Justinian: Byzantine Emperor

Justinian I was an aspiring ruler of the Byzantine Empire whose ultimate goal was to re-conquer Rome, despite the several obstacles and failures that stood in his way. His contributions to the empire included the reformation of taxation and a new body of laws called the corpus iuris civilis, which combined Roman laws with the beliefs of Christianity. This new system of laws would influence later European countries and be the standard for which they based their legal practices on.

Much of his reign stressed the importance of Christianity, however for a short period of time, Justinian believed in Monophysite Doctrine, which claimed that Christ only had one nature that was truly divine and dismissed his humanity. This put a strain on his relationship with the Roman Pope. Eventually, after realizing that he needed the power and influence of the Pope, he changed his beliefs once more, and accepted the orthodox belief in both the divine and human nature of Christ.

While he was not having luck in the political and religious aspects of his empire, he did make a large contribution to the artistic culture of the Byzantine Empire. He had the Santa Sophia built in Constantinople and the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna. These two buildings were influential architectural breakthroughs that later gave influence to European architecture and mosaic style.

Although Justinian was tied to the Orthodox Latin Church, his persecutions of non-Christians played a role that eventually did more harm than good for his goal of re-conquering Rome. It was because of this persecution and intolerance that foreign nations, especially Muslim rulers, were largely accepted by a majority of the Byzantine people. It was because of his failed expeditions and persecutions of non-Christians that prevented him from achieving his goal of conquering Rome.

Links:

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MA/BYZ.HTM

Shared Saints: A Common Bond

Despite the division between the Byzantine and Western Catholic Churches, they share many things because of their common origin. For example, both celebrate many of the same saints, including Saints Cyril and Methodius.

The Byzantine Church recognizes Cyril and Methodius as great saints, "equal to the apostles" for their work in bringing the Orthodox faith to central Europe. The Roman Catholic Church also considers them important; Pope Leo XII even wrote an encyclical to introduce their feast day. Although originally only Slovenia, Moravia, and Croatia celebrated them, eventually Pope Pius IX officially recognized their feast day, and Pope Leo XII made it an official universal feast day in 1880.

The brothers are most known for their work as missionaries to the Slavic peoples of Europe. They converted many, and their success is primarily attributed to their work in creating a written Slavic language and translating Biblical and liturgical books into the vernacular. Cyril and Methodius devised an alphabet to make the written language, and their proficiency in the Slavic language from a young age made their task easier. Cyril's education in Constantinople increased their success as well, because he was able to apply what he knew to aid the spread of litearacy, and therefore Christianity.

Cyril and Methodius exemplify one of the many reasons people convert to new religions: education. In addition to preaching Orthodox Christianity, a religion that could be practiced in their own languages, the brothers offered literacy, in the form of religious texts written in Slavic. Because of their work, Cyril and Methodius are considered some of the greatest missionaries of Orthodox Christianity to the world, as well as the founders of Slavic civilization. For these contributions, both the Roman Catholic and Byzantine Orthodox churches honor them as saints.

Sources: OrthodoxWiki, Papel Encyclicals Online