-
Period: 300 to Sep 15, 1500
Eastern Roman
-
330
Emperor Constantine I founded the Byzantine capital
The Roman Empire Constantine moved to the to the Roman Empire capitol. From Rome to Byzantium in 300 A.D. Later to be renamed Constantinople in his honor. -
532
The Nika riots
Nika revolt, took place over the course of a week in Constantinople in 532. It was the most violent riot in the history of Constantinople, with nearly half the city being burned or destroyed and thousands of people killed. -
533
Belisarius military campaigns
Justinian wanted control of the Vandal territory in north Africa, which was one of the wealthiest provinces of the Western Roman Empire and was now vital for guaranteeing Roman access to the western Mediterranean. When Belisarius succeed he was rewarded by Justinian with the command of a land and sea expedition against the Vandal Kingdom. -
537
Haiga Sophia completed
On February 23, 532 AD only a few weeks after the destruction of the second basilica, Emperor Justinian I decided to build a third and entirely different basilica, bigger and better than the others.
Justinian I also had the Columns and other marbles brought from all over the empire, throughout the Mediterranean. -
Sep 16, 646
Early Islamic military campaigns
In 646 a Byzantine naval expedition was able to briefly recapture Alexandria. The same year the governor of Syria and future founder of the Umayyad dynasty, ordered construction of a fleet. Three years later it was put to use in a pillaging raid of Cyprus. In 688 the island was made into a joint dominion of the caliphate and the Byzantine empire under a pact which was to last for almost 300 years. -
Sep 16, 970
Emperor Basil II military conquests of Bulgaria
From 970 until 1018, a series of conflicts between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire led to the gradual conquest of Bulgaria by the Byzantines, who re-established their control over the entire Balkan peninsula for the first time since the 7th-century Slavic invasions. -
Sep 16, 1054
The great schism
In 1053, the first step was taken in the process which led to formal schism. Cerularius ordered the closure of all Latin churches in Constantinople, in response to the Greek churches in southern Italy having been forced to either close or conform to Latin practices -
Jan 1, 1090
Emperor Alexios I contacts Pope Urban II for military help in the Middle East
By the time Alexios got the throne Seljuqs had captured most of Asia. Alexios was able to capture most of the costal countries by raiding Seljuqs camps. These raids were unable to stop the Turks all together, and with the intention of finding western support he reached out to Pope Urban II. Pope Urban II was not ready to send an army yet because of the first crusade. But he sent troops any way and they all got massacred by the Turks. -
Jan 1, 1202
The Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was a Western European armed expedition called forward by the pope. The plan was to go through Egypt and attack the Muslim territory Jerusalem. Later the Byzantine emperor convinced the army to go through Constantinople and restore his father as emperor if he paid them. When they no longer received there pay and the Byzantine emperor was murdered, they sacked the city of Constantinople and set up a new Latin empire. -
Sep 16, 1453
The fall of Constantinople to the ottoman Turks (official end of the Byzantines)
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Greco-Roman Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by the the 21 year old Mehmed the Conquero who defeated an army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine. The conquest of Constantinople followed a 53-day siege that had begun on 6 April 1453.
