Responding to the hypothetical question of whether to include or not the Byzantine Empire in a Museum of Europe, the author argues that the Byzantine Empire was a defining factor in Europe’s modern conception, defending it from the Arab invaders but absorbing and passing their knowledge to the West. He then proceeds to analyze the often misleading historiography regarding the Byzantine Empire to argue that there was an active elitist project in the “easternification” of the Byzantines, ignoring the transnational flow of ideas and people.

By: Camilo Ucros