THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE: RISE AND FALL 4
The empire was one of the mighty civilization tracing back in 300 A.D with a Greek origin man called Byzas associated with its foundation. The realm was strategically located at Bosporus, which was a connecting point between Asia and Europe where trading took place, as well as acting as a transit point for the two sides. Constantine, a Roman Emperor in the year 330 A.D chose Byzantium as a new location for the New Rome which was a boost for the Byzantine Empire.
After the division of the Roman Empire by Emperor Valentinian I, Byzantine Empire remained in the Eastern Roman Empire where it was strategically located, discouraging frequent attacks as it was the case of the Western Empire by the Germans. The peace that existed in the Eastern Empire and the wealth possession as compared to the other empires of that time gave the Byzantine Empire an ample time to flourish.
Justinian I, took power in 527 and he was able to conquer some areas that were previously in the Western Roman Empire which included the area near the Mediterranean Sea. Justinian I also built many monuments within the empire and established statutes that governed the empire for centuries.
The 10th and 11th century marked a golden era for the Byzantine Empire where it controlled the trade, gaining more wealth and gaining more international prestige and had the Byzantine Arts at that time (Johnson & Johnson, 2012). At the same time, more schools were built after Greek became an official language, hospitals were set up with the increased formal education and orphanages were established across the empire.
The fall of the Byzantine Empire started under the reign of the Palaiologan emperors where the economy of the empire began to cripple, and it became impossible to restore it. Emperor John V in 1369 turned to the Western to seek for financial aid which he defaulted and which led to his arrest in Venice. This set the empire into a vassal of the Turks where the empire had to pay tribute to the Sultan while it also provided an army to the Sultan. Later, Constantinople was attacked, and Mehmed II entered Hagia Sophia leading to the conversion of the empire, and a mosque was erected, which marked the end of Byzantine Empire (Eastmond, 2017).
References
Eastmond, A. (2017). Art and identity in thirteenth-century Byzantium: Hagia Sophia and the empire of Trebizond. Routledge.
Johnson, S. F., & Johnson, S. (Eds.). (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity. Oxford University Press.