The Byzantine Empire and The Division of Christianity
The Byzantine Empire and The Division of Christianity
The Byzantine Empire and The Division of Christianity
C. BYZANTINE LEADERSHIP
1. EMPEROR JUSTINIAN
a. Both the Roman and Byzantine Empires were ruled by ___emperors____________ who had absolute power over
their empires
b. ______Justinian_____________ was the most famous of the Byzantine emperors
2. About 50 years after the ________fall_____ of Western Rome, Justinian came to power in the East; he began
__________reconquering____________Roman territories lost to the Germanic tribes
3. THE JUSTINIAN CODE: to oversee his empire, Justinian ordered ______legal________ ______experts___________ to
consolidate Roman laws into a single law code
a. It was called the “_______Justinian____________ ______Code______” and served as the legal basis for criminal
justice, ______marriage____________, property, ____slavery____________,and women’s rights
b. This law code served as the basis for law for the next ___900_______ __years_____________ and was one of the
most important _______legacies_________ of the Byzantine Empire
c. The Justinian Code had four components:
THE LAW CODE: nearly 5000 Roman laws that the Byzantines still considered ______useful________
THE DIGEST: summarized Romans’ ___________opinions______ about laws
THE INSTITUTES: textbook on how to ____use______ the laws
THE NOVELLAE (NEW LAWS): contained all news laws that were ________passed_______ after the year 534
4. Justinian ordered the start of many massive ____building____________ ______projects____________; including the
Hagia Sophia (to show the importance of the Church)
a. He built hospitals,
_____________aqueducts____, public baths, and
___________courts____
5. EMPRESS THEODORA
a. Justinian’s wife, the
________Emporess______
____Theodora___________, had a lot of
_______power_______ and influence in the
Byzantine Empire
b. She dealt with ____foreign_________
_______leaders_______, meeting with and writing
to them
c. She helped her husband pass new laws
and ______advised___________him in
matters dealing with other nations
d. Theodora encouraged the
_______building_________of Christian
churches and cathedrals
e. Theodora was a woman of _____great______ ___beauty____________ and did many things to help her husband
Justinian, but she had a dark side to her
f. Theodora _____fiercely________ _______guarded________ her husband’s regime and her own personal power,
ruthlessly ordering __murders_________ of those she thought were enemies
g. When a _________rebellion________ against Justinian rose up (the “Nika Riots”), she sent the army to
___________slaughter______ 30,000 people
6. JUSTINIAN & THEODORA
a. Justinian is remembered as one of the Byzantine Empire’s ________greatest__________emperors while Theodora is
one of the most ___________notorious________ women in history
b. Nevertheless, their _________partnership_____________ worked and the Byzantine Empire mostly thrived under
their rule
5. The Pope _______excommunitcated_________________the Byzantine emperor (formally banned him from the Church)