Diocletian
-Emperor of Rome (reigned for 21 years from 284-305) -Called himself the Sun-God which demonstrated political and religious power -Birthday was December 25 -Known for worst and longest persecution of Christians -Wanted to divide the Church through a) scandal and b) persecution and imprisonment -Issued an edict in 303 that all Christians must be imprisoned, tortured, and killed
Manicheans
-Followed the Persian prophet Mani -Manicheanism was much like Zorastrianism -Believed there was one supreme God of the universe
Sassanians
-A Germanic people -Threatened Rome's eastern side (Asia Minor) -Caused Diocletian to shift his focus towards them ultimately causing the separation of the Roman empire
Tetrarchy
-Means literally 4 rule -Diocletian was emperor in the east with sub-emperor Galerius -Maximianus was emperor in the west with sub-emperor Constantius -Not considered two empires, but two rulerships
Constantine
-reigned from 324 to 337 -Moved the capital of the Roman empire from Rome to Constantinople -This represented the transfer of power from Rome (west) to Constantinople (east). -This created two political states and two versions of Christianity -Legalized Christianity through the entire Roman empire which led to the spread over the whole world.
Monarchians
-Believe oneness of God -God is one substance with three professions
Gnostics
-Jesus appeared to be human but was actually just Divine
Arians
-Jesus was a human and not divine -It was impossible for a god to be human
Trinitarian
-God was 3 persons -3 persons had different statuses
Origen
-Believed Son and Father were co-eternal but there was still a hierarchy. -Father _ Son_ Holy Spirit
Council of Nicea
-Started in 325 -Called by Constantine -Meant to figure out dogmatic theology -Condemned heresies and supported Trinitarianism but not the beliefs of Origen -"The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one equal being" -All trinitarian Christians support the Nicean Creed
Synod of Chalcedon
-God is one but 3 persons -God the Son has two natures: a) Fully human b) Fully Divine
Donatists
-Believed visible Church had to be as perfect as the invisible one -Just as saints are perfect, those on Earth must be perfect
Pelagians
-To achieve perfection in this life by their own will and choosing
St. Augustine of Hippo
-Supported neither Donatists or Pelagians -Faith is a gift from God (unable to earn a gift) -Gives an account of the "City of God and the City of Man -If one lives their life for God, they are of the City f God -If one lives their life for themselves (pride) they belong to the City of Man
Ambrose
-Helped define the relationship between sacred authority of the Church and the secular authority of the rulers -He was a patriarch for the administrative capital at Milan -Rebuked the emperor Theodosius for killing innocent villagers during a purge of pagans -Admired Cicero -Wrote a book "On the Duties of Ministers" -Had St. Augustine as a disciple
Neoplatonism
-Translates to "New Platonism" -Drew upon the more mystical aspects of Plato's thought -Its founder was Plotinus who was a Hellenistic philosopher from Egypt. -Said that humans were composed of both bodies and a soul -Neoplatonism became even more popular than Stoicism
Monastic Living
-Christians who formed distinct groups were called monastaries -Monastic living was different in the East and West -Same basic structure of living in a community while focusing solely on god (united by faith) -Monasteries were examples of St. Augustine's City of God
Basil the Great
-Eastern monastic living -Believed in the power of communal work
Simeon Stylites
-Eastern monastic living -Believed in solitary living and surviving alone (hermit-like)
Marana and Cyra
-Eastern monastic living -Chained themselves in a small room as a sacrifice to god
Jerome
-Lived from 347-420 AD -He knew many languages and translated the Bible into Latin This Bible was called the Vulgate -Founded a monastery in Bethlehem
Vulgate
-Jerome's Bible written entirely in Latin -Became the standard bible for all Catholics
Benedict of Nursia
-Son of a Roman nobleman -Founded a monastery at Monte Cassino -Made up a rule for beginners for his followers -His rule included prayers, lessons, and worship -Basic guidelines for monastic life
Boethius
-Roman senator and philosopher -lived in the early 6th century AD -was put in prison for conspiring against Odoacer wrote 'Consolation of Philosophy' which went on to become the most influential work of the middle ages. -eventually executed in 524 AD
Justinian
-Justinian wanted to revive the empire's greatness -also aimed to re-conquer the lower western half of the Roman Empire -Last emperor to speak Latin as a first language -Created Justinian's Code -Died on the 14 of November -Wife was Theodora -he was considered unsuccessful because he left the empire with hopeless bankruptcy and the loss of land
Justinian Code
-Previously known as the body of civil law -included statutes, legal writings, principles, and legislation. -Known as the most collective and authoritative Roman code of law -Became known throughout the world as a foundation for laws -created in full by Justinian and his successors
Nika Riot
-breaking out in Constantinople -Justinian wanted to flee to protect himself -Theodora convinced him to re-assert his power -gathered thousands of people in the hippodrome and slaughters 30,000 of them -overcomes the rioters and aims to rebuild Constantinople -Built the largest in the world at the time called the Hagia Sofia
Istanbul
-name came from 'es ten polis' which translates to 'going to the city'
Byantine State
-State was ruled by one person - characterized by bureaucracy -people who served the state were men and eunuchs -state preserved many documents like Plato and Homer -vanguard on front lines of Islamic troops
Orthodoxy Christianity
-began to form different hierarchies -religion was one thing the Roam and orthodox things had in common -delicate relationship between ecclesiatial power and political power -emperor appoints patriarch but patriarch can excommunicate the emperor -big issues were icons
Iconoclasts
-people who were against icons -Leo III was an iconoclast -iconoclast means breakers of images -iconoclasts were influenced by Muslims and Jews -icons created much controversy
Barbarians
-two main groups were the goths and anglo-saxons -goths were split into Visigoths and Ostrogoth while anglo saxons were British
Visigoths
-located in southern France and Spain -wanted to unify France and Spain through religion and law -leaders were Arian (believed Jesus was human and not divine) -wanted to force Visigoth people to be arrian too -Visigoths were defeated by the Roman Catholic Franks
Ostrogoths
-located in Italy, Austria, and Slovakia -Romans and Ostrogoth lived in peace -Justinian tried to take over the Ostrogoths and take their land -Pope ultimately establishes authority and puts an end to the invasion
Anglo-Saxons
-Located in Britain -11 distinct groups with in the anglo-saxons -Since they were in the North, they were never touched by the Roman world -their central military values were honor and glory -they often moved from place to place
Muhammad
-born in 17 AD -founded Islam -came from the bedouin society -did not have parents -became a business manager for an old wealthy widow and eventually marries her -became very spiritual at age 30 and ten years later reported having a vision from God that made him a prophet -could not read or write so he gave revelations orally -taught there was only one person in God and about judgement at the end of life
Islam
-Faith if the book (Quran) -founded by Muhammad -set of guidelines were known as the five pillars of Islam which included when to pray, alms giving, and pilgrimages -Shari'a was a set of rules compiled by Muslim scholars as a law code for how to live - believed in holy war against non muslims
Charlemagne
- lived between 8-9 century AD -emerged from the barbarians -he was a military leader who defeated many people -said to be tall but with a small voice -ushered in the Carolingian renaissance -never learned to read -firm believer in education for everyone -developed caroline minuscule for clearer and easier writing -very good Catholic -built the Aexle shepel -firm supporter of the pope and in return, pope gave spiritual help -Charlemagne was crowned by the pope and this brought questions about authority