Byzantine Empire
(330-1453) The eastern half of the Roman Empire, which survived after the fall of the Western Empire at the end of the 5th century C.E. Its capital was Constantinople, named after the Emperor Constantine.
Constantinople
A large and wealthy city that was the imperial capital of the Byzantine empire and later the Ottoman empire, now known as Istanbul
Justinian
Byzantine emperor in the 6th century A.D. who reconquered much of the territory previously ruler by Rome, initiated an ambitious building program , including Hagia Sofia, as well as a new legal code
Caersaropapism
a political-religious system in which the secular ruler is also head of religious establishment, as in the Byzantine Empire.
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Eastern branch of Christianity that evolved following the division of the Roman Empire and the subsequent development of the Byzantine Empire in the east and the medieval European society in the west. The church recognized the primacy of the patriarch of Constantinople
Icons
A painting of Christ or another holy figure, used as an aid to devotion in the Byzantine and other Eastern Churches.
Kievan Rus
A monarchy established in present day Russia in the 6th and 7th centuries. It was ruled through loosely organized alliances with regional aristocrats from. The Scandinavians coined the term "Russia". It was greatly influenced by Byzantine
Prince Vladimir of Kiev
He was the Russian prince who selected Greek Orthodoxy as the national religion. This added cultural bonds to the Byzantine Empire to the already existing commercial ties
Charlemagne
800 AD crowned by the Pope as the head of the Holy Roman Empire, which extended from northern Spain to western Germany and northern Italy. His palace was at Aachen in central Europe
Roman Catholic Church
Church established in western Europe during the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages with its head being the bishop of Rome or pope.
Holy Roman Empire
Loose federation of mostly German states and principalities, headed by an emperor elected by the princes. It lasted from 962 to 1806.
Western Christendom
Western Europe was on the margins of world history for most of the postclassical millennium; It was far removed from the growing world trade routes; European geography made political unity difficult; Coastlines and river systems facilitated internal exchange; Moderate climate enabled population growth
Crusades
1096 Christian Europe aim to reclaim Jerusalem and aid they Byzantines; 1st success and the rest a failure; weakens the Byzantines; opens up trade
European Cities
Cities in Europe that were mostly developed during the Medieval Period and that retain many of the same characteristics such as extreme density of development with narrow buildings and winding streets, an ornate church that prominently marks the city center, and high walls surrounding the city center that provided defense against attack.
System of competing states
The distinctive organization of Western European political life that developed after the fall of Western Roman Empire, in which many small existing independent states encouraged military and economic competition
Aristotle and classical Greek learning
Some works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) had always been known in Western Europe, but beginning in the eleventh century, medieval thought was increasingly shaped by a great recovery of Aristotle's works and a fascination with other Greek authors; this infusion of Greek rationalism into Europe's universities shaped intellectual development for several centuries.