Byzantine Empire and Medieval Western Europe?

They were both Christian.

Western Europe followed the Latin rite (the "Roman Catholic" church) based in Rome.

Byzantium and the east (Russia, etc.) followed the Greek rite (the "Orthodox" church) based in Constantinople (aka the city of Byzantium).

The lingua franca of the west was Latin

The lingua france of the east was Greek.

Byzantium had a continuous tradition of emperors reaching back to the east/west split of Roman Empire. They considered themselves the heirs of Rome.

The last western Roman emperor was Romulus Augustulus, who abdicated in 476. Three centuries later, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne "King of the Romans" thus starting the "Holy Roman Empire" that was various Frankish and/or Germanic in nature.

Byzantium excelled in economics and philosophy.

The west excelled in invention.

Both left lasting marks on Europe and the world. The most obvious is probably the use of the Roman alphabet by the languages of Western Europe and the Cyrillic alphabet by the languages of of Eastern Europe.

Byzantine Empire And Western Europe

Well, religion would be a big difference. the Byzantine empire was Orthodox, while western Europe was Catholic. And of course the Byzantine empire was united under one powerful emperor, whereas western europe was divided up into lots of small kingdoms.

I don't what the social strucutre of the Byzantine empire was, but I imagine it would have been very hierarchical. medieval europe of course was also very hierarchical, with sociedty based on the feudal system with lords owning large estates, which were farmed by serfs who each had their own small farm. I believe the Byzantine empire had more sophisticated living standards, better plumbing etc. When the Crusaders stopped off in byzantium on their way to the Holy Land, I believe they were quite impressed by the sophisticated and luxurious lifestyle of their hosts.

the lasting acheivements of medieval europe include glorious architecture, the fabulous cathedrals and churches that still stand, wondeful art, fabulous illuminated manuscripts. Music that is still sung in our churches. Literature that is still read, notably the works of Chaucer in english, and Boccacio and Dante in Italian. I have to admit to being shaky on what stll remains of the Byzantine empire's legacy, but there must be churches and things I shiould think.