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Byzantine Emperor
The Byzantine Emperor ruled as an absolute monarch in an institution which lasted from the 4th to 15th century CE. Aided by ministers, high-ranking nobility, and key church figures, the emperor (and sometimes empress) was commander-in-chief...
Definition
Michael Psellos
Michael Psellos (1018 - c. 1082 CE) was a Byzantine historian, writer, and intellectual. Michael acted as courtier and advisor to several Byzantine emperors, and he was the tutor of Michael VII. Writing between 1042 and 1078 CE, his texts...
Definition
Christianity
Christianity is the world's largest religion, with 2.8 billion adherents. It is categorized as one of the three Abrahamic or monotheistic religions of the Western tradition along with Judaism and Islam. 'Christian' is derived from the Greek...
Image
Constantine I Colossus
The head, hand and sphere (symbol of power) from the colossal bronze statue of Constantine I, 4th century CE. The head alone is 1.77 m high. (Capitoline Museums, Rome).
Image
Constantine's Conversion
The Emblem of Christ Appearing to Constantine / Constantine's conversion, oil on panel painting by Peter Paul Rubens, 1622.
Philadelphia Museum of Art.
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Constantine's Vision
Constantine I's (r. 306-337 CE) vision and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in a 9th-century Byzantine manuscript. Detail from folio 440 recto of manuscript BnF MS Gr510, dated 879-883 and containing the homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus...
Definition
Nikephoros II Phokas
Nikephoros II Phokas was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969 CE. Known as “White Death of the Saracens,” Nikephoros was a fearsome commander who conquered Crete, Cilicia, and much of Syria. While he is known as a great military commander, he...
Definition
Despotate of the Morea
The Despotate of the Morea was a semi-autonomous appanage of the later Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines retook part of the Peloponnese in Southern Greece in 1262 CE, but the Morea was only officially governed by semi-autonomous despots of...
Definition
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire existed from 330 to 1453. It is often called the Eastern Roman Empire or simply Byzantium. The Byzantine capital was founded at Constantinople by Constantine I (r. 306-337). The Byzantine Empire varied in size over the...
Article
Six Great Heresies of the Middle Ages
The medieval Church established its monopoly over the spiritual life of Europeans in the Early Middle Ages (c. 476-1000) and consolidated that power throughout the High Middle Ages (1000-1300) and Late Middle Ages (1300-1500). Along the way...