Byzantium after Byzantium
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Byzantium after Byzantium (Bizanţ dupa Bizanţ in Romanian; Byzance après Byzance in French) is a 1935 book by the Romanian historian Nicolae Iorga, which gave its name to a national cultural movement. It refers to the Byzantine imperial influence on the political, social, cultural, and intellectual development of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia. The book deals with the impact of the fall of Byzantine Empire on European civilization, the legacy and the continuation of Byzantine institutions and culture.
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[edit] Byzantium after Byzantium
From the fourteenth century, the Ottoman Empire expanded at the expense of the Byzantine Empire. Bursa fell in 1326 and Adrianople in 1361; each in turn became the capital of the empire. Following the victories at the Battle of Kosovo (1389) and Battle of Nikopol (1396), Serbia and Bulgaria came under Ottoman rule, and in 1453, Constantinople fell, bringing an end to the Eastern Roman Empire which had survived its predecessor in the West by nearly a thousand years. After the Battle of Mohács (1526), the major part of Hungary was also absorbed by the Ottoman Empire.
By the late 16th century, the three independent principalities in the area, Moldavia, Transylvania and Wallachia were surrounded by the Islamic Ottomans and Tartars, and Catholic Poland, which although Christian, proved itself to be as dangerous as the Ottomans. Although sometimes forced to pay a tribute to the Porte, these principalities never fully fell under the Ottoman yoke. Formally, the three principalities were never part of Dar al-Islam, remaining in Dar al-Harb and then Dar al'Ahd.
After 1453, the notion of "Byzantium" as a cultural and ideological reference continued to influence the remaining autonomous states in the Empire's sphere of influence.
Many Orthodox states claimed the title of "the Third Rome", even before Constantinople's fall. The Empire of Trebizond claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire as early as 1204 when it found itself independent following the Latin conquest, till it was conquered in 1461 by the Turks. In Europe, first to claim to be an heir were Stefan Dušan, king of Serbia, and Ivan Alexander, king of Bulgaria, both related to the Byzantine dynasty. These dreams came to nothing as the Ottomans defeated the Serbs at Kosovo Polje in 1389 and put an end to the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396 with the occupation of the Despotate of Vidin. In 1469, Ivan III, Grand Duke of Moscow married Sophia Paleologos, a niece of the last Emperor Constantine XI, and claimed to be the heir of the fallen Eastern Roman Empire, declaring himself Tsar (Caesar). Stephen the Great of Moldavia married one of the last Byzantine princesses, Maria of the Principality of Theodoro in 1472.
Successive Tsars in Bulgaria, Serbia and Russia emulated the costume, titles, court ceremonial and imperial symbols of the Byzantine emperors in an effort to usurp Byzantine political authority. The Romanian principalities never explicitly claimed this legacy, but they offered opportunities to Orthodox Christians from occupied countries. In this way they too assumed some of the character idea of the Orthodox Christian, multi-ethnic Byzantine Empire. Seen from a partisan Romanian standpoint, Wallachia and Moldavia were also the heirs of the Orthodox Byzantium. In this period of relative calm, the monastic and cultural life flourished undisturbed. Nicolae Iorga wrote: "There was a time when it appeared that the entire Byzantine, Balkan legacy would be inherited by the Romanian princes who, as the only ones who remained standing among the Christians, showed that they wanted to preserve it and that they were capable of sacrificing themselves for it".
[edit] Church
In Wallachia and Moldova, religious worship and the Church hierarchy were in the Byzantine tradition. Until the fall of Constantinople, metropolitans there had to be consecrated by the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Wallachia and Moldavia became a center of monastic life, attracting hermits from all the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Between 1457 and 1504, Stephen the Great founded no fewer than 44 churches and monasteries, some of which are now part of UNESCO's World Heritage.
The Hospodars assumed the role of protectors of Eastern Orthodoxy, notably by becoming the main patrons of Mount Athos, by the perpetuation of Byzantine ceremonial customs, and the assimilation of Byzantine clerks and intellectual immigrants.
[edit] Personalities
- St Petru Movila (Petro Mohyla in Ukrainian), Moldavian Metropolitan of Kiev and Halych and founder of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, one of the oldest and most distinguished academic and theological schools in Eastern Europe. An important political figure of his time, he had a profound influence on the Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Theology, managing to reconcile the religious thesis of the three most important East Orthodox churches: Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Russian and Romanian churches.
- Dosoftei, metropolitan of Moldavia, scholar, poet and translator.
- Constantin Brâncoveanu, Wallachian Voievod, patron of art, literature and culture.
- Macarie, Moldavian typographer, he studied and printed books in Venice, Cetinje and Moldavia.
- St Paisius Velichkovsky, Ukrainian theologian and translator of theological writings, he accomplished much of his work under the patronage of Moldavian Church, exerting immense influence to the Russian Orthodox Church. Canonized by the Romanian, Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Church.
- Daniil the Hermit, Moldavian hermit and counselor of Stephen the Great. Canonized by the Romanian Orthodox Church.
- Anthim the Iberian, Georgian ecclesiastic, a noted Eastern Orthodox theologian and philosopher, and Metropolitan of Bucharest in 1708-1715.
[edit] Art
[edit] Byzantine art
Till the 15th century, religious art in the Romanian Principalities, as in the rest of the Balkans and Eastern Europe, was under pronounced Byzantine influence. At first, icons were copied directly from imported Byzantine models. However, from the 15th century local artistic and architectural styles and schools began to develop.
[edit] Church Patronage
The vast majority of Wallachian and Moldavian princes adopted the tradition of Church patronage, making generous donations to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and Orthodox monasteries throughout the Balkans. Without the donations of the Romanian princes, most of the heavily taxed Christian outposts from Mount Athos, Meteora, and other monasteries, would have not survived to these days. Orthodox monks from all over the Balkans turned to the Christian rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia for patronage and financial support. Many monasteries from Turkish-occupied lands were bestowed with all of the estates, dependencies and even relics of local churches and monasteries.
The Wallachian and Moldavian rulers acted according to an old-fashioned doctrine of noblesse oblige. These acts were not eccentric activities, but a complex strategy of sponsoring the monastic life of remote regions. Many of modern monasteries on Mount Athos have Wallachian and Moldavian princes as their "second founders".
The external support dried up in the eighteenth century, when Phanariots, mostly Greeks, were set by the Ottomans as Hospodars in charge of the administration of Wallachia and Moldavia. The Principalities, although autonomous, were obliged to accept a Prince appointed by the Sultan, to ensure that future problems would not arise due to insubordination of the native princes, who although officially vassals, were engaging in permanent skirmishes with the Ottomans. However, although weakened under the Phanariots, the Principalities continued to provide some revenue up until the 19th century, when a considerable part of the annual incomes of the monasteries of Mount Athos were still provided by the bequests of Wallachian and Moldavian monasteries.
[edit] See also
- Culture of Romania
- Romanian folklore
- Romanian Orthodox Church
- History of Romania
- Painted churches of northern Moldavia
- List of religious buildings in Romania
[edit] External links
[edit] Gallery
 Chrysobull of Ieremia Movilă, the Voivode of Moldavia, 30 March 7114 (1606) |
 Mural painting from Voroneţ Monastery, 15th century |
 Letter from the Dionysiou Monastery with the seal of the Holy Community, thanking princess Roxandra, wife of Alexandru Lăpuşneanu, Voievode of Moldavia.[4] |
 thumb|Chrysobull of the Prince of Wallachia, Scarlat Ghica, in which he announces the arrival in Bucharest of a piece of the True Cross.[5] |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Together with the painting of her husband, the Prince Radu de la Afumaţi , the icon is a continuation of the "family icons" from Curtea de Argeş cathedral. Currently held at the National Museum of Art of Romania.
Description: Roxanda, depicted as the official founder, is holding the model of the church, wearing a ceremonial costume: white shirt with very large sleeves, pleated red dress and an Italian velvet mantle with gold motifs, and a fur collar folded over her shoulders. Her rich crown with fleurons is placed over a pearl string network which covers her hair. Her head-dress has prependoulia pendants which hang from her temple to the level of the lower jaw. Stylistically, the icon belong to 16th century Wallachian painting, as seen in the modeling of face, the oblong eyes and curved eyelashes, the warm and light modeling of the flesh. - ^ The icon belongs to the so-called group of "family icons" from the time of Prince Neagoe Basarab. The commissioner of the icon was Neagoe's wife Despina Miliţa, native of the ottoman occupied Serbia. Hence the iconographic theme, the Serbian saints Simeon and Sava. Currently displayed at the Romanian National Museum of Arts.
Description: Saint Simeon is depicted as a monk and Saint Sava as a bishop. Kneeling in prayer at their feet is Despina Miliţa in mourning, following the death of her son, Teodosie (an event which dates the icon to 1522-1523). Next to her, the two princesses, Stana and Roxanda, are shown in the same attitude but wearing ceremonial costumes and gold crowns. Stylistically, the icon belongs to 16th century Wallachian painting. The modelling of the faces, the oblong eyes and the angular folds of the costumes recall the mural painting in the cathedral at Curtea de Argeş. - ^
Description: Date: 22 March 7168 (1660); Language: Old Church Slavonic; Scribe: Vasile Corlatescu; Parchment, 48.5 x 67.7 cm; Currently in Vatopedi Monastery library, Mount Athos, Greece.
Content: "[...] Ştefaniţǎ Lupu, Prince of Moldavia, with the blessing of the country's four supreme prelates, namely the Metropolitan of Suceava and the Bishops of the districts of Roman, Rǎdǎuţi, and Huşi, re-dedicates the recently renovated Golia Monastery to Vatopedi. He grants it the villages of Clicicǎuţi and Mileneşti, free of taxes and statute labour. He also exempts the monastery from the tax of 1000 sheep, 1000 beehives, 50 swine, etc. The monks shall mention his name in their services all year round as long as the monastery exists. Signed by fifteen high-ranking officials, members of the Divan of Moldavia." - ^ Description: Date: 7078 (1570); Language: Greek; Parchment, 56 x 39 cm; Currently at Dionysiou Monastery, Sacristy, Mount Athos, Greece.
Content: "The Assembly of Dionysiou Monastery thanks Roxandra, widow of Alexandru Lapusneanu, Prince of Moldavia, for her generosity to Dionysiou Monastery. In 1568, when Sultan Selim confiscated the monastery's property, Roxandra put up the money to redeem the debts, estates, pledges, and the rest of the monastery's movable property. The monks will frequently commemorate both Roxandra and her son, the Voivode Bogdan." - ^ Description: Date: 20 February 1760; Language: Romanian; Scribe: priest Floru, Professor of Slavonic in the Church of Old Saint George in Bucharest; Paper, 73 x 53 cm.
Content: "Scarlat G. Ghica, Voivode of Wallachia, announces the arrival in Bucharest of the miraculous fragment of the True Cross, which is one cubit in length and was given to Xeropotamou Monastery by the Emperor Romanos. Following the example of previous princes, the Voivode confirms the old gift to the Monastery of 500 thalers from the camarashes of the salt-mines on 9 March (the Feast of the Forty Martyrs). He also makes the Metropolitan Philaretos and his successors in Wallachia responsible for sending the sum to the monastery. Confirmed by the Prince himself, his sons Alexandru, Mihail, Nicolae, Grigore, and Gheorghe, and eleven great boyars of the Divan of Wallachia."
[edit] References
- Iorga Nicolae: "Byzance après Byzance. Continuation de l'"Histoire de la vie byzantine"", Institut d'Etudes Byzantines, Bucharest 1935;
- Chris Hellier "Monasteries of Greece"; Tauris Editions, London 1995;
