(1) Tell briefly the measures Charlemagne the Great took to improve the cultural conditions of his empire and the results of the measures.
The measures Charlemagne took included care for education and academic studies by asking the church to run schools and inviting famous scholars to lecture at the royal court, the collection and recovering of classical books by copying books borrowed from elwhere, the reestablishment of cultural customs and ethical norms, and founding of magnificent buildings by pulling down the old buildings in Rome and other historical cities and transporting their materials to the emperor’s capital.
Therefore literacy was greatly improved and enhanced among the average, especially among the younger people, who would be chon to rve the empire. More and more attention was paid to cultural affairs and moral values with the obvious signs of social progress and cultural prosperity. The cities became beautiful with the increasing numbers of grand buildings put up of Roman type. In a way, cultural revival of the empire was basically launched and modeled on Roman or classical pattern and thus ensured continuity and consistence of Western culture and civilization in spite of the change of political regimes.郁郁葱葱
2) Cite some facts to manifest the cultural achievements of the Byzantine Empire.
Generally, the Byzantine Empire enjoyed a less harsh and more comfortable intellectual climate and environment than Roman Empire due to the relaxation of ideological and cultural control after the Orthodox Eastern Church broke away from Vatican.(梵蒂冈)
The relaxation policy allowed for the occurrence of a number of cultural events or tendencies, such as the founding of the University of Constantinople which was turned into a successful institute of learning bad on literary and religious subjects, the emergence of a ries of literary and artistic works like the 小学生播音稿Epic of Digenes Akritas户口注销晋末. More important than the changes was the fashion of advocating classical culture which promoted the development of classical ideas. As a result, Neo-Platonism, a synthesis of a variety of Greek philosophies and Eastern culture, came forward as a new fashion popular among the elite first in Alexandria and then in the rest of the empire. The combination of different cultures was further extended from ideology to some practical areas like architecture, which witnesd the erection of a new kind of building, such as Sophia Cathedral网课迟到检讨
(2) Try to work out the reasons why the Byzantine Empire could stay much longer than the Western Roman Empire by moving into religious and ethnical diversities.胶囊宾馆
There are a number of reasons for the longer survival of the Byzantine Empire in comparison with the Western Roman Empire.
Firstly, geographical advantage emed important for the Byzantine Empire when it found its rival was parated by long distance and alien culture of the east. The empire took the opportunity to consolidate its new position in a more friendly neighbourhood.
Secondly, the empire took lessons from the Western Roman Empire and made its policy more tolerant of different views, like allowing for the emergence of classical ideas in association with alien culture of the east.
Thirdly, the empire encouraged the meeting of diver nationalities and their cultures so that a kind of harmony could be achieved over its vast territory.
Fourthly, Christianity was greatly changed in its new form, the Orthodox Eastern Churc
h, and offered more freedom and independence to its churches and disciples and thus attracted more people to join its activities.
Becau of the factors, the empire achieved political agreement, social stability, intellectual equality and cultural harmony and thus prepared for the basic conditions required for a long-term development and existence.