Exercises on the Byzantine Empire

(FUVEST-SP) Throughout the Middle Ages, Western Europe coexisted with two civilizations, to which much is owed in the most varied fields. These two civilizations, quite different from the West, contributed significantly to the development experienced by the West, from the 11th century onwards, and to the advent of Modernity in the 15th century.

a) What were these civilizations?

b) Indicate its main characteristics

(PUC-Campinas) The Byzantine Empire, throughout its history, presented a government that was characterized by:

a) provide social conditions that made it possible to eliminate, from its origins, the problem of slavery.

b) to seek to eliminate its Roman origins and to restrict the power of the sovereigns, which was quite limited.

c) present a despotic character associated with great religious influence, giving it a theocratic aspect.

d) control, even eliminating completely, the power of the bureaucracy in the State.

(UFES) According to the belief of the Christians of Byzantium, the icons (painted or carved images of Christ, the Virgin and the Saints) constituted the “revelation of eternity in time, the proof of the incarnation itself, the remembrance that God had revealed himself man and therefore it was possible to represent him in a visible way” (Franco Jr., H. and Andrade F., R. O. The Byzantine Empire. São Paulo:Brasiliense, 1994, p.27).

Despite the extreme spread of icon worship in the Byzantine Empire, Emperor Leo III, in 726, condemned this practice for idolatry, thus triggering the so-called “iconoclastic crisis”. Among the factors that motivated the action of Leão III, we can mention (a):

Tick ​​the ONLY CORRECT option:

a) intolerance of the imperial court towards the inhabitants of Asia Minor, a region where the cult of icons served as a pretext for the agglutination of peoples who wanted to emancipate themselves.

b) the need to contain the proliferation of the cult of images, in a context of rapprochement between the See of Rome and the Byzantine emperor, since the papacy was against the institution of icons and demanded their eradication.

c) attempt to target the political bases of support for her sister, Theodora, who, taking advantage of the prestige she enjoyed among the high dignitaries of the Byzantine Church, secretly aspired to be consecrated empress.

d) imperial discontent with the growing prestige and wealth of the monasteries (the main possessors and makers of icons), which attracted numerous young people to monastic service, thereby preventing them from contributing to the state as soldiers, sailors and peasants .

(UECE) The origin of the so-called “Eastern Schism” can be correctly pointed out:

a) the disagreements between the members of the Catholic hierarchy and the Byzantine Emperor concerned the collection of indulgences and the corruption of the bishops.

b) meant the emergence of numerous “reformed” sects, which broke away from the Roman Church.

c) in the Byzantine Empire, the Church was subject to the Emperor and promoted an excessive worship of idols and images.

d) in Byzantium, unlike Western Christianity, the images and idols of the saints were not objects of worship and worship.

GAME A :The wording of the question refers to the peoples belonging to the Arab and Byzantine civilization.

GABABRITO B :They are peoples that developed independently in relation to the medieval world experienced in the context of Western Europe. Among other points, we can see that Byzantines and Muslims established their civilization through an economic situation more strongly linked to commerce and developed religious conceptions visibly autonomous in relation to the centralizing tendency observed in Roman Catholicism.

Letter C. Throughout its history, we observe that the limits between religious power and political power were blurred in the Byzantine Empire. In addition to determining several of the decisions that influenced the economy and society, the emperor came to have power of command in the choice of clerics and in other determinations of the Church. As Byzantine kings assumed leadership in the Eastern Christian Church, this phenomenon came to be known as “cesaropapism”.

Letter D. The development of image worship posed a serious threat to the religious power historically exercised by the Byzantine Emperor. In addition to establishing another focus of power in Eastern Christianity, the manufacture and use of images was related to a serious problem, as many young workers turned from other economic activities to the production of icons.

Letter C. Over time, we see that Byzantine Christianity adopted practices and conceptions that clearly distanced themselves from the notions launched by the clerics located in Rome. In the Western Christian world, we observe that the emperor had great influence over religious affairs and used icons as a means of reasserting his authority among the population. It is worth noting that this type of cult after an arduous theological discussion establishes the religious differences between the image and the idol.