The term Byzantine Empire
The Empire's native Greek name was Ρω μανί Rōm aní or Βασι α Ρω μαί ν, Basileía
α,
a,
λεί
ω
Rōm aí a direct translation of the Latin name of the Roman Empire, Imperium
ōn,
Romanorum. The term Byzantine Empire was introduced in western Europe, in 1557,
inspired from the city of Byzantium by German historian Hieronymus Wolf about a century
after the fall of Constantinople who had taken it from the writing of 15th century Byzantine
historian Laonicus Chalcocondyles. He presented a system of Byzantine historiography in
his work Corpus Historiae Byzantinae, in order to "distinguish ancient Roman from
medieval Greek history without drawing attention to their ancient predecessors".
Standardization of the term began gradually in the 18th century, when French authors such
as Montesquieu began to popularize it. Hieronymus himself was influenced by the rift
caused by the 9th century dispute between Romans (Byzantines as we render them today)
and Franks. The Franks under Charlemagne's newly formed empire, and in concert with
the Pope, attempted to legitimize their conquests by claiming inheritance of Roman rights
in Italy The Donation of Constantine, one of the most famous forged documents in history
played a crucial role in this. Henceforth, it was prevalent in the West to refer to the
emperor in Constantinople not by the usual Imperator Romanorum (Emperor of the
Romans) which was now reserved for the Frankish monarch - a slight to the Byzantines as
it threatened their sovereignty, but as Imperator Graecorum (Emperor of the Greeks) and
the land as Imperium Graecorum, Graecia, Terra Graecorum or even Imperium
Constantinopolitanum.