Things to learn the Byzantine Empire (Packet 10 of 12)

1. Justinian

He ruled as emperor from 527 to 565 CE. He created a set of laws called and named them his Code. This code said that the emperor made all of the laws and interpreted the laws as well. It was law throughout the empire. Many of our modern laws can be traced back to it. He had a goal of re-uniting the Roman Empire. He sent out armies to battle the barbarians who had taken control in the West. His Roman armies were very successful, taking back parts of Africa and most of Italy. However, these wars cost a great deal and the taxes he had to raise to pay for them led to a near revolt against him at the Nika riots (which started from an argument over chariot racing). After being convinced by his wife Theodora not to flee and quelling the riots, he went about rebuilding the city, again at great expense. The greatest jewel of this rebuild was the church known as Hagia Sofia (Holy Wisdom), which still stands at the center of modern Istanbul.

2. Eastern Orthodox

Sometimes known as Greek Orthodox, it is one of the three branches of the Christian religion along with Catholic and Protestant. It began as the eastern half of Christendom, the site of the former Byzantine Empire. When it split with the Catholic church in 1054 with the Great Schism, both sides claimed to be the true church and to trace their roots back to the original apostles. It has similarities and differences with the two other large branches of the Christian faith. The three share beliefs on certain core doctrines such as the sinfulness of man, the Trinity, and the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are important theological differences among these groups as well. They approach religious truth differently than the Western Churches. For them, truth must be experienced personally. There is less focus on the exact definition of religious truth and more on the practical and personal experience of truth in the life of the individual and the church.

Precise theological definition, when it occurs, is for the purpose of excluding error. Today they have nothing again to a Pope like the Roman Catholics do, but during the Byzantine error, the church was ruled over by the Patriarch, who himself was subservient to the Byzantine Emperor, though the Patriarch of Constantinople still rules over the church in Istanbul and many see him as the leader of the entire branch, still.

3. patriarch

The ruler of the church of Constantinople (now renamed Istanbul) and during the time of the Byzantine Emperor, the head of the entire Eastern Orthodox religion. He worked in a subservient position to the Byzantine Emperor, however, and therefore there was no separation of church and state, a big difference from Catholicism. In the modern form of the church he is first among equals, or first in honor among all Eastern Orthodox bishops, who presides in person – or through a delegate – over any council of Orthodox primates and/or bishops in which he takes part and serves as primary spokesman for the Orthodox communion, especially in ecumenical contacts with other Christian denominations. However, he has no official rule or control over any of the other bishops, unlike the pope. There have been 270 through the two centuries since Christ’s death.

4. caesaropapism

The idea of combining the power of secular government with the religious power, or making it superior to the spiritual authority of the Church; especially concerning the connection of the Church with government. In its extreme form, it is a political theory in which the head of state, notably the Emperor ('Caesar', by extension a 'superior' King), is also the supreme head of the church ('papa', pope or analogous religious leader). Its chief example is the authority the Byzantine (East Roman) Emperors had over the Church of Constantinople or Eastern Christian Church from the 330 consecration of Constantinople through the tenth century. The Byzantine Emperor would typically protect the Eastern Church and manage its administration by presiding over Ecumenical Councils and appointing Patriarchs and setting territorial boundaries for their jurisdiction. The Emperor exercised a strong control over the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and the Patriarch of Constantinople could not hold office if he did not have the Emperor's approval.

5. Theodora

One of the most influential and powerful of the Byzantine empresses. Some sources mention her as empress regnant with Justinian I as her co-regent. Along with her husband, she is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, commemorated on November 14. She was originally a circus performer and came from the lower class of Romans, which caused great concern for the populace whenever they were upset with Justinian. Not one to take a back seat to her husband, she proposed laws that protected the rights of women in the empire. She also convinced him not to leave when he intended to flee during the Nika riots, preferring to take the chance on dying an empress than running and living. She reported said, “Purple makes a wonderful burial veil.”

6. Hagia Sofia

The great church of the Byzantine capital Constantinople (Istanbul) took its current structural form under the direction of the Emperor Justinian I. The church was dedicated in 537, amid great ceremony and the pride of the emperor (who was sometimes said to have seen the completed building in a dream). It is the symbol of Byzantium in the same way that the Parthenon embodies Classical Greece or the Eiffel Tower typifies Paris. At its construction, it was the largest dome in the world, and would remain so for almost 1000 years. It was built in such a way as to seem mystical, as it seemed impossible, especially in Medieval times, that it could actually support its own weight. During its lifetime it has been a Christian church (the most important one in the Byzantine empire), a mosque after the Islamic conquest of Constantinople and is now a museum, still standing in Istanbul.

7. Hippodrome of Constantinople

A circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. The name literally means a path for horses, and indeed, the main attraction there were the chariot and horse races. The allegiance was so strong to the four chariot teams of Constantinople – known by their colors green, blue, red and white – were almost political parties. The blues and the greens were particularly influential and found themselves at the center of the Nika riots in 532 CE. The building was so central to life in the Byzantine capital that the emperor’s box was actually connected directly to the palace so that he could reach it without leaving the residence. Today only a few fragments of the original structure remain, and they have been incorporated into a square in the Turkish city of Istanbul called Sultan Ahmet Square (although some locals call it Horse Square in reference to its former use.

8. chariot races

The central sporting event of the Byzantine empire and taken with even greater seriousness than the modern NFL in America or World Cup in Europe. In fact, the political parties of the ancient Byzantine Empire centered around these chariot teams, specifically the greens and the blues. The reds and whites had chariot teams but no real political clout. Justinian himself was a member of the blues, something he used to his advantage during the Nika Riots.

9. Nika Riots

A series of riots that took place during the reign of Justinian, centered around chariot racing and the people’s dissatisfaction with taxes. In fact, they were born out a gesture by Justinian trying to quell the quarrels between the main chariot teams – the greens and the blues. There was a minor riot after one match, and a fan of the blues and a fan of the greens was arrested. Justinian, noticing how unhappy people were with him, decided to free these two people and hold a chariot race on January 13, 532. During the race, fans got out of control, and started to shout insults at the emperor. Rather than cheering for their teams, fans of both the Greens and Blues shouted Nika, meaning win or conquer. Next, the fans stormed Justinian's luxury box, which was connected to his palace grounds. Justinian fled to the palace as the riot spilled out into the streets. The palace was under siege as most of the city was destroyed. After his wife Theodora convinced him to stay, Justinian ended up settling the riots by appealing to the blues (of which he was a member) to take his side and using the army to trap the green riots in the Hippodrome and slaughter them.

10. Belasarius

A general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously. One of the defining features of his career was his success despite varying levels of support from Justinian. Along with Mundus, he was one of two generals who stormed the Hippodrome during the coronation of Hypatius after the blues had left.

11. Hypatius

A Byzantine noble of Imperial descent who held the position of commander in the East during the reign of Justin I, and was chosen by the mob as Emperor during the Nika riots against Justinian I. Justinian used the fact that he was a green while Justinian was a blue in order to regain control of his empire. Justinian sent a eunuch named Narses to talk to the blues during the coronation of him in the Hippodrome. Narses brought two bags of gold coins, leaving them with the blues and reminding them that Justinian had always had their back, while the new emperor probably wouldn’t. The blues then stormed out of the Hippodrome, and the army of Justinian stormed in and slaughter the greens, including the very short-lived emperor.

12. Justinian Code

A collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Eastern Roman Emperor. It is also sometimes referred to as the The Corpus Juris Civilis (The Body of Civil Law). The work as planned had three parts: the Code (Codex) is a compilation, by selection and extraction, of imperial enactments to date; the Digest or Pandects (the Latin title contains both Digesta and Pandectae) is an encyclopedia composed of mostly brief extracts from the writings of Roman jurists; and the Institutes (Institutiones) is a student textbook, mainly introducing the Code, although it has important conceptual elements that are less developed in the Code or the Digest. All three parts, even the textbook, were given force of law. They were intended to be, together, the sole source of law; reference to any other source, including the original texts from which the Code and the Digest had been taken, was forbidden. Nonetheless, Justinian found himself having to enact further laws and today these are counted as a fourth part of the Corpus, the Novellae Constitutiones (Novels, literally New Laws).

13. Valens

Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne. Valens, sometimes known as the Last True Roman, was defeated and killed in the Battle of Adrianople, which marked the beginning of the collapse of the decaying Western Roman Empire. He is most known for his aqueduct that is a marvel of architecture, getting water to Constantinople.

14. Aqueduct of Valens

A Roman aqueduct which was the major water-providing system of the Eastern Roman capital of Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey). Completed by Roman Emperor Valens in the late 4th century CE, it was maintained and used by the Byzantines and later the Ottomans, and remains one of the most important landmarks of the city. Originally, it was 3186 feet in length.

15. Theodosius II
The son of Arcadius, he ruled the Eastern half of the Roman empire from 408-450. He is also commonly called Theodosius the Younger or Theodosius the Calligrapher. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople. He also presided over the outbreak of two great christological controversies, Nestorianism and Eutychianism.

16. Theodosian Walls

Protective Land Walls, of which great parts survive, that were built between 408 and 413 by the emperor Theodosios II (in as much as a seven-year old can build walls). The Land Walls consisted of a main wall, a lower front wall that was perhaps added only in 447 after a series of earthquakes, and a trench that was divided in sections and could be filled with water. A number of gates provided access to the city. The Land Walls were frequently restored, and they were never taken by a foreign power before 1453 when the Ottomans destroyed parts of it by their artillery. They were especially essential in dispelling the advances of Attila the Hun.

17. Huns
In the late fourth century, they entered central Europe from the steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas. Historians disagree on what, if any, components of their advance should be identified with the Xiongnu, a confederation of Central Asian nomads that fought against Han China before being dispersed in the third century. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that they inflicted “tremendous slaughter” on Germanic and Roman enemies alike. Their great leader, Attila, known as the “scourge of God,” was defeated at the Catalaunian Fields (near Chalons in what is now northern France) by an alliance of Romans and Visigoths. After Attila’s death in 453, a rebellion of Germanic subject peoples broke up their empire.
 
18. Attila the Hun

Called the Scourge of God by the Romans, he was king and general of the Hun empire from A.D. 433 to 453. Succeeding his uncle, King Roas, in 433, he shared his throne with his brother Bleda. He inherited the Scythian hordes who were disorganized and weakened by internal strife. His first order of affairs was to unite his subjects for the purpose of creating one of the most formidable and feared armies Europe and Asia had ever seen. His death in 453 wasn't quite what one would have expected from such a fierce barbarian warrior. He died not on the battlefield, but on the night of his marriage. On that night he, who, despite common misconceptions, was not a heavy drinker, drank heavily in celebration of his new bride. In his wedding chambers at the end of the event, he passed out flat on his back and had a massive nosebleed which caused him to choke on his own blood. His empire stretched from the Ural River to the Baltic Sea.

19. Ural River
A river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in Eurasia. It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea. At 1,509 miles, it is the third-longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube, and the 18th-longest river in Asia. It is conventionally considered the boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia.

20. Baltic Sea
A sea of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Scandinavia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and the North European Plain. It includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bay of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga, and the Bay of Gdańsk. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 10°E to 30°E longitude. A Mediterranean sea of the Atlantic, with limited water exchange between the two bodies, it drains through the Danish islands into the Kattegat by way of the straits of Øresund, the Great Belt, and the Little Belt.

21. The Ostrogoths

One of numerous Germanic peoples subjected to the Huns north of the Danube. They threw off Hunnic domination after the death of Attila. After the last Roman emperor of the west, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476, they took advantage of the chaos to occupy Italy and establish their own kingdom. Their king Theodoric, known as “the Great,” ruled from 493 to 526 and tried to restore peace to Italy. The philosopher Boethius worked as an official at Theodoric’s court. Their kingdom collapsed in the 6th century after the Byzantine generals Belisarius and Narses fought a series of destructive wars for control of the Italian peninsula.

22. The Lombards

They moved into northern Italy (the region still known today as “Lombardy”) after the peninsula had been devastated by the war between the Byzantines and the Ostrogoths. Their dukes and kings shared control of Italy with the remaining Byzantine garrisons. Although they were Catholics, their relationship with the papacy was often turbulent. Papal requests for assistance led to the 8th century invasion by Frankish forces under Charlemagne, who crushed their kingdom and seized the their’ “iron crown.” Their historian, Paul the Deacon, retired to the abbey of Monte Cassino to write a chronicle of his now-vanquished people.

23. The Picts

The early medieval inhabitants of northern Britain, were known for their raids on the Roman frontier fortification of Hadrian’s Wall. Their name (from the Latin pictus, “painted”) may refer to their use of colorful tattoos. Their art is notable for elaborate stone carvings of mysterious beasts. Starting in the 9th century, their kingdoms were absorbed by the neighboring kingdom of the Scots.

24. The Magyars

Like the Huns, were a nomadic people of central Asia. Their language is Ugric, related to Finnish and a number of west Siberian languages. They occupied the Danube basin shortly before 900. They exploited the decline of the Carolingian empire to carry out raids on East Francia and on Italy. The 955 Battle of Lechfeld, won by Germany’s Otto the Great, halted their expansion into central Europe. At the end of the 10th century, their grand prince was baptized with the name Stephen and crowned the first king of Hungary.

25. icons
Typically a painting depicting Christ, Mary, saints and/or angels, which is venerated among Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and in certain Catholic Churches. They may also be cast in metal, carved in stone, embroidered on cloth, painted on wood, done in mosaic or fresco work, printed on paper or metal, etc. Icons are often illuminated with a candle or jar of oil with a wick. (Beeswax for candles and olive oil for oil lamps are preferred because they burn very cleanly, although other materials are sometimes used.)

26. iconoclasm

The destruction of religious icons and other images or monuments for religious or political motives. Over time, the word, usually in the adjectival form, has also come to refer to aggressive statements or actions against any well-established status quo. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes. The Byzantine church had two major runs of it. The First lasted between about 726 and 787. The Second was between 814 and 842. According to the traditional view, the Byzantine version constituted a ban on religious images by Emperor Leo III and continued under his successors. It was accompanied by widespread destruction of images and persecution of supporters of the veneration of images. The Western church remained firmly in support of the use of images throughout the period, and the whole episode widened the growing divergence between the Eastern and Western traditions in what was still a unified church, as well as facilitating the reduction or removal of Byzantine political control over parts of Italy.

    27. idolatry

The worship of a physical object as a representation of a god. In all the Abrahamic it is strongly forbidden, although views as to what constitutes it differ within and between them, and is one of the major contentions in iconoclasm. In some other religions the use of idols is accepted. Which images, ideas, and objects constitute it is often a matter of considerable contention. Behavior considered idolatrous or potentially idolatrous may include the creation of any type of image of the deity, or of other figures of religious significance such as prophets, saints, and clergy, the creation of images of any person or animal at all, and the use of religious symbols, or secular ones. In addition, Christian theologians, following Saint Paul, have extended the concept to include giving undue importance to other aspects of religion, or to non-religious aspects of life in general, with no involvement of images specifically. For example, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods, or demons (for example satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money etc."

28. Greek fire


An incendiary weapon developed c. 672 and used by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect, as it could continue burning while floating on water. It provided a technological advantage and was responsible for many key Byzantine military victories, most notably the salvation of Constantinople from two Arab sieges, thus securing the Empire's survival. The impression made by it on the western European Crusaders was such that the name was applied to any sort of incendiary weapon, including those used by Arabs, the Chinese, and the Mongols. These, however, were different mixtures and not the Byzantine formula, which was a closely guarded state secret. Byzantine use of incendiary mixtures was distinguished by the use of pressurized nozzles or siphon to project the liquid onto the enemy. The state secret of how to make it was destroyed with the city of Constantinople in 1453.

29. cross-in-square

The dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine churches, featuring a square center with an internal structure shaped like a cross, topped by a dome. The first such churches were probably built in the late 8th century, and the form has remained in use throughout the Orthodox world until the present day. In the West, Donato Bramante's first design (1506) for St. Peter's Basilica was a centrally planned one of these under a dome and four subsidiary domes.

30. cisterns

A waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. They  are often built to catch and store rainwater. They are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings. Modern cisterns range in capacity from a few liters to thousands of cubic meters, effectively forming covered reservoirs.

31. Basil II

Byzantine emperor (976–1025), who extended imperial rule in the Balkans (notably Bulgaria), Mesopotamia, Georgia, and Armenia and increased his domestic authority by attacking the powerful landed interests of the military aristocracy and of the church. His reign, widely acknowledged to be one of the outstanding Byzantine emperors, admirably illustrates both the strength and the weakness of the Byzantine system of government. His indomitable and forceful personality and his shrewd statesmanship were offset by the inherent weakness of an imperial autocracy that depended so much on the character of the ruler. At his death, the Empire stretched from southern Italy to the Caucasus and from the Danube to the borders of Palestine, its greatest territorial extent since the Muslim conquests four centuries earlier. Despite near-constant warfare, Basil also showed himself a capable administrator, reducing the power of the great land-owning families who dominated the Empire's administration and military, while filling the Empire's treasury.

32. Tsar Samuel

Tsar (997–1014) of the first Bulgarian empire. He began his effective rule in the 980s in what is now western Bulgaria and Macedonia. He then conquered Serbia and further extended his power into northern Bulgaria, Albania, and northern Greece. He established his capital in Ohrid and revived the Bulgarian patriarchate. In the 980s he defeated the Byzantine emperor Basil II (the “Bulgar Slayer”) near Sofia, but from 997—the date of his coronation as Bulgarian tsar—the intermittent struggle with the Byzantines went against him. On July 29, 1014, Basil overwhelmed him in the Battle of Belasitsa (Battle of Kleidion). At Basil’s order, the Bulgarian prisoners (said to number 15,000) were blinded and returned to him, and he is said to have fainted from shock and died. He was succeeded by his son Gavril (murdered in 1015) and a nephew Ivan (killed in battle in 1018), after which Bulgaria became a Byzantine province.

33. trebuchet

A mechanical thrower, doing to stones and other unprepared objects what the bow and ballista do to arrows and bolts. Like a catapult, the projectile is placed at the end of a long beam. In contrast, the projectile was often placed in a sling to give the projectile an extra boost of energy. Also in contrast to the catapult, it was powered by a direct downward pull on the beam rather than by a stretched rope or other spring. In early and smaller ones, the downward force came from many people pulling "down the shorter end of the beam which flipped up the longer end. The later and larger ones had large counterweights that provided the downward pull. It was introduced into Europe in the 12th century although some say that the Chinese were the first to invent them around 300 BCE.

34. Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George

An encaustic icon painting preserved at St. Catherine’s Monastery in Mount Sinai, Egypt. The icon shows the Virgin and Child flanked by two soldier saints, St. Theodore to the left and St. George at the right. Above these are two angels who gaze upward to the hand of God, from which light emanates, falling on the Virgin. The composition displays a spatial ambiguity that places the scene in a world that operates differently from our world. The ambiguity allows the scene to partake of the viewer’s world but also separates the scene from the normal world. Also known for its “hierarchy of bodies”. Theodore and George stand erect, feet on the ground, and gaze directly at the viewer with large, passive eyes. While looking at us they show no recognition of the viewer and appear ready to receive something from us. The saints are slightly animated by the lifting of a heel by each as though they slowly step toward us. The Virgin averts her gaze and does not make eye contact with the viewer. The ethereal angels concentrate on the hand above. The light tones of the angels and especially the slightly transparent rendering of their halos give the two an otherworldly appearance.

35. The Council of Hieria

A Christian council of 754 which viewed itself as ecumenical, but was later rejected by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. It was summoned by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V in 754 in the palace of Hieria opposite Constantinople. The council supported the emperor's iconoclast position in the Byzantine iconoclasm controversy. Opponents of the council described it as the Mock Synod of Constantinople or the Headless Council because no patriarchs or representatives of the five main patriarchs were present: Constantinople was vacant, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria were controlled by Islamic rulers, while Rome was not asked to participate. Its rulings were anathematized at the Lateran Council of 769 before being overturned almost entirely by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which supported the veneration of icons.

    36. excommunication

An institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular receiving of the sacraments. Some Protestants use the term disfellowship instead. It means putting a specific individual or group out of communion. In some religions, it includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group .It may involve banishment, shunning, and shaming, depending on the religion, the offense that caused it, or the rules or norms of the religious community. The grave act is often revoked in response to sincere penance, which may be manifested through public recantation, sometimes through the Sacrament of Confession, piety, and/or through mortification of the flesh.

 37. Council of Ephesus

A council of Christian bishops convened in the title city (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in 431 CE by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, confirmed the original Nicene Creed , and condemned the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople that the Virgin Mary may be called the Christotokos, "Birth Giver of Christ" but not the Theotokos, "Birth Giver of God". It met in June and July 431 at the Church of Mary in the title city in Anatolia.

38. Holy Roman Empire

A group of regions and free cities in central Europe which all came under the rule of an emperor who was elected by the princes and magistrates of the regions and cities within the empire. When Charlemagne died, his Frankish Empire was given to his children and divided into three different countries: West Francia, Lotharingia and East Francia. The empire started when Otto I of East Francia became Holy Emperor in 962, and it was ended by Napoleon in 1806. The emperors claimed to be heirs of Charlemagne and that the Empire dates from 800, when Charlemagne became Frankish Emperor.

39. The Great Schism

Occurring in 1054, it  is the break of communion between what are now the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, which began in the 11th century and continues to the present day. The ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes between the Greek East and Latin West pre-existed the formal rupture that occurred in 1054. Prominent among these were the issues of the source of the Holy Spirit, whether leavened or unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist, the Bishop of Rome's claim to universal jurisdiction, whether or not priests can marry and the place of the See of Constantinople in relation to the Pentarchy.

40. unleavened bread

Any of a wide variety of breads which are not prepared with raising agents. They are generally flat breads; however, not all flat breads are fit this category. Some, such as the tortilla and roti, are staple foods in Central America and South Asia, respectively. They have symbolic importance in Judaism and Christianity. Jews consume some such as matzo during Passover. They are also used in the Western Christian liturgy when Christians perform the Eucharist, a rite derived from the Last Supper when Jesus broke bread with his disciples during a Passover Seder.

41. Eucharist

Also called Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, and other names, it is a rite considered by most Christian churches to be a sacrament. According to the New Testament, it was instituted by Jesus Christ during his Last Supper. Giving his disciples bread and wine during the Passover meal, Jesus commanded his followers to "do this in memory of me" while referring to the bread as "my body" and the wine as "my blood"

42. Michael Cerularius

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1043 to 1059 AD, most notable for his mutual excommunication with Pope Leo IX that led to the Great Schism. He is noted for disputing with Pope Leo IX over church practices in respect of which the Roman Church differed from Constantinople, especially the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist.

43. Leo IX

Born Bruno of Egisheim-Dagsburg, he was Pope from Feb. 12, 1049 to his death in 1054. He was a German aristocrat and a powerful secular ruler of central Italy while holding the papacy. He is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, his feast day celebrated on April 19.
He is widely considered the most historically significant German Pope of the Middle Ages. His citing of the Donation of Constantine in a letter to the Patriarch of Constantinople brought about the Great Schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

44. The Donation of Constantine
        
A forged Roman imperial decree by which the emperor Constantine the Great supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope. Composed probably in the 8th century, it was used, especially in the 13th century, in support of claims of political authority by the papacy. Lorenzo Valla, an Italian Catholic priest and Renaissance humanist, is credited with first exposing the forgery with solid philological arguments in 1439–1440, although the document's authenticity had been repeatedly contested since 1001.

45. pope

The Bishop of Rome and the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church.[ The primacy of the Roman bishop is largely derived from his role as the traditional successor to Saint Peter, to whom Jesus is supposed to have given the keys of Heaven and the powers of "binding and loosing", naming him as the "rock" upon which the church would be built. The office of him is the papacy. His ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the Diocese of Rome, is often called "the Holy See" or "the Apostolic See", the latter name being based upon the belief that the Bishop of Rome is the successor of Peter the Apostle.

46. College of Cardinals

The body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. A function of the college is to advise the Pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory, a term derived from the Roman Emperor's crown council. It also attends various functions as a matter of protocol, for example, during the canonization process.

It also convenes on the death or resignation of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor. The college has no ruling power except during the sede vacante (papal vacancy) period, and even then its powers are extremely limited.

47. white smoke

The traditional symbol by the college of cardinals to announce that they have chosen a new pope. This originally was obtained by burning the ballots of the voting cardinals. If a pope was not chosen on that ballot, damp straw was added to the ballots, causing the smoke to be black.

48. Cardinal Humbert

A French Benedictine abbot and later a cardinal. It was his act of excommunicating the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1054 which is generally regarded as the precipitating event of the Great Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Under Leo IX, he became the principal papal secretary and on a trip through Apulia in 1053, he received and translated from Greek a letter from an Eastern archbishop, criticizing the pope, which he gave to the pope, who in turn sent him to Constantinople to address the matter with the patriarch, Michael Cerularius. He was cordially welcomed by the Emperor Constantine IX, but spurned by the patriarch. Eventually, on July 16, 1054, despite the fact that Leo had died and the excommunication was thereby invalid, during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy he laid a papal bull of excommunication of the patriarch on the high altar of the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia. This event crystallized in an official way the gradual estrangement of Eastern and Western Christianity which had taken place over the centuries, and is traditionally used to date the beginning of the Great Schism.

49. Middle Ages

People use the phrase to describe Europe between the fall of Rome in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century. Many scholars call the era the “medieval period” to fight against the perception that the period is an insignificant blip sandwiched between two much more important epochs. The phrase tells us more about the Renaissance that followed it than it does about the era itself. Starting around the 14th century, European thinkers, writers and artists began to look back and celebrate the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Accordingly, they dismissed the period after the fall of Rome as a “Middle” or even “Dark” age in which no scientific accomplishments had been made, no great art produced, no great leaders born. The people of that era, they argued, had squandered the advancements of their predecessors, and mired themselves instead in what 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon called “barbarism and religion.” More recent historians argue that they era was vibrant as any other, and it is worth noting that there is something vaguely Western eurocentric in the whole notion since it is the only region that had a “Dark Ages” as it were.

50. Romanesque

The art of Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The term was invented by 19th-century art historians, especially for the architecture of this style, which retained many basic features of Roman architectural style – most notably round-headed arches, but also barrel vaults, apses, and acanthus-leaf decoration – but had also developed many very different characteristics. It was the first style to spread across the whole of Catholic Europe, from Sicily to Scandinavia, after the fall or Rome. It was also greatly influenced by Byzantine art, especially in painting.

51. Gothic

A style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. Originating in 12th-century France and lasting into the 16th century, it architecture was known during the period as Opus Francigenum ("French work") with the term Gothic first appearing during the later part of the Renaissance, and then as an insult, ascribing the architecture as something barbarians (the Goths) would do. Its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. It is most familiar as the architecture of many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and churches of Europe. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, such as dorms and rooms.

52. Santa Sabina
        
A historical church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans. It is perched high above the Tiber river to the north and the Circus Maximus to the east. It is the oldest extant Roman basilica in Rome that preserves its original colonnaded rectangular plan and architectural style. Its decorations have been restored to their original restrained design. Because of its simplicity, the Santa Sabina represents the crossover from a roofed Roman forum to the churches of Christendom. Prior to this, basilicas had been public buildings of Rome. This marks the transition of the term basilica to mean church, typically one laid out in a cross pattern.

53. The Church of Saint-Foy

One of the best examples of Romanesque architecture, it is located in Conques and is an important pilgrimage church on the route to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain. It is also an abbey, meaning that the church was part of a monastery where monks lived, prayed and worked. Only small parts of the monastery have survived but the church remains largely intact. Although smaller churches stood on the site from the seventh century, this church was begun in the eleventh century and completed in the mid-twelfth century. As a Romanesque church, it has a barrel-vaulted nave lined with arches on the interior. It is known as a pilgrimage church because many of the large churches along the route to Santiago de Compostela took a similar shape. The main feature of these churches was the cruciform plan. Not only did this plan take the symbolic form of the cross but it also helped control the crowds of pilgrims. In most cases, pilgrims could enter the western portal and then circulate around the church towards the apse at the eastern end. The apse usually contained smaller chapels, known as radiating chapels, where pilgrims could visit saint’s shrines, especially the sanctuary of Saint Foy. They could then circulate around the ambulatory and out the transept, or crossing. This design helped to regulate the flow of traffic throughout the church although the intention and effective use of this design has been debated.

54. Basilica of St. Denis

A large medieval abbey church in named city, which is now a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of unique importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is considered to be the first Gothic church. The site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral

55. Notre Dame de Paris

A historic Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in Paris. The cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, and it is among the largest and most well-known church buildings in the world. The naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture. As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, it is the parish that contains the cathedra, or official chair, of the Archbishop of Paris. The cathedral treasury is notable for its reliquary which houses some of Catholicism's most important first-class relics including the purported Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross, and one of the Holy Nails.

56. Chartres Cathedral

A medieval Catholic cathedral of the Latin Church located in the namesake town in France, about 50 miles southwest of Paris. It is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. The current cathedral, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1250, is the last of at least five which have occupied the site since the town became a bishopric in the 4th century. The cathedral is in an exceptional state of preservation. The majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. The building's exterior is dominated by heavy flying buttresses which allowed the architects to increase the window size significantly, while the west end is dominated by two contrasting spires – a 349-foot plain pyramid completed around 1160 and a 377-foot, early 16th-century flamboyant spire on top of an older tower. Equally notable are the three great façades, each adorned with hundreds of sculpted figures illustrating key theological themes and narratives.

57. flying buttress

A specific form of support composed of an arched structure that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall outwards, which are forces that arise from vaulted ceilings of stone and from wind-loading on roofs. They were instrumental in the transition from the small windows of Romanesque architecture into the gigantic stained glass windows of the gothic period. The defining, functional characteristic of one is that it is not in contact with the wall it supports, like a traditional buttress, and so transmits the lateral forces across the span of intervening space between the wall and the pier. To provide lateral support, flying-buttress systems are composed of two parts: first a massive pier, a vertical block of masonry situated away from the building wall, and second an arch that bridges the span between the pier and the wall — either a segmental arch or a quadrant arch — the flyer of the flying buttress.

58. stained glass

Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, mosques and other significant buildings. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture.

59. feudalism

A set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs. It flourished in medieval Europe between the ninth and 15th centuries and is also generally applied to the shogunate of Japan. Instituted largely by Charlemagne, it was a system of order in which a kingdom or empire was divided up into individual units that paid taxes to each layer above them in exchange for protection.

60. vassal

A person granted the use of land, in return for rendering homage, fealty, and usually military service or its equivalent to a lord or other superior; feudal tenant. These were often the knights or warrior class of the Western European feudal system. Many were professional warriors who served in the lord’s army.

61. serf

A person in a condition of servitude, required to render services to a lord, commonly attached to the lord's land and transferred with it from one owner to another. The peasants were bound to the land, so it was in the vassal's interest to protect them from invaders.
    
62. chivalry

The system of values (such as loyalty and honor) that knights in the Middle Ages were expected to follow. The sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms.

63. fief

The central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable property or rights granted by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty (or "in fee") in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the personal ceremonies of homage and fealty.

64. samurai

The military-nobility and officer-caste of medieval and early-modern Japan. They were usually associated with a clan and their lord, were trained as officers in military tactics and grand strategy, and they followed a set of rules that later came to be known as the bushido. While the samurai numbered less than 10% of then Japan's population, their teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in modern Japanese martial arts.

65. bushido

Literally meaning "the way of the warrior", is a Japanese word for the way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry in Europe. Just as the knights in Europe the samurai had a code to live by that was also based in a moral way of life. The "way" itself originates from the samurai moral values, most commonly stressing some combination of frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor until death.

66. daimyo

Powerful feudal lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings. Subordinate only to the Shogun, they were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 10th century to the middle 19th century in Japan. The term is also sometimes used to refer to the leading figures of such clans, also called "lord". It was usually, though not exclusively, from these warlords that a shogun arose or a regent was chosen. They often hired samurai to guard their land and they paid the samurai in land or food as relatively few could afford to pay samurai in money. The daimyo era ended soon after the Meiji Restoration with the adoption of the prefecture system in 1871.

67. Alhambra

A palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It was originally constructed as a small fortress in 889 on the remains of Roman fortifications and then largely ignored until its ruins were renovated and rebuilt in the mid-13th century by the Moorish emir Mohammed ben Al-Ahmar of the Emirate of Granada, who built its current palace and walls. It was converted into a royal palace in 1333 by Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (where Christopher Columbus allegedly received royal endorsement for his expedition) and the palaces were partially altered to Renaissance tastes.

68. William the Conqueror

The first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. The descendant of Viking raiders, he had been Duke of Normandy since 1035. After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands and by difficulties with his eldest son.

69. Bayeux tapestry

An embroidered cloth nearly 230 feet long and 20 inches tall, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings. The tapestry consists of some fifty scenes with Latin tituli, embroidered on linen with coloured woolen yarns. It is likely that it was commissioned by Bishop Odo, William's half-brother, and made in England—not Bayeux—in the 1070s. In 1729 the hanging was rediscovered by scholars. The designs on it are embroidered rather than woven, so that it is not technically a tapestry. Nevertheless, it is always referred to as such. It can be seen as the final and surely the best known work of Anglo-Saxon art, and though made after the Conquest was both made in England and firmly in an Anglo-Saxon tradition.

70. Norman Conquest

The 11th century invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, and French soldiers led by Duke William II of Normandy, later styled as William the Conqueror. William's claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, who may have encouraged William's hopes for the throne. Edward died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson. The Norwegian king Harald Hardrada invaded northern England in September 1066 and was victorious at the Battle of Fulford, but Harold defeated and killed him at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on Sept. 25, 1066. Within days, William landed in southern England. Harold marched south to confront him, leaving a significant portion of his army in the north. Harold's army confronted William's invaders on Oct. 14 at the Battle of Hastings; William's force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement Although William's main rivals were gone, he still faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072. The lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated; some of the elite fled into exile. To control his new kingdom, William gave lands to his followers and built castles commanding military strong points throughout the land.

71. Battle of Hastings

Fought on Oct. 14,  1066 between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold II, beginning the Norman conquest of England. It took place approximately seven miles northwest of the city it is named for, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory. The exact numbers present at the battle are unknown; estimates are around 10,000 for William and about 7,000 for Harold. The composition of the forces is clearer; the English army was composed almost entirely of infantry and had few archers, whereas only about half of the invading force was infantry, the rest split equally between cavalry and archers. Harold appears to have tried to surprise William, but scouts found his army and reported its arrival to William, who marched from Hastings to the battlefield to confront Harold. The battle lasted from about 9 am to dusk. Early efforts of the invaders to break the English battle lines had little effect; therefore, the Normans adopted the tactic of pretending to flee in panic and then turning on their pursuers. Harold's death, probably near the end of the battle, led to the retreat and defeat of most of his army. After further marching and some skirmishes, William was crowned as king on Christmas Day 1066.


72. Domesday Book

A manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The survey's main purpose was to determine what taxes had been owed during the reign of King Edward the Confessor. The assessors' reckoning of a man's holdings and their values, as recorded in Domesday Book, was dispositive and without appeal. The book is an invaluable primary source for modern historians and historical economists. No survey approaching the scope and extent of Domesday Book was attempted again in Britain until the 1873 Return of Owners of Land (sometimes termed the "Modern Domesday") which presented the first complete, post-Domesday picture of the distribution of landed property in the British Isles.