Paper on Byznantine empire

While there are prominent similarities between the Christian churches of the West and East, the Byzantines felt more imperial and superior to the Western side of Europe. The Byzantine Empire allowed more religious freedom, at the price of taxes. They considered themselves more holy in the sense of Christianity due to the fact that they were older and therefore more “experienced”. Through the account written by Liudprand of Cremona, I have formulated several aspects that show the West-Byzantine relations in the 10th century.
Even though Luiprands’ main reason for going to the Byzantines was to establish a marriage between the two sides, and have a tie between the West and East, the outcome of this meeting resulted in debates much more tense. According to the first hand account written by Liudprand, the interactions between him and the Emperor of the Byzantine was met with some problems, especially on the side of religious and political conventions. In return for agreeing to the marriage between the nations, the men of the empire had wrote back stating that even though the demand was unheard of, (marriage between foreign nations) if the West gave Ravenna, and Rome with the other territories, as well as set Rome free of Otto’s control they will have what they want. (p. 362) In response, Luidprand tells describes the true situation of Rome and it’s freedom, and says that they have been given over to the “vicar of the holy apostles”. (362) All throughout the excerpt, the West and the Byzantine struggle with respecting one another. The Byzantines refer to the color “purple” as royal, and imperial. Meanwhile the West does not distinguish it in this way, which causes tension between them. They each also recognize different holy teachings. During a ceremony that the Emperor requested Liudprands’ presence, it became clear that his country viewed the West as less preferential than even the Bulgarian envoys. Liudprand describes the Bulgarian as, “He was a fellow with