Belisarius
Byzantine general under Justinian I(briliant; helped gain N Africa and Italy
Hagia Sophia
Most famous example of Byzantine architecture, it was built under Justinian I and is considered one of the most perfect buildings in the world. (church)
Greek fire
kind of napalm made by Byzantine empire, helped defeat Arab threat
Bulgaria
Slavic kingdom in Northern portions of Balkan peninsula that presented a major challenfe to Byzantine Empire
Ravenna
Italy, a key artistic center, with christian mosaics
Hellenistic culture
Greek culture blended with Egyptian, Persian and Indian ideas, as a result of Alexander the Great's Empire.
Byzantine Empire
Historians' name for the eastern portion of the Roman Empire from the fourth century onward, taken from 'Byzantion,' an early name for Constantinople, the Byzantine capital city. The empire fell to the Ottomans in 1453.
Balkans
Various peoples in this area of Eastern Europe rebelled against Ottoman rule, contributing to their imperial decline.
Manzikert
Site in Anatolia where the Byzantines were devastated by Saljuq Turks. After this crippling blow, Byzantium never controlled Anatolia again.
Constantine
Emperor of Rome who adopted the Christian faith and stopped the persecution of Christians (280-337)
Tsar
The Russian term for ruler or king; taken from the Roman word caesar. (slavic)
Basil II
emperor who led the Byzantines to their last period of greatness; nicknamed "Basil the Bulgur Slayer"
Justinian
Byzantine emperor who held the eastern frontier of his empire against the Persians
Theodora
the wife of Justinian, she helped to improve the status of women in the Byzantinian Empire and encouraged her husband to stay in Constntinople and fight the Nike Revolt.
Huns
Warlike people who migrated from Eastern Europe into territory controlled by Germanic tribes, forcing them to move into areas controlled by Rome
Sassanian Empire
(227 - 651) Persian Empire which continued Persian traditions but instituted the Zoroastrian religion as the state religion.
Procopius
Historian of the Byzantine Empire who in his Secret History revealed the cruelty of the autocratic system in which the emperor ruled by divine providence.
Icons
paintings of saints and other religious figures
Iconoclasm
The rejection or destruction of religious images as heretical; the doctrine of iconoclasts.
Cyril and Methodius
Byzantine missionaries sent to convert eastern Europe and the Balkans; responsible for creating the Slavic written script called Cyrillic.
Rurik
Legendary Scandinavian, regarded as founder of the first kingdom of Russia based in Kiev in 855 C.E.
Vladmir I
Ruler of Russian Kingdom of Kiev from 980 to 1015; converted kingdom to Christianity
Russian Orthodox
Russian form of Christianity imported from Byzantine Empire and combined with local religion; king characteristically controlled major appointments
Theodora and Zoe
Theodora(daughter of emperor) refused marry imperial heir, but then her married her sister, Zoe, Zoe was afraid of Theodora's influence and confided in her- sparked rebellion(womens rights-kinda)
Cyrillic alphabet
An alphabet for the writing of Slavic languages, devised in the ninth century A.D. by Saints Cyril and Methodius
Magyars
Muslims who attacked Europe and converted to Christianity and established Hungary
Yaroslav I
Vladimir's son; Kievan culture peaked; first library; organized legal system
Boyars
Russian Nobles
Tatars
Mongols; captured Russian cities and largely destroyed Kievan state in 1236; left Russian orthodoxy and aristocracy in tact
Constantinople
(not instanbul), Previously known as Byzantium, Constantine changed the name of the city and moved the capitol of the Roman Empire here from Rome.
Orthodox
adhering to the traditional and established, especially in religion
Christian church
a Protestant church that accepts the Bible as the only source of true Christian faith and practices baptism by immersion