Not understanding Byzantine & Islamic civilization differences/similarities with western Europe 700 -1000 AD?

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This article is about the medieval Roman empire. For other uses, see Byzantine (disambiguation).

Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων, Ῥωμανία

(Basileia Rhōmaiōn, Rhōmanía)

Imperium Romanum, Romania

Roman Empire

←

330–1453 →

Flag of the late Empire (14th century) Imperial emblem under the Palaiologoi

The Empire at its greatest extent under Justinian in 550 AD

Capital Constantinople1

Language(s) Medieval Greek, Latin

Religion Roman paganism until 391, Eastern Orthodox Christianity tolerated after the Edict of Milan in 313 and state religion after 380

Government Autocracy

Emperor

- 306–337 Constantine I

- 1449–1453 Constantine XI

Legislature Byzantine Senate

Historical era Late Antiquity-Late Middle Ages

- Diocletian splits imperial administration between east and west 285

- Foundation of Constantinople2 May 11, 330

- The deposition of Romulus Augustulus, nominal emperor in the west, brings formal division of the Roman Empire to an end 476

- Pope Leo III, hostile to the rule of the Empress Irene, attempts to confer imperial authority on the Frankish king Charlemagne 800

- East-West Schism 1054

- Fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade 1204

- Fall of Constantinople3 May 29, 1453

- Fall of Trebizond 1461

Population

- 4th cent4 est. 34,000,000

- 8th cent (780 AD) est. 7,000,000

- 11th cent4 (1025 AD) est. 12,000,000

- 12th cent4 (1143 AD) est. 10,000,000

- 13th cent (1281 AD) est. 5,000,000

Currency Solidus, Hyperpyron

Today part of Albania

Algeria

Armenia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Egypt

France

Georgia

Greece

Gibraltar

Israel

Italy

Jordan

Kosovo

Lebanon

Libya

Macedonia

Malta

Montenegro

Morocco

Palestine

Romania

San Marino

Serbia

Slovenia

Spain

Syria

Tunisia

Turkey

Ukraine

Vatican City

1 Constantinople (330–1204 and 1261–1453). The capital of the Empire of Nicaea, the empire after the Fourth Crusade, was at Nicaea, present day İznik, Turkey.

2 Establishment date traditionally considered to be the re-founding of Constantinople as the capital of the Roman Empire (324/330) although other dates are often used.[1]

3Date of end universally regarded as 1453, despite the temporary survival of remnants in Morea and Trebizond.[1]

4 See Population of the Byzantine Empire for more detailed figures taken provided by McEvedy and Jones, "Atlas of World Population History", 1978, as well as Angeliki E. Laiou, "The Economic History of Byzantium", 2002.

The Byzantine Empire (or Byzantium) was the predominantly Greek-speaking[2] Eastern Roman Empire throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Known simply as the Roman Empire (Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων, Basileia Rhōmaiōn)[3] or Romania (Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía) by its contemporaries, the empire was centered on the capital of Constantinople and was ruled by emperors in direct succession to the ancient Roman emperors after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. As the distinction between "Roman Empire" and "Byzantine Empire" is largely a modern convention, it is not possible to assign a date of separation, but an important point is Emperor Constantine I's transfer in 324 of the capital from Nicomedia (in Anatolia) to Byzantium on the Bosphorus, which became Constantinople, "City of Constantine" (alternatively "New Rome").[n 1]

The Byzantine Empire existed for more than a thousand years (from approximately 306 AD to 1453 AD). During its existence, the Empire remained one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe, despite setbacks and territorial losses, especially during the Roman–Persian and Byzantine–Arab Wars. The Empire recovered during the Macedonian dynasty, rising again to become a preeminent power in the Eastern Mediterranean by the late 10th century, rivaling the Fatimid Caliphate. After 1071, however, much of Asia Minor, the Empire's heartland, was lost to the Seljuk Turks. The Komnenian restoration regained some ground and briefly reestablished dominance in the 12th century, but following the death of Andronikos I Komnenos and the end of the Komnenos dynasty in the late 12th century the Empire declined again. The Empire received a mortal blow in 1204 from the Fourth Crusade, when it was dissolved and divided into competing Byzantine Greek and Latin realms. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople and re-establishment of the Empire in 1261, under the Palaiologan emperors, successive civil wars in the 14th century further sapped the Empire's strength. Most of its remaining territories were lost in the Byzantine–Ottoman Wars, which culminated in the Fall of Constantinople and the cession of remaining territories to the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century.

Exodus 20:8-11

Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:

Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves,

O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel.

And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves,

and raise you from your graves, O my people.

And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place

you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken,

and I have done it, says the LORD."