Guitones Report

EMPIRE OF EAST AND WEST

 One time in its imperial history, central power was divided among more than
one emperor at one time there were four, called tetrarch.
 293 CE- the tetrarchy was established by Emperor Diocletian.
 286 CE- Maximian was raised to the level augustus and took charge of the
empire’s Western Region. Diocletian took the charge of the East.
 Two appointed as junior emperors or ceasars: Galerius and Constantius
Chlorus.
 In second tetrarchy, Galerius appointed Maximinus as ceasar in the East;
Constantius appointed Severus II as ceasar in the West
 Roman Empire had two capitals; Rome in the west and Byzantium in east.
 The tetrarchy did not last long after the death if Constantius in 306 CE.
 Galerius promoted Severus to augustus while Constantine (Constantius son)
was proclaimed augustus by his father’s troops.
 308 CE- there were four claimants to the rank of augustus: Galerius,
Constantine, Maximian, Maxentiu; but one ceasar Maximinus.
 Between 309-313 CE most of the claimants to the title augustus had died either
through natural causes or in war.
 312 CE- Maxentius was defeated by Constantine. They came to a decisive
battle at the Milvian Bridge. It was also decisive for Christianity.
 Constantine had a vision of a cross, gleaming in the sky and the message “In
hoc signo vinces” means “With you will conquer”. Also had the cross inscribed
in the shields of his army and carried the labarum as the signal banner.
 313 CE- there were two emperors; Constantine in the West and Licinus in the
East.
 324 CE- Constantine defeated Licinus in a battle and united two halves of the
empire and declaring himself sole augustus.
 Constantine made the bold move of establishing the capital of the Roman
Empire at Byzantium.
 May 11, 330 he renames Byzantium as Constantinople (Constantine’s City).
 Constantinople lasted until 1453, divided into two periods 330-1204 and 1261-
1453 with a brief Latin period 1204- 1261.
 Three-eights of the empire went to Venice and the remaining was constituted
as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, this was after Constantinople fall to the
Crusaders in 1204.
 Constantine and his mother Helena were converted to Christianity.
 Helena travelled to Palestine to locate places associated with Jesus, she
marked the Calvary and the nearby cave pf the Holy Sepulchre also said she
found the True Cross were Jesus was nailed.
 According to Eusebius of Alexandria, was where a temple to the goddess
Aphrodite and Venus was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to bury the cave
where Jesus was entombed.
 By order of Constantine, the temple was demolished and a church was built
(325/326 CE)
 He ordered also that a basilica in honor of St. Peter be built on Vatican Hill, the
traditional site of Peter’s martyrdom and burial place.
CHURCH AND EMPIRE

 The association with Christianity and the Roman Byzantine empire changed the
course of Church history.
 In the 4th century, Christianity was growing as a world religion from being a local
church centered in Jerusalem.
 Apostle Paul saw that the church was being called to become a religion for all
and not just for the Jews.
 First century, the Catholic Church was not organized the way it is known today.
 The church is governed by laws called canon law which covers all aspects of a
believer’s life.
 Episkopos- a federation of communities organized under an overseer of the
church in the first century.
 The English word church translates in Latin ecclesia after the Greek ekklesia
means primarily a community, not a large organization nor a building.
 Paul’s letters or epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
Colossians, and Thesalonians indicate the places where Paul had established
communities of believers.
 Paul wrote letters to encourage, correct, and guide the communities he
founded.
 These communities under an episkopos, had a community of elders – the
presbyteros.
 The church saw the need for unity- the Council of Jerusalem was called to settle
the question whether converts to Christianity also had to convert the followers
of Judaism; and wether males where to be subjected to circumcision.
 Paul’s influence was strong in the Council for he saw that in the Church, which
he called the body of Christ, there was neither Jew nor gentile, slave nor
freeman, for all were one in Christ.
 From Rome, the Church learned the importance of a tight organization
controlled by laws.
 Five major episcopal sees, whose central head was known as a patriarch and
namely the patriarchs of Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and
Constantinople.
 This structure came about because of the laws of Emperor Justinian I regarding
Church relations and administration.
 Pope sent letters to ecclesiastical authorities to clarify issues and answer
questions.
 The decretal of Pope Siricus sent to Himerius was the earliest surviving
example at Spain in 385 CE.
 Pope Damasus sent the document “Canoes synodi Romanorum ad Gallos
episcopos” to bishop of Gaul.
 Decretals of Gratian (c.1150) – an early compilation
 In 1234 the compilation was promulgated and know as the Decretals of
Gregory.
 There are almost 2000 decretals and the antecedent of the Code od Canon
Law that governs the modern Catholic Church.
 The last major revision of this code was made under St. Pope John Paul II in
1983.