Jan 21, 2016
The empire in the West collapsed• Due to invasion
The empire in the East was stable • It considered itself
the “Roman Empire” with a new name “Byzantine Empire”
• Byzantium was an old name for Constantinople
For a couple of reasons:• By the 5th century, the
bulk of population and wealth fell in the Eastern part, so they were better prepared to face hard times
The invasions eventually divided East from West
Justinian came to power in 527
Dreamed of uniting the empire as well as the church under his rule
He was able to make his dream come true
Last strong Emperor Kept out barbarians But the reunion did not
last long, it was almost immediately destroyed after Justinian’s death
They were co-rulers
It was uncommon for women to rule
He was faced with a challenge: the heresy of Monophysitism
The council of Chalcedon in 451 had dealt directly with the question of Christ’s human and divine natures, but its decision that Christ is both fully human and fully divine was not accepted everywhere.
Justinian stood firmly on the side of Chalcedon
Theodora was a supporter of the monophysites (supporters of Monophysitism)
The church was divided Justinian was never able to re-unite
the church
Hagia Sophia
In the year 1453 the Turks conquered Constantinople and renamed it Istanbul
They converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque• A symbol of Christian faith
changed into a symbol of the conqueror’s power
• It remained a mosque for five centuries
Today it remains as a museum
All Decorations were destroyed when Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque