Western medieval Europe and the Byzantine Empire were originally part of the Roman Empire. It was not until the Middle Ages that they began to become very different even though they shared several common traits. The Byzantine Empire had surpassed much of Western Europe by the 300s, not only in trade and economics, but also in politics, although the two quarreled over religion. Byzantine Europe and Western Europe had very different governing structures, empires or not. The Byzantines were ruled by an emperor, but one who used civil office to help run their government instead of a direct ruler. Western Europe divided its political structure into different "countries", and it has been suggested that they divided them solely based on local spoken language, which supported the feudal system prominently until the end of the Middle Ages. The West did not have a centralized government and was at this time ruled by popes and princes, while the East was ruled by a single ruler. Although the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe were predominantly Christian, there was ultimately a major divide between the two. In the Byzantine Empire, the patriarch had direct influence over politics, just as in Western Europe, where the pope had more influence. Friction between the patriarch and the pope over who had more power, higher authority, and overinterpretation of Church practices led to what became known as the Great Schism. Thus, this would signal the split of the Christian Church into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Although attempts have been made for a formal union between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches have not been entirely successful, it has been suggested that exchanges and compromises could be considered. in the middle of a paper... the family of the harvesters would also have enough to get by. This led to little agricultural trade outside of Europe while the Byzantines, thanks to Constantinople's prime location on the Silk Road and foreign trade aided by its diverse population, became the most important empire rich in Europe. Looking back on these two long moments in history, we can see how the two, while starting on the same path and with the same beliefs, had drifted apart. These differences, whether influenced by external or internal sources, have helped shape the future of not only their world but ours as well. Had it not been for the main trading site of Constantinople, or had they ignored this opportunity, they too could have easily stifled their economic and cultural growth. Although Western European medieval culture was slower to develop, it eventually flourished, prospered, and survived..