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The Empire Falls - Delaney
Justinian was a high-ranking Byzantine nobleman
After Justinian's death in 565
Empire suffered many comebacks
Street riots, religious quarrels, palace intrigues, and foreign dangesr
Palace intrigues: Activities of the various people in the court of the King/Queen
Every Time the empire was about to fall, would come back to face more problems
First crisis
Began before Justinian's death
Plague of Justinian
Disease that resembled what we now know bubonic plague
Black death; infected rodent or flea bites you, infect immune system and causes inflammation, and not treated can move into blood to affect other areas
Hit Constantinople in later years of Justinian's reign
Arrived from ships from India infested with rats
Worst year 542, 10000 dying everyday
Broke out until around 700, then faded
Destroyed a huge percentage of Byzantine population
Attacks from the East and West
Every since they came to power, had challenges with foreign enemies
Lombards overran Justinian's conquests in the west
Germanic people who ruled large parts of the Italian Peninsula
Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars made frequent raids on the northern border
Avars: The Pannonian Avars Group of Eurasian nomads of unknown origins
Slavs: Indo-European group , slavic language
Bulgars: semi-nomadic warrior Turkish tribes
Sassanid Persians attacked in the east
From the Persian Dynasty, one of the main powers in Western Asia with the Roman Empire and later the Byzantine Empire
Persians and Avars struck Constantinople in 626
With rise of Islam: Arab armies attack in 674 and 717
Russians attempted invasion to the city three times
Turks took over the Muslim world and fought slowly into Byzantine empire
Turkish people and part of the Ottoman Empire
The empire is now in modern day Turkey, northwestern Anatolia
Byzantines used bribes, diplomacy, political marriages, and military power to keep their enemies at bay
In 7th century Emperor Heraclius reorganized the empire along military lines
Provinces became themes (Military districts)
Run by a general who reported directly to the emperor
These strategies could not last forever
Byzantine emperor slowly shrunk because of foreign attacks
By 1350 the empire was reduced to the tip of Anatolia
Constantinople held out for 100 more years
Because of walls, fleet, and its strategic location
City fell in 1435 to the Ottoman Turks
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The Russian Empire
Russia’s birth:
Geography:
West of the Ural Mountains
From the Back to the Baltic Sea
Hilly grasslands in the south
Dense, flat forests in the north
Rivers allowed boat travel in every direction
Dnieper, Don, Volga- main river
Early days
In the 1800’s small bands of adventurers came from the north
Varangians, or Rus
Built forts along the rivers and settles among the Slavs
Slavs and Vikings
Legend says that Slavis incited the Viking chief, Rurik, to be their king
He founded Novgorod ub 863, which became Russia first important city
Then in 880 nobleman Oleg moved the focus from Novgorod to Kiev
Vikings could sail by river to Constantinople and trade for products
Grew into principality
Eventually Vikings intermarried with Salve and the line between them vanished
Kiev becomes Orthodox
Princess Olga of Kiev went to Constantinople and publically converted to Christianity
She governed until her son was old enough to rule
After her son, her grandson Vladimir ruled and considered conversion to Christianity
Vladimir sent teams to observe major religions
The report about Christianity from Byzantium convinced him to make all his subjects convert
Kiev now looked to the Byzantine Empire for religious guidance
Therefor the close link between church and state was implemented in Russia
Kiev’s Power and Decline :
Rise to Power:
As Kiev rose in power and riches, it marked the first appearance for Russia as a unified territory
The territory grew from the wooden forts and buildings to an extravagant capital filled with the most prosperous, educated citizens
Vladimir the Great
Kievan Russia
Vladimir led Kiev to its power
Expanded the state west into Poland as well as to the north, close to the Baltic Sea
Yaroslav the Wise
Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir’s son, came into power in 1019. His coming into power lead Kiev to an even more prosperous glory
He was able to fight off nomads from the steppes to the south of the capital
By marrying off his daughters and sisters he was able to create strong trading alliances with Western Europe
Made legal code that was tailored to Kiev’s commercial culture
Dealt with crimes against property
Yaroslav built the first library in Kiev
Because of Yaroslav’s power, the christian faith grew
In the 12th century, Kiev has more than 400 churches
Kiev Fall/Decline:
The decline of Kiev began when Yaroslav died in 1054
During his reign he made a crucial mistake by dividing up the realms of his kingdom among his sons, instead of passing the throne onto the eldest son
When Yaroslav died the sons fought with one another tearing the state up when choosing the territories
During the dividing of the kingdom, the people of Kiev continued the struggle
In 1095, the Crusades, fights between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Lands in the Middle East, disrupted trade in Kiev
The Mongol Invasions
In the Middle 1200s. A ferocious group of horsemen came to Russia from Central Asia
These invaders were known as the Mongols
The mongols came into the world scene in the early 1200s
Their ruler was Genghis Khan, one of the most feared warriors of all time
The Mongols may have left Asia because:
They were forced out by economic or military pressures
They were lured by the wealth of cities to the West
They rode horses through the steppes of Central Asia and on into Europe
They had a reputation of brutality due to their savage killings and burnings
Although Genphis Khan died in 1227, his successors continued conquering the land that he had started
At its fullest extent, the Mongol Empire stretched from the Yellow sea to the Baltic Sea and from the Himalayas to Northern Russia
In 1240, the Mongols attacked and demolished Kiev under the leadership of Genghis Khan’s grandson, Batu Khan
According to a Russian reporter, so many inhabitants were slaughtered that “no eye remains to weep”
Fiver years later, a Roman Catholic Bishop traveling through wrote “ When we passed through that land, we found that lying in the field countless head and bones of dead people”
After the fall of Kiev, Mongols ruled all of Southern Russia for 200 years
The empire's official names was “Khanate of the Golden Horde”
Khanate- Mongol word for Kingdom
Golden-gate was the royal color of the Mongols
Horde- Mongol word for camp
Under the Mongol rule, the Russians could follow all of their usual customs as long as they didn’t rebel
Mongols demanded only two things from the Russians:
Absolute obedience
Massive amounts of tributes or payments
The the most part, Russian nobles agreed
Alexander Nevsky (prince and military hero of Novgorod) advised his fellow princes to cooperate with the Mongols
The Russian nobles often crushed revolts against the Mongols and even collected taxes for them
Because Mongol rul isolated from its neighbors in WEstern Europe. Russians has little access to many new ideas
Turkish Empires Rise in Anatolia
The Rise of the Turks:
Abbasids
Led by a caliph- the muslim religious and political leader
Had ruled eat of the Byzantine Empire since 1700’s
Has struggled to maintain control
Lost Spain's, then Morocco, and Tunisia, then parts of Persia, then Egypt
Turks
The Tu-Kiu were a tribe living on the plains west of China
They are believed to have been the early Turks
Very skilled with horses and were nomadic, using camels to transport their stuff
The Abbasids took note of their fighting skills
Turkish Soldiers
The Abbasids began kidnapping young Turks to use as slaves and train as soldiers
These soldiers gradually became very powerful and were known as the mamelukes
Seljuk Turks
In the late 900s many Turkish began migrating into the Abbasid Empire
Ine group was known as the Seljuks and they attacked and took over the capital in Baghdad
They now controlled the empire and conducted military campaigns against the Byzantines
In the 1000s, they conquered most of Anatolia
They came closer to Constantinople than anyone before
The Seljuks and the Crusaders
Seljuks
Malik Shad ruled as last trong Seljuk leader
No capable Shah appeared to replace him
The Seljuk empire disintegrated
With the Seljuks weak the West launched an attack for control of the Holy Land and Middle East
The First Crusade
Created by Pope Urban II in 1095
Purpose was to derive Turks out of Anatolia and recover Jerusalem from Muslim Rule
In 1099 the Crusaders captured Jerusalem and set up a Latin Christian Kingdom
Seljuk Return
After a century of Christian Rule, a small part of the former Seljuk empire fought back
A war between the West and the Muslims, lead Saladin, lead to the Muslims recapturing Jerusalem
Eventually a truce between Saladin and King Richard the I of England was signed
Seljiks
Persian Recruiting
Seljuk rulers courted the support of their newly conquered Persian subjects
Toghril Beg chose the persian city of Isfahan to be the capital of his kingdom
Persians became loyal supporters of Seljuks
Persian Learning
The Seljuks admired persian learning
When they arrived in Southwest Asia, they were unfamiliar with Islamic culture and religion
They looked to their Persian subjects for guidance
They adopted features of the persian life
Seljuk rulers
The word for Seljuk rulers is shahs
Malik Shah took pride in supporting persian artists and architects
Malik beautiful the city of Isfahan by building mosques
Sultan
Mongols
Nomadic tribe of northern Asia, located above china
In early 1200s AD the Mongols were united under the leader Genghis khan and became a powerful nation with a mighty army
THey rapidly conquered china and much of Asia under the rule of GEnghis Khan and became one of the most powerful empires in the world
Genshis Khan
Born Temujin in Mongolia round 1162
He became chief of his clan after his father's death
He started building a massive army in order to destroy many of his enemy tribes in northeast Asia
The mongols military success is owed to the mongol Genghis Khan
Was gifted the name Genghis Khan by his tribal leaders because if his success over rival tribes
NExt he moved into China secures land and food
Genghis Khan moved west because of diplomatic argument with the Khwarizm Dynasty
Genghis Khan’s death is a mystery, but before he passed he gave his land to his sons
Expansion
After conquering China, the mongols moved west to expand their empire
They burned and levels cities
Naghad was surrounded by a defensive wall, which gave troubles to the Mongols
Their main way to kill others was by projectile
Victory over Baghdad
The savage fighting continued until Hulagu conquered the entire city
Once conquered, the Mongols burned the caliph’s [palace and had tens of thousands of people murdered
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