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Period: 313 to 337
Reign of Constantine (Byzantine)
Constantine was the first Byzantine emperor after the fall of the western Roman empire that created Constantinople as the new capital and created the policy of caesaropapism. -
Period: 501 to 600
Silkworms Introduced (Byzantine)
After smuggling silkworms and learning the Chinese method of making silk, two monks were able to bring silk manufacturing to the Byzantine empire. Silk became one of the most important industries in the manufacturing world, so the Byzantine took extra care of looking over its creation. -
Period: 527 to 565
Reign of Justinian (Byzantine)
Of all of the Byzantine emperors, Justinian was the most important of them all. Along with his wife Theodora, they brought peace to the empire and built the Hagia Sophia (a domed church) as a reminder of their work. Justinian's greatest work that he accomplished is the codification of the Roman law called the Corpus iuris civilis. Additionally, he tried to reunite the land of the western Roman empire and failed. -
Period: 601 to 700
Islamic Conquests (Byzantine)
During the seventh century, the Arab people became a huge challenge to the Byzantine empire since they were able to conquer most of their land. A weapon called the Greek fire (which created fires that were hard to put out) and a theme system (created to increase the military by giving free peasants land in exchange for military service) all helped the Byzantine people fight against the Arab people on both land and sea. The theme system, eventually helped stop the Arab people's conquest. -
Period: 726 to 843
Iconoclastic Controversy (Byzantine)
During the reign of Leo III, he believed the icons of Jesus, saints, and most theologians were sinful since it was like praying to physical idols. He ordered that all icons were to be destroyed and never used in churches. This angered many protest among the people and until the iconoclasts finally gave up on Leo III policy. -
Period: 976 to 1025
Reign of Basil ll (Byzantine)
During the reign of Basil ll, he was known as "Basil the Bulgar Slayer" because he and his army were able to conquer the Bulgars' kingdom at the battle of Kleidion in 1014 C.E.. After winning against them, Basil ll ordered that the 14,000 Bulgarian survivors were to be blinded with only a few keeping one eye to lead them all home. With this conquest and the conquest of other nations, Basil was able to suspend tax collecting and make the Byzantine empire control the Mediterranean region. -
989
Conversion of Prince Vladimir of Kiev to Orthodox Christianity (Kievan Russ)
When Prince Vladimir converted to Orthodox Christianity, he still admired drunkenness and hanged out with a group of about 800 girls. Even so, he helped spread Byzantine culture and religion to all of Kievan Russ and Russia. -
1071
Battle of Manzikert (Byzantine)
When the Muslim Saljuqs invaded the Byzantine empire, they fought for Anatolia and won. This caused a civil war to break out in the Byzantine empire. Also, with the loss of Anatolia, the source of the Byzantine's wealth, military power, and grain, the Byzantine empire weakened drastically which ended the empire. -
Period: 1202 to 1204
Fourth Crusade (Byzantine)
The Normans and other western European people went on vast military campaigns to recapture Christian holy sites such as Jerusalem from the Muslims. One of their crusade was planned to attack Constantinople, but the Venetain merchants diverted the attack. However, they decided to use the attack to strengthen their positions against the Byzantine competition. This ended in the destruction of Constantinople that can never truly be repaired.
