Presentation in the Temple |
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The Late Byzantine Period (12611453)
The period known as the Late Byzantine lasted from 1261 until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks. The looting of Constantinople in 1204 was an irretreviable disaster for the Byzantines. With its territory and resources continually shrinking, Byzantium was never again able to fully quell internal disorders or to exercise independence from outside powers.
The state became so impoverished that in 1369 Emperor John V was arrested for debt in Venice as he tried to obtain financial help from the West. Meanwhile, the Byzantine church increased in prestige and authority as the emperors weakened. Byzantine culture enjoyed a last flowering in literature, scholarship, theology, and art, which still followed the artistic traditions of the Middle Byzantine era. Byzantium also helped transform the West intellectually, as Italian Renaissance scholars, intent on translating Greek pagan and Christian writings, received vital help from Byzantine scholars, especially after many fled to Italy from Constantinople after the city's conquest in 1453.
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