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Byzantine Timeline

  • Emperor Constantine I Founded the Byzantine Capital
    330

    Emperor Constantine I Founded the Byzantine Capital

    Byzantium took on the name of Constantinople after its refoundation under Roman emperor Constantine I, who transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium in 330 and designated his new capital officially as New Rome.
  • Nika Revolt (riots)
    532

    Nika Revolt (riots)

    They were the most violent riots in the city's history, with nearly half of Constantinople being burned or destroyed and tens of thousands of people killed.
  • Hagia Sophia Completed
    532

    Hagia Sophia Completed

    The Hagia Sophia, whose name means “holy wisdom,” is a domed monument originally built as a cathedral in Constantinople.
    It contains two floors centered on a giant nave that has a great dome ceiling, along with smaller domes, towering above.
  • General Belisarius Military Campaigns
    533

    General Belisarius Military Campaigns

    Belisarius was rewarded by Justinian with the command of a land and sea expedition against the Vandal Kingdom, mounted in 533–534.
  • Emperor Basil II Military Conquests of Bulgaria
    986

    Emperor Basil II Military Conquests of Bulgaria

    Emperor Basil II gathered a 30,000-man army, marched on the Bulgarian city of Sofia and laid siege to it.
  • Great Schism
    1054

    Great Schism

    The break of communion between what are now the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches, which had lasted since the 11th century. The Schism was the culmination of theological and political differences between the Christian East and West which had developed over the preceding centuries.
  • Emperor Alexios I contacts Pope Urban II
    1095

    Emperor Alexios I contacts Pope Urban II

    Pope Urban II makes a speech calling all Christians in Europe to war against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land, with a cry of “Deus vult!” or “God wills it!”
  • Fourth Crusade - Attack on Constantinople
    1204

    Fourth Crusade - Attack on Constantinople

    broke into the city of Constantinople and began to loot, pillage, and slaughter their way across the greatest metropolis in the Christian world
  • Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks - Official end to Byzantines
    1453

    Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks - Official end to Byzantines

    After ten centuries of wars, defeats, and victories, the Byzantine Empire came to an end when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in May 1453.