List of Byzantine inventions

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The characteristic multi-domed profile of the Byzantine Hagia Sophia, the first pendentive dome in history, has shaped Orthodox and Islamic architecture alike. Hagia Sophia 09.JPG
The characteristic multi-domed profile of the Byzantine Hagia Sophia, the first pendentive dome in history, has shaped Orthodox and Islamic architecture alike.

This is a list of Byzantine inventions. The Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire represented the continuation of the Roman Empire after a part of it collapsed. Its main characteristics were Roman state traditions, Greek culture and Christian faith. [2]

Contents

Architecture

Warfare

Greek fire, referred to by Byzantine chroniclers as "sea fire" or "liquid fire", [17] was primarily a naval weapon, used in ship-to-ship battle against enemy galleys. The exact composition was a well-guarded state secret, to the point that modern scholars continue to debate its ingredients, but the main method of projection is fairly clear, indicating effectively a flame-thrower: The liquid mixture, heated in a brazier and pressurized by means of a pump, was ejected by an operator through a siphon in any direction against the enemy [18] Alternatively, it could be poured down from swivel cranes or hurled in pottery grenades. [19]
Greek fire held a fearsome reputation among Byzantium's numerous enemies who began to field – probably differently composed – combustibles of their own. [20] It was, however, no wonder weapon, but dependent on favourable conditions such as a calm sea and wind coming from behind. [21] When and how the use of Greek fire was discontinued is not exactly known. According to one theory, the Byzantines lost the secret due to over-compartmentalization long before the 1204 sack of Constantinople. [22]

Science and Daily Life

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catapult</span> Pre-gunpowder projectile-launching device

A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored potential energy to propel its payload. Most convert tension or torsion energy that was more slowly and manually built up within the device before release, via springs, bows, twisted rope, elastic, or any of numerous other materials and mechanisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greek fire</span> Incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire

Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman Empire beginning AD 672. Used to set enemy ships on fire, it consisted of a combustible compound emitted by a flame-throwing weapon. Some historians said it could be ignited on contact with water, and was probably based on naphtha and quicklime. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect, as it could continue burning while floating on water. The technological advantage it provided was responsible for many key Byzantine military victories, most notably the salvation of Constantinople from the first and second Arab sieges, thus securing the empire's survival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trebuchet</span> Siege engine using long arm to throw projectiles

A trebuchet is a type of catapult that uses a long arm to throw a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weights and further distances than that of a traditional catapult.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangonel</span> Human-powered trebuchet

The mangonel, also called the traction trebuchet, was a type of trebuchet used in Ancient China starting from the Warring States period, and later across Eurasia by the 6th century AD. Unlike the later counterweight trebuchet, the mangonel operated on manpower-pulling cords attached to a lever and sling to launch projectiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dromon</span> Type of warship of the Byzantine navy

A dromon was a type of galley and the most important warship of the Byzantine navy from the 5th to 12th centuries AD, when they were succeeded by Italian-style galleys. It was developed from the ancient liburnian, which was the mainstay of the Roman navy during the Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine navy</span> Naval force of the Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the Byzantine Empire. Like the state it served, it was a direct continuation from its Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than its earlier iteration. While the fleets of the Roman Empire faced few great naval threats, operating as a policing force vastly inferior in power and prestige to the army, command of the sea became vital to the very existence of the Byzantine state, which several historians have called a "maritime empire".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine medicine</span> Common medical practices of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine medicine encompasses the common medical practices of the Byzantine Empire from c. 400 AD to 1453 AD. Byzantine medicine was notable for building upon the knowledge base developed by its Greco-Roman predecessors. In preserving medical practices from antiquity, Byzantine medicine influenced Islamic medicine and fostered the Western rebirth of medicine during the Renaissance.

Michael Angold is Professor Emeritus of Byzantine History and Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine science</span> Aspect of scientific history

Scientific scholarship during the Byzantine Empire played an important role in the transmission of classical knowledge to the Islamic world and to Renaissance Italy, and also in the transmission of Islamic science to Renaissance Italy. Its rich historiographical tradition preserved ancient knowledge upon which splendid art, architecture, literature and technological achievements were built. Byzantines stood behind several technological advancements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine military manuals</span> Treatises on military science produced in the Byzantine Empire

This article lists and briefly discusses the most important of many military treatises on military science produced in the Byzantine Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine studies</span> Studies about the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. The discipline's founder in Germany is considered to be the philologist Hieronymus Wolf (1516–1580), a Renaissance Humanist. He gave the name "Byzantine" to the Eastern Roman Empire that continued after the Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 AD. About 100 years after the final conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans, Wolf began to collect, edit, and translate the writings of Byzantine philosophers. Other 16th-century humanists introduced Byzantine studies to Holland and Italy. The subject may also be called Byzantinology or Byzantology, although these terms are usually found in English translations of original non-English sources. A scholar of Byzantine studies is called a Byzantinist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine rhetoric</span>

Byzantine rhetoric refers to rhetorical theorizing and production during the time of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine rhetoric is significant in part because of the sheer volume of rhetorical works produced during this period. Rhetoric was the most important and difficult topic studied in the Byzantine education system, beginning at the Pandidakterion in early fifth century Constantinople, where the school emphasized the study of rhetoric with eight teaching chairs, five in Greek and three in Latin. The hard training of Byzantine rhetoric provided skills and credentials for citizens to attain public office in the imperial service, or posts of authority within the Church.

Nasar, originally baptized Basil, was a distinguished Byzantine military leader in the Byzantine–Arab conflicts of the latter half of the 9th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mesazon</span> High dignitary and official during the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire

The mesazon was a high dignitary and official during the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire, who acted as the chief minister and principal aide of the Byzantine emperor.

The Karabisianoi, sometimes anglicized as the Carabisians, were the main forces of the Byzantine navy from the mid-7th century until the early 8th century. The name derives from the Greek karabos or karabis for "ship", and literally means "people of the ships, sea-men". The Karabisianoi were the first new permanent naval establishment of the Byzantine Empire, formed to confront the Muslim expansion at sea. They were disbanded and replaced with a series of maritime themes some time in 718–730.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cibyrrhaeot Theme</span> Province of the Byzantine Empire

The Cibyrrhaeot Theme, more properly the Theme of the Cibyrrhaeots, was a Byzantine theme encompassing the southern coast of Asia Minor from the early 8th to the late 12th centuries. As the Byzantine Empire's first and most important naval theme, it served chiefly to provide ships and troops for the Byzantine navy.

Paul Magdalino is a British Byzantinist who is Bishop Wardlaw Professor (Emeritus) of Byzantine History at the University of St Andrews. He received the 1993 Runciman Award for his monograph on the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180), which challenged Niketas Choniates' negative appraisal of the ruler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kardia</span>

The Battle of Kardia was a naval battle fought in c. 872/3 between the fleets of the Byzantine Empire and the Cretan Saracens off Kardia, in the Gulf of Saros. The battle was a major Byzantine victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Euripos</span> Arab-Byzantine Conflicts

The siege of Euripos occurred in the mid-880s, when an Abbasid fleet, led by the emir of Tarsos, Yazaman al-Khadim, laid siege to the city. The local Byzantine commander, Oiniates, successfully defended the city and destroyed a large part of the besieging force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torsion mangonel myth</span> Historical misconception

The torsion mangonel myth, or simply the myth of the mangonel, is the belief that mangonels were torsion siege engines such as the ballista or onager which used the tension effect of twisted cords to shoot projectiles. Despite a significant body of research dating as far back as the 19th century pointing to the contrary, "it has not stopped the transmission of the myth to the present day." Evidence for the usage of torsion siege weapons, with the exception of the springald, exist only up until the 6th century, when they were superseded by the traction trebuchet, more commonly known as the mangonel.

References

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  2. Kinder & Hilgemann 1989 , p. 139
  3. Ousterhout 1996 , p. 25
  4. Lange 1986 , p. 93, fn. 4
  5. Rasch 1985 , pp. 129f.
  6. Heinle & Schlaich 1996 , pp. 30–32
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  12. Chevedden 2000 , p. 86
  13. Chevedden 2000 , pp. 76–86, 110f.
  14. Chevedden 2000 , p. 110
  15. Pryor & Jeffreys 2006 , p. 607
  16. Haldon & Byrne 1977 , p. 91
  17. Pryor & Jeffreys 2006 , pp. 608f.; Ellis Davidson 1973 , pp. 61f.
  18. Haldon & Byrne 1977 , p. 93
  19. Pryor & Jeffreys 2006 , pp. 378f., 609
  20. Pryor & Jeffreys 2006 , pp. 609–617
  21. Pryor & Jeffreys 2006 , p. 384
  22. Roland 1992 , pp. 655–679
  23. Forbes 1964 , p. 107
  24. Pászthory 1986 , p. 32
  25. Pentz 1988 , pp. 89f.
  26. Pentz 1988 , p. 93
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  30. Kazhdan 1991 , pp. 977–981; Pentcheva 2010 , pp. 265–283
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  32. Wildberg, Christian (2018), "John Philoponus", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2018 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2020-08-03
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Sources

Further reading