Page 26 - All About History - Issue 59-17

the Byzantine empiRe
History answers

Why did
the Crusaders invade
Constantinople?

Eliot Issacs
The Byzantine Empire was a Christian state, so it
might seem odd that Crusaders sacked its capital in
1204 — in fact, it was regarded as a betrayal of principles
out of greed. The Fourth Crusade were offered a reward
by the exiled Byzantine prince Alexius if they put him
on the throne. The Crusaders did so but the new
emperor, now Alexius IV Angelus, was quickly
murdered. The next ruler refused to pay
the Crusaders, so they looted the city
for three days straight, killing What made
indiscriminately. Byzantine mosaics
so special?
Louise Thompson
In Antiquity, most mosaics adorned floors so were
usually made of stones that could withstand people
walking on them. But the Byzantines put mosaics on
their walls, so they could afford to use more fragile
materials. Faces, hands and feet were set with stone,
but coarse crystals were used to depict clothes.
Mother of pearl, gold and silver leaf were also
employed. Byzantine art was almost always
religious, with the image of Christ
Pantocrator in the Hagia Sophia the
most famous example.

Did all Byzantine monks stand on pillars? Josh Leary

Stylitism (from the Greek ‘stylos’ meaning ‘pillar’) was Saint Simeon the Elder (pictured right) was the first to take
a form of Christian worship in which a holy man would residence on a pillar in Aleppo, then part of the Byzantines’
live atop a column, preaching, fasting and praying. A rail dominion, in 423 CE. He stayed up there until his death 36
prevented them falling off and some had a small roof above years later. While his first pole was two metres high, it was
their heads, though the aim was to suffer as the stylites later extended to 15 metres.
A 16th-century
image of Saint believed this would ensure the salvation of their souls. Saint Simeon’s disciple Saint Daniel took stylitism to
Simeon atop Stylites were common in the early days of Byzantine Constantinople, where the city’s archbishop ordained him
his tower Empire but the practise was far from universally embraced. and both Emperor Leo I and Emperor Zeno visited him.
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