Download Byzantine Culture

Byzantine Culture
476-1453
(fall of Rome – conquest by the
Ottoman Turks)
Byzantine Empire
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After Rome falls, Constantinople
remains secure, preserving the
Eastern Empire
A stable base of agriculture and
trading, with deep class divisions
A new fusion of ethnic groups:
Greeks, Romans, Serbs, Slavs,
Turks, Bulgarians
Orthodox Christianity
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A gradual split between Roman (Catholic)
and Byzantine (Orthodox) churches
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Differences in language (Greek the language of
the Eastern Roman empire, Latin the language
of the Western Roman empire)
Differences in religious practice (Roman
Catholic priests were celibate, Orthodox priests
could marry)
Different positions on the Iconoclastic
Controversy (726-843): the Eastern Roman
Empire was Iconoclast (image-breakers), while
the papacy in the West refused to join.
Byzantine Culture
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mixture of Christian principles and
Greco-Roman ideals
Classical Values--restraint, order,
proportion, thought--are now put to
the service of Christianity.
Literary Culture
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Law: the Justinian Code
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Created by the Emperor Justinian, who
reigned 527-565
preserves Roman law and passes on
legal principals into the Christian
medieval period
Byzantine Architecture
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The great structures of the
Byzantine period embody two basic
purposes (sometimes one,
sometimes both)
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A) glorifying the empire
B) expanding Christianity’s power
Byzantine style
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A combination of styles:
Greek: the use of the classical columns
Roman: the use of the arch and the
dome
“Asian: (Persian, Arabic, Islamic, Turkish)
influences
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More lavish colors and intricate ornamentation
Form of Greek cross
Use of dome
Prevalence of mosaic
Byzantine Architecture
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Hagia Sophia was
the mother church
of the Orthodox
church
Hagia Sophia
Orthodox Church in St. Petersburg,
Russia
Christ
Christ in the Orthodox church of India