-
As it appears, the Empire was split. The West began to fall.
-
Christianity was now acceptable; property was restored to those of the faith.
-
Constantinople's walls were built and would hold up for the next several hundred years until Renaissance. Became new major city of the Empire.
-
Council of Nicaea takes place; Christian views are combined into one statement.
-
Western Rome falls at the hands of Germans; the city is overrun and destroyed and for some marks the end of the empire.
-
Christians become divided, as the papacy begins at last. East snubs the West for worshiping the pope. Meanwhile, papacy becomes leading power in vacuum of Europe.
-
Franks unified; most notable leaders were Clovis and Charles Martel.
-
This king unified the Franks, laying the foundation for Charlemagne who would later come.
-
Justinian and Theodora built up the Byzantine Empire to its peak.
-
Justinian and his wife build one of the largest and most renowned Orthodox churches in existence. It served to make his power as joint head of church and state secure.
-
Killing off hundreds of his kinsmen, Muhammad takes Mecca, but shows clemency, only requesting his religion be followed, crushing the shrines inside the Kabba
-
Ali is murdered, leading to a difference in opinion about leaders of the Islamic empire. They split into sects. Sunnis follow other leaders, Shias believe in heirs to Ali.
-
This ruler, the most successful since Clovis, but much less despotic, kept Islam out of Europe, demonstrating Frankish power.
-
Islam at this point had spread nearly halfway around the Mediterranean. They could have kept going into Europe, but Charles Martel defeated them and ensured Frankish power in Europe.
-
The king was an intellectual and attempted to spark Europe with learning.
-
This, following the death of its namesake, Charles Martel, led up to the birth of a miniature Renaissance.
-
Baghdad, a young city, was chosen as the capital of the empire, and its location and resources made it an ideal location to house the power of Islam.
-
Charlemagne was endorsed by this Islamic figure, who commissioned him an elephant. This put the king in contact with the people who held the keys to the knowledge he cherished.
-
The patriarch of Byzantium and Charlemagne, after continued disputes, put them to rest as Charlemagne was recognized for his grand status by the East.