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Justinian I (or the Great) was most passionate about religion, autocratic rule, the reconquest of the lands lost by the western part of the Roman Empire and his wife, Theodora. He loved his wife very much and was distraught when she died. Although they were in conflict over religion, they supported different version of Christianity, in other matters she was his most important adviser. She stopped him from fleeing from Constantinople during the Nika riots. Justinian supported her effort to improve the condition of poor women.

Justinian I was one of the most important emperors in the history the Orthodox Church, the official church of his empire. He was described as a nursing father of the church. He put the church on a more solid footing and redefined its structure. He wanted to protect its purity and persecuted dissident Christian sects. He secured the rights of the church and the clergy and protected and expanded the monastic orders. He granted the monks the right to inherit property from private individuals and to receive annual gifts for the state and banned the confiscation of monastic property. He gave the canons of the church legal force and issued laws regarding the administration of church property, the elections, rights and obligations of the clergy, the conduct of service and episcopal jurisdiction. Justinian also persecuted dissident Christian doctrines. He rebuilt the famous Hagia Sophia Church in Constantinople and built the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, the capital of the Byzantine possessions in Italy.

Justinian I took measures to tackle corruption in the provinces and made tax collection more efficient by increasing its professionalization. Justinian's rule was quite despotic. He regulated everything in administration, law and religion tightly. It was said that the church could do nothing contrary to his will. He started the byzantine tradition of the emperor being in charge of the church.

Justinian I wanted to recover the land lost in the fall of the western part of the Roman Empire. He succeded in retaking Italy, Tunisia and eastern Algeria and southern Spain. However, these territories were then lost again.

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10y ago

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