The Rise of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was one of the greatest christian states ever established. Its history can be traced thousands of years back from the times of the Ancient Greeks who first started forming political and independent states in the South of the Balkan Peninsula, and can be seen in the art prints throughout these eras. In the 4th century the Byzantine Empire was a state within the Great Roman Empire and was mainly populated with Greek people.This is when the Christianity started spreading rapidly and a century later, the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital city of the empire from Rome to Constantinople (what is nowadays Istanbul).
The is when the Byzantine empire started developing independently -Christianity was accepted as an official religion, slowly the trade between the different states and the Romans was moved from Rome to Constantinople, it became a major religious center for all medieval Christians. Years later Byzantine state split with the Roman Empire and the two countries were no longer connected.
While Rome was getting weaker, ruled by old traditions and the Vatican as a major conductor of all state operations, The Byzantine Empire was gathering force. The conquered many of the old Roman provinces thus gaining the power to trade easily and to spread Christianity. The political factors of these events led to the split in the Christian religion to Catholics (those who belonged to the church of Vatican in Rome) and Orthodox (those who remained bound by the church of Constantinople). The Byzantine Empire established itself as a main European force, advanced in the knowledge of exploring the natural sciences, recording many of the Mid Ages historical facts and following their Greek ancestors, the Byzantine people became the most educated and politically capable people in Europe.
The Byzantine Empire was destroyed in the middle of the 15th century by the Ottomans who invaded Europe, but its culture and heritage that these people left for the world is still obvious -the influences they brought to the world are never to change.
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