Byzantium: Difference between revisions
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The '''Byzantine Empire''', called in [[period]] the '''Eastern Roman Empire''' or '''New Rome''' was centred around the city of [[Constantinople]] and represented the eastern bulwark of [[Christendom]] against the rise of [[Islam]]. Unlike western Europe, however, the Byzantines were [[Eastern Orthodox]] [[Christian]]s, and not [[Roman Catholic]]s. |
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== Byzantine Ceremony == |
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Byzantium played an immensely important role in the [[Medieval]] era, providing a link with the ancient past of the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]]s and the [[Roman Empire]] but also dominating the trade and [[pilgrimage]] routes which were important to western Europeans. In addition, the efforts of the Byzantines stopped (or at least slowed) the advance of [[Islam]], which was regarded as a mortal threat to Christian Europe. |
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Roman(1) life revolves around the concept of order. This order was expressed through the ceremonies that were used to show the Emperor to the people. Indeed, the same word, taxis was used in period to denote both ceremony and order. For the Romans: terrestrial order was merely the imperfect reflection of celestial order. At its summit was Gods lieutenant, the emperor, whose court mirrored that of heaven (Cavallo 1997: 2). The emperor may not have been born to the [[poryphyry|purple]]. He could have started life as a [[soldier]], an [[artisan]] or even a [[peasant]] (all occurred). He may have come from an ethnic minority. However, once he was elected(2) to the position he gained all of its prestige. The overwhelming importance of the position can be seen from the common phrase: The sun acts like the emperor (McCormick 1997: 230). Like the emperor, the sun oversaw everything, shed its light on all and was far above, and more glorious than, those beneath. |
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The Crusades were partly caused (and heavily influenced) by Byzantium; in 1096 [[Alexius I]] Comnenus called for help repelling the Turks (who, having captured much of Asia Minor, threatened Constantiople itself and damaged the lucrative overland trade routes. The western Europeans, entranced with the "official" cause for war -- protecting the [[pilgrim]] routes and freeing [[Jerusalem]] responded in immense numbers, triggering the [[First Crusade]]. |
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This ceremonial ordering can best be seen in a [[court]] procession. This example is from the tenth century, but it stayed similar right up to the end in 1453. If the emperor had to leave the palace, the road he was taking was repaired, cleaned and sprinkled with sawdust scented with rosewater. The streets would be hung with garlands, sweet-smelling plants and such items as rich [[textile]]s and silverware. [[Merchant]]s who thus both showed their loyalty in glorifying the emperor and also advertised their wares often provided the latter. |
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[[Byzantine ceremony]] and politics alike were highly cosmopolitan and could often be very subtle and intricate -- hence our modern use of the word "Byzantine" to describe needlessly devious or complicated things. Byzantines were often distrusted by their more straightforward western European cousins because of this. |
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Along the way staged events would take place. This could include the [[sing]]ing of paeans of praise to the emperor by choruses or individuals. A [[fountain]] near where they were located could be filled with wine, almonds and pistachios. Bleachers were built for spectators (including ambassadors) to watch this staged affirmation of power and order. Petitioners would take advantage of this opportunity to circumvent the palace hierarchy by throwing petitions at the emperors feet (presumably there was someone to pick them up). |
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''See also [[Byzantine ceremony]] for details.'' |
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In [[period]], the Byzantines often used a red banner with a white crescent and a six-pointed star as their symbol, contrasted with the traditional green banner and crescent carried by the caliphs of [[Islam]]. |
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The cortege had a set order. First to appear are the banner bearers and the Cross of Constantine. Next were state functionaries, graded by [[rank]]. Strict [[sumptuary law]]s governed what they wore so that it was of lesser splendour than the items worn by the emperor(3). Lastly came the Imperial group of the emperor, bodyguards, family and chief eunuchs. |
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Byzantine power waxed and waned throughout the Medieval period, often as a result of [[crusade]]s (particularly the [[Fourth Crusade]] and was finally wiped out by the fall of [[Constantinople]] in 1453. |
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Upon arrival at the destination (perhaps a [[church]], or even back to the palace) another set of rituals took place. Among other things this usually included gifts to all officials. This could be up to 10lbs of [[gold]] coin and was usually at least 2lbs. Favoured foreigners could also receive gifts of silk(4). Not even the [[poor]] were neglected. [[Money]] would be set aside to provide food, lodging and even pay taxes for them. |
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[[category:places (medieval)]] |
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Ambassadors would usually be greeted in the throne room, a marvellous place that inspired that in the Wizard of Oz. The emperor was initially seen behind a series of silken screens, which would be pulled aside if the foreign visitor was sufficiently important. As the throne was approached mechanical animals would make the appropriate sounds and organs would play (remember that this is a time when large pipe organs were rare). On reaching the throne it would rise into the air in front of the astounded supplicant. |
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All these stage devices were intended to impress the majesty of the emperor on the viewer and to show the order that held the empire together. From the records we have, they worked. Even the [[Latin]]s and western [[barbarian]]s, arriving determined to scoff, were invariably impressed. Such groups as the [[Rus]] were awed and stunned. |
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Ceremony and procession are still used today to show the hierarchy of power, even in places like the [[SCA]] where we are playacting their appearance. It can easily be shown that, when their use declines, so does respect for the verities that they represent. |
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1 The term Byzantine was made up by modern scholars to give them a shorthand way of talking about the Empire. The actual people of the time talked of the Roman Empire and saw its history as contiguous. |
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2 Whilst many emperors inherited the job they were, at least theoretically, elected to it by the acclaim of the army. Usually an emperor took great care to ensure the person who succeeded him was the one they wanted by proclaiming him junior co-emperor (and getting this confirmed).(Veyne 1992) |
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3 SCA people making Byzantine garb should note this. You should never wear an exact copy of Imperial garb. This is a punishable breach of etiquette. |
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4 Although anyone could buy silk, its export was strictly forbidden without permission. Being given it by the emperor automatically gave one permission to take it out. This was much appreciated, even by Latin ambassadors. |
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Bibliography |
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Cavallo, G. (ed) 1997 The Byzantines, London: University of Chicago Press. |
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McCormick, M. 1997 Emperors, in G. Cavallo (ed) The Byzantines, London: University of Chicago Press. |
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Veyne, P. (ed) 1992 From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, Vol. I, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. |
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== The Causes for the Fall of (New) Rome. == |
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While the [[Roman Empire]] did not finally fall until 1453, the seeds for its destruction were planted well before, and were indeed inherent in its structure for most of the [[Middle Ages]]. Much as they hurt the old empire, the devastation wrought upon it by the barbarians of the west merely showed how tough the system was and how well it was able to rebuild and continue to survive against the odds. |
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The start of its fall stemmed from several major roots. The first is linguistic / religious, the second is foreign [[war]] and the third is the decline in Constantinople's ability to control the [[Mediterranean]] Sea. These feed into each other in several ways. |
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The linguistic / religious issue is a complex one. What we today call Byzantium was called Romanie (or [[Rome]]) by its inhabitants. The name Byzantium being a construct as a part of the modern re-construction of history as it was necessary (for Western pride) for the Roman Empire to have fallen (and not been finally destroyed by the West itself) and for the [[Dark Ages]] to occur. |
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The inhabitants of the central part of Romanie spoke Latin. Some parts of the Empire (especially [[Egypt]]) spoke other tongues ([[Greek]]) and had local Church customs that varied from those of the official Orthodox Church. Seeing that Bishops were appointed by the Metropolitan in Constantinople, and he had a habit of appointing Latin speaking Orthodox Bishops to oversee Greek-speaking Monophysites, there was a build up of resentment against the central government. |
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This explains why, when the [[Muslim]]s came, they were greeted as liberators by the populace, who were allowed to keep their religion by the conquerors. |
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In 603 Chosroes II invaded the Empire and was not driven out until 622. This Persian invasion conquered most of Palestine and Egypt, depriving Constantinople of the grain, timber for its fleet and much of its revenue. This was closely followed by an Avar invasion in 626 which reached the walls of the city. When the various invaders were driven off, using control of the sea to outmanoeuvre them, Romanie was left with greatly depleted resources and much weaker in manpower for its armies. A typical battle involved 100 - 200,000 troops. |
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The Muslim campaign of 635 followed closely on these earlier attacks and gave the Empire no time to recover. By 645 [[Palestine]], [[Syria]] and the most productive parts of [[Africa]] were lost to the Muslims. This speed of collapse was partly due to the welcome extended by the different religious groups and partly due to [[Romania]], which relied on small professional armies transported by sea and backed by levies had no answer for the overwhelming land-based armies of the Muslims. |
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Even despite these setbacks, the power of Romanie continued to control the Mediterranean basin (with a fair amount of fluctuation in fortune), as Imperial fleets raided Muslim settlements forcing the administrative centres to be placed far from the sea ([[Damascus]] and [[Cairo]] rather than [[Caesarea]] and [[Alexandria]]). This naval control was made possible with the introduction in 673 of [[Greek fire]]. It was only through the use of this weapon that the numerically inferior Empire was able to continue its maritime struggle against the Muslims, making raids and landing armies as far away as Spain for the next few centuries and keeping the Arabs from the vulnerable southern shores of Europe. It was during this time that Greek gradually gained ascendancy as the language of Court. |
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It was only with the gradual loss of the provinces that supplied timber to the fleet that Roman naval power was reduced. Of course, once started, this was a downward slide and Romanie grew unable to protect [[Sicily]], [[Cyprus]], [[Sardinia]] and its provinces in [[Italy]] and its more vulnerable lands in Africa ([[Spain]] had been finally lost to the [[Visigoths]] during the Persian wars). |
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Lewis, Archibald R. (1951) Naval Power and Trade in the Mediterranean AD 500-1100 |
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Mango, Cyril (1994) Byzantium: The Empire of New Rome |
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Moorhead, John (1981) "The Monophysite Response to the Arab Invasions" Byazantion 51. |
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Whittow, Mark (1996) The Making of Byzantium 600-1025 |
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== See also == |
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*[[Byzantine Names]] |
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== Notes == |
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Much of this article is based on an original article by [[Hrolf Herjolfssen]]. |
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[[Category:byzantine]] |
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Revision as of 07:07, 18 July 2008
The Byzantine Empire, called in period the Eastern Roman Empire or New Rome was centred around the city of Constantinople and represented the eastern bulwark of Christendom against the rise of Islam. Unlike western Europe, however, the Byzantines were Eastern Orthodox Christians, and not Roman Catholics.
Byzantium played an immensely important role in the Medieval era, providing a link with the ancient past of the Ancient Greekss and the Roman Empire but also dominating the trade and pilgrimage routes which were important to western Europeans. In addition, the efforts of the Byzantines stopped (or at least slowed) the advance of Islam, which was regarded as a mortal threat to Christian Europe.
The Crusades were partly caused (and heavily influenced) by Byzantium; in 1096 Alexius I Comnenus called for help repelling the Turks (who, having captured much of Asia Minor, threatened Constantiople itself and damaged the lucrative overland trade routes. The western Europeans, entranced with the "official" cause for war -- protecting the pilgrim routes and freeing Jerusalem responded in immense numbers, triggering the First Crusade.
Byzantine ceremony and politics alike were highly cosmopolitan and could often be very subtle and intricate -- hence our modern use of the word "Byzantine" to describe needlessly devious or complicated things. Byzantines were often distrusted by their more straightforward western European cousins because of this. See also Byzantine ceremony for details.
In period, the Byzantines often used a red banner with a white crescent and a six-pointed star as their symbol, contrasted with the traditional green banner and crescent carried by the caliphs of Islam.
Byzantine power waxed and waned throughout the Medieval period, often as a result of crusades (particularly the Fourth Crusade and was finally wiped out by the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
