History Final Study Guide Flashcards

The Tetrarchy and the Late Roman Empire

• Diocletian ($r. 284-311$): He was originally named Diokles and changed his name to Diocletian upon becoming emperor. He succeeded Numerian. He is credited with saving the empire from collapse by creating a new currency and reestablishing peace on the borders. He built up the army and was known for persecuting Christians.
• Tetrarchy: This was the division of the empire into $4$ parts. It was ruled by an Augustus of the East and an Augustus of the West, with two Caesars serving under them in the East and West.     * First Tetrarchy Configuration:         * Augustus of the West: Diocletian.         * Augustus of the East: Maximian.         * Caesar of the West: Constantinian.         * Caesar of the East: Galerian.

Constantine the Great and the Legalization of Christianity

• Constantine ($r. 312-337$): The son of Constantius (who was Caesar of the West under Diocletian). Constantine's army declared him Augustus of the West. By $323$, he had conquered all other members of the Tetrarchy to become the undisputed emperor. He significantly reformed the empire in favor of Christians and considered himself Christian his entire life, though he was not baptized until the end of his life.
• Edict of Milan ($313$): A landmark proclamation that made Christianity legal within the empire.
• Julian the Apostate ($c. 361-363$): He was the only apostate emperor of Rome, ruling for only $18$ months. He attempted to disprove Christianity by rebuilding the Temple, a project that failed due to a supernatural phenomenon. He removed all bishops from their positions, which ironically saved the Catholic Church because the removed bishops were Arian.

The Seven Ecumenical Councils and Christological Heresies

• Council of Nicea ($325$): Called by Constantine, who asked the bishops of the world to address the Arian heresy. There were $318$ bishops in attendance, divided into three groups: Orthodox, Semi-Arian, and Arian. They produced a creed approved by all but $2$ bishops.
• Council of Constantinople I ($381$): Convened by Theodosius to fix the creed and address Pneumatomachianism, a heresy that denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This council developed the creed used at Mass.
• Council of Ephesus ($431$): Focused on Cyril of Alexandria’s opposition to Nestorius. It condemned Nestorianism as a heresy and defined Mary as the Mother of God (Theotokos).
• Council of Chalcedon ($451$): Called to deal with Monophysitism. It defined Jesus, the Son, as one divine person who is fully God and fully man.
• Council of Constantinople II ($553$): Convened by Justinian. It resolved the "Three Chapters" controversy by condemning specific writings as heretical and affirmed the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon.
• Council of Constantinople III ($681$): Condemned Monothelitism. It affirmed that Jesus has two natures and two wills. It also condemned Honorius as a bad pope.
• Council of Nicea II: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Council of Constance: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Council of Florence: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).

Key Theological Terms and Definitions

• Arianism: The belief that the Son of God is a created being and not God.
• Homo-ousion: A Greek term meaning "of the same substance" as the Father.
• Homoi-ousion: A Greek term meaning "similar substance" to the Father.
• Nestorianism: The heresy that Jesus Christ was two separate persons—the divine Word of God and the human person Jesus—loosely united. Founded by Nestorius.
• Theotokos: A Greek term meaning "Mother of God."
• Monophysitism: The heresy stating that Jesus Christ had only one nature.
• Hypostatic Union: The definition that Jesus Christ is one Divine person who exists as fully God and fully man, without mixture or separation, with each nature containing what is proper to it.
• Monothelitism: A heresy started by Sergius, the Patriarch of Constantinople. It claimed that Christ is one person with two natures but only one divine will (or that the two wills are so harmonious they act as one). Pope Honorius I ($640$s) failed to condemn this idea.
• Simony: A sin involving the buying and selling of Church offices, named after Simon Magus, the founder of Gnosticism.
• Nicolaitism: A term referring to clerics who have "special lady friends" or are sodomites.

Late Antique Saints and Leaders

• St. Athanasius: Bishop of Alexandria in $335$ and personal theologian to Alexander. He was a champion of the divinity of the Word and was exiled $5$ times by the Arians. He compiled the edition of the Bible still used today.
• St. Leo the Great ($r. 440-461$): Often considered the greatest pope in history. He wrote a "Tome" condemning Monophysitism and defining the Hypostatic Union. He famously convinced Attila the Hun to retreat before attacking Rome.
• St. Gregory the Great: Former ambassador to Constantinople and elected pope in $590$. One of the four great Doctors of the Church.     * Developed Gregorian Chant from Hebrew chanting and Psalms.     * Sent missionaries to convert the Anglo-Saxons.     * Helped codify the Roman Missal.     * Wrote extensively on moral theology.
• St. Augustine of Canterbury: Sent by Gregory the Great in $597$ to evangelize England. He baptized $10,000$ people and established Canterbury Cathedral.
• St. Patrick ($b. 387$): Born in England, he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland. After returning to England and being ordained a bishop, he successfully evangelized Ireland without a single martyr.

The Fall of the West and the Germanic Kingdoms

• $476$: The fall of the Western Roman Empire. Odavacar deposed Romulus Augustus.
• Odavacar: An Arian who was declared King of Italy in $476$. He was later killed by Theoderic, the King of the Ostrogoths.
• Theoderic: King of the Ostrogoths who became King of Italy after killing Odavacar.
• Clovis: A pagan king of the Salian Franks who took power at age $15$. He married Clotilde, a devout Christian Burgundian princess.
• St. Clotilde: The Burgundian princess whose influence led to the baptism of her husband, Clovis.
• Conversion of the Franks: Clovis was baptized alongside $3,000$ of his men.
• St. Hermenigild: An Arian and son of Liuvigild (Arian King of the Visigoths). He married the Frankish princess Inguinthis. After converting to Orthodox Christianity, he fought a war against his father ($579-584$), was captured, and became a martyr.
• Inguinthis: Princess of the Franks who married Hermenigild and influenced his conversion to Christianity.

The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire and Early Islam

• Justinian ($r. 527-565$): Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (ERE).     * Devised the Code of Justinian, an influential legal system.     * Built the Hagia Sophia, completed in $537$.     * Married Theodora, a former actress and prostitute who was also a Monophysite heretic. Her status caused great scandal, and she worked to prevent Monophysitism from being condemned.
• Heraclius ($r. 610-641$): Son of a top Roman general. He became ERE emperor and successfully conquered the Persians.
• Muhammad: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Abu-bakr: Succeeded Muhammad as the Muslim Caliph; he was the father of Aisha.
• Umar ($r. 634-644$): The Muslim Caliph following Abu-bakr. He conquered Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Persian Empire before being assassinated.

The Carolingians and the Battle of Tours

• Charles Martel ("The Hammer"): Served as Mayor of the Palace for the Franks. He conquered Avignon in $737$.
• Battle of Tours ($727$): (Note: Transcript date $727$). Abd al-Rahman led a Muslim army to attack Tours, a spiritual center. Charles Martel’s army demolished the Muslim forces, and Abd al-Rahman was killed.
• Pepin ($r. 751-768$): Son of Charles Martel and brother of Carloman. He was anointed king by St. Boniface.
• Charlemagne ($r. 771-814$): Son of Pepin.     * Conquered the Saxons and attempted to convert them to Christianity; he famously massacred $4,500$ Saxons who refused conversion.     * He was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day, $800$.

The High Middle Ages and Reform

• Monastery of Cluny: Founded in $910$ AD in Burgundy, France. It became the center of the most influential monastic reform movement in medieval Europe.
• St. Gregory VII: A great reformer who sought to remove secular power from the Church. The Gregorian Reforms (papal reforms) aim to improve the Church and eliminate corruption.
• Alexius Comnenus ($r. 1081-1118$): Eastern Roman Emperor who requested an army from the Pope. He transported the First Crusader army but did not join them. He attempted to make the Crusaders sign contracts to be his vassals so he could claim conquered lands; he bypassed the Crusaders to take Nicea for himself.
• Harald Bluetooth ($r. 958-986$): $10$th-century Viking King who brought Christianity to Denmark and Norway.
• Pelayo: Leader of Christian Spaniards in Asturias (the only part of Spain not conquered by Muslims). He led $30$ men to defeat a force of $60,000$ Muslim soldiers.

Additional Figures and Events

• $1187$: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• $1453$: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description; typically signifies the Fall of Constantinople).
• Saladin: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Richard Lionheart: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• St. Thomas Becket: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• St. Francis of Assisi: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• St. Dominic: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Albigensianism: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Boniface VIII: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Avignon Papacy: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Benedictus Deus: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Conciliarism: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• St. Anselm of Canterbury: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Peter Lombard: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Peter Abelard: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• St. Thomas Aquinas: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Nominalism: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Celestine V: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Isabel and Ferdinand: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Julius II: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Martin Luther: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Henry VII: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Thomas More: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• John Calvin: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Leo X: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Christopher Columbus: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Hernan Cortes: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Michael VIII Palaiologos: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).
• Constantine XI Palaiologos: (Note: Listed in the study guide without description).