Byzantium existed from 395 to 1453. The history of its emergence is as follows. In 330, a new capital of the Roman Empire was founded on the site of the ancient Greek settlement of Byzantium Constantinople, 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.
Byzantium became a worthy successor ancient culture. She successfully continued further development best achievements 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. She had large areas, 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- Alexandria. Antioch, Nicaea. Ravenna, Thessaloniki.
Byzantine culture became the first in the full sense 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, versions. Played a huge role in this John of Damascus(c. 675 - before 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.
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 has found application in many European and Asian countries of that era.
The evolution of Byzantine culture knew several ups and downs. First bloom falls on the V-VII centuries, when the transition from slavery to the feudal system was completed in Byzantium. Emerging feudalism carried both western and eastern features. In particular, it was distinguished from Western Europe by rigid centralization state power and the tax system, the growth of cities with their lively trade and craft, the absence of a clear class division of society.
IN VI11-IX centuries Byzantium is experiencing 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 time has become another rise and rise Byzantium. It establishes close ties with Kievan Rus. The role of Christianity and the Church in this period increases significantly. IN artistic culture the mature medieval style finally takes shape, main feature which is spiritualism.
13th century presented to Byzantium the hardest test primarily due to 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. She is worrying its last rise and blossom, which is especially evident in the artistic culture. However, the capture of Constantinople by Turkish troops in 1453 meant the end of Byzantium.
Awarded with the highest achievements art culture Byzantium. 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.
Byzantine temple significantly different 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 but the exterior, its appearance.
Synopsis on cultural studies
Byzantine Empire arose at the turn of two eras - the collapse of late antiquity and the birth of medieval society as a result of the division of the Roman Empire into eastern and western parts. Geographical position Byzantium, which spread its possessions on two continents - in Europe and Asia, and sometimes extended its power to the regions of Africa, made this empire, as it were, a link between East and West. A mixture of Greco-Roman and oriental traditions left an imprint on public life, statehood, religious and philosophical ideas, culture and art of the Byzantine society. However, Byzantium went its own historical path, in many respects different from the fate of the countries, both East and West, which determined the characteristics of its culture.
In the history of European, and indeed of the entire world culture, Byzantine civilization has a special place, it is characterized by solemn splendor, inner nobility, elegance of form and depth of thought. Throughout its thousand-year existence, the Byzantine Empire, which absorbed the heritage of the Greco-Roman world and the Hellenistic East, was the center of a unique and truly brilliant culture. In addition, until the XIII century. Byzantium in terms of the level of development of education, the intensity of spiritual life and the colorful sparkle of objective forms of culture, undoubtedly, was ahead of all countries. medieval Europe.
Features of Byzantine culture are as follows:
1) the synthesis of Western and Eastern elements in various spheres of the material and spiritual life of society with the dominant position of Greco-Roman traditions;
2) the preservation to a large extent of the traditions of ancient civilization, which served as the basis for the development of humanistic ideas in Byzantium and fertilized European culture the Renaissance;
3) The Byzantine Empire, unlike the fragmented medieval Europe, retained state political doctrines, which left its mark on various areas culture, namely: with the ever-increasing influence of Christianity, the secular artistic creativity;
4) the difference between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, which was manifested in the originality of the philosophical and theological views of Orthodox theologians and philosophers of the East, in dogmatics, liturgy, rituals Orthodox Church, in the system of Christian ethical and aesthetic values of Byzantium.
The formation of Byzantine culture took place in an atmosphere of deeply contradictory ideological life of early Byzantium. This was the time of the formation of the ideology of Byzantine society, the formation of the system of the Christian worldview, which was established in a sharp struggle with the philosophical, ethical, aesthetic and natural-scientific views of the ancient world.
IN patriotic literature of the early Byzantine era, in the works of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa, in the speeches of John Chrysostom, where the foundation of medieval Christian theology was laid, we see a combination of the ideas of early Christianity with Neoplatonic philosophy, a paradoxical interweaving of ancient rhetorical forms with a new ideological content. The Cappadocian thinkers Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus laid the foundation for Byzantine philosophy. Their philosophical constructions are rooted in the ancient history of Hellenic thinking. At the center of patriotic philosophy is the understanding of being as a good, which gives a kind of justification for the cosmos, and, consequently, the world and man. In Gregory of Nyssa, this concept sometimes approaches pantheism.
1. Introduction 3
2. An early stage in the history of the culture of Byzantium IV - VII centuries. 4
3. The middle stage in the history of culture Byzantium VII- IX centuries. 7
4 Late stage in the history of culture of Byzantium X - XV centuries. 9
5. Conclusion 13
6. Literature used 14
1. INTRODUCTION
Byzantium is a state that has 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, depth philosophical thought. By the power of expressiveness and deep spirituality, Byzantium stood ahead of all the countries of medieval Europe for many centuries.
The Byzantine Empire arose at the turn of two eras - the collapse of late antiquity and the birth of medieval society as a result of the division of the Roman Empire into eastern and western parts. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the concept of world Roman dominion, the title of emperor and the very idea of a world monarchy, as well as the traditions of ancient education, survived only in the East - in the Byzantine Empire.
On the banks of the Bosphorus, Emperor Constantine built Constantinople - the "new Rome" - the capital of the Byzantine state. She seemed fabulously beautiful to newcomers from the West, East and North.
The geographical position of Byzantium, which spread its possessions on two continents - in Europe and Asia, and sometimes extended its power to the regions of Africa, made this empire, as it were, a link between East and West. The constant bifurcation between the eastern western world, the crossing of Asian and European influences(with a predominance in certain eras of one or the other) became the historical lot of Byzantium. The mixture of Greco-Roman and Eastern traditions left its mark on public life, statehood, religious and philosophical ideas, culture and art of Byzantine society. However, Byzantium went its own historical path, in many respects different from the fate of the countries of both the East and the West, which also determined the characteristics of its culture.
If you try to separate the Byzantine culture from the culture of Europe, the Front and the Near East, then the following factors will be the most important:
· In Byzantium there was a linguistic community (the main language was Greek);
· In Byzantium there was a religious community (the main religion was Christianity in the form of Orthodoxy);
· In Byzantium, with all the multi-ethnicity, there was an ethnic core, consisting of the Greeks.
· The Byzantine Empire has always been distinguished by stable statehood and centralized administration.
All this, of course, does not exclude the possibility that Byzantine culture, which had an impact on many neighboring countries, was itself subject to cultural influence from both the tribes and peoples that inhabited it, and its neighboring states. During its thousand years of existence, Byzantium faced powerful external cultural influences emanating from countries that were at a close stage of development - from Iran, Egypt, Syria, Transcaucasia, and later the Latin West and Ancient Rus'. On the other hand, Byzantium had to enter into various cultural contacts with peoples who were at a slightly or at a much lower stage of development (the Byzantines called them "barbarians").
The process of development of Byzantium was not straightforward. It had epochs of ups and downs, periods of the triumph of progressive ideas and gloomy years of domination by reactionaries. But the sprouts of the new, the living, the advanced, sooner or later sprouted in all spheres of life, at all times.
Therefore, the culture of Byzantium is the most interesting cultural and historical type, which has very specific features.
There are three stages in the history of Byzantine culture:
* early (IV - mid-VII century);
* middle (VII - IX centuries);
* late (X - XV centuries).
As you know, Byzantium was formed from the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The center of the new state was the city of Byzantium, which was rebuilt and named Constantinople.
In the history of European, and indeed of the entire world culture, Byzantine civilization has a special place, it is characterized by solemn splendor, inner nobility, elegance of form and depth of thought. Throughout its thousand-year existence, the Byzantine Empire, which absorbed the heritage of the Greco-Roman world and the Hellenistic East, was the center of a unique and truly brilliant culture. In addition, until the XIII century. Byzantium, in terms of the level of development of education, the intensity of spiritual life and the colorful sparkle of objective forms of culture, undoubtedly, was ahead of all the countries of medieval Europe.
2. EARLY STAGE IN THE HISTORY OF BYZANTINE CULTURE IV - VII centuries.
The first centuries of the existence of the Byzantine state can be regarded as the most important stage in the formation of the worldview of the Byzantine society, based on the traditions of pagan Hellenism and the principles of Christianity. In early Byzantium, the philosophy of Neoplatonism experienced a new flowering. A number of Neoplatonic philosophers appear - Proclus, Diadochus, Plotinus, Pseudo-Dionysius, Areopagite.
The formation of Neoplatonism coincides with the birth of Christianity, with the decay and decline of the Risk Empire. In general, he is characterized by deep pessimism, disappointment in earthly life, and a belief in the depravity of human nature.
The most important topics of theological discussions at an early stage in the development of this culture were disputes about the nature of Christ and his place in the Trinity, about the meaning of human existence, the place of man in the universe and the limit of his capabilities. In this regard, several areas of theological thought of that era can be distinguished:
* Arianism: The Arians believed that Christ is the creation of God the Father, and therefore he is not consubstantial with God the Father, is not eternal and occupies a subordinate place in the structure of the Trinity.
* Nestorianism: The Nestorians believed that the divine and human principles in Christ are only relatively united and never merge.
* Monophysitism: Monophysites singled out primarily the divine nature of Christ and spoke of Christ as a god-man.
* Chalcedonism: The Chalcedonites preached those ideas that later became dominant: the consubstantiality of God the Father and God the Son, the inseparability and inseparability of the divine and the human in Christ.
The main Christian dogmas, in particular the Creed, were fixed at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (325) and confirmed at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople (381).
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 not only Middle Eastern religious teachings, Judaism, Manichaeism, but also Neoplatonism. The dogma of the trinity of the deity, one of the central tenets of Christian doctrine, is essentially a rethought triad of the Neoplatonists. However, Christianity, despite having features in common with Manichaeism and Neoplatonism, is fundamentally different from Manichaean dualism and Neoplatonic monism. Christianity itself was not only a syncretic religious doctrine, but also a synthetic philosophical and religious system, important component which were the ancient philosophies. This, perhaps, explains to some extent the fact that Christianity not only struggled with ancient philosophy but also used it for their 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. In Neoplatonism itself, two currents were formed: one - radical, opposed to Christianity, the other - more moderate. Gradually, supporters of a compromise with Christianity are gaining the upper hand. There was a process of repulsion, isolation and at the same time convergence, fusion of Neoplatonic philosophy and Christian theology, which ends with the absorption of Neoplatonism by Christianity.
In the patriotic literature of the early Byzantine era, in the writings of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa, in the speeches of John Chrysostom, where the foundation of medieval Christian theology was laid, we see a combination of the ideas of early Christianity with Neoplatonic philosophy, a paradoxical interweaving of ancient rhetorical forms with a new ideological content. Kappa-Docian thinkers Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus lay the foundation of Byzantine philosophy. Their philosophical constructions are rooted in the ancient history of Hellenic thinking. At the center of patriotic philosophy is the understanding of being as a good, which gives a kind of justification for the cosmos, and, consequently, the world and man. In Gregory of Nyssa, this concept sometimes approaches pantheism.
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.
The style of Byzantine architecture developed gradually, it organically combined elements of ancient and oriental architecture. The main architectural structure was the temple, the so-called basilica (Greek "royal house"), the purpose of which differed significantly from other buildings. If the Egyptian temple was intended for priests to conduct solemn ceremonies and did not allow a person to enter the sanctuary, and the Greek and Roman temples served as the seat of a deity, then the Byzantine ones became the place where believers gathered for worship, i.e. temples were designed for human stay in them.
From now on, imperial ceremonies and solemn services began to be held here. For the first time, the idea of a grandiose centric temple was embodied in it, crowned with a giant dome, on top of which a huge cross was depicted, framed starry sky. The temple, located in the center of the city, on the highest hill, is far visible from the Bosphorus.
Another masterpiece of Byzantine architecture is the Church of St. Vitaliy in Ravenna - amazes with the sophistication and elegance of architectural forms. The famous mosaics of not only ecclesiastical, but also secular nature, in particular, images of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora and their retinue, brought special fame to this temple. The faces of Justinian and Theodora are endowed with portrait features, the color scheme of the mosaics is full-blooded brightness, warmth and freshness.
The mosaics of Byzantium gained worldwide fame. The technology of mosaic art has been known since antiquity, but it was only in Byzantium that glass alloys, the so-called smalts with the thinnest gold surface, were used for the first time, not natural, but colored with mineral paints. Masters widely used the golden color, which, on the one hand, symbolized luxury and wealth, and on the other hand, was the brightest and most radiant of all colors. Most of the mosaics were located under different angle slope on a concave or spherical surface of the walls, and this only increased the golden sheen of uneven smalt cubes. He turned the plane of the walls into a continuous shimmering space, even more sparkling thanks to the light of candles burning in the temple. Byzantine mosaicists used a wide range of colors: from soft blue, green and bright blue to pale lilac, pink and red of various shades and degrees of intensity. The images on the walls mainly told about the main events of Christian history, the earthly life of Jesus Christ, and glorified the power of the emperor. The mosaics of the church of San Vitale in the city of Ravenna (6th century) acquired particular fame. On the side aisles of the apse, on both sides of the windows, there are mosaics depicting the imperial couple - Justinian and his wife Theodora with their retinues.
The artist places the characters on a neutral gold background. Everything in this scene is full of solemn grandeur. Both mosaic paintings, located under the figure of the seated Christ, inspire the viewer with the idea of the inviolability of the Byzantine emperor.
In painting VI-VII centuries. a specifically Byzantine image crystallizes, cleansed of foreign influences. It is based on the experience of the masters of the East and West, who independently came to create a new art that corresponds to the spiritualistic ideals of medieval society. In this art, there are already various trends and schools. The metropolitan school, for example, was distinguished by excellent workmanship, refined artistry, picturesqueness and colorful variety, quivering and iridescent colors. One of the most perfect works of this school were the mosaics in the dome of the Church of the Assumption in Nicaea.
Church worship in Byzantium turned into a kind of magnificent mystery. In the semi-darkness of the vaults of Byzantine churches, many candles and lamps shone twilight, illuminating with mysterious reflections the gold of mosaics, the dark faces of icons, multi-colored marble colonnades, and magnificent precious utensils. All this, according to the plan of the church, was supposed to overshadow in the soul of a person the emotional elation of ancient tragedy, the healthy fun of mimes, the vain excitement of circus dances and give him joy in the everyday life of real life.
In the applied art of Byzantium, to a lesser extent than in architecture and painting, the leading line in the development of Byzantine art was determined, reflecting the formation of the medieval worldview. The vitality of ancient traditions was manifested here both in images and in forms of artistic expression. At the same time, the artistic traditions of the peoples of the East gradually penetrated here. Here, although to a lesser extent than in Western Europe, the influence of the barbarian world played its role.
Music occupied a special place in Byzantine civilization. A peculiar combination of authoritarianism and democracy could not but affect the nature of musical culture, which was a 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. Each of these types of music had its own aesthetic and social meaning and at the same time, interacting, they merged into a single and unique whole. 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.
The education system also inherits the Greco-Roman traditions, based on the principle (seven liberal arts. Two levels of education:
* Trivium - grammar, rhetoric and dialectics.
* Quadrivium - arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.
Mass spectacles continued to play a huge role in the life of the broad masses of the people. Is it true, antique theater starts to decline ancient tragedies and comedies are increasingly being replaced by performances by mimes, jugglers, dancers, gymnasts, wild animal tamers. The place of the theater is now occupied by a circus (hippodrome) with its equestrian dances, which are very popular.
If we summarize the first period of the existence of Byzantium, we can say that during this period the main features of Byzantine culture were formed. First of all, they should include the fact that Byzantine culture was open to other cultural influences received from outside. But gradually in early period they were synthesized by the main, leading Greco-Roman culture.
The culture of early Byzantium was an urban culture. The large cities of the empire, and primarily Constantinople, were not only centers of crafts and trade, but also centers of the highest culture and education, where the rich heritage of antiquity was preserved.
3. MIDDLE STAGE IN THE HISTORY OF BYZANTINE CULTURE VII - IX CENTURIES.
An important component of the second stage in the history of Byzantine culture was the confrontation between iconoclasts and iconodules (726-843). The first direction was supported by the ruling secular elite, and the second - by the orthodox clergy and many segments of the population. Iconoclasts, asserting the idea of the indescribability and unknowability of the deity, striving to preserve the sublime spirituality of Christianity, advocated the abolition of the worship of icons and other images of Christ, the Virgin and saints, seeing in this the exaltation of the carnal principle and the remnants of Antiquity. And so their requirements were reduced to neutral paintings, abstract symbols, ornamental and decorative motifs, landscapes with images of animals and birds. As a result, the walls of the temples turned, in the figurative expression of one of his contemporaries, into "gardens and poultry houses." During the period of iconoclasm (726-843) an attempt was made to officially ban icons. The philosopher, poet, and author of many theological writings John of Damascus (700-760) spoke in defense of the icons. In his opinion, the icon is fundamentally different from the idol. It is not a copy or decoration, but an illustration reflecting the nature and essence of the deity.
At a certain stage, the iconoclasts gained the upper hand, so for some time ornamental and decorative abstract symbolic elements prevailed in Byzantine Christian art. However, the struggle between the supporters of these trends was extremely tough, and many monuments perished in this confrontation. early stage Byzantine culture, in particular the first mosaics of the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople. But still, the supporters of icon veneration won the final victory, which further contributed to the final formation of the iconographic canon - strict rules for depicting all scenes of religious content.
It should also be noted that the essential point is that the iconoclastic movement served as an incentive for a new rise in the secular visual arts and Byzantine architecture. Under the iconoclastic emperors, the influence of Muslim architecture penetrated into architecture. Thus, one of the palaces of Vrias in Constantinople was built according to the plan of the palaces of Baghdad. All palaces were surrounded by parks with fountains, exotic flowers and trees. In Constantinople, Nicaea and other cities of Greece and Asia Minor, city walls were erected, public buildings, private buildings. In the secular art of the iconoclastic period, the principles of representative solemnity, architectural monumentality and colorful multi-figured decorativeness won, which later served as the basis for the development of secular artistic creativity.
During this period, the art of colored mosaic images reached a new heyday. In the IX-XI centuries. old monuments were also restored. Mosaics were also restored in the church of St. Sofia. New plots appeared that reflected the idea of the union of church and state.
In the IX-X centuries. the décor of manuscripts became substantially richer and more complex, and book miniatures and ornamentation became richer and more varied. However, truly new period in the development of book miniatures falls on the 11th-12th centuries, when the Constantinople school of masters in this area of art was flourishing. In that era, in general, the leading role in painting as a whole (in icon painting, miniature, fresco) was acquired by the metropolitan schools, marked by a special perfection of taste and technique.
In the VII-VIII centuries. in the temple construction of Byzantium and the countries of the Byzantine cultural circle, the same cross-domed composition that arose in the 6th century dominated. and was characterized by a weakly expressed external decorative design. The decor of the facade acquired great importance in the 9th-10th centuries, when a new architectural style arose and became widespread. The emergence of a new style was associated with the flourishing of cities, the strengthening of the social role of the church, a 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 like usually small in size.
In addition to changes in the decorative design of buildings, the architectural forms and the very composition of buildings also changed. 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. For example, in Greece X-XII centuries. it is typical to preserve some archaism of architectural forms (non-segmentation of the facade plane, traditional forms of small temples) - with the further development and growth of the influence of the new style, patterned brick decor and polychrome plastic were also increasingly used here.
In the VIII-XII centuries. a special musical and poetic church art took shape. Thanks to his high artistic merits, the influence of folklore music on church music, the melodies of which had previously penetrated even into the liturgy, weakened. In order to further isolate the musical foundations of worship from external influences, the canonization of the laotonal system - "oktoiha" (eight-tones) was carried out. Ichoses were some melodic formulas. However, musical-theoretical monuments allow us to conclude that the Ichos system did not rule out a sound-row understanding. Most popular genres church music became the canon (a musical and poetic composition during a church service) and the troparion (almost the main unit of Byzantine hymnography). Troparias were composed for all holidays, all solemn events and memorable dates.
The progress of musical art led to the creation of musical writing (notation), as well as liturgical handwritten collections in which chants were recorded (either only text or text with notation).
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 circles intellectual elite there was a growing interest in ancient musical culture, although this interest was predominantly theoretical in nature: attention was attracted not so much by the music itself as by the works of ancient Greek musical theorists.
As a result of the second period, it can be noted that Byzantium at that time reached the highest power and the highest point in the development of culture. 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.
4. LATE STAGE IN THE HISTORY OF BYZANTINE CULTURE X - XV CENTURIES.
Since the X century. a new stage in the history of Byzantine culture begins - a generalization and classification of everything achieved in science, theology, philosophy, and literature takes place. In Byzantine culture, this century is associated with the creation of works of a generalizing nature - encyclopedias on history were compiled, agriculture, medicine. The treatises of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (913-959) "On the Governance of the State", "On Themes", "On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court" are an extensive encyclopedia of the most valuable information about the political and administrative structure of the Byzantine state. At the same time, colorful material of an ethnographic and historical-geographic nature about the countries and peoples adjacent to the Empire, including the Slavs, is collected here.
In culture, generalized spiritualistic principles completely triumph; social thought, literature and art, as it were, break away from reality and close themselves in a circle of higher, abstract ideas. The basic principles of Byzantine aesthetics are finally taking shape. The ideal aesthetic object is transferred to the spiritual realm, and it is now described using such aesthetic categories, as beautiful, light, color, image, sign, symbol. These categories help lighting global problems art and other areas of culture.
In artistic creativity, traditionalism and canonicity prevail; art no longer contradicts the dogmas of the official religion, but actively serves them. However, the duality of Byzantine culture, the confrontation in it between the aristocratic and popular trends, does not disappear even during periods of the most complete domination of dogmatized church ideology.
In the XI-XII centuries. Byzantine culture undergoes serious ideological shifts. The growth of provincial cities, the rise of handicrafts and trade, the crystallization of the political and intellectual self-consciousness of the townspeople, the feudal consolidation of the ruling class while maintaining a centralized state, rapprochement with the West under the Komnenos could not but affect culture. A significant accumulation of positive knowledge, the growth of natural sciences, the expansion of human ideas about the Earth and the universe, the needs of navigation, trade, diplomacy, jurisprudence, the development of cultural communication with the countries of Europe and the Arab world - all this leads to the enrichment of Byzantine culture and major changes in the worldview of Byzantine society . It was the time of the rise of scientific knowledge and the birth of rationalism in the philosophical thought of Byzantium.
Rationalist tendencies among Byzantine philosophers and theologians, as well as among Western European scholastics of the 11th-12th centuries, manifested themselves primarily in the desire to combine faith with reason, and sometimes even put reason above faith. The most important prerequisite for the development of rationalism in Byzantium was a new stage in the revival of ancient culture, the comprehension of the ancient heritage as a single, integral philosophical and aesthetic system. Byzantine thinkers of the XI-XII centuries. perceive from ancient philosophers respect for reason; blind faith based on authority is being replaced by the study of the causality of phenomena in nature and society. But unlike Western European scholasticism, Byzantine philosophy of the 11th-12th centuries. based on ancient philosophies different schools, and not only on the works of Aristotle, as was the case in the West. The exponents of rationalistic trends in Byzantine philosophy were Michael Psellos, John Ital and their followers.
However, all these representatives of rationalism and religious freethinking were condemned by the church, and their works were burned. But their activity was not in vain - it paved the way for the emergence of humanistic ideas in Byzantium.
In literature, there are tendencies towards the democratization of language and plot, towards the individualization of the author's person, towards the manifestation of the author's position; in it a critical attitude towards the ascetic monastic ideal is born and religious doubts slip through. literary life becomes more intense, there are literary circles. Byzantine art also flourished during this period.
The capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204 led to the collapse of the Byzantine Empire and the short-term existence of the Latin Empire (1204-1261) and the possessions of the Latin barons on the land of Byzantium. In the field of culture, this episode marks the cultural interaction of the Greek and Western civilizations. The Catholic Church made great efforts to spread Latin culture and Catholic doctrine among the Greeks. Already in 1205, an attempt was made to establish a Catholic university in Constantinople, and the monastery of St. Dominic in Constantinople, where in 1252 the monk Bartholomeus compiled the polemical work Against the Mistakes of the Greeks. At the same time, Byzantine culture began to influence enlightened people arriving from the West. Thus, the Catholic archbishop of Corinar Guillaume de Merbeke, a well-educated man, well-versed in Latin and Greek philosophy, translated into Latin the works of Aristotle, Hippocrates, Archimedes and Proclus. These translations, apparently, influenced the formation of the philosophical views of Thomas Aquinas.
Byzantine culture short message will talk about the main achievements of this state, the heir to the culture of the Roman Empire.
Byzantine culture briefly
Byzantine culture borrowed the achievements of the ancient world in the field of fine arts, law, architecture and music. At the same time, the geographical location of the state, the peculiarities of the migration of peoples and trade relations opened the borders for the influence of the East. Thus, the historical past of antiquity and the barbarian environment created the basis for the formation of a new, special culture, so unlike the others.
What is special about Byzantine culture?
- First, it is based on a confessional factor, and not on an ethnic or political community.
- Secondly, the self-forming factor of culture is Orthodoxy, on the basis of which the system of imperial self-consciousness was created. In general, Byzantine culture experienced 2 rises during its existence: the Macedonian Renaissance and the heyday under the Palaiologos dynasty.
The main achievements of Byzantine culture:
- The monastic feat of asceticism and the ideal of holiness were formed.
- The cross-domed architecture was established. It combines outwardly incompatible principles, sublime solemnity, refined spiritualism and deep spirituality, pomp and luxury, excess and spectacle. The Byzantine temple differed from the classical ancient temple. The organization of the internal space came to the fore. The most famous monument of Byzantine culture, its calling card became the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople.
- Actively developed book art and book miniatures.
- Developed unique technique mosaic. In this genre, Byzantium has no equal. The masters possessed the secrets of making smalt and skillful methods of transforming the original color into a picturesque whole. Magnificent mosaics adorn the tombs of Ravenna, the temple of Sophia, the Church of the Assumption in Nicaea, the Church of Demetrius in Thessaloniki.
- The development of decorative and applied arts was at the highest level development. In particular, the masters mastered the technique of cloisonné enamel.
- Born and developed new genre: genre icon painting.
What is the role of Byzantine culture?
She had a huge impact on the formation of the culture of Kievan Rus after her baptism. We can say that it has become an object for inheritance. In The Tale of Bygone Years, Nestor the Chronicler described the visit of Prince Vladimir to Constantinople. He was amazed by the grandeur, beauty and aesthetic content of the temples, that, having returned home, he began to build such ones in Kievan Rus. In addition, Byzantine culture gave the world the art of icon painting. It was a historical continuation of Greco-Roman antiquity and a synthesis of eastern and western spiritual foundations, thereby influencing the formation of European cultures.
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Introduction
The Byzantine Empire arose at the turn of two eras - the collapse of late antiquity and the birth of medieval society as a result of the division of the Roman Empire into eastern and western parts. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the concept of world Roman dominion, the title of emperor and the very idea of a world monarchy, as well as the traditions of ancient education, survived only in the East in the Byzantine Empire. In the early period, it reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Justinian. I (527565). The increase in the territory of the Byzantine Empire almost doubled, broad legislative and administrative reforms, the development of crafts and trade, the flourishing of science and other areas of culture - all this marked the transformation of Byzantium under Justinian again into the most powerful state in the Mediterranean.
The geographical position of Byzantium, which spread its possessions on two continents - in Europe and Asia, and sometimes extended its power to the regions of Africa, made this empire, as it were, a link between East and West. The constant bifurcation between the Eastern and Western worlds, the crossing of Asian and European influences (with the predominance of one or the other in certain eras) became the historical destiny of Byzantium. The mixture of Greco-Roman and Eastern traditions left its mark on public life, statehood, religious and philosophical ideas, culture and art of Byzantine society. However, Byzantium went its own historical path, in many respects different from the fate of the countries of both the East and the West, which also determined the characteristics of its culture.
1. The birth of Byzantine culture
The history of Byzantium begins with IV century, from the time when Emperor Constantine ascended the throne of the Risky Empire (324-337 years of reign). He moved the capital of the empire to the city of Constantinople. This had a very deplorable effect on the Roman Empire, which as a result split into two parts. Western and Eastern, which later received the name of Byzantium from historians. Shortly before this, in 313, the Edict of Milan allowed the free practice of Christianity, and in 395 it was recognized as the official religion of both parts of the empire. It is hardly possible to find an event that would have greater influence throughout history both Byzantium and Western Europe.
The Middle Ages were the heyday of the feudal system with its typical domination of the landowning class, non-economic measures of coercion, the predominance of subsistence farming, the weak development of commodity production and, as a result, political fragmentation.
Features of the feudal system also affected the development of Byzantine art.
In the history of Byzantium, three stages in the development of the Byzantine Empire and Byzantine culture were defined:
- early Byzantine ( V - VIII centuries)
- Middle Byzantine ( VIII - XIII centuries)
- Late Byzantine ( XIII - XV centuries)
Each of the three periods had its own characteristics, developed from the characteristics of the previous period on the basis of a new stage in the development of Byzantine society and the state.
The formation of Byzantine culture took place in an atmosphere of deeply contradictory ideological life in early Byzantium. This was the time of the formation of the ideology of Byzantine society, the formation of the system of the Christian worldview, which was established in a sharp struggle with the philosophical, ethical, aesthetic and natural-scientific views of the ancient world. The first centuries of the existence of the Byzantine Empire can be seen as milestone worldview revolution, when not only the main tendencies of thinking of the Byzantine society were formed, but also its figurative system was formed, based on the traditions of pagan Hellenism and having acquired the official status of Christianity.
The entire spiritual life of society is marked by dramatic tension: in all spheres of knowledge, in literature, art, there is an amazing mixture of pagan mythology and Christian mysticism. Sincerity and emotionality, folk naivete and wholeness of perception of the world, sharpness of moral assessments, unexpected combination of mysticism with the vitality of everyday coloring, pious legend with business practicality are increasingly penetrating into artistic creativity. The didactic element is being strengthened in all spheres of culture; word and book, sign and symbol, pierced religious motives, occupy great place in the life of a man of the early Byzantine era.
Especially wide political and ideological resonance in Byzantium was caused by the church reforms of the first Isaurians. For the first time in the history of Byzantium, there was an open clash between the state and the church, when a strong blow was dealt to the veneration of icons, the cult of which gave the church a powerful ideological impact on the broad sections of the country's population and brought considerable income. Iconoclasm is the struggle of the military landowning nobility and part of the trade and craft circles of Constantinople for limiting the power of the church and dividing its property. As a result, the struggle ended with the ideological victory of the iconodules, but in fact a compromise was reached between the state and the church. Church and monastic land ownership was severely limited, many church treasures were confiscated, and church hierarchs, both in the capital and locally, were actually subordinate to the imperial authority. The Byzantine emperor became the recognized head of the Orthodox Church. 1
It should also be noted that the iconoclastic movement served as an incentive for a new rise in the secular fine arts and architecture of Byzantium. Under the iconoclastic emperors, the influence of Muslim architecture penetrated into architecture. Thus, one of the palaces of Constantinople Vrias was built according to the plan of the palaces of Baghdad. All palaces were surrounded by parks with fountains, exotic flowers and trees. In Constantinople, Nicaea and other cities of Greece and Asia Minor, city walls, public buildings, and private buildings were erected. In the secular art of the iconoclastic period, the principles of representative solemnity, architectural monumentality and colorful multi-figured decorativeness won, which later served as the basis for the development of secular artistic creativity.
2. Features of the culture of the Byzantine Empire
The reign of the emperors of the Macedonian dynasty is often called the golden age of Byzantine statehood. Indeed, under them, the magnificent etiquette of the Byzantine court, the strict ceremonial reception of foreign ambassadors, is formalized, the principle of legitimacy of power is strengthened through the institution of co-rulers. As a rule, the emperor made his son a co-ruler and thereby consolidated his power, received as a result palace coup or rebellion.
Since the X century. a new stage in the history of Byzantine culture begins - a generalization and classification of everything achieved in science, theology, philosophy, and literature takes place. In Byzantine culture, this century is associated with the creation of works of a generalizing nature - encyclopedias on history, agriculture, and medicine were compiled. The treatises of the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (913959) “On the Governance of the State”, “On the Themes”, “On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court” are an extensive encyclopedia of the most valuable information about the political and administrative structure of the Byzantine state. At the same time, colorful material of an ethnographic and historical-geographic nature about the countries and peoples adjacent to the Empire, including the Slavs, is collected here. 2
In culture, generalized spiritualistic principles completely triumph; social thought, literature and art, as it were, break away from reality and close themselves in a circle of higher, abstract ideas. The basic principles of Byzantine aesthetics are finally taking shape. The ideal aesthetic object is transferred to the spiritual sphere, and it is now described using such aesthetic categories as beauty, light, color, image, sign, symbol. These categories help to highlight the global issues of art and other areas of culture. In artistic creativity, traditionalism and canonicity prevail; art no longer contradicts the dogmas of the official religion, but actively serves them. However, the duality of Byzantine culture, the confrontation in it between the aristocratic and popular directions do not disappear even during periods of the most complete domination of dogmatized church ideology.
In XI XII centuries Byzantine culture undergoes serious ideological shifts. The growth of provincial cities, the rise of crafts and trade, the crystallization of the political and intellectual self-consciousness of the townspeople, the feudal consolidation of the ruling class while maintaining centralized state, rapprochement with the West under the Komnenos could not but affect the culture. Significant accumulation of positive knowledge, growth natural sciences, expansion of human ideas about the Earth and the universe, the needs of navigation, trade, diplomacy, jurisprudence, the development of cultural communication with the countries of Europe and the Arab world all this leads to the enrichment of Byzantine culture and major changes in the worldview of Byzantine society. It was the time of the rise of scientific knowledge and the birth of rationalism in the philosophical thought of Byzantium.
Of course, the culture of the Byzantine Empire at that time still remained medieval, traditional, and largely canonical. But in artistic life society, despite its canonicity and the unification of aesthetic values, sprouts of new pre-Renaissance trends are breaking through, which have found further development in Byzantine art era of the Palaiologos. They affect not only and not so much the return of interest in antiquity, which never died in Byzantium, but the emergence of sprouts of rationalism and freethinking, the intensification of the struggle of various social groups in the field of culture, and the growth of social discontent. In literature, there are tendencies towards the democratization of language and plot, towards the individualization of the author's person, towards the manifestation of the author's position; in it a critical attitude towards the ascetic monastic ideal is born and religious doubts slip through. Literary life becomes more intense, there are literary circles. Byzantine art also flourished during this period.
In addition, up to XIII V. Byzantium, in terms of the level of development of education, the intensity of spiritual life and the colorful sparkle of objective forms of culture, undoubtedly, was ahead of all the countries of medieval Europe.
The features of Byzantine culture are as follows: 1) the synthesis of Western and Eastern elements in various spheres of the material and spiritual life of society with the dominant position of Greco-Roman traditions; 2) the preservation to a large extent of the traditions of ancient civilization, which served as the basis for the development of humanistic ideas in Byzantium and fertilized the European culture of the Renaissance; 3) The Byzantine Empire, in contrast to fragmented medieval Europe, retained state political doctrines, which left an imprint on various spheres of culture, namely: with the ever-increasing influence of Christianity, secular artistic creativity never faded; 4) the difference between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, which was manifested in the originality of the philosophical and theological views of Orthodox theologians and philosophers of the East, in dogmatics, liturgy, rituals of the Orthodox Church, in the system of Christian ethical and aesthetic values of Byzantium. 3
What is the contribution of Byzantine civilization to world culture? First of all, it should be noted that Byzantium was the "golden bridge" between the western and Eastern cultures; it had a profound and lasting impact on the development of the cultures of many countries of medieval Europe. The distribution area of the influence of Byzantine culture was very extensive: Sicily, Southern Italy, Dalmatia, the states of the Balkan Peninsula, Ancient Rus', Transcaucasia, North Caucasus and Crimea all of them, to one degree or another, came into contact with Byzantine education. Most intensely Byzantine cultural influence, naturally, it had an effect in countries where Orthodoxy was established, connected by strong threads with the Church of Constantinople. 4
The capture of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204 led to the disintegration of the Byzantine Empire and the short-term existence of the Latin Empire (12041261) and the possessions of the Latin barons on the land of Byzantium. The Byzantine emperors from the Palaiologos dynasty restored the empire during a series of wars, recent centuries the existence of which until the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 was characterized by economic instability, territorial losses, endless feudal strife and an increasing external threat.
In the context of the tragic death of the once mighty empire, now surrounded by external enemies and shaken by internal social conflicts, there is a clear polarization of two main currents in Byzantine ideology: the progressive pre-Renaissance, associated with the birth of the ideas of humanism, and the religious-mystical, embodied in the teachings of the hesychasts.
In an atmosphere of hopelessness generated by a deadly military danger, feudal strife and the defeat of popular movements, in particular the uprising of the Zealots, among the Byzantine clergy and monastics, the conviction grew stronger that salvation from earthly troubles can be found only in the world of passive contemplation, complete tranquility hesychia, in self-deepened ecstasy , allegedly granting a mystical merger with the deity and illumination with divine light. Supported by the ruling church and the feudal nobility, the teachings of the hesychasts won, bewitching the broad masses of the empire with mystical ideas. The victory of hesychasm was in many ways fatal for Byzantine culture: hesychasm strangled the germs of humanistic ideas in literature and art, and weakened the will to national resistance. 5
Superstition flourished in late Byzantium. Social unrest gave rise to thoughts about the approaching end of the world. Even among educated people, divination, predictions, and sometimes magic were common. Byzantine authors repeatedly referred to the story of the prophecies of the Sibyl, who allegedly correctly determined the number Byzantine emperors and patriarchs, and thereby supposedly foretold the time of the fall of the empire. There were special fortune-telling books (Biblia Chrysmatogica) that predicted the future.
The religious attitude was the highest degree characteristic of late Byzantine society. The preaching of asceticism and anchorage addressed to the people could not but leave a trace. The desire for solitude, for prayer marked the lives of many people, both from the nobility and from the lower classes. The words of George Acropolitan could characterize not only Despot John: “He spent whole nights in prayer ... he had the care to spend more time in solitude and enjoy the calm that comes from everywhere, or at least be in close communication with persons leading such a life." 6 Leaving political life the monastery is far from unique.
The desire to get away from public affairs was explained primarily by the fact that contemporaries did not see a way out of those unfavorable collisions of the internal and international plan, which testified to the fall of the authority of the empire and its approach to disaster.
Conclusion
In the history of European, and indeed of the entire world culture, Byzantine civilization has a special place, it is characterized by solemn splendor, inner nobility, elegance of form and depth of thought. Throughout its thousand-year existence, the Byzantine Empire, which absorbed the heritage of the Greco-Roman world and the Hellenistic East, was the center of a unique and truly brilliant culture.
Byzantium was the "golden bridge" between Western and Eastern cultures; it had a profound and lasting impact on the development of the cultures of many countries of medieval Europe. The distribution area of the influence of Byzantine culture was very extensive: Sicily, Southern Italy, Dalmatia, the states of the Balkan Peninsula, Ancient Rus', Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus and Crimea - all of them, to one degree or another, came into contact with Byzantine education. The most intense Byzantine cultural influence, of course, was felt in countries where Orthodoxy was established, connected by strong threads with the Church of Constantinople.
Byzantine influence was felt in the field of religion and philosophy, social thought and cosmology, writing and education, political ideas and law, it penetrated into all spheres of art - literature and architecture, painting and music. Through Byzantium, ancient and Hellenistic cultural heritage, spiritual values created not only in Greece itself, but also in Egypt and Syria, Palestine and Italy, were transferred to other peoples. The perception of the traditions of Byzantine culture in Bulgaria and Serbia, Georgia and Armenia, in Ancient Rus' contributed to the further progressive development of their cultures.
Literature
- Culturology. History of world culture. M., 2003
- Polyakovskaya M.A., Chekalova A.A. Byzantium: life and customs. Sverdlovsk, 1989.
- Udaltsova Z.V. Byzantine culture. M., 1988.
1 Udaltsova Z.V. Byzantine culture. M., 1988, p. 113.
2 Udaltsova Z.V. Byzantine culture. M., 1988, p. 147.
3 Culturology. History of world culture. M., 2003, p. 304.
4 Culturology. History of world culture. M., 2003, p. 306.
5 Ibid., p. 248.
6 Udaltsova Z.V. Byzantine culture. M., 1988, p. 201.
