Unit 1: Medieval Christian Church - Essential Vocabulary

Fill in the blank: The ruler with absolute power in the Byzantine Empire was called an _________

• Autocrat

• Senator

• Patriarch

• Consul

Fill in the blank: _________ was the emperor who established 'New Rome' (Constantinople) and recognized Christianity as a legal religion.

• Constantine

• Augustus

• Nero

• Hadrian

Fill in the blank: The capital city of the Byzantine Empire was _________.

• Constantinople

• Athens

• Rome

• Alexandria

Fill in the blank: _________ was a powerful empress of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of Justinian I.

• Empress Theodora

• Empress Matilda

• Empress Irene

• Empress Zoe

Fill in the blank: The great church built in Constantinople under Justinian I was called _________

• Hagia Sophia

• Notre Dame

• St. Peter's Basilica

• Westminster Abbey

Fill in the blank: _________ was a Byzantine emperor known for his ambitious and successful reign, including the codification of Roman law.

• Justinian the Great

• Constantine XI Palaiologos

• Leo III the Isaurian

• Basil II

Fill in the blank: The collection of laws and legal interpretations developed under the sponsorship of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I is known as _________.

• Justinian’s Code

• Napoleonic Code

• Hammurabi’s Code

• Magna Carta

Fill in the blank: The _________ were a group of Germanic tribes that played a key role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

• Franks

• Romans

• Celts

• Greeks

The geographic extent of the Byzantine Empire included which of the following regions?

• Eastern Mediterranean, including parts of the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East

• Entire Western Europe and North America

• Only the Italian Peninsula

• Scandinavia and East Asia

Christianity contributed to the collapse of the old Roman Empire while leading to the development of the Byzantine Empire by:

• Undermining traditional Roman values and unifying the Eastern Empire under a new religious identity.

• Strengthening the Roman military and expanding the empire's borders.

• Encouraging the return to pagan religions in both empires.

• Preventing the division of the empire into East and West.