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Byzantine architecture Vbi-zon-.tenV Building style of Constantino¬ ple (now Istanbul, formerly ancient Byzantium) after ad 330. Byzantine architects were eclectic, at first drawing heavily on Roman temple fea¬ tures. Their combination of the basilica and symmetrical central-plan (cir¬ cular or polygonal) religious structures resulted in the characteristic Byzantine Greek-cross-plan church, with a square central mass and four arms of equal length. The most distinctive feature was the domed roof. To allow a dome to rest above a square base, either of two devices was used: the squinch (an arch in each of the comers of a square base that transforms it into an octagon) or the pendentive. Byzantine structures fea¬ tured soaring spaces and sumptuous decoration: marble columns and inlay, mosaics on the vaults, inlaid-stone pavements, and sometimes gold coffered ceilings. The architecture of Constantinople extended throughout the Christian East and in some places, notably Russia, remained in use after the fall of Constantinople (1453). See also Hagia Sophia.
Byzantine art Art associated with the Byzantine Empire. Its character¬ istic styles were first codified in the 6th century and persisted with remark¬ able homogeneity until the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Concerned almost exclusively with religious expression, it tends to reflect an intensely hierarchical view of the universe. It relies on vigour of line and brilliance of colour; individual features are absent, forms are flattened, and perspective is absent. Walls, vaults, and domes were cov¬ ered in mosaic and fresco decoration in a total fusion of architectural and pictorial expression. Byzantine sculpture was largely limited to small ivory reliefs. The importance of Byzantine art to European religious art was immense; the style was spread by trade and expansion to the Medi¬ terranean basin, eastern European centres, and especially Russia. See also Byzantine architecture.
Byzantine chant Unison liturgical chant of the Greek Orthodox church from the era of the Byzantine Empire to the 16th century. It probably derived principally from Hebrew and Syrian Christian liturgies. A system of eight modes, very similar to the eight Greek modes, was used for psalms and hymns, each mode (or echos) consisting primarily of a few melodic for¬ mulas. The principal hymn genres were the troparion (one or more stan¬ zas of poetic prose), the kontakion (a metrical sermon), and the kanon (a complexly ordered set of hymn types). See also Gregorian chant.
Byzantine Empire Empire, southeastern and southern Europe and western Asia. It began as the city of Byzantium, which had grown from an ancient Greek colony founded on the European side of the Bosporus. The city was taken in ad 330 by Constantine I, who refounded it as Con¬ stantinople. The area at this time was generally termed the Eastern Roman Empire. The fall of Rome in 476 ended the western half of the Roman Empire; the eastern half continued as the Byzantine Empire, with Con¬ stantinople as its capital. The eastern realm differed from the west in many respects: heir to the civilization of the Hellenistic era, it was more com-
Byzantine Emperors
Zeno
474-491
Theodora ( empress)
1055-56
Anastasius 1
491-518
Michael VI Stratioticus
1056-57
Justin 1
518-527
Isaac 1 Comnenus
1057-59
Justinian 1
527-565
Constantine X Ducas
1059-67
Justin II
565-578
Romanus IV Diogenes
1067-71
Tiberius II Constantine
578-582
Michael VII Ducas
1071-78
Maurice Tiberius
582-602
Nicephorus III Botaniates
1078-81
Phocas
602-610
Alexius 1 Comnenus
1081-1118
Heraclius
610-641
John II Comnenus
1118-43
Heraclius Constantine
641
Manuel 1 Comnenus
1143-80
Heraclonas (or Heraclius)
641
Alexius II Comnenus
1180-83
Constans II (Constantine
641-668
Andronicus 1 Comnenus
1183-85
Pogonatus)
Isaac II Angelus
1185-95
Constantine IV
668-685
Alexius III Angelus
1195-1203
Justinian II Rhinotmetus
685-695
Isaac II Angelus ( restored)
1203-4
Leontius
695-698
& Alexius IV Angelus
Tiberius III
698-705
Alexius V Ducas
1204
Justinian II Rhinotmetus
705-711
Murtzuphlus
( restored)
Latin emperors
Philippicus
711-713
Baldwin 1
1204-5
Anastasius II
713-715
Henry
1206-16
Theodosius III
715-717
Peter
1217
Leo III
717-741
Yolande (empress)
1217-19
Constantine V
741-775
Robert
1221-28
Copronymus
Baldwin II
1228-61
Leo IV
775-780
John
1231-37
Constantine VI
780-797
Nicaean emperors
Irene ( empress )
797-802
Constantine (XI)
1204-5?
Nicephorus 1
802-811
Theodore 1 Lascaris
1205?-22
Stauracius
811
John III Ducas Vatatzes
1222-54
Michael 1 Rhangabe
811-813
Theodore II Lascaris
1254-58
Leo V
813-820
John IV Lascaris
1258-61
Michael II Balbus
820-829
Greek emperors restored
Theophilus
829-842
Michael VIII
1261-82
Michael III
842-867
Palaeologus
Basil 1
867-886
Andronicus II
1282-1328
Leo VI
886-912
Palaeologus
Alexander
912-913
Andronicus III
1328-41
Constantine VII
913-959
Palaeologus
Porphyrogenitus
John V Palaeologus
1341-76
Romanus 1 Lecapenus
920-944
John VI Cantacuzenus
1347-54
Romanus II
959-963
Andronicus IV
1376-79
Nicephorus II Phocas
963-969
Palaeologus
John 1 Tzimisces
969-976
John V Palaeologus
1379-90
Basil II Bulgaroctonus
976-1025
( restored)
Constantine VIII
1025-28
John VII Palaeologus
1390
Romanus III Argyrus
1028-34
John V Palaeologus
1390-91
Michael IV
1034-41
( restored)
Michael V Calaphates
1041-42
Manuel II Palaeologus
1391-1425
Zoe ( empress )
1042-50
John VIII Palaeologus
1421-48
Constantine IX
1042-55
Constantine XI
1449-53
Monomachus
Palaeologus
*For emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire (at Constantinople) before the fall of Rome, see Roman republic and empire.
mercial and more urban. Its greatest emperor, Justinian (r. 527-565), reconquered some of western Europe, built the Hagia Sophia, and issued the basic codification of Roman law. After his death the empire weak¬ ened. Though its rulers continued to style themselves “Roman” long after Justinian’s death, “Byzantine” more accurately describes the medieval empire. The long controversy over iconoclasm within the eastern church prepared it for the break with the Roman church (see Schism of 1054). During the controversy, Arabs and Seljuq Turks increased their power in the area. In the late 11th century, Alexius I Comnenus sought help from Venice and the pope; these allies turned the ensuing Crusades into plun¬ dering expeditions. In the Fourth Crusade the Venetians took over Con¬ stantinople and established a line of Latin emperors. Recaptured by Byzantine exiles in 1261, the empire was now little more than a large city-state. In the 14th century the Ottoman Turks began to encroach; their extended siege of Constantinople ended in 1453, when the last emperor died fighting on the city walls and the area came under Ottoman control.