Bizanţul Paleologilor. Între spiritul novator al Apusului şi tradiţia Orientului
The Paleolog’s Byzantine World. Between the Innovative Spirit of the Occident and the Tradition of the Orient

Summary/Abstract: The major feature of the Byzantine spiritual world during the Paleolog’s age is the conservative spirit, characterized by the permanent and constant contrastive dimension towards each innovative movement, loyalty for tradition and dogmatic intransigence in what the religion is concerned. The terms which shaped innovation as religious phenomenon or as change of innovating have always had a negative meaning in the Byzantine World. A certain disapproving attitude accompanies these terms in all the texts, especially in those belonging to the rich theological literature from that time. The period between the 13th and the 14th centuries was seen as a period of resisting, or as one of opposing, because in the domain of culture or in other related areas the Byzantine State has tried to affirm itself by returning to its ancient and Christian origins. Being always in contact with the Western World, the Byzantine society did not change essentially its government, but only at a small extent. Undoubtely, the approach of those two civilizations as a consequence of the Crusades, introduced some Latin customs in the Oriental World, without changing fundamentally the background of this world; it still remained of Byzantine origin.

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