Eastern Christendom
the byzantine empire has no clear starting point
-its own leaders saw it as a continuation of the Roman Empire
-roman empire formally divided into eastern adn western halves
-western empire collapsed in 5th c
-eastern empire contained ancient civilzation: egypt, greece, syria
Byzantine state
-was muc hsmaller than the roman empire
-remained a major force in easter mediterranean
-had political authority that was tightly centralized in Constantinople
-territory shrank when Turks attacked
Byzantine and the world
-had a food in both Europe and Asia
-continuation of long roman fight with persian empire
-was a central player in long distance eurasian trade
-important cultural influence
Society and the Church
-within these new kingdoms:
--highly fragmented, dectralized society
--great local variation
--landowning warrior elite exercised power
-social hierarchies
-catholic church was a major element of stability
-church and ruling class usually reinforced each other
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