Byzantine Empire

Question 1

Justinian

Answer 1

a high-ranking Byzantine nobleman that succeeded his uncle to the throne of the Eastern Empire.

Question 2

Justinian Code

Answer 2

Having unified the two empires, Justinian set up a panel of legal experts to regulate Byzantium’s increasingly complex society. The panel combed through 400 years of Roman law. It found a number of laws that were outdated and contradictory. The panel created a single, uniform code known as the Justinian Code.

Question 3

Hagia Sophia

Answer 3

which means “Holy Wisdom” in Greek, A church of the same name had been destroyed in riots that swept Constantinople in 532. When Justinian rebuilt Hagia Sophia, many visitors hailed it as the most splendid church in the Christian world.

Question 4

Middle Way

Answer 4

Merchant stalls lined the main street and filled the side streets. Products from the most distant corners of Asia, Africa, and Europe passed through these stalls. Everywhere, food stands filled the air with the smell of their delicacies, while acrobats and street musicians performed.

Question 5

What Happened after Justinian’s death?

Answer 5

There were street riots, religious quarrels, palace intrigues, and foreign dangers. Each time the empire moved to the edge of collapse, it found some way to revive only to face another crisis.

Question 6

What happened just before Justinian’s death

Answer 6

The bubonic plague emerges

Question 7

What challenges did Byzantium face from a foreign power?

Answer 7

Lombards overran Justinian’s conquests in the west. Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars made frequent raids on the north-
ern borders. The powerful Sassanid Persians attacked relentlessly in the east. The Persians and Avars struck against Constantinople itself in 626. With the rise of Islam, Arab armies attacked the city in 674 and once again in 717. Russians attempted invasions of the city three times between 860 and 1043. In the 11th century, the Turks took over the Muslim world and fought their way slowly into Byzantine territory.

Question 8

patriarch

Answer 8

or leading bishop of the East

Question 9

icons

Answer 9

religious images used by Eastern Christians to aid their devotions

Question 10

excommunication

Answer 10

the action of officially excluding someone from participation in the sacraments and services of the Christian Church.

Question 11

Cyrillic alphabet

Answer 11

an alphabet, Slavs would be able to read the Bible in their own tongues