03-09-2009, 07:46 PM
Eugene,
Thank you for your question. The general answer to your question is that many Western chroniclers did force a lot of anti-Greek/Byzantine bias upon their reader (such as practically every chronicle of the Crusades). In fact, the term 'Greek' (the Latin form) was largely used in a pejorative sense until the 19th century (the famous quote being '...the perfidious Greeks...'), whereas Hellene (the Greek form) was used with a positive connotation. Much of the stereotype also stems from Imperial policy (if one can call it that) from approximately the 11th-13th centuries that typically played Latins/Franks/Westerners against Muslims/Orientals, i.e., barbarian against barbarian, whilst still advancing a Byzantine-first agenda. In short, Western chronicles portray the Byzantines in a way that humans very often portray the 'other,' which is to say negatively.
P.S. - I am using contemporary modern terminology that they would probably not have used.
Thank you for your question. The general answer to your question is that many Western chroniclers did force a lot of anti-Greek/Byzantine bias upon their reader (such as practically every chronicle of the Crusades). In fact, the term 'Greek' (the Latin form) was largely used in a pejorative sense until the 19th century (the famous quote being '...the perfidious Greeks...'), whereas Hellene (the Greek form) was used with a positive connotation. Much of the stereotype also stems from Imperial policy (if one can call it that) from approximately the 11th-13th centuries that typically played Latins/Franks/Westerners against Muslims/Orientals, i.e., barbarian against barbarian, whilst still advancing a Byzantine-first agenda. In short, Western chronicles portray the Byzantines in a way that humans very often portray the 'other,' which is to say negatively.
P.S. - I am using contemporary modern terminology that they would probably not have used.
John Baker
Justice is the constant and perpetual wish to render to every one his due.
- Institutes, bk. I, ch. I, para. I
Justice is the constant and perpetual wish to render to every one his due.
- Institutes, bk. I, ch. I, para. I
