Byzantine Empire

Emperor Constantine i founded the Byzantine Capital

330

Constantine was unsure of where to locate his new capital. He understood the infrastructure of the city was declining the economy was the only source of income and was becoming scarce. Constatine decided it was best to have his new city at the cite of old Byzantium, claiming it to be a New Rome.

General Belisarius Military Compaigns

532

Belisarius is considered one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire. He seemed to understand when it was time to strike and when it was more important to heal his troops. He first enlisted in the army under the Emperor Justan i and, upon that emperor’s death he was awarded full command of the army.

Nika Revolt

532

The Nika Revolt started out as simple chariot races but the crowd had become angry. They started to yell Nika, which means win or conquer. They began to turn into a frenzy and started rioting and street fighting.

Hagia Sophia

537

The Hagia Sophia is also known as the church of the Holy Wisdom. It is considered the. Let important Byzantine structure and one of the worlds greatest monuments. It was the largest cathedral and served as a center of religious, political, and artistic life for the Byzantine world.

Early Islamic military campaigns into Byzantine territory

780

The Byzantine empire and the Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates fought a series of wars for supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean. After a while of slow border warfare, a string of Byzantine victories allowed Byzantine to recapture territory lost to the Muslim conquests.

Emperor Basil ii Military Conquests of Bulgaria

976

Basil ii was known to be an outstanding Byzantine emperors. The military conquest was a series of conflicts between the Bulgarian empire and the Byzantine empire that led to the reestablished of the Balkan Peninsula.

The Great Schism

1054

The Great Schism also called the East-West Schism was the breath of communication between what are now the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Schism was the culmination of political and theological differences between the Christian East and West.

Emperor Alexis contacts Pope Urban ii for military help in the Middle East

1095

Pope Urban ii make one of the most influential speeches of the Middle Ages, giving rise to crusades by calling all Christians in Europe to war against Muslims in order to reclaim Holy Land Waugh a cry of “god wills it”.

Fourth Crusade

1204

The Fourth Crusade was intended to re-capture Jerusalem from the Muslims: however most of the Latin forces didn’t make it to the Holy Land. Instead they destroyed Constanople.

Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks

1453

The Ottoman Turks destroyed Constantinople and renamed the city Istanbul. The Ottomans were primarily Islamic so the majority of the churches were turned into mosques. In this time most people still spoke Byzantine Greek, but the language eventually evolved into modern Greek