Introduction

The decline and collapse of Roman authority in the West and the relocation of the empire's center of power to Byzantium in the East had tremendous consequences for Europe. The Christian faith emerged as a dynamic agent of civilization, preserving the rich legacy of classical antiquity and fusing Greco-Roman institutions and Christian theology with Germanic and Slavic cultures. In the West, the Roman Catholic Church asserted both religious and political independence from the Byzantine emperor, and the papacy played a prominent role in shaping the new political order in western Europe and in parts of eastern Europe. The Orthodox Church had an equally profound impact on the culture of the peoples who migrated to regions within the sphere of Byzantium's influence. Orthodox missionaries brought Christianity to much of eastern Europe and the Balkans, promoted literacy in Slavic languages, and encouraged the development of new political and social structures. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, however, the Orthodox Church remained subordinate to the authority of the Byzantine emperor, who claimed to be the "thirteenth apostle."

From their prosperous metropolis, Constantinople, the Byzantines formed a shield for Christian Europe against the drive of Islam from the south. Behind this shield Bulgarians, Serbs, and other peoples within the Byzantine sphere developed separate national identities but lost their independence to the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth century. Poles, Czechs, and several other Slavic peoples, in contrast, forged ties with the West. Although threatened by Mongols and Turks, these Slavs remained within the orbit of Western culture and the Roman Catholic Church and maintained their political independence. The Russians developed in yet another way. From an early eminence under Byzantine and Varangian tutelage, Russian power declined due to internal conflict and external pressure from Mongols and Tatars. In the sixteenth century the Grand Dukes of Moscow freed Russia and began the long, difficult task of building a modern nation-state.