Byzantine Contributions
Warm Up!!! Directions: For today’s warm-up, please answer the following questions in complete sentences: – What was the major cause for the split of the Christian Church? – What leader does Eastern Christianity follow? What leader does Western Christianity follow? – What was the official split of Christianity called? What are the names of the new Christian Churches?
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Introduction Constantinople was the central location of culture, political, and religious developments of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine culture was inspired by Christianity and dominating imperialistic power. Due to a strong, developed economy, art and learning will flourish in the Byzantine Empire. —N—Natural crossroads for trade, linking trade between the two continents of Europe and Asia with Northern Africa. Center!!!
Constantinople – Natural Crossroads for Trade! Western WorldEastern World
Byzantine culture, government, and religion were all intertwined. —Byzantine emperors led the Eastern Christian Church. o No separation of church and state. In Western Europe (Rome, Italy), the Pope was unhappy with Byzantine emperors claiming to have more power and authority over Christianity. —Result = the splitting of the Christian Church. o Western Europe = Roman Catholic Church led by the Pope. o Eastern Europe = Eastern Orthodox Church led by the Byzantine Emperors.
Splitting of the Christian Church
Byzantine Architecture Christianity and the Greek love of beauty influenced the development of buildings and art in the Byzantine Empire. Hippodrome - entertainment and social center in Constantinople. – Stadium capable of holding up to 100,000 people that housed sporting events, most notably chariot races (gambling). – Citizens could be in close proximity to the emperor and other high-ranking officials - venue for political discourse.
Byzantine Architecture, (cont.) Hagia Sophia – Church of the Holy Wisdom. —B—Built in the capital of Constantinople, the Hagia Sophia was an architectural wonder – 270 feet in length, 240 feet in width, 180-foot high dome. oLoLargest building in Europe for 600 years.
—C—Contained beautiful Byzantine artwork, such as icons and mosaics. oIoIcons = religious paintings depicting Jesus, Mary, saints, or the cross believed to have sacred powers. oMoMosaics = artwork created by assembling numerous small pieces of colored pieces of stone and other materials found on churches and public buildings. oBoByzantine artwork was heavily influenced by Christianity.
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Byzantine Education and Learning Following the fall of the Roman Empire, there was a significant decline in literacy and appreciation for the work of Greek and Roman scholars in Western Europe. In Constantinople: —The Eastern Orthodox Church provided schools to train priests in medicine, law, philosophy, math, and music.
—The University of Constantinople was opened in 850 C.E. to train scholars and lawyers. —Many scholars copied classical writings of the Greeks and Romans (Plato, Sophocles, Thucydides, et. al.). o These writings were placed in Byzantine libraries Scholars preserved Greco-Roman culture and heritage in the Byzantine Empire. o Many classical writings focused on Christianity, such as saving the soul and obedience to God.
Byzantine Language Greek was the most popular language of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Europe). —In Western Europe, Latin was the most popular language of the Roman Catholic Church and learning.