History of Byzantines

330 Emperor Constantine Founded the Byzantine Capital

330

The Eastern Roman Empire was the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation and remainder of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and Middle Ages. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabits as the "Roman Empire." It's capital city was Constantinople (Istanbul) founded by Byzantium.

527 Justinian Becomes Emperor of the Byzantines

527

The Byzantine Empire had its first golden age under the Justinian Dynasty, which began in 518 AD with the Accession of Justin 1. In the Justinian Dynasty the Empire reached its largest territorial point. It then reincorporated North Africa, southern Illyria, southern Spain, and Italy into the Empire. Justinian however, known as Justinian the Great, was a Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. He sought to revive the empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the Roman Empire.

537 Hagia Sophia Completed

537

Hagia Sophia is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal church, which later became an imperial mosque, and is now a museum in Istanbul Turkey. The date of its construction in 537, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral until 1453. Except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted into a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. It opened as a museum on February 1st, 1935.

533-545 General Belisarius Military Campaigns

545

Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was involved towards Emperor Justinian's project of reconquering the Mediterranean territory. One of Belisarius's achievements in his career was his success. His name is frequently given "Last of the Romans."

600-700 Islamic Conquests Parts of the Byzantine Territory

Feb 24, 700

Islamic conquests, also known as Muslim conquests/Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. He established a polity in which the subsequent Rashidun (The Rightly Guided Caliphs) saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power. The Muslim conquests brought the collapse of the Sassanid Empire and a great territorial loss for the Byzantine Empire, resulting to its collapse.

1025 Emperor Basil/Military conquests up to the year 1025

Feb 24, 1025

Basil was a Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from January 10th 976 to December 15th 1025. He was known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young. Basil oversaw the stabilization and expansion of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire, and for this, he was known as "the Buglar-slayer."

1054 Great Schism

Feb 24, 1054

The East-West Schism is the break of communion between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches which began in the 11th century. In 1054 the Pepal legate traveled to Constantinople with purposes that include refusing to Cerularius the title of "Ecumencial Patriarch" and insist that he recognize Rome's claim to be head mother of churches.

1095 Emperor Alexios and Pope Urban

Feb 24, 1095

Alexios Komnenos was Byzantine's emperor from 1081 to 1118. He was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, but his reign led the Komnenos family to full power. Pope Urban was the pope from March 12th 1099. He is best known for initiating the First Crusade (1096-1099) and setting up the modern day Roman Curia in the manner of a royal ecclesiastical to help run the church.

1204 Fourth Crusade (attack on Constantinople)

Feb 24, 1204

The Fourth Crusade (1202-04) was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem because of invasions through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded the Orthodox Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. The Crusaders established the short-lived Latin Empire and other "Latin" states in the Byzantine lands they conquered.

1453 End of the Byzantines

Feb 24, 1453

In 1453 the Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire. (Tuesday May 29th, 1453) The capture of Constantinople marked the end of the Roman Empire. The Ottoman armies then freed to advance into Europe.