Medieval Eastern Europe
(AD 527-1453)
- Byzantine Empire (527-1453)
- Justinian I
- -527: Justinian I the Great became Byzantine emperor and considered himself the emperor of all of Rome (which he truly was since the capital of Rome was moved to Byzantium by Constantine); in order to restore the Roman Empire to its previous power, he began to recover its western parts from the Germanic invaders.
- -532: Justinian secured his eastern borders in Syria with the "eternal peace" which was negotiated with Persia.
- -533: Belisarius, the general of Justinian, conquered North Africa and southern Spain from the crumbling grasp of the Vandals, a Germanic people.
- -534: Justinian worked to codify Roman law and created a uniform legal system, the Corpus juris civilis (Body of Civil Laws), which also allowed for Novellae (amendments); it became the basis of all Medieval European law and legal practice.
- -537: Justinian ordered the building of the Hagia Sophia, the Church of the Holy Wisdom, in Constantinople; it continued the Roman tradition of building domes, but was done on an extraordinarily large scale, and it contained a Roman mosaic realism, but also an abstract use of dramatic colors characteristic of Byzantium art and architecture.
- -535-555: Justinian and Belisarius gradually conquered all of Italy in a long and costly war against the Ostrogoths, a Germanic people, who resisted the imperial armies for twenty years.
- -565: Justinian died and is credited with unifying the law, creating a new Byzantine architecture, and restoring all of the Roman lands to his rule, except for Gaul and northern Spain; despite his achievements, the heavy costs of them greatly hurt the Byzantine economy and gave his successors the difficult task of stabilizing the empire.
- Heraclius
- -610: Heraclius became Byzantine emperor when he overthrew Phocas during a period of economic hardship and internal strife, which had resulted in the loss of Italy to the Lombards; he took upon himself the impossible task of fixing the Byzantine economy.
- -622-628: after continuous attacks by the Persian Empire in the east, Heraclius began a huge counterattack; he first allowed a group of Huns to settle the west Balkans in return for their defense of the western border by the Avars, and he then proceeded to recapture Anatolia, Egypt, and Syria, pushing the Persians far east.
- -in order to govern his empire effectively, Heraclius created themes (provinces) and gave their administrative control to his strategos (generals); this strengthened the empire under his control and allowed for the economy to begin to recover.
- -despite military and administrative successes, Heraclius was unsuccessful in his attempts to get the Monophysite Christians to join the Byzantine church; this created religious dissension in the empire and with the Roman Pope.
- -634: the constant wars and religious dissension within the empire left it unable to resist the growing threat from Arabia and so Caliph Umar I was able to conquer the Byzantine territories of Palestine, Syria, and Egypt, introducing Islam to those places.
- -641: Heraclius died with the empire strengthened economically and administratively, but the growing threat caused a great problem for he and his successors who began to focus all of their attention to the east and south.
- Muslim Wars and Reconquest
- -670: after conquering North Africa and southern Spain, Muslim invaders attempted to conquer Constantinople with a large fleet, but failed due to the formation of the themata, a strong military controlled by strategos, and the tagmata, an elite guard formed for the protection of Constantinople.
- -717: the Caliphate once again attempted to besiege Constantinople with a combined land and sea invasion; under the leadership of emperor Leo III, the themata and tagmata once again forced a Muslim retreat.
- -867: Basil I became Byzantine emperor and established the Macedonian dynasty; he began a great legal reform and a revival of learning including the recopying of the classics, the compilation of encyclopedias, and the advancement of mathematics, astronomy, and art.
- -976: Basil II, a member of the Macedonian dynasty, became Byzantine emperor; he conquered Armenia in the east, Bulgaria in the west, and attempted to replace the power of the aristocrats with loyal families.
- Decline of Byzantium
- -1054: after centuries of dispute over the government and doctrine of Christianity, the Eastern Orthodox Church officially broke with the Roman Catholic Church with the Great Schism.
- -1071: the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantium imperial army, which had been neglected by the successors of Basil II, at the Battle of Manzikert; the Muslim invaders proceeded to conquer Anatolia
- -1095: despite their tensions, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I asked Pope Urban II for help against the Turks; Urban saw this as a chance to win prestige, to unite the European rulers, and to unite Christianity, so he gave a speech which called for a "crusade" to free Jerusalem from the evil Turks; the speech spurred thousands of people from all classes and nations, who roared, "God wills it."
- -1096-1099: the crusades occurred with thousands of knights from western Europe and allowed for the Byzantine Empire to recapture some lands on the coasts of Anatolia, but Italian merchants also gained control of much of Byzantium's commerce and wealth.
- -1204: crusaders, under pressure from Venice, took advantage of Byzantine internal strife and looted Constaninople; they established the Latin kingdom in the Balkans which resulted in great Greek revolts and fragmented Balkan states.
- -1261: Byzantine emperor Michael VIII recaptured Constantinople and founded the Palaeologan dynasty; because of a lack of resources and of central authority, Michael and his successors were only able to control a small state around Constantinople.
- -1354: the Turks conquered all of Anatolia and proceeded to attack the eastern Balkans, greatly splitting up the Byzantine empire.
- -1453: the Turks conquered the city of Constantinople, renaming it Istanbul and making it their capital; they killed the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, and thus ended the Byzantine Empire, the last remnants of Rome.
- Eastern Tribes (600-1437)
- Avars
- -600: the Avars, a Turkic tribe on the Black Sea coast, were driven from their home by other Turks and fled to the north side of the western Danube River; there they raided Slav, German and Byzantine cities, extorting large tributes.
- -796: the Avars were destroyed by Charlemagne, king of the Franks, and left them in shambles, unable to continue their conquered on his empire; they were next exterminated by the Moravians, a Slavic tribe which absorbed them.
- Yugoslavs (South Slavs)
- -600: the Yugoslavs (Slovenes, Croatians, and Serbians), Slavic tribes from the north, were driven from their home by Turkic tribes and fled to the south side of the western Danube River; there they raided German and Byzantine cities, extorting large tributes.
- -796: the Yugoslavs were defeated by Charlemagne, king of the Franks; this allowed the Franks to conquer the Slovenes and Croatians, converting them to Catholicism, and the Byzantine empire to conquer the Serbians, converting them to Orthodox.
- -879: Branimir was granted formal recognition as king of Croatia by the Pope.
- -1097: a coalition of nobles made an agreement with the king of Hungary which made Croatia a vassal of Hungary; in return for control over local government, the nobles pledged military service and loyalty to Hungary.
- Bulgars
- -600: the Bulgars, a Slavic tribe on the Black Sea coast, were driven from their home by other Turks and fled to the north side of the eastern Danube River; there they raided Slav, German and Byzantine cities, extorting large tributes.
- -681: Asperuch, a chieftain, united the Bulgars and established the kingdom of Bulgaria.
- -803: Krum, a descendent of Asperuch, defeated an invading Byzantine force and began conquering the northern Byzantine territories of Serbia and Macedonia.
- -852: Boris I became king of Bulgaria; he suffered serious military defeats by the Serbs, the Turkic tribes, and Hungary which pushed the kingdom south of the Danube River, and he converted to Orthodox Christianity after receiving pressure from Byzantium.
- -893: Simeon I, son of Boris I, became king of Bulgaria and introduced Byzantine culture; he waged several successful battles against Hungary, Serbia, and the Byzantine Empire which expanded Bulgaria from the Black Sea to the Yugoslav territories.
- -969: Russia invaded Bulgaria, captured the capital and the royal family in the Russo-Bulgarian conflict; the Byzantine Empire, frightened of the Russian invasion, joined the conflict and forced a Russian retreat.
- -1018: after annihilating the Bulgarian armies, Byzantine Emperor Basil II annexed Bulgaria.
- -1185: Peter II revolted against Byzantine rule and became king of Bulgaria, which included the region between the Danube River and the Balkan Mountains, a very small territory compared to before Byzantine rule.
- -1241: the Golden Horde invaded and subjugated Bulgaria which had expanded to included parts of Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, and Thrace.
- -1300: Bulgaria gained independence from the Golden Horde and was left in shambles, open to constant attacks from Serbs and the Seljuk Turks.
- -1396: the Ottoman Empire invaded and ravaged Bulgaria, annexing the entire country.
- Balts
- -1226: the Order of the Sword Brothers, an army of German Crusaders, conquered the northern Baltic tribes; they proceeded to convert them to Christianity and established the vassal states of Livonia and Courland in the north.
- -1240: the Teutonic Knights, other German Crusaders, merged with Livonia and conquered all of the Balts; they convertd them to Christianity and established the vassal states of Prussia and Lithuania in the south.
- -1263: Mindaugas, the duke of Lithuania, defeated the Teutonic Knights and declared independence; because he continued to rule as a Christian, his nobles assassinated him and reverted Lithuania back to paganism.
- -1345: Olgierd became duke of Lithuania and expanded the duchy east and south into Russian principalities.
- -1346: the Teutonic Knights expanded their lands north into Danish principalities, establishing the vassal state of Estonia.
- -1386: Wladyslaw II Jagiello, duke of Lithuania, succeeded his grand-uncle-in-law Kazimierz III as king of Poland; he united the two nations, introduced Catholicism to Lithuania, and defended his kingdom from the Teutonic Knights.
- Poland (West Slavs)
- -840: Piast, a Slavic chieftain, united the Poles and neighboring Western Slavs under his rule and established the Piast dynasty of Poland.
- -960: Mieszko I, a descendent of Piast, became king of Poland; he greatly centralized his power, and he converted Poland to Christianity due to pressure from the Holy Roman Empire.
- -992: Boleslaw I succeeded his father Mieszko as king of Poland; he greatly expanded Poland through successful battles against the Holy Roman Empire, and gained the favor of the Pope by establishing the churches throughout Poland.
- -1058: Boleslaw II became king of Poland; he maintained an alliance with the Pope against Germany, but when he killed Stanislas, bishop of Krakow, the Pope urged the Poles to unite against him and he fled to Hungary.
- -1102: Boleslaw III became king of Poland; he successfully defended Poland against the Holy Roman Empire and acquired Pommerania, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire.
- -1138: Boleslaw III died and Poland divided into several warring principalities, the most important being Pommerania, Great Poland, Mazovia, Silesia, and Little Poland.
- -1241: the Golden Horde invaded Poland, now loosely united, and ravaged the country, but withdrew relatively quickly.
- -1320: Wladyslaw I, a member of the Piast dynasty, became king of Poland; he defeated the Teutonic Knights and reunited Poland, increasing its power and prosperity.
- -1330: Kazimierz III succeeded his father Wladyslaw I as king of Poland; he was an enlightened ruler, initiated governmental reforms, patronizing the arts, and conquered Galicia, in the southeast.
- -1370: Louis I, nephew of Kazimierz III, became king of Poland; already king of Hungary, he united the two kingdoms, but only during his reign.
- -1386: Wladyslaw II Jagiello, grand-nephew-in-law of Kazimierz III, became king of Poland; already grand duke of Lithuania, he united the two nations, and introduced Catholicism to Lithuania.
- Hungary (Magyars)
- -889: the Magyars, a Finnic tribe on the Black Sea coast, were driven from their home by the Pechenegs, a Turkic tribe, and fled westward through Bulgaria; they in turn drove the Slavs from their lands in Eastern Europe.
- -896: Arpad, a Magyar chief, led the Magyars across the Carpathian Mountains and established the kingdom of Hungary; the Magyars (Hungarians) began raiding the Holy Roman Empire and became rich off loot from Germany, Italy, and even France.
- -933: the Magyars were defeated by Henry the Fowler, king of Germany, and briefly ended their raids.
- -955: the Magyars suffered a horrible defeat by Otto the Great, the son and successor of Henry; this officially ended the Magyar raids of western Europe.
- -997: Stephen I the Saint, a descendent of Arpad, was granted formal recognition as king of Hungary by the Pope; he codified the Magyar law, converted to Christianity, kept peace, encouraged commerce, and split Hungary into counties.
- -1078: after a long period of civil war, Ladislas I the Saint united the Hungary under the Arpad dynasty once again; through an alliance with the Pope he was able to gain enough power to conquer Croatia, Bosnia, and parts of Transylvania and Dalmatia.
- -1222: after a period of unrest with the nobles (caused by the Byzantine emperor), Andrew II, king of Hungary, issued the Golden Bull; it extended various rights, most important tax exemption, to his nobles and thus reestablished order.
- -1241: the Golden Horde invaded Hungary, but withdrew relatively quickly; the invasion resulted in further unrest among the nobles and more power lost by the monarchy.
- -1308: after seven years of civil war since the Arpad dynasty died out, the Hungarian nobles elected Charles Robert of Anjou to be king of Hungary as Charles I, and he established the Capet-Anjou dynasty; he made Hungary a great power through centralization of power and the conquests of Bosnia and part of Serbia.
- -1342: Louis I, son of Charles I, became king of Hungary; he was successful against the Venetians and, through his uncle, united the kingdoms of Hungary and Poland, but only during his reign.
- -1387: Sigismund of Luxembourg became king of Hungary through marriage; his reign was marked by overwhelmingly defeats by the Ottoman Empire and the Venetians.
- -1437: Sigismund died and his son-in-law, Albert II, became king of Hungary, ending the Capet-Anjou dynasty.
- Rise of Russia (862-1453)
- Principality of Kiev (Russiya)
- -862: Rurik, a Swedish Viking chief, invaded eastern Europe and conquered many of the fragmented Eastern Slavic states; he united the eastern Slavic tribes as the Prince of Russiya (land of the Swedes).
- -863: Cyril and Methodius, two Greek monks, traveled to northeastern Europe; they converted many Slavs to Christianity, organized the Slavonic Church, and developed Cyrillic, a written Slavic alphabet using mostly Greek characters; for the first time, the Slavs were not completely isolated from European culture.
- -882: Oleg the Seer became Prince of Russiya and established his capital at Kiev, in Ukraine; he began to establish close commercial and cultural ties with the Byzantine Empire.
- -988: Vladimir the Apostle, the Prince of Kiev, converted to Byzantine Christianity, made it the official religion, and established the Princes of Kiev as spiritual leaders; the Russians soon became the cultural inheritor of Byzantine culture including religion, theology, society, architecture, and the arts.
- -996: Yaroslav the Wise, Prince of Kiev, codified Russian law in the Russkaya Pravda (Russian justice); he ordered the construction of many great churches in the Byzantine style, including the Church of the Tithe, the first stone church in Russia.
- -1054: Yaroslav died and the empire declined; the economy of Kiev, which depended on trade routes to the Byzantine Empire, was threatened by Turkic tribes in the south, and unrest caused civil wars among Russian rulers.
- Principality of Vladimir
- -1169: Andre I Bogolubsky, a Rurikovich prince, established himself as the strongest ruler in Russiya and moved the capital from Kiev to Vladimir, in northeastern Russiya.
- -1223: Genghis Khan, the leader of the Mongols, invaded southeastern Russiya; an alliance of Russian princes, under Yuri II the Saint, Prince of Vladimir, were defeated by the Mongols at the Battle of Kalka River, but Genghis Khan withdrew his armies
- -1237: Batu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, led the Golden Horde and invaded Russiya; they captured and destroyed most of the major cities, forcing heavy tribute and vassalation, but did not interfere in daily life; the major importance of this invasion was that it cut off Russiya from the rest of Europe and its developing culture.
- -1252: Alexander Nevsky became Prince of Vladimir; to protect Russiya, he loyally submitted to the Golden Horde and proceeded to deal with the Swedish and Teutonic invasions in the west, which he defeated.
- -1263: Alexander Nevsky gave Muscovy, in northern Russiya, to his son Daniel; he worked closely with the Golden Horde, gained their favor, and established Muscovy as a rich and powerful principality.
- Principality of Muscovy
- -1304: after Daniel died a year earlier, Alexander Nevsky died, and Muscovy became the capital of Russiya, under the Golden Horde; the city grew rich and powerful by moving the Russian Orthodox Chruch from Kiev to Muscovy, by gaining the favor of the Mongols, and by secretly keeping part of the tribute collected for the Mongols.
- -1328: Ivan I moneybags, the son of Daniel, became prince of Muscovy; his favor with the Golden Horde earned him the title "Grand Prince of All Russia" and greatly tightened his control of other Russian leaders.
- -1360: Demetrius the Elder became prince of Muscovy; internal strife within the Golden Horde weakened their ability to tax the Russians and angered Mamay Khan, the leader of the Golden Horde.
- -1380: Mamay Khan invaded Russia to collect his unpaid tribute; Demetrius defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Kulikovo, but continued to remain a vassal of the Golden Horde.
- -1453: the Byzantine Empire collapsed and because the Russians considered themselves the inheritors of the Byzantine Empire, Moscow was declared the "third Rome" after Constantinople, and the Prince of Muscovy eventually assumed the title of Czar (Caesar).
