Emperor Justinian
The story of Justinian's reign
Background
- Justinian served in the army and was a good general
- He also studied law, music, architecture, and theology (the study of religion)
Type of ruler
- He was an autocrat, or ruler with complete authority
- He used the law to unify the empire
- He controlled the army and navy, made the laws, headed the Church and the government, and was supreme judge
- He also could declare war or make peace
Wife
- Theodora was Justinian's wife; her family was poor
- She served as advisor and coruler to Justinian
- She helped him make politiccal decisions, one of them being that she convinced him to stay and fight when people rebelled
- She also convinced him to allow women more rights
Hagia Sophia
- One of Justinian's greatest accomplishments was getting the church of the "Holy Wisdom" rebuilt
- He also built churches, bridges, monasteries, and forums
- Mosaics were included in the construction, but the huge dome over the rectangular opening was the most impressive
- It was the religious center of the Byzantine Empire and still stands today
Justinian's Code
- In six years, Tribonian and the group developed a legal code that became the law of the land, or Justinian's Code
- It's also considered one of Justinian's greatest accomplishments
- It influences the legal systems of almost every western country
- Our government is based on this system
Rights for women
- Justinian abolished the law that marriage between actresses and high government officials were forbidden
- He altered divorce laws so that Byzatine women could own property equal to their dowry
Economic and military strength
- Peasants worked the land, paid taxes, and provided soldiers for the military
- The Byzantine empire had a healthy money economy
- Belisarius set up a group of loyal and heavily arned cavalry soldiers and developed battle moves that helped strengthen the army's power
- Greek fire was the first secret weapon in history and the exact formula is still unkown
- The army was able to control more of the Mediterranean and regain most of the western provinces, which later became lost after Justinian's death
Differences between East and West
- In the West they had a patriarch
- They also celebrated Easter as the day Jesus rose from the dead
- The East didn't emphasize Christmas as the day of the birth of Jesus
- The Byzantine christians used icons in their worship, but the west were against this
Great Schism
- The two branches split
- The Byzantine church became the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western branch became the Roman Catholic Church
- They treated each other as enemies
Art
- Byzantine artists influenced Western styles
- Mosaics brought scenes from the Bible to life
- Icons gave viewers a sense of personal contact with the sacred
- Byzantine palaces and churches contained many different styles of art including: Greek, Roman, Persian, and other Middle Eastern styles
Learning
- Byzantine scholars saved the works of ancient Greece and Rome
- They focused on writing about their own times
- Many Greek scholars left Constantinople to teach at Italian universities in the 1400s
- They took Greek manuscripts to the West
- Also, diffused the Greek and Byzantine cultures
- The works of these scholars influenced the Renaissance