Siena Taylor on world history

1. In what respects did Byzantium continue the patterns of the classical Roman Empire? In what ways did it diverge from those patterns?

Byzantium used the same infrastructure system as it didn’t changed what was left from Rome. They also had the same form of government, which is one that is imperial with administrators. In addition, also practiced Christianity to maintain the same core values Rome had. Byzantium like Rome taxed its citizens and enforced Roman styles of fashion without outside influence. However, Byzantium was much smaller than Rome. Its emperor differed as he acted under God, and their administration was composed of military leaders to continually grow the army in all the regions of Byzantium. Clearly, its influence from Rome was significant, but it was its divergence from Rome that made it a major third-wave civilization.

2. How did Eastern Orthodox Christianity differ from Roman Catholicism?

Eastern Orthodox Christianity differed from Roman Catholicism in application. Byzantium had caesaropapism, therefore, having no separation of Church and state. In Byzantium, the Church functioned as its own sector of the government. However, Roman Catholicism had slight separation of Church and State. Eastern Orthodox Christianity was very much part of lives of Byzantium people. Their priests did have to abstain from marriage and could grow beards while those of Roman Catholicism did the opposite. Eastern Orthodox Christianity differed so greatly from Roman Catholicism that Byzantium even tried to ban icons as it help spread Roman Catholicism.

3. In what ways was the Byzantine Empire linked to a wider world?

The Byzantine Empire was politically, economically, and socially linked to the world. They were able to maintain the conflict with Persia Rome had. The Byzantine Empire was a major part of Eurasian trade with their own personally goods as well as producing silk by learning from the Chinese. They also disseminated Greek teachings to both the west of Europe and the Islamic world. Another social influence the Byzantine Empire had was by bringing Christianity to Slavic-speaking regions.

4. How did links to Byzantium transform the new civilization of Kievan Rus?

Byzantium contributed to Kievan Rus’s transformation both economically and socially. First of all, Kievan Rus came about due to its accumulation of wealth. It became economically stable through trade with Byzantium. Thus, Byzantium economically contributed to Kievan Rus’s formation. However, Byzantium also had a socially crucial role in the making of Kievan Rus as a third-wave civilization, which was through religion. When in search of unifying goal, they settled upon Eastern Orthodox Christianity that originated in Byzantium. This religion unified them, making Kievan Rus the powerhouse it ended up being in part due to Byzantium.

5. How did the historical development of the European West differ from that Byzantium in the postclassical era?

The development of Byzantium was much easier and faster than that of the European West. The Byzantine Empire formed from basis of Roman infrastructure and establishing their capital Constantinople. The west of Europe embraced the German influence that came with the Roman collapse. Byzantine modeled itself after Rome, but used Eastern Orthodox Christianity to distinguish itself. Western Europe failed to model itself after Rome as it was rural and not urbanized.

6. What replaced the Roman order in Western Europe?

Roman order was replaced by mainly German imperialistic states post its collapse. These states eventually failed but allowed Western Europe to realize it needed to embrace its German influence and not just revive Rome in order to succeed. One was lead by Charlemagne on the 9th century who drew the connection between religion and state in the west of Europe. Another kingdom was rule by Otto who lead the Holy Roman Empire that was a failed revival of Rome. This showed how Roman order was still sought in Western Europe.

7. In what ways was European civilization changing after 1000?

European civilization changed in numbers, economy, and opportunity. With a population jump from 35 million to about 80 million in 300 years post 1000, Europe was urbanized. This urbanized and reclamation of land at the time meant more jobs, especially for women. More agriculture also meant the revitalization of trade. This reconnected Europe as a whole to the entire world. Essentially, after 1000, Europe expanded, thus, becoming the powerhouse it once was.

8. What was the impact of the Crusades in world history?

The ultimate impact of the Crusades was division. With its violence against all but Western Europeans themselves they formed distrust across the world, specifically, socially. Because it targeted those of other religious, it left xenophobia in Western Europe. It solidified the divide between Eastern Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholics who led the Crusades. It also created divisions between Muslims and Jews.

9. In what ways did borrowing from abroad shape European civilization after 1000?

Borrowing shaped Europe economically, socially, and in regards to development. With trade, Europe was able to learn from others as long as it did not contradict Christianity. Economically, they learned about enterprise from Arabs. They absorbed certain technologies from China that made trade easier like the compass and gunpowder. In addition, they gathered ideas and paganism from Greece and math from India. Clearly, borrowing allowed Europe to develop in every aspect except religion.

10. Why was Europe unable to achieve the kind of political unity that China experienced? What impact did this have on the subsequent history of Europe?

Because Europe craved power versus unification, it was unable to reach political unity. Europe valued their military over government leaders and education unlike China with its Neo-Confucianism of the time. China pushed for in-state stability as it support landlords instead of traders. In addition, China was all about its people identifying as Chinese. Europe, on the other hand, was much more diverse and its city-states loved their independence and distinguished ideas. This, in turn, meant Europe forfeited any chance for unification without even considering the major source of disunity caused by the Crusades.

11. In what different ways did classical Greek philosophy and science have an impact in the West, in Byzantium, and the Islamic world?

All there regions approached Greek philosophy in different ways to not contradict their religions. Chronologically, Byzantium was the first to reject Greek ideas with the banning of Plato’s school due to Greece’s pagan association. Surprisingly, Greek philosophy became widely discussed among Muslim scholars during 800 and 1200 C.E., fueling religious debate that ended up pushing Muslims to only look to the Ouran. This was quite the opposite for the west of Europe that widely accepted Aristotle’s and other Greek thinkers’ philosophies surrounding nature in the 13th century after discussion on whether philosophy was detrimental to Christianity.