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330
Constantinople is founded
A huge ceremony was held to establish Constantinople as
the new capitol of Rome. The Emperor Constantine was there, and presided over both Christian and Pagan ceremonies to bless the city. On this day the most sacred objects from both religions were buried at the base of the Pillar of Constantine - in an act to empower Constantinople and make it holy. Celebratios and feasting followed, and this beginning was the start of 1,123 years of what we now call the Byzantine Empire. -
Period: 527 to 565
Reign of Justinian
Reign of Justinian, greatest Byzantine emperor, builder of Hagia Sophia, largest and most splendid church in the world -
Jan 1, 1402
The Ottoman sultan Bayazid is defeated and captured near Ankara by Timur, who keeps the sultan in captivity until his death the following year
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Treaty of Karlowitz
The first time in over 400 years that the Ottomans were decisively defeated and forced to sign a peace treaty as the clear losers. The mighty empire was clearly in decline -
Period: to
Reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II
a ruthless despot who was the last of the powerful sultans. The European empires ask themselves the 'Eastern Question': which European nations will grab Ottoman territory when the sultan's empire collapses