Byzantine Empire

Emperor Constantine I

330

Emperor constantine founded the city known as Constantinople. He was the first emperor to profess christianity and turn his city into a christian following city. This capital city was the wealthiest and largest European city. The city was famous for its massive defenses. It was also famous for their architectual masterpieces such as the Hagia Sophia.

byzantine timeline

Period: 330 to Jan 1, 1453

Justinian Emperor of Byzantines

527

During this time the Byzantines was at their largest territorial point. Justinian rebuilt the city and made the "Code of Justinian". He was known as having a big influence on his uncle and he was also known as being the real power behind the throne.

Hagia Sophia

537

Hagia Sophia served as Cathedra, or bishops seat, of the city. The first structure was destroyed during the riots. The second one was built and burned down during the Nika Rivolt. Immediately after Emperor Justinian ordered the church rebuilt. It was mosty influenced by the mathematical theories of Archimedes.

General Belsarius

545

He was the leading military figure during the Justinian period.He led his armies against the Persian empire, the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa, the Ostrogothic regime of Italy, and the barbarian tribes. He was Justinians right hand man pretty much. Justinian chose Belisrius to begin the reconquest of western roman territories.

Islamic conquests parts of Byzantine Territory

Jan 1, 700

It all started with Muhammad and their rapid growth in the form of a muslim empire. The only reason for the Islamic success over the Byzantines was because they were military and economicaly exhausted from fighting one another for many decades.

Emperor Basil II Military Conquests

Jan 1, 1025

Emperor Baasil II extened imperial rule in the Balkans, Mesopotamia, Georgia, and Armenia. Conquered Bulgaria which gave him his nickname "Slayer of the Bulgars". His reign is known to be one of the most outstanding emperors. He had a forceful personality which is why people listened to him.

Great Schism

Jan 1, 1054

This divided Chistianity into Western (Roman) and Eastern Orthodox. The cause of this is because there were disputes over papal authority. The church split along doctrinal, theological, lingustic, political, and geographic lines. These two churches have tried to reunite but have failed everytime.

Emperor Alexios I and Pope Urban II

Jan 1, 1095

Alexios I was the emperor during the first crusade. At this time Byzantine was under attack by all sides. He managed to restore some of their strength during his 37 year reign. He is best known for his call for help against the Turks and Islam. Which was answered by Urban II. Urban II was the Western pope and spiritual leader of the catholic church. This started the conflict between the Christian and Islamic worlds.

Fourth Crusade

Jan 1, 1204

The goal of this was to win back the holy city of Jerusalem. Which had been previously conquered by Islamic armies. Their strategy for this crusade was to strike Egypt, the base of muslim power. But they never reached their goal. They took a turn for Constantinople.

End of the Byzantines

Jan 1, 1453

The start of a decline was the loss of western territories and when they lost those territories they also lost many important cities like Rome. Then the Holy See and Byzantium would have disagreements which led to the Schism in 1054. The last thing that led to the dicline was the disaster of the Fourth Crusade.