Byzantine Culture

476-1453
(fall of Rome conquest by the
Ottoman Turks)

Byzantine Empire

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

A gradual split between Roman (Catholic)

and Byzantine (Orthodox) churches

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

mixture of Christian principles and

Greco-Roman ideals
Classical Values--restraint, order,
proportion, thought--are now put to
the service of Christianity.

Literary Culture

Law: the Justinian Code

Created

by the Emperor Justinian, who

reigned 527-565
preserves Roman law and passes on
legal principals into the Christian
medieval period

Byzantine Architecture

The great structures of the

Byzantine period embody two basic
purposes (sometimes one,
sometimes both)
A)

glorifying the empire

B) expanding Christianitys power

Byzantine style

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

More lavish colors and intricate ornamentation

Form of Greek cross

Use of dome
Prevalence of mosaic

Byzantine Architecture

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