General Questions
Thinkers from this period were chiefly responsible for creating the terms "the Middle Ages" and the "Dark Ages."
The Italian Renaissance
This prolonged period of turmoil, lasting from 235 to 284, saw large-scale transformations to Roman social organization, civic structure, religion, and politics. It was ended with Diocletian's creation of the Tetrarchy.
The Crisis of the Third Century
The Demes of Constantinople were teams built around this favorite Roman pastime/sport.
Chariot Racing
This pope (d. 604) was sponsored the early missionary activities to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. More generally, he was responsible for expanding the authority of the papacy among the new Barbarian kingdoms of the post-Roman West.
Gregory the Great
This city is regarded as the holiest city within Islam.
Mecca
These physical objects (often the bones or possessions of a saint) were believed to be imbued with divine power and thus became the basis of Christian saint-veneration.
Relics
This proclamation of Constantine in 313 legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire.
Edict of Milan
This church in Constantinople was built by the emperor Justinian and stands as the pinnacle of Roman architecture.
The Hagia Sophia
This fortified wall in northern Britain separated the Roman province of Britannia from the unconquered Pictish tribes to the north.
Hadrian's Wall or the Antonine Wall
These two empires fought a lengthy war (602-628) that exhausted both polities and paved the way for the Islamic expansions.
Byzantines (ERE) & Sasanian Persia
This scholarly concept encourages us to view the past as a "foreign country", helping us to recognize that the views and beliefs of historical peoples may be quite different than our own.
Alterity
This church council in 325 was called by Constantine and resulted in the condemnation of Arianism and the establishment of Trinitarian Christianity as the orthodox position.
Council of Nicaea
This faction of the Demes represented the interests of Constantinople's working class and those holding non-orthodox beliefs, primarily monophysitism.
The Greens
This ruler of Ostrogothic Italy was an Arian, but worked closely with established Roman orthodox communities to maintain the pre-476 status quo on the peninsula.
Theoderic I 'the Great'
This branch of early Islam believed that leadership of the Umma must follow the lineage of the prophet, Muhammad.
Shia Islam
Enlightenment-era authors used this architectural style to evoke a dark and spooky ambiance in their novels. However, its medieval innovators saw it as a means to create a space that was thought to be built from heavenly light.
Gothic
These Roman spiritual communities exemplified the new mood in late antique religion. They were small and secretive groups that promised members access to hidden knowledge.
Mystery Cults
This general was the chief military aid to Justinian and was responsible for the emperor's campaigns in Vandal Africa and Ostrogothic Italy.
Belisarius
This city was established to help the Visigothic Kings better govern the culturally and geographically diverse Iberian territory. It would later become an important cultural center in Al Andalus.
Toledo
This city was constructed following the Abbasid Revolution (750) and became the capital of a new universalizing caliphate.
Baghdad
This form of religious organization emphasized community practice and correct action over correct belief.
Orthopraxis
This battle in 378 saw the death of the emperor Valens and laid the groundwork for the future sack of Rome in 410.
Battle of Adrianople
This Greek word, meaning "universal ruler," was used by Late Antique and early medieval Christians to characterize after resurrection as akin to an emperor.
Pantocrator (Χριστὸς Παντοκράτωρ)
This wife of Clovis I was a Christian and proved instrumental in encouraging her husband to convert the Frankish kingdom to orthodox Christianity.
Clothilde
This tribe was that of the prophet, Muhammad, and was influential in the Arab lands before the rise of Islam.
The Quraysh tribe