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After the fall of western Rome Emperor Constantine I named the Eastern Roman Empire's capital Konstantinoupolis (aka "City of Constantine or Constantinople). It became the the largest and wealthiest city during the 4th through 13th centuries and it was a large cultural center.
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Belisarius was a Byzantine military leader who had multiple military campaigns. Two examples of this were his fights against the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. He died on 565 CE in Constantinople.
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The Nika riots were groups of people on different teams of chariot racing killing people and destroying property. During this time tens of thousands of people were killed and almost half of Constantinople was burned or destroyed. There was also a plot to overthrow Justinian although he convinced people on the same chariot racing team not to kill him with bribes, making the attempt unsuccessful.
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Hagia Sophia was a church build in Constantinople under the rule of Justinian I. It is one of the most important Byzantine monuments and was completed in 537 CE. It has gone through many revisions since then because of different rulers and several natural disasters but the original was completed in 537 CE.
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Muslim forces had many battles in Byzantine territory. Some of their attempts were successful such as the raid of Byzantine-controlled Cyprus around 646. Other attempts failed such as an attempt to attack Constantinople. Storms had destroyed a lot of their fleet and they were attacked with Greek fire leading to their failure.
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By the end of the 960's Bulgarian and Byzantine started to fight with each other. Basil II was a military leader for Byzantine. At first Bulgarian general Samuel took back north-eastern Bulgaria and successfully expanded the Bulgarian territory. Later on Basil II, a successful general, started to take multiple important towns in Bulgaria and that eventually lead to the Byzantine Empire taking over Bulgaria.
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The Great Schism was the break of communion between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. This happened due to the different groups believing how Christianity should be run and how certain traditions should be done. These differences ended with two different but similar ways of being Christian.
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The first crusade begins after Emperor Alexios I tells Pope Urban II that he needs help fighting invading Seljuk Turks from Anatolia. Urban II agreed and made another goal of trying to take Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims. They ended up taking Jerusalem but most of the crusaders went back home leaving Jerusalem vulnerable to attack.
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The fourth crusade was started when crusaders on their way to Jerusalem were asked by Byzantine prince Alexios Angelos to help his deposed father become emperor again. The crusaders' intention was to continue on to the Holy Land afterwards with the financial and military assistance of the Byzantines. After Alexios Angelos was murdered and the crusaders weren't able to get their promised assistance they decided to raid Constantinople.
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The fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The capture of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. This attack also hurt Christianity since Muslim Ottoman armies were able to attack much of Europe.
