The direct successor of the Roman Empire was the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, which lasted more than 1000 years. She managed to repulse the barbarian invasions in the 5th-7th centuries. and for several centuries to remain the most powerful Christian power, which contemporaries called the state of the Romans (Romans). The name Byzantium accepted today appeared only at the end of the 15th century. It comes from the name of the Greek colony of Byzantium, on the site of which in 330 the Roman Emperor Constantine I founded his new capital - Constantinople.

The Byzantine Empire was located in the eastern part of the Mediterranean and during the period of maximum expansion of its borders in the VI century. included lands on three continents - in Europe, Asia and Africa.

The Mediterranean climate favored the development of agriculture and cattle breeding. Iron, copper, tin, silver, gold and other minerals were mined on the territory of the empire. The empire for a long time could provide itself with everything necessary. Byzantium was located at the crossroads of the most important trade routes, the most famous of which was the Great Silk Road, stretching from Constantinople to mysterious China for 11 thousand km. The path of incense ran through Arabia and the ports of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to India, Ceylon and the islands of Southeast Asia. From Scandinavia through Eastern Europe to Byzantium led the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks."

Constantinople. Medieval miniature

The Byzantine Empire surpassed the rest of the Christian countries in terms of population, reaching 35 million people in the early Middle Ages. The bulk of the emperor's subjects were Greeks and those who spoke the Greek language and adopted the Hellenic culture. In addition, Slavs, Syrians, Egyptians, Armenians, Georgians, Arabs, Jews lived on a vast territory.

Ancient and Christian traditions in the life of the Byzantines

The Byzantine Empire absorbed the heritage of both the Greco-Roman world and the civilizations of Western Asia and North Africa (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, etc.), which affected its state structure and culture. The heritage of Antiquity was preserved in Byzantium much longer than in Western Europe. Constantinople was adorned with statues of ancient gods and heroes, the favorite shows of the Romans were equestrian competitions at the hippodromes and theatrical performances. The works of famous historians of antiquity were a model for the Byzantines. Scientists studied and copied these works, many of which have survived to this day thanks to this. Their example was followed by Procopius of Caesarea (6th century), who wrote "The History of Justinian's Wars with the Persians, Vandals and Goths."

By the 8th century Christian culture became dominant: Byzantine architecture, painting and literature glorified the deeds of God and the holy ascetics of the faith. The lives of the saints and the writings of the Fathers of the Church became his favorite literary genre. The most revered Fathers of the Church were the Christian thinkers John Chrysostom, Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian. Their writings and religious activities had a great influence on the development of Christian theology and church worship. In addition, the Byzantines bowed to the spiritual exploits of hermits and monks.

Christ Pantocrator. 1146–1151. Mosaic of the dome of the Martorana church. Palermo, Italy

Majestic temples were erected in the cities of the Byzantine Empire. It was here that the cross-domed type of church arose, which became widespread in many Orthodox countries, including Russia. The cross-domed temple was divided into three parts. The first part from the entrance is called the vestibule. The second part is the middle of the temple. It is divided by pillars into naves and is intended for the prayer of the faithful. The third branch of the temple - the most important thing - is the altar, a holy place, so the uninitiated are not allowed to enter it. The middle part of the temple is separated from the altar by an iconostasis - a partition with many icons.

A characteristic feature of Byzantine art was the use of mosaics to decorate the interiors and facades of churches. The floors of palaces and temples were laid out with mosaics of precious woods. The main temple of the Orthodox world - built in the VI century. in Constantinople, the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia (Divine Wisdom) - decorated with magnificent mosaics and frescoes.

Education was developed in Byzantium. The children of wealthy people received primary education at home - teachers and mentors were invited to them. Byzantines with average incomes sent their children to paid schools in cities, churches and monasteries. Noble and wealthy people had the opportunity to study at the higher schools of Alexandria, Antioch and Constantinople. Education included the study of theology, philosophy, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, medicine, music, history, law and other sciences. Higher schools prepared high-ranking officials. Such schools were patronized by emperors.

Books played an important role in spreading knowledge and establishing Christianity. The Romans loved to read the lives (biography) of the saints and the writings of the Fathers of the Church, who in their works clarified complex theological issues: what is the Trinity, what is the divine nature of Jesus Christ, etc.

State power, society and church

State power in the Byzantine Empire combined features characteristic of both ancient and ancient Eastern society. The Byzantines believed that God himself gave the emperor supreme power over his subjects, and that is why the ruler is responsible before the Lord for their fate. The divine origin of power was emphasized by the magnificent and solemn ceremony of crowning the kingdom.

Emperor Vasily II Bulgar Slayer. Medieval miniature

The emperor had almost unlimited power: he appointed officials and military leaders, controlled the collection of taxes, and personally commanded the army. Imperial power often passed not by inheritance, but was seized by a successful military leader or nobleman. The highest state posts and even the imperial crown could be achieved by an ordinary person, but energetic, strong-willed, intelligent and talented. The promotion of a nobleman or an official in the service depended on the favor of the emperor, from whom he received titles, positions, monetary and land grants. The tribal nobility did not have such influence in Byzantium as the noble people in Western Europe had and never took shape in an independent estate.

A feature of Byzantium was the long-term preservation of small, including peasant, land property, the viability of the peasant community. However, despite the attempts of the imperial authorities to slow down the process of dispossession of the community members (who paid taxes to the state and served in the army), the decomposition of the peasant community and the formation of large land holdings, during the period of the late empire, the peasants increasingly turned into people dependent on large landowners. The community remained only on the outskirts of the state.

Merchants and artisans were under the vigilant control of the state, which patronized their activities, but at the same time put their activities in a strict framework, imposing high duties and exercising petty supervision. The urban population has not been able to achieve recognition by the state of their rights and defend their privileges like the townspeople of Western Europe.

Unlike the Western Christian Church, headed by the Pope, there was no single center in the Eastern Christian Church. The Patriarchates of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria were considered independent, but the Patriarch of Constantinople was the actual head of the Eastern Church. Since the 7th century, after the loss of the eastern provinces by the Byzantines as a result of the Arab conquests, he remained the only patriarch on the territory of the empire.

The head of the Western Church successfully claimed not only spiritual authority over all Christians, but also supremacy over secular rulers - kings, dukes and princes. In the East, the relationship between secular and spiritual authorities was complex. The emperor and the patriarch were mutually dependent on each other. The emperor appointed the patriarch, thereby recognizing the role of the emperor as an instrument of God. But the emperor was crowned king by the patriarch - in Byzantium it was believed that it was the act of wedding that elevated to imperial dignity.

Gradually, more and more contradictions accumulated between the Christian churches in the West and East, as a result of which they led to the separation of Western Christianity (Catholicism) from Eastern (Orthodoxy). This process, which began as early as the 8th century, ended in 1054 with a split. The Byzantine Patriarch and the Pope cursed each other. Thus, in the Middle Ages, two Christian worlds arose - Orthodox and Catholic.

Byzantium between West and East

The death of the Western Roman Empire and the formation of barbarian kingdoms in its place were perceived in Byzantium as tragic, but temporary phenomena. Even the common people retained the idea of ​​the need to restore a unified Roman Empire, covering the entire Christian world.

The Byzantines storm the Arab fortress. Medieval miniature

An attempt to strengthen the state and return the lost lands was made by Emperor Justinian I (527-565). Having carried out administrative and military reforms, Justinian strengthened the internal position of the state. He managed to annex Italy, North Africa, part of the Iberian Peninsula to the possessions of the empire. It seemed that the former Roman Empire was reborn as a powerful power, controlling almost the entire Mediterranean.

For a long time, Iran was a formidable enemy of Byzantium in the east. Long and bloody wars exhausted both sides. In the 7th century the Byzantines still managed to restore their borders in the east - Syria and Palestine were recaptured.

In the same period, Byzantium had a new, even more dangerous enemy - the Arabs. Under their blows, the empire lost almost all Asian (except Asia Minor) and African provinces. The Arabs even laid siege to Constantinople, but could not capture it. Only in the middle of the IX century. the Romans managed to stop their onslaught and win back some territories.

By the 11th century Byzantium revived its power. Despite the fact that its territory was reduced compared to the VI century. (the empire controlled Asia Minor, the Balkans and southern Italy), it was the largest and most powerful Christian state of that time. About 1.5 million people lived in more than 400 cities of the empire. Byzantine agriculture produced enough products to feed a large population.

At the beginning of the XIII century. The Byzantine Empire was in ruins. In 1204, the Western European knights - participants in the IV Crusade, who were heading to Palestine to liberate the Holy Sepulcher from the Muslims, were seduced by the untold riches of the Romans. The Christian crusaders plundered and ravaged Constantinople, the center of the Orthodox empire. On the site of Byzantium, they created the Latin Empire, which did not last long - already in 1261, the Greeks regained Constantinople. However, the restored Byzantine Empire was never able to achieve its former greatness.

Byzantium and Slavs

For the first time, the Romans clashed with the Slavs during the Great Migration of Nations. The first mentions of Slavic tribes in Byzantine sources date back to the 5th-6th centuries. Emperor Justinian I created a system of fortresses on the Danube border to defend against Slavic invasions. However, this did not stop the militant neighbors, who often attacked the Balkan provinces of the empire, plundered cities and villages, sometimes reaching the outskirts of Constantinople and taking thousands of local residents into captivity. In the 7th century Slavic tribes began to settle within the empire. For 100 years, they captured 3/4 of the territory of the Balkan Peninsula.

On the Danubian lands, mastered by the Slavs, in 681 the First Bulgarian Kingdom arose, founded by the Turkic nomadic Bulgarians, headed by Khan Asparuh, who came from the Northern Black Sea region. Soon the Turks and the Slavs who lived here already constituted a single people. In the person of the strong Bulgarian state, Byzantium received its main rival in the Balkans.

Battle of the Byzantines and Bulgarians. Medieval miniature

But relations between the two states were not limited to wars. The Byzantines hoped that the adoption of Christianity by the Slavs would reconcile them with the empire, which would have leverage over its restless neighbors. In 865, the Bulgarian Tsar Boris I (852–889) converted to Christianity according to the Orthodox rite.

Among the Byzantine missionaries who preached Christianity among the Slavs, the brothers Cyril and Methodius left a deep mark on history. To facilitate the understanding of the Holy Scriptures, they created the Slavic alphabet - the Cyrillic alphabet, which we still use today. The adoption of Christianity from Byzantium, the creation of Slavic writing led to the flourishing of the culture of the Slavic peoples, who were among the culturally advanced peoples of the Middle Ages.

Close political, trade and economic relations with the Byzantine Empire were maintained by the Old Russian state. A direct consequence of intensive contacts was the penetration of Christianity into Russia from Byzantium. Its spread was facilitated by Byzantine merchants, Slavic mercenaries who served in the Byzantine guard and converted to Orthodoxy. In 988, Prince Vladimir I himself received baptism from Byzantine priests and baptized Russia.

Despite the fact that the Slavs and the Byzantines became fellow believers, the cruel wars did not stop. In the second half of the X century. Byzantium began a struggle for the subjugation of the Bulgarian kingdom, which ended with the inclusion of Bulgaria in the empire. The independence of the first Slavic state in the Balkans was restored only at the end of the 12th century. as a result of a popular uprising.

The cultural and religious influence of Byzantium, along with the southern Slavs, was experienced by many countries and peoples of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Northeast Africa. The Roman Empire acted as the head of the entire Eastern Christian world. There were significant differences in the state system, culture and church structure of Byzantium and the countries of Western Europe.

Questions and tasks

1. What was the influence of Antiquity on the history and culture of the Byzantine Empire?

2. What role did the power of the emperor and the Orthodox Church play in the life of the Romans?

3. What is the difference between Eastern and Western Christendom?

4. What external threats did the Byzantine Empire resist? How did its international position change in the middle of the 13th century? compared to the 6th century?

5. How did relations develop between Byzantium and the Slavs?

6. What is the importance of the cultural heritage of Byzantium for the present?

7. In the work of the Byzantine historian of the 7th century. Theophylact Simokatta says this about the importance of the human mind: “A person should adorn himself not only with what is good given him by nature, but also with what he himself found and invented for himself in his life. He has a mind - a property in some respects divine and amazing. Thanks to him, he learned to fear and honor God, how to see manifestations of his own nature in a mirror and clearly imagine the structure and order of his life. Thanks to the mind, people turn their eyes to themselves, from the contemplation of external phenomena they direct their observations to themselves and thereby reveal the secrets of their creation. A lot of good, as I think, has been given by the mind to people, and it is the best helper of their nature. What was not finished or not done by it, the mind perfectly created and completed: for sight it gave decoration, for taste - pleasure, he stretched one, making it hard, he made the other soft; songs appealed to the ear, bewitching the soul with the spell of sounds and involuntarily forcing them to listen to them. And isn’t this completely proved to us by someone who is an expert in all kinds of crafts, who knows how to weave a thin tunic from wool, who from wood will make a handle for a plow for a farmer, an oar for a sailor, and for a warrior a spear and shield, guarding in the dangers of battle? »

Why does he call the mind divine and wonderful?

How do, according to Theophylact, nature and the human mind interact?

Think about what is common and what is the difference between the views of Western and Eastern Christianity on the role of the human mind.

Abstract on the topic:

Byzantine Empire and

Eastern Christian world.

Completed by: Kushtukov A.A.

Checked by: Tsybzhitova A.B.

2007.

Introduction 3

History of Byzantium 4

Division into Eastern and Western Roman Empires 4

Formation of independent Byzantium 4

Dynasty of Justinian 5

The beginning of a new dynasty and the strengthening of the empire 7

Isaurian dynasty 7

IX-XI centuries 8

XII - XIII centuries 10

Turkish invasion. Fall of Byzantium 11

Byzantine culture 14

Formation of Christianity

as a philosophical and religious system 14

The time of the highest power and

. 18

Conclusion 24

Literature 25

Introduction.

In my essay, I would like to talk about Byzantium. Byzantine Empire (Romean Empire, 476-1453) - Eastern Roman Empire. The name "Byzantine Empire" (after the city of Byzantium, on the site of which the Roman emperor Constantine the Great founded Constantinople at the beginning of the 4th century), the state received in the writings of Western European historians after its fall. The Byzantines themselves called themselves the Romans - in Greek "Romeans", and their power - "Romean". Western sources also refer to the Byzantine Empire as Romania. For much of its history, many of its Western contemporaries referred to it as the "Empire of the Greeks" due to the dominance of its Greek population and culture. In ancient Russia, it was also usually called the "Greek Kingdom". Byzantium made a great contribution to the development of culture in Europe in the Middle Ages. In the history of world culture, Byzantium has a special, prominent place. In artistic creativity, Byzantium gave the medieval world high images of literature and art, which were distinguished by the noble elegance of forms, figurative vision of thought, refinement of aesthetic thinking, and depth of philosophical thought. By the power of expressiveness and deep spirituality, Byzantium stood ahead of all the countries of medieval Europe for many centuries. The direct successor of the Greco-Roman world and the Hellenistic East, Byzantium has always remained the center of a unique and truly brilliant culture.

History of Byzantium.

Division into Eastern and Western Roman Empires

Division into Eastern and Western Roman Empires. In 330, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great declared the city of Byzantium his capital, renaming it Constantinople. The need to move the capital was caused, first of all, by the remoteness of Rome from the tense eastern and northeastern borders of the empire; it was possible to organize defense from Constantinople much more quickly and efficiently than from Rome. The final division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western took place after the death of Theodosius the Great in 395. The main difference between Byzantium and the Western Roman Empire was the predominance of Greek culture on its territory. Differences grew, and over the course of two centuries the state finally acquired its individual appearance.

The formation of independent Byzantium

The formation of Byzantium as an independent state can be attributed to the period 330-518. During this period, through the borders on the Danube and the Rhine, numerous barbarian, mainly Germanic tribes penetrated into Roman territory. Some were small groups of settlers attracted by the security and prosperity of the empire, while others undertook military campaigns against Byzantium, and soon their pressure became unstoppable. Taking advantage of the weakness of Rome, the Germans switched from raiding to seizing land, and in 476 the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire was overthrown. The situation in the east was no less difficult, and a similar ending could be expected after the Visigoths won the famous battle of 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 Goths were replaced by the Huns. Attila started the war several times, and only by paying a large tribute it was possible to prevent his further attacks. In the battle of the peoples in 451, Attila was defeated, and his state soon fell apart. In the second half of the 5th century, danger came from the Ostrogoths - Theodoric ravaged Macedonia, threatened Constantinople, but he also went west, conquering Italy and founding his state on the ruins of Rome. The situation in the country was greatly destabilized by numerous Christian heresies - Arianism, Nestorianism, Monophysitism. While in the West the popes, beginning with Leo the Great (440-461), asserted 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 unrest, old national strife and still tenacious separatist tendencies surfaced; thus, political interests and goals were closely intertwined with the religious conflict. From 502, the Persians resumed their onslaught in the east, the Slavs and Avars began raids south of the Danube. Internal unrest reached its extreme limits, in the capital there was an intense struggle between the parties of "green" and "blue" (according to the colors of the chariot teams). Finally, the strong memory of the Roman tradition, which supported the idea of ​​the need for the unity of the Roman world, constantly turned 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. By 550, Justinian I was pursuing such a policy.

Justinian dynasty.

In 518, after the death of Anastasius, a rather obscure intrigue placed the head of the guard, Justin, on the throne. He was a peasant from Macedonia, who had come to Constantinople in search of fortune fifty years ago, brave, but completely illiterate and having no experience in state affairs as a soldier. That is why this upstart, who became the founder of the dynasty at the age of about 70, would have been very hampered by the power entrusted to him if he had not had an adviser in the person of his nephew Justinian. From the very beginning of Justin's reign, Justinian was in fact in power - also a native of Macedonia, but who received an excellent education and possessed excellent abilities. In 527, having received full power, Justinian began to fulfill his plans to restore the Empire and strengthen the power of a single emperor. He achieved an alliance with the mainstream church. Under Justinian, heretics were forced to convert to the official confession under the threat of deprivation of civil rights and even the death penalty. Until 532, he was busy suppressing speeches in the capital and repelling the onslaught of the Persians, but soon the main direction of politics moved to the west. The barbarian kingdoms had weakened over the past half century, the inhabitants called for the restoration of the empire, finally, even the kings of the Germans themselves recognized the legitimacy of the claims of Byzantium. In 533, an army led by Belisarius attacked the Vandal states in North Africa. Italy was the next target - a difficult war with the Ostrogothic kingdom lasted 20 years and ended in victory. Invading the kingdom of the Visigoths in 554, Justinian also conquered the southern part of Spain. As a result, the territory of the empire almost doubled. But these successes required too much effort, which was not slow to take advantage of the Persians, Slavs, Avars and Huns, who, although they did not conquer significant territories, but devastated many lands in the east of the empire. Byzantine diplomacy also sought to ensure the prestige and influence of the empire throughout the outside world. Thanks to the clever distribution of favors and money, and the skillful ability to sow discord among the enemies of the empire, she brought under Byzantine rule the barbarian peoples who wandered on the borders of the monarchy, and made them safe. She included them in the sphere of influence of Byzantium by preaching Christianity. The activity of missionaries who spread Christianity from the shores of the Black Sea to the plateaus of Abyssinia and the oases of the Sahara was one of the main features of Byzantine politics in the Middle Ages. Apart from military expansion, Justinian's other major task was administrative and financial reform. The economy of the empire was in a state of severe crisis, management was stricken with corruption. In order to reorganize the management of Justinian, legislation was codified and a number of reforms were carried out, which, although they did not solve the problem radically, undoubtedly had positive consequences. Construction was launched throughout the empire - the largest in scale since the "golden age" of the Antonines. However, greatness was bought at a high price - the economy was undermined by wars, the population became impoverished, and the successors of Justinian (Justin II (565-578), Tiberius II (578-582), Mauritius (582-602)) were forced to focus on defense and shift the direction of policy to the east. The conquests of Justinian were fragile - at the end of the VI-VII centuries. Byzantium lost all the conquered areas in the West (with the exception of Southern Italy). While the invasion of the Lombards took half of Italy from Byzantium, Armenia was conquered in 591 during the war with Persia, and the confrontation with the Slavs continued in the north. But already at the beginning of the next, VII century, the Persians resumed hostilities and achieved significant success due to numerous unrest in the empire.

The beginning of a new dynasty and the strengthening of the empire.

In 610, the son of the Carthaginian exarch Heraclius overthrew the emperor Phocas and founded a new dynasty that proved capable of withstanding the dangers that threatened the state. It was one of the most difficult periods in the history of Byzantium - the Persians conquered Egypt and threatened Constantinople, the Avars, Slavs and Lombards attacked the borders from all sides. Heraclius won a number of victories over the Persians, transferred the war to their territory, after which the death of Shah Khosrov II and a series of uprisings forced them to abandon all conquests and make peace. But the severe exhaustion of both sides in this war prepared fertile ground for the Arab conquests. In 634, Caliph Omar invaded Syria, over the next 40 years Egypt, North Africa, Syria, Palestine, Upper Mesopotamia were lost, and often the population of these areas, exhausted by wars, considered the Arabs, who at first significantly reduced taxes, their liberators . The Arabs created a fleet and even besieged Constantinople. But the new emperor, Constantine IV Pogonatus (668-685), repelled their onslaught. Despite a five-year siege of Constantinople (673-678) by land and sea, the Arabs were unable to capture it. The Greek fleet, which had been given superiority by the recent invention of "Greek fire", forced the Muslim squadrons to retreat and defeated them in the waters of Silleum. On land, the troops of the Caliphate were defeated in Asia. From this crisis, the empire came out more united and monolithic, its national composition became more homogeneous, religious differences mainly became a thing of the past, since Monophysitism and Arianism were mainly spread in Egypt and North Africa, now lost. By the end of the 7th century, the territory of Byzantium was no more than a third of the power of Justinian. Its core was made up of lands inhabited by Greeks or Hellenized tribes who spoke the Greek language. In the 7th century, significant reforms were carried out in governance - instead of eparchies and exarchates, the empire was divided into themes subordinate to strategists. The new national composition of the state led to the fact that the Greek language became official. In the administration, the old Latin titles either disappear or are Hellenized, and new names take their place - logothetes, strategii, eparchs, drungaria. In an army dominated by Asian and Armenian elements, Greek becomes the language in which orders are given. And although the Byzantine Empire continued to be called the Roman Empire until the last day, nevertheless, the Latin language fell out of use.

Isaurian dynasty

At the beginning of the VIII century, temporary stabilization was again replaced by a series of crises - wars with the Bulgarians, Arabs, continuous uprisings ... Finally, Leo the Isaurian, who ascended the throne under the name of Emperor Leo III, managed to stop the collapse of the state and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Arabs. After half a century of reign, the first two Isaurians made the empire rich and prosperous, despite the plague that devastated it in 747, and despite the unrest caused by iconoclasm. The support of iconoclasm by the emperors of the Isaurian dynasty was due to both religious and political factors. Many Byzantines at the beginning of the 8th century were dissatisfied with the excess of superstition and, in particular, with the worship of icons, belief in their miraculous properties, and the combination of human actions and interests with them. At the same time, the emperors sought to limit the growing power of the church. In addition, by refusing to venerate icons, the Isaurian emperors hoped to get closer to the Arabs, who did not recognize images. The policy of iconoclasm led to strife and unrest, while at the same time deepening the split in relations with the Roman Church. The restoration of icon veneration took place only at the end of the 8th century thanks to Empress Irina, the first female empress, but already at the beginning of the 9th century, the policy of iconoclasm was continued.

In 800, Charlemagne announced the restoration of the Western Roman Empire, which for Byzantium was a sensitive humiliation. At the same time, the Baghdad Caliphate intensified its onslaught in the east. Emperor Leo V the Armenian (813-820) and two emperors of the Phrygian dynasty - Michael II (820-829) and Theophilus (829-842) - resumed the policy of iconoclasm. Again, for thirty years, the empire was in the grip of unrest. The treaty of 812, which recognized the title of emperor for Charlemagne, meant serious territorial losses in Italy, where Byzantium retained only Venice and lands in the south of the peninsula. The war with the Arabs, resumed in 804, led to two serious defeats: the capture of the island of Crete by Muslim pirates (826), who began to devastate the eastern Mediterranean from here almost with impunity, and the conquest of Sicily by the North African Arabs (827), who in 831 captured the city of Palermo. The danger from the Bulgarians was especially formidable, since Khan Krum expanded the limits of his empire from Gem to the Carpathians. Nicephorus tried to break it by invading Bulgaria, but on the way back he was defeated and died (811), and the Bulgarians, having recaptured Adrianople, appeared at the walls of Constantinople (813). Only the victory of Leo V at Mesemvria (813) saved the empire. The period of unrest ended in 867 with the coming to power of the Macedonian dynasty. Basil I the Macedonian (867-886), Roman Lecapenus (919-944), Nicephorus Foka (963-969), John Tzimisces (969-976), Basil II (976-1025) - emperors and usurpers - provided Byzantium with 150 years of prosperity and power. Bulgaria, Crete, Southern Italy were conquered, successful military campaigns against the Arabs deep into Syria were carried out. The borders of the empire expanded to the Euphrates and the Tigris, Armenia and Iberia entered the sphere of Byzantine influence, John Tzimiskes reached Jerusalem. In the IX-XI centuries. relations with Kievan Rus acquired great importance for Byzantium. After the siege of Constantinople by the Kyiv prince Oleg (907), Byzantium was forced to conclude a trade agreement with Russia, which contributed to the development of trade along the great road from the "Varangians to the Greeks." At the end of the 10th century, Byzantium fought with Russia (Kyiv Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich) for Bulgaria and won. Under the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, an alliance was concluded between Byzantium and Kievan Rus. Basil II gave his sister Anna in marriage to Prince Vladimir of Kyiv. At the end of the X century in Russia, Christianity was adopted from Byzantium according to the Eastern rite. In 1019, having conquered Bulgaria, Armenia and Iberia, Basil II celebrated with a great triumph the greatest expansion of the empire since the times preceding the Arab conquests. The picture was completed by a brilliant state of finance and the flourishing of culture. However, at the same time, the first signs of weakness began to appear, which was expressed in increased feudal fragmentation. The nobility, which controlled vast territories and resources, often successfully opposed itself to the central government. The decline began after the death of Vasily II, under his brother Constantine VIII (1025-1028) and under the daughters of the latter - first under Zoya and her three successive husbands - Roman III (1028-1034), Michael IV (1034-1041), Constantine Monomakh (1042-1054), with whom she shared the throne (Zoya died in 1050), and then under Theodore (1054-1056). The weakening manifested itself even more sharply after the end of the Macedonian dynasty. By the middle of the 11th century, the main danger was approaching from the east - the Seljuk Turks. As a result of a military coup, Isaac Comnenus (1057-1059) ascended the throne; after his abdication, Constantine X Doukas (1059-1067) became emperor. Then Roman IV Diogenes (1067-1071) came to power, who was overthrown by Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078); as a result of a new uprising, the crown went to Nicephorus Botaniatus (1078-1081). During these brief reigns, anarchy increased, the internal and external crisis from which the empire suffered became more and more severe. Italy was lost by the middle of the 11th century under the onslaught of the Normans, but the main danger was coming from the east - in 1071, Roman IV Diogenes was defeated by the Seljuk Turks near Manazkert (Armenia), and Byzantium was never able to recover from this defeat. Over the next two decades, the Turks occupied all of Anatolia; The Empire could not build a large enough army to stop them. In desperation, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118) asked the Pope in 1095 to help him get an army from Western Christendom. Relations with the West predetermined the events of 1204 (the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders and the collapse of the country), and the uprisings of the feudal lords undermined the last forces of the country. In 1081, the Komnenos dynasty (1081-1204) - representatives of the feudal aristocracy - came to the throne. The Turks remained in Iconium (the Sultanate of Konya); in the Balkans, with the help of expanding Hungary, the Slavic peoples created almost independent states; finally, the West also posed a serious danger in the light of Byzantium's expansionist aspirations, the ambitious political plans generated by the first crusade, and the economic claims of Venice.

XII-XIII centuries.

Under Komnenos, heavily armed cavalry (cataphracts) and mercenary troops from foreigners began to play the main role in the Byzantine army. The strengthening of the state and the army allowed the Komnenos to repel the offensive of the Normans in the Balkans, to win back a significant part of Asia Minor from the Seljuks, and to establish sovereignty over Antioch. Manuel I forced Hungary to recognize the sovereignty of Byzantium (1164) and established his authority in Serbia. On the whole, however, the situation continued to be difficult. The behavior of Venice was especially dangerous - the former purely Greek city became a rival and enemy of the empire, creating strong competition for its trade. In 1176 the Byzantine army was defeated by the Turks at Myriokephalon. On all borders, Byzantium was forced to go on the defensive. The Byzantine policy towards the crusaders was to bind their leaders with vassal ties and return territories in the east with their help, but this did not bring much success. Relations with the crusaders were constantly deteriorating. The second crusade, led by the French king Louis VII and the German king Conrad III, was organized after the conquest of Edessa by the Seljuks in 1144. The Comneni dreamed of restoring their power over Rome, whether by force or by alliance with the papacy, and destroy the Western Empire, the fact of the existence of which always seemed to them a usurpation of their rights. Manuel I especially tried to realize these dreams. It seemed that Manuel acquired incomparable glory for the empire all over the world and made Constantinople the center of European politics; but when he died in 1180, Byzantium was ruined and hated by the Latins, ready to attack it at any moment. At the same time, a serious internal crisis was brewing in the country. After the death of Manuel I, a popular uprising broke out in Constantinople (1181), caused by dissatisfaction with the policy of the government, which patronized Italian merchants, as well as Western European knights who entered the service of the emperors. The country was going through a deep economic crisis: feudal fragmentation intensified, the actual independence of the rulers of the provinces from the central government, cities fell into decay, the army and navy weakened. The collapse of the empire began. In 1187 Bulgaria fell away; in 1190 Byzantium was forced to recognize the independence of Serbia.

When Enrico Dandolo became Doge of Venice in 1192, the idea arose that the best way to resolve the crisis and satisfy the accumulated hatred of the Latins, and to ensure the interests of Venice in the East, would be the conquest of the Byzantine Empire. The hostility of the pope, the harassment of Venice, the bitterness of the entire Latin world - all this taken together predetermined the fact that the fourth crusade (1202-1204) instead of Palestine turned against Constantinople. Exhausted, weakened by the onslaught of the Slavic states, Byzantium was unable to resist the crusaders. In 1204, the crusader army captured Constantinople. Byzantium broke up into a number of states - the Latin Empire and the Achaean Principality, created on the territories captured by the crusaders, and the Nicaean, Trebizond and Epirus empires - remaining under the control of the Greeks. The Latins suppressed Greek culture in Byzantium, the dominance of Italian merchants prevented the revival of Byzantine cities. The position of the Latin Empire was very precarious - the hatred of the Greeks and the attacks of the Bulgarians greatly weakened it, so in 1261 the emperor of the Nicaean Empire, Michael Palaeologus, with the support of the Greek population of the Latin Empire, having recaptured Constantinople and defeated the Latin Empire, announced the restoration of the Byzantine Empire. Epirus joined in 1337. But the Principality of Achaea - the only viable formation of the crusaders in Greece - lasted until the conquests of the Ottoman Turks, as did the Empire of Trebizond. It was no longer possible to restore the Byzantine Empire in its integrity. Michael VIII Palaiologos (1261-1282) attempted to accomplish this, and although he did not succeed in fully realizing his aspirations, nevertheless his efforts, practical gifts and flexible mind make him the last significant emperor of Byzantium.

Turkish invasion. Fall of Byzantium.

The conquests of the Ottoman Turks began to threaten the very existence of the country. Murad I (1359-1389) conquered Thrace (1361), which John V Palaiologos was forced to recognize for him (1363); then he captured Philippopolis, and soon Adrianople, where he moved his capital (1365). Constantinople, isolated, surrounded, cut off from the rest of the regions, was waiting behind its walls for a mortal blow that seemed inevitable. Meanwhile, the Ottomans had completed their conquest of the Balkan Peninsula. At Maritsa they defeated the southern Serbs and Bulgarians (1371); they established their colonies in Macedonia and began to threaten Thessalonica (1374); they invaded Albania (1386), defeated the Serbian Empire and, after the Battle of Kosovo, turned Bulgaria into a Turkish pashalik (1393). John V Palaiologos was forced to recognize himself as a vassal of the Sultan, pay tribute to him and supply him with contingents of troops to capture Philadelphia (1391) - the last stronghold that Byzantium still owned in Asia Minor.

Bayazid I (1389-1402) acted even more energetically towards the Byzantine Empire. He blockaded the capital from all sides (1391-1395), and when the attempt of the West to save Byzantium at the Battle of Nicopolis (1396) failed, he tried to take Constantinople by storm (1397) and at the same time invaded Morea. The invasion of the Mongols and the crushing defeat inflicted by Timur on the Turks at Angora (Ankara) (1402) gave the empire another twenty years of respite. But in 1421 Murad II (1421-1451) resumed the offensive. He attacked, though unsuccessfully, Constantinople, which resisted vigorously (1422); he captured Thessalonica (1430), bought in 1423 by the Venetians from the Byzantines; one of his generals penetrated the Morea (1423); he himself successfully operated in Bosnia and Albania and forced the sovereign of Wallachia to pay tribute. The Byzantine Empire, taken to the extreme, now owned, in addition to Constantinople and the neighboring region to Derkon and Selymvria, only a few separate regions scattered along the coast: Anchialos, Mesemvria, Athos and the Peloponnese, which, having been almost completely conquered from the Latins, became, as it were, the center Greek nation. Despite the heroic efforts of Janos Hunyadi, who in 1443 defeated the Turks at Yalovac, despite the resistance of Skanderbeg in Albania, the Turks stubbornly pursued their goals. In 1444, in the battle of Varna, the last serious attempt of Eastern Christians to resist the Turks turned into a defeat. The Athenian duchy submitted to them, the Principality of Morea, conquered by the Turks in 1446, was forced to recognize itself as a tributary; in the second battle on the Kosovo field (1448), Janos Hunyadi was defeated. Only Constantinople remained - an impregnable citadel that embodied the entire empire. But the end was near for him. Mehmed II, assuming the throne (1451), firmly intended to seize it. On April 5, 1453, the Turks began the siege of Constantinople, a famous impregnable fortress. Even earlier, the sultan built the Rumel fortress (Rumelihisar) on the Bosphorus, which cut communications between Constantinople and the Black Sea, and at the same time sent an expedition to Morea to prevent the Greek despots of Mistra from providing assistance to the capital. Against a colossal Turkish army of about 160,000 men, Emperor Constantine XI Dragash was able to field barely 9,000 soldiers, of whom at least half were foreigners; the Byzantines, hostile to the church union concluded by their emperor, did not feel the desire to fight. However, despite the power of the Turkish artillery, the first attack was repulsed (April 18). Mehmed II managed to lead his fleet into the Golden Horn and thus jeopardize another section of the fortifications. However, the assault on May 7 again failed. But in the city rampart on the outskirts of the gates of St. Romana has been breached. On the night of May 28 to May 29, 1453, the last attack began. Twice the Turks were repulsed; then Mehmed threw the Janissaries to the assault. At the same time, the Genoese Giustiniani Longo, who, along with the emperor, was the soul of defense, was seriously injured and was forced to leave his post. This disorganized the defense. The emperor continued to fight valiantly, but part of the enemy troops, having mastered the underground passage from the fortress - the so-called Xyloport, attacked the defenders from the rear. It was the end. Konstantin Dragash died in battle. The Turks took over the city. In the captured Constantinople, robberies and murders began; more than 60 thousand people were taken prisoner.

Byzantine culture.

Formation of Christianity as a philosophical and religious system.

considered as the most important stage in the formation of the worldview

Byzantine society, based on the traditions of pagan Hellenism

and principles of Christianity.

The formation of Christianity as a philosophical and religious system was a complex and lengthy process. Christianity absorbed many philosophical and religious teachings of that time. Christian dogma has developed under the strong influence of Middle Eastern religious teachings, Judaism, and Manichaeism. Christianity itself was not only a syncretic religious doctrine, but also a synthetic philosophical and religious system, an important component of which were ancient philosophical teachings. This, perhaps, explains to some extent the fact that Christianity not only fought against ancient philosophy, but also used it for its own purposes. In place of the irreconcilability of Christianity with everything that carried the stigma of paganism, comes a compromise between the Christian and the ancient worldview.

The most educated and far-sighted Christian theologians understood the need to master the entire arsenal of pagan culture in order to use it in the creation of philosophical concepts. In the writings of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus, in the speeches of John Chrysostom, one can see a combination of the ideas of early Christianity with Neoplatonic philosophy, sometimes a paradoxical interweaving

rhetorical ideas with new ideological content. Thinkers like

Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus,

lay the actual foundation of Byzantine philosophy. Them

philosophical constructions are deeply rooted in the history of the Hellenic

thinking

In the transitional era of the death of the slave system and

the formation of feudal society, fundamental changes are taking place in all

spheres of the spiritual life of Byzantium. A new aesthetic is born, a new

system of spiritual and moral values, more appropriate

mentality and emotional demands of medieval man.

Patriotic literature, biblical cosmography, liturgical

poetry, monastic tales, world chronicles, permeated with a religious worldview, gradually take possession of the minds of Byzantine society and replace ancient culture.

The man of that era is also changing, his vision of the world, his attitude

to the universe, nature, society. Creates a new, compared to

antiquity, the "image of the world", embodied in a special sign system

characters. To replace the ancient idea of ​​a heroic personality,

to the ancient understanding of the world as the world of laughing gods and heroes fearlessly going to death, where the highest good is to be afraid of nothing and not to hope for anything, the world of a suffering, torn by contradictions, a small, sinful person comes. He is infinitely humiliated and weak, but he believes in his salvation in another life and tries to find solace in this. Christianity reveals with unprecedented intensity the painful division within the human personality. Man's idea of ​​the cosmos, of time, of space, of the course of history is also changing.

One of the fundamental ideas crystallizes in early Byzantium

Middle Ages - the idea of ​​the union of the Christian Church and the "Christian

empire."

The spiritual life of the then society is distinguished by dramatic tension; in all spheres of knowledge, there is an amazing mixture of pagan and Christian ideas, images, ideas, a colorful combination of pagan mythology with Christian mysticism. The era of the formation of a new, medieval culture gives birth to talented, sometimes marked by the seal of genius, thinkers, writers, poets.

Fundamental changes are taking place in the field of fine arts

and aesthetic views of Byzantine society. Byzantine aesthetics

developed on the basis of the entire spiritual culture of Byzantium. A distinctive feature of Byzantine aesthetics was its deep spiritualism. Giving preference to the spirit over the body, she at the same time tried to remove the dualism of the earthly and heavenly, divine and human, spirit and flesh. Without denying bodily beauty, Byzantine thinkers placed the beauty of the soul, virtue, and moral perfection much higher. Of great importance for the establishment of the Byzantine aesthetic consciousness was the early Christian understanding of the world as a beautiful creation of a divine artist. That is why natural beauty was valued higher than beauty created by human hands, as if "secondary" in its origin.

Byzantine art went back to Hellenistic and Eastern Christian art. In the early period in Byzantine art, the platonicity and sensuality of late antique impressionism seemed to merge with the naive, sometimes coarse expressiveness of the folk art of the East. Hellenism for a long time remained the main, but not the only, source from which the Byzantine masters drew the elegance of forms, the correctness of proportions, the charming transparency of the color scheme, and the technical perfection of their works. But Hellenism could not fully resist the powerful stream of oriental influences that swept over Byzantium in the first

centuries of its existence. At this time, there is an effect on

Byzantine Egyptian, Syrian, Malaysian, Iranian art

artistic traditions.

In the IV-V centuries. in the art of Byzantium were still strong late antique

traditions. If classical antique art was different

pacified monism, if it did not know the struggle of spirit and body, and its

aesthetic ideal embodied the harmonious unity of the physical and spiritual

beauty, then already in the late antique art it is planned

tragic conflict of spirit and flesh. Monistic harmony is replaced

clash of opposite principles, "the spirit, as it were, is trying to throw off

the shackles of the bodily shell. "In the future, Byzantine art

overcame the conflict of spirit and body, it was replaced by a calm

contemplation, designed to lead a person away from the storms of earthly life into

supersensible world of pure spirit. This "pacification" occurs in

as a result of the recognition of the superiority of the spiritual principle over the corporeal,

victory of the spirit over the flesh.

In the VI-VII centuries. Byzantine artists managed not only to absorb these

diverse influences, but also, having overcome them, create your own

style in art. Since that time, Constantinople has been transformed into

celebrated artistic center of the medieval world, in the "palladium

sciences and arts." He is followed by Ravenna, Rome, Nicaea, Thessalonica,

also became the focus of the Byzantine artistic style.

The heyday of Byzantine art of the early period is associated with the strengthening of the power of the empire under Justinian. Magnificent palaces and temples are erected in Constantinople at this time. An unsurpassed masterpiece of Byzantine creativity was built in the 30s of the VI century. church of st. Sofia. For the first time, the idea of ​​a grandiose centric temple crowned with a dome was embodied in it. The brilliance of multi-colored marbles, the flickering of gold and precious utensils, the radiance of many lamps created the illusion of the infinity of the space of the cathedral, turned it into a kind of macrocosm, symbolically brought it closer to the image of the Universe. No wonder it has always remained the main shrine of Byzantium.

Another masterpiece of Byzantine architecture is the Church of St. Vitaliy in Ravenna - amazes with the sophistication and elegance of architectural forms.

This temple was especially famous for its famous mosaics, not only

ecclesiastical, but also secular in nature, in particular images

Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora and their retinue. The faces of Justinian and Theodora are endowed with portrait features, the color scheme of the mosaics is full-blooded brightness, warmth and freshness.

In painting VI-VII centuries. a specifically Byzantine image crystallizes, cleansed of foreign influences. It is based on experience

masters of East and West, who came independently to

creation of a new art corresponding to spiritualistic

ideals of medieval society. In this art already appear

different directions and schools. The metropolitan school, for example, was different

excellent workmanship, refined artistry,

picturesque and colorful variety, quivering and

iridescence of colors. One of the most perfect works of this

schools had mosaics in the dome of the Church of the Assumption in Nicaea.

Other trends in the art of early Byzantium, embodied in

mosaics of Ravenna, Sinai, Thessaloniki, Cyprus, Parenzo, mark the rejection

Byzantine masters from ancient reminiscences. Images become

more ascetic, not only to the sensual, but also to the emotional moment

Church worship turned in Byzantium into a kind of

magnificent mystery. In the twilight of the arches of the Byzantine temples, twilight

many candles and lamps shone, illuminating with mysterious reflections

gold mosaics, dark faces of icons, multicolored marble colonnades,

magnificent precious utensils. All this was supposed to be

churches, overshadow in the human soul the emotional elation of ancient

tragedies, the healthy fun of mimes, the vain excitement of circus dances and

give him joy in the daily routine of real life.

In the applied art of Byzantium, to a lesser extent than in architecture

and painting, the leading line of development of the Byzantine

art, reflecting the formation of the medieval worldview.

The vitality of ancient traditions here was manifested both in images and in

forms of artistic expression. At the same time, they penetrated

gradually artistic traditions of the peoples of the East. Here, though in

less than in Western Europe, the impact

barbarian world.

Music occupied a special place in Byzantine civilization.

affect the nature of musical culture, which represented

complex and multifaceted phenomenon of the spiritual life of the era. In the V-VII centuries.

the formation of the Christian liturgy took place, new genres of vocal art developed. Music acquires a special civil status, is included in the system of representation of state power. The music of city streets, theatrical and circus performances and folk festivals, which reflected the richest song and musical practice of many peoples inhabiting the empire, retained a special color. Christianity very early appreciated the special possibilities of music as a universal art and at the same time possessing the power of mass and individual psychological impact, and included it in its cult ritual. It was cult music that was destined to occupy a dominant position in medieval Byzantium.

In the life of the broad masses, as before, an enormous role was played by

mass spectacle. True, the ancient theater began to decline -

ancient tragedies and comedies are increasingly being replaced by performances of mimes,

jugglers, dancers, gymnasts, tamers of wild animals. Place

the theater is now occupied by a circus (hippodrome) with its horse races,

enjoying great popularity.

The culture of early Byzantium was an urban culture. Big cities

empires, and especially Constantinople, were not only centers

crafts and trade, but also centers of the highest culture and education,

where the rich heritage of antiquity was preserved.

The struggle between secular and ecclesiastical cultures is especially characteristic of

first period of Byzantine history. In the history of Byzantine culture

the first centuries of the existence of Byzantium were a time of acute ideological struggle, a clash of contradictory tendencies, complex ideological conflicts, but also a time of fruitful searches, intense spiritual creativity, and the positive development of science and art. These were the centuries when, in the throes of the struggle between the old and the new, the culture of the future medieval society was born.

The time of the highest power and

the highest point of cultural development .

The defining feature of the spiritual life of the empire by the middle of VII

century was the undivided dominance of the Christian worldview.

Deep religiosity was now simulated not so much by dogmatic

disputes about how much the offensive of Islam, which was carried out by the Arabs, inspired

"holy war" and the fight against the pagans - the Slavs and pro-Bulgarians.

The role of the church increased even more. Instability in life

economic and domestic disorder of the masses of the population, poverty and

constant danger from an external enemy exacerbated the religious

feeling of the subjects of the empire: the spirit of humility was affirmed before

vicissitudes of "this world", uncomplaining submission to "spiritual

shepherds", boundless faith in signs and wonders, in salvation through

self-denial and prayer. The class of monks grew rapidly,

the number of monasteries increased. As never before, the cult of saints flourished.

Widespread superstition helped the church to dominate

minds of parishioners, increase their wealth and strengthen their position.

This was facilitated by a decrease in the level of literacy of the population, extreme

narrowing of secular knowledge.

However, the triumph of theology, the assertion of its dominance through

violence hid a serious danger - theology could be

powerless before criticism of the Gentiles and heretics. Like any

The ideological system of Christianity needed to be developed.

The need for this was realized in narrow circles of the church elite,

preserved the traditions of high religious and secular education.

The systematization of theology became the first task, and for this

had to resort again to the spiritual treasures of antiquity - without it

idealistic theories and formal logic, the new tasks of theologians were

impossible.

The search for original philosophical and theological solutions

undertaken already in the second half of the 7th century, although the most

outstanding works in this area were created in the next century.

Characteristic in this regard is the fact that against the general background of the decline

a certain rise: this was required by the vital interests of the ruling

elites, presented as an urgent need of the widest sections of society.

John of Damascus set before himself and fulfilled two main

tasks: he sharply criticized the enemies of orthodoxy (Nestorians, Manichaeans, iconoclasts) and systematized theology as a worldview, as a special system of ideas about God, the creation of the world and man, defining his place in this and the other worlds.

Compilation based on Aristotelian logic represented the main method of his work. He also used the natural-scientific ideas of the ancients, but carefully selected from them, as well as from the dogmas of his theologian predecessors, only that which in no way contradicted the canons of the ecumenical councils.

In essence, the work of Damaskinus, even by medieval standards

devoid of originality. His works played a major role in the ideological struggle

with iconoclasm, but not because they contained new arguments in defense

traditional ideas and religious rites, but due to the elimination of contradictions from church dogmas, bringing them into a coherent system.

A significant step forward in the development of theological science, in

development of new ideas concerning the problems of the relationship between spirit and matter,

expression of thought and its perception, the relationship of God and man, was made

during fierce disputes between iconoclasts and iconodules.

But in general, until the middle of the IX century. philosophers and theologians remained in the circle of traditional ideas of late antique Christianity.

The ideological struggle of the era of iconoclasm, which took on a sharp political form, the spread of the Paulician heresy made

clear need for education

clergy and representatives of the higher strata of society. In the setting

the general rise of spiritual culture a new direction in scientific and

philosophical thought of Byzantium was indicated in the work of Patriarch Photius,

who did more than anyone else before him to regenerate and

development of sciences in the empire. Photius made a new assessment and selection of scientific and

literary works of the previous era and the present, based on

at the same time, not only on church doctrine, but also on considerations

rationalism and practical utility and trying to explain the causes of natural phenomena through natural science knowledge. The rise of rationalistic thought in the era of Photius, accompanied by a new increase in interest in antiquity, became even more tangible in the 11th-12th centuries. But contradictions were clearly revealed in the interpretation of the idealistic concepts of antiquity between the adherents of Aristotle and Plato. After an era of long preference given by Byzantine theologians to the teachings of Aristotle, from the 11th century. in the development of philosophical thought there has been a turn towards Platonism and Neoplatonism. Mikhail Psellus was a prominent representative of this particular trend. With all his admiration for ancient thinkers and with all his dependence on the positions of the classics of antiquity he cited, Psellos nevertheless remained a very original philosopher, being able, like no one else, to combine and reconcile the theses of ancient philosophy and Christian spiritualism, to subordinate even the mysterious prophecies of the occult to orthodox dogma. Sciences.

However, no matter how careful and skillful were the attempts of intellectual

the Byzantine elite to preserve and cultivate the rationalistic elements of ancient science, a sharp clash turned out to be inevitable: an example of this is the excommunication and condemnation of the disciple of Psellos, the philosopher John Italus. Plato's ideas were driven into the rigid framework of theology.

Rationalist tendencies in Byzantine philosophy will be resurrected

now not soon, only in the context of the growing crisis of the XIII-XV centuries.

The general decline of creative activity in the "dark ages" with particular force

affected the state of Byzantine literature. Vulgarization,

lack of literary taste, "dark" style, formulaic

characteristics and situations - all this was established for a long time as

dominant features of works of literature created in the second

half of the 7th to the first half of the 9th century. Imitation of the antique

samples no longer found an echo in society. main customer and

black clergy became a connoisseur of literary work. The monks were

came to the fore. Sermon of asceticism, humility, hopes for a miracle

and otherworldly retribution, the chanting of a religious feat - the main thing

Byzantine hagiography reached particular heights in the 9th century. AT

middle of the 10th century about one and a half hundred of the most popular lives were

processed and transcribed by the prominent chronicler Simeon Metaphrastus. The decline of the genre was marked in the next, 11th century: instead of naive, but lively descriptions, a dry scheme, stereotyped images, and stereotyped scenes of the life of saints began to dominate.

At the same time, the hagiographic genre, which invariably enjoyed the widest

popularity among the masses, had a significant impact on

the development of Byzantine literature in both the 10th and 11th centuries. Vulgarization

often combined with vivid imagery, realistic descriptions,

vitality of details, dynamism of the plot. Among the heroes of lives often

turned out to be poor and offended, who, performing a martyr's feat for the glory of God, boldly entered into a struggle with the strong and rich, with

injustice, unrighteousness and evil. A note of humanism and mercy -

an integral element of many Byzantine lives.

Religious themes dominated this era in poetic

works. Some of them were directly related to the liturgical

poetry (chants, hymns), part was dedicated, as well as

hagiography, glorification of a religious feat. So, Fedor Studit

sought to poeticize monastic ideals and the very routine

monastic life.

The revival of the literary tradition, which consisted in focusing on

masterpieces of antiquity and in their rethinking, became especially noticeable in

XI-XII centuries, which affected the choice of subjects, genres, and

art forms. Plots and forms of both Eastern and Western literature are boldly borrowed during this period. Translations and revisions from Arabic and Latin are carried out. There are experiments of poetic compositions in the folk, colloquial language. For the first time in the history of Byzantium since the 4th c. took shape and began to gradually expand from the XII century. cycle of vernacular literature. The enrichment of the ideological and artistic content of literature by strengthening the folklore tradition, the heroic epic is most clearly seen in the epic poem about Digenis Akrita, created on the basis of a cycle of folk songs in the 10th-11th centuries. Folklore motifs also penetrate into the Hellenistic love-adventure novel that was revived at that time.

The second period also saw the flourishing of the Byzantine

aesthetics. The development of aesthetic thought in the VIII-IX centuries. was stimulated

struggle around iconic images. The iconodules had to

summarize the main Christian concepts of the image and based on them

to develop a theory of the relationship between the image and the archetype, first of all

in relation to the visual arts. Functions have been studied

image in the spiritual culture of the past, a comparative analysis

symbolic and mimetic (imitative) images, in a new way

the relation of the image to the word is meaningful, the problem of priority is posed

There was a revival of interest in the physical beauty of man; the aesthetics of eroticism, condemned by religious rigorists, received a new life; secular art again enjoyed special attention. The theory of symbolism also received new impulses, especially the concept of allegory; gardening art began to be appreciated; The revival also touched on the dramatic art, the comprehension of which was devoted to special works.

In general, aesthetic thought in Byzantium in the VIII-XII centuries. has reached

perhaps the highest point of its development, exerting a strong influence on

artistic practice of a number of other countries in Europe and Asia.

The crisis phenomena of the transitional era in Byzantine culture were

especially protracted in the field of fine arts of the 7th-9th centuries, on

the fate of which is stronger than in other industries, affected

iconoclasm. The development of the most massive, religious species

fine arts (icon painting and fresco painting)

resumed only after 843, i.e. after the victory of icon veneration.

The peculiarity of the new stage was that, on the one hand, noticeably

the influence of the ancient tradition increased, and on the other hand, more and more

a stable framework acquired developed in that era

iconographic canon with its fixed norms concerning choice

the plot, the ratio of the figures, their very poses, the selection of colors, the distribution

chiaroscuro, etc. This canon will henceforth be strictly followed.

Byzantine artists. The creation of a picturesque stencil was accompanied

strengthening of stylization, designed to serve the purposes of transmission through

the visual image is not so much of a human face as of a

this image of a religious idea.

At that time, the art of color reached a new heyday.

mosaic image. In the IX-XI centuries. restored old

monuments. Mosaics were also restored in the church of St. Sofia. New

plots that reflected the idea of ​​the union of church and state.

In the IX-X centuries. the decoration of manuscripts was significantly enriched and complicated,

book miniatures and ornaments became richer and more diverse. However

a truly new period in the development of book miniatures falls on

XI-XII centuries, when the Constantinople school flourished

masters in this field of art. In that era, in general, the leading role in

painting in general (in icon painting, miniature, fresco) were acquired by the capital

schools marked by special perfection of taste and technique.

In the VII-VIII centuries. in the temple construction of Byzantium and countries

The Byzantine cultural circle was dominated by the same cross-domed composition that arose in the 6th century. and was characterized

weakly expressed external decorative design. The decor of the facade acquired great importance in the 9th-10th centuries, when it arose and received

the spread of a new architectural style. The emergence of a new style was associated with the flourishing of cities, the strengthening of the social role of the church, the change in the social content of the very concept of sacred architecture in general and temple construction in particular (the temple as an image of the world). Many new temples were erected, a large number of monasteries were built, although they were, as a rule, small in size.

In addition to changes in the decorative design of buildings, the

architectural forms, the very composition of buildings. Increased value

vertical lines and divisions of the facade, which also changed the silhouette of the temple.

Builders increasingly resorted to the use of patterned brickwork.

Features of the new architectural style also appeared in a number of local schools.

In the VIII-XII centuries. a special musical and poetic

church art. Thanks to his high artistic merits, the influence on church music, folklore music, the melodies of which had previously penetrated even into the liturgy, weakened.

However, musical-theoretical monuments allow us to conclude that the Ichos system did not rule out a sound-row understanding. The canon became the most popular genre of church music.

The progress of musical art led to the creation of musical writing, as well as liturgical handwritten collections in which chants were recorded.

Public life also could not do without music. The book On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court reports almost 400 hymns. These are procession songs, and songs during horse processions, and songs at the imperial feast, and acclamation songs, etc.

From the 9th century in the circles of the intellectual elite, interest in ancient musical culture was growing, although this interest was mainly theoretical in nature: attention was attracted not so much by the music itself as by the works of ancient Greek musical theorists.

Byzantium at this time reached the highest power and the highest point of cultural development. In the social development and in the evolution of the culture of Byzantium, contradictory trends are evident, due to its median position between East and West.

Detailed solution paragraph § 4 on the history of Russia in the world for students in grade 10, authors Volobuev O.V., Klokov V.A., Ponomarev M.V., V.A. Rogozhkin Basic level 2013

QUESTIONS

1. What was the influence of the ancient heritage on the history and culture of Byzantium?

The influence of the ancient heritage on Byzantium was expressed in the use of Roman traditions in the decoration of cities (for example, Constantinople), the entertainment of the inhabitants of Byzantium (hippodrome, theatrical performances, etc.). Byzantine scholars studied and copied the works of ancient authors, many of which, thanks to this, have survived to this day. The works of famous historians of antiquity were a model for the Byzantines. Their example was followed by Procopius of Caesarea (6th century), who wrote "The History of Justinian's Wars with the Persians, Vandals and Goths."

2. What was the role of the imperial power and the Orthodox Church in the life of the Byzantines?

The Byzantines believed that God himself gave the emperor supreme power over his subjects, and that is why the ruler is responsible before the Lord for their fate. The emperor had almost unlimited power: he appointed officials and military leaders, controlled the collection of taxes, and personally commanded the army. Imperial power often passed not by inheritance, but was seized by a successful military leader or nobleman.

The head of the Western church successfully claimed not only spiritual power, but also secular power. In the east, the Emperor and the patriarch were mutually dependent on each other. The emperor appointed the patriarch, thereby recognizing the role of the emperor as an instrument of God. But the emperor was crowned king by the patriarch - in Byzantium it was believed that it was the act of wedding that elevated to imperial dignity.

3. What was the difference between the Eastern and Western Christian worlds?

The differences between the Eastern and Western Christian worlds were: in Byzantium, the power of the emperor was not limited, there was no feudal fragmentation and there was no question of the centralization of the state, the process of enslavement of the peasants was slower, urban self-government did not take shape, the urban population did not manage to achieve recognition by the state of their rights and defend privileges like the citizens of Western Europe. In Byzantium there was no strong ecclesiastical authority that could lay claim to secular power, as was the case with the Pope.

4. How did relations develop between Byzantium and the Slavs?

The Byzantine heritage played a key role in the formation of the statehood and culture of the Slavic states, especially the Russian state. From Byzantium came a political organization, church rites and services, book culture and writing, architectural traditions, and so on.

TASKS

1. Write a story about the culture of Byzantium.

Byzantium existed from 395 to 1453. In 330, on the site of the ancient Greek settlement of Byzantium, the new capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople, was founded, named after Emperor Constantine. In 395, the empire split into two parts - Western and Eastern, and the last - the Eastern Roman Empire - subsequently became known as Byzantium. and even after the empire itself ceased to exist. This name was given to it by the European thinkers of the New Age with the intention of separating Byzantium from ties with Greco-Roman culture, including it entirely in the "dark Middle Ages" of the Eastern type.

However, the Byzantines themselves would not agree with this point of view. They called themselves "Romans", i.e. Romans, and its capital Constantinople - the "second Rome", having full reason for that.

Byzantium became a worthy successor of ancient culture. She successfully continued the further development of the best achievements of Roman civilization. The new capital - Constantinople - jealously and not without success competed with Rome, quickly becoming one of the most beautiful cities of that time. It had large squares, decorated with triumphal columns with statues of emperors, beautiful temples and churches, grandiose aqueducts, magnificent baths, impressive defensive structures. Along with the capital in Byzantium, many other cultural centers developed - Alexandria. Antioch, Nicaea. Ravenna, Thessaloniki.

Byzantine culture was the first in the full sense of the Christian culture. It was in Byzantium that the formation of Christianity was completed, and for the first time it acquired a complete, classical form in its orthodox, or Orthodox, version. A huge role in this was played by John of Damascus (c. 675 - until 753) - an outstanding theologian, philosopher and poet, author of the fundamental philosophical and theological work "The Source of Knowledge". He completed and systematized Greek patristics, the so-called teaching of the "fathers of the Church", thanks to which Christianity rose to the level of real theory. All subsequent theology, to one degree or another, is based on the ideas and concept of John of Damascus. He is also the creator of church hymns.

John Chrysostom (c. 350-407), an outstanding representative of the art of church eloquence, bishop of Constantinople, also made a huge contribution to the formation and establishment of Orthodox Christianity. His sermons, panegyrics and psalms were a huge success. He became famous as a passionate exposer of all injustice, a fighter for the realization of the ascetic ideal. John Chrysostom placed active mercy above all miracles.

Continuing and developing the theory of Roman law, Byzantine scholars developed their own original concept, known as Byzantine law. Its basis was the well-known Codification of Justinian (482-565) - the Byzantine emperor, who was the first to give a systematic presentation of the new law. Byzantine law found application in many European and Asian countries of that era.

At the same time, Byzantine culture was significantly influenced by neighboring eastern countries, especially Iran. This influence affected almost all areas of social and cultural life. In general, the culture of Byzantium was a real crossroads of Western and Eastern cultures, a kind of bridge between East and West.

The evolution of Byzantine culture knew several ups and downs. The first flowering falls on the V-VII centuries, when the transition from slavery to the feudal system was completed in Byzantium. The emerging feudalism carried both Western and Eastern features. In particular, it was distinguished from Western Europe by the rigid centralization of state power and the tax system, the growth of cities with their lively trade and craft, and the absence of a clear class division of society. In the 6th century, under Justinian. Byzantium reached its largest territorial size and became a powerful Mediterranean power.

In VI11-IX centuries. Byzantium is going through troubled times, marked by a sharp aggravation of socio-political contradictions, the source of which was the struggle for power between the metropolitan and provincial nobility. During this period, an iconoclasm movement arose against the cult of icons, declared a relic of idolatry. By the end of the ninth century icon veneration was restored again.

X-XII centuries became the time of the next rise and flourishing of Byzantium. It establishes close ties with Kievan Rus. The role of Christianity and the Church in this period increases significantly. In artistic culture, a mature medieval style is finally taking shape, the main feature of which is spiritualism.

13th century presented Byzantium with the most difficult trials, primarily due to the crusades. In 1204 the crusaders took Constantinople. The capital was plundered and destroyed, and Byzantium itself ceased to exist as an independent state. Only in 1261 did Emperor Michael VIII succeed in restoring and reviving the Byzantine Empire.

In the XIV-XV centuries. it is experiencing its last rise and flourishing, which is especially clearly manifested in the artistic culture. However, the capture of Constantinople by Turkish troops in 1453 meant the end of Byzantium.

The artistic culture of Byzantium was marked with the highest achievements. Its originality lies in the fact that it combines outwardly incompatible principles. On the one hand, it is characterized by excessive splendor and splendor, bright entertainment. On the other hand, it is characterized by sublime solemnity, deep spirituality and refined spiritualism. These features were fully manifested in the architecture of Byzantine temples and churches.

The Byzantine temple differs significantly from the ancient classical temple. The latter acted as the abode of God, while all the rites and festivities took place outside, around the temple or in the adjacent square. Therefore, the main thing in the temple was not the interior. and the exterior, its appearance. On the contrary, the Christian church is built as a place where believers gather. Therefore, the organization of the internal space comes to the fore in it, although the appearance does not lose its significance.

It is in this vein that the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople (532-537), which became the most famous monument of Byzantine architecture. Its authors are the architects Anfimy and Isidore. Outwardly, it does not look too grandiose, although it is distinguished by rigor, harmony and magnificence of forms. However, inside it seems truly immense. The effect of boundless space is created, first of all, by the huge dome with a diameter of 31 m located at a height of 55 m, as well as the sub-domes adjacent to it, expanding the already huge space.

The dome has 400 longitudinal windows, and when sunlight floods the space under the dome, it seems to float in the air. All this makes the design surprisingly light, elegant and free.

Inside the cathedral there are more than 100 columns trimmed with malachite and porphyry. The vaults are decorated with mosaics with a symbolic image of the cross, and the walls are lined with the most valuable types of marble and decorated with mosaic paintings containing various religious subjects and portrait images of emperors and members of their families.

Sophia's Cathedral has become the rarest creation of human genius, a true masterpiece of not only Byzantine, but also world art. The temple is also notable for that. that it organically combines two main types of construction: basilica and cross-domed.

The basilica is a building rectangular in plan, divided inside by rows of sodium columns, five or more longitudinal naves, the middle of which is usually wider and higher than the side ones. The eastern side of the basilica ends with a semicircular ledge - the apse, where the altar is located, and on the western side there is an entrance.

The cross-domed building is most often square in plan. Inside it has four massive pillars that divide the space into nine cells framed by arches and support the dome located in the center. The semi-cylindrical vaults adjoining the dome form an equilateral cross. Until the 9th century the predominant type of Byzantine church was the basilica, and then the more complex cross-domed.

In addition to Constantinople, a large number of architectural monuments are also concentrated in Ravenna, a city on the northern Italian coast of the Adriatic. Here is the impressive mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Byzantine queen of the 5th century BC. In Ravenna stands the original octagonal church of San Vitale (6th century). Finally, there is also the tomb of the great Dante (XV century).

Byzantine architects successfully built outside the boundaries of their empire. One of the brightest successes in this regard was the Cathedral of San Marco (St. Mark) in Venice (XI century), which is a five-nave basilica, into which an equal cross is inscribed. Each of the sections of the cross, covered by a separate dome, repeats in the general system of construction the single theme of the cross in a square. In the center of the cathedral is the largest dome. Inside the temple is lined with marble slabs and decorated with polychrome mosaics.

In the last period of the existence of Byzantium (X111-XV centuries), its architecture becomes more and more complex. The grandiose structures, as it were, break up into several small independent buildings. At the same time, the role of the exterior decoration of buildings is increasing. A characteristic example of such a structure is the monastery of Chora in Constantinople, which was later rebuilt into the church of Kahriz Jami.

The culture of Byzantium was famous not only for its masterpieces of architecture. No less successfully developed were other types and genres of art - mosaics, frescoes, iconography, book miniatures, and literature. Mosaic deserves special mention. It should be emphasized that Byzantium has no equal in this genre of art. Byzantine craftsmen knew all the secrets of making smalt with miraculous properties, and also knew how to turn the original color into an amazingly picturesque whole with the help of skillful techniques. Thanks to this, they have created unsurpassed mosaic masterpieces.

Beautiful mosaics adorn the temple of Sophia and other architectural monuments mentioned above, of which the tombs of Ravenna deserve special mention, where the main plot of the mosaic is Christ the Good Shepherd. Magnificent mosaics were in the Church of the Assumption in Nicaea, destroyed by the war in 1922. Mosaics of rare beauty adorn the Church of Demetrius in Thessaloniki.

By the 11th century a complete, classical style of Byzantine mosaics was formed. It is distinguished by a strict system of plot arrangement, illustrating and revealing the main themes and dogmas of Christianity. According to this system, a half-length image of Christ Pantokrator (Almighty) is placed in the dome of the temple, and in the altar-apse, the figure of the Mother of God-Oranta, praying with raised hands. On the sides of the fire are the figures of the archangels, and in the bottom row - the apostles. It is in this style that many mosaic cycles of the 11th-11th centuries are executed. both in Byzantium itself and beyond.

Iconography reaches a high level in Byzantium. which is a kind of easel cult painting. The period of the first heyday of Byzantine icon painting falls on the 10th-11th centuries, when the image of the human figure occupies a dominant position in the icon, and other elements - the landscape and the architectural background - are transmitted very conditionally. Among the outstanding examples of icon painting of this period is the icon of St. Gregory the Wonderworker (XII century), which is distinguished by deep spirituality, fine drawing and rich color. Of particular note is the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir (XII century), which became the main icon of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and remains so until our days. The Virgin and Child depicted on it is endowed with a penetrating expression and, for all its holiness and spirituality, is filled with deep humanity and emotionality.

The next and last period of the heyday of icon painting falls on the XIV-XV centuries, from which a large number of beautiful icons have been preserved. Like all painting, icon painting of this period is undergoing noticeable changes. The color scheme becomes more complex, which is facilitated by the use of halftones. The naturalness and humanity of the depicted figures are enhanced, they become lighter and more mobile, often depicted in motion.

An outstanding example of such painting is the icon of the Twelve Apostles (XIV century). The apostles depicted on it appear in different poses and clothes, they hold themselves freely and uninhibitedly, as if talking to each other. The front figures are larger than the back ones, their faces are voluminous due to the use of subtle highlights. In the XV century. in icon painting, the graphic principle is enhanced, icons are executed with shading with thin parallel lines. A vivid example of this style is the icon "The Descent of Christ into Hell" (XV century).

Like architecture and mosaics, icon painting was widely used outside of Byzantium. Many Byzantine masters successfully worked in the Slavic countries - Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia. One of them - the great Theophanes the Greek - created his works in the XIV century. in Russia. Murals in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Novgorod, as well as icons in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, have come down to us from him.

In 1453, under the onslaught of the Turks, Byzantium pope, but its culture continues to exist today. It occupies a worthy place in world culture. Byzantium made its main contribution to world spiritual culture primarily through the establishment and development of Orthodox Christianity. No less significant was her contribution to artistic culture, to the development of architecture, mosaics, icon painting, and literature. It should be especially noted its beneficial influence on the formation and development of Russian culture.

2. In one of his decrees, Justinian I demanded: “... At any cost, stop the illegal patronage that takes place, as we learned about it, in our provinces. Do not allow anyone to exploit another, to appropriate lands that do not belong to him, to promise protection to those who have suffered damage, to use your power to destroy the state.

Who was the emperor's decree directed against? Why are we talking about damage to the affairs of the state?

I think that this decree was directed against the nobles, who exceeded their powers, tried to seize the lands and single-handedly manage them, which undermined the unity of the state.

3. Using map number 4 (p. IV), name the territories that were part of the Byzantine Empire in the middle of the 9th century. What lands were annexed to the empire in the 10th - first quarter of the 11th century?

In the middle of the IX, the territory of the Byzantine Empire was reduced to the limits of the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor.

In X - the first quarter of XI, Byzantium conquered Bulgaria, part of Armenia and southern Italy.

The Byzantine Empire is rightly considered the direct successor of the Roman Empire. It existed for more than a millennium, and even after the attack of the barbarians, which was successfully repulsed, it remained the most powerful Christian state for several more centuries.

Main features of the Byzantine Empire

First of all, it should be said that the name “Byzantium” did not appear immediately - until the 15th century, this state was called the Eastern Roman Empire. This empire was located in the east of the Mediterranean, and during its heyday it had lands in Europe, Asia and even Africa.

Thanks to the Mediterranean climate, agriculture and cattle breeding in the country developed and flourished. Also on its territory, minerals were actively mined, such as gold, tin, copper, silver and more. But what was important was not only its ability to provide itself with everything necessary, but also the fact that the empire had a very advantageous location: for example, the Great Silk Road to China passed through it. The path of incense was 11 thousand kilometers, it passed through many important points and brought a considerable part of its wealth to the state.

The Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Christian world were connected by a no less famous route - “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, which began in Scandinavia and, passing through Eastern Europe, led to Byzantium.

Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

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Rice. 1. Constantinople.

The population of the state was very high - not a single European country could boast of such a number of people. For example, in the Middle Ages, 35 million people lived in Byzantium - a very large number for those times. The main part of the population spoke Greek and was the bearer of the Hellenic culture, but in Byzantium there was a place for Syrians, Arabs, Egyptians, and representatives of other ethnic groups.

Two traditions in the life of the Byzantines: ancient and Christian

Byzantium preserved the ancient heritage longer than the states of Western Europe, since it became the cornerstone of its state structure. Like the Romans, the Byzantines had two favorite pastimes: theatrical performances and equestrian competitions.

However, by the 8th century, the Christian tradition became dominant: all genres of art glorified God and his ascetics. So, the most common genre of literature is the lives of saints, and painting - icon painting. Outstanding figures of this period are Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom and Basil the Great.

Rice. 2. John Chrysostom.

It was in Byzantium that the cross-domed type of church arose, which later became the main architectural direction in the construction of temples in Ancient Russia. The churches were decorated with mosaics - this is another characteristic feature of the Byzantine church tradition.

Rice. 3. An example of a Byzantine mosaic.

Interesting: Education in Byzantium was very developed and public - even the poor could go to school and then apply for a public position, which was both honorable and profitable.

What have we learned?

How many centuries the Byzantine Empire existed and when did its name appear, which is accepted now, what main features did it have, and what city was its capital. The features of its culture, in which ancient and Christian traditions were mixed, were also considered. Particular attention is paid to the advantage of its geographical position: the route from the Varangians to the Greeks and the Great Silk Road ran through Byzantium. Special attention is also paid to architecture and education, as well as literature and the way of life of the Byzantines in general: its characteristic features are listed.

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Abstract on the topic:

Byzantine Empire and

Eastern Christian world.

Completed by: Kushtukov A.A.

Checked by: Tsybzhitova A.B.

Introduction 3

History of Byzantium 4

Division into Eastern and Western Roman Empires 4

Formation of independent Byzantium 4

Dynasty of Justinian 5

The beginning of a new dynasty and the strengthening of the empire 7

Isaurian dynasty 7

IX-XI centuries 8

XII - XIII centuries 10

Turkish invasion. Fall of Byzantium 11

Byzantine culture 14

Formation of Christianity

as a philosophical and religious system 14

The time of the highest power and

the highest point of cultural development. eighteen

Conclusion 24

Literature 25

Introduction.

In my essay, I would like to talk about Byzantium. Byzantine Empire (Romean Empire, 476-1453) - Eastern Roman Empire. The name "Byzantine Empire" (after the city of Byzantium, on the site of which the Roman emperor Constantine the Great founded Constantinople at the beginning of the 4th century), the state received in the writings of Western European historians after its fall. The Byzantines themselves called themselves the Romans - in Greek "Romeans", and their power - "Romean". Western sources also refer to the Byzantine Empire as Romania. For much of its history, many of its Western contemporaries referred to it as the "Empire of the Greeks" due to the dominance of its Greek population and culture. In ancient Russia, it was also usually called the "Greek Kingdom". Byzantium made a great contribution to the development of culture in Europe in the Middle Ages. In the history of world culture, Byzantium has a special, prominent place. In artistic creativity, Byzantium gave the medieval world high images of literature and art, which were distinguished by the noble elegance of forms, figurative vision of thought, refinement of aesthetic thinking, and depth of philosophical thought. By the power of expressiveness and deep spirituality, Byzantium stood ahead of all the countries of medieval Europe for many centuries. The direct successor of the Greco-Roman world and the Hellenistic East, Byzantium has always remained the center of a unique and truly brilliant culture.

History of Byzantium.

Division into Eastern and Western Roman Empires

Division into Eastern and Western Roman Empires. In 330, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great declared the city of Byzantium his capital, renaming it Constantinople. The need to move the capital was caused, first of all, by the remoteness of Rome from the tense eastern and northeastern borders of the empire; it was possible to organize defense from Constantinople much more quickly and efficiently than from Rome. The final division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western took place after the death of Theodosius the Great in 395. The main difference between Byzantium and the Western Roman Empire was the predominance of Greek culture on its territory. Differences grew, and over the course of two centuries the state finally acquired its individual appearance.

The formation of independent Byzantium

The formation of Byzantium as an independent state can be attributed to the period 330-518. During this period, through the borders on the Danube and the Rhine, numerous barbarian, mainly Germanic tribes penetrated into Roman territory. Some were small groups of settlers attracted by the security and prosperity of the empire, while others undertook military campaigns against Byzantium, and soon their pressure became unstoppable. Taking advantage of the weakness of Rome, the Germans switched from raiding to seizing land, and in 476 the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire was overthrown. The situation in the east was no less difficult, and a similar ending could be expected after the Visigoths won the famous battle of 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 Goths were replaced by the Huns. Attila started the war several times, and only by paying a large tribute it was possible to prevent his further attacks. In the battle of the peoples in 451, Attila was defeated, and his state soon fell apart. In the second half of the 5th century, danger came from the Ostrogoths - Theodoric ravaged Macedonia, threatened Constantinople, but he also went west, conquering Italy and founding his state on the ruins of Rome. The situation in the country was greatly destabilized by numerous Christian heresies - Arianism, Nestorianism, Monophysitism. While in the West the popes, beginning with Leo the Great (440-461), asserted 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 unrest, old national strife and still tenacious separatist tendencies surfaced; thus, political interests and goals were closely intertwined with the religious conflict. From 502, the Persians resumed their onslaught in the east, the Slavs and Avars began raids south of the Danube. Internal unrest reached its extreme limits, in the capital there was an intense struggle between the parties of "green" and "blue" (according to the colors of the chariot teams). Finally, the strong memory of the Roman tradition, which supported the idea of ​​the need for the unity of the Roman world, constantly turned 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. By 550, Justinian I was pursuing such a policy.

Justinian dynasty.

In 518, after the death of Anastasius, a rather obscure intrigue placed the head of the guard, Justin, on the throne. He was a peasant from Macedonia, who had come to Constantinople in search of fortune fifty years ago, brave, but completely illiterate and having no experience in state affairs as a soldier. That is why this upstart, who became the founder of the dynasty at the age of about 70, would have been very hampered by the power entrusted to him if he had not had an adviser in the person of his nephew Justinian. From the very beginning of Justin's reign, Justinian was in fact in power - also a native of Macedonia, but who received an excellent education and possessed excellent abilities. In 527, having received full power, Justinian began to fulfill his plans to restore the Empire and strengthen the power of a single emperor. He achieved an alliance with the mainstream church. Under Justinian, heretics were forced to convert to the official confession under the threat of deprivation of civil rights and even the death penalty. Until 532, he was busy suppressing speeches in the capital and repelling the onslaught of the Persians, but soon the main direction of politics moved to the west. The barbarian kingdoms had weakened over the past half century, the inhabitants called for the restoration of the empire, finally, even the kings of the Germans themselves recognized the legitimacy of the claims of Byzantium. In 533, an army led by Belisarius attacked the Vandal states in North Africa. Italy was the next target - a difficult war with the Ostrogothic kingdom lasted 20 years and ended in victory. Invading the kingdom of the Visigoths in 554, Justinian also conquered the southern part of Spain. As a result, the territory of the empire almost doubled. But these successes required too much effort, which was not slow to take advantage of the Persians, Slavs, Avars and Huns, who, although they did not conquer significant territories, but devastated many lands in the east of the empire. Byzantine diplomacy also sought to ensure the prestige and influence of the empire throughout the outside world. Thanks to the clever distribution of favors and money, and the skillful ability to sow discord among the enemies of the empire, she brought under Byzantine rule the barbarian peoples who wandered on the borders of the monarchy, and made them safe. She included them in the sphere of influence of Byzantium by preaching Christianity. The activity of missionaries who spread Christianity from the shores of the Black Sea to the plateaus of Abyssinia and the oases of the Sahara was one of the main features of Byzantine politics in the Middle Ages. Apart from military expansion, Justinian's other major task was administrative and financial reform. The economy of the empire was in a state of severe crisis, management was stricken with corruption. In order to reorganize the management of Justinian, legislation was codified and a number of reforms were carried out, which, although they did not solve the problem radically, undoubtedly had positive consequences. Construction was launched throughout the empire - the largest in scale since the "golden age" of the Antonines. However, greatness was bought at a high price - the economy was undermined by wars, the population became impoverished, and the successors of Justinian (Justin II (565-578), Tiberius II (578-582), Mauritius (582-602)) were forced to focus on defense and shift the direction of policy to the east. The conquests of Justinian were fragile - at the end of the VI-VII centuries. Byzantium lost all the conquered areas in the West (with the exception of Southern Italy). While the invasion of the Lombards took half of Italy from Byzantium, Armenia was conquered in 591 during the war with Persia, and the confrontation with the Slavs continued in the north. But already at the beginning of the next, VII century, the Persians resumed hostilities and achieved significant success due to numerous unrest in the empire.

The beginning of a new dynasty and the strengthening of the empire.

In 610, the son of the Carthaginian exarch Heraclius overthrew the emperor Phocas and founded a new dynasty that proved capable of withstanding the dangers that threatened the state. It was one of the most difficult periods in the history of Byzantium - the Persians conquered Egypt and threatened Constantinople, the Avars, Slavs and Lombards attacked the borders from all sides. Heraclius won a number of victories over the Persians, transferred the war to their territory, after which the death of Shah Khosrov II and a series of uprisings forced them to abandon all conquests and make peace. But the severe exhaustion of both sides in this war prepared fertile ground for the Arab conquests. In 634, Caliph Omar invaded Syria, over the next 40 years Egypt, North Africa, Syria, Palestine, Upper Mesopotamia were lost, and often the population of these areas, exhausted by wars, considered the Arabs, who at first significantly reduced taxes, their liberators . The Arabs created a fleet and even besieged Constantinople. But the new emperor, Constantine IV Pogonatus (668-685), repelled their onslaught. Despite a five-year siege of Constantinople (673-678) by land and sea, the Arabs were unable to capture it. The Greek fleet, which had been given superiority by the recent invention of "Greek fire", forced the Muslim squadrons to retreat and defeated them in the waters of Silleum. On land, the troops of the Caliphate were defeated in Asia. From this crisis, the empire came out more united and monolithic, its national composition became more homogeneous, religious differences mainly became a thing of the past, since Monophysitism and Arianism were mainly spread in Egypt and North Africa, now lost. By the end of the 7th century, the territory of Byzantium was no more than a third of the power of Justinian. Its core was made up of lands inhabited by Greeks or Hellenized tribes who spoke the Greek language. In the 7th century, significant reforms were carried out in governance - instead of eparchies and exarchates, the empire was divided into themes subordinate to strategists. The new national composition of the state led to the fact that the Greek language became official. In the administration, the old Latin titles either disappear or are Hellenized, and new names take their place - logothetes, strategii, eparchs, drungaria. In an army dominated by Asian and Armenian elements, Greek becomes the language in which orders are given. And although the Byzantine Empire continued to be called the Roman Empire until the last day, nevertheless, the Latin language fell out of use.

Isaurian dynasty

At the beginning of the VIII century, temporary stabilization was again replaced by a series of crises - wars with the Bulgarians, Arabs, continuous uprisings ... Finally, Leo the Isaurian, who ascended the throne under the name of Emperor Leo III, managed to stop the collapse of the state and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Arabs. After half a century of reign, the first two Isaurians made the empire rich and prosperous, despite the plague that devastated it in 747, and despite the unrest caused by iconoclasm. The support of iconoclasm by the emperors of the Isaurian dynasty was due to both religious and political factors. Many Byzantines at the beginning of the 8th century were dissatisfied with the excess of superstition and, in particular, with the worship of icons, belief in their miraculous properties, and the combination of human actions and interests with them. At the same time, the emperors sought to limit the growing power of the church. In addition, by refusing to venerate icons, the Isaurian emperors hoped to get closer to the Arabs, who did not recognize images. The policy of iconoclasm led to strife and unrest, while at the same time deepening the split in relations with the Roman Church. The restoration of icon veneration took place only at the end of the 8th century thanks to Empress Irina, the first female empress, but already at the beginning of the 9th century, the policy of iconoclasm was continued.

In 800, Charlemagne announced the restoration of the Western Roman Empire, which for Byzantium was a sensitive humiliation. At the same time, the Baghdad Caliphate intensified its onslaught in the east. Emperor Leo V the Armenian (813-820) and two emperors of the Phrygian dynasty - Michael II (820-829) and Theophilus (829-842) - resumed the policy of iconoclasm. Again, for thirty years, the empire was in the grip of unrest. The treaty of 812, which recognized the title of emperor for Charlemagne, meant serious territorial losses in Italy, where Byzantium retained only Venice and lands in the south of the peninsula. The war with the Arabs, resumed in 804, led to two serious defeats: the capture of the island of Crete by Muslim pirates (826), who began to devastate the eastern Mediterranean from here almost with impunity, and the conquest of Sicily by the North African Arabs (827), who in 831 captured the city of Palermo. The danger from the Bulgarians was especially formidable, since Khan Krum expanded the limits of his empire from Gem to the Carpathians. Nicephorus tried to break it by invading Bulgaria, but on the way back he was defeated and died (811), and the Bulgarians, having recaptured Adrianople, appeared at the walls of Constantinople (813). Only the victory of Leo V at Mesemvria (813) saved the empire. The period of unrest ended in 867 with the coming to power of the Macedonian dynasty. Basil I the Macedonian (867-886), Roman Lecapenus (919-944), Nicephorus Foka (963-969), John Tzimisces (969-976), Basil II (976-1025) - emperors and usurpers - provided Byzantium with 150 years of prosperity and power. Bulgaria, Crete, Southern Italy were conquered, successful military campaigns against the Arabs deep into Syria were carried out. The borders of the empire expanded to the Euphrates and the Tigris, Armenia and Iberia entered the sphere of Byzantine influence, John Tzimiskes reached Jerusalem. In the IX-XI centuries. relations with Kievan Rus acquired great importance for Byzantium. After the siege of Constantinople by the Kyiv prince Oleg (907), Byzantium was forced to conclude a trade agreement with Russia, which contributed to the development of trade along the great road from the "Varangians to the Greeks." At the end of the 10th century, Byzantium fought with Russia (Kyiv Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich) for Bulgaria and won. Under the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, an alliance was concluded between Byzantium and Kievan Rus. Basil II gave his sister Anna in marriage to Prince Vladimir of Kyiv. At the end of the X century in Russia, Christianity was adopted from Byzantium according to the Eastern rite. In 1019, having conquered Bulgaria, Armenia and Iberia, Basil II celebrated with a great triumph the greatest expansion of the empire since the times preceding the Arab conquests. The picture was completed by a brilliant state of finance and the flourishing of culture. However, at the same time, the first signs of weakness began to appear, which was expressed in increased feudal fragmentation. The nobility, which controlled vast territories and resources, often successfully opposed itself to the central government. The decline began after the death of Vasily II, under his brother Constantine VIII (1025-1028) and under the daughters of the latter - first under Zoya and her three successive husbands - Roman III (1028-1034), Michael IV (1034-1041), Constantine Monomakh (1042-1054), with whom she shared the throne (Zoya died in 1050), and then under Theodore (1054-1056). The weakening manifested itself even more sharply after the end of the Macedonian dynasty. By the middle of the 11th century, the main danger was approaching from the east - the Seljuk Turks. As a result of a military coup, Isaac Comnenus (1057-1059) ascended the throne; after his abdication, Constantine X Doukas (1059-1067) became emperor. Then Roman IV Diogenes (1067-1071) came to power, who was overthrown by Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078); as a result of a new uprising, the crown went to Nicephorus Botaniatus (1078-1081). During these brief reigns, anarchy increased, the internal and external crisis from which the empire suffered became more and more severe. Italy was lost by the middle of the 11th century under the onslaught of the Normans, but the main danger was coming from the east - in 1071, Roman IV Diogenes was defeated by the Seljuk Turks near Manazkert (Armenia), and Byzantium was never able to recover from this defeat. Over the next two decades, the Turks occupied all of Anatolia; The Empire could not build a large enough army to stop them. In desperation, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118) asked the Pope in 1095 to help him get an army from Western Christendom. Relations with the West predetermined the events of 1204 (the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders and the collapse of the country), and the uprisings of the feudal lords undermined the last forces of the country. In 1081, the Komnenos dynasty (1081-1204) - representatives of the feudal aristocracy - came to the throne. The Turks remained in Iconium (the Sultanate of Konya); in the Balkans, with the help of expanding Hungary, the Slavic peoples created almost independent states; finally, the West also posed a serious danger in the light of Byzantium's expansionist aspirations, the ambitious political plans generated by the first crusade, and the economic claims of Venice.

XII-XIII centuries.

Under Komnenos, heavily armed cavalry (cataphracts) and mercenary troops from foreigners began to play the main role in the Byzantine army. The strengthening of the state and the army allowed the Komnenos to repel the offensive of the Normans in the Balkans, to win back a significant part of Asia Minor from the Seljuks, and to establish sovereignty over Antioch. Manuel I forced Hungary to recognize the sovereignty of Byzantium (1164) and established his authority in Serbia. On the whole, however, the situation continued to be difficult. The behavior of Venice was especially dangerous - the former purely Greek city became a rival and enemy of the empire, creating strong competition for its trade. In 1176 the Byzantine army was defeated by the Turks at Myriokephalon. On all borders, Byzantium was forced to go on the defensive. The Byzantine policy towards the crusaders was to bind their leaders with vassal ties and return territories in the east with their help, but this did not bring much success. Relations with the crusaders were constantly deteriorating. The second crusade, led by the French king Louis VII and the German king Conrad III, was organized after the conquest of Edessa by the Seljuks in 1144. The Comneni dreamed of restoring their power over Rome, whether by force or by alliance with the papacy, and destroy the Western Empire, the fact of the existence of which always seemed to them a usurpation of their rights. Manuel I especially tried to realize these dreams. It seemed that Manuel acquired incomparable glory for the empire all over the world and made Constantinople the center of European politics; but when he died in 1180, Byzantium was ruined and hated by the Latins, ready to attack it at any moment. At the same time, a serious internal crisis was brewing in the country. After the death of Manuel I, a popular uprising broke out in Constantinople (1181), caused by dissatisfaction with the policy of the government, which patronized Italian merchants, as well as Western European knights who entered the service of the emperors. The country was going through a deep economic crisis: feudal fragmentation intensified, the actual independence of the rulers of the provinces from the central government, cities fell into decay, the army and navy weakened. The collapse of the empire began. In 1187 Bulgaria fell away; in 1190 Byzantium was forced to recognize the independence of Serbia.

When Enrico Dandolo became Doge of Venice in 1192, the idea arose that the best way to resolve the crisis and satisfy the accumulated hatred of the Latins, and to ensure the interests of Venice in the East, would be the conquest of the Byzantine Empire. The hostility of the pope, the harassment of Venice, the bitterness of the entire Latin world - all this taken together predetermined the fact that the fourth crusade (1202-1204) instead of Palestine turned against Constantinople. Exhausted, weakened by the onslaught of the Slavic states, Byzantium was unable to resist the crusaders. In 1204, the crusader army captured Constantinople. Byzantium broke up into a number of states - the Latin Empire and the Achaean Principality, created on the territories captured by the crusaders, and the Nicaean, Trebizond and Epirus empires - remaining under the control of the Greeks. The Latins suppressed Greek culture in Byzantium, the dominance of Italian merchants prevented the revival of Byzantine cities. The position of the Latin Empire was very precarious - the hatred of the Greeks and the attacks of the Bulgarians greatly weakened it, so in 1261 the emperor of the Nicaean Empire, Michael Palaeologus, with the support of the Greek population of the Latin Empire, having recaptured Constantinople and defeated the Latin Empire, announced the restoration of the Byzantine Empire. Epirus joined in 1337. But the Principality of Achaea - the only viable formation of the crusaders in Greece - lasted until the conquests of the Ottoman Turks, as did the Empire of Trebizond. It was no longer possible to restore the Byzantine Empire in its integrity. Michael VIII Palaiologos (1261-1282) attempted to accomplish this, and although he did not succeed in fully realizing his aspirations, nevertheless his efforts, practical gifts and flexible mind make him the last significant emperor of Byzantium.

Turkish invasion. Fall of Byzantium.

The conquests of the Ottoman Turks began to threaten the very existence of the country. Murad I (1359-1389) conquered Thrace (1361), which John V Palaiologos was forced to recognize for him (1363); then he captured Philippopolis, and soon Adrianople, where he moved his capital (1365). Constantinople, isolated, surrounded, cut off from the rest of the regions, was waiting behind its walls for a mortal blow that seemed inevitable. Meanwhile, the Ottomans had completed their conquest of the Balkan Peninsula. At Maritsa they defeated the southern Serbs and Bulgarians (1371); they established their colonies in Macedonia and began to threaten Thessalonica (1374); they invaded Albania (1386), defeated the Serbian Empire and, after the Battle of Kosovo, turned Bulgaria into a Turkish pashalik (1393). John V Palaiologos was forced to recognize himself as a vassal of the Sultan, pay tribute to him and supply him with contingents of troops to capture Philadelphia (1391) - the last stronghold that Byzantium still owned in Asia Minor.

Bayazid I (1389-1402) acted even more energetically towards the Byzantine Empire. He blockaded the capital from all sides (1391-1395), and when the attempt of the West to save Byzantium at the Battle of Nicopolis (1396) failed, he tried to take Constantinople by storm (1397) and at the same time invaded Morea. The invasion of the Mongols and the crushing defeat inflicted by Timur on the Turks at Angora (Ankara) (1402) gave the empire another twenty years of respite. But in 1421 Murad II (1421-1451) resumed the offensive. He attacked, though unsuccessfully, Constantinople, which resisted vigorously (1422); he captured Thessalonica (1430), bought in 1423 by the Venetians from the Byzantines; one of his generals penetrated the Morea (1423); he himself successfully operated in Bosnia and Albania and forced the sovereign of Wallachia to pay tribute. The Byzantine Empire, taken to the extreme, now owned, in addition to Constantinople and the neighboring region to Derkon and Selymvria, only a few separate regions scattered along the coast: Anchialos, Mesemvria, Athos and the Peloponnese, which, having been almost completely conquered from the Latins, became, as it were, the center Greek nation. Despite the heroic efforts of Janos Hunyadi, who in 1443 defeated the Turks at Yalovac, despite the resistance of Skanderbeg in Albania, the Turks stubbornly pursued their goals. In 1444, in the battle of Varna, the last serious attempt of Eastern Christians to resist the Turks turned into a defeat. The Athenian duchy submitted to them, the Principality of Morea, conquered by the Turks in 1446, was forced to recognize itself as a tributary; in the second battle on the Kosovo field (1448), Janos Hunyadi was defeated. Only Constantinople remained - an impregnable citadel that embodied the entire empire. But the end was near for him. Mehmed II, assuming the throne (1451), firmly intended to seize it. On April 5, 1453, the Turks began the siege of Constantinople, a famous impregnable fortress. Even earlier, the sultan built the Rumel fortress (Rumelihisar) on the Bosphorus, which cut communications between Constantinople and the Black Sea, and at the same time sent an expedition to Morea to prevent the Greek despots of Mistra from providing assistance to the capital. Against a colossal Turkish army of about 160,000 men, Emperor Constantine XI Dragash was able to field barely 9,000 soldiers, of whom at least half were foreigners; the Byzantines, hostile to the church union concluded by their emperor, did not feel the desire to fight. However, despite the power of the Turkish artillery, the first attack was repulsed (April 18). Mehmed II managed to lead his fleet into the Golden Horn and thus jeopardize another section of the fortifications. However, the assault on May 7 again failed. But in the city rampart on the outskirts of the gates of St. Romana has been breached. On the night of May 28 to May 29, 1453, the last attack began. Twice the Turks were repulsed; then Mehmed threw the Janissaries to the assault. At the same time, the Genoese Giustiniani Longo, who, along with the emperor, was the soul of defense, was seriously injured and was forced to leave his post. This disorganized the defense. The emperor continued to fight valiantly, but part of the enemy troops, having mastered the underground passage from the fortress - the so-called Xyloport, attacked the defenders from the rear. It was the end. Konstantin Dragash died in battle. The Turks took over the city. In the captured Constantinople, robberies and murders began; more than 60 thousand people were taken prisoner.

Byzantine culture.

Formation of Christianity as a philosophical and religious system.

The first centuries of the existence of the Byzantine state can be

considered as the most important stage in the formation of the worldview

Byzantine society, based on the traditions of pagan Hellenism

and principles of Christianity.

The formation of Christianity as a philosophical and religious system was a complex and lengthy process. Christianity absorbed many philosophical and religious teachings of that time. Christian dogma has developed under the strong influence of Middle Eastern religious teachings, Judaism, and Manichaeism. Christianity itself was not only a syncretic religious doctrine, but also a synthetic philosophical and religious system, an important component of which were ancient philosophical teachings. This, perhaps, explains to some extent the fact that Christianity not only fought against ancient philosophy, but also used it for its own purposes. In place of the irreconcilability of Christianity with everything that carried the stigma of paganism, comes a compromise between the Christian and the ancient worldview.

The most educated and far-sighted Christian theologians understood the need to master the entire arsenal of pagan culture in order to use it in the creation of philosophical concepts. In the writings of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus, in the speeches of John Chrysostom, one can see a combination of the ideas of early Christianity with Neoplatonic philosophy, sometimes a paradoxical interweaving

rhetorical ideas with new ideological content. Thinkers like

Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus,

lay the actual foundation of Byzantine philosophy. Them

philosophical constructions are deeply rooted in the history of the Hellenic

thinking

In the transitional era of the death of the slave system and

the formation of feudal society, fundamental changes are taking place in all

spheres of the spiritual life of Byzantium. A new aesthetic is born, a new

system of spiritual and moral values, more appropriate

mentality and emotional demands of medieval man.

Patriotic literature, biblical cosmography, liturgical

poetry, monastic tales, world chronicles, permeated with a religious worldview, gradually take possession of the minds of Byzantine society and replace ancient culture.

The man of that era is also changing, his vision of the world, his attitude

to the universe, nature, society. Creates a new, compared to

antiquity, the "image of the world", embodied in a special sign system

characters. To replace the ancient idea of ​​a heroic personality,

to the ancient understanding of the world as the world of laughing gods and heroes fearlessly going to death, where the highest good is to be afraid of nothing and not to hope for anything, the world of a suffering, torn by contradictions, a small, sinful person comes. He is infinitely humiliated and weak, but he believes in his salvation in another life and tries to find solace in this. Christianity reveals with unprecedented intensity the painful division within the human personality. Man's idea of ​​the cosmos, of time, of space, of the course of history is also changing.

One of the fundamental ideas crystallizes in early Byzantium

Middle Ages - the idea of ​​the union of the Christian Church and the "Christian

empire."

The spiritual life of the then society is distinguished by dramatic tension; in all spheres of knowledge, there is an amazing mixture of pagan and Christian ideas, images, ideas, a colorful combination of pagan mythology with Christian mysticism. The era of the formation of a new, medieval culture gives birth to talented, sometimes marked by the seal of genius, thinkers, writers, poets.

Fundamental changes are taking place in the field of fine arts

and aesthetic views of Byzantine society. Byzantine aesthetics

developed on the basis of the entire spiritual culture of Byzantium. A distinctive feature of Byzantine aesthetics was its deep spiritualism. Giving preference to the spirit over the body, she at the same time tried to remove the dualism of the earthly and heavenly, divine and human, spirit and flesh. Without denying bodily beauty, Byzantine thinkers placed the beauty of the soul, virtue, and moral perfection much higher. Of great importance for the establishment of the Byzantine aesthetic consciousness was the early Christian understanding of the world as a beautiful creation of a divine artist. That is why natural beauty was valued higher than beauty created by human hands, as if "secondary" in its origin.

Byzantine art went back to Hellenistic and Eastern Christian art. In the early period in Byzantine art, the platonicity and sensuality of late antique impressionism seemed to merge with the naive, sometimes coarse expressiveness of the folk art of the East. Hellenism for a long time remained the main, but not the only, source from which the Byzantine masters drew the elegance of forms, the correctness of proportions, the charming transparency of the color scheme, and the technical perfection of their works. But Hellenism could not fully resist the powerful stream of oriental influences that swept over Byzantium in the first

centuries of its existence. At this time, there is an effect on

Byzantine Egyptian, Syrian, Malaysian, Iranian art

artistic traditions.

In the IV-V centuries. in the art of Byzantium were still strong late antique

traditions. If classical antique art was different

pacified monism, if it did not know the struggle of spirit and body, and its

aesthetic ideal embodied the harmonious unity of the physical and spiritual

beauty, then already in the late antique art it is planned

tragic conflict of spirit and flesh. Monistic harmony is replaced

clash of opposite principles, "the spirit, as it were, is trying to throw off

the shackles of the bodily shell. "In the future, Byzantine art

overcame the conflict of spirit and body, it was replaced by a calm

contemplation, designed to lead a person away from the storms of earthly life into

supersensible world of pure spirit. This "pacification" occurs in

as a result of the recognition of the superiority of the spiritual principle over the corporeal,

victory of the spirit over the flesh.

In the VI-VII centuries. Byzantine artists managed not only to absorb these

diverse influences, but also, having overcome them, create your own

style in art. Since that time, Constantinople has been transformed into

celebrated artistic center of the medieval world, in the "palladium

sciences and arts." He is followed by Ravenna, Rome, Nicaea, Thessalonica,

also became the focus of the Byzantine artistic style.

The heyday of Byzantine art of the early period is associated with the strengthening of the power of the empire under Justinian. Magnificent palaces and temples are erected in Constantinople at this time. An unsurpassed masterpiece of Byzantine creativity was built in the 30s of the VI century. church of st. Sofia. For the first time, the idea of ​​a grandiose centric temple crowned with a dome was embodied in it. The brilliance of multi-colored marbles, the flickering of gold and precious utensils, the radiance of many lamps created the illusion of the infinity of the space of the cathedral, turned it into a kind of macrocosm, symbolically brought it closer to the image of the Universe. No wonder it has always remained the main shrine of Byzantium.

Another masterpiece of Byzantine architecture is the Church of St. Vitaliy in Ravenna - amazes with the sophistication and elegance of architectural forms.

This temple was especially famous for its famous mosaics, not only

ecclesiastical, but also secular in nature, in particular images

Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora and their retinue. The faces of Justinian and Theodora are endowed with portrait features, the color scheme of the mosaics is full-blooded brightness, warmth and freshness.

In painting VI-VII centuries. a specifically Byzantine image crystallizes, cleansed of foreign influences. It is based on experience

masters of East and West, who came independently to

creation of a new art corresponding to spiritualistic

ideals of medieval society. In this art already appear

different directions and schools. The metropolitan school, for example, was different

excellent workmanship, refined artistry,

picturesque and colorful variety, quivering and

iridescence of colors. One of the most perfect works of this

schools had mosaics in the dome of the Church of the Assumption in Nicaea.

Other trends in the art of early Byzantium, embodied in

mosaics of Ravenna, Sinai, Thessaloniki, Cyprus, Parenzo, mark the rejection

Byzantine masters from ancient reminiscences. Images become

more ascetic, not only to the sensual, but also to the emotional moment

in such art there is no longer a place, but spirituality reaches an extraordinary

Church worship turned in Byzantium into a kind of

magnificent mystery. In the twilight of the arches of the Byzantine temples, twilight

many candles and lamps shone, illuminating with mysterious reflections

gold mosaics, dark faces of icons, multicolored marble colonnades,

magnificent precious utensils. All this was supposed to be

churches, overshadow in the human soul the emotional elation of ancient

tragedies, the healthy fun of mimes, the vain excitement of circus dances and

give him joy in the daily routine of real life.

In the applied art of Byzantium, to a lesser extent than in architecture

and painting, the leading line of development of the Byzantine

art, reflecting the formation of the medieval worldview.

The vitality of ancient traditions here was manifested both in images and in

forms of artistic expression. At the same time, they penetrated

gradually artistic traditions of the peoples of the East. Here, though in

less than in Western Europe, the impact

barbarian world.

Music occupied a special place in Byzantine civilization.

affect the nature of musical culture, which represented

complex and multifaceted phenomenon of the spiritual life of the era. In the V-VII centuries.

the formation of the Christian liturgy took place, new genres of vocal art developed. Music acquires a special civil status, is included in the system of representation of state power. The music of city streets, theatrical and circus performances and folk festivals, which reflected the richest song and musical practice of many peoples inhabiting the empire, retained a special color. Christianity very early appreciated the special possibilities of music as a universal art and at the same time possessing the power of mass and individual psychological impact, and included it in its cult ritual. It was cult music that was destined to occupy a dominant position in medieval Byzantium.

In the life of the broad masses, as before, an enormous role was played by

mass spectacle. True, the ancient theater began to decline -

ancient tragedies and comedies are increasingly being replaced by performances of mimes,

jugglers, dancers, gymnasts, tamers of wild animals. Place

the theater is now occupied by a circus (hippodrome) with its horse races,

enjoying great popularity.

The culture of early Byzantium was an urban culture. Big cities

empires, and especially Constantinople, were not only centers

crafts and trade, but also centers of the highest culture and education,

where the rich heritage of antiquity was preserved.

The struggle between secular and ecclesiastical cultures is especially characteristic of

first period of Byzantine history. In the history of Byzantine culture

the first centuries of the existence of Byzantium were a time of acute ideological struggle, a clash of contradictory tendencies, complex ideological conflicts, but also a time of fruitful searches, intense spiritual creativity, and the positive development of science and art. These were the centuries when, in the throes of the struggle between the old and the new, the culture of the future medieval society was born.

The time of the highest power and

the highest point of cultural development.

The defining feature of the spiritual life of the empire by the middle of VII

century was the undivided dominance of the Christian worldview.

Deep religiosity was now simulated not so much by dogmatic

disputes about how much the offensive of Islam, which was carried out by the Arabs, inspired

"holy war" and the fight against the pagans - the Slavs and pro-Bulgarians.

The role of the church increased even more. Instability in life

economic and domestic disorder of the masses of the population, poverty and

constant danger from an external enemy exacerbated the religious

feeling of the subjects of the empire: the spirit of humility was affirmed before

vicissitudes of "this world", uncomplaining submission to "spiritual

shepherds", boundless faith in signs and wonders, in salvation through

self-denial and prayer. The class of monks grew rapidly,

the number of monasteries increased. As never before, the cult of saints flourished.

Widespread superstition helped the church to dominate

minds of parishioners, increase their wealth and strengthen their position.

This was facilitated by a decrease in the level of literacy of the population, extreme

narrowing of secular knowledge.

However, the triumph of theology, the assertion of its dominance through

violence hid a serious danger - theology could be

powerless before criticism of the Gentiles and heretics. Like any

The ideological system of Christianity needed to be developed.

The need for this was realized in narrow circles of the church elite,

preserved the traditions of high religious and secular education.

The systematization of theology became the first task, and for this

had to resort again to the spiritual treasures of antiquity - without it

idealistic theories and formal logic, the new tasks of theologians were

impossible.

The search for original philosophical and theological solutions

undertaken already in the second half of the 7th century, although the most

outstanding works in this area were created in the next century.

Characteristic in this regard is the fact that against the general background of the decline

culture in the middle of the 7th century, in essence, only theology experienced

a certain rise: this was required by the vital interests of the ruling

elites, presented as an urgent need of the widest sections of society.

John of Damascus set before himself and fulfilled two main

tasks: he sharply criticized the enemies of orthodoxy (Nestorians, Manichaeans, iconoclasts) and systematized theology as a worldview, as a special system of ideas about God, the creation of the world and man, defining his place in this and the other worlds.

Compilation based on Aristotelian logic represented the main method of his work. He also used the natural-scientific ideas of the ancients, but carefully selected from them, as well as from the dogmas of his theologian predecessors, only that which in no way contradicted the canons of the ecumenical councils.

In essence, the work of Damaskinus, even by medieval standards

devoid of originality. His works played a major role in the ideological struggle

with iconoclasm, but not because they contained new arguments in defense

traditional ideas and religious rites, but due to the elimination of contradictions from church dogmas, bringing them into a coherent system.

A significant step forward in the development of theological science, in

development of new ideas concerning the problems of the relationship between spirit and matter,

expression of thought and its perception, the relationship of God and man, was made

during fierce disputes between iconoclasts and iconodules.

But in general, until the middle of the IX century. philosophers and theologians remained in the circle of traditional ideas of late antique Christianity.

The ideological struggle of the era of iconoclasm, which took on a sharp political form, the spread of the Paulician heresy made

clear need for education

clergy and representatives of the higher strata of society. In the setting

the general rise of spiritual culture a new direction in scientific and

philosophical thought of Byzantium was indicated in the work of Patriarch Photius,

who did more than anyone else before him to regenerate and

development of sciences in the empire. Photius made a new assessment and selection of scientific and

literary works of the previous era and the present, based on

at the same time, not only on church doctrine, but also on considerations

rationalism and practical utility and trying to explain the causes of natural phenomena through natural science knowledge. The rise of rationalistic thought in the era of Photius, accompanied by a new increase in interest in antiquity, became even more tangible in the 11th-12th centuries. But contradictions were clearly revealed in the interpretation of the idealistic concepts of antiquity between the adherents of Aristotle and Plato. After an era of long preference given by Byzantine theologians to the teachings of Aristotle, from the 11th century. in the development of philosophical thought there has been a turn towards Platonism and Neoplatonism. Mikhail Psellus was a prominent representative of this particular trend. With all his admiration for ancient thinkers and with all his dependence on the positions of the classics of antiquity he cited, Psellos nevertheless remained a very original philosopher, being able, like no one else, to combine and reconcile the theses of ancient philosophy and Christian spiritualism, to subordinate even the mysterious prophecies of the occult to orthodox dogma. Sciences.

However, no matter how careful and skillful were the attempts of intellectual

the Byzantine elite to preserve and cultivate the rationalistic elements of ancient science, a sharp clash turned out to be inevitable: an example of this is the excommunication and condemnation of the disciple of Psellos, the philosopher John Italus. Plato's ideas were driven into the rigid framework of theology.

Rationalist tendencies in Byzantine philosophy will be resurrected

now not soon, only in the context of the growing crisis of the XIII-XV centuries.

The general decline of creative activity in the "dark ages" with particular force

affected the state of Byzantine literature. Vulgarization,

lack of literary taste, "dark" style, formulaic

characteristics and situations - all this was established for a long time as

dominant features of works of literature created in the second

half of the 7th to the first half of the 9th century. Imitation of the antique

samples no longer found an echo in society. main customer and

black clergy became a connoisseur of literary work. The monks were

came to the fore. Sermon of asceticism, humility, hopes for a miracle

and otherworldly retribution, the chanting of a religious feat - the main thing

Byzantine hagiography reached particular heights in the 9th century. AT

middle of the 10th century about one and a half hundred of the most popular lives were

processed and transcribed by the prominent chronicler Simeon Metaphrastus. The decline of the genre was marked in the next, 11th century: instead of naive, but lively descriptions, a dry scheme, stereotyped images, and stereotyped scenes of the life of saints began to dominate.

At the same time, the hagiographic genre, which invariably enjoyed the widest

popularity among the masses, had a significant impact on

the development of Byzantine literature in both the 10th and 11th centuries. Vulgarization

often combined with vivid imagery, realistic descriptions,

vitality of details, dynamism of the plot. Among the heroes of lives often

turned out to be poor and offended, who, performing a martyr's feat for the glory of God, boldly entered into a struggle with the strong and rich, with

injustice, unrighteousness and evil. A note of humanism and mercy -

an integral element of many Byzantine lives.

Religious themes dominated this era in poetic

works. Some of them were directly related to the liturgical

poetry (chants, hymns), part was dedicated, as well as

hagiography, glorification of a religious feat. So, Fedor Studit

sought to poeticize monastic ideals and the very routine

monastic life.

The revival of the literary tradition, which consisted in focusing on

masterpieces of antiquity and in their rethinking, became especially noticeable in

XI-XII centuries, which affected the choice of subjects, genres, and

art forms. Plots and forms of both Eastern and Western literature are boldly borrowed during this period. Translations and revisions from Arabic and Latin are carried out. There are experiments of poetic compositions in the folk, colloquial language. For the first time in the history of Byzantium since the 4th c. took shape and began to gradually expand from the XII century. cycle of vernacular literature. The enrichment of the ideological and artistic content of literature by strengthening the folklore tradition, the heroic epic is most clearly seen in the epic poem about Digenis Akrita, created on the basis of a cycle of folk songs in the 10th-11th centuries. Folklore motifs also penetrate into the Hellenistic love-adventure novel that was revived at that time.

The second period also saw the flourishing of the Byzantine

aesthetics. The development of aesthetic thought in the VIII-IX centuries. was stimulated

struggle around iconic images. The iconodules had to

summarize the main Christian concepts of the image and based on them

to develop a theory of the relationship between the image and the archetype, first of all

in relation to the visual arts. Functions have been studied

image in the spiritual culture of the past, a comparative analysis

symbolic and mimetic (imitative) images, in a new way

the relation of the image to the word is meaningful, the problem of priority is posed

painting in religious culture.

There was a revival of interest in the physical beauty of man; the aesthetics of eroticism, condemned by religious rigorists, received a new life; secular art again enjoyed special attention. The theory of symbolism also received new impulses, especially the concept of allegory; gardening art began to be appreciated; The revival also touched on the dramatic art, the comprehension of which was devoted to special works.

In general, aesthetic thought in Byzantium in the VIII-XII centuries. has reached

perhaps the highest point of its development, exerting a strong influence on

artistic practice of a number of other countries in Europe and Asia.

The crisis phenomena of the transitional era in Byzantine culture were

especially protracted in the field of fine arts of the 7th-9th centuries, on

the fate of which is stronger than in other industries, affected

iconoclasm. The development of the most massive, religious species

fine arts (icon painting and fresco painting)

resumed only after 843, i.e. after the victory of icon veneration.

The peculiarity of the new stage was that, on the one hand, noticeably

the influence of the ancient tradition increased, and on the other hand, more and more

a stable framework acquired developed in that era

iconographic canon with its fixed norms concerning choice

the plot, the ratio of the figures, their very poses, the selection of colors, the distribution

chiaroscuro, etc. This canon will henceforth be strictly followed.

Byzantine artists. The creation of a picturesque stencil was accompanied

strengthening of stylization, designed to serve the purposes of transmission through

the visual image is not so much of a human face as of a

this image of a religious idea.

At that time, the art of color reached a new heyday.

mosaic image. In the IX-XI centuries. restored old

monuments. Mosaics were also restored in the church of St. Sofia. New

plots that reflected the idea of ​​the union of church and state.

In the IX-X centuries. the decoration of manuscripts was significantly enriched and complicated,

book miniatures and ornaments became richer and more diverse. However

a truly new period in the development of book miniatures falls on

XI-XII centuries, when the Constantinople school flourished

masters in this field of art. In that era, in general, the leading role in

painting in general (in icon painting, miniature, fresco) were acquired by the capital

schools marked by special perfection of taste and technique.

In the VII-VIII centuries. in the temple construction of Byzantium and countries

The Byzantine cultural circle was dominated by the same cross-domed composition that arose in the 6th century. and was characterized

weakly expressed external decorative design. The decor of the facade acquired great importance in the 9th-10th centuries, when it arose and received

the spread of a new architectural style. The emergence of a new style was associated with the flourishing of cities, the strengthening of the social role of the church, the change in the social content of the very concept of sacred architecture in general and temple construction in particular (the temple as an image of the world). Many new temples were erected, a large number of monasteries were built, although they were, as a rule, small in size.

In addition to changes in the decorative design of buildings, the

architectural forms, the very composition of buildings. Increased value

vertical lines and divisions of the facade, which also changed the silhouette of the temple.

Builders increasingly resorted to the use of patterned brickwork.

Features of the new architectural style also appeared in a number of local schools.

In the VIII-XII centuries. a special musical and poetic

church art. Thanks to his high artistic merits, the influence on church music, folklore music, the melodies of which had previously penetrated even into the liturgy, weakened.

However, musical-theoretical monuments allow us to conclude that the Ichos system did not rule out a sound-row understanding. The canon became the most popular genre of church music.

The progress of musical art led to the creation of musical writing, as well as liturgical handwritten collections in which chants were recorded.

Public life also could not do without music. The book On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court reports almost 400 hymns. These are procession songs, and songs during horse processions, and songs at the imperial feast, and acclamation songs, etc.

From the 9th century in the circles of the intellectual elite, interest in ancient musical culture was growing, although this interest was mainly theoretical in nature: attention was attracted not so much by the music itself as by the works of ancient Greek musical theorists.

Byzantium at this time reached the highest power and the highest point of cultural development. In the social development and in the evolution of the culture of Byzantium, contradictory trends are evident, due to its median position between East and West.

Conclusion.

Literature.

1. http://www.bankreferatov.ru:

"Culture of Byzantium" in three volumes. Ed. "NAUKA", Moscow 1984,1989

2. http://www.netkniga.ru: Vasiliev A.A. History of the Byzantine Empire, Volume I. Time before the Crusades until 1081

Vasiliev A.A. History of the Byzantine Empire, Volume II. From the Beginning of the Crusades to the Fall of Constantinople

Charles Diehl, "History of the Byzantine Empire" (1948 edition, the book itself was written in 1919)

3. http://www.gumer.info

4. http://www.ancientrome.ru

5. http://www.hrono.ru:

History of Byzantium, vol. 1, M., 1967, ch. 10-14. 3. V. Udaltsova.

Abstract on the topic: Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Christian world. Completed by: Kushtukov A.A. Checked by: Tsybzhitova A.B. 2007 Contents. Introduction