-
330
Emperor Constantine founds the Byzantine Capital
Constantine founded the new capital of the Roman Empire on the existing site of the ancient Greek city Byzantium. Byzantium was renamed Constantinople and it would become the capital of the Byzantine Empire. -
Period: 330 to May 29, 1453
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, alternatively known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the predominantly Greek-speaking eastern half continuation and remainder of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), originally founded as Byzantium. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. -
476
Fall of Western Empire
The Western Empire of Rome falls, while the Eastern Empire, survives and now is labeled as the Byzantine Empire. -
527
Justinian Becomes the Emperor of the Byzantines
When Emperor Anastasius died in 518, Justin, Justinian's uncle, was proclaimed the new emperor, with significant help from Justinian. During Justin's reign (518–527), Justinian was the emperor's close confidant. As Justin became senile near the end of his reign, Justinian became the assumed ruler. -
Period: 527 to 565
Reign of Emperor Justinian
He reconquered parts of the fallen Western Empire (Africa and Italy, Spain). He codifided the Previous Roman Laws into one document. Constantinople was the most glorious city in europe, with 500,000 inhabitants. Justinian is the last emperor to use the title "Caesar". -
Period: 532 to 537
Building of the Hagia Sophia
The construction is described in the Byzantine historian Procopius' 'On Buildings'. The emperor had material brought from all over the empire – such as Hellenistic columns from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, large stones from quarries in porphyry from Egypt, green marble from Thessaly, black stone from the Bosporus region, and yellow stone from Syria. More than ten thousand people were employed. -
Period: 533 to 545
General Belisarius Military Campaigns
General Belissarius lead the Byzantine military under Emperor Justinian I. He was one of the last important figures in the Roman military tradition, he led imperial armies against the Persia empire, the Vandal kingdom of North Africa, the Ostrogothic regime of Italy, and the barbarian tribes encroaching upon Constantinople. -
537
Completion of the Hagia Sophia
The emperor, inaugurated the new basilica on 27 December 537, 5 years and 10 months after construction started, with parties.The Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for Byzantine imperial ceremonies, such as coronations. Like other churches throughout Christian history, the basilica offered sanctuary from persecution. Hagia Sophia was later an imperial mosque, in 1453 when the Ottomans conquered the Byzantines. Present day, it's a museum. -
Period: Jan 1, 600 to Jan 1, 700
Islamic Conquests Parts of the Byzantine Territory
The Muslim inhabitants of Syria and Egypt, alienated by religious dissent and resenting the attempts of the Byzantine Empire to impose Christianity on the population, were eager to be free of Byzantine rule. In 636, Arab armies conquered Syria. The Muslims then won Iraq from the Persians and, within ten years after Muhammad's death, subdued Persia itself. The greater part of Egypt fell with little resistance in 640 and the rest shortly afterward. -
Jan 1, 1054
The Great Schism
Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael I excommunicated each other and the Christian church was divided into The Latin Roman Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. -
Mar 1, 1095
Emperor Alexios I and Pope Urban II
In the first week of March 1095, a delegation from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus presented Urban with a request for help against the Turks. Pope Urban II's response was to preach the First Crusade, starting on November 27, 1095, at the Council of Clermont. Those all others who wished to participate were encouraged--unless of course, they were from Spain.The Spanish were encouraged to fight the Muslims in Spain instead of in the middle east. -
Apr 1, 1204
Fourth Crusade (attack on Constantinople)
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and sacked the Orthodox Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. This is seen as one of the final acts in the Great Schism between the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church, and a key turning point in the decline of the empire and of Christianity in the Near East. -
Period: Apr 6, 1453 to May 29, 1453
Siege of Constaninople
The siege over the city of Constantinople lasted 1 month, 3 weeks and 2 days and was the end of the Byzantine Empire which was, for some historians, the end of the Middle Ages. -
May 29, 1453
BYEzantine
After the Ottoman take-over, many Byzantine artists and scholars fled to the West, taking with them precious manuscripts. They were not the first ones. Already in the fourteenth century, Byzantine artisans, abandoning the declining cultural life of Constantinople, had found ready employ in Italy. Their work was greatly appreciated and western artist were ready to copy their art. One of the most striking examples of Byzantine influence is to be seen in the early Renaissance. -
Roman Empire divides in half
The Roman Empire divided in half, with the Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople and the Western Roman Empire based in Rome/Ravenna.
