10,000 Views!
Heaven On Earth
The Orthodox Empire In The Middle Ages
(Mood Music)
The Orthodox Empire of the Middle Ages had a very distinct culture. It was a land where East met West and those two cultures fused together to create a colorful society. Constantinople, as one of the great trading centers of the world, was the center of a vast trade network. This helped make the Empire rich and encouraged merchants from all over the world to trade in Constantinople. Everything from silk to precious metals to weapons to grain was sold in the Empire, a scene that was magnified in Constantinople.
Orthodox intellectuals studied a range of topics, from the metaphysical to the physical. Philosophers, mathematicians, scientists, doctors, and lawyers all practiced their trades in the same tradition of the ancient Greeks and Romans, albeit with modern influences. During the Middle Ages, the Orthodox intellectual community was the most advanced in the world.
Obviously, as its namesake suggests, the Orthodox Empire was almost 100% Eastern Orthodox Christian. The Church and Orthodox culture are very closely tied and all parts of Orthodox society are affected by the Church. The Ecumenical Patriarch had a role in the state as spiritual leader, and advisor to the Emperor. And the Emperor had a role in the Church. Officially, the head of the Church is Jesus Christ himself. Church administration is divided into many different “metropoleis,” each ruled by metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, etc. The entire administration is ultimately overseen by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Today, the center of the Orthodox world lies in Jerusalem, but in the Middle Ages, Constantinople, specifically Ayia Sofia, was the center.
The Church also heavily influenced Orthodox art and music. Orthodox art was mainly iconography. Icons depicted various religious figures and Biblical scenes. After the reign of Romanos IV the number of non-religious art such as statues, mosaics, and frescoes of Imperial figures, scenes from daily life, and battle scenes rose drastically. Orthodox music had two forms. Religious chanting was the most common and could be heard in church and sometimes in the courts of the upper class. It was strictly vocal music, sung by mostly deep voiced men, yet it also had melody. The other kind of Orthodox music was regional folk music. Flutes, string instruments, drums, among other things, were used to make distinct music in different areas like Greece, Anatolia, and Russia. Both chanting and folk music were heavily influenced by the Eastern and Islamic music.
Most famous of the Orthodox works of literature is the Alexiad, written by Anna Komnini. The Alexiad is one of the national epics of the Orthodox Empire and describes the life of Alexios I The Great. There is also the heroic epic of Digenis Akritas. A variety of theological and encyclopedic books were also written during the Medieval period. The primary language of the Orthodox Empire was Greek, which by 1291, was spoken widely as a second language in places like Russia.
The common Orthodox man wore a typical outfit of a tunic and pants, while a woman would were a slightly more elaborate dress. An upper class Orthodox man would were elaborate robes with a cape, while an aristocratic woman would were a very elaborate dress, with much jewelry and sometimes some sort of veil lightly covering the hair. Around the time of great Emperors such as Romanos IV, Alexios I The Great, and Michael VIII, military dress became popular among the male youth.
A diagram showing the typical clothes of the Orthodox populace
The basic diet of the Orthodox Empire consisted of cheeses, seafood, vegetables, fruits, and for the upper class, many different meats, though poultry was quite common even among lower classes. These foods often carried a very Eastern influence. They often were heavily spiced and flavored with Eastern spices. The Orthodox Empire was famous for its wine, which was demanded in all parts of the globe. Entertainment for the Orthodox consisted of many different things, based of Roman customs. Board games and gambling were popular. Theater was attended regularly, as was the hippodrome, where races were extremely popular and watched by tens of thousands.
A 19th century depiction of a chariot race