page contents

MEDIEVAL HISTORY OUTLINE: GRADE 7

 

BYZANTINE AND MUSLIM CIVILIZATIONS   TECHBOOK SECTIONS 11 and 12

 

Section 1: THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

 

I. Constantinople at a Crossroads

 

-At its height, the ancient __________________________ controlled the lands _______________________________________________.

 

-It also ruled parts of _______________________________ and the region we now call the ____________________________________.

 

-In the centuries after ______________________ faded, these lands went through a ____________________________. Two groups—the Christian __________________ and the Muslim _________________ and ______________—developed powerful civilizations at this _____.

 

-These two groups sometimes shared ______________________ and sometimes ______________________________________________.

 

-The emperor ___________________________ began his rule of the enormous ________________ Empire in A.D. __________. His reign was marked by two ______________________________________.

 

-First, ______________________ became a ___________________ and stopped the persecution of ______________________________.

 

-Second, after ___________________ years of ruling from the city of _____________, Constantine decided to build a new ____________

_____________________________.

 

-Constantine chose ________________, an ancient city founded by the ____________, at the _____________________ of the empire.

 

-In A.D. 330, ___________________ was renamed _____________, “the city of ___________________________.”

 

-By the early 500s, an estimated ____________________________ people lived there. Although the name of their city ______________

____________________, the people who lived there were still called ____________________________.

 

-The emperors who followed _____________________ continued to rule from Constantinople, in the _____________________________.

 

-Over time, the ______________________ split in two. The eastern half was by ___________________. One reason for its strength was ___________________________. The Byzantines had the strongest ____________________ in the world.

 

-Another reason for the Byzantine’s strength was _______________.

 

-Constantinople was built at a major crossroads of ______________ and ________________ trade ______________. It is located on the ___________________________.

 

-The _________________ is a strait, or narrow _________________ that links two bodies of _______________________. It connects the __________________ and the ____________________, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

 

-The Bosporus also links two continents, _________________ and ____________________.

 

-The diverse _____________, ____________, and _____________ that poured into Constantinople made it a ____________________ of international _______________. And over time, the Byzantine Empire ___________.

 

-Meanwhile, by A.D. _________, the western Roman Empire was already in _________________. Roman armies were having difficulty holding back ____________________________________________.

 

-Germanic groups were coming closer and closer to _____________.

 

-In 476. A _____________________ leader ousted the __________. Historians call that event the fall of the _______________________.

 

 

II. The Age of Justinian

 

- As Rome was falling to  ______________, strong fortifications and an _______________________ protected Constantinople. But these were not the city’s _______________________.

 

- The early __________________ Empire had many excellent rulers who were _____________ as well as ___________________. They encouraged ____________________________ and made reforms to __________________ and ____________________.

 

-One of the greatest Byzantine Emperors was __________________, whose rule began in 527. ____________________ was an energetic ruler who rarely gave up on a __________ until it _______________.

 

-He had been born into __________________, and he listened to the ________________________—whether they were wealthy ________ or _________________________________.

 

-One of _____________________’s most lasting contributions was a ______________________________. When he became emperor, the empire was using a ___________________________________ of old _________________ laws. Some laws even ____________________ others.

 

-___________________ appointed a team to _______________ and ______________________ centuries of Roman laws. The result was Justinian’s Code, an organized _________________ and explanation of Roman laws for use by the _________________________.

 

-Eventually, this code became the basis for the __________________ of most modern __________________________________________.

 

-In addition to ____________________ the principles of __________ law, Byzantine ________________ also kept and copied the works of __________________________________________________.

 

-At its peak, Byzantine civilization blended ____________________, _______________, and _________________________ influences.

 

-Later, when the empire was in _______________, scholars took the ancient _______________ and their knowledge of the rich Byzantine _________________ to the newly ___________________________.

 

-__________________, empress of the Byzantine Empire, came from ______________________. Her father was a ___________________ at Constantinople’s Hippodrome or ____________________.

 

-___________’s marriage to Justinian gave her _________________. _________________ worked to improve women’s _______________, and helped change _________________________ to protect women.

 

III. The Empire’s Later Years

 

-After Justinian’s death in ________, the Byzantine Empire began to ______________. Later emperors had to fight ____________ against many neighboring _________________—including ______________ and _______________ to the east, _____________ in the south, and _______________________ people to the north and west.

 

-The Byzantine Empire was _________________ in both _________ and _______________.

 

-As the Byzantines struggled to keep nearby ___________________ from ___________________ Constantinople, __________________ and ____________________ arguments were weakening the empire __________________________________.

 

-Although most Byzantines were _________________, they did not practice _______________________ the same way as the people in __________________________ did.

 

-Byzantine Christians rejected the ________________ of the ______, the leader of the church in _____________. The Byzantine emperor had to __________________ the choice of the _________________, or ___________________________________ in Constantinople.

 

-____________________ was the language of the Byzantine church, while Latin was the _______________________________________. The two branches of Christianity began to _____________________.

 

-At that time, many Christians prayed to saints or _______________, represented by ___________, or ____________________________. In the 700s, a Byzantine emperor ____________________________, saying they violated God’s __________________________________.

 

-The pope disagreed and ___________________________________.

 

-Byzantines felt the pope did not have the _____________________ the emperor from the church. These disputes led to a ____________, or split, in the Christian church in __________________.

 

-Now there were two distinct forms of Christianity: the ___________ ______________________in the west and the __________________ _____________________________________ in the East.  

 

-From about 900 until the mid-___________s, the Byzantine Empire experienced a final ______________________. Trade increased and merchants came to Constantinople from as far _________________

_____________________________________________.

 

-As the economy grew in _______________________, so did the g_____________________. The long reign of Basil II—from 976 until 1025—was the most ____________________________ of Byzantine history since the _________________________________.

 

-The empire regained some of the ___________________________. There was a ____________________________________ in the arts.

 

-During the 1000s, however, Muslim peoples ___________________ were also gaining ____________. By the late 1100s, Turks had taken the ____________________ of Asia ______________ away from the ___________________________________ Byzantine Empire.

 

-The Byzantines were also threatened by ______________________. In 1171, disagreements over _____________ led to a ____________ with ________________. And in the early 1200s, Constantinople was attacked ________________________________________________.

 

-Western Christians ruled the city for _______________________.

 

-In ____________, the Byzantines _________________ their capital, but little was left of their ________________.

 

-In 1453, a force of about 70,000 _________________ surrounded _______________________. They came by both ____________ and ____________, and they brought ____________________________

________________________________________.

 

-The defending _____________, which numbered about _________, held out for _________ months. Then the Byzantine capital—which had been a ___________________________________ for more than ________________ years—finally _____________.

 

-However, like _____________________ before them, the new rulers would ________________________________________ and make it ______________________________________.

 

-Renamed __________________, the city at the crossroads became a great center of Muslim __________________ and the capital of the ____________________________________________.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 2: The Beginnings of Islam

 

I. Introduction

 

-The religion of Islam ____________ that in about _________, the prophet Muhammad went into a ___________ in the ____________ ________________________to _______________.

 

-It is said that while Muhammad was ________________________, he heard the _____________________________________. God told Muhammad through the _____________ that people had abandoned ________________________. Instead of worshipping only God, they were ___________________________________________________.

 

- According to Islamic ________________________, Muhammad was ______________________ and ____________________ that he was worthy of such an ___________________________________. But he __________________.

 

-God continued ______________ Muhammad __________________, which Muhammad _______________ with the _________________ of the _________________________________________________.

 

-These teachings became a __________________ that brought great __________________________________. And in the centuries after Muhammad’s death, the new ___________________ spread to many ______________________________________________.

 

 

II. The Arabian Peninsula

 

 -In Muhammad’s time, as __________, much of the _____________ ____________________________ was covered by desert. Although surrounded by ________________, the peninsula has no _________

______________________ and receives ______________________.

 

-Trade with __________________________ supported the growth of _______________________________________________________.

 

-And many groups of ______________________ made their homes among the _____________________________________________. The Bedouins were ____________________.

 

-The Arabian Desert yielded _________________________ for the Bedouins or for their herds of _____________, _________________, and ______________. Water was also _________________.

 

-To make their way across the desert, the Bedouin followed traditional routes from one oasis to another. These all-important oases provided plenty of water for the nomads and their animals.

 

-Because of their knowledge of the desert and its oases, the Bedouin also worked as guides for traders.

 

-The oases on the Arabian Peninsula became busy trading centers. One of the most important was Mecca.

 

-Precious goods traded along these ___________ included perfume and __________________, __________________, expensive cloth, ___________________, and ___________________.

 

 

III. The Prophet Muhammad

 

-Muhammad was ____________ and ___________ up in the trading center of _______________________. As a young man, Muhammad worked on ____________________________.

 

-Muhammad liked to _____________ in the ___________________ outside ________________. Troubled by problems he saw in society, he liked to be ____________________________________________.

 

 

 

 

-When Muhammad was _____________________________, he first heard God ________________ to him through the ______________

_______________. In time, a person who _____________________ the teachings of Muhammad came ___________________________ as a Muslim, “a __________________________________________.”    

 

-The religion of Muslims is called _________________.

 

-Muhammad preached that all people were ____________________

____________ in a community ______________________ by God—but few people in _____________________________. They thought Muhammad’s teachings ___________________________________. People in Mecca also feared that Muhammad might  ____________

____________________________________________________.

 

-In 622, Muhammad and his followers were invited to ____________, a city ____________________ of Mecca. The people there regarded Muhammad as a prophet.

 

-This movement of early Muslims is known as the ______________, or “the ___________________.” The year of the ___________—622 in the calendar used in the ______________________—became year ____________ on the Muslim calendar.

 

-After the _____________, the name of _________ was changed to Medina. This name means “city” and is short for “_______________

_________________________________________.”

 

-Islam did not remain _______________ to _________________. By the time Muhammad died ___________________________, the new religion of Islam had spread ________________________________.  

 

-In ______________, the ___________ for God is Allah. _________ times each ___________, Muslims are called to _________________

_____________________. And _________ times a day, every faithful Muslim stops whatever ____________________________________.

 

 

-Basic Muslim beliefs are expressed in the _____________________

_________. These practices are the ___________________ of Islam.

 

-First is the __________________________________. Muslims must regularly _______________________ that there is only one true God and Muhammad is ________________________________________.

 

-Prayer: Muslims must _____________________________, facing in the direction of the _____________________________. 

The muezzin calls _________________ to worship with the words, “There is no __________ but God and Muhammad is __________________. This saying expresses the _______________________ of the Muslim ______________________ in _____________ God. 

 

-Almsgiving: Muslims must give __________________ or money that __________________________________.

 

-Fasting: Muslims must fast _______________________________ in the month of ____________________________________.

 

-Pilgrimage: Muslims must make a ___________________________ at least one time in their lives if _____________________________.

 

-The holy book of Islam is called the ________________. It contains the ______________________________.

 

-The Quran contains many kinds of writing, including _______________, ________________, ________________, and ___________________________.

 

-Muslims, like ______________________________________, believe in one God. They regard ______________, _____________, __________________, and _______________ as important people in their religious ___________________________.

 

-Muhammad saw himself as the ______________________________ in a long _________________________ that included all these men. Muhammad felt respect for _________________________________, whom he called “_________________________________________.”

 

 

 

- Before Islam, in most _________________________, women were not regarded ____________________________, and female children ________________________________. The Quran, however, taught that men and women were ______________________. It also gave women more ____________________________________________.

 

-In 656, Uthman, _________________________________________, was assassinated. His death split the Muslim ___________________. Muslims disagreed over ____________________________________. Over the next several decades, two ___________________________ emerged on opposite ______________________________________.

 

-The smaller group, called ________________, argued that the ruler should be a man who ____________________________________ of Muhammad.

 

-The larger group, ______________________, argued that any truly religious Muslim man of Muhammad’s ________________________ ___________________. Today, about 85% of Muslims are _______.

 

Section 3: The Golden Age of Muslim Civilization

 

  1. I.           The Spread of Islam

 

-Within _________ years after Muhammad’s death in ____________, Islam spread west to _____________________, and into present-day __________. It also spread north into _______________ and east to the borders of northern ______________ and _____________.

 

-Arab merchants traveled to many ___________________________ and ______________________ and along the Mediterranean coast. Many of these ____________ were Muslims, and they helped spread ________________________________________________.

 

-Arab armies also conquered _______________________________. This was another way Islam ________________________.

 

-In _________, the Arabs attacked Constantinople, but they were unable to _________________________. Even so, most Christians who lived along _________________________________________ converted to Islam in the ____________ and ___________.

 

-By the 700s, Muslims had also crossed from ___________________

_________________________. In _____________, Arab forces were defeated by European soldiers at the _________________________, in present-day France. The battle halted the Muslim _____________

_______________________________________________________.

 

-In the centuries before Muhammad, Arab peoples had not been able to conquer _____________________________________. The strong __________________________ made invasions of these lands nearly ________________.

 

-And the later ________________ and _________________ empires successfully blocked Arabs _________________________________.

 

-But after Muhammad’s death, the ___________________________ that might have stopped the Arab ____________________________ were either ____________________ or ___________________.

 

-Also, a shared ____________________________ Arab peoples into one community. And once they began ________________________, the Muslims quickly grew ___________________________________.

 

-Unlike Byzantine leaders of the time—who did not ______________

___________________________________—Muslims tolerated other __________________. Muslim rulers allowed ___________________ and Jews to ______________________________________________ and pursue their own business ___________________.

 

-Non-Muslim citizens did have __________________________ than Muslims. They were forbidden to _____________________________ and could not serve _______________________________. They also paid a special _______, which helped support the _______________.

 

  1. II.        The Golden Age

 

-The _____________________ of Muslim culture from about ______ to ____________ was a brilliant period of _____________________. Great advances were made in _____________________ and science, and lasting works of _____________________ and ______________ were created.

 

- Under Muslim rulers called _______________, an empire developed and ______________________. Its wealth came both from the many ________________ it _____________ and ____________________.

 

-_____________________ was the ____________________ of the Muslim empire during the __________________________________. Like Constantinople, it was a ________________________________.

 

-Harun ar-Rashid became _____________ of ____________ in 786. His rule was a time of _______________________.

 

-__________________ did not use the riches of ________________ just for his own _________________________. He was also a great _______________ or supporter of the ________________.

 

-Arab _____________________ studied both _______________ and ___________________ mathematics. They learned about the idea of __________ from ______________ scholars. And they borrowed the use of the so-called _____________________________ that we use today from _________________ too.

 

-The Muslim mathematician ______________________ wrote a book explaining __________________________. He also made significant contributions to the development of __________________________. The word ________________________ comes from the Arabic word “_______________.”

 

-These __________________ enabled later scientists to make great discoveries in astronomy, _____________, and ________________.

 

-The famous Islamic _________________________ and philosopher ________________ lived from 980 to 1037. Also known as Avicenna, he organized the _____________________ of the Greeks and Arabs into the _____________________________________.

 

-Medicine: The Arabs were the ______________ to organize separate _____________________, which sold ____________, ___________, and other medicines to the ____________________.

 

-Mathematics: Arab __________________________ made important contributions to _________________________.

 

-Machines: _________________________ machines fascinated Arab scientists.

 

-Muslim writers created many lasting works of _________________. ___________________ was particularly important in the Islamic ______________________.

 

-One group of Muslims used ________________ to teach their ideas and ______________. This group, called the __________________, were __________________ who believed that they could draw close to God through ___________________, _________________, and a simple ______________________.

 

-_______________ missionaries also helped ____________ Islam to central _______________, _______________, and ______________ south of the ___________________.