what are the contributions of byzantine empire in our literature?

Answer 1

try this,its a very good site about byzantine literature and I'm sure you will find your answer

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03113a.htm

Answer 2

Legacy and importance

The city of Constantinople in 1453.Byzantium was arguably the only stable state in Europe during the Middle Ages. Its expert military and diplomatic power ensured inadvertently that Western Europe remained safe from many of the more devastating invasions from eastern peoples, at a time when the Western Christian kingdoms might have had difficulty containing it (this role was mirrored in the north by the Russian states of Kiev, Vladimir-Suzdal and Novgorod). Constantly under attack during its entire existence, the Byzantine Empire shielded Western Europe from Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and for a time, the Ottomans.

The 20th century has seen an increased interest by historians to understand the empire, and its impact on European civilization is only recently being recognised.


Economy
The Byzantine economy was the most advanced in Europe for many centuries. The Byzantine Solidus was the internationally preferred currency for 700 years, only gradually being superseded by Italian currencies (particularly that of Venice) after 1204. The wealth of the empire was unmatched by any state in Europe, and its capital was one of the wealthiest cities in the world. This economic wealth was helped enormously by the fact that Byzantium was the most important western terminal of the Silk Road. It was also the single most important commercial center of Europe for much of the Medieval era, which status it held until Venice began to overtake Constantinople during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

One of the economic foundations of the empire was trade. Constantinople was located on important east-west and north-south trade routes. Trebizond was an important port in the eastern trade. The exact routes varied over the years with wars and the political situation. Imports and exports were uniformly taxed at ten percent.

Raw silk was bought from China and India and made up into fine brocades and cloth-of-gold that commanded high prices through the world. Silk processing was an imperial monopoly, only processed in imperial factories, and sold to authorized buyers. Later, silk worms were smuggled into the Empire and the overland silk trade became less important. Other exports included gold jewelry, enameled work, and fine carvings in ivory and semi-precious stone. In other parts of the empire, wine was made and exported to the north. Furs, slaves, timber, metals, and amber were imported from the north, and dried fish from the south.

Commercial life in the Byzantine empire was extensively and minutely regulated by the state. Interest rates, profits, and prices were set by law, and enforced through a system of guilds. There was always full employment: It was very difficult to fire an employee, and any able-bodied man who was "idle" was required to take a public-works job.

The sack of Constantinople by Latin crusaders in 1204 was an economic catastrophe. As one Crusader, Geoffrey of Villehardouin, wrote of the sack of the Byzantine Capital in 1204,

"... Never, since the world was created, had so much booty been won in any city."

By the early thirteenth century, the Crusaders had altered the trade routes to the advantage of the Italian city-states. Although the Palaiologoi took back Constantinople in 1261, the empire's economy never entirely recovered. Territorial gains by the Turks in Asia Minor forced Constantinople to look elsewhere for its food supply. For political and military reasons the weakened empire was forced to grant concessions to Italian traders, reducing tax revenues. Furthermore, the Italians had acquired silk worms, reducing the value of the imperial monopoly. For the last two centuries of its existence, the ever declining territories and revenues of the Byzantine Empire were never enough to pay for the cost of its defence. This situation greatly contributed to the eventual collapse of the empire.

Answer 3

Well, they invented political potboilers, scandal rags, daily newspapers, and "secret diaries" that tore the lid off of the steamy underbelly of imperial court romance (how else do you think we know about Theodora and her passion for, er, ducks?).
Seriously, the Byzantines were a very literate people, with a massive bureaucracy and a penchant for recording everything in triplicate.

Answer 4

http://magegame.ru/?rf=d1e5ead1e8