingian Minuscule. 43. The texts were standardized when Charlemagne told Alcuin of York to prepare a new edition of Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Bible. This edition became the common biblical text for the entire Western church. Charlemagne bought a copy of the Benedictine rule and had it copied and distributed to the monks.

The schools were standardized when Charlemagne ordered all bishops and monasteries to establish schools to educate boys. Alcuin helped devise the standards for the school curriculum into verbal arts or mathematical arts. This was standard in the twelfth century. 44. When Louis the Pious assumed the throne to the Carolingian Empire it was weakened by his indecisiveness, which led to a rebellion by his sons.

When he died the Empire was divided by his sons. 45. The conclusion to be drawn from the map on page 231 is that the Vikings expanded in the East very quickly by using their ships. They conquered many cities in a short period of time conquering Paris, Constantinople and other major cities. 46. The paragraph about women on page 231 is gratuitous because the authors wrote different stories about women.

Even in the paragraph there are two different viewpoints. It first says that women were probably treated roughly and then in the next sentence it says that they were esteemed and played the role of advisor in politics. These are completely opposite leads that do not conclude to anything. 47. Viking- one of a seafaring Scandinavian people who plundered the coasts of northern and western Europe from the eighth through the tenth century.

48. Viking ships were a major factor in the immigration of the Vikings because they were able to travel up rivers and on high seas. The ships were large enough to carry horses and provisions as well as men. The Vikings were skilled seamen that used their ships to an advantage when in war. 49. A chain mail is a flexible armor made of joined metal links or scales.

50. During the Middle Ages, Christianity did not rise that much in Scandinavia. Some Vikings converted to be able to trade in Western Europe and there were conversions in Sweden and Denmark but most of these conversions were incomplete. Christianity did not have strong enough effect to hold the Vikings from attacking and looting in England and France.

51. A saga is a prose narrative usually written in Iceland between 1120 and 1400, dealing with the families that first settled Iceland and their descendants, with the histories of the kings of Norway, and with the myths and legends of early Germanic gods and heroes. 52. The Vikings ended up in the principality of Kiev because they were invited by the Slavs to aid them in their internal affairs. The Vikings became a part of the first East Slavic state. 53.

The Kiev kept close ties to Western Europe because they needed the trade route. They did this by arranging a marriage between the Euro slav and the Byzantine, England, France, Germany, Norway, Poland and Hungry. 54. The head of the Kievan government was the prince, who selected nobles, to help govern with him. The prince consulted the towns for advice, but he was not the keeper of justice.

Most cases were settled in courts, which had no organized system. 55. The principality of Kiev declined because after Yaroslavl death the territory was divided between his male heirs, which resulted in frequent fights and civil wars. These struggles left people unable to resist the menace of the steppe nomads and later on Kiev was cut off from the Black Sea, which devastated the commerce and culture.