We do not recognize Byzantium in early Byzantine history with its praetors, prefects, patricians and provinces, but this recognition will become more and more as the emperors acquire beards, consuls turn into ipats, and senators - into synclitics.
Background
The birth of Byzantium would not be understandable without a return to the events of the III century, when the most severe economic and political crisis broke out in the Roman Empire, which actually led to the collapse of the state. In 284, Diocletian came to power (like almost all emperors of the 3rd century, he was just a Roman officer of an ordinary origin - his father was a slave) and took measures to decentralize power. First, in 286, he divided the empire into two parts, entrusting control of the West to his friend Maximian Herculius, and leaving the East for himself. Then, in 293, wishing to increase the stability of the system of government and ensure the turnover of power, he introduced a system of tetrarchy - a four-part government, which was exercised by two senior emperors-Augustus and two junior emperors-Caesars. Each part of the empire had August and Caesar (each of which had its own geographical area of responsibility - for example, August of the West controlled Italy and Spain, and the Caesar of the West controlled Gaul and Britain). After 20 years, the Augustus had to transfer power to the Caesars, so that they would become Augustus and elect new Caesars. However, this system turned out to be unviable, and after the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian in 305, the empire again plunged into the era of civil wars.
Birth of Byzantium
1.312 - Battle of the Mulvian Bridge
After the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian, the supreme power passed to the former Caesars - Galerius and Constance Chlorus, they became Augustus, but, contrary to expectations, neither the son of Constantine Constantine (later Emperor Constantine I the Great, considered the first emperor of Byzantium), nor son of Maximian Maxentius. Nevertheless, they both did not abandon imperial ambitions and from 306 to 312 alternately entered a tactical alliance in order to jointly confront other contenders for power (for example, the one appointed by Caesar after the abdication of Diocletian Flavius Severus), then, on the contrary, entered into a struggle. The final victory of Constantine over Maxentius in the battle at the Mulvian Bridge over the Tiber River (now within the boundaries of Rome) meant the unification of the western part of the Roman Empire under the rule of Constantine. Twelve years later, in 324, as a result of another war (now with Licinius - Augustus and the ruler of the East of the empire, who was appointed by Galerius), Constantine united East and West.
The miniature in the center depicts the Battle of the Mulvian Bridge. From the homilies of Gregory the Theologian. 879-882 years
MS grec 510 /
The battle on the Mulvian bridge in the Byzantine mind was associated with the idea of the birth of the Christian empire. This was facilitated, firstly, by the legend of the miraculous sign of the Cross, which Constantine saw in the sky before the battle - they tell about this (albeit in completely different ways) Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea(c. 260-340) - Greek historian, author of the first church history. and Lactantius Lactantium(approx. 250 --- 325) - Latin writer, apologist of Christianity, author of the essay "On the deaths of the persecutors", dedicated to the events of the era of Diocletian., and secondly, the fact that at about the same time two edicts were issued Edict- normative act, decree. about religious freedom, legalized Christianity and equalizing all religions in rights. And although the publication of edicts on religious freedom was not directly related to the struggle against Maxentius (the first was published by the emperor Galerius in April 311, and the second was published in February 313 in Milan by Constantine together with Licinius), the legend reflects political steps of Constantine, who was the first to feel that state centralization is impossible without the consolidation of society, primarily in the sphere of worship.
However, under Constantine, Christianity was only one of the candidates for the role of a consolidating religion. The emperor himself has long been an adherent of the cult of the Invincible Sun, and the time of his Christian baptism is still the subject of scientific controversy.
2.325 year - I Ecumenical Council
In 325, Constantine called representatives of the local churches to the city of Nicaea. Nicaea- now the city of Iznik in northwestern Turkey. to resolve the dispute between the Alexandrian bishop Alexander and Arius, the presbyter of one of the Alexandrian churches, about whether Jesus Christ was created by God Opponents of the Arians briefly summarized their teachings as follows: "There was [such a time] when there was no [Christ]."... This meeting became the first Ecumenical Council - a meeting of representatives of all local churches with the right to formulate doctrine, which will then be recognized by all local churches. It is impossible to say exactly how many bishops participated in the council, since its acts have not survived. Tradition calls the number 318. Be that as it may, it is possible to speak of the "ecumenical" nature of the council only with reservations, since in total at that time there were more than 1,500 episcopal sees.... The First Ecumenical Council is a key stage in the institutionalization of Christianity as an imperial religion: its sessions were held not in the temple, but in the imperial palace, the cathedral was opened by Constantine I himself, and the closing was combined with grandiose celebrations on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his reign.
First Cathedral of Nicaea. Fresco from Stavropoleos Monastery. Bucharest, XVIII century
Wikimedia Commons
The I Nicene Council and the I Constantinople Council (which met in 381), which followed it, condemned the Arian teaching on the created nature of Christ and the inequality of hypostases in the Trinity, and the Apollinarian one, on the incompleteness of the perception of human nature by Christ, and formulated the Nicene-Constantinople Creed, which recognized Jesus Christ not created, but born (but at the same time eternal), and all three hypostases - possessing the same nature. The creed was recognized as true, not subject to further doubt and discussion The words of the Nikeo-Tsargrad Creed about Christ, which caused the most fierce controversy, in the Slavic translation read as follows: “[I believe] in the one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, God is true from God, true, born, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, who is all by Him ”..
Never before has not a single line of thought in Christianity been condemned by the fullness of the universal church and imperial power, and no theological school has been recognized as heresy. The epoch of Ecumenical Councils that has begun is an era of struggle between orthodoxy and heresy, which are in constant self-determination and mutual determination. At the same time, the same doctrine could alternately be recognized as either heresy or the right faith - depending on the political situation (this was the case in the 5th century), but the very idea of the possibility and necessity of protecting orthodoxy and condemning heresy with the help of the state was called into question in Byzantium has never been set.
3.330 - transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople
Although Rome always remained the cultural center of the empire, the tetrarchs chose cities on the periphery as their capitals, from which it was more convenient for them to repel external attacks: Nicomedia Nicomedia- now Izmit (Turkey)., Sirmium Sirmium- now Sremska Mitrovica (Serbia)., Milan and Trier. During the reign of the West, Constantine I moved his residence now to Milan, then to Sirmium, then to Thessalonica. His rival Licinius also changed the capital, but in 324, when the war began between him and Constantine, the ancient city of Byzantium on the banks of the Bosphorus, known from Herodotus, became his stronghold in Europe.
Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror and the Serpent Column. Miniature of Nakkash Osman from the manuscript "Hüner-name" by Seyid Lokman. 1584-1588 years Wikimedia Commons
During the siege of Byzantium, and then in preparation for the decisive battle of Chrysopolis on the Asian coast of the Strait, Constantine assessed the position of Byzantium and, having defeated Licinius, immediately began a program to renovate the city, personally participating in the marking of the city walls. The city gradually took over the functions of the capital: a senate was established there and many Roman senate families were forcibly transported closer to the senate. It was in Constantinople, during his lifetime, that Constantine ordered the rebuilding of a tomb for himself. Various wonders of the ancient world were brought to the city, for example, the bronze Serpentine Column, created in the 5th century BC in honor of the victory over the Persians at Plataea Battle of Plataea(479 BC) — one of the most important battles of the Greco-Persian wars, as a result of which the land forces of the Achaemenid empire were finally defeated..
Chronicler of the 6th century John Malala says that on May 11, 330, Emperor Constantine appeared at the solemn ceremony of consecration of the city in a diadem - a symbol of the power of Eastern despots, which his Roman predecessors in every possible way avoided. The displacement of the political vector was symbolically embodied in the spatial movement of the center of the empire from west to east, which, in turn, had a decisive influence on the formation of Byzantine culture: the transfer of the capital to territories that had been speaking Greek for a thousand years led to its Greek-speaking character, and Constantinople itself turned out to be in the center of the Byzantine's mental map and identified with the entire empire.
4.395 - division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western
Despite the fact that in 324 Constantine, having defeated Licinius, formally united the East and West of the empire, the ties between its parts remained weak, and cultural differences grew. No more than ten bishops (out of about 300 participants) came to the First Ecumenical Council from the western provinces; most of the arrivals were unable to understand by ear Constantine's greeting speech, which he gave in Latin, and it had to be translated into Greek.
Half silicone. Flavius Odoacer on the obverse of a Ravenna coin. 477 year Odoacer is depicted without the imperial diadem - with an uncovered head, a shock of hair and a mustache. Such an image is uncharacteristic for emperors and is considered "barbaric". The Trustees of the British Museum
The final division took place in 395, when Emperor Theodosius I the Great, who for several months before his death became the sole ruler of the East and West, divided the power between his sons Arcadius (East) and Honorius (West). However, formally, the West was still connected with the East, and at the very end of the Western Roman Empire, at the end of the 460s, the Byzantine emperor Leo I, at the request of the Senate of Rome, made the last unsuccessful attempt to elevate his protege to the Western throne. In 476, the German barbarian mercenary Odoacer deposed the last emperor of the Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, and sent the imperial insignias (symbols of power) to Constantinople. Thus, from the point of view of the legitimacy of power, the parts of the empire were again united: the emperor Zinon, who ruled at that time in Constantinople, de jure became the sole head of the entire empire, and Odoacer, who received the title of patrician, ruled Italy only as his representative. However, in reality, this was no longer reflected in the real political map of the Mediterranean.
5.451 year - Cathedral of Chalcedon
IV Ecumenical (Chalcedonian) Council, convened for the final approval of the doctrine of the incarnation of Christ in one hypostasis and two natures and complete condemnation of Monophysitism Monophysitism(from the Greek μόνος - the only one and φύσις - nature) - the teaching that Christ did not have a perfect human nature, since his divine nature during incarnation replaced her or merged with her. The opponents of the Monophysites were called diophysites (from the Greek δύο - two)., led to a deep schism that has not been overcome by the Christian church to this day. The central state power continued to flirt with the Monophysites under the usurper Basilisk in 475-476, and in the first half of the 6th century, under the emperors Anastasia I and Justinian I. In 482, the Emperor Zinon tried to reconcile the supporters and opponents of the Council of Chalcedon, without going into dogmatic questions. ... His conciliatory message, dubbed the Enoticon, secured peace in the East, but led to a 35-year split with Rome.The main support of the Monophysites were the eastern provinces - Egypt, Armenia and Syria. In these regions, uprisings on religious grounds regularly broke out and a parallel to the Chalcedonian (that is, recognizing the teachings of the Council of Chalcedon) independent Monophysite hierarchy and their own church institutions were formed, which gradually developed into independent, still existing non-Chalcedonian churches - Syro-Jacobite, Armenian and Coptic. The problem finally lost its relevance for Constantinople only in the 7th century, when, as a result of the Arab conquests, the Monophysite provinces were torn away from the empire.
The heyday of early Byzantium
6.537 - completion of the construction of the temple of Hagia Sophia under Justinian
Justinian I. Fragment of the mosaic of the church San Vitale in Ravenna. VI century
Wikimedia Commons
Under Justinian I (527-565), the Byzantine Empire reached its peak. The civil law code summarized the centuries-old development of Roman law. As a result of military campaigns in the West, it was possible to expand the borders of the empire to include the entire Mediterranean - North Africa, Italy, part of Spain, Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily. Sometimes they talk about "Justinian's Reconquista". Rome again became part of the empire. Justinian launched extensive construction throughout the empire, and in 537 the construction of the new Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was completed. According to legend, the plan of the temple was suggested personally to the emperor by an angel in a vision. Never again was a building of such a scale created in Byzantium: the grandiose temple, which in the Byzantine ceremony received the name "Great Church", became the center of power of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The era of Justinian at the same time and finally breaks with the pagan past (in 529 the Athenian Academy was closed Academy of Athens - philosophical school in Athens, founded by Plato in 380 BC NS.) and establishes a line of succession with antiquity. Medieval culture opposes itself to early Christian, appropriating the achievements of antiquity at all levels - from literature to architecture, but at the same time discarding their religious (pagan) dimension.
Coming from the bottom, seeking to change the way of life of the empire, Justinian met with opposition from the old aristocracy. It is this attitude, and not the historian's personal hatred of the emperor, that reflects - an evil pamphlet on Justinian and his wife Theodora.
7.626 - Avar-Slavic siege of Constantinople
The reign of Heraclius (610-641), glorified in court panegyric literature as the new Hercules, accounted for the last foreign policy successes of early Byzantium. In 626, Heraclius and Patriarch Sergius, who was directly defending the city, managed to repel the Avar-Slavic siege of Constantinople (the words opening the akathist to the Mother of God tell about this victory In the Slavic translation, they sound like this: "To the chosen Voevoda, victorious, as if we will get rid of the evil, we will write thanks to Thy Rabbi, the Mother of God, but as an invincible power, freedom from all our troubles, so we call Ty: Rejoice, Unmarried Bride."), and at the turn of the 20-30s of the 7th century during the Persian campaign against the Sassanid state Sassanian Empire- a Persian state centered on the territory of present-day Iraq and Iran, which existed in the years 224-651. the provinces in the East, lost a few years earlier, were recaptured: Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Palestine. The Honest Cross, stolen by the Persians, was solemnly returned to Jerusalem in 630, on which the Savior died. During the solemn procession, Heraclius personally brought the Cross into the city and placed it in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Under Heraclius, the scientific and philosophical neo-Platonic tradition, going directly from antiquity, is experiencing the last rise before the cultural break of the dark ages: a representative of the last surviving ancient school in Alexandria, Stephen of Alexandria, comes to Constantinople at the imperial invitation to teach.
A plate with a cross with images of a cherub (left) and the Byzantine emperor Heraclius with the Sassanid shahinshah Khosrov II. Valley of the Meuse, 1160-70s Wikimedia Commons
All these successes were nullified by the Arab invasion, which after a few decades wiped out the Sassanids from the face of the earth and forever wrested the eastern provinces from Byzantium. Legends tell how the Prophet Muhammad proposed Heraclius to accept Islam, but in the cultural memory of Muslim peoples Heraclius remained precisely a fighter against the emerging Islam, and not against the Persians. These wars (generally unsuccessful for Byzantium) are described in the eighteenth century epic poem "The Book of Heraclius" - the oldest written monument in Swahili.
Dark Ages and Iconoclasm
8.642 year - Arab conquest of Egypt
The first wave of Arab conquests in the Byzantine lands lasted eight years - from 634 to 642. As a result, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt were torn away from Byzantium. Having lost the most ancient Antiochian, Jerusalem and Alexandrian patriarchates, the Byzantine Church, in fact, lost its ecumenical character and became equal to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which within the empire had no church institutions equal to it in status.
In addition, having lost the fertile territories that provided its grain, the empire plunged into a deep internal crisis. In the middle of the 7th century, there was a reduction in monetary circulation and the decline of cities (both in Asia Minor and in the Balkans, which were no longer threatened by the Arabs, but by the Slavs) - they turned either into villages or into medieval fortresses. Constantinople remained the only major urban center, but the atmosphere in the city changed and the ancient monuments brought there in the 4th century began to inspire irrational fears in the townspeople.
A fragment of a papyrus letter in the Coptic language of the monks Victor and Psan. Thebes, Byzantine Egypt, circa 580-640 Translation of a fragment of the letter into English on the website of the Metropolitan Museum. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Constantinople also lost access to papyrus, which was produced exclusively in Egypt, which led to an increase in the cost of books and, as a result, a decline in education. Many literary genres disappeared, the previously flourishing genre of history gave way to prophecy - having lost their cultural connection with the past, the Byzantines lost interest in their history and lived with a constant feeling of the end of the world. The Arab conquests, which caused this breakdown of the world perception, were not reflected in contemporary literature, their series of events is conveyed to us by monuments of later eras, and the new historical consciousness reflects only an atmosphere of horror, not facts. The cultural decline lasted for over a hundred years, with the first signs of revival occurring at the very end of the 8th century.
9.726/730 year According to the icon-worshiping historians of the 9th century, Leo III issued an iconoclastic edict in 726. But modern scholars doubt the reliability of this information: most likely, in 726 in Byzantine society began talking about the possibility of iconoclastic measures, the first real steps date back to 730.- the beginning of iconoclastic controversy
Saint Mokiy Amphipolis and the angel killing the iconoclasts. Miniature from the Psalter of Theodore of Caesarea. 1066 year The British Library Board, Add MS 19352, f.94r
One of the manifestations of the cultural decline of the second half of the 7th century is the rapid growth of disordered practices of veneration of icons (the most zealous ones scraped and ate plaster from icons of saints). This caused rejection among some of the clergy, who saw in this a threat of a return to paganism. Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717-741) used this discontent to create a new consolidating ideology, taking the first iconoclastic steps in 726/730. But the most bitter controversy over icons fell on the reign of Constantine V Copronymus (741-775). He carried out the necessary military-administrative reforms, significantly strengthening the role of the professional imperial guard (tagm), and successfully contained the Bulgarian threat at the borders of the empire. The authority of both Constantine and Leo, who repulsed the Arabs from the walls of Constantinople in 717-718, was very high, therefore, when in 815, after the teaching of the icon-worshipers was approved at the VII Ecumenical Council (787), a new round of war with the Bulgarians provoked a new political crisis, the imperial power returned to iconoclastic politics.
The controversy over icons has spawned two powerful strands of theological thought. Although the teaching of the Iconoclasts is much less known than the teaching of their opponents, indirect evidence suggests that the thought of the iconoclasts of the Emperor Constantine Copronymus and the Patriarch of Constantinople John the Grammar (837-843) was no less deeply rooted in the Greek philosophical tradition than the thought of the theologian-icon-worshiper John Damascene and the head of the anti-iconoclastic monastic opposition Theodore the Studite. In parallel, the dispute developed in the church-political plane, the boundaries of the power of the emperor, patriarch, monasticism and episcopate were redefined.
10.843 - Triumph of Orthodoxy
In 843, under Empress Theodore and Patriarch Methodius, the dogma of icon veneration was finally approved. It became possible thanks to mutual concessions, for example, the posthumous forgiveness of the iconoclast emperor Theophilos, whose widow Theodora was. The holiday "Triumph of Orthodoxy" arranged by Theodora on this occasion ended the era of Ecumenical Councils and marked a new stage in the life of the Byzantine state and church. In the Orthodox tradition, he copes to this day, and anathemas against the iconoclasts named by name are heard every year on the first Sunday of Great Lent. Since then, iconoclasm, which became the last heresy condemned by the entire plenitude of the church, began to be mythologized in the historical memory of Byzantium.
The daughters of Empress Theodora are learning to read icons from their grandmother Theoktista. Miniature from the Madrid Codex "Chronicle" of John Skilitsa. XII-XIII centuries Wikimedia Commons
Back in 787, at the 7th Ecumenical Council, the theory of the image was approved, according to which, in the words of Basil the Great, “the honor given to the image goes back to the prototype,” which means that the worship of an icon is not an idol's service. Now this theory has become the official teaching of the church - the creation and worship of sacred images from now on was not only allowed, but imputed to the responsibility of the Christian. From that time on, an avalanche-like growth of artistic production began, the familiar look of an Eastern Christian church with iconic decoration took shape, the use of icons was built into liturgical practice and changed the course of worship.
In addition, the iconoclastic controversy stimulated the reading, copying and study of sources to which the opposing sides turned in search of arguments. Overcoming the cultural crisis is largely due to philological work in the preparation of church councils. And the invention of minuscule Minuscule- writing in lowercase letters, radically simplifying and reducing the cost of book production. may have been connected with the needs of the icon-reading opposition that existed under the conditions of "samizdat": icon-worshipers had to quickly copy texts and did not have the means to create expensive uncial Uncial, or Mayusculus,- letter in capital letters. manuscripts.
Macedonian era
11.863 - beginning of the Photian schism
Between the Roman and Eastern Churches, dogmatic and liturgical differences gradually grew (primarily regarding the Latin addition to the text of the Creed of the words about the procession of the Holy Spirit not only from the Father, but also from the Son, the so-called Filioque Filioque- literally "and from the Son" (lat.).). The Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Pope fought for spheres of influence (primarily in Bulgaria, southern Italy and Sicily). The proclamation of Charlemagne as emperor of the West in 800 dealt a painful blow to the political ideology of Byzantium: the Byzantine emperor found a rival in the person of the Carolingians.
Photius' miraculous salvation of Constantinople with the help of the robe of the Mother of God. A fresco from the Dormition Princess Monastery. Vladimir, 1648 Wikimedia Commons
Two opposing parties within the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the so-called Ignatians (supporters of Patriarch Ignatius, deposed in 858) and Photians (supporters of the erected - not without a scandal - in his place Photius), sought support in Rome. Pope Nicholas used this situation to assert the authority of the papal throne and expand his spheres of influence. In 863, he withdrew the signatures of his envoys who approved the construction of Photius, but Emperor Michael III considered that this was not enough to remove the patriarch, and in 867 Photius anathematized Pope Nicholas. In 869-870, a new council in Constantinople (and to this day recognized by Catholics as Ecumenical VIII) deposed Photius and restored Ignatius. However, after the death of Ignatius, Photius returned to the patriarchal throne for another nine years (877-886).
Formal reconciliation followed in 879-880, but the anti-Latin line, laid down by Photius in the Circular Epistle to the bishops of the East, formed the basis of a centuries-old polemic tradition, echoes of which were heard both during the break between the churches in, and during the discussion of the possibility of a church union in the XIII and XV centuries.
12.895 - creation of the oldest known Plato codes
Page 39 of E. D. Clarke manuscript with works of Plato. 895 year The rewriting of the tetralogy was carried out by order of Arefa of Caesarea for 21 gold coins. It is assumed that the scholi (marginal comments) were left by Arefa himself. At the end of the 9th century, there was a new discovery of the ancient heritage in Byzantine culture. Around Patriarch Photius, a circle was formed, which included his disciples: Emperor Leo VI the Wise, Bishop Aref of Caesarea and other philosophers and scientists. They copied, studied and commented on the works of ancient Greek authors. The oldest and most authoritative list of Plato's works (it is kept under the code E. D. Clarke 39 in the Bodleian Library, Oxford University) was created at this time by order of Arefa.
Among the texts that interested the erudites of the era, primarily high-ranking church hierarchs, there were pagan works. Arefa ordered copies of the works of Aristotle, Aelius Aristides, Euclid, Homer, Lucian and Marcus Aurelius, and Patriarch Photius included in his "Miriobiblion" "Miriobiblion"(literally "Ten Thousand Books") - an overview of the books Photius read, of which, however, in reality there were not 10 thousand, but only 279. annotations to Hellenistic novels, evaluating not their seemingly anti-Christian content, but the style and manner of writing and at the same time creating a new terminological apparatus of literary criticism, different from that used by ancient grammars. Leo VI himself created not only solemn speeches on church holidays, which he personally pronounced (often improvising) after services, but also wrote anacreontic poetry in the ancient Greek manner. And the nickname Wise is associated with the collection of poetic prophecies attributed to him about the fall and conquest of Constantinople, which were recalled back in the 17th century in Russia, when the Greeks tried to persuade Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to march against the Ottoman Empire.
The era of Photius and Leo VI the Wise opens the period of the Macedonian renaissance (named for the ruling dynasty) in Byzantium, which is also known as the era of encyclopedism or the first Byzantine humanism.
13.952 - completion of work on the treatise "On the management of the empire"
Christ blesses Emperor Constantine VII. Carved panel. 945 year
Wikimedia Commons
Under the patronage of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959), a large-scale project was implemented to codify the knowledge of the Byzantines in all areas of human life. The measure of Constantine's direct participation cannot always be determined with precision, however, the personal interest and literary ambitions of the emperor, who from childhood knew that he was not destined to rule, and most of his life was forced to share the throne with the co-ruler, are beyond doubt. By order of Constantine, the official history of the 9th century was written (the so-called Successor of Theophanes), information was collected about the peoples and lands adjacent to Byzantium (“On the administration of the empire”), on the geography and history of the regions of the empire (“On the themes Fema- Byzantine military-administrative district."), On agriculture (" Geoponics "), on the organization of military campaigns and embassies and on the court ceremony (" On the ceremonies of the Byzantine court "). At the same time, the regulation of church life takes place: the Synaxarium and the Typicon of the Great Church are created, which determine the annual procedure for the commemoration of saints and the conduct of church services, and a few decades later (around 980) Simeon Metaphrast begins a large-scale project to unify hagiographic literature. Around the same time, a comprehensive encyclopedic dictionary "Suda" was compiled, including about 30 thousand articles. But the largest encyclopedia of Constantine is an anthology of information from ancient and early Byzantine authors about all spheres of life, conventionally called "Excerpts" It is known that this encyclopedia included 53 sections. Only the section "On the embassies" was fully reached, in part - "On virtues and vices", "On conspiracies against emperors", "On opinions." Among the chapters that have not survived are: "On the peoples", "On the succession of emperors", "On who invented what", "On the Caesars", "On exploits", "On the settlements", "On the hunt", "On the Epistles", " On Speeches ”,“ On Marriages ”,“ On Victory ”,“ On Defeat ”,“ On Strategies ”,“ On Morals ”,“ On Miracles ”,“ On Battles ”,“ On Inscriptions ”,“ On Public Administration ”, On Church Matters, On Expression, On the Coronation of Emperors, On the Death (Deposition) of Emperors, On Fines, On Holidays, On Predictions, On Ranks, On The Cause Of Wars "," About sieges "," About fortresses "..
The nickname Porphyrogenitus was given to the children of the reigning emperors, who were born in the Crimson Chamber of the Grand Palace in Constantinople. Constantine VII, the son of Leo VI the Wise from his fourth marriage, was indeed born in this chamber, but was formally illegitimate. Apparently, the nickname was supposed to emphasize his right to the throne. His father made him his co-regent, and after his death the young Constantine ruled for six years under the tutelage of the regents. In 919, the military leader Roman I Lacapenus usurped power under the pretext of protecting Constantine from the rebels, he became related to the Macedonian dynasty, giving his daughter to Constantine, and then was crowned co-ruler. By the time of the beginning of independent reign, Constantine was formally considered emperor for more than 30 years, and he himself was almost 40.
14.1018 - the conquest of the Bulgarian kingdom
Angels place the imperial crown on Basil II. Miniature from Basil's Psalter, Marciana Library. XI century Ms. gr. 17 / Biblioteca Marciana
The reign of Vasily II The Bulgarians (976-1025) was a time of unprecedented expansion of the ecclesiastical and political influence of Byzantium on neighboring countries: the so-called second (final) baptism of Rus took place (the first, according to legend, took place back in the 860s - when the princes Askold and Dir with the boyars, they were allegedly baptized in Kiev, where Patriarch Photius sent a bishop especially for this); in 1018, the conquest of the Bulgarian kingdom led to the liquidation of the autonomous Bulgarian patriarchate, which had existed for almost 100 years, and the establishment of a semi-independent Ohrid archdiocese in its place; As a result of the Armenian campaigns, the Byzantine possessions in the East expanded.
In domestic politics, Vasily was forced to take harsh measures to limit the influence of large landowning clans, which actually formed their own armies in the 970s-980s during the civil wars that challenged Vasily's power. He tried with tough measures to suspend the enrichment of large landowners (the so-called dinats Dinat ( from the Greek. δυνατός) - strong, powerful.), in some cases even resorting to direct confiscation of land. But this brought only a temporary effect, centralization in the administrative and military spheres neutralized powerful rivals, but in the long term made the empire vulnerable to new threats - the Normans, Seljuks and Pechenegs. The Macedonian dynasty, which ruled for more than a century and a half, was formally interrupted only in 1056, but in reality, already in the 1020s and 1930s, people from bureaucratic families and influential clans received real power.
The descendants awarded Vasily the nickname of the Bulgarian fighter for his cruelty in the wars with the Bulgarians. For example, after winning the decisive battle at Mount Belasitsa in 1014, he ordered 14 thousand captives to be blinded at once. When exactly this nickname arose is not known. It is certain that this happened until the end of the 12th century, when, according to the 13th century historian Georgy the Acropolitan, the Bulgarian king Kaloyan (1197-1207) began to ravage the Byzantine cities in the Balkans, proudly calling himself a Romeeboy and thereby opposing himself to Basil.
XI century crisis
15.1071 - Battle of Manzikert
Battle of Manzikert. Miniature from the book "On the Misfortunes of Famous People" by Boccaccio. XV century
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The political crisis that began after the death of Basil II continued in the middle of the 11th century: clans were still competing, dynasties were constantly replacing each other - from 1028 to 1081, 11 emperors were replaced on the Byzantine throne, there was no such frequency even at the turn of the 7th-8th centuries ... Pechenegs and Seljuk Turks pressed on Byzantium from outside The power of the Seljuk Turks in just a few decades in the 11th century conquered the territories of modern Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and became the main threat to Byzantium in the East.- the latter, having won a victory in the battle of Manzikert in 1071 Manzikert- now a small town Malazgirt on the easternmost tip of Turkey near Lake Van., deprived the empire of most of its territories in Asia Minor. No less painful for Byzantium was the full-scale severance of church relations with Rome in 1054, which later received the name of the Great Schism. Schism(from the Greek σχίζμα) - gap., because of which Byzantium finally lost its ecclesiastical influence in Italy. However, contemporaries hardly noticed this event and did not attach due importance to it.
However, it was precisely this era of political instability, unsteadiness of social boundaries and, as a consequence, high social mobility that gave rise to the unique figure of Michael Psellus, even for Byzantium - an erudite and an official who took an active part in the enthronement of emperors (his central work "Chronography" is very autobiographical) , thought about the most complex theological and philosophical issues, studied the pagan Chaldean oracles, created works in all conceivable genres - from literary criticism to hagiography. The situation of intellectual freedom gave impetus to a new typical Byzantine version of Neoplatonism: in the title of "Ipat philosophers" Ipat philosophers- in fact, the main philosopher of the empire, the head of the philosophical school in Constantinople. Psellus was succeeded by John Ital, who studied not only Plato and Aristotle, but also such philosophers as Ammonius, Philopon, Porfiry and Proclus and, at least according to his opponents, taught about the transmigration of souls and the immortality of ideas.
Comnenian revival
16.1081 - the coming to power of Alexei I Comnenus
Christ blesses the Emperor Alexei I Komnenos. Miniature from "Dogmatic Panoplia" by Euthymius Zigabena. XII century In 1081, as a result of a compromise with the clans of Duk, Melissene and Palaeologus, the Komnen family came to power. It gradually monopolized all state power and, thanks to complicated dynastic marriages, absorbed former rivals. Beginning with Alexei I Comnenus (1081-1118), the aristocratization of Byzantine society takes place, social mobility decreases, intellectual freedoms are curtailed, the imperial power actively intervenes in the spiritual sphere. The beginning of this process was marked by the church-state condemnation of John Ital for "Palatonic ideas" and paganism in 1082. Then follows the condemnation of Leo of Chalcedon, who opposed the confiscation of church property to cover military needs (at this time Byzantium was waging wars with the Sicilian Normans and Pechenegs) and almost accused Alexei of iconoclasm. Massacres of the Bogomils take place Bogomilism- a doctrine that arose in the Balkans in the 10th century, in many respects dating back to the religion of the Manichaeans. According to the Bogomils, the physical world was created by Satan who was cast out of heaven. The human body was also his creation, but the soul was still a gift of the good God. The Bogomils did not recognize the institution of the church and often opposed the secular authorities, raising numerous uprisings. One of them, Vasily, was even burned at the stake - a unique phenomenon for Byzantine practice. In 1117, Aristotle's commentator Eustratius of Nicaea appears before the court on charges of heresy.
Meanwhile, contemporaries and immediate descendants remembered Alexei I rather as a ruler, successful in his foreign policy: he managed to conclude an alliance with the crusaders and strike a sensitive blow against the Seljuks in Asia Minor.
In the satire "Timarion", the story is told from the perspective of a hero who traveled to the afterlife. In his story, he also mentions John Ital, who wanted to take part in the conversation of the ancient Greek philosophers, but was rejected by them: “I was also a witness of how Pythagoras sharply pushed John Italus, who wanted to join this community of sages. “Scum,” he said, “putting on the Galilean garment, which they call the divine holy vestments, in other words, having received baptism, you strive to communicate with us, whose life was given to science and knowledge? Either throw off this vulgar dress, or immediately leave our brotherhood! "" (Translated by S. V. Polyakova, N. V. Felenkovskaya).
17.1143 - coming to power of Manuel I Comnenus
The tendencies that emerged under Alexei I were developed under Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180). He strove to establish personal control over the church life of the empire, sought to unify theological thought, and he himself took part in church disputes. One of the questions in which Manuel wanted to have his say was the following: what hypostases of the Trinity accept the sacrifice during the Eucharist - only God the Father, or both the Son and the Holy Spirit? If the second answer is correct (and this is exactly what was decided at the council of 1156-1157), then the same Son will be both the sacrificed and the recipient.
Manuel's foreign policy was marked by failures in the East (the most terrible - the defeat of the Byzantines at Myriokephalus in 1176 at the hands of the Seljuks) and attempts at diplomatic rapprochement with the West. The ultimate goal of Western policy, Manuel saw unification with Rome on the basis of the recognition of the supreme power of a single Roman emperor, who was to become Manuel himself, and the unification of the churches, officially divided in. However, this project was never implemented.
In the era of Manuel, literary creativity becomes a profession, literary circles appear with their own artistic fashion, elements of the folk language penetrate into the court aristocratic literature (they can be found in the works of the poet Theodore Prodromus or the chronicler Constantin Manasseh), the genre of Byzantine love story arises, and the arsenal of expressive means expands and the measure of the author's self-reflection is growing.
Decline of Byzantium
18.1204 - the fall of Constantinople at the hands of the crusaders
During the reign of Andronicus I Komnenos (1183-1185), there was a political crisis: he pursued a populist policy (reduced taxes, severed relations with the West and brutally cracked down on corrupt officials), which revived a significant part of the elite against him and aggravated the foreign policy position of the empire.
The crusaders attack Constantinople. Miniature from the chronicle "Conquest of Constantino Field" by Geoffroy de Villardouin. Roughly 1330, Villardouin was one of the leaders of the campaign. Bibliothèque nationale de France
An attempt to establish a new dynasty of Angels did not bear fruit, the society was deconsolidated. To this were added failures on the periphery of the empire: an uprising arose in Bulgaria; the crusaders took over Cyprus; the Sicilian Normans ravaged Thessalonica. The struggle between claimants to the throne within the family of Angels gave the European countries a formal excuse to intervene. On April 12, 1204, the participants of the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople. We read the most vivid artistic description of these events in the "History" of Nikita Choniates and the postmodern novel "Baudolino" by Umberto Eco, who sometimes verbatim copies the pages of Choniates.
On the ruins of the former empire, several states arose under Venetian rule, only to a small extent inheriting Byzantine state institutions. The Latin Empire, centered in Constantinople, was rather a feudal formation of the Western European type, the same character was the case for the duchies and kingdoms that arose in Thessalonica, Athens and the Peloponnese.
Andronicus was one of the most eccentric rulers of the empire. Nikita Choniates says that he ordered to create in one of the churches of the capital his portrait in the guise of a poor farmer in high boots and with a scythe in his hand. There were legends about Andronicus' bestial cruelty. He arranged public burnings of his opponents at the hippodrome, during which the executioners pushed the victim into the fire with sharp lances, and the reader of Hagia Sophia, George Disipat, who dared to condemn his cruelty, threatened to roast it on a spit and send it to his wife instead of food.
19.1261 - the conquest of Constantinople
The loss of Constantinople led to the emergence of three Greek states, equally claiming to be the full heirs of Byzantium: the Nicene Empire in the northwest of Asia Minor under the rule of the Lascari dynasty; The Trebizond Empire in the northeastern part of the Black Sea coast of Asia Minor, where the descendants of the Comnenos settled - the Great Comnenes, who took the title "emperors of the Romans", and the Epirus kingdom in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula with the dynasty of Angels. The revival of the Byzantine Empire in 1261 took place on the basis of the Nicene Empire, which pushed aside competitors and skillfully used the help of the German emperor and the Genoese in the fight against the Venetians. As a result, the Latin emperor and patriarch fled, and Michael VIII Palaeologus occupied Constantinople, was re-crowned and proclaimed "the new Constantine."
In his policy, the founder of the new dynasty tried to reach a compromise with the Western powers, and in 1274 he even went to church union with Rome, thereby turning the Greek episcopate and the Constantinople elite against him.
Despite the fact that the empire was formally revived, its culture lost its former "constantinopolecentricity": the Palaeologians were forced to put up with the presence of the Venetians in the Balkans and the significant autonomy of Trebizond, whose rulers formally renounced the title of "emperors of the Romans", but in reality did not abandon their imperial ambitions.
A striking example of the imperial ambitions of Trebizond is the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia of the Wisdom of God, which was built there in the middle of the 13th century and still makes a strong impression today. This temple at the same time opposed Trebizond to Constantinople with its Hagia Sophia, and at the symbolic level turned Trebizond into a new Constantinople.
20.1351 - approval of the teachings of Gregory Palamas
Saint Gregory Palamas. Icon of the master of Northern Greece. Early 15th century
The second quarter of the 14th century marks the beginning of the Palamite disputes. Saint Gregory Palamas (1296-1357) was an original thinker who developed the controversial doctrine of the difference in God of the divine essence (with which man can neither connect nor cognize it) and uncreated divine energies (with which connection is possible) and defended the possibility contemplation through the "intelligent feeling" of the Divine light, revealed, according to the Gospels, to the apostles during the transfiguration of Christ For example, in the Gospel of Matthew this light is described as follows: “After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John, his brother, and led them to a high mountain alone, and was transfigured before them: and His face shone like the sun, and his clothes His were made white as light ”(Matt. 17: 1-2)..
In the 40s and 50s of the XIV century, theological dispute was closely intertwined with political confrontation: Palamas, his supporters (patriarchs Callistus I and Philotheus Kokkin, Emperor John VI Cantacuzin) and opponents (later the philosopher Barlaam of Calabria, who later converted to Catholicism, and his followers Gregory Akindinus, Patriarch John IV Caleca, philosopher and writer Nikifor Grigora) alternately won tactical victories, then suffered defeat.
The Council of 1351, which confirmed the victory of Palamas, nevertheless did not put an end to the dispute, the echoes of which could be heard in the 15th century, but forever closed the way for the anti-Palamites to the highest ecclesiastical and state power. Some researchers follow Igor Medvedev I.P. Medvedev. Byzantine humanism of the XIV-XV centuries. SPb., 1997. see in the thought of the anti-Palamites, first of all Nikifor Grigora, tendencies close to the ideas of the Italian humanists. Humanistic ideas were even more fully reflected in the work of the neoplatonist and ideologist of the pagan renewal of Byzantium, George Gemistus Plithon, whose works were destroyed by the official church.
Even in serious scholarly literature, it can sometimes be seen that the words "(anti) Palamites" and "(anti) hesychasts" are used synonymously. This is not entirely true. Hesychasm (from the Greek.
21.1439 - Union of Ferrara and Florence
Florentine Union of Pope Eugene IV. 1439 year Compiled in two languages - Latin and Greek. British Library Board / Bridgeman Images / Fotodom
By the early 15th century, it had become apparent that the Ottoman military threat was calling into question the very existence of the empire. Byzantine diplomacy actively sought support in the West, negotiations were underway to unite the churches in exchange for military assistance from Rome. In the 1430s, the principal decision on unification was made, but the subject of bargaining was the location of the cathedral (on Byzantine or Italian territory) and its status (whether it will be designated in advance as “unifying”). The meetings eventually took place in Italy - first in Ferrara, then in Florence and in Rome. In June 1439, the Ferraro-Florentine Union was signed. This meant that the Byzantine Church formally recognized the correctness of the Catholics on all controversial issues, including the issue. But the union did not find support from the Byzantine episcopate (Bishop Mark Eugenicus became the head of its opponents), which led to the coexistence of two parallel hierarchies in Constantinople - the Uniate and the Orthodox. 14 years later, immediately after the fall of Constantinople, the Ottomans decided to rely on the anti-Uniates and appointed Gennady Scholarius, a follower of Mark Eugenicus, as patriarch, but formally the abolition of the union took place only in 1484.
If in the history of the church union remained only a short-lived, failed experiment, then its trace in the history of culture is much more significant. Figures like Bessarion of Nicaea, a disciple of the neopagan Plithon, a Uniate metropolitan, and then a cardinal and titular Latin patriarch of Constantinople, played a key role in the transmission of Byzantine (and ancient) culture to the West. Vissarion, in whose epitaph the words: "By your labors Greece moved to Rome" are engraved, translated Greek classical authors into Latin, patronized Greek emigre intellectuals and donated his library to Venice, which included more than 700 manuscripts (at that time the most extensive private library in Europe), which became the foundation of the St. Mark's Library.
The Ottoman Empire (named after the first ruler of Osman I) arose in 1299 on the ruins of the Seljuk Sultanate in Anatolia and during the 14th century increased its expansion in Asia Minor and the Balkans. A short respite from Byzantium was given by the confrontation of the Ottomans with the troops of Tamerlane at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, but with the coming to power of Mehmed I in 1413, the Ottomans again began to threaten Constantinople.
22.1453 - the fall of the Byzantine Empire
Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror. Painting by Gentile Bellini. 1480 year
Wikimedia Commons
The last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaeologus made unsuccessful attempts to repel the Ottoman threat. By the early 1450s, Byzantium retained only a small region in the vicinity of Constantinople (Trebizond was virtually independent from Constantinople), and the Ottomans controlled both most of Anatolia and the Balkans (Thessalonica fell in 1430, the Peloponnese was devastated in 1446). In search of allies, the emperor turned to Venice, Aragon, Dubrovnik, Hungary, the Genoese, the Pope, but only the Venetians and Rome offered real help (and very limited). In the spring of 1453, the battle for the city began, on May 29, Constantinople fell, and Constantine XI died in battle. Many incredible stories have been written about his death, the circumstances of which are not known to scientists; In folk Greek culture for many centuries there was a legend that the last Byzantine king was turned into marble by an angel and now rests in a secret cave at the Golden Gate, but is about to awaken and drive out the Ottomans.
Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror did not break the line of succession with Byzantium, but inherited the title of the Roman emperor, supported the Greek Church, and stimulated the development of Greek culture. The time of his reign is marked by projects that seem fantastic at first glance. The Greek-Italian humanist Catholic George of Trebizond wrote about the construction of a world empire led by Mehmed, in which Islam and Christianity would unite into one religion. And the historian Mikhail Kritovul created a story-praise for Mehmed - a typical Byzantine panegyric with all the obligatory rhetoric, but in honor of the Muslim ruler, who nevertheless was named not a sultan, but in the Byzantine manner - a basileus.
The history of Byzantium, one of the "world" powers of the Middle Ages, a society of peculiar development and high culture, a society at the junction of West and East, was full of violent internal events, endless wars with neighbors, intense political, economic, cultural relations with many countries of Europe and the Middle East ...
Political structure of Byzantium
From the Roman Empire, Byzantium inherited a monarchical form of government with an emperor at its head. From the VII century. the head of state was often referred to as an autocrat.
The Byzantine Empire consisted of two prefectures - East and Illyricum, each of which was headed by prefects: the prefect of the East Praetorium (Latin Praefectus praetorio Orientis) and the Praefectus praetorio Illyrici prefect (Latin Praefectus praetorio Illyrici). Constantinople was separated into a separate unit, headed by the prefect of the city of Constantinople (lat.Praefectus urbis Constantinopolitanae).
For a long time, the old system of state and financial administration was preserved. But from the end of the 6th century, significant reforms began, associated mainly with defense (administrative division into femas instead of exarchates) and the Greek culture of the country (introduction of the posts of logoet, strategist, drungaria, etc.).
Since the 10th century, feudal principles of government have been widely spread, this process led to the establishment of the representatives of the feudal aristocracy on the throne. Until the very end of the empire, numerous rebellions and the struggle for the imperial throne did not stop. The two highest military officials were the commander-in-chief of the infantry (lat. Magister paeditum) and the chief of the cavalry (lat. Magister equitum), later these positions were combined (magister militum); in the capital there were two masters of infantry and cavalry (Stratig Opsikia) (lat.Magistri equitum et pаeditum in praesenti). In addition, there was the Master of Infantry and Cavalry of the East (Stratig Anatolica), the Master of Infantry and Cavalry of Illyrica, the Master of Infantry and Cavalry of Thrace (Stratig of Thrace).
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476), the Eastern Roman Empire continued to exist for almost a thousand years; in historiography, from this time it is usually called Byzantium.
The ruling class of Byzantium is characterized by vertical mobility. At all times, a man from the bottom could break through to power. In some cases, it was even easier for him: for example, there was an opportunity to make a career in the army and earn military glory. For example, Emperor Michael II Travl was an uneducated mercenary, was sentenced to death by Emperor Leo V for rebellion, and his execution was postponed only because of the celebration of Christmas (820). Basil I was a peasant, and then a bus driver in the service of a noble nobleman. Roman I Lacapenus was also a native of peasants, Michael IV, before becoming emperor, was a money changer, like one of his brothers.
Army of the Eastern Roman Empire by 395
Although Byzantium inherited its army from the Roman Empire, its structure approached the phalanx system of the Hellenic states. By the end of the existence of Byzantium, it became mainly mercenary and was distinguished by a rather low combat capability. On the other hand, a system of military command and supply was developed in detail, works on strategy and tactics are being published, various technical means are widely used, in particular, a system of beacons is being built to notify of an enemy attack. In contrast to the old Roman army, the importance of the navy is greatly increased, for which the invention of the "Greek fire" helps to gain supremacy at sea. The Sassanids adopted fully armored cavalry - the cataphractarii. At the same time, technically complex throwing weapons, ballistae and catapults, supplanted by simpler stone throwers, are disappearing.
The transition to a femic system of recruiting troops provided the country with 150 years of successful wars, but the financial exhaustion of the peasantry and its transition to dependence on the feudal lords led to a gradual decrease in combat effectiveness. The manning system was changed to a typically feudal one, when the nobility was obliged to supply military contingents for the right to own land. In the future, the army and navy fell into an ever-greater decline, and at the very end of the empire's existence they were purely mercenary formations.
In 1453 Constantinople, with a population of 60 thousand inhabitants, was able to send only an army of 5 thousand and 2.5 thousand mercenaries. Since the 10th century, the emperors of Constantinople have hired Rus and warriors from neighboring barbarian tribes. From the 10th century, ethnically mixed Varangians played a significant role in the heavy infantry, and the light cavalry was recruited from Turkic nomads. After the era of Viking campaigns came to an end at the beginning of the 11th century, mercenaries from Scandinavia (as well as from Normandy and England conquered by the Vikings) rushed to Byzantium through the Mediterranean Sea. The future Norwegian king Harald the Severe fought for several years in the Varangian guard throughout the Mediterranean. The Varangian Guard bravely defended Constantinople from the crusaders in 1204 and was defeated during the capture of the city.
The period of the reign of the emperors from Basil I the Macedonian to Alexei I Comnenus (867-1081) was of great cultural importance. The essential features of this period of history are the high rise of Byzantinism and the spread of its cultural mission to southeastern Europe. Through the works of the famous Byzantines Cyril and Methodius, the Slavic alphabet - Glagolitic - appeared, which led to the emergence of their own written literature among the Slavs. Patriarch Photius put obstacles to the claims of the popes and theoretically substantiated the right of Constantinople to church independence from Rome (see Division of Churches).
In the scientific field, this period is distinguished by an extraordinary fertility and a variety of literary enterprises. Collections and adaptations of this period have preserved precious historical, literary and archaeological material borrowed from now lost writers.
Economy
The state included rich lands with a large number of cities - Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece. In the cities, artisans and merchants united into estates. Belonging to an estate was not an obligation, but a privilege, and joining it was subject to a number of conditions. The conditions established by the eparch (mayor) for the 22 estates of Constantinople were brought together in the 10th century in a collection of decrees, the Book of the Eparch. Despite the corrupt system of government, very high taxes, slave economy and court intrigues, the economy of Byzantium was the strongest in Europe for a long time. Trade was conducted with all the former Roman possessions in the west and with India (through the Sassanids and Arabs) in the east.
Even after the Arab conquests, the empire was very rich. But the financial costs were also very high, and the country's wealth aroused strong envy. The decline of trade caused by the privileges granted to Italian merchants, the seizure of Constantinople by the crusaders and the onslaught of the Turks led to the final weakening of finances and the state as a whole.
In the initial period of the history of the state, the basis of the economy was made up of production and the customs structure. 85-90 percent of production in all of Eurasia (excluding India and China) came from the Eastern Roman Empire. Absolutely everything was done in the empire: from consumer products (oil lamps, weapons, armor, the production of primitive elevators, mirrors, some other items related to cosmetics), which are now quite widely represented in all museums in the world, to unique works of art, in other areas of the world not represented at all - icon painting, painting, and so on.
Medicine in Byzantium
Byzantine science throughout the entire period of the existence of the state was in close connection with ancient philosophy and metaphysics. The main activity of scientists was in the applied field, where a number of remarkable successes were achieved, such as the construction of St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople and the invention of Greek fire.
At the same time, pure science practically did not develop either in terms of creating new theories, or in terms of developing the ideas of ancient thinkers. From the era of Justinian to the end of the first millennium, scientific knowledge was in great decline, but later Byzantine scientists showed themselves again, especially in astronomy and mathematics, already relying on the achievements of Arab and Persian science.
Medicine was one of the few branches of knowledge in which progress was made in comparison with antiquity. The influence of Byzantine medicine was felt both in the Arab countries and in Europe during the Renaissance. In the last century of the empire, Byzantium played an important role in the dissemination of ancient Greek literature in Italy during the early Renaissance. The main center for the study of astronomy and mathematics by that time was the Academy of Trebizond.
In 330, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great declared the city of Byzantium as his capital, renaming it "New Rome" (Constantinople is an unofficial name).
The new capital was located on the most important trade route from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, along which grain was delivered. In Rome, more and more new contenders for the throne constantly appeared. Having defeated rivals in exhausting civil wars, Constantine wanted to create a capital, initially and entirely subject to him alone. A deep ideological revolution was called upon to serve the same goal: until recently, persecuted in Rome, during the reign of Constantine, Christianity was declared the state religion. Constantinople immediately became the capital of the Christian empire.
The final division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western occurred in 395 after the death of Theodosius I the Great. The main difference between Byzantium and the Western Roman Empire was the predominance of Greek culture on its territory. The differences grew, and over the course of two centuries the state finally acquired its individual appearance.
The formation of Byzantium as an independent state can be attributed to the period 330-518. During this period, numerous barbarian, mainly Germanic tribes penetrated the Roman territory through the borders on the Danube and Rhine. The situation in the East was no less difficult, and one could expect a similar ending, after the Visigoths won the famous battle at Adrianople in 378, the emperor Valens was killed and King Alaric devastated all of Greece. But soon Alaric went west - to Spain and Gaul, where the Goths founded their state, and the danger from their side for Byzantium was over. In 441, the Huns came to replace the Goths. Their leader Attila started a war several times, and only by paying a large tribute was it possible to buy him off. In the battle of the peoples on the Catalaunian fields (451), Attila was defeated, and his power soon disintegrated.
In the second half of the 5th century, danger came from the Ostrogoths - Theodoric the Great ruined Macedonia, threatened Constantinople, but he also went west, conquering Italy and establishing his state on the ruins of Rome.
In 1204, Constantinople first surrendered under the onslaught of the enemy: enraged by an unsuccessful campaign in the "promised land", the crusaders rushed into the city, announced the creation of the Latin Empire and divided the Byzantine lands between the French barons.
The new formation did not last long: on July 51, 1261, Constantinople was occupied without a fight by Michael VIII Palaeologus, who announced the revival of the Eastern Roman Empire. The dynasty he founded ruled Byzantium until its fall, but this reign was rather pitiful. In the end, the emperors lived on handouts from Genoese and Venetian merchants, and they naturally plundered church and private estates.
By the beginning of the XIV century, only Constantinople, Thessaloniki and small scattered enclaves in the south of Greece remained from the former territories. Desperate attempts by the last emperor of Byzantium, Manuel II, to enlist the military support of Western Europe were unsuccessful. On May 29, 1453, Constantinople was conquered for the second and last time.
Religion of Byzantium
In Christianity, diverse trends fought and collided: Arianism, Nestorianism, Monophysitism. While in the West the popes, starting with Leo the Great (440-461), established the papal monarchy, in the East the patriarchs of Alexandria, especially Cyril (422-444) and Dioscorus (444-451), tried to establish the papal throne in Alexandria. In addition, as a result of these troubles, old national strife and separatist tendencies surfaced.
Political interests and goals were closely intertwined with religious conflict.
Since 502, the Persians resumed their onslaught in the east, the Slavs and Bulgars began raids south of the Danube. Internal turmoil reached extreme limits, an intense struggle was waged in the capital between the "green" and "blue" parties (according to the colors of the chariot teams). Finally, the lasting memory of the Roman tradition, which supported the idea of the need for the unity of the Roman world, constantly turned the minds to the West. To get out of this state of instability, a powerful hand was needed, a clear policy with precise and definite plans. This policy was pursued by Justinian I.
The ethnic composition of the empire was very variegated, but starting from the 7th century, Greeks made up the majority of the population. Since then, the Byzantine emperor began to be called in Greek - "Basileus". In the 9-10th centuries, after the conquest of Bulgaria and the subjugation of the Serbs and Croats, Byzantium became, in essence, a Greco-Slavic state. On the basis of a religious community around Byzantium, a vast "zone of orthodoxy (Orthodoxy)" was formed, including Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, and most of Serbia.
Until the 7th century, Latin was the official language of the empire, but there was literature in Greek, Syrian, Armenian, and Georgian. In 866, the "Solun brothers" Cyril (c. 826-869) and Methodius (c. 815-885) invented the Slavic letter, which quickly spread in Bulgaria and Russia.
Despite the fact that the whole life of the state and society was imbued with religion, secular power in Byzantium was always stronger than the power of the church. The Byzantine Empire was always distinguished by a stable statehood and strictly centralized government.
In terms of its political structure, Byzantium was an autocratic monarchy, the doctrine of which finally took shape here. All power was in the hands of the emperor (basileus). He was the supreme judge, directed foreign policy, passed laws, commanded the army, etc. His power was considered divine and was practically unlimited, however (paradox!) It was not legally hereditary. The result of this was constant turmoil and wars for power, which ended in the creation of another dynasty (a simple warrior, even from barbarians, or a peasant, thanks to dexterity and personal abilities, could often take a high position in the state or even become an emperor. The history of Byzantium is full of such examples).
In Byzantium, a special system of relations between secular and ecclesiastical authorities developed, called caesaropapism (the emperors, in essence, ruled the Church, becoming “popes.” The Church, on the other hand, became only an appendage and instrument of secular power). The power of the emperors was especially strengthened during the notorious period of "iconoclasm", when the clergy was completely subordinated to the imperial power, deprived of many privileges, the wealth of the church and monasteries was partially confiscated. As for cultural life, the result of "iconoclasm" was the complete canonization of spiritual art.
Culture of Byzantium
In artistic creation, Byzantium gave the medieval world high images of literature and art, which were distinguished by noble grace of forms, imaginative vision of thought, refinement of aesthetic thinking, depth of philosophical thought. The direct heir to the Greco-Roman world and the Hellenistic East, in terms of the power of expressiveness and deep spirituality, Byzantium stood ahead of all the countries of medieval Europe for many centuries. since the 6th century, Constantinople turns into a renowned artistic center of the medieval world, into a "palladium of arts and sciences". It was followed by Ravenna, Rome, Nicaea, Thessalonica, which also became the focus of the Byzantine art style.
The artistic development of Byzantium was not straightforward. It had epochs of upsurge and decline, periods of the triumph of progressive ideas and dark years of the domination of the reactionary. There were several periods, more or less prosperous, marked by a special flourishing of art:
Time of Emperor Justinian I (527-565) - "the golden age of Byzantium"
and the so-called Byzantine "renaissances":
The reign of the Macedonian dynasty (mid-9th - late 11th century) - "Macedonian Renaissance".
The reign of the Komnenos dynasty (late 11th - late 12th centuries) - "Comnenian Renaissance".
Late Byzantium (from 1260) - "Paleologian Renaissance".
Byzantium survived the invasion of the Crusaders (1204, IV Crusade), but with the formation and strengthening of the Ottoman Empire on its borders, its end was inevitable. The West promised help only on condition of conversion to Catholicism (the Ferraro-Florentine union, indignantly rejected by the people).
In April 1453 Constantinople was surrounded by a huge Turkish army and two months later it was taken by storm. The last emperor - Constantine XI Palaeologus - died on the fortress wall with weapons in his hands.
Since then, Constantinople has been called Istanbul.
The fall of Byzantium was a huge blow to the Orthodox (and Christian in general) world. Distracting from politics and economics, Christian theologians saw the main reason for her death in that fall in morals and in the hypocrisy in matters of religion that flourished in Byzantium in the last centuries of its existence. So, Vladimir Soloviev wrote:
"After many delays and a long struggle with material decay, the Eastern Empire, which had long since died morally, was finally just before
revival of the West, demolished from the historical arena. ... Being proud of their orthodoxy and piety, they did not want to understand that simple and self-evident truth that real orthodoxy and piety require that we somehow reconcile our life with what we believe in and what we revere - they did not want to understand, that the real advantage belongs to the Christian kingdom over others only insofar as it is organized and governed in the spirit of Christ. ... Finding itself hopelessly incapable of its lofty mission - to be a Christian kingdom - Byzantium lost the inner reason for its existence. For the current, ordinary tasks of state administration could, and even much better, be fulfilled by the government of the Turkish Sultan, which, being free from internal contradictions, was more honest and stronger and, moreover, did not interfere in the religious sphere of Christianity, did not invent questionable dogmas and pernicious heresies, but nor did it defend Orthodoxy by massacring heretics and solemnly burning heresiarchs at the stake. "
Byzantium (Byzantine Empire) is a medieval state from the name of the city of Byzantium, in the place of which the Emperor of the Roman Empire Constantine I the Great (306–337) founded Constantinople and in 330 moved the capital here from Rome (see Ancient Rome). In 395 the empire was divided into Western and Eastern; in 476 the Western Empire fell; The eastern one survived. Its continuation was Byzantium. The subjects themselves called her Romania (Roman Empire), and themselves - Romans (Romans), regardless of their ethnic origin.
Byzantine Empire in the 6th – 11th centuries
Byzantium existed until the middle of the 15th century; up to the 2nd half of the 12th century. it was a powerful, richest state that played a huge role in the political life of Europe and the Middle East. Byzantium achieved the most significant foreign policy successes at the end of the 10th century. - the beginning of the 11th century; she temporarily conquered Western Roman lands, then stopped the Arab offensive, conquered Bulgaria in the Balkans, subjugated the Serbs and Croats and became, in fact, a Greco-Slavic state for almost two centuries. Its emperors tried to act as supreme overlords of the entire Christian world. Ambassadors from all over the world came to Constantinople. The sovereigns of many countries of Europe and Asia dreamed of kinship with the emperor of Byzantium. Visited Constantinople around the middle of the 10th century. and the Russian princess Olga. Her reception in the palace was described by the Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus himself. He was the first to call Russia "Russia" and talked about the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks."
Even more significant was the influence of the distinctive and vibrant culture of Byzantium. Until the end of the 12th century. it remained the most cultured country in Europe. Kievan Rus and Byzantium were supported from the 9th century. regular trade, political and cultural ties. Invented around 860 by the Byzantine cultural figures - the "Solun brothers" Constantine (monastic Cyril) and Methodius, the Slavic literacy in the 2nd half of the 10th century. - the beginning of the 11th century. penetrated into Russia mainly through Bulgaria and quickly became widespread here (see. Writing). From Byzantium in 988 Russia adopted Christianity (see Religion). Simultaneously with baptism, the Kiev prince Vladimir married the emperor's sister (granddaughter of Constantine VI) Anna. In the next two centuries, dynastic marriages between the ruling houses of Byzantium and Russia were concluded many times. Gradually in the 9-11 centuries. On the basis of an ideological (then primarily religious) community, a vast cultural zone (“the world of orthodoxy” - Orthodoxy) was formed, the center of which was Byzantium and in which the achievements of Byzantine civilization were actively perceived, developed and processed. In addition to Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria and most of Serbia were included in the Orthodox zone (it was opposed by the Catholic one).
One of the factors that held back the social and state development of Byzantium were the continuous wars that it waged throughout its entire existence. In Europe, it held back the onslaught of the Bulgarians and nomadic tribes - the Pechenegs, Uzes, Polovtsians; fought wars with the Serbs, Hungarians, Normans (in 1071 they deprived the empire of its last possessions in Italy), finally, with the crusaders. In the East, Byzantium for centuries served as a barrier (like Kievan Rus) for Asian peoples: Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and from the 13th century. - and the Ottoman Turks.
There are several periods in the history of Byzantium. Time from 4 to. until the middle of the 7th century. - this is the era of the collapse of the slave system, the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Slavery has outlived its usefulness, the ancient polis (city), the stronghold of the old system, was crumbling. The economy, the state system, and ideology were experiencing a crisis. The empire was hit by waves of "barbaric" invasions. Relying on the huge bureaucratic apparatus of power inherited from the Roman Empire, the state recruited part of the peasants into the army, forced others to fulfill government duties (transport goods, build fortresses), imposed heavy taxes on the population, and fastened them to the land. Justinian I (527-565) attempted to restore the Roman Empire to its former borders. Its commanders Belisarius and Narses temporarily conquered North Africa from the Vandals, Italy from the Ostrogoths, and part of Southeast Spain from the Visigoths. The grandiose wars of Justinian were vividly described by one of the largest contemporary historians - Procopius of Caesarea. But the climb was short. By the middle of the 7th century. the territory of Byzantium was reduced by almost three times: possessions in Spain, more than half of the lands in Italy, most of the Balkan Peninsula, Syria, Palestine, Egypt were lost.
The culture of Byzantium in this era was distinguished by its vivid originality. Although Latin was almost until the middle of the 7th century. the official language, there was also literature in Greek, Syrian, Coptic, Armenian, Georgian. Christianity, which became the state religion in the 4th century, had a huge impact on the development of culture. The church controlled all genres of literature and art. Libraries and theaters were ravaged or destroyed, schools where "pagan" (ancient) sciences were taught were closed. But Byzantium needed educated people, the preservation of elements of secular scholarship and natural science knowledge, as well as applied arts, the skill of painters and architects. A significant fund of ancient heritage in Byzantine culture is one of its characteristic features. The Christian Church could not exist without a competent clergy. She turned out to be powerless in the face of criticism from pagans, heretics, adherents of Zoroastrianism and Islam, not relying on ancient philosophy and dialectics. On the foundation of ancient science and art, multicolored mosaics of the 5th – 6th centuries, intransient in their artistic value, arose, among which the mosaics of churches in Ravenna stand out especially (for example, with the image of the emperor in the Church of San Vitale). The "Code of Civil Law of Justinian" was drawn up, which later formed the basis of bourgeois law, since it was based on the principle of private property (see Roman law). The magnificent church of St. Sofia, built in Constantinople in 532-537. Anthem of Thrall and Isidore of Miletus. This miracle of construction technology is a kind of symbol of the political and ideological unity of the empire.
In the 1st third of the 7th century. Byzantium was in a state of grave crisis. Huge areas of previously cultivated lands were desolate and depopulated, many cities lay in ruins, the treasury was empty. The entire north of the Balkans was occupied by the Slavs, some of them penetrated far to the south. The state saw a way out of this situation in the revival of small free peasant land tenure. Strengthening power over the peasants, it made them its main support: the treasury was made up of taxes from them, an army was created from those obliged to serve in the militia. It helped to strengthen the power in the provinces and return the lost lands in the 7-10th centuries. a new administrative structure, the so-called femme system: the governor of the province (fema), the stratig, received from the emperor all the military and civil power. The first themes arose in areas close to the capital, each new theme served as the basis for the creation of the next, neighboring one. The barbarians who settled in the empire also became subjects of the empire: as taxpayers and warriors, they were used to revive it.
With the loss of land in the east and west, the majority of its population were Greeks, the emperor began to be called in Greek - "Basileus".
In the 8-10th centuries. Byzantium became a feudal monarchy. A strong central government held back the development of feudal relations. Some of the peasants retained their freedom, remaining taxpayers of the treasury. The vassal-fief system did not take shape in Byzantium (see Feudalism). Most of the feudal lords lived in large cities. The power of the Basileus was especially strengthened in the era of iconoclasm (726–843): under the flag of the fight against superstition and idolatry (veneration of icons, relics), the emperors subdued the clergy, who argued with them in the struggle for power, and in the provinces, who supported separatist tendencies, confiscated the riches of churches and monasteries ... Henceforth, the choice of the patriarch, and often of the bishops, began to depend on the will of the emperor, as well as the welfare of the church. Having solved these problems, the government restored the veneration of icons in 843.
In the 9-10th centuries. the state completely subjugated not only the village, but also the city. Byzantine gold coin - nomisma acquired the role of international currency. Constantinople again became a "workshop of splendor" that amazed foreigners; as a "golden bridge", it knotted trade routes from Asia and Europe. Merchants of the entire civilized world and all "barbaric" countries aspired here. But the artisans and traders of the large centers of Byzantium were subjected to strict control and regulation by the state, paid high taxes and duties, and could not participate in political life. Since the end of the 11th century. their products could no longer withstand the competition of Italian products. Uprising of the townspeople in the 11-12 centuries. were brutally suppressed. Cities, including the capital, fell into decay. Their markets were dominated by foreigners who bought wholesale products from large feudal lords, churches, monasteries.
The development of state power in Byzantium in the 8-11th centuries. - this is the path of gradual rebirth in a new guise of a centralized bureaucratic apparatus. Numerous departments, courts and organs of the overt and secret police ran a huge machine of power, designed to control all spheres of life of subjects, to ensure that they pay taxes, fulfill their duties, and unquestioning obedience. In its center stood the emperor - the supreme judge, legislator, military leader, who handed out titles, awards and positions. Every step he took was decorated with solemn ceremonies, especially the receptions of ambassadors. He presided over the council of the highest nobility (synclite). But his power was not legally hereditary. There was a bloody struggle for the throne, sometimes the Synclite decided the matter. The patriarch, the palace guards, the all-powerful temporary workers, and the capital's plebs intervened in the fate of the throne. In the 11th century. the two main groups of the nobility competed - the civil bureaucracy (it stood for centralization and increased tax oppression) and the military (it strove for greater independence and expansion of estates at the expense of free taxpayers). The Vasilevs of the Macedonian dynasty (867–1056), founded by Basil I (867–886), during which Byzantium reached the pinnacle of power, represented the civil nobility. Rebel commanders-usurpers fought with her incessantly and in 1081 managed to put on the throne their protege Alexei I Comnenus (1081-1118), the founder of a new dynasty (1081-1185). But the Comnenes achieved temporary successes, they only delayed the fall of the empire. In the provinces, the wealthy magnates refused to consolidate the central authority; Bulgarians and Serbs in Europe, Armenians in Asia did not recognize the power of the Vasilevs. Byzantium, which was in crisis, fell in 1204 during the invasion of the Crusaders during the 4th Crusade (see Crusades).
In the cultural life of Byzantium in the 7-12 centuries. three stages have changed. Up to the 2nd third of the 9th century. its culture is marked by the stamp of decline. Elementary literacy became a rarity, secular sciences were almost expelled (except for those related to military affairs; for example, in the 7th century "Greek fire" was invented, a liquid combustible mixture that brought victories to the imperial fleet more than once). Literature was dominated by the genre of saints' lives - primitive narratives that praised patience and instilled belief in miracles. Byzantine painting of this period is poorly known - icons and frescoes perished in the era of iconoclasm.
The period from the middle of the 9th century. and almost until the end of the 11th century. called by the name of the ruling dynasty, the time of the "Macedonian revival" of culture. Back in the 8th century. she became predominantly Greek-speaking. The "Renaissance" was peculiar: it was based on an official, strictly systematized theology. The capital school acted as a legislator both in the field of ideas and in the forms of their embodiment. Canon, model, stencil, loyalty to tradition, unchanging norm triumphed in everything. All types of visual arts were permeated with spiritualism, the idea of humility and the triumph of the spirit over the body. Painting (icon painting, frescoes) was regulated by obligatory subjects, images, the order of the figures, a certain combination of colors and light and shade. These were not images of real people with their individual traits, but symbols of moral ideals, faces as bearers of certain virtues. But even in such conditions, artists created true masterpieces. An example of this is the beautiful miniatures of the Psalter of the early 10th century. (stored in Paris). Byzantine icons, frescoes, book miniatures occupy an honorable place in the world of fine arts (see Art).
Philosophy, aesthetics, literature are marked by conservatism, a tendency to compilation, fear of novelty. The culture of this period is distinguished by external pomp, adherence to strict rituals, splendor (during divine services, palace receptions, in organizing holidays and sports competitions, during triumphs in honor of military victories), as well as a consciousness of superiority over the culture of the peoples of the rest of the world.
However, this time was also marked by the struggle of ideas, and by democratic and rationalistic tendencies. Major advances have been made in the natural sciences. He was famous for his scholarship in the 1st half of the 9th century. Lev the Mathematician. The ancient heritage was actively comprehended. He was often approached by Patriarch Photius (mid-9th century), who was concerned about the quality of teaching in the higher Mangavr school of Constantinople, where the Slavic educators Cyril and Methodius studied at that time. They relied on ancient knowledge when creating encyclopedias on medicine, agricultural technology, military affairs, diplomacy. In the 11th century. the teaching of jurisprudence and philosophy was restored. The number of schools that taught literacy and numeracy increased (see Education). Passion for antiquity led to the emergence of rationalistic attempts to substantiate the superiority of reason over faith. In "low" literary genres, calls for sympathy for the poor and humiliated have become more frequent. The heroic epic (the poem "Digenis Akrit") is permeated with the idea of patriotism, the consciousness of human dignity and independence. Instead of short world chronicles, there appear extensive historical descriptions of the recent past and contemporary events for the author, where the destructive criticism of the Basileus was often heard. Such, for example, is the highly artistic "Chronography" by Michael Psellus (2nd half of the 11th century).
In painting, the number of subjects has sharply increased, the technique has become more complex, attention to the individuality of images has increased, although the canon has not disappeared. In architecture, the basilica was replaced by a cross-domed church with rich decor. The pinnacle of the historiographic genre was the "History" of Nikita Choniates, an extensive historical narrative, brought to 1206 (including the story of the tragedy of the empire in 1204), full of sharp moral assessments and attempts to clarify the cause-and-effect relationships between events.
On the ruins of Byzantium in 1204, the Latin Empire arose, consisting of several vassal states of Western knights. At the same time, three state associations of the local population were formed - the Epirus Kingdom, the Trebizond Empire and the Nicene Empire, hostile to the Latins (as the Byzantines called all Catholics whose church language was Latin) and to each other. In the long struggle for the "Byzantine inheritance", the Nicene Empire gradually won. In 1261 she expelled the Latins from Constantinople, but the restored Byzantium did not regain its former greatness. Far from all the lands were returned, and the development of feudalism led in the 14th century. to feudal fragmentation. In Constantinople and other large cities, Italian merchants ruled, who received unheard of privileges from the emperors. Civilians were added to the wars with Bulgaria and Serbia. In 1342-1349. the democratic elements of the cities (primarily Thessalonica) revolted against the large feudal lords, but were defeated.
The development of the culture of Byzantium in 1204-1261. lost its unity: it proceeded within the framework of the three states mentioned above and in the Latin principalities, reflecting both Byzantine traditions and the characteristics of these new political formations. Since 1261, the culture of late Byzantium has been characterized as the "Paleologian revival". This was a bright new flourishing of Byzantine culture, marked, however, by especially sharp contradictions. In literature, as before, essays on church themes prevailed - lamentations, panegyrics, lives, theological treatises, etc. However, secular motives began to sound more and more insistently. The poetic genre developed, novels in verse on ancient subjects appeared. Works were created in which there were debates about the meaning of ancient philosophy and rhetoric. Folklore motives, in particular folk songs, began to be used more boldly. The fables ridiculed the vices of the social system. Literature in the popular language arose. Philosopher-humanist 15th century Georgy Gemist Plifon exposed the self-interest of the feudal lords, proposed liquidating private property, replacing outdated Christianity with a new religious system. The painting was dominated by bright colors, dynamic poses, individuality of portrait and psychological characteristics. Many original monuments of cult and secular (palace) architecture were created.
Beginning in 1352, the Ottoman Turks, having seized almost all the possessions of Byzantium in Asia Minor, began to conquer its lands in the Balkans. Attempts to attract the Slavic countries in the Balkans to the union have failed. The West, however, promised Byzantium assistance only on the condition of the subordination of the church to the empire to the papacy. The Ferraro-Florentine union of 1439 was rejected by the people, who violently protested, hating the Latins for their dominance in the city economy, for the robbery and oppression of the crusaders. At the beginning of April 1453, Constantinople, almost alone in the struggle, was surrounded by a huge Turkish army and was taken by storm on May 29. The last emperor Constantine XI Palaeologus died in arms on the walls of Constantinople. The city was destroyed; then he became Istanbul - the capital of the Ottoman Empire. In 1460 the Turks conquered the Byzantine Morea in the Peloponnese, and in 1461 Trebizond, the last fragment of the former empire. The fall of Byzantium, which existed for a thousand years, was an event of world-historical significance. It responded with acute sympathy in Russia, in the Ukraine, among the peoples of the Caucasus and the Balkan Peninsula, who had already experienced the severity of the Ottoman yoke by 1453.
Byzantium perished, but its vibrant, multifaceted culture left a deep mark on the history of world civilization. The traditions of Byzantine culture were carefully preserved and developed in the Russian state, which experienced an upsurge and soon after the fall of Constantinople, at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, turned into a powerful centralized state. Her sovereign Ivan III (1462–1505), under whom the unification of the Russian lands was completed, was married to Sophia (Zoya) Palaeologus, niece of the last Byzantine emperor.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 under the blows of the Germanic tribes, the Eastern Empire was the only surviving power that preserved the traditions of the Ancient World. The Eastern or Byzantine Empire managed to preserve the traditions of Roman culture and statehood over the years of its existence.
Founding of Byzantium
It is customary to lead the history of the Byzantine Empire from the year of the founding of the city of Constantinople by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great in 330. It was also called New Rome.
The Byzantine Empire turned out to be much stronger than the Western Roman Empire in for a number of reasons :
- The slave system in Byzantium in the early Middle Ages was less developed than in the Western Roman Empire. The population of the Eastern Empire was 85% free.
- In the Byzantine Empire, there was still a strong bond between village and city. Small-scale farming was developed, which instantly adapted to the changing market.
- If you look at what territory Byzantium occupied, then you can see that the state included extremely economically developed, at that time, regions: Greece, Syria, Egypt.
- Thanks to a strong army and navy, the Byzantine Empire withstood the onslaught of barbarian tribes quite successfully.
- Trade and handicrafts were preserved in the large cities of the empire. The main productive forces were free peasants, artisans and small traders.
- The Byzantine Empire adopted Christianity as its main religion. This made it possible to quickly establish relations with neighboring countries.
Rice. 1. Map of the Byzantine Empire in the 9th and early 11th centuries.
The internal structure of the political system of Byzantium did not differ much from the early medieval barbarian kingdoms in the West: the power of the emperor relied on large feudal lords, consisting of military leaders, Slavic nobility, former slave owners and officials.
Timeline of the Byzantine Empire
The history of the Byzantine Empire is usually divided into three main periods: Early Byzantine (IV-VIII centuries), Middle Byzantine (IX-XII centuries) and Late Byzantine (XIII-XV centuries).
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Speaking briefly about the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, it should be noted that the main city of Byzantium rose even more after the absorption of the Roman provinces by the barbarian tribes. Until the 9th century, buildings of antique architecture were built, exact sciences developed. The first higher school in Europe was opened in Constantinople. The temple of Hagia Sophia has become a real miracle of the creation of human hands.
Rice. 2. Temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
Early Byzantine period
At the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th centuries, the borders of the Byzantine Empire covered Palestine, Egypt, Thrace, the Balkans and Asia Minor. The Eastern Empire was significantly ahead of the western barbarian kingdoms in the construction of large cities, as well as in the development of crafts and trade. The presence of a merchant and military fleet made Byzantium the largest maritime power. The heyday of the empire continued until the 12th century.
- 527-565 biennium reign of Emperor Justinian I.
The emperor proclaimed the idea or to the rekornist: "Restoration of the Roman state". To achieve this goal, Justinian waged wars of conquest against the barbarian kingdoms. Under the blows of the Byzantine troops, the Vandal states fell in North Africa, and the Ostrogoths in Italy were defeated.
In the territories occupied by Justinian I, new laws were introduced, which were called the "Code of Justinian", and slaves and columns were handed over to their former masters. This caused extreme discontent among the population and later became one of the reasons for the decline of the Eastern Empire.
- 610-641 The reign of the emperor Heraclius.
As a result of the invasion of the Arabs, Byzantium lost Egypt in 617. In the east, Irakli refused to fight the Slavic tribes, giving them the opportunity to settle along the borders, using them as a natural shield against nomadic tribes. One of the main merits of this emperor is the return to Jerusalem of the Life-giving Cross, which was recaptured from the Persian king Khosrov II. - 717 year. The siege of Constantinople by the Arabs.
For almost a year, the Arabs unsuccessfully stormed the capital of Byzantium, but in the end they did not take the city and rolled back with heavy losses. In many ways, the siege was repulsed thanks to the so-called "Greek fire". - 717-740 biennium The reign of Leo III.
The years of the reign of this emperor are marked by the fact that Byzantium not only successfully waged wars with the Arabs, but also by the fact that Byzantine monks tried to spread the Orthodox faith among Jews and Muslims. Under Emperor Leo III, the veneration of icons was prohibited. Hundreds of the most valuable icons and other works of art associated with Christianity were destroyed. Iconoclasm continued until 842.
At the end of the 7th and beginning of the 8th centuries, Byzantium underwent a reform of self-government bodies. The empire began to be divided not into provinces, but into fems. This was the name of the administrative districts that headed the strategy. They wielded power and judged themselves on their own. Each theme was obliged to exhibit a militia-straty.
Middle Byzantine period
Despite the loss of the Balkan lands, Byzantium is still considered a powerful power, because its navy continued to dominate the Mediterranean Sea. The period of the greatest power of the empire lasted from 850 to 1050 and is considered the era of "classical Byzantium".
- 886-912 reign of Leo VI the Wise.
The emperor pursued the policy of previous emperors, Byzantium, during the reign of this emperor, continues to defend itself against external enemies. A crisis has ripened within the political system, which was expressed in the confrontation between the Patriarch and the Emperor. - 1018 the accession of Bulgaria to Byzantium.
The northern borders can be strengthened thanks to the baptism of the Bulgarians and Slavs of Kievan Rus. - 1048 Seljuk Turks under the leadership of Ibrahim Inal invaded Transcaucasia and took the Byzantine city of Erzurum.
The Byzantine Empire lacked the strength to defend the southeastern borders. Soon the Armenian and Georgian rulers recognized themselves as dependent on the Turks. - 1046 Peace treaty between Kievan Rus and Byzantium.
The Byzantine Emperor Vladimir Monomakh married his daughter Anna to the Kiev prince Vsevolod. Relations between Russia and Byzantium were not always friendly, there were many aggressive campaigns of the ancient Russian princes against the Eastern Empire. At the same time, one cannot fail to note the enormous influence that the Byzantine culture had on Kievan Rus. - 1054. Great schism.
The final split of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches took place. - 1071. The Normans took the city of Bari in Puglia.
The last stronghold of the Byzantine Empire in Italy fell. - 1086-1091 War of the Byzantine emperor Alexei I with the alliance of the Pechenegs and Cuman tribes.
Thanks to the cunning policy of the emperor, the alliance of nomadic tribes collapsed, and the Pechenegs were decisively defeated in 1091.
The gradual decline of the Byzantine Empire began in the 11th century. The division into fems has become obsolete due to the growing number of large farmers. The state was constantly exposed to blows from the outside, unable to fight against numerous enemies. The main danger was the Seljuks. During the clashes, the Byzantines managed to clear the southern coast of Asia Minor from them.
Late Byzantine period
Since the 11th century, the activity of Western European countries has increased. The troops of the crusaders, raising the flag of the “defenders of the Holy Sepulcher,” attacked Byzantium. Unable to fight against numerous enemies, the Byzantine emperors use mercenary armies. At sea, Byzantium used the fleets of Pisa and Venice.
- 1122 year. The troops of Emperor John II Comnenus repelled the invasion of the Pechenegs.
At sea, there are continuous wars with Venice. However, the main danger was posed by the Seljuks. During the clashes, the Byzantines managed to clear the southern coast of Asia Minor from them. In the fight against the crusaders, the Byzantines managed to cleanse Northern Syria. - 1176 year. The defeat of the Byzantine troops at Myriokephalus from the Seljuk Turks.
After this defeat, Byzantium finally went over to defensive wars. - 1204 Constantinople fell under the blows of the crusaders.
The basis of the troops of the crusaders were the French and the Genoese. Central Byzantium occupied by the Latins is formed into a separate autonomy and is called the Latin Empire. After the fall of the capital, the Byzantine Church was under the jurisdiction of the pope, and Tomazzo Morosini was appointed supreme patriarch. - 1261 year.
The Latin Empire was completely cleared of the Crusaders, and Constantinople was liberated by the Nicene Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus.
Byzantium during the reign of the Palaeologus
During the reign of the Palaeologus in Byzantium, there is a complete decline of cities. The dilapidated cities looked especially shabby against the background of flourishing villages. Agriculture was booming due to the high demand for the products of the feudal estates.
The dynastic marriages of the Palaeologus with the royal courts of Western and Eastern Europe and the constant close contact between them, became the reason for the appearance of their own heraldry among the Byzantine rulers. The Palaeologus family was the very first to have its own coat of arms.
Rice. 3. Coat of arms of the Palaeologus dynasty.
- In 1265 Venice monopolized almost all trade in Constantinople.
A trade war broke out between Genoa and Venice. Often, stabbing between foreign merchants took place in front of local onlookers in city squares. Having strangled the domestic sales market of the emperor, the Byzantine rulers caused a new wave of self-hatred. - 1274 year. Conclusion of Michael VIII Palaeologus in Lyon of a new union with the Pope.
The union bore the terms of the Pope's supremacy over the entire Christian world. This finally split the society and caused a series of unrest in the capital. - 1341. Revolt in Adrianople and Thessaloniki of the population against the magnates.
The uprising was led by zealots (zealots). They wanted to take land and property from the church and the magnates for the poor. - 1352 year. Ottoman Turks captured Adrianople.
From it they made their capital. They took the Cimpe fortress on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Nothing prevented the further advance of the Turks to the Balkans.
By the beginning of the 15th century, the territory of Byzantium was limited to Constantinople with districts, part of Central Greece and the islands in the Aegean Sea.
In 1452, the Ottoman Turks began a siege of Constantinople. On May 29, 1453, the city fell. The last Byzantine emperor Constantine II Palaeologus died in battle.
Despite the concluded alliance of Byzantium with a number of Western European countries, they could not count on military assistance. So, during the siege of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, Venice and Genoa sent six warships and several hundred people. Naturally, they could not provide any significant help.
What have we learned?
The Byzantine Empire remained the only ancient power that preserved its political and social order, despite the Great Migration. With the fall of Byzantium, a new era begins in the history of the Middle Ages. From this article we learned how many years the Byzantine Empire existed and what influence this state had on the countries of Western Europe and Kievan Rus.
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On May 11, 330 AD, on the European coast of the Bosphorus, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great solemnly founded the new capital of the empire - Constantinople (to be precise, and use its official name, then - New Rome). The emperor did not create a new state: Byzantium in the exact sense of the word was not the successor of the Roman Empire, it was itself - Rome. The word "Byzantium" appeared only in the West during the Renaissance. The Byzantines called themselves the Romans (Romans), their country called the Roman Empire (the Empire of the Romans). Konstantin's intentions corresponded to this name. New Rome was erected at a major crossroads of major trade routes and was originally planned as the greatest of cities. Erected in the 6th century, the Hagia Sophia Cathedral was the tallest architectural structure on Earth for more than a thousand years, and its beauty was compared to Heaven.
Until the middle of the XII century, New Rome was the main trading hub of the planet. Before the destruction by the crusaders in 1204, it was also the most populated city in Europe. Later, especially in the last century and a half, centers of greater importance in the economic sense appeared on the globe. But even in our time, the strategic importance of this place would be difficult to overestimate. The one who owned the straits of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles owned the entire Near and Middle East, and this is the heart of Eurasia and the entire Old World. In the 19th century, the real master of the straits was the British Empire, which protected this place from Russia even at the cost of an open military conflict (during the Crimean War of 1853-1856, and the war could have begun in 1836 or 1878). For Russia, it was not just a matter of "historical heritage", but the ability to control its southern borders and main trade flows. After 1945, the keys to the straits were in the hands of the United States, and the deployment of American nuclear weapons in this region, as you know, immediately caused the appearance of Soviet missiles in Cuba and provoked the Cuban missile crisis. The USSR agreed to retreat only after the US nuclear potential in Turkey was phased out. Nowadays, the issues of Turkey's entry into the European Union and its foreign policy in Asia are the primary problems for the West.
They only dreamed of peace
New Rome received a rich legacy. However, this also became his main "headache". In the modern world there were too many applicants for the appropriation of this inheritance. It is difficult to recall even one long period of calm on the Byzantine borders; the empire was in mortal danger at least once a century. Until the 7th century, the Romans, along the perimeter of all their borders, fought the hardest wars with the Persians, Goths, Vandals, Slavs and Avars, and ultimately the confrontation ended in favor of New Rome. This happened very often: young and refreshing peoples who fought against the empire went into historical oblivion, and the empire itself, ancient and almost defeated, licked its wounds and continued to live. However, then the former enemies were replaced by the Arabs from the south, the Lombards from the west, the Bulgarians from the north, and the Khazars from the east, and a new centuries-old confrontation began. As the new opponents weakened, they were replaced in the north by the Rus, Hungarians, Pechenegs, Polovtsians, in the east by the Seljuk Turks, in the west by the Normans.
In the fight against enemies, the empire used force, honed over centuries of diplomacy, intelligence, military cunning, and sometimes the services of allies. The last resort was double-edged and extremely dangerous. The crusaders who fought with the Seljuks were extremely burdensome and dangerous allies for the empire, and this alliance ended with the first fall for Constantinople: the city, which had successfully repulsed any attacks and sieges for almost a thousand years, was brutally ravaged by its “friends”. His further existence, even after the liberation from the crusaders, was only a shadow of the previous glory. But just at this time, the last and most cruel enemy appeared - the Ottoman Turks, who surpassed all previous ones in their military qualities. The Europeans really got ahead of the Ottomans in military affairs only in the 18th century, and the Russians were the first to do this, and the first commander who dared to appear in the inner regions of the Sultan Empire was Count Peter Rumyantsev, for which he received the honorary name of Transdanubia.
Irrepressible subjects
The internal state of the Roman Empire was also never calm. Its state territory was extremely heterogeneous. At one time, the Roman Empire maintained unity through superior military, commercial and cultural potential. The legal system (the famous Roman law, finally codified in Byzantium) was the most perfect in the world. For several centuries (since the time of Spartacus) Rome, within which more than a quarter of all mankind lived, was not threatened by a single serious danger, wars were fought on the distant borders - in Germany, Armenia, Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Only internal decay, a crisis in the army and a weakening of trade led to disintegration. Only from the end of the 4th century did the situation on the borders become critical. The need to repel barbarian invasions in different directions inevitably led to the division of power in a huge empire between several people. However, this also had negative consequences - internal confrontation, further weakening of ties and the desire to "privatize" their piece of imperial territory. As a result, by the 5th century, the final division of the Roman Empire became a fact, but did not alleviate the situation.
The eastern half of the Roman Empire was more populated and Christianized (by the time of Constantine the Great, Christians, despite persecution, already had more than 10% of the population), but in itself did not constitute an organic whole. An amazing ethnic diversity reigned in the state: Greeks, Syrians, Copts, Arabs, Armenians, Illyrians lived here, soon there were Slavs, Germans, Scandinavians, Anglo-Saxons, Turks, Italians and many other peoples, who were only required to profess the true faith and submission to the imperial power ... Its richest provinces - Egypt and Syria - were geographically too remote from the capital, fenced off by mountain ranges and deserts. Maritime communication with them, as trade declined and piracy flourished, became more and more difficult. In addition, the overwhelming majority of the population here were adherents of the Monophysite heresy. After the victory of Orthodoxy at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, a powerful uprising broke out in these provinces, which was suppressed with great difficulty. Less than 200 years later, the Monophysites greeted the Arab "liberators" with joy and subsequently converted to Islam relatively painlessly. The western and central provinces of the empire, primarily the Balkans, but also Asia Minor, for many centuries experienced a massive influx of barbarian tribes - Germans, Slavs, Turks. Emperor Justinian the Great in the 6th century tried to expand the state borders in the west and restore the Roman Empire within its "natural borders", but this led to colossal efforts and costs. Already a century later, Byzantium was forced to shrink to the limits of its "state core", mainly inhabited by Greeks and Hellenized Slavs. This territory included the west of Asia Minor, the Black Sea coast, the Balkans and southern Italy. The further struggle for existence was mainly going on in this territory.
The people and the army are one
Constant struggle demanded constant maintenance of defenses. The Roman Empire was forced to revive the peasant militia and a heavily armed cavalry army, characteristic of Ancient Rome of the republican period, to re-create and maintain a powerful navy at the state's expense. Defense has always been the main expense of the treasury and the main burden for the taxpayer. The state closely watched that the peasants retained their fighting efficiency, and therefore in every possible way strengthened the community, preventing its disintegration. The state struggled with the excessive concentration of wealth, including land, in private hands. Government price regulation was a very important policy component. The powerful state apparatus, of course, gave rise to the omnipotence of officials and large-scale corruption. Active emperors fought against abuse, inert emperors started the disease.
Of course, slowed down social stratification and limited competition slowed down the pace of economic development, but the fact of the matter is that the empire had more important tasks. Not because of a good life, the Byzantines equipped their armed forces with all sorts of technical innovations and types of weapons, the most famous of which was the "Greek fire" invented in the 7th century, which brought more than one victory to the Romans. The army of the empire retained its fighting spirit until the second half of the 12th century, when it gave way to foreign mercenaries. The Treasury was spending less now, but the risk of falling into the hands of the enemy increased immeasurably. Let us recall the classic expression of one of the recognized experts on the issue - Napoleon Bonaparte: that people who do not want to feed their army will feed someone else's. From that time on, the empire began to depend on Western "friends", who immediately showed her how much friendship was.
Autocracy as a cognized necessity
The circumstances of Byzantine life strengthened the conscious need for the autocratic power of the emperor (Vasilevs of the Romans). But too much depended on his personality, character, abilities. That is why a flexible system of the transfer of supreme power was formed in the empire. In specific circumstances, power could be transferred not only to a son, but also to a nephew, son-in-law, brother-in-law, husband, adopted successor, even to his own father or mother. The transfer of power was consolidated by the decision of the Senate and the army, popular approval, church weddings (from the 10th century, the practice of imperial chrismation, borrowed from the West, was introduced). As a result, the imperial dynasties rarely experienced their centenary, only the most talented - the Macedonian - dynasty managed to hold out for almost two centuries - from 867 to 1056. A person of low origin, who was promoted thanks to one or another talent (for example, the butcher from Dacia Leo Makella, a commoner from Dalmatia and the uncle of the Great Justinian Justin I, or the son of an Armenian peasant Basil the Macedonian, the founder of that very Macedonian dynasty), could also be on the throne. The tradition of co-government was extremely developed (co-rulers sat on the Byzantine throne as a whole for about two hundred years). Power had to be firmly held in hands: in the entire Byzantine history there were about forty successful coups d'état, usually they ended with the death of the defeated ruler or his removal to a monastery. Only half of the Basileus died on the throne.Empire as a catechon
The very existence of the empire was for Byzantium more a duty and duty than an advantage or a rational choice. The ancient world, the only direct heir of which was the Empire of the Romans, went into the historical past. However, its cultural and political heritage became the foundation of Byzantium. Since the time of Constantine, the empire has also been a stronghold of the Christian faith. The state political doctrine was based on the idea of the empire as a "catechone" - the keeper of the true faith. The barbarian Germans, who filled the entire western part of the Roman oecumene, adopted Christianity, but only in the Arian heretical version. The only major “acquisitions” of the Ecumenical Church in the West until the 8th century were the Franks. Having accepted the Nicene Creed, the Frankish king Clovis immediately received the spiritual and political support of the Roman Patriarch-Pope and the Byzantine emperor. From this began the growth of the power of the Franks in western Europe: Clovis was granted the title of Byzantine patrician, and his distant heir Charlemagne, three centuries later, already wanted to be called the emperor of the West.
The Byzantine mission of that period could well compete with the Western one. Missionaries of the Church of Constantinople preached in the area of Central and Eastern Europe - from Bohemia to Novgorod and Khazaria; close contacts with the Byzantine Church were maintained by the English and Irish Local Churches. However, papal Rome quite early became jealous of competitors and expelled them with the help of force; soon the mission itself in the papal West acquired an openly aggressive character and predominantly political tasks. The first large-scale action after the fall of Rome from Orthodoxy was the papal blessing of William the Conqueror to march to England in 1066; after that, many representatives of the Orthodox Anglo-Saxon nobility were forced to emigrate to Constantinople.
Within the Byzantine Empire itself, there were heated debates on religious grounds. Either among the people, now in power, heretical trends arose. Under the influence of Islam, the emperors began iconoclastic persecutions in the 8th century, which provoked resistance from the Orthodox people. In the XIII century, out of a desire to strengthen relations with the Catholic world, the government went to union, but again did not receive support. All attempts to "reform" Orthodoxy on the basis of opportunistic considerations or to bring it under "earthly standards" have failed. The new union in the 15th century, concluded under the threat of the Ottoman conquest, could no longer ensure even political success. She became history's bitter grin at the vain ambitions of the rulers.
What is the advantage of the West?
When and in what ways did the West begin to gain the upper hand? As always, in economics and technology. In the field of culture and law, science and education, literature and art, Byzantium until the 12th century easily competed or far outstripped its western neighbors. The powerful cultural influence of Byzantium was felt in the West and East far beyond its borders - in Arab Spain and Norman Britain, and in Catholic Italy it dominated until the Renaissance. However, due to the very conditions of the empire's existence, it could not boast of any particular socio-economic success. In addition, Italy and Southern France were initially more favorable for agricultural activities than the Balkans and Asia Minor. In the XII-XIV centuries in Western Europe there is a rapid economic upturn - one that did not exist since ancient times and will not be there until the 18th century. This was the heyday of feudalism, papacy and chivalry. It was at this time that a special feudal structure of Western European society with its estate-corporate rights and contractual relations arose and took root (the modern West came out of this).
Western influence on the Byzantine emperors from the Comnenian dynasty in the 12th century was strongest: they copied Western military art, Western fashion, and for a long time acted as allies of the crusaders. The Byzantine fleet, so burdensome for the treasury, was disbanded and rotted, its place was taken by flotillas of Venetians and Genoese. The emperors cherished the hope of overcoming the not so long ago falling away of papal Rome. However, the strengthened Rome already recognized only complete submission to his will. The West marveled at the imperial splendor and, to justify its aggressiveness, loudly resented the duplicity and depravity of the Greeks.
Did the Greeks drown in debauchery? Sin coexisted with grace. The horrors of palaces and city squares were interspersed with the true holiness of the monasteries and the sincere piety of the laity. This is evidenced by the lives of the saints, liturgical texts, the lofty and unsurpassed Byzantine art. But the temptations were very strong. After the defeat of 1204 in Byzantium, the pro-Western trend only intensified, young people went to study in Italy, and among the intelligentsia there was a craving for the pagan Hellenic tradition. Philosophical rationalism and European scholasticism (and it was based on the same pagan scholarship) began to be viewed in this environment as higher and more refined teachings than patristic ascetic theology. Intellect prevailed over Revelation, individualism over Christian exploit. Later, these tendencies, together with the Greeks who moved to the West, would greatly contribute to the development of the Western European Renaissance.
Historical scale
The empire survived in the fight against the crusaders: on the Asian coast of the Bosphorus, opposite the defeated Constantinople, the Romans retained their territory and proclaimed a new emperor. Half a century later, the capital was liberated and held out for another 200 years. However, the territory of the revived empire was practically reduced to the greatest city, several islands in the Aegean Sea and small territories in Greece. But even without this epilogue, the Empire of the Romans existed for almost a whole millennium. In this case, one can not even take into account the fact that Byzantium directly continues the ancient Roman statehood, and considered the foundation of Rome in 753 BC to be its birth. Even without these reservations, there is no other such example in world history. Empires have existed for years (Napoleon's Empire: 1804–1814), for decades (German Empire: 1871–1918), at best, for centuries. The Han Empire in China existed for four centuries, the Ottoman Empire and the Arab Caliphate - a little more, but by the end of their life cycle they became only a fiction of empires. The West-based Holy Roman Empire of the German nation was also a fiction for most of its existence. There are not so many countries in the world that did not claim imperial status and that have continuously existed for a thousand years. Finally, Byzantium and its historical predecessor - Ancient Rome - also demonstrated a "world record" of survival: any state on Earth withstood, at best, one or two global alien invasions, Byzantium - much more. Only Russia could be compared with Byzantium.
Why did Byzantium fall?
Her successors answered this question in different ways. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Pskov elder Philotheus believed that Byzantium, having accepted the union, had betrayed Orthodoxy, and this was the reason for its death. However, he argued that the death of Byzantium was conditional: the status of the Orthodox empire was transferred to the only remaining sovereign Orthodox state - Moscow. In this, according to Philotheus, there was no merit of the Russians themselves, such was God's will. However, the fate of the world now depended on the Russians: if Orthodoxy falls in Russia, then the world will soon end with it. Thus, Philotheus warned Moscow about the great historical and religious responsibility. The Palaeologus coat of arms inherited by Russia - the double-headed eagle - is a symbol of such responsibility, a heavy cross of the imperial burden.The elder's younger contemporary Ivan Timofeev, a professional warrior, pointed to other reasons for the fall of the empire: the emperors, trusting in flattering and irresponsible advisers, despised military affairs and lost their combat readiness. Peter the Great also spoke about the sad Byzantine example of the loss of fighting spirit, which caused the death of the great empire: a solemn speech was delivered in the presence of the Senate, Synod and generals in the Trinity Cathedral of St. Petersburg on October 22, 1721, on the day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, upon receiving king of the imperial title. As you can see, all three - the elder, the warrior and the newly proclaimed emperor - had in mind close things, only in different aspects. The power of the Empire of the Romans rested on a strong power, a strong army and the loyalty of its subjects, but they themselves, at the base, had to have a firm and true faith. And in this sense, the empire, or rather all the people who made it up, always balanced between Eternity and death. The constant relevance of this choice is an amazing and unique flavor of Byzantine history. In other words, this story in all its light and dark sides is a vivid testimony to the correctness of the saying from the rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy: "This is the apostolic faith, this is the fatherly faith, this is the Orthodox faith, this is the faith, affirm the universe!"