Byzantine Church History

[Fidei Defensor]

The Byzantines were a Christian Empire and Civilization that began with Constantine The Great in 333 A.D. to 1204 A.D., with a resurgence in 1214 A.D. tell the total destruction of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire in 29th of May, 1453 A.D. The Byzantines were a very sophisticated Christian Civilization with many texts revealing much about daily life, I recommend Anna Kommena's The Alexiad which is a history of Byzantium from a Byzantine Princess and 14 Byzantine Rulers by Psellus. The Byzantines were the most opulent Christian society to ever exist. Everything was blanketed in gold, and purple was the color of royalty, there literally was the term, "born in purple," where all royals were born in a purple room. The Byzantines also had a cruel side, removing eyes over offenses, and in many ways The Byzantines were Roman in their lusts, greed (avarice), and brutality. 

 

Anna Commena, Christian Byzantine Princess 

 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Fidei Defensor

[FresnoJoe]

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34

Byzantine rulers were known to blind and mutilate their rivals.

Byzantine politicians often avoided killing their rivals in favor of carrying out ghastly acts of physical mutilation. Many would-be usurpers and deposed emperors were blinded or castrated to prevent them from leading troops or fathering children, while others had their tongues, noses or lips cut off. Maiming was supposed to prevent victims from challenging for power—disfigured people were traditionally barred from imperial rule—but it didn’t always work as planned. The Emperor Justinian II famously had his nose hacked off when he was overthrown in 695, but returned from exile 10 years later and reclaimed the throne—supposedly while sporting a prosthetic golden nose.  http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-byzantine-empire

[Fidei Defensor]

One of my favorite Byzantine writers is a princess who was “born in the purple.” Her name is Anna Kommena, and her book is The Alexiad. She describes Byzantine life with such a bouyant charm and her History is not dry but draws you deep into Byzantine religion, politics, and life.  

[Debp]

Interesting but terrible that they were so cruel!!

Fidei Defensor, you mentioned in another post that you studied church history.  Was it at a seminary or what type of institution?  Just curious....

Edited August 9, 2018 by Debp

[Mishael]

Byzantium was a beacon of science in a dark world, while the Muslims and Catholics hacked each other to pieces and murdered their scientists, Byzantium was at its peak in science and philosophy. Meanwhile the Muslims didn’t know even know how to use soap and the Western Europeans had to rub oranges on their skin to rid themselves of their stench, Byzantium had the first public baths. I long to see Hagia Sophia as she was meant to be and I long to see Constantinople as she was meant to be.

[Fidei Defensor]

2 hours ago, Mishael said:

Byzantium was a beacon of science in a dark world, while the Muslims and Catholics hacked each other to pieces and murdered their scientists, Byzantium was at its peak in science and philosophy. Meanwhile the Muslims didn’t know even know how to use soap and the Western Europeans had to rub oranges on their skin to rid themselves of their stench, Byzantium had the first public baths. I long to see Hagia Sophia as she was meant to be and I long to see Constantinople as she was meant to be.

I too long to see the Hagia Sophia and to see the Queen of Cities name be restored. 

Whils I do appreciate that the Latins kept the Crescent at bay at Lepanto and Malta, The Fourth Crusade is a blight and terrible christiancide. The Latins were use to feudal lord’s and that if your feudal Lord is deposed you avenge him and restore his throne. In Byzantium the emperor was elected and held office as long as he did s good job; in fact he worried about losing his throne all the time due to negligence or decadence or failures. Even those who were poor could become emperor like Emperor Basil I. The Latins interrupted this process in The Fourth Crusade by trying to place the deposed emperor Alexios IV Angelos on the throne when that is not how Byzantium works. 

Latin Crusader Europen System: a liege Lord or King is to be in place until his death and if deposed, avenged and replaces on his throne and his rule passes to children creating nepotism. Kings only by royal succession, you have to be the child of the king to become the king, monarchy, no elections. 

Byzantins System: Emperor is elected by the people and lives a turbulent time in office trying to be good leader so as to not be deposed and replaced by the people by a more able leader. Emperors elected by the people and hold office by merit, democracy, anyone can become emperor even a poor person like Basil I. 

Edited August 9, 2018 by Fidei Defensor