Byzantine Influnce in Russia

As Byzantine religious culture spread around the region, it eventually looked to influence the Slavic people to the north. The conversion of the people of what is Russia today is considered to be one of the most important expansions of Orthodox Christianity.

In the ninth century CE, Cyril and Methodius, two Byzantine missionaries, developed a Slavic alphabet that could be used to translate the Bible in order to help bring Christianity to the people of the area. Kievan Rus, named after the well known city of Kiev, was a state that began to flourish from trade along the Dnieper River. The state of Rus was compiled of a wide array of people, of which Prince Vladimir of Kiev ruled. As Rus began to experience interaction with other areas of the Byzantine Empire, Vladimir sought to adopt a religion that would unite the people of his region. We have learned from ancient works that Vladimir essentially ‘shopped around’ for religions. He rejected Islam because it prohibited drinking alcohol, an activity very dear to the people of Rus, he rejected Roman Christianity because he did not like the idea that the pope saw himself as supreme to other rulers, and he rejected Judaism because he saw their god as weak. In the end, Prince Vladimir was left with the Orthodox church of Byzantine, although, much political consideration was taken into account as well. After all, Vladimir married the Byzantine Emperor’s sister.
Prince Vladimir of Kiev converted to Christianity in 988 CE. The Orthodox religion brought stability to the diverse and budding society. Rus inherited many aspects of the neighboring Byzantine Empire such as its architectural ways, Cyrillic alphabet, and use of icons. Orthodox Christianity embedded itself deep within the Russian people and their way of life, with the state also adopting the Byzantine ideal of having control over the Church.

When the Byzantine Empire collapsed in 1453, the Russians declared Moscow to be the “third Rome,” the true protector of Orthodox Christianity, much like how Constantinople was declared a “new Rome.” The Russians felt they had inherited the Byzantine Empire in all of its glory and sophisticated ways. In this sense, the Russian conversion to Christianity played a huge role in ensuring that aspects of the Byzantine Empire lived on, similar to how the Byzantines carried on Roman traditions. As the legacy of such huge empires lives on in various ways, I wonder what could be considered to be a “fourth Rome” and how the seemingly historic tradition of continuing the ways of fallen empires has continued since Byzantium.

Sources:
http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/byzmuslm.html
Strayer, Robert W. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. Print.

The Byzantine Economy

In class we talked a lot about the characteristics of the Byzantine Empire but not about the significance of its material wealth. I am interested in how the trade of the Byzantine Empire affected the relations between East and West Europe. An article I found on the JSTOR database discusses this along with the general economy of the Byzantine Empire.

The economy of Eastern Byzantium differed from that of the Western Byzantine Empire. The Eastern Byzantine Empire's economy, trade, and the sacking of Constantinople by the Western Crusaders in the 4th Crusade (for more information click here and here), affected how it interacted with the Western Byzantine Empire. It soon developed an international economic system.

The Eastern Byzantine Empire had a strong monetary system and trade as part of its economy. I found a picture online of a bezant, one of its coins. It lasted around 800 years as a central form of currency in the Roman Empire, one of the longest-lasting currencies. This coin was from around 690 CE and was one of the first to show a picture of Christ. Our Strayer textbook states that other goods traveled throughout and beyond the Byzantine Empire, including textiles, dyes, jewelry, gold, silver, and silk. Cities became major centers for these goods to be traded for the currency.

After the siege of Constantinople (as shown in the picture on the right) and its recapture by the Eastern Roman Empire, the article's author (Laiou-Thomakis from above) states that the relationship between the two halves of the Empire changed. It surprised me to learn that the Eastern Byzantium became increasingly reliant on the Western economy after 1204. After the siege, more individuals from the West settled in the East. Eastern nobles began marrying Western noblewomen, who brought their cultural ideas and taste for Western goods with them. In addition, Italian goods in the East Mediterranean became important to the East.

Finally, the article points out that the Byzantine economy formed in a world of international markets. This means that supply and demand controlled the market, kept prices fairly stable, led to a common currency, started a bank system, and labor supported it. The system was so strong that merchants could easily find out the price of a good and that would tell them the market's current condition (reminds one of today's stock system indexes). Even in politically difficult times, the market for most goods remained fairly stable, which was an indication of a strong economy that did not fluctuate with every little problem.

This article supplies very interesting information. It showed how the East Byzantine Empire's trade, economy, and siege of Constantinople affected its relation with the West. It also came to have an international economic system. This reminds one, in this time when many individuals are so concerned about the economy, that historical events influence the economy. One may even argue that the Byzantine Empire led the way to a stronger economical system used around the world today.

Strayer, Robert W. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. Print.