Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, councils, and events from late Roman history through early medieval Europe and Islam.

Third-Century Crisis

A period in the Roman Empire marked by plague, war, and the breakdown of adoptive successions.

Diocletian

Roman Emperor who split the kingdom into four points and persecuted Christians.

Tetrarchy

System of dividing the country into four parts.

Constantine

Roman emperor who issued the Edict of Milan, created the labarum, had a vision to put the cross onto shields, and won in battle.

Edict of Milan

Decree issued in 313 that legalized Christianity.

Constantinople

Capital senate in the east.

Orthodoxy

The law of God.

Heresy

Going against the law of God.

Arianism

The belief that Jesus is not God, but the son.

Council of Nicea

Church council that declared Jesus is God.

Asceticism

Religious discipline associated with monks.

Relics

Holy objects.

Huns

Barbarian horsemen.

Visigoths

Barbarian group whose leader Alaric sacked Rome.

Alaric

Leader of the Visigoths who sacked Rome.

410 Sack of Rome

The event in 410 where Rome was sacked by Alaric and the Visigoths.

Boethius

Author of The Consolation of Philosophy who was killed by the Ostrogoth ruler Theodoric.

Vandals

Barbarians who destroyed Rome.

Anglo-Saxons

Old English people.

Ostrogoths

Barbarian group ruled by Theodoric.

Theodoric

Ostrogoth ruler who killed Boethius.

Franks

New English people / French organized by Clovis.

Clovis

King of the Franks belonging to the Merovingian dynasty.

Ruralization

Process where people move out of a city into farmland.

Monasticism

Role and system of monks.

Benedictine Rule

Rules created for monks.

Justinian

Byzantine emperor associated with the Justinian Code, Hagia Sophia, a major plague, and fighting the Persians.

Codex Justinianus

Law code compiled under Byzantine emperor Justinian.

Lombards

Barbarians in Italy who started fighting the Pope.

Augustine's City of God

Major theological work written by Augustine.

Byzantine Empire

The Eastern Roman Empire.

Sasanid Persian Empire

Persian empire that fought against the Byzantine Empire.

Iconoclasm

Movement where Emperor Leo III tried to ban icons at the Council of Hieria due to the belief that depicting God was bad.

Council of Ephesus

Church council that declared Mary as the mother of God.

Council of Chalcedon

Church council that defined that God is Jesus and Jesus is man.

Muhammad

Messenger of God in Islam.

Qur'an & Hadith

The word of Muhammad or the Muslim bible/texts.

Five Pillars of Islam

1. Prayer 2. Zakat 3. Fast 4. Pilgrimage 5. Muslim confession of faith.

Hijra

The act of fleeing from Mecca to Medina.

Ali

Son-in-law of Muhammad central to Shi'ite belief in bloodline succession.

Abu Bakr

Father-in-law of Muhammad.

Shi'ites

Branch of Islam focusing on succession through Muhammad's bloodline via Ali.

Merovingian Dynasty

Frankish dynasty involving Clovis, Mayors, and Queen Balthid.

Gift Economy

Economic system based on reciprocal giving, prominent in Francia.

Augustine of Canterbury

Figure in Anglo-Saxon England who embraced Roman Catholicism.

Synod of Whitby

Council that decided the date of Easter based on the Roman calendar.

Reccared

Visigothic ruler who united the kingdom and made it Catholic.

732 Battle of Poitiers

Battle in 732 where Charles Martel defeated the Muslims and stopped their conquest of Europe.

Gregory the Great

Pope who allied with France (Clovis, Merovingian dynasty) for protection against Lombard Arians, demonstrating the development of the papacy into a political office.