DIE BYZANTINISCHEN WURZELN SÜDOSTEUROPAS
THE BYZANTINE ROOTS OF SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

Summary/Abstract: Southeastern Europe is a divided region with regards to its Byzantine roots, Byzantine legacy and Byzantine present. Politically and militarily, Byzantium never managed to reestablish the old Roman frontiers in the Balkans. However, it was decisively involved in the economic rise of this region, which in turn benefited the Empire. Byzantium became a model for peoples and states due to its overall political power, cultural legacy, and especially the charisma of the church, as well as the fact that it did not suppress their own national developments and traditions. But in the past and present, Byzantine culture has left lasting traces only in the mentality where the traditions were supported by the Orthodox Church or where they were preserved independently of strict forms of belief through a sense of belonging to an Orthodox cultural community.

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