History of the Byzantines 300AD to 1500AD

Byzantine History

Period: 300 to Jan 1, 1500

Emperor Constantine I Founded the Byzantine Capital

330

Emperor Constantine rebuilt he city of Byzantium and named it after himself. This city would connect Asia and Europe. It would also be a center for trade.

General Belisarius Military Campaigns

527

This is when the Byzantine armies re conquered North Africa, Italy, and the Southern Iberian Peninsula. This conquering left their resources depleted, causing massive attacks from the east to succeed in the many years to come. They would still exist for quite some time, but not forever.

Nika Revolts

532

The Byzantine people assaulted the palace and destroyed and burned property. The fires ended up destroying much of the city. The rioters were eventually killed by a plan made by Justinian.

Hagia Sophia Completed

537

Justinian rebuilt this church that had been left to rubble in the nika riots. He made it much more expansive than before. It was made with arched domes and colored marble.

Emperor Basil II military conquests of Bulgaria

Feb 7, 986

Emperor Basil II gathered a 30,000 man army to take Bulgaria, aiming for the city Sofia. He won the battle, but in his return he was ambushed and defeated, while still surviving. The next time he tried to take Bulgaria, 16 years later, he took little bits of the country at a time, and eventually forced the Bulgarians to Basil's rule.

Early Islamic Military Campaigns into Byzantine Territory

Feb 7, 1050

The Turks converted to Islam, and proceeded to take land in Asia Minor away from the Byzantine. This put their power over the Holy Land, where Jesus was believed to have lived and preached. This disrupted christians trying to get to the Holy Land. It also threatened the very existence of the Byzanites, as they were being surrounded.

Great schism

Jan 1, 1054

The Christian Church split into two groups: the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The eastern church rejected that the popes in Rome had papal supremacy. All centers of power in both churches saw each other as rivals.

Emperor Alexios I contacts Pope Urban II for military help in the Middle East

Jan 1, 1095

Although Pope Urban was coming to assist Alexios, he suddenly changed their primary goal in the region. To reconquer the Holy Land from the Muslims. Many christians came to aid in this goal, from all over Western Europe. The recapture of Jerusalem was a success.

Fourth Crusade

Feb 7, 1202

During this crusade, the crusaders were diverted from fighting the muslims into fighting other christians. They helped the people of Venice defeat the Byzantine trade rivals. They then followed that by capturing and looting Constantinople.

Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks

Feb 7, 1204

The Ottoman Turks were easily able to take over Constantinople after the crusaders had captured and looted the city. The Turks slowly killed off the crusaders, taking all of the land for themselves. This event ended the Byzantine people.