Western Civilization

During the reign of Michael III (842–867), the Byz-

antine Empire continued to be plagued by problems.

The Bulgars mounted new attacks, and the Arabs con-

tinued to harass the empire. Moreover, a new church

problem with political repercussions erupted over dif-

ferences between the pope as leader of the Western

Christian church and the patriarch of Constantinople

as leader of the Eastern (or Orthodox) Christian

church. Patriarch Photius (FOH-shuss)condemned

the pope as a heretic for accepting a revised form of

the Nicene Creed stating that the Holy Spirit pro-

ceeded from the Father and the Son instead of “the

Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father.” A council

of Eastern bishops followed Photius’s wishes and

excommunicated the pope, creating the so-called

Photian schism. Although the differences were later

papered over, this controversy served to further the

rift between the Eastern and Western Christian

churches.

The Macedonian Dynasty

The problems that arose during Michael’s reign were

effectively dealt with by the efforts of a new dynasty

of Byzantine emperors, known as the Macedonians

(867–1081). This dynastic line managed to repel the

external enemies, go over to the offensive, and rees-

tablish domestic order. Supported by the church,

the emperors continued to think of the Byzantine

Empire as a continuation of the Christian Roman

Empire of late antiquity. Although for diplomatic

reasonstheyoccasionallyrecognizedtheimperial

title of Western emperors, such as Charlemagne,

they still regarded them as little more than barbar-

ian parvenus.

The Macedonian emperors could boast of a remark-

able number of achievements in the late ninth and

tenth centuries. They worked to strengthen the posi-

tion of free farmers, who felt threatened by the

attempts of landed aristocrats to expand their estates

at the expense of the farmers. The emperors were well

aware that the free farmers made up the rank and file

of the Byzantine cavalry and provided the military

strength of the empire. The Macedonian emperors

also fostered a burst of economic prosperity by

expanding trade relations with western Europe, espe-

cially by selling silks and metalwork. Thanks to this

prosperity, the city of Constantinople flourished.

Foreign visitors continued to be astounded by its

size, wealth, and physical surroundings. To western

Europeans, it was the stuff of legends and fables (see

the box on p. 189).

In the midst of this prosperity, Byzantine cul-

turalinfluenceexpandedduetotheactivemission-

ary efforts of Eastern Byzantine Christians. Eastern

Orthodox Christianity was spread to eastern Euro-

pean peoples, including the Bulgars and the Serbs.

Perhaps the greatest missionary success occurred

when the prince of Kiev in Russia converted to

Christianity in 987.

Under the Macedonian rulers, Byzantium enjoyed a

strong civil service, talented emperors, and successful

military campaigns. In the tenth century, these compe-

tent emperors combined with a number of talented

generals to mobilize the empire’s military resources

and take the offensive. The Bulgars were defeated, and

both the eastern and western parts of Bulgaria were

annexed to the empire. The Byzantines went on to add

the islands of Crete and Cyprus to the empire and

defeat the Muslim forces in Syria, expanding the

empire to the upper Euphrates. By the end of the reign

of Basil II (976–1025), the Byzantine Empire was the

largest it had been since the beginning of the seventh

century.

Women in Byzantium

In Byzantium, as in western Europe, women were

regarded as inferior to men. They were generally

expected to fulfill three major functions: to marry

and bear children, to maintain the household, and to

weave clothes for their families. Thus, a good wife

wasseenasaspecialgifttoherhusband.Contraryto

these ideal female roles, some women in the Byzan-

tine world worked outside the home as artisans and

sellers, especially of foodstuffs, in the markets of

Constantinople. Others served as midwives, bakers,

Sicily

Crete

Cyprus

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The Byzantine Empire in 1025
188 Chapter 8European Civilization in the Early Middle Ages, 750–1000
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