Constantine Constantine was born on ca.

. 272 ruled the expanding Roman Empire from 306 until his death in 337 established Constantinople most important accomplishement was making Christinity the unofficially supported religion of Rome major factor in the spread and acceptance of Christianity Battle of the Milvian Bridge Was the battle between Constantine and Maxentius on 312 Occurred at the Milvian Bridge, an important route to the Tiber In his dream, Constantine had a vision of the Chi-Rho sign and he then instructed to paint this sign to the troops shields Constantine won the battle and Maxentius drowned in the river during the battle This victory gave him total control of the western Roman Empire and encouraged the spred of Christianity Constantinople founded by Emperor Constantine on the site of Greek city of Byzantion had been chosen by Constantine as the new capital of the Roman Empire because it was at the center of 2 continents, it became a center of commerce, culture, and diplomacy Second Rome and it was the most powerful city in the Europe at that time Monte Cassino the first Benedict monasticism established by St Benedict of Nursia it was the first monastery that apply the Rule of St Benedict Monte Cassino was higly regarded as a centyer of cultural and spiritual life and was significant to the spread of Christianity in Western Europe eremitic/cenobitic Monastic life is usually divided into two types, cenobitic and eremitic The cenobitic monks lived together in monasteries St. Pachomius as the father of cenobitic monasticism Whereas eremitic monks (hermits) lived alone in a hut or cave The idea of cenobitic monasticism over the next several centuries took root throughout the Chriatian world barbarians Used to be called Germans Instead, Romans and Greek call foreigners as barbarians since they did not speak Latin or Greek The barbarian settlement in Europe was noteworthy becayse they provide important foundation to early Medieval Europe Franco-Papal Alliance was the alliance between pope and the Carolingian family w/ this alliance, Pepin was crowned by the Pope and in turn Pepin provided military support against Lombards this helped shape early medieval hisory in which the transfer of the royal title from Merovingian to the Pepin the Short took place Neoplatonism a term for mystical philosophy founded by Plotinus (205-270) and adapted from Platos (BCE 427-347) ideas. Plotinus argued that there was 1, unapproachable God that can only be experienced through mystical experience Existence from this God (the creator of everything) radiated in a concentric cirlces have played a role in the history Today Neo-Platonism's influence can be felt almost everywhere from art to social theory and religion Sufism Mystical Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love when the heart is only concsious of God have been influenced by Neoplatonism and became very powerful by 10th century one of the importants rituals is the zikr during a zikr, one remembers God either through mediation, chant, and movements until ecstacy and purity have been reached

Magyars Nomadic people originated from central Asia They raided to central Europe during 9th and 10th centuries Defeated at Lechfeld by Otto I, king of Germany in 955 Vlkerwanderung literally it means the migration of peoples movements of various barbarians tribes around Europe from 4th through 9th centuries a contributing factor leading to the break up of the Roman Empire Pax Romana literally means Roman Peace. a period in which Rome at its peak and had the most peace, stability, and prosperity grand developments in engineering, law, justice, and administration lasted for more than 2 centuries and during this time no other military power achieved victory against the Romans Diocletian Roman Emperor from 284 to 305 He acts as God dominus et deus Began of division of empire Created law to fixed wages and heredity vocations Engaged in widespread and bloodiest persecution of Christianity Augustine of Hippo Lived from 354 430 Saint and the bishop of Hippo in North Africa His autibiography De Civitate Dei and City of God was written as a response to the Crisis of the Roman Empire The pagans claimed that Rome had been abandoned by God because they had abandoned God In it he developed the concept of the chursh as City of God distinct from the material Earthly City The City of God was the most important intellectual work for educated medieval Europeans, after Bible Empress Theodora 500 548 Was the empress of the RomanEmpire and the wife of Emperor Justinian Intelligent and courageous woman, where in Nika Riots, she spoke against leaving the palace and said better died as ruler instead of living as nothing The most influential and powerful woman in the empires history because she involved in Justinians administration A pioneer of feminism because of the law that she passed, increasing the rights of women Corpus Iuris Civilis A collection of Roman law into one coherent body jurisprudence by order of Emperor Justinian Body of Civil Law It served as the backbone of the single largest law reform of the modern age capitularies Collection of Carolingian law, ordinance promulgated by the Carolingian sovereign (Charlemagne and his heirs) in Western Europe It was written in the 8th to late 9th century One of the most important were the Kings instructions to the missi dominici, the emissaries to the various parts of the empire Muhammad 571 632, was born in Mecca At the age of 40, Muhammad received his first revelation from God through Gabriel The revelations continued for 23 years, and they are collectively know as the Quran He preached relatively simple message that devotees must worship to Allah solely and He was supremely successful as both political and religious leader, in which Islam has spread very widely and rapidly after his death