Question

Relations between Byzantium and the West at this time were often characterised as a clash of cultures. The Greeks viewed themselves as civilised superiors to the barbaric and violent westerners; the people of Europe regarded the Byzantines as unwarlike, effeminate and duplicitous. In the fullest sense, of course, these stereotypes were inaccurate: the Latin West produced thinkers of the calibre of Anselm of Bec and St Bernard of Clairvaux; magnificent buildings such as the 531-feet long abbey of Cluny testify to practical and artisitic qualities as well. Equally, brutality was not exclusive to the westerners; the Byzantines were capable of extraordinary unpleasantness. The death of Emperor Andronicus I Comnenus in 1185 bears witness to this. With one eye gouged out, his teeth pulled out and his right hand severed, he was paraded through the streets of Constantinople, pelted with excrement before being hung upside down, having his genitals hacked off and finally killed by sword thrusts into his mouth and between his buttocks. summarize that

Answer 1

During this time, relations between Byzantium and the West were marked by a clash of cultures. The Greeks saw themselves as superior and civilised compared to the barbaric and violent westerners. Conversely, Europeans viewed the Byzantines as unwarlike, effeminate, and deceitful. However, these stereotypes were inaccurate, as the Latin West produced great thinkers and magnificent buildings. Furthermore, both sides were capable of brutal acts, as evidenced by the gruesome death of Emperor Andronicus I Comnenus in 1185.