Byzantine Culture

[Image source: http://www.qub.ac.uk/ibs/skylitzes.jpg]

Byzantine scholars

preserved Greek philosophy and

literature, Roman political and legal ideas, and Christian

theology (religious

teachings).[Image source:

http://www.hyperbooks.com/images/scribe.jpg]

The Byzantines also created new

art forms and spread the

religion of the Eastern

Orthodox Church into eastern

Europe.[Image source:

http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Cyril-Methodius.jpg]

Although Byzantine society was divided into a hierarchy of social groups, there were

few barriers preventing a

person moving from one group to

another.[Image source:

http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE10BX.HTML]

The family was the

center of social life for most

Byzantines.[Image source:

http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE8AX.HTML]

Marriage was supported by the Church and government as a sacred institution.

[Image source: http://www.pallasart.com/pics/BM016-B.jpg]

Divorce was difficult to

obtain, and the Church

generally forbade more

than one remarriage.

[Image source http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE9DX.HTML]

Byzantine women were

expected to live partly in

seclusion, so rooms were set aside in homes and churches expressly for

their use.[Image source: http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE8CX.HTML]

Some women became well-

educatedand were influential

in the government.

[Image source: http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE8B

X.HTML]

Several women

governed as regents

(temporary rulers).

[Image source: http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE10CX.HTML]

A few women even

ruled outright as empresses.

[Image source:http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/europe/Theodora.jpg]

Most Byzantines made a living through, farming, herding, or working as labourers.

[Image source: http://courses.washington.edu/drama416/images/byzantine/byzantine4.jpg]

Constantinople, which was the site of a natural crossroads for trade, thrived on commerce.

[Image source: http://www.sbceo.k12.ca.us/~vms/carlton/constantinople5.jpg]

Constantinople’s busy harbour was called the Golden Horn.

The Golden Horn was

often full of ships bearing cargoes from around the

world.[Image source:

http://www.callisto.si.usherb.ca/~croisade/IMAGES/flotte.jpg]

Ships loaded with cargo sailed between the Mediterranean and Black seas.

[Image source: http://www.artsales.com/Ancient%20Ships/Mercha33.gif]

Byzantine merchants traded agricultural goods, furs, and

slaves from northern Europe . . .

[Image source: http://www.ucalgary.ca/HIST/tutor/imagemid/hanseatic.gif]

. . . for cloves and sandalwood from the East Indies, pepper, copper, and gems from India,

and Ceylon, and silk from China.

[Image source: http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/exhibit/trade/trade_routes.jpg]

The major Byzantine industry was weaving silk.

[Image source: http://www.accd.edu/pac/humaniti/1301_tc/xornelas/Mvc-006l.jpg]

Some Eastern Orthodox monks

smuggled silkworm eggs out of China

inside of hollow bamboo canes and brought

them to Constantinople.

[Image source: http://www.usc.edu/isd/locations/science/hancock/nathist/pasteur.gif]