Byzantium History (324-1453AD)

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The range of the more important subjects and issues which the course covers includes the following: the factors which led to the transformation of the eastern part of the Roman Empire to a Greek Orthodox medieval empire and to the creation of a separate identity for the Byzantine state and society; the organization of the Byzantine state and the development and defining features of Byzantine civilization; the relations between Byzantium and the Latin West, the Slavic world, and Islam; the factors which led to the decline of the empire and the eventual fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD; finally, the pivotal and unique place of Byzantium in world history and its lasting legacy.