Jere's Ars Magica Saga: Byzantine Timeline

Year	Notable Events
Early fourth century	The Armenians adopt Christianity as their state religion; they develop their own alphabet in the fifth century.
330	The pro-Christian Roman emperor Constantine I dedicates the city of Constantinople (in Greek "the city of Constantine"), established on the site of the Greek city Byzantium, as the new capital of the Roman Empire.
337	Saint Nina converts the Georgians to Orthodox Christianity.
395	The empire is divided into eastern and western portions under Arkadios and Honorius, the sons of Emperor Theodosius I.
410	Rome is sacked by the Visigoths.
476	Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman emperor, is deposed by the German Odoacer.
527	Justinian becomes Eastern Roman emperor. Constantinople covers eight square miles (Manhattan covers twenty-two square miles) with at least 500,000 inhabitants.
532-37	Justinian builds the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
548-65	Justinian builds a monastery dedicated to the Virgin on Mount Sinai; in the ninth century it is renamed for Saint Catherine.
639	Muslim armies conquer the southern territories of the Byzantine Empire (Syria, the Holy Land, Egypt, and Jordan).
726	Byzantine Emperor Leo III orders all icons in the Byzantine Empire destroyed.
800	Charlemagne, king of the Franks, is crowned "Emperor of the West" by Pope Leo III in Rome.
Ninth century	Saint Constantine the Philosopher and Saint Methodios create a writing system for the Slavs; the Cyrillic alphabet will follow.
843	Icons are restored to Orthodox worship; this is a triumph of the Byzantine church over the emperor.
864	Khan Boris of the Bulgarians is baptized as an Orthodox Christian; the Bulgarians adopt Christianity from Constantinople.
867	Basil I becomes the Byzantine emperor and establishes the Macedonian dynasty; until 1025, Byzantine emperors are at least part Armenian.
Late ninth century	Caliphs and the powerful elite of the Islamic 'Abbasid court in Baghdad begin commissioning translations of a major portion of ancient Greek texts into Arabic.

900

The Tenth Century

904	Thessalonika is stormed July 31 by the Saracen corsair Leo of Tripoli, who plunders the town and carries off some 20,000 inhabitants as slaves
907	Hungry's Magyar chief Arpád dies after having founded a dynasty that will reign until the fourteenth century. The Magyars destroy the Moravian Empire and make raids into German and Italian territory.
	Oleg, Prince of Kiev, besieges Constantinople with 2,000 ships and secures trading rights from the world's leading center of commerce and culture.
910	The Byzantine emperor Leo VI (the Wise) is forced to pay tribute to the Magyars
912	The Byzantine emperor Leo VI dies after a 26-year reign in which he has completed the Basilian code of laws begun by his predecessor. He is succeeded by his brother, who will reign for less than a year.
913	The Byzantine emperor Alexander II dies and is succeeded by his 8-year-old nephew, son of the late Leo VI, who will reign until 959 as Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus ("born to the purple"). The government is administered by a regency composed of Constantine's mother Zoë Carbonopsina, the patriarch Nikolas, and John Zladás
	Bulgarian forces menace Constantinople. The czar Symeon calls himself Emperor of the Romans.
914	Adrianople falls to the Bulgarian czar Symeon, but Byzantine forces soon retake it.
917	The Bulgarian czar Symeon overruns Thrace in violation of a 913 agreement with Constantinople. The Byzantines launch a counterattack but are routed August 20 at Anchialus Symeon gains control of the Balkans.
924	Bulgarian's czar Symeon attacks Constantinople but is repelled at the city walls.
926	The Bulgarian czar Symeon attacks Croat forces who have allied themselves with the Byzantines and is repulsed, meeting with his first defeat.
927	Bulgaria's Symeon dies of a heart attack May 27 after building an empire that stretches from the Ionian to the Black Sea, he is succeeded by his son Peter, who signs a peace treaty with the Byzantines in October.
	Famine devastates the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine VII and his co-emperor father-in-law Romanus Lecapenus push through stringent laws to prevent great landed magnates from buying up the small holdings of poor farmers.
941	Igor, prince of Kiev, crosses the Black Sea while the Byzantine fleet is in the Aegean, plunders Bithynia, and reaches the gates of Constantinople, but the Greek navy drives off the Russians and nearly annihilates their fleet with the help of Greek fire.
945-59	Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, a guiding spirit of the so-called Macedonian Renaissance, encourages the creation of encyclopedic works and the compilation of historical writings.
Mid-tenth century	The Byzantine church of Hosios Loukas (Holy Luke) is founded in Stiris, Greece.
959	The Byzantine emperor Constantine VII dies after a reign of 47 years. His young son Romanus II will begin a four year reign of dissipation.
961	Crete is reconquered from Saracen pirates by the great Byzantine armada commanded by Nicephorus Phocas, who storms Candia, expels the Muslims, and converts the people to Christianity.
963	The dissolute Byzantine emperor Romanus II dies at age 25, probably of poison administered by his wife Theophano. He is succeeded by his infant son, who will reign until 1025 as Basil II. The great general Nicephorus Phocas, now 41, will be co-emperor until 969.
963-69	The Great Lavra (Great Monastery) is established on Mount Athos in Greece.
969	The Byzantine co-emperor Nicephorus is murdered by his wife's lover, the Armenian general John Tzimiskes, 45, who will himself reign as co-emperor until 976.
	Antioch falls to Byzantine forces October 28 after a long siege, ending 300 years of Arab rule in the Syrian city.
972	The Byzantine princess Theophano marries the future Emperor Otto II of Germany.
976	The Byzantine co-emperor John I Tzimisces dies January 10 at age 51 after returning from a second campaign against the Saracens. The emperor Basil II, now 20, will reign until 1025.
	The Bulgarian Samuel sets himself up as czar to begin a 38-year reign in which he will challenge the power of the Byzantine emperor, Basil II.
980	Kiev falls to Viking warriors called in by Vladmimir of Great Novgorod, 24, who makes himself grand duke of Kiev and will reign until 1003, extending his Russian dominions.
982	Last years invasion of Apulia by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II provokes the Byzantine emperor basil II, who sends troops to support the Arabs. Otto sustains a devastating defeat in July and escapes on a Greek vessel to Rossano without revealing his identity.
987	Anatolia is overrun by the great land magnates Bardas Phocas and Bardas Skleros, who rise against the Byzantine emperor Basil II.
988	Constantinople is threatened by the insurgents Bardas Phocas and Bardas Skleros.
	Kiev's Grand Duke Vladimir is baptized at Cherson in the Crimea. He takes the Christian name Basil and marries the emperor's sister Anna.
989	The Byzantine emperor Basil II uses 6,000 Russians to help him defeat Bardas Phocas at Abydos in Anatolia, April 13, ending the threat to Constantinople. Bardas Skleros yields to basil's superior forces.
992	Venice is granted extensive trade privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
995	Syria is incorporated into the Byzantine Empire by Basil II, whose forces take Aleppo and Homs.
996	Byzantine forces under Basil II recover Greece. Basil defeats the Bulgarian king Samuel on the Sperchelos River, bribing supporters of Samuel to defect as he proceeds to reduce Bulgarian strongholds in a campaign that will continue until 1014, causing him to be known as Basil Bulgaroktonos (Slayer of the Bulgarians).

1000

The Eleventh Century

1002	The Byzantine armies of Basil II overrun Macedonia and defeat the Bulgarians at Vidin.
1014	The Bulgarian army is blinded on orders from Basil II, whose Byzantine armies annex the western part of Bulgaria.
1018	Byzantine forces defeat an army of Lombards and Normans at Cannae (in southern Italy) in a great victory.
1020	Pisa annexes Corfu
1021	A Byzantine army sent by Basil II invades Armenia.
1022	Byzantine forces in southern Italy are defeated by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II.
1025	The Byzantine emperor Basil II dies December 15 at age 69 after a 49-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother, who will reign until 1028 as Constantine VIII.
1028	The Byzantine emperor Constantine VIII dies at age 68 and is succeeded by his daughter Zoë, 48. She marries Romanus III Argyrolpolus, 60, and makes him co-emperor.
1030	The Byzantine emperor Romanus III is defeated in a battle with the Muslim emirs who have attacked Syria.
1034	The Byzantine empress Zoë poisons her husband Romanus III and marries the epileptic weakling Michael IV Paphiagonian with whom she will reign until 1041.
1041	The Byzantine emperor Michael IV Paphiagonian dies in the autumn and is succeeded by his nephew who will reign for 4 months as Michael V Kalaphates (the caulker).
1042	The Byzantine emperor Michael V Kalaphates shuts the empress Zoë up in a cloister, but the Constantinople nobility rises against him, locks him up in a monastery, and releases Zoë. She marries the scholarly Constantine IX Monomachus, 42, with whom she will reign until 1050. The Seljuk Turks rise against their Byzantine overlords.
1050	The Byzantine empress Zoë dies at age 70, and her older sister Theodora, who has shared the throne since 1042 is left to rule with Constantine IX. He has spent huge sums of money on luxuries and public buildings with a profligacy that has weakened the empire.
1052	Pisa conquers Sardinia from the Arabs, who have held the island since 720.
1053	Norman Robert Guiscard gains victory, June 23, at Civitate over Papal forces raised by Leo IX, who is captured. Robert, 38, takes Benevento from the Byzantines and founds the Norman Empire that will rule southern Italy until 1194.
1054	The Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Roman) Churches break irreparably apart as Pope Leo IX (the antipope Bruno) excommunicated the Patriarch Michael Cerularius.
1055	The Byzantine emperor Constantine IX dies at age 55, leaving his sister-in-law Theodora to rule alone.
	Seljuk Turks under Toghril-Beg enter Baghdad to liberate the Abbasid caliphate from the Shiites. Toghril-Beg restores Sunni power and makes himself temporal master of the caliph.
1056	The Byzantine empress Theodora dies at age 76 to end the Macedonian dynasty that has ruled the empire since Justinian the Great took power in 627. Theodora's successor Michael VI Stratioticus will be overthrown early next year by a revolt of the feudal barons of Anatolia.
1057	The Komnenos dynasty is founded by Isaac I Komnenos, a military leader who is proclaimed emperor by the insurgents who have overthrown Michael VI. The new emperor eliminates many sinecures and reforms Byzantine finances.
1059	The Byzantine emperor Isaac I Komnenos abdicates in favor of a high financial officer who begins an 8-year reign as Constantine X (Dukas). The new emperor will neglect and antagonize the army, giving more authority to the civil service, the church and the scholars.
1064	Hungary's new king Solomon takes Belgrade from the Byzantines.
1067	The Byzantine emperor Constantine Dukas dies at age 60 and his widow Eudoxia Macrembolitissa marries a general who will reign jointly with her until 1071 as Romanus IV Diogenes.
1070	The order of the Knights of St. John is founded at Jerusalem by merchants from Amalfi to care for the hospital of St. John. The Hospitalers will be militarized in 60 years along lines that will be established by the Knights Templar in 1120.
1071	Five centuries of Byzantine rule in Italy ends April 16 as Bari fals to Robert Guiscard after a 3-year Norman seige.
	The Battle of Manzikert (Malaz Kard) August 26 virtually ends Byzantine power in Asia Minor. The emperor Romanus IV Diogenes has led a Christian army of 60,000 to recover some fortresses from the Seljuk Turks in the spring, but he has encountered a 100, 000 man army commanded by the sultan Alp Arslan. Byzantine noblemen, including Andronicus Dukas, desert Romanus, who falls into enemy hands. He gains release, but whe he tries to regain his throne, his enemies put out his eyes, and he soon dies. The bureaucrats at Constantinople elevate the son of the late Constantine X to the throne, and he will reign until 1078 as Michael VII Parapinkaes, with the scholar Michael Psellus as his chief adviser.
1075	Syria and palestine are subdued bu the Seljuk Turk Malik Shah.
1078	The Byzantine emperor Michael VII abdicates and is succeeded by a soldier chosen by the Asiatic troops. The new emperor will reign until 1081 as Nicephrous III Botaniates, and while some of the army mutinies, the insurrections ar eput down by General Alexius Comnenus.
1081	The Byzantine emperor Nicephorus III abdicates under pressure from his general Alexius Komnenos, 33, who will reign until 1118 as Alexius I Komnenos. He signs a commercial treaty with venice.
	The Norman Robert Guiscard invades the Balkans, landing in Epirus and laying seige to the Byzantine city of Durazzo.
1082	Robert Guiscard defeats the Byzantine forces of Alexius I Komnenos and takes Durazzo, occupying Corfu as well.
1085	The Norman Robert Guiscard dies of fever July 15 at age 60 after regaining Corfu and Kephalonia, which his son Bohemund had lost. The duke is succeeded by his brother Roher Guiscard, now 54, who ahs conquered Sicily and will rule until 1101.
1087	The Byzantine emperor Alexius I Komnenos is defeated with a large army at the Battlle of Drystra by heretic Bogomils in Thrace and Bulgaria who have revolted against Constantinople.
1095	Pope Urban receives an appeal from the Byzantine emperor Alexius Komnenos for aid against the Seljuk Turks. He proclaims the crusade Novemeber 27 at the Synod of Clermont.
1096	The Byzantine emperor Alexius Komnenos provides food and escort for the Crusaders he exacts an oath of fealty from the leaders in an effort to protect his title to any recovered "lost provinces" of the Greek Empire, but Count Raymond of Toulouse refuses to take any such oath.
	The First Crusade raises more than 30,000 men and converges on Constantinople in three groups as Norman-French barons rush to take the cross. Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin lead an army from Looraine via Hungary, Count Raymond of Toulouse and the papal legate Adhemar of Puy lead an army from provence via Illyria, and Bohemund of Otranto leads an army from Normandy via Durazzo, traveling both by land and sea. A leading figure is the Norman knight Tancred, 18, a nephew of Sicily's Roger Guiscard.
1097	The Battle of Nicaea June 30 ends in defeat for a Muslim army at the hands of a combined force of Crusaders and Byzantine Greeks who take the Seljuk Turks' capital.
1098	Antioch falls after a 9-month siege by Bohemund of Otranto who has lost 5,000 of his 7,000 hoses to hunger and disease. So many of his men have sickened and died so quickly that it has not been possible to bury all the corpses and there has been a falling out between Norman and Provençal Crusaders.
1099	Jerusalem falls to the Crusaders July 15 after a seige of just over one month. The streets of the city run wth blood as the Crusaders slaughter 40,000 and set fire to mosques and synagogues, and the First Crusade comes to an end.
	A kingdom of Jerusalem is established under the Norman Godfrey of Bouillon, who is elected king and assumes the title Defender of the Holy Sepulcher. He defeats an Egyptian force at Askalon August 12, but disease and starvation have reduced the Crusaders to 60,000, down from an original strength of 300,000m and most of the survivors head for home.

1100

The Twelfth Century

1100	David III of Georgia expels Arabs from Tiflis
	Jerusalem's Godfrey of Bouillon dies July 18 at age 39 after successful forays against the Seljuk Turks that have taken him as far as Damascus. He is succeeded by his older brother Baldwin, count of Flanders, who will rule until 1118 with help from Tancred, the Sicilian Norman who is now prince of Galilee.
1104	Acre Surrenders to Jerusalem's Baldwin I, a Norman Army is badly beaten on the river Balikh near Rakka while trying to take Harran, but Byblos falls to Raymond of Toulouse, who lays siege to Tripoli
	Bohemund of Otronto appears at Epirus with a huge army he has raised in Italy to challenge the Byzantine emperor Alexius Komnenos, who conquers the towns of Cilicia
1107	The Sicilian Norman Tancred recovers the Cilician towns conquered by Alexius Komnenos three years ago.
	Kihj Arslan I, Seljuk Sultan of Rum dies. Malit-Shah, sultan to 1116
1108	The Byzantine Emperor Alexius Komnenos defeats Bohemund of Otranto at Durazzo and makes him a vassal.
1109	Tripoli made independent principality under Count of Toulouse
1111	Alexius Komnenos, emperor of Byzantine, grants commercial privileges to Pisa
1113	Order of Knights Hospitaler of St. John, Jerusalem, founded
1116	Malik-Shah, sultan of Rum dies. Masud I sultan to 1156
1118	Baldwin II becomes King of Jerusalem, reigning until 1131
	Alexius Komnenos dies at age 70, after having the heretic Bogomilial Basilius burned to death. He is succeeded after a 37 year reign by his son, aged 30, who will reign until 1143, John II Komnenos
1120	The Order of the Knights of the Temple is funded in a house near by Jerusalem by Hugh of Pajens
1121	The Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos recovers southwestern Anatolia from the Seljuk Turks and then hastens to the Balkans where the Patzinaks are continuing their incursions
1122	The emperor John II Komnenos and his Byzantine armies exterminate the Patzinak Turks in the Balkans at the Battle of Eski Zagra. The Cumans subsequently occupy their lands. John's refusal to renew exclusive trading privileges granted to Venice by the late Alexius Komnenos in 1082 precipitates a 4 year war.
1123	The Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos defeats Serbian forces in the Balkans.
	Persian poet-astronomer Omar Khayyam dies at age 96, leaving works that include the Rubaiyat
1124	Hungary's Stephen II is defeated in battle by the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos who supports claims to the throne by Bela, blinded by the late Hungarian king Solomon. John acts to keep the Hungarians from gaining control of Dalmatia, Croatia and Serbia.
	Christians capture Tyre.
1125	Venetian forces pillage Rhodes, occupy Chios and ravage Samos and Lesbos. The Almohades conquer Morocco.
1126	The Peace of 1126 ends hostilities between John II Komnenos and the Hungarians and Venetians. The emperor secures Branicoua on the Danube, but is forced by Venice to renew the republic's exclusive commercial privileges.
1128	The order of the Knights Templar is recognized and confirmed by Pope Honorius II.
	Hungarians invade the Empire as far south as Philippopolis before being driven back.
1131	Fult of Anjou becomes King of Jerusalem, reigning until 1143
1136	(through 1139) John II Komnenos having, despite numerous reverses, recovered a sizable portion of Anatolia from the Turks during the the previous two decades, reconquers Cilicia Armenia and campaigns in Northern Syria.
1137	Antioch is forced to pay homage to the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos who has conquered Cilician (Little) Armenia.
1142	Manuel I allies with Conrad III, the Holy Roman Emperor.
	The death of the Danishmendid ruler Malik Muhammad. With his death, the Danishmendid patrimony was divided into three mutually hostile and warring states: Yaghibasan ruling at Sebasteia, Dhu'l-Mur at Caesareia and 'Ayn al-Dawla at Albistar and Melitene. The disintegration of Danishmendid rule upset the balance of power in favor of the Seljuks of Iconium.
1143	The Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos dies at age 55 after a 25 year reign. He is succeeded by his son, 23, who will reign until 1180 as Manuel I Komnenos
1144	The Seljuks take Edessa
	Baldwin III becomes King of Jerusalem, ruling until 1163
1146	Nureddin becomes sultan of Syria, reigning until 1174
	Major Byzantine expedition against the Seljuk Turks, though successful, achieves little.
1147	A Second Crusade assembles 500,000 men under the leadership of France's Louis VII and the German Conrad III, who take separate routes but give the crusade no coherent command, achieve nothing and lose most of their men to starvation, disease and battle wounds. The distraction of the Second Crusade enables Sicily's Roger II to seize the Greek Islands and to attack Athens, Thebes and Corinth.
	An 11 year war begins between Sicily and the Byzantine Empire. Roger II of Sicily seizes Kerkyra (Corfu), and plunders Corinth and Thebes.
1148	The Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos purchase Venetian aid to help him resist the Norman fleets of Sicily's Roger II who has plundered Thebes.
	Crusader's defeated before Damascus. Normans subdue Tunis and Tripoli
1149	Venetian mercenaries regain Corfu (Kerkyra) for the Byzantines
	(to 1152) Manuel I Komnenos crushes Serb rebellion and defeats the Hungarian army which comes to its aid (1150) before attacking Hungary itself.
1152	Punitive expedition against Cilician Armenia.
1153	Normans take Bona, Tunis
1154	Damascus surrenders, April 23 to the Sultan Nurad-Din of Aleppo.
	George III becomes King of Georgia, reigning until 1184. Georgian power and civilization reach their highest peak.
1155	The Genoese gain extensive trade rights in the Byzantine Empire under Manuel I.
	Manuel sends several small expeditionary forces to southern Italy to support rebel Norman barons till 1157.
1156	William of Sicily destroys the Byzantine Fleet on May 28 at Brindisi and recovers Bari from Greek barons who have been encouraged by Pope Adrian IV to revolt.
1158	Masud I, Sultan of Run dies. Kilij Arslan II is sultan until 1192
	(to 1161) A series of expeditions against the Seljuk Turks results in a treaty favorable to the Empire.
1160	In January the Normans are expelled from North Africa
1161	(to 1164) Combined forces of Byzantines from Cilicia and Latins from Jerusalem and Antioch active in Syria until defeated by Nur ed-Din of Aleppo at Battle of Artah.
1162	Amalric I becomes king of Jerusalem, reigning until 1173
1165	The Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos makes an alliance with Venice against Frederick Barbarossa.
	(to 1167) War resumes between Hungary and the Empire. Byzantine victory over the Hungarians at Battle of Semlin (1167) results in recovery of dalmatia, Croatia, Bosnia and Sirmium.
1166	Saladin (Salah-al-Din Yusuf ibn-Ayyub), 28, a city official builds the Cairo citadel.
1169	Nureddin of Damascus invades Egypt.
	Failure of a joint Byzantine-Latin expedition against Damietta.
	Saladin becomes ruler of Damascus, reigning until 1193
	Manuel has a son, Alexias and makes him his heir.
1171	12 March. Manuel, aggrieved by Venice's lack of cooperation in his Western policies, abruptly arrested and imprisoned all Venetians in the empire, seizing their property.
	Saladin, now vizier of Cairo, abolishes the Fatimid Caliphate that has ruled since 968.
1172	The Venetian Grand Council restricts the powers of the doges.
	Bela II, king of Hungary (1172-96). An imperial in-law (having married the step-sister of Manuel's wife) who after a long residence at the imperial court had been allowed to return home to Hungary to take its throne after having sworn allegiance to Manuel.
	Serban resistance is temporarily crushed.
1173	Joint Venetian-Silician attack on Byzantine protectorate of Ancona is defeated.
1176	REAL WORLD: In a campaign intended to eliminate the Sultanate of Rum, Manuel I is disastrously defeated by the Seljuks at the Battle of Myriokephalon. Considerable tracts of Anatolia once again slip from Imperial control as a consequence, despite several Byzantine successes between 1176 and 1180. IN SAGA: In a campaign intended to eliminate the Sultanate of Rum, Manuel I hands the Seljuks a mighty loss. This causes the Seljuks to retreat from some areas of Anatolia and to redouble their efforts to the east, giving the empire a brief respite one more.
1180	REAL WORLD: The Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenus dies September 24 at age 60 after a 37-year reign of great splendor that has involved the empire in repeaed conflicts with the Normans and has weakened it financially. Manuel is succeeded by his son, 12, who will reign briefly, with his mother Maria of Antioch as regent. (This has not happened in the Saga world!)

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Last modified: Thurs Dec 10, 1998