History of the Byzantines

Building of Constantinople

330

Constatine rebuilt the Greek city of Byzantium and renamed the city after himself he named it Constantinople but he had also decided to make it the new capital of the empire.

General Belisarius

532

General Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine empire that had served under Justinian. Before he was a general for the Byzantine empire he was known for the title of "Last of the Romans". Later on General Belisarius would be known has one of the greatest generals.

Nika Revolt

532

At this time chariot races were the best entertainment. Well the two teams Blues and Greens had many conflicts in the past and Justinian had decided that seven ring leaders were to be condemned. The Nika riots happened when Justinian had wanted those seven to be hung, well two had survived. At the next races people had demanded that the two men were to be spared and shall live.

Hagia Sophia

537

Because of the Nika revolt many were destroyed throughout the city including the Hagia Sophia. Justinian had launched a program that was to rebuild the Hagia Sophia and that was known as Justinian's greatest triumph.

Islamic military in Byzantine territory

Feb 9, 629

After the Byzantine-Sassanid wars going on for so long both were left vulnerable when the Arabs came along. Within a few years the Arabs had struck onto Byzantine. Later on the Arabs and the Byzantine troops had confronted each other at the Mu'tah.

Emperor Basil II

Feb 9, 986

Emperor Basil II best known for his successful campaigns against the Bulgarian kingdom. From the years of 986 to 1014 there has been battles between Byzantine and Bulgaria. When Basil II had defeated the Bulgaria he had gotten the name of "Slayer of the Bulgars".

The Great Schism

Feb 9, 1054

The Great Schism was the split of the Roman Catholic Church. It had divided into two parts the Eastern church and the Western church. The Western church was known as the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern church was known as the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Emperor Alexios I and Pope Urban II

Feb 9, 1095

Emperor Alexios I had asked for Christian knights to help him fight the Muslim Turks. Even though the Roman popes and the Byzantine emperors had a longtime rival Pope Urban II had agreed to help Alexios I. Causing the first crusade that was ordered by Pope Urban II to happen.

Fourth Crusade

Feb 9, 1202

This was an attack on Constantinople where the crusaders were diverted from fighting Muslims to fighting Christians. Merchants had came from Venice to defeat their Byzantine trade rivals in 1204, crusader had captured and looted the city of Constantinople. This was the point in the decline of the Byzantine empire.

The Fall of Constantinople

May 29, 1453

On May 29 1453 the Ottoman Turks had invaded Constantinople lead by Mehmed the conqueror. It was a 53 day siege on Constantinople. The capture of this city had marked that it was the end of the Byzantine empire.