Byzantium Continued: Justinian's Code, Hagia Sophia, and the East-West Schism 1054

Recite the FOUR PROMISES. Then ask: 'Did the Roman Empire fall in 476 CE? Yes or No — be ready to defend.'

• Recite the FOUR PROMISES
• Pose the question — collect 5 student answers on the board
• Reveal: NO — the Eastern Roman Empire continued for almost 1000 years more, until 1453 CE. Most textbooks confuse the 476 Western fall with a Roman-empire-wide fall.

Byzantium is the Eastern Roman Empire CONTINUED. Per Anthony Kaldellis 2019 'Romanland', Byzantines called themselves Rhomaioi — Romans — not 'Greeks' (they spoke Greek but identified as Roman). The empire continued from Constantine's 330 founding of Constantinople to 1453 CE — a 1,123-year continuation. Justinian (r. 527-565) commissioned the Corpus Juris Civilis (Justinian's Code) 529-534, which compiled, organized, and systematized 1,000 years of Roman law in four parts (Codex / Digesta / Institutiones / Novellae). This Code became the foundation of modern continental European civil-law systems (the Napoleonic Code 1804 was directly derived). Justinian also commissioned Hagia Sophia 532-537 — the architectural marvel that was the world's largest enclosed space for nearly 1000 years. After 1453 Ottoman conquest, it became a mosque (minarets added). Republican Turkey converted it to a museum 1934. In 2020, Turkey re-converted it to a mosque. The East-West Schism 1054 has four core differences: (1) the FILIOQUE clause in the Nicene Creed — Western 'and the Son' addition vs. Eastern 'only from the Father'; (2) PAPAL AUTHORITY — Western pope's primacy vs. Eastern conciliar tradition; (3) LEAVENED vs UNLEAVENED bread in Eucharist; (4) CLERICAL CELIBACY — Western mandatory vs. Eastern optional for parish priests.

• Notice: external naming vs. self-identification is the kind of distinction MG-7 question 1 (WHO created this source?) is designed to surface.

  model Per Kaldellis 2019, Byzantines called themselves Rhomaioi (Romans). They spoke Greek but identified as the continuation of the Roman Empire — Justinian considered himself a Roman Emperor restoring Roman law. Calling them 'Greek' is an external (Western-Catholic) label that the Byzantines themselves rejected. This is a sourcing question: WHO is naming them, and from what perspective?

  prompt Why is Byzantium not just 'Greek Byzantine'?
• MG-9 Living-Descendant Promise — Justinian's law is LIVING law, not historical.

  model Justinian's Code (Corpus Juris Civilis 529-534) is a four-part compilation organizing 1,000 years of Roman law: Codex (imperial enactments), Digesta (jurist writings), Institutiones (textbook), Novellae (Justinian's own new laws). It became the foundation of modern continental European civil-law (Napoleonic Code 1804), modern Quebec civil law, modern Louisiana civil law, and Latin American civil-law systems. So Justinian's law touches descendants today across maybe 1.5 billion people under civil-law jurisdiction.

  prompt What is Justinian's Code, and why does it matter today?
• What 'stewardship' framing is missing from textbook 'three civilizations took it' framing?

  model 532-537 Justinian builds it as the world's largest enclosed space — an Orthodox cathedral with a dome 31m diameter that defied Roman-Greek architectural precedent. 537-1453 it serves as the Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople (with brief 1204-1261 Crusader-Catholic interruption after the Fourth Crusade Sack). 1453-1934 it serves as a mosque under Ottoman rule (Mehmed II added minarets immediately). 1934-2020 it is a museum under Republican Turkey. 2020-present it is again a mosque. The structure ITSELF is continuous; the stewardship has changed. This is Resilience-FIRST (MG-11) framing — civilizational continuity through transformation.

  prompt What is Hagia Sophia's three-era stewardship story?

• Identify Justinian's Code's four parts AND one modern descendant legal system.
• Name the four East-West Schism 1054 differences from memory.
• Apply MG-7 questions 1-3 to a Procopius primary-source excerpt.

M-7-F-CUL-02-A Photograph

Three-panel photo composite of Hagia Sophia: (left) 6th-century reconstruction illustration showing original Justinian dome + interior mosaic detail of Theotokos with Justinian and Constantine; (center) Ottoman-era engraving c. 1700 showing the four minarets added by Mehmed II 1453 + Süleyman the Magnificent + Selim II; (right) contemporary 2024 photograph showing the building as a mosque (current use) with the minarets and exterior dome — taken from the Sultanahmet Park vantage. Caption banner: 'One structure. Three stewardships. Civilizational continuity through transformation. (MG-11 Resilience-FIRST.)'

MG-11 Diagram

MG-11 Resilience-FIRST Promise poster (continued from G6-Spring). 18x24 inch wall poster. Two-panel composite: (left) historic destruction — illustration of 1258 Sack of Baghdad with explicit note 'civilizational continuity through trauma'; (right) contemporary resilience — photo of Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library in Timbuktu with manuscripts saved 2012 + photo of Hagia Sophia 2020 reopening + photo of Templo Mayor museum Mexico City with Indigenous-language signage. Caption: 'No civilization is defined by its destruction or decline. Resilience is the rule, not the exception.'

M-7-F-CUL-02-B Diagram

Diagram organizer 11x17 inches. Top row: four labeled boxes for Corpus Juris Civilis four parts — Codex (imperial enactments) / Digesta (jurist writings, 50 books) / Institutiones (4-book textbook for law students) / Novellae (Justinian's own new laws issued post-534). Middle row: timeline arrow from Justinian 534 CE → Glossators at Bologna 1100s → Napoleonic Code 1804 → modern descendants. Bottom row: 'living descendants' map showing modern civil-law jurisdictions worldwide: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, all Latin America, Quebec, Louisiana, Japan (Meiji civil code), South Korea, Russia, Eastern Europe — approximately 1.5 billion people under civil-law systems today, all tracing to Justinian's Code.

• In pairs, apply MG-7 questions 1-3 (WHO created / WHEN + WHERE / WHY + FOR WHOM) to a 200-word excerpt from Procopius's History of the Wars on Justinian's Persian campaign.

  scaffold Procopius excerpt with named author + 553 date + court-historian role pre-filled in question-1 prompt
• On MG-3 Deep-Time Strip 500-1500 CE, mark Justinian 527-565, Hagia Sophia 537, East-West Schism 1054, Fourth Crusade 1204, Fall of Constantinople 1453. Verify positioning against MG-2 wall display.

  scaffold Use color-coded Byzantine band on MG-3

M-7-F-CUL-02-C Diagram

200-word Procopius excerpt from History of the Wars Book II on Justinian's Persian campaign c. 553, in Greek + English bilingual with key-term transliteration (basileus/strategos/Persia/Khosrow). MG-7 Q1-3 sentence frames pre-printed at right margin: 'WHO created this? Procopius of Caesarea, ___ at Justinian's court c. ___.' 'WHEN + WHERE? c. ___, in Constantinople.' 'WHY + FOR WHOM? To ___ for ___ audience.' Color-coded for Wineburg sourcing routine.

MG-7 Diagram

MG-7 SEVEN-QUESTION SOURCE CARD — primary instructional scaffold for ALL source analysis in the unit. 8.5x11 inch double-sided laminated card. Front: Seven questions with sentence-frame scaffolds. (1) WHO created this source? (Wineburg sourcing) (2) WHEN was it created and where? (Wineburg contextualization) (3) WHY was it created and for whom? (Wineburg sourcing — purpose + audience) (4) WHAT does it say + show + leave out? (Wineburg close reading) (5) WHAT do OTHER sources say? (Wineburg corroboration) (6) WHOSE living descendants connect to this source today? (NMAI 5th — present-tense protocol) (7) WHOSE GOLDEN AGE does this source name — and whose golden age does it occlude? (NEW G7-Fall 7th — Banks Level-3 transformative move; refuses single-narrative golden-age framing). Back: scaffolded sentence frames for each question.

• Name the four parts of Justinian's Code AND one modern descendant legal system that uses Roman civil-law foundations.
• Why do Byzantines call themselves Rhomaioi (Romans), not Greeks? Cite Kaldellis 2019 in your answer.

• Recite the FOUR PROMISES
• Preview Lesson 3 — Fall of Constantinople 1453 + Hagia Sophia's three eras

• Read pp. 1-15 of Herrin 2007 'Byzantium' (excerpt) and identify three claims about Justinian + Theodora that surprise you. Bring notes to Lesson 3.