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Period: 300 to Jan 1, 1500
Byzantine History
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324
Byzantine Capital Founded
Emperor Constantine took over the capital of Byzantium. The people of the city later renamed it Constantinople in honor of him. Constantinople was used as the capital for the Byzantine Empire and later it was used as the Ottoman Empire capital. -
532
Nima Revolt
Violent riot by the citizens of Constantinople that took place over the course of one week. Half of the city was burned and destroyed including the Hagia Sophia. Tens of thousands of people died. Riot happened because people wanted to overthrow Emperor Justinian but they failed to do so. -
533
Military Campaigns of Belisarius
General Belisarius was a very highly honored general and conqueror. His campaigns were mostly to recover the land that was lost by the Ancient Roman Empire. First campaign was against the Vandals because they were persecuting Christians. The second campaign was against the Ostrogoths. After that he had to protect the Byzantine Empire from the Goths. His final campaign was to defeat the Kuteigurs. By the end of his life he had increased the empire by 45%. -
537
Hagia Sophia Completed
Hagia Sophia was burned down during thre Nika Revolt. Immediately after, Emperor Justinian I had the church rebuilt. Construction took 5 years. It was used as a Cathedral at first and then later on it was used as a Mosque. Now it is a museum. -
Jul 1, 1053
The Great Schism
The Christian Chirch had cultural differences in the religion. This led to many arguments about what was right and what was not right. The church slpit and two new branches of Christianity were born. Those two were Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Western Roman Catholic Christianity. -
Nov 27, 1095
First Crusade
Emperor Alexios I asks Pope Urban II for help in the Middle East with fend off the invading Seljuq Turks. This was also a mission to recover the holy lands from Muslims. The main objective was to free Jerusalem from Muslim rule. This was the first major step towards reopening trade from nation to nation. -
Apr 8, 1204
Fourth Crusade
Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, is looted, partially destroyed, and captured. This was done by Western European and Venetian Crusaders. Considered to start irreversible decline of the Byzantine Empire. -
May 29, 1453
Fall of Constantinople
The Ottoman Turks captured the capital city, Constantinople. They captured it with a seven week siege. After the capital was captured Christianity took a huge blow. Many Greek intellects fled from the city to Italy before and after the siege which fueled the Rennaissance. This marked the end of the Byzantine Empire and also the end of the Middle Ages. -
Islamic Military Campaigns into Byzantine Territory
Muslims swept into Byzantium's southern regions in the early 630s. When the Islamic military first started attacking, Buzantium was on the defensive so the Muslims couldn't get anywhere. Later on the Byzantines launched counter attacks and took Syria back. Over all it was a huge back and forth tug of war which ended with the Muslims winning and conquering Constantinople. -
Military Conquests for Bulgaria
Small skirmishes between Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria caused a major outburst of attacks. Bulgarians attacked Constantinople but Constantinople won and then captured eastern Bulgaria. Northern Bulgaria was taken back after a series of offenses from Bulgaria, as was much more of Bulgaria later on. The Byzantines ended up strategically advancing into the key Bulgarian cities and eventually conquered the whole of Bulgaria.
