Created by María Jesús Campos, teacher of Social Studies, Geography and History in a bilingual section in Madrid (Spain)

1. THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES (PART 4).
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
María Jesús Campos
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2. THE FALL OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
The fall of the Western
Roman Empire after
the conquest of Rome
by the Ostrogoths in
the year 476 A.D.
meant the break-up
of Mediterranean
unity and the arose of
new powers and
civilizations as the
Germanic
Kingdoms, the
Byzantine Empire and

3. THE BREAK-UP OF MEDITERRANEAN UNITY

4. THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
 While the Western
Roman Empire
dissapeared, the
Eastern Roman
Empire resisted the
Germanic invasions
and became
prosperous.
 It changed its name
into Byzantine
Empire. Its capital
city was
Constantinople.

6.  It prospered thanks to:
 A well trained army.
 An effective diplomatic policy.
 A society united by religion and culture.

7.  In the 6th century,
emperor Justinian
and his wife
Theodora tried to
regain much of the
old Roman Empire.
 They conquered
territories in the north
of Africa, Sicily, Italy
and southern
territories in the
Iberian Peninsula.
 They also set up the
Justinian Code
which modernised
Roman law.

10.  After Justinian’s death (6th century), the Byzantine Empire adopted
Greek customs. Greek replaced latin as the official language.
 The empire was attacked from all sides by Germanic tribes, Asiatic
tribes and the Slavs. The Lombards recovered Italy, the Visigoths
recovered the Spanish territories, the Muslims conquered the southern
and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean.
 Nevertheless, between the 9th and the 13th centuries the Byzantine
Empire strengthened again thanks to a dynasty of strong kings.
Constantinople became the cultural centre of the Mediterranean.

11.  Finally, during the
15th century,
invasions and
power struggles
from within
weakened the
empire.
 In the year 1453,
the Ottoman Turks
(Islamic Empire)
conquered
Constantinople
assasinating the
last Byzantine

12. The Ottoman Empire was going to survive until the
20th century. It dissapeared after the II World War.

13. BYZANTINE ART AND CULTURE
 Constantinople
became the cultural
centre of the
Mediterranean.
 Art was absolutely
concerned with
religion.
 Impressive buildings
were built such as
Hagia Sophia.
 They used expensive
materials and
decorated the walls

16. Developed by María Jesús Campos
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