Byzantine Vocab

Greek fire

A flammable weapon used by the Byzantine navy. Every ship in the Byzantine navy was armed with Greek fire, which was one of the key reasons as to why they were so powerful. Greek fire was incredibly dangerous, for when thrown or sprayed onto other ships, it burst into flames.

Hagia Sophia

A great decorative Byzantine church, built by Justinian in 532 C.E. and located in Constantinople. The Byzantine architects who engineered the Hagia Sophia were the first in history to solve the problem of placing a round dome roof over a rectangular building. Today, it is considered by many to be an architectural wonder, and was formerly the primary church for the Eastern Orthodox religion.

Ottoman Turks

A group of Asian people who conquered Constantinople in the 1300s and established a large empire. The Ottoman Turks were a great threat to the Byzantine Empire after it regained control in 1261. They first captured Adrianople, a leading city in the empire, and captured Constantinople in 1453, destroying the empire for good.

icon

A holy picture of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or a saint. Icons were frequently worshiped in churches, as well as the homes of thousands. In western Europe, they were relied on by many people to help teach them about Christianity, for this region had a high illiterate population. Icons were also the subject of the Iconoclastic Controversy, a massive debate that took place in 726 C.E.

mosaic

A picture or design made from small pieces of enamel, glass, or stone. Mosaics were an important element of Byzantine art, covering thousands of floors, walls, and arches all throughout the empire.

excommunication

An official edict that bars a person from church membership. After iconoclasts were threatened with excommunication from the pope, he and the patriarch in Constantinople split into two separate churches. The pope's church in the west became the Roman Catholic Church, and the patriarch's church in the east became the Eastern Orthodox Church. The two churches remain separate to this day.

heresy

An opinion that conflicts with official church beliefs. Because forbidding the worship of icons was decided to be an act of heresy, the pope and the bishops working under him concluded that all Byzantine citizens would continue to be permitted to do so, and threatened iconoclasts with expulsion from the Christian church.

Theodora

Justinian's intelligent, powerful wife, who ruled the Byzantine Empire alongside her husband as a woman of equal power. Theodora was responsible for preventing her husband from fleeing to a remote island as protesters were threatening to overthrow him. She also convinced Justinian to give women far more rights than they previously had, a new concept to the ancient world.

dowry

Money or goods a wife brings to a marriage. With the urging of his wife Theodora, Justinian passed a law that enabled Christian women to own property that was equal to the value of their dowry. This was a significant step towards giving women equal rights to their male counterparts in the Byzantine Empire.

iconoclasts

People who opposed the use of icons in worship. Iconoclasts' protests of worshiping icons was the cause of the Iconoclastic Controversy in 726 C.E., when emperor Leo III, an iconoclast, ordered all icons in every citizen's home to be destroyed.

Justinian Code

The collection of laws that formed the basis of Byzantine law under Emperor Justinian. The Justinian Code served as the "code of conduct" for the Byzantine Empire, and was commonly used as the basis of numerous legal systems in western Europe by 1100 C.E. These regulations enforce the Roman concept that people should be ruled by laws, not by the outlandish demands of leaders and royals -- the basis of western laws today.

Iconoclastic Controversy

The debate between opponents and defenders of icons in the Byzantine Church; one of the issues that led to the split of the Christian church in 1054. After much disorder caused by the Iconoclastic Controversy, bishops felt it was necessary to discuss the issues at hand in the Byzantine Empire. They ultimately concluded that the banning of icon worship would violate official church beliefs. Due to this, iconoclasts were threatened with excommunication from the Christian church.

Justinian

The emperor of the Byzantine Empire that ruled from 527 to 565 C.E. Justinian was the leader of the revival of the Roman Empire. He created written laws that were fair, equal, and are the basis of the western laws of today. He also expanded the Byzantine Empire, and had a great number of architectural achievements that were constructed from the high taxes that citizens were forced to pay. During Justinian's reign, the Byzantine Empire flourished.

Belisarius

The experienced general Justinian appointed after defeating the rebels in a fierce battle. Belisarius was the leader of the troops that slaughtered the 30,000 protesters in the Nika Revolts and seized lands once belonging to the Roman Empire that were now in the possession of Germanic tribes. Due to him, the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest size under Justinian's rule.

Cyril and Methodius

Two brothers, both Christian missionaries, that attempted to teach the Bible to Slavs in central and eastern Europe. Cyril and Methodius created an alphabet, known today as Cyrillic, because the the Slavs had not yet developed a written language. To this day, Cyrillic is commonly used by millions of Europeans.