Editing Justinian I (section)

===Religious activities===
[[File:Sanvitale03.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A [[mosaic]] showing [[Justinian]] with [[Maximianus of Ravenna|the bishop]] of [[Ravenna]] (Italy), bodyguards, and courtiers<ref name=Adams158>Adams ''History of Western Art'' pp. 158–159</ref>]]

Justinian saw the orthodoxy of his empire threatened by diverging religious currents, especially [[miaphysitism]], which had many adherents in the eastern provinces of Syria and Egypt. Miaphysitism rejected the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451, which ruled that Jesus Christ has two natures (one divine and one human), instead maintaining that he has one nature that is both fully divine and fully human. The tolerant policies towards Miaphysitism of [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] and [[Anastasius I (emperor)|Anastasius I]] had been a source of tension in the relationship with the bishops of Rome.{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989|pp=207–250}}

Justin reversed this trend and confirmed the Chalcedonian doctrine, openly condemning the Miaphysites. Justinian, who continued this policy, tried to impose religious unity on his subjects by forcing them to accept doctrinal compromises that might appeal to all parties, a policy that proved unsuccessful as he satisfied none of them.{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989|pp=207–250}}

Near the end of his life, Justinian became ever more inclined towards Miaphysitism, especially in the form of [[Aphthartodocetae|Aphthartodocetism]], but he died before being able to issue any legislation. The empress Theodora, herself a Miaphysite, sympathized with the Miaphysites and was accused of being constant source of pro-Miaphysite intrigues at the court in Constantinople in the earlier years. In the course of his reign, Justinian, who had a genuine interest in matters of theology, authored a small number of theological treatises.<ref>Treatises written by Justinian can be found in Migne's ''Patrologia Graeca'', Vol. 86.</ref>

====Religious policy====

[[File:Sergius and Bacchus Church February 2011.JPG|thumb|[[Little Hagia Sophia]] (Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus) was built by Justinian]]

As in his secular administration, [[despotism]] appeared also in the Emperor's ecclesiastical policy. At the very beginning of his reign, he promulgated by law the Church's belief in the [[Trinity]] and the [[Incarnation]], and to threaten all [[Christian heresy|heretics]] with the appropriate penalties,<ref>''Cod.'', I., i. 5.</ref> whereas he subsequently declared that he intended to deprive all disturbers of orthodoxy of the opportunity for such offense by [[due process]] of law.<ref>''MPG'', lxxxvi. 1, p. 993.</ref> He made the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan creed the sole symbol of the Church<ref>''Cod.'', I., i. 7.</ref> and accorded legal force to the [[canon law|canons]] of the four [[ecumenical]] councils.<ref>''Novellae'', cxxxi.</ref> The bishops in attendance at the [[Council of Constantinople (536)]] recognized that nothing could be done in the Church contrary to the emperor's will and command,<ref>Mansi, ''Concilia'', viii. 970B.</ref> while, on his side, the emperor, in the case of the [[Patriarch Anthimus I of Constantinople|Patriarch Anthimus]], reinforced the ban of the Church with temporal proscription.<ref>''Novellae'', xlii.</ref> Justinian protected the purity of the church by suppressing heretics. He neglected no opportunity to secure the rights of the Church and clergy, and to protect and extend [[monasticism]]. He granted the monks the right to inherit property from private citizens and the right to receive ''solemnia'', or annual gifts, from the [[Imperial treasury, Rome|imperial treasury]] or from the taxes of certain provinces and he prohibited lay confiscation of monastic estates.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Both the ''Codex'' and the ''Novellae'' 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, episcopal jurisdiction, etc. Justinian also rebuilt the Church of [[Hagia Sophia]] (which cost 20,000 pounds of gold),<ref name="Hea">P. Heather, ''The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians'', 283</ref> the original site having been destroyed during the Nika riots. The new Hagia Sophia, with its numerous chapels and shrines, gilded octagonal dome, and [[mosaic]]s, became the Eastern Roman Empire's space of identification.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religion and politics at the Golden Horn? |url=https://www.uni-muenster.de/Religion-und-Politik/en/aktuelles/schwerpunkte/umnutzungen/Religion_und_Politik_am_Goldenen_Horn.html |access-date=3 June 2022 |website=www.uni-muenster.de |date=22 July 2020 |archive-date=11 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211065840/https://www.uni-muenster.de/Religion-und-Politik/en/aktuelles/schwerpunkte/umnutzungen/Religion_und_Politik_am_Goldenen_Horn.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Religious relations with Rome====

Justinian entered the arena of ecclesiastical conflicts shortly after his uncle's accession in 518, and put an end to the [[Acacian schism]]. Previous Emperors had tried to alleviate theological conflicts by declarations that deemphasized the [[Council of Chalcedon]], which had condemned [[miaphysitism]], which had strongholds in Egypt and Syria, and by tolerating the appointment of Miaphysites to church offices. The Popes reacted by severing ties with the Patriarch of Constantinople who supported these policies. Emperors Justin I (and later Justinian himself) rescinded these policies and re-established the union between Constantinople and Rome.<ref>cf. ''Novellae'', cxxxi.</ref> After this, Justinian also felt entitled to settle disputes in papal elections, as he did when he favored [[Pope Vigilius|Vigilius]] and had his rival [[Pope Silverius|Silverius]] deported.{{sfn|Bury|1958|pp=378–379}}

[[File:Hagia Sophia Southwestern entrance mosaics 2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|10th-century Hagia Sophia mosaic depicting the Virgin Mary holding the Child Christ on her lap. On her right side stands Justinian, offering a model of the Hagia Sophia. On her left, [[Constantine I]] presents a model of Constantinople.]]

This new-found unity between East and West did not, however, solve the ongoing disputes in the east. Justinian's policies switched between attempts to force Miaphysites to accept the Chalcedonian creed by persecuting their bishops and monks – thereby embittering their sympathizers in Egypt and other provinces – and attempts at a compromise that would win over the Miaphysites without surrendering the Chalcedonian faith. Such an approach was supported by the Empress Theodora, who favoured the Miaphysites unreservedly. In the condemnation of the [[Three-Chapter Controversy|''Three Chapters'']], three theologians that had opposed Miaphysitism before and after the Council of Chalcedon, Justinian tried to win over the opposition. At the [[Fifth Ecumenical Council]], most of the Eastern church yielded to the Emperor's demands, and [[Pope Vigilius]], who was forcibly brought to Constantinople and besieged at a chapel, finally also gave his assent. However, the condemnation was received unfavourably in the west, where it led to new (albeit temporal) schism, and failed to reach its goal in the east, as the Miaphysites remained unsatisfied – all the more bitter for him because during his last years he took an even greater interest in theological matters.{{sfn|Bury|1958|pp=372–384}}

====Authoritarian rule====
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[[Saint]]
|name          = Justinian the Great
|death_date    =
|feast_day     = 14 November
|venerated_in  = * [[Eastern Orthodoxy]]
* [[Lutheranism]]
|image         = Angel shows a model of Hagia Sofia to Justinian in a vision.png
|imagesize     =
|caption       = Illustration of an angel showing Justinian a model of Hagia Sophia in a vision, by [[Herbert Cole]] (1912)
|birth_place   =
|death_place   =
|titles        = Emperor
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes    = Imperial Vestment
|patronage     =
|major_shrine  = [[Church of the Holy Apostles]], Constantinople
|issues=
|prayer=
|prayer_attrib=
}}

Justinian's religious policy reflected the conviction that the unity of the empire presupposed unity of faith under the [[Chalcedonian Christianity|Chalcedonian Church]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} Those of different beliefs were subjected to persecution, which imperial legislation had effected from the time of [[Constantius II]] and which would now vigorously continue. The ''Codex'' contained two [[statute]]s<ref>''Cod.'', I., xi. 9 and 10.</ref> that decreed the total destruction of [[paganism]], even in private life; these provisions were zealously enforced. Contemporary sources (John Malalas, [[Theophanes the Confessor|Theophanes]], and [[John of Ephesus]]) tell of severe persecutions, including men in high positions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sarris |first1=Peter |title=Justinian: emperor, soldier, saint |date=2023 |publisher=Basic Books |location=London |isbn=9781529365399 |page=279}}</ref>

The original [[Platonic Academy|Academy of Plato]] had been [[Siege of Athens and Piraeus (87–86 BC)|destroyed]] by the Roman dictator [[Sulla]] in 86 BC. Several centuries later, in 410 AD, a [[Neoplatonic Academy]] was established that had no institutional continuity with Plato's Academy, and which served as a center for [[Neoplatonism]] and mysticism. It persisted until 529 AD when it was finally closed by Justinian I. Other schools in Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria, which were the centers of Justinian's empire, continued.<ref>Lindberg, David C. "The Beginnings of Western Science", p. 70</ref>

In [[Asia Minor]] alone, John of Ephesus was reported to have [[christianization|converted]] 70,000 pagans, which was probably an exaggerated number.<ref>[[François Nau]], in ''Revue de l'orient chretien'', ii., 1897, 482.</ref> Other peoples also accepted Christianity: the [[Heruli]],<ref>Procopius, ''Bellum Gothicum'', ii. 14; [[Evagrius Scholasticus|Evagrius]], ''Hist. eccl.'', iv. 20</ref> the [[Huns]] dwelling near the [[Don River, Russia|Don]],<ref>Procopius, iv. 4; Evagrius, iv. 23.</ref> the [[Abkhaz people|Abasgi]],<ref>Procopius, iv. 3; Evagrius, iv. 22.</ref> and the [[Tzanni]] in [[Caucasus|Caucasia]].<ref>Procopius, ''Bellum Persicum'', i. 15.</ref>

The worship of [[Amun]] at the [[oasis]] of [[Awjila]] in the [[Libya]]n desert was abolished,<ref name="ReferenceA">Procopius, ''De Aedificiis'', vi. 2.</ref> and so were the remnants of the worship of [[Isis]] on the island of [[Philae]], at the first [[Cataracts of the Nile|cataract]] of the [[Nile]].<ref>Procopius, ''Bellum Persicum'', i. 19.</ref> The [[Presbyter Julian]]<ref>''DCB'', iii. 482</ref> and the [[Longinus (missionary)|Bishop Longinus]]<ref>John of Ephesus, ''Hist. eccl.'', iv. 5 sqq.</ref> conducted a mission among the [[Nabataean]]s, and Justinian attempted to strengthen [[Christianity]] in [[Yemen]] by dispatching a bishop from [[Egypt]].<ref>Procopius, ''Bellum Persicum'', i. 20; Malalas, ed. [[Barthold Georg Niebuhr|Niebuhr]], [[Bonn]], 1831, pp. 433 sqq.</ref>

The civil rights of Jews were restricted<ref>''Cod.'', I., v. 12</ref> and their religious privileges threatened.<ref>Procopius, ''Historia Arcana'', 28;</ref> Justinian also interfered in the internal affairs of the synagogue<ref>''Nov.'', cxlvi., 8 February 553</ref> and encouraged the Jews to use the Greek [[Septuagint]] in their synagogues in Constantinople.<ref name="Maas2005">{{Citation|author=Michael Maas|title=The Cambridge companion to the Age of Justinian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AvjaThtrKYC&pg=PA16|access-date=18 August 2010|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81746-2|pages=16–}}</ref>

The Emperor faced significant opposition from the [[Samaritan]]s, who resisted conversion to Christianity and were [[Samaritan revolts|repeatedly in insurrection]]. He persecuted them with rigorous edicts, for example, in 529, he banned them from having wills, an intentional act of humiliation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sarris |first1=Peter |title=Justinian: emperor, soldier, saint |date=2023 |publisher=Basic Books |location=London |isbn=9781529365399 |page=283}}</ref> However, he could not prevent reprisals towards Christians from taking place in Samaria toward the close of his reign. 

The [[Manicheans]] too suffered persecution, experiencing both exile and threat of capital punishment.<ref>''Cod.'', I., v. 12.</ref> In Constantinople, c.450, a number of Manicheans, after strict inquisition, were executed by burning.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sarris |first1=Peter |title=Justinian: emperor, soldier, saint |date=2023 |publisher=Basic Books |location=London |isbn=9781529365399 |page=279}}</ref>