Week 5: Tuesday
THE BYZANTINE WORLD
Music:
Old Roman chant: Terra Tremuit (offertorium from the Easter Sunday service, 10:02 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdka1WN1c8c&feature=related
Byzantine chant: “Θεαρχίω νεύματι” (“With a sign by the authority of God,” service of the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin, 10:22 min.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dgmQd5zVPk&feature=relmfu
| 324-330 | Byzantium re-founded as Constantinople by Constantine |
| 4th C.-7th C. | Donatism (criminal priests cannot perform valid sacraments) flourishes in N. Africa |
| 395 | Final division of Roman Empire into Eastern and Western Empires |
| 5th C.-7th C. | Monophysitism (Jesus’s human and divine natures are fused) flourishes, especially in Egypt and Syria |
| 451 | Council of Chalcedon: 1st coronation of an emperor by patriarch of Constantinople, who claims equal status with the bishop of Rome (=pope); Monophysitism rejected |
| 476 | Odovacer deposes last Western Emperor |
| 527-565 |
Justinian (and wife Theodora, d. 548): Major achievements include:
Major failures include:
Important sources include: Procopius, The Wars, The Buildings, and The Secret History |
| 568 | Lombards invade N. Italy (Byzantines retain Ravenna and S. Italy) |
| late 500s | Visigoths reconquer S. Spain |
| after 602 | Byzantine N. frontier falls to Avars and Slavs; E. frontier to Persians |
| 626 | Avar and Persian siege of Constantinople |
| 636-642 | Islamic conquest of Egypt, Syro-Palestine, and Persia (map) |
| by mid 7th C. | Greek supersedes Latin in Empire |
| 674-8 | Muslim siege of Constantinople (first use by the Byzantines of Greek fire, perhaps a mixture of sulfur, quicklime, and petroleum) |
| 690s | Muslim conquest of N. Africa |
| 717-718 | Muslim siege of Constantinople |
| 726-843 | Iconoclasm constroversy (destruction of religious images as idolotrous) Icon of Virgin and Child (c. 550-600, from St Catherine’s monastery, Mount Sinai, Egypt) |
| 751 | Lombards take Ravenna |
| mid 700s | Rough equilibrium reached between 3 great Western powers: Byzantines, Franks, and Muslims (map) |
| 867-1056 |
Macedonian dynasty: Byzantine “golden age,” including:
|
| 1071 | Defeat by Seljuk Turks at Manzikert (N. of Lake Van); loss of Asia Minor |
| 1453 | Fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Turks |
Thursday:
THE RISE OF ISLAM AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Islamic call to prayer (8:16 min.): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAvlimEYEpQ
| c. 571-632 | Muhammed (“call”: c. 610) |
| 622 | Hijra (or Hegira, “flight”) from Mecca to Medina (=Year 1 of Muslim calendar) |
| 630 | Conquest of Mecca |
| 632-750 |
Conquest of Syria, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, N. Africa, and Spain Umayyad caliphate (661-750): capital moved from Medina to Damascus (click here for map) |
| 717-18 | Siege of Constantinople fails |
| 732 | Defeat by Franks (led by Charles Martel) at battle of Tours-Poitiers |
| mid 700s | Rough equilibrium reached between 3 great Western powers: Byzantines, Franks, and Muslims (click here for map) |
| 750-c. 950 | Golden age of Abassid caliphs (except Spain, where offshoot of Ummayad dynasty rules caliphate of Al-Andalus until 1031): capital moved to Baghdad; non-Arabs allowed political power (click here for map) |
| 786-809 | Harun al-Rashid |
| 909-1171 | Fatimid dynasty established in Egypt |
| 1055 | Seljuk Turks conquer Baghdad |
| 1071 | Battle of Manzikert: Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines |
| 1453 | Ottoman Turks take Constantinople |
SOME IMPORTANT TERMS:
Islam
Muslim
Allah
Qur’-an (or Koran)
Hadith
Mecca
Hijra (or Hegira)
Medina
- believing that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammed is his messenger (or prophet)
- praying 5 times daily
- giving alms
- fasting during the month of Ramadan
- making a pilgrimage to Mecca