Category Archives: Byzantium

Vidovdan

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St. Vitus' Day (Vidovdan) marks the Ottoman defeat of the Serbians at Kosovo in 1389.

St. Vitus’ Day (Vidovdan) marks the Ottoman defeat of the Serbians at Kosovo in 1389.

St. Vitus, a Christian in Sicily who was killed for his faith in A.D. 303, is commemorated each year in mid-June. He is most often associated with epileptics or those who have seizures for other reasons, because he looked as if he was having a seizure as a lion killed him and tore his body to shreds. He is also said to protect against lightning strikes, animal attacks and oversleeping. He is the patron of the cathedral in Prague.

He is also important in the history of Serbia. It was on his feast day (known as “Vidovdan” in Serbian) that the Serbian army, led by Prince Lazar, was defeated by the Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad in the field of Kosovo. The defeat at Kosovo on Vidovdan came to be considered the defining moment of Serbian national consciousness as it was the first time that several of the Serbian clans set aside their local disputes and came together for a common purpose (under the leadership of Prince Lazar). The anniversary of the defeat at Kosovo is particularly important to Serbian history, tradition, and national identity. The date is ingrained in the Serb consciousness, and is the date on which South Slav nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, setting off a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I.

Reliable historical accounts of the battle are scarce. The bulk of both armies were wiped out in the battle; both Lazar and Murad lost their lives in it. Although Ottomans managed to annihilate the Serbian army, they also suffered high casualties which delayed their progress. Serbs were left with too few men to effectively defend their lands, while the Turks had many more troops in the east. Consequently, one after the other, the Serbian principalities that were not already Ottoman vassals became so in the following years.

One of my best friends in seminary, a third generation Serbian-American, said once, “Only the Serbians would make a national holiday out of their worst-ever military defeat!”

Black Monday, 1453

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Hagia Sophia, the great cathedral of Holy Wisdom, was built by the emperor Justinian and was the largest dome in the world until the Astrodome was built. The minarets were added by the Turks when they converted the cathedral into a mosque after they captured the city in 1453.

Hagia Sophia, the great cathedral of Holy Wisdom, was built by the emperor Justinian and was the largest dome in the world until the Astrodome was built. The minarets were added by the Turks when they converted the cathedral into a mosque after they captured the city in 1453.

May 29, 1453. It was a Monday and lived on as “Black Monday” in Orthodox territory because that was the day that the great city of Constantinople fell to the Turks. Byzantium came crashing to a halt and the Ottoman Empire arose from its ashes, ruling much of the Middle East as well as portions of Central and Eastern Europe until it ceased to exit in 1923.

The conquest of Constantinople reinforced Byzantine expectations that the world was about to end. Byzantine churchmen calculated that the world would be 7,000 years old on September 1, 1492 and would therefore end on that day. They thought the Turks were the forerunners of the Antichrist and the Turkish conquest of New Rome, the official title of the city, the beginning of the last period of world history.

The art of the Seljuq Turks is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through July 24. Among the treasures displayed there are the harpy pitcher (see below). Harpies, birds with the heads of human women, are an image the Turks inherited from the classical Greeks. The Turks associated harpies with the astrological sign of Gemini and brought happiness in their wake. They were considered protective creatures. Spotting one was a good omen. This is all in marked contrast with the classical perception of harpies as wicked, dangerous creatures who delighted in abducting and torturing their victims.

Harpy pitcher

The 3 Hierarchs

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An icon depicting the three hierarchs: Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Gregory the Theologian.

An icon depicting the three hierarchs: Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Gregory the Theologian.

In “The Song of Roland,” the hero Roland wields a sword said to contain within its golden hilt one tooth of Saint Peter, blood of Saint Basil (one of the 3 hierarchs), a hair of Saint Denis, and a piece of the raiment of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the sword is therefore reported to be the sharpest sword in all existence.In the poem, Roland uses the sword to hold off a hundred-thousand-strong Muslim army — the perennial enemies of Byzantium as well — long enough for Charlemagne’s army to retreat into France.

Roland attempted to destroy the sword to prevent it from being captured by the attacking Saracens and created La Brèche de Roland in the Pyrenees in the process. But the sword proved indestructible, so he hid it beneath his body along with the oliphant, the horn used to alert Charlemagne.

Local folklore claims that the sword still exists, preserved in Rocamadour, France, embedded in a cliff wall. In the twelfth century, the monks of Rocamadour claimed that Roland threw the sword at the cliff rather than hid it beneath himself.

The Three Hierarchs of Eastern Christianity refers to Basil the Great (also known as Basil of Caesarea), Gregory the Theologian (also known as Gregory of Nazianzus) and John Chrysostom. They were highly influential bishops of the early church who played pivotal roles in shaping Christian theology. In Eastern Christianity they are also known as the Three Great Hierarchs and Ecumenical Teachers, while in Roman Catholicism the three are honored as Doctors of the Church. The three are venerated as saints in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism and other Christian churches.