1. Byzantine Culture 476-1453 (fall of Rome – conquest by the Ottoman Turks)

2. Byzantine Empire  After Rome falls, Constantinople remains secure, preserving the Eastern Empire  A stable base of agriculture and trading, with deep class divisions  A new fusion of ethnic groups: Greeks, Romans, Serbs, Slavs, Turks, Bulgarians

3. Orthodox Christianity  A gradual split between Roman (Catholic) and Byzantine (Orthodox) churches Differences in language (Greek the language of the Eastern Roman empire, Latin the language of the Western Roman empire) Differences in religious practice (Roman Catholic priests were celibate, Orthodox priests could marry) Different positions on the Iconoclastic Controversy (726-843): the Eastern Roman Empire was Iconoclast (image-breakers), while the papacy in the West refused to join.

4. Byzantine Culture  mixture of Christian principles and Greco-Roman ideals  Classical Values--restraint, order, proportion, thought--are now put to the service of Christianity.

5. Literary Culture  Law: the Justinian Code Created by the Emperor Justinian, who reigned 527-565 preserves Roman law and passes on legal principals into the Christian medieval period

6. Byzantine Architecture  The great structures of the Byzantine period embody two basic purposes (sometimes one, sometimes both) A) glorifying the empire B) expanding Christianity’s power

7. Byzantine style  A combination of styles:  Greek: the use of the classical columns  Roman: the use of the arch and the dome  “Asian: (Persian, Arabic, Islamic, Turkish) influences More lavish colors and intricate ornamentation  Form of Greek cross  Use of dome  Prevalence of mosaic

8. Byzantine Architecture  Hagia Sophia was the mother church of the Orthodox church

9. Hagia Sophia

10. Orthodox Church in St. Petersburg, Russia

11. Christ

12. Christ in the Orthodox church of India