All three civilizations happened in the same time periods. Kiev the largest city and the capital of Ukraine, is documented as going back at least 1,400 years. Kiev reached its Golden Age as the center Kievan Rus in the 10th–12th centuries. A port on the Dnieper River and a large railroad junction, it is a city with an ancient and proud history. The first eastern Slavic state, 1,000 years ago was called the “Mother of Rus Cities.” It was damaged during World War II, but by the mid-1950s it had been restored, and in the second half of the 20th century it enjoyed a well-developed economic and cultural life.
Many ancient tribes gathered around Kiev, and at the end of the 9th century the city became the political center of the Eastern Slavs. In the year 988 Christianity, introduced by Great Prince Vladimir, became the official religion of the Kievan Rus. This helped to establish political and cultural relations with such states as the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria. At that time almost 50,000 people lived in the city; there were about 400 churches and 8 markets. When Vladimir Monomakh died in the year 1152, the mighty Kievan Rus began to decay. The civilization known as the Byzantine Empire can be traced to 330 A.D, when the Roman emperor Constantine I dedicated a “new Rome” on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium.
Though the western half of the Roman Empire crumbled and fell in 476, the eastern half survived for 1,000 more years, spawning a rich tradition of art, literature and learning and serving as a military buffer between the states of Europe and the threat of invasion from Asia. The Byzantine Empire finally fell in 1453, after an Ottoman army stormed Constantinople during the reign of Constantine. Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and, following its fall in 1453, of the Ottoman Empire until 1930, when it was renamed Istanbul as part of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s Turkish national reforms. It was located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia. Constantinople was extremely important to ancient Rome and the largest and wealthiest city in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. The Great Schism, also known as the East West Schism, was the event that divided “Chalcedonian” Christianity into Western (Roman) Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. The primary causes of the Schism were disputes over papal authority — the Roman Pope claimed he held authority over the four Eastern patriarchs, while the four eastern patriarchs claimed that the primacy of the Patriarch of Rome was only honorary, and that he had authority only over Western Christians.
The Great Schism was not the first schism between East and West; there had, in fact, been over two centuries of schism during the first millennium of the Church. From 343 to 398, the Church was split over Arainism, a doctrine supported by many in the East, though rejected by the Pope in the West. A new controversy arose in 404, when the Byzantine Emperor Arcadius deposed the Roman-backed Patriarch of Constantinople, John Chrysostom. The Pope soon broke off communion with all the eastern patriarchates. Emperor Justinian was born around 482 CE in Tauresium, a village in Illyria.
His uncle Emperor Justin I was an imperial bodyguard who reached the throne on the death of Anastasius in 518 CE. Justinian, who reigned from 527 to 565 CE, is considered one of the most important late Roman and Byzantine emperors. His mother Vigilantia was the sister of the Excubitor (Imperial bodyguard). Justin adopted his nephew and brought him to Constantinople to guarantee his education.
Emperor Justinian had a wife named Theodora. Empress Theodora was empress of the Eastern Roman Empire by marriage to Emperor Justinian I. She was one of the most influential and powerful of the Eastern Roman empresses. Some sources mention her as empress regnant with Justinian I as her co-regentThe Ottoman Turks were named after Osman I, their first sultan and leader (Ottoman is an English transformation of Osmanli, which means sons of Osman) They originated from central Asia and conquered their way across Anatolia after the Seljuk empire declined.The Ottoman empire lasted for almost 500 years.
At its height in the 15th century it was the greatest power in the world, encompassing the Middle East, the Mediterranean and much of Eastern Europe. The terrible Turks were feared in Europe for their cruelty, but the things they did were no worse than what their western counterparts did, and in many ways the Ottoman sultans ruled more judiciously, and with a higher degree of religious tolerance, than European monarchs.Moscow, Russian Moskva, city, capital of Russia, located in the far western part of the country. Since it was first mentioned in the chronicles of 1147, Moscow has played a vital role in Russian history. Today Moscow is not only the political centre of Russia but also the country’s most populous city and its industrial, cultural, scientific, and educational capital.
For more than 600 years Moscow also has been the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Hagia Sophia, the biggest church constructed by the East Roman Empire in Istanbul, has been constructed three times in the same location. When it was first built, it was named Megale Ekklesia (Big Church); however, after the fifth century, it was referred to as the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom). The church was the place in which rulers were crowned, and it was also the biggest operational cathedral in the city throughout the Byzantine period. The Mongol Empire the largest land empire in history. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206.The Mongol Empire was ruled by the Khagan. After the death of Ogedei Khan, it split into four parts (Yuan Dynasty, Il-Khans, Chagatai Khanate, and Golden), each of which was ruled by its own Khan.
Descendants of the Mongols would also rule in India as the Moghuls, and in China through the Yuan Dynasty. The Mongols ruled with a strong sense of justice, summed up in their Yasa code and emphasized ability over lineage. The Mongol Empire brought peace, stability, and unity to large tracts of the known world and practiced religious tolerance to a remarkable degree at a time when conformity to religious doctrine was rigidly enforced in much of Europe.In the middle ages, land was known as fief.
The Lord or the king in exchange of services gave fief to him, and this was known as the medieval feudalism or the feudal system. This concept involved the provision of land (fief) for military services. The fief came with labor from peasants who were supposed to cultivate the land.The Middle Ages were rife with wars, which led to great developments in weaponry and warfare. During the Middle Ages a number of inventions changed the way that battles were fought. Gunpowder, for example, is an obvious discovery that contributed to the later invention of cannons, which changed the way battles were thought both on the land and at sea.
Siege weapons were also invented and improved upon following the Crusades. The blueprints for these incredibly powerful weapons were brought back to Europe and modified in order to meet the challenges faced in medieval warfare. The Middle Ages is usually split into three different periods. The First period is the end of the Roman Empire and the invasion of the Barbarians who created their own kingdom on the ruins of the Western Roman Empire. At the same time and later during the 7th Century, territories of the formerly Eastern Empire were conquered by the Islamic Empire. The Second period is known as High Middle Ages which started around 1000 AD. It was marked with the growth of the population in Europe, and with new society form of Feudalism.
Also the first ideas of the Crusades were introduced; it was an attempt of the Christians to regain the power over the Middle East and the Holy Land. The Late Middle Ages was probably the worst period of the Middle Ages regarding the overall health situation in Europe. Indeed, the Black Death, killed a 3rd of the population in Europe. It was one of the reasons the rulers turned their back to the Catholic Church and decided to adopt the new Humanistic ideas of Renaissance.
With the end of the Middle Ages came the Early Modern period.The Emperor of Romans in the year 800 and ruled till his death on January 28th 814. His name was Charlemagne. He was also called Charles I. He was the ruler of the Franks from 768 to 800. Charlemagne was really close to his family, he even got married four times. He had three sons, Charles, Carloman and Louis. His two sons, Charles and Louis first shared the ruling of the Frankish kingdoms together The law in The Middle Ages was based on old Germanic ideas and customs but it was also influenced by the ancient Roman law system.
Knights, barons, and dukes had their separate courtrooms where they used to offer judicial services for people living in their manor. Kings had their personal court rooms which were considered above all. Cases in particular manor were listened in the courtroom of the baron or knight controlling that manor.
There were vassals who were appointed to help the barons, knights and dukes. These courts were not known to act in public interest; rather, they used to wait until the plaintiff asked for justice. The system was harsh and until a particular case has been solved, both the plaintiff and the alleged criminal were treated similarly.
