Byzantine Empire

Founding of Constantinople

330

In 330 AD, Constantine created or established the city. Constantinople that would eventually make it's mark in the ancient world. It was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and would continue to be so through the Latin and Ottoman Empire. During its time it also became known or called as the Queen of Cities, Istinpolin, Stamboul and Instanbul. It would be governed by Roman, observe christinaity and adopt Greek as their primary language.

Justinians Rule

527

Justinian l reigned over Constantinople from 527-565 AD. During his reigned he had many successful launched project such as military campaigns that would help the Byzantines reclaim lost territory from the west and all over the Mediterranean, eventually encircling it

Code of Justinian

529

The code of Justinian was written in 529 AD and it was a series of/or collections of laws and legal interpretations developed under the sponsorship of Justinian l himself. The work contained old laws and opinions of the Roman Jurist's and some of Justinian's own law's as well.

The Nika Revolts

532

The Nika Revolts or Nika Sedition were a series of riots againts the Emperor Justinian in a attempt to overthrow him over the course of a week. The reasons to why such an event happened are concluded to be because the public was upset with the unfair/unjust high tax rates, corruption of officials and John's harsh treatment. However it all ultimately ended when Justinian executed all of them (around 30,000 people) at the Hippodrome where races were held. January 18 532 AD

Hagia Sophia

537

The Hagia Sophia, an important Byzantine structure that was first built as a christian church but later became a mosque, to a museum to later once more become a mosque. It was first built by the Emperor Constantius in 360 AD, however it wasn't long before it suffered catastrophic damage to it in 532 AD from a fire. Emperor Justinian ordered for it to be rebuilt and was done in 537 AD once more and it still stands today.

Justinian ll

685

After the death of Emperor Justinian l, Justinian ll rose to the throne as his successor. He refused to pay the large tribute to the Persian's/Arab's. Although he may be have been underestimated he ultimately came out to be an extremely good emperor as he aimed and was able to grow the eastern empire's borders.

Arabian Invasions

700

This was a period of time(7th-11th century=400 years) in which the Byzantine Empire suffered a series of constant invasion's from the arab/islamic's to conquer them. However many of them were didn't deal significant damage to the Byzantines, it did damage the empire as a whole because they were constantly losing territories /lands to them.

The Byzantine Iconoclasm

726

The Iconoclasm(translated to the destruction of images) was a period of time where the use of religious images or icons were strictly prohibited by both religious and imperial authorities within the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the temporal imperial hierarchy. This would later end in 842 AD when the emperor Theophilus died and her wife, Empress Theodora restored icon veneration.

The Great Schism(Split between Churches)

Jul 16, 1054

The Great Schism was the split of main faction between the Roman catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The reason to why this happened is speculate to be because of continues political and social disagreement's such as the power of the papal or filioque Nicene creed. The west was led by the pope Leo IX and the east led by the patriarch of Constantinople, Micheal Cerularius. This still is in effect today

Crisis and Fragmentation

1071

The Byzantine Crisis and Fragmentation was a period of time in which the empire went through difficult times. It is widely speculated that the reason for this was due to the theme system(Land would be granted to farmers and in return they supplied the empire with loyal soldiers and the neglect military, making them hire mercenaries that were expensive to deal with any threats or enemies they couldn't take care of. In other words this was simply when the empire truly started to fall apart 10th

The Crusades (First one)

1099

The first crusade was when Alexius I send a delegation to Piance Italy, asking Pope Urban II in march of 1095 for help againts the turks.On November 27, 1095, in Clermont, France, Pope Urban II called for a crusade to help the Byzantines and to free the city of Jerusalem.

Crusades( 4th one)

1204

In 1202, the Crusades and Venetian leadership decided to conquer Constantinople in order to settle debts, and also drew a formed agreement to split/divide the byzantine empire between them. The Crusaders sieges began shortly after but were unsuccessful due to weather, however it soon stopped and in April the weatehr favored them . The Crusaders sacked/looted the city of Constantinople for 3 days, destroying everything in its path. The empire was divided in 3 venice,crusades and Latin.

Decline and Collapse

1453

Decline and Collapse was a period of time where the Byzantine Empire faced many more difficulties. Some of the reasons being the constant invasions/sieges against them and the emperor's who weren't at all that great. Political and Economical problems also were a reason to why the empire fell. It all ended with the Ottoman Empire's Sultan Mhemmed ll taking complete control of Constantinople