The Corpus Juris Civilis was the great codification of Roman law ordered by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, who wanted to restore order to the legal system by collecting and simplifying the centuries of statutes and opinions of jurists. A commission led by the jurist Tribonian worked on it, and it consisted of the Codex, a collection of imperial laws, the Digest, extracts from the writings of classical jurists, the Institutes, a textbook for students, and the Novels, new laws issued by Justinian. The work was lost in the West for a time, but was rediscovered in the Middle Ages, studied at Bologna, and formed the basis of the civil law tradition that is followed in much of continental Europe, Latin America and elsewhere.
Before and after
- from 27 November 511 CE to 1 November 751 CEAustrasia
- from 519 CE to 927 CEKingdom of Wessex
- from 526 CE to 532 CEIberian War
- from 527 CE to 918 CEKingdom of Mercia
- 528 CECorpus Juris Civilis
- January 532 CENika Riots
- from June 533 CE to March 534 CEVandalic War
- from 535 CE to 554 CEGothic War of 535–554
- 536 CEThe volcanic winter of 536
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 711 CE to 1492Al-Andalus
- from 722 CE to 1492Reconquista
- 27 November 1095Pope Urban II calls the First Crusade
- from 1096 to 1099First Crusade
- 15 June 1215Magna Carta
- 2 January 1492The fall of Granada ends Muslim rule in Spain
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 6th century.