16,951
edits
Changes
m
link
==Life==
Justinian's full name was Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus. He is said to be of Slavic descent, probably born in a small village called Tauresium in Illyricum, near Scupi (present day Skopje, Macedonia), on [[May 11]], 483, to Vigilantia. His mother Vigilantia was the sister of the highly esteemed General [[JustinI|Justin]], who rose from the ranks of the army to become emperor. His uncle adopted him and ensured the boy's education. Justinian was superbly well educated in jurisprudence, theology and Roman history. His military career featured rapid advancement, and a great future opened up for him when, in 518, Justin became emperor. Justinian was appointed consul in 521, and later as commander of the army of the east. He was functioning as virtual regent long before Justin made him associate emperor on [[April 1]], 527.
Four months later, Justinian became the sole sovereign upon Justin I's death. His administration had world-wide impact, constituting a distinct epoch in the history of the Byzantine Empire and the Orthodox Church. He was a man of unusual capacity for work (sometimes called the "emperor who never sleeps") and possessed a temperate, affable, and lively character, but he was also unscrupulous and crafty when it served him. He was the last emperor to attempt to restore the Roman Empire to the territories it enjoyed under [[Theodosius the Great (emperor)|Theodosius I]].
Perhaps the most noteworthy event occurred in 529 when the Academy in Athens (famous for being founded centuries earlier by Plato) was placed under state control by order of Justinian, effectively strangling this training school for Hellenism. [[Paganism]] was actively suppressed. The worship of Ammon at Augila in the Libyan desert was abolished, and so were the remnants of the worship of Isis on the island of Philae, in Egypt, and unrepentant Manicheans were executed in Constantinople. Justinian frequently sent out [[missionary|missionaries]] and [[convert]]ed numerous tribes. In Asia Minor alone, John, [[Bishop]] of Ephesus, converted 70,000 pagans.
Justinian also took a very firm stance in his support of Orthodoxy; he fought different [[heresy|heresies]] throughout his rule. At the beginning of his reign, he promulgated by law belief in the [[Holy Trinity]] and the [[Incarnation]], and subsequently declared that he would deprive all disturbers of orthodoxy due process of law. He made the [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed]] the sole symbol of the Church and accorded legal force to the canons of the four [[Ecumenical Councils]]. At the command of the sovereign, the [[Fifth Ecumenical Council]] was convened in the year 553, censuring the teachings of Origen and affirming the definitions of the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]] at Chalcedon. He also attempted to secure religious unity within the Empire through his (unsuccessful) dialogues with the non-Chalcedonians. He appointed Theodora, a convert from who was the daughter of an [[MonophysitismOriental Orthodox]]priest, as his special envoy to deal with those who rejected [[Chalcedon]]. Besides [[Monophysitism]] and [[Miaphysitism]], other ecclesiastical tensions had begun to emerge between the East and the West; the "Three Chapters" controversy brought all of these to a head (cf. external links).
[[Image:Hagia Sophia BW.jpg|right|thumb|The Hagia Sophia as it was meant, without minarets.]]The Emperor was instrumental in the building of numerous churches. He gave orders to build 90 churches for the newly-converted and generously supported church construction within the Empire. The finest structures of the time are considered to be the [[St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)|monastery at Sinai]], and the [[Hagia Sophia (Constantinople)|Hagia Sophia]] in Constantinople. Under St. Justinian many churches were built dedicated to the [[Theotokos]]. Since he had received a broad education, St. Justinian assiduously concerned himself with the education of [[clergy]] and [[monk]]s, ordering them to be instructed in rhetoric, philosophy, and theology. He neglected no opportunity for securing the rights of the Church and clergy, for protecting and extending [[monasticism]]: his law codes contain many enactments regarding donations, foundations, and the administration of ecclesiastical property; election and rights of bishops, priests, and abbots; monastic life, residential obligations of the clergy, conduct of divine service, and episcopal jurisdiction.
However, Justinian is often criticized by secular sources as a despot. Even some dissent occurs in Orthodox [[Holy Tradition]]. For example, the [[hagiography]] of St. [[Eutychius of Constantinople|Eutychius]] paints a more complicated portrait of the Emperor:
:"After the death of the holy [[Patriarch]] Menas, the [[Apostle Peter]] appeared in a vision to the emperor Justinian and, pointing his hand at Eutychius, said, 'Let him be made your [[bishop]].' At the very beginning of his patriarchal service, St Eutychius [not Justinian himself] convened the [[Fifth Ecumenical Council]] (553), at which the [[Church Fathers|Fathers]] condemned the heresies cropping up and anathematized them. However, after several years a new heresy arose in the Church: [[Aphthartodocetism ]] [asartodoketai] or "imperishability" which taught that the flesh of Christ...[was] not capable of suffering. St Eutychius vigorously denounced this heresy, but the emperor ''Justinian'' himself inclined toward it, and turned his wrath upon the saint. By order of the emperor, soldiers seized the saint in the church, removed his patriarchal vestments, and sent him into exile to an Amasean monastery (565)."<sup>[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=101008]</sup>
However, Father Asterios Gerostergios in his book ''Justinian the Great: The Emperor and Saint'', refutes the assertion that Justinian succumbed in his last years to the heresy of aphthartodocetism. It is commonly accepted that, after a lengthy reign in which Justinian spared no effort to try to bring the Monophysites back into the fold of the Orthodox Church, people were weary of the aged emperor. Thus, it is commonly asserted that Justinian adhered to the aphthartodocetist heresy, which was essentially an extreme form of Monophysitism, and deposed Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople for his supposed refusal to conform to this teaching.
Justinian's supposed decree imposing aphthartodocetism was not preserved, and the only contemporary source that refers to it is the testimony of the historian Evagrius. Most historians have accepted the information of Evagrius as true, reasoning that Justinian had either converted to the heresy at the end of his life or had succumbed to senility. These scholars thus relate the decree to the depositions [[deposition]]s of both Eutychius and Anastasius, patriarch of Antioch. Father Gerostergios states:
: That they were deposed because of their refusal to accept the edict we do not believe to be true because of the following reasons:
{{start box}}
{{succession|
before= [[Justin I]]|
title=Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor|
years=527-565|
after=[[Justin II]]}}
{{end box}}
* [http://www.comeandseeicons.com/j/pdg12.htm Come and See Icons: Justinian]
* [http://www.earlychurch.org.uk/justinian.php earlychurch.org: Justinian I] (Very pro-Justinian and the Church.)
* [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/vasilief/justinian-successors.asp Justinian the Great and his successors (518-610)]. by [[w:Alexander Vasiliev|Alexander A. Vasiliev]], from ''"History of the Byzantine Empire"''. ''(Discards the theory of Justinian's Slavonic origin; contends that Justin and Justinian were probably Illyrians, or Roman colonists of Dardania)''.
[[Category:Rulers]]
[[Category:Roman Emperors]]
[[Category:Saints]]
[[Category:Byzantine Saints]]
[[ro:Iustinian]]
