504 Early Church History 22: Byzantine Empire from Constantine to Justinian

This is part 22 of the Early Church History class.

This episode aims to wrap up our early church history class. We'll cover relics and pilgrimage, emperors Zeno and Justinian, as well as the theological battles that continued to rage in the 5th and 6th centuries. Unsurprisingly the christological controversy of the 5th century did not come to an end when the emperor endorsed the Council of Chalcedon of 451 that declared Jesus to have two natures "unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, and inseparably." In addition to covering the Second Council of Constantinople of 553, we'll also briefly consider how the dual natures doctrine continued to foment division resulting in the Third Council of Constantinople in 681 and the Second Council of Nicea in 787.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59zyj9dMH4k&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=22

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—— Notes ——

Byzantine Beginnings

• 293 Diocletian initiated the division between east and west with his tetrarchy.
• 330 Constantine built a “New Rome” on the cite of old Byzantium, naming it Constantinople.
• Constantine’s mother, Helena, initiated the pilgrimage movement.
• 381 Egeria wrote a travelogue to her friends that influenced later pilgrimages.
• Helena also sent Constantine relics of the true cross.
• 397 Martin of Tours died, leaving behind his cloak, which became a famous relic.

Fifth Century Developments

• Theodosius I (r. 379-392) had outlawed pagan sacrifices and endorsed Trinitarian Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
• Arian Germanic tribes moved into the western Roman Empire and began taking territory.
• 378 Visigoths win at Adrianople.
• 410 Alaric sacked Rome.
• 455 Vandals sacked Rome.
• 476 Odoacer deposes the last Roman Augustus.
• 493 Theodoric and the Ostrogoths took Italy.

Zeno’s Henotikon

• 451 Chalcedon affirmed the dyophysite position (two natures in one person).
• 488 Byzantine Emperor Zeno attempted to reconcile monophysites and dyophysites by condemning Eutyches and Nestorius and approving Cyril’s 12 anathemas (Henotikon).
• Chalcedon remained controversial with Christianity now split into several groups: Arian Germanic kingdoms, monophysites (Egypt and Ethiopia), Chalcedonian dyophysites (Rome & Constantinople), and Nestorian dyophysites (Syria and Persia).

Justinian (482-565)

• 525 Justinian married Theodora and becam