Geography & Life in Constantinople
Provide an advantage and disadvantage of Constantinople's location.
Advantage: It was located on the Bosphorus, so it was a crossing point between Asia & Europe. There was a lot of trade between them and Africa as well.
Disadvantage: Due to the bodies of water, it was open for attack.
Define heresy
Anyone who has ideas that are different from Christianity will be found guilty.
Define a patriarch
someone who has both political and religious power
After Justinian died in 565, the debts the emperor has taken out to pay for wars nearly bankrupted the empire.
Justify how this can create a problem for the empire
Category: Political
Justification: This is a political problem as it was the emperors who used all the empire's resources to pay for war. This created a bigger problem as bankruptcy can lead to a major economic crisis. Many will lose their jobs and will not have access to the resources they need. This will cause major instability and eventually many will reach poverty.
How did the empire completely come to an end?
The Ottoman Turks destroyed it with their enlarged army.
Constantinople was famous for its cultural diversity. What does this mean?
Due to many people settling down for better opportunities, it allowed for a variety of different cultures and therefore; they became more open minded and learned new ideas from one another.
Explain how the Justinian Code protected different aspects in life.
The Justinian Code are the modified Roman Laws which protected different aspects in life. For example, owning property. Under the Justinian code, it is clearly written on who can own and sell property and who can not.
Why was the pope frustrated with the patriarch?
As the patriarch had religious power, this defeated the purpose of the pope unifying the religion. Many arguments and differences also arose between them. The patriarch also refused that the pope handles religious decisions.
Explain how the Plague had a negative impact on the empire.
The Plague was a deadly disease that spread across the empire. It negatively impacted the population. As thousands of people were killed daily, this decreased the population, and affected the economy as lots of trade stopped and many weren't healthy enough to work.
Use excommunicate in a sentence.
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Explain how the Hagia Sophia helped the citizens.
The Hagia Sophia was a church in the empire. It helped citizens practice their religion. By having a place of worship, citizens can become more committed to practice Christianity.
What is the difference between a pope and a patriarch.
Pope has only religious power while the patriarch has both religious and political
The Persians to the empire's east were always interested in the empire. Explain why
Because the empire was the richest at its time, it had a strategic location and lots of trade was taking place.
Who were the Byzantine's enemies?
Persians & Arab Tribes and somewhat the Crusades
The Mese was a long street with many shops & restaurants that went through Constantinople. Justify how this helped growth.
Category: Economy
Justification: This is an economic reason as the Mese had lots of opportunities to increase the empire's profit. By having shops & restaurants, many can have jobs and a set income and therefore; more money will be brought to the empire.
Provide an example on how Theodora proved to be a powerful figure.
During the Nika Riot, she pushed Justinian to stay back and fight the protestors. Without her; Justinian might have stepped down from his position.
Compare & Contrast both churched
Catholics in the west continued the use of icons while the east banned them.
Priests in the Orthodox can marry while in the Catholic Church, they can not.
They both use the bible as their holy book and believe in Jesus.
Explain why the rise of Islam would threaten the empire.
Islam was the final monotheistic religion. It caused a threat to the Byzantine empire as it was spreading fast to the areas surrounding it. This can threaten then as many can choose to convert to Islam as well as it had a strong army that conquered lots of the Byzantine's land.
What was the Crusades aiming for?
They were a series of wars aiming to fight Islam.
Provide an example on how Constantinople helped preserve the Roman & the Greek culture
By having different Roman aspects such as architecture, laws & monuments, Roman culture was preserved.
By speaking Greek as a first language, Greek culture was preserved.
Explain how Justinian effectively used his military skills to benefit the empire.
Justinian was the Byzantine Emperor. He used his military skills to benefit the empire by taking back lost lands in the west. By conquering parts of the west back, this can expand the empire which will provide more farmland, job opportunities & increase the population.
Explain why was the Great Schism an important event.
The Great Schism was a separation in the Christian Church. It was an important event as it created a split in the religion. Due to arguments between the pope and the patriarch and the excommunication between both, the west side followed Roman Catholics while the east followed the Greek Eastern Orthodox. This was an important event as it marked the idea of the religion not being unified.
Explain why Arabs conquering places like Egypt affect the empire.
Arab tribes conquering Egypt affected the empire in many ways. One way was it impacted the economy. Constantinople replied on Egypt's grain and that was a major factor for the economy's growth. By conquering Egypt, this will stop the trade between them which will impact the economy, causing it to decline.
What was the ratio of Constantinople's soldiers to the Ottomans.
Who was the Ottoman ruler
Constantinople: 7,000
Ottoman: 100,000
Ruler: Mehmed II