The Early Middle Ages and Islam

1 The Middle Ages

2 Invasions

3 The Byzantine Empire

4 lslam: political and economic developments

5 Islam: society and culture

6 Islamic art
1. The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages a historical period that began with the Fall of the Western
Roman Empire in 476 A.D. and ended with the Fall of the Eastern Roman
Empire (the Byzantine Empire) in 1453.
We divide the Middle Ages into three stages.

476 A.D.
Fall of the Western Roman Empire and great
migrations.

EARLY MIDDLE AGES HIGH MIDDLE AGES LATE MIDDLE AGES

(5th-11th centuries) (11th-13th centuries) (13th-15th CENTURIES)
• Germanic kingdoms • Feudal system (lords, vassals • Development of trade and
• Height of the Byzantine Empire serfs) cities
• Birth and spread of Islam • First Crusades • Gothic art.
• Carolingian Empire. • New trade routes • The Black Death arrived in
• Cities, craftwork and trade re- Europe.
emerged. • A renewed interest in
• Romanesque art classical antiquity led to
Renaissance.

1453
Conquest of Contantinople, fall of the Eastern
Roman Empire and start of the Renaissance.
2. Invasions
Between the 3rd and 10th centuries, there were mass migrations in Europe.

The Germanic peoples

• They came from Northern Europe and caused the Fall • Monarchs ruled with the help of an advisory
of the Western Roman Empire. council.
• Rural warlike tribes • Frequent conflicts among the nobles
• The Germanic nobility took control of the land. • Different kingdoms: Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Suebi,
• They eventually converted to Christianity. Franks, Angles, Jutes, Saxons.

Other invaders
• Slavs: they established small kingdoms
in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Vikings: they originated in Denmark
and the Scandinavian Peninsula. They
conquered parts of England and
France, Iceland and Greenland.
• Magyars: they originated in Central
Asia, migrated towards Ukraine and
established the Kingdom of Hungary.

The Germanic Kingdoms and the Byzantine Empire in the 5th century
3. The Byzantine Empire
Expansion and decline
• It was called the Byzantine Empire after the Ancient Greek city of Byzantium (Istanbul). Emperor Constantine
the Great made Byzantium the capital, renaming it Constantinople (330 A.D.).
• The Byzantine Empire reached its maximum size during Justinian’s reign (527– 565 A.D.): North Africa, the
Italian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands and the south of the Iberian Peninsula (Spania).
• From the 7th century, it lost lands to other peoples: the Neo-Persian Empire, the Muslims and the Slavs.
3. The Byzantine Empire
Political organisation The economy

• The emperor or basileus held • The main economic activity was

absolute power (government agriculture. They farmed large
and army). estates called latifundia.
• The empire was organized into • Cities in the Byzantine Empire
different provinces called remained vital, unlike those in
themes, governed by a Western Europe. Urban artisans
stratego. made valuable products.
• There was one law code for the • Trade was very important, as the
whole empire: the Codex main routes between Europe,
Justinianus. Asia and Africa crossed the
empire.

Emperor Justinian I (mosaic

in the Basilica of San Vitale, in
Ravenna).
3. The Byzantine Empire
Society Culture Religion

• Divided in three groups: • Cultural centre of the • The emperor controlled the
— Basileus, high clergy and Mediterranean. church. The church persecuted
nobility (landowners). • It was the crossroads between heretics in the emperor’s lands
— artisans, soldiers, traders the Christian and Muslim and converted peoples outside
and free farmers. worlds. the empire to Christianity.
— serfs and slaves. • Justinian conserved the Roman • Two main conflicts:
• Marked division between the legacy and lifestyle by: — The Iconoclastic Wars:
noble landowners and the — building monuments (Hagia caused by the prohibition of
peasants Sofia Basilica). the worship of religious icons,
— gathering and organizing but this decision was
• The emperor and the nobility
the Roman Law code eventually reversed.
imposed high taxes on the
population. (Codex Justinianus). — The East-West Schism:
• After Justinian, they adopted division of the Christian
• Trade made urban life very
Hellenic culture, making Greek church due to conflict
lively. There were shows and
the official language. between the Pope and the
great monuments.
Patriarch of Constantinople.

Interior of St. Mark’s Cathedral (Venice)

3. The Byzantine Empire
Byzantine art

• Incredibly decorative
• Flat bright colours in mosaics,
paintings, figures and sculptures.
• Rigid figures facing forward and
expressionless
• Common themes included religion
and the glorification of the
emperor.
• Icons were the most
representative figures.
• Architecture: semi-circular arches,
pedentives with thick buttresses,
Greek cross and basilica floor plan.

The Hagia Sofia Basilica was built during Justinian’s

reign. It was the biggest Christian church for a
millennium.
4. lslam: political and economic developments
In the 7th century, Muhammad founded the religion of Islam. His successors created an empire that extended
from the Iberian Peninsula to India.

The foundation of Islam

The precepts of Islam
• Originated in the Arabian Peninsula, Islam means ‘submission’. Its holy book is the Koran
previously occupied by nomadic tribes that and it is written in Arabic.
were polytheists and spoke a common
The Five Pillars of Islam that all Muslims must obey
language (Arabic). They farmed livestock
are:
and traded in groups called caravans.
• Mecca was the centre of most trade routes • belief in a single God, Allah, and his prophet
and their place of worship. Muhammad.
• In 620 A.D., Muhammad, a trader from • praying five times a day, facing Mecca.
Mecca, claimed a new monotheist religion • giving charity to the poor.
had been revealed to him, Islam.
• fasting until sunset in the month of Ramadan.
• In 622 A.D., Muhammad moved to Medina
(Hegira). This marks the first year in the • going on a pilgrimage to Mecca to visit the Kaaba
Islamic calendar. In 630 A.D., he returned at least once.
and conquered Mecca.
• The successors of Muhammad were called
caliphs and they governed a series of
empires called caliphates.
 4. lslam: political and economic developments
1 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE (632-661 A.D.) 3 THE ABBASID CALIPHATE (750-1258)
• Capital: Medina. • Capital: Bagdad (Iraq).
• Defeated the Byzantine Empire and the Neo-Persian Empires; • Controlled all the empire except al-Andalus
spread Islam to Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia. • Height of its power until the 10th century

2 THE UMAYYAD CALPIHATE (661-750 A.D.)

4 THE CRISIS OF THE CALIPHATE
• Capital: Damascus (Syria).
• Division into various caliphates
• Divided the empire into emirates.
• Expansion of the Turks from the 13th century
• Conquered Indian, Samarkand and the Iberian Peninsula onwards
• Defeated by the Byzantines and the Franks

The rapid expansion of

Islam was due to:

• The jihad: Muslim soldiers

were motivated by their
faith.
• the decline of the
neighbouring empires.
• Muslim diplomacy.
4. lslam: political and economic developments
Political organisation The economy

• Caliph: ruled with the aid of • They were livestock farmers: goats, sheep, camels and horses.
officials. • Developed agricultural irrigation systems: waterwheels, wells,
• Viziers: ministers, in charge of tax reservoirs, dykes and terraces.
collection and the government. • They brought new crops to Europe and the Mediterranean from the
Over time they became very Orient, such as rice and cotton.
powerful and the caliphs became • Trade and craftwork were the main source of wealth in the cities.
symbolic rulers. • The Caliphate became the crossroads of trade routes between
• Emirs: governed the provinces. Europe, Africa and Asia.
• Quadis: judges
• Diwans: treasurers

The development of
agricultural irrigation systems,
such as waterwheels, helped
them make an efficient use of
water in the desert.
4. lslam: political and economic developments
Trade became the main source of wealth in the caliphate. The Arab tradition of
trading and the expansion of the Muslim Empire led to the creation of a network of
trade routes between Europe, Africa and Asia. To facilitate trade, all the lands began
to use the same currencies: the gold dinar and the silver dirham (in the picture).
 5. Islam: society and culture
Society Culture

• The landowning aristocracy: • Islam spread knowledge across the three known continents (chess, the
families of Arab origin and compass and paper).
important families from • It collected, conserved and spread classical knowledge, founding libraries.
conquered lands who converted • Arabic became the common language: every Muslim had to learn it.
to Islam.
• Traders, artisans, and • The Muslims made great advancements in:
landowning farmers. It included — Mathematics: use of zero, Arabic numbers and algebra.
Muslims and dhimmi (non- — Medicine: New techniques emerged. Avicenna complied all the
Muslims who could practice medical knowledge of the time in his work The canon of medicine.
their religion if they paid a tax). — Philosophy: Averroes made Aristotle’s philosophy popular in the
• Slaves (Turks, Slavs and 12th century.
Africans).
Family and the role of women

• Muslim society was patriarchal, women had to

Averroes, born in Córdoba, obey their father or husband. They did domestic
was the most important tasks and could only works as midwifes or
Muslim author of the dancers.
Middle Ages. • Sharia law was based on the Koran. It allowed
wealthy mento have up to four wives, provided
they could support them and their children.
5. Islam: Society and culture
The medina was the walled city centre. It contained different types buildings.
• Religious: main mosque, madrasahs (schools). • Civil: souk (market), alhóndiga, public baths.
• Military: alcazaba (citadel). • Residential: houses around a courtyard with a pool.

Medina
Wall

Main Mosque

Souk

Housing

Public baths
6. Islamic art DECORATIVE FEATURES

Features

• The portrayal of human or holy figures was

prohibited.
Calligraphy, arabesque and
• Decoration was important. lattice work.
— Calligraphy: Arabic writing.
— Arabesque and foliate ornaments: VAULTS AND DOMES
organic shapes.
— Lattice work: geometric shapes.
• Muslim architecture
— Used cheap materials (such as bricks and
adobe), covered tiles and rich
decorations. Muqarnas vaults. Caliphal ribbed vault. Segmented dome.
— The Muslim adopted features from
different cultures: ARCOS
 semi-circular arches and coloured
keystones from the Romans.
 golden domes and vaults from the
Byzantines.
 lobed arches from the East.
 horseshoe arches from the Visigoths.
Lobed arch. Stilted semi-circular arches. Horseshoe arches with coloured
keystones.
 6. Islamic architecture
The main buildings were the mosques, although the Muslims also built palaces and
mausoleums (monumental tombs).

Qibla
Minaret
Mihrab

Patio

Fountain Prayer
room

The structure of the mosque follows

that of Muhammad’s home. It’s
divided into a patio and a prayer
room.