Were the non-monk scholars in the Byzantine Empire? Libraries? Colleges?
Aristocrats
>>1581165
Yep! There were hospitals, universities(mid-late era), libraries in alexanderia and other places. Our justice system is based on the byzans(Justinianus created it). The infrastructure was as complete as it could have been.
But then the visigoths and the slavs fucked it up...
Merchants and middle class also, Byzantium still presided over a lot of Mediterranean trade until the eternal latin betrayed them.