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325
The Official Religion of Rome
At the Council of Nicaea, Constantine 1 had established Christianity as Rome’s official religion -
330
New Rome
Roman emperor Constantine 1 dedicated a “new Rome” on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium as the site of a new Roman capital, Constantinople. -
337
Death of Constantine
Constantine died at the imperial villa at Ankyrona. His body was carried to the Church of the Holy Apostles, his mausoleum. He wished to be buried in Constantinople which caused outrage in Rome, the Roman senate still decided on his deification. -
364
West and East
Emperor Valentinian 1 again divided the empire into western and eastern sections, putting himself in power in the west and his brother Valens in the east. -
451
The Christian World
Council of Chalcedon officially established the division of the Christian world into five patriarchates, each ruled by a patriarch: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. -
476
King of Italy
The Scirian barbarian Odoacer overthrew the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, and Rome had fallen. Odoacer became the first King of Italy. -
Period: 527 to 565
Justinian the Great
Justinian 1 was the first great ruler of the Byzantine Empire who domed the Church of Holy Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia (532-37). -
Period: 532 to 537
Hagia Sophia
A fire during the Nike Revolt burned the second Hagia Sophia to the ground. Justinian 1 decided to build a third and entirely different basilica, larger and more majestic than its predecessors on 23 February 532, only a few weeks after the destruction of the second basilica. The third Hagia Sophia was completed after 5 years and 10 months on construction. -
Jan 1, 622
The Prophet
Muhammad and followers fled to Medina because he angered the Meccan merchants with his strong monotheistic message. They were afraid that trade, which they believed was protected by the pagan gods, would suffer. -
Period: Jan 1, 730 to
The Smashing of Images
During the eighth and early ninth centuries, Byzantine emperors started a movement that denied the holiness of icons, or religious images, and prohibited their worship. Known as Iconoclasm, the movement did not end definitively until 843. -
Period: Jan 1, 1095 to Dec 31, 1291
The Crusades
A series of holy wars waged by Western Christians against Muslims in the Near East. It continued to build between Byzantium and the West, culminating in the conquest and looting of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Refugees from Constantinople fled to Nicaea, site of a Byzantine government-in-exile that would retake the capital and overthrow Latin rule in 1261. -
Period: Jan 1, 1261 to Dec 31, 1373
The Crippling of an Empire
During the rule of the Palaiologan emperors, the economy of the once-mighty Byzantine state was crippled, and never regained its former stature. In 1369, Emperor John V unsuccessfully sought financial help from the West to confront the growing Turkish threat, but was arrested as an insolvent debtor in Venice. Four years later, he was forced to become a vassal of the mighty Turks. -
May 28, 1453
The Fall of an Empire
After an Ottoman army stormed Constantinople, Mehmed triumphantly entered the Hagia Sophia, which would become the city’s leading mosque. Emperor Constantine XI died in battle that day, and the decline and fall of the Byzantine Empire was complete. -
May 29, 1453
The Fall of an Empire
After an Ottoman army stormed Constantinople, Mehmed triumphantly entered the Hagia Sophia, which would become the city’s leading mosque. Emperor Constantine XI died in battle that day, and the decline and fall of the Byzantine Empire was complete.
