... crafted religious images. Byzantine artists used many costly materials, such as gold, silver, and lapis lazuli, to create colorful murals. Many Byzantine works of art were produced to serve the Eastern Orthodox Church. Churches are almost all that survive of Byzantine architecture. Byzantine churches were built mainly of stone, brick, and mortar. The most well known church is the Hagia Sophia. ... , was the chief Byzantine holy day. Byzantine Christians rejected the pope's claim to authority over all Christians. In matters of faith a council representing all bishops must make decisions. ...

• Word Count: 1921
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... and onslaught began, the people of Kiev had a chance to stop the Mongol invasion. When the Mongol army approached a clan on the eastern Kievan Rus border, the clan asked the princes for assistance. The Mongols insisted that they were not there to conquer, however the group of ... one of the largest and longest lasting effect of the Mongols on Russian politics was an indirect effect. While ruling their territories from the Mongol's eastern capital, darugi had to implement a procedure so they could adequately tax a territory based on their population. Thus came the use of a census ... the ...

• Word Count: 1372
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . In addition to numerous scattered groups, two main schools of systematic gnostic thought seem to have existed in the second century the Basilideans and the Valentinians, the latter divided into Eastern and Western branches. In addition, Marcion, a radical exegete of Paul tinged with gnostic assumptions, founded a group and made the first attempt to create a closed canon of the New Testament. Marcion ... . As noted in the definition, this is where the complexity of influence began and continues to exist today. In my understanding of the gnosis and how it differed from the Orthodox teachi...

• Word Count: 1846
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate