HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

PRAMBANAN TEMPLE :

PRAMBANAN TEMPLE
•Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Central Java in Indonesia,
located approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta.
•The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the largest Hindu temples
in south-east Asia.
•It is characterized by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple
architecture, and by the 47m high central building inside a large complex of
individual temples.


The ruins of Prambanan during early discovery.

•It was built around 850 CE by either Rakai Pikatan, king of the second Mataram
dynasty, or Balitung Maha Sambu, during the Sanjaya Dynasty.
•Not long after its construction, the temple was abandoned and began to deteriorate.
Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918. The main building was completed in
around 1953.
•Much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction
sites.
•A temple will only be rebuilt if at least 75% of the original stones are available,
and therefore only the foundation walls of most of the smaller shrines are now
visible and with no plans for their reconstruction.
•The temple was damaged during the earthquake in Java in 2006.
•Early photos suggest that although the complex appears to be structurally intact,
damage is significant.
•Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple has been closed to the public until damage can be fully assessed.
•The head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that: "it will take months to identify the precise damage".
•Some weeks later in 2006 the site re-opened for visitors. The immediate surroundings of the Hindu temples remain off-limits for safety reasons.





The reconstructed plan of Prambanan temple complex.


• The Prambanan temple complex consists of three zones. The outer zone is a large space marked by a rectangular wall (destroyed).
• The original function is unknown; possibilities are that it was a sacred park, or priests' boarding school (ashram).
• The supporting buildings for the temple complex were made from organic material; as a consequence no remains occur.
• The middle zone consisted of four rows of 224 individual small shrines. These concentric rows of temples were made in identical design.
• Each row towards the center is slightly elevated. These shrines are called "Candi Perwara" or complementary temples, the additional buildings of the main temple.
• Some believed it was offered to the king as a sign of submission.
• The Perwara are arranged in four rows around the central temples, some believed it has something to do with four castes, made according to the rank of the people allowed to enter them; the row nearest to the central compound was accessible to the priests only, the other three were reserved for the nobles, the knights, and the simple people respectively.
• While another believed that the four rows of Perwara has nothing to do with four castes, it just simply made as meditation place for priests and as worship place for devotees.


The maquette of the Prambanan temple complex.

• The central compound is the holiest among the three zones. Its the square elevated platform surrounded by square stone wall with stone gates on each four cardinal points.
• This holiest compound is assembled of eight main shrines or candi. The three main shrines, called Trimurti ("three forms"), are dedicated to the three gods: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Keeper, and Shiva the Destroyer.
• The other three shrine in front of three main temples is dedicated to vahana of each gods.
• Between these row of main temple, on north and south side stands two Candi Apit.
• Beside these 8 main temples, there's also 8 smaller shrines; 4 Candi Kelir on four cardinal direction of the entrance, and 4 Candi Patok on four corner.
• The Shiva shrine at the center contains five chambers, four small chamber in every cardinal direction and one bigger main chamber in central part of the temple.
• The east chamber connect to central chamber that houses a three meter high statue of Shiva Mahadeva. The statue of Shiva stands on Yoni pedestal that bears the carving of Naga serpents on north side of pedestal.
• The other three smaller chambers contain statues of Hindu Gods related to Shiva; his consort Durga, the rishi Agastya, and Ganesha, his son.
• Statue of Agastya occupy the south chamber, the west chamber houses the statue of Ganesha, while the north chamber contains the statue of Durga Mahisasuramardini depicting Durga as the slayer of Bull demon.
• The shrine of Durga is also called the temple of Lara Jonggrang (Javanese: slender virgin), after a Javanese legend of princess Lara Jonggrang.




The temple compound.


Main shrine dedicated to Shiva of Prambanan temple complex
• The two other main shrines are that of Vishnu on the north side of Shiva shrine, and the one of Brahma on the south.
• Both temple facing east and each contain only one large chamber, each dedicated to respected gods; Brahma temple contains the statue of Brahma and Vishnu temple houses the statue of Vishnu.
• In front of each main temple is a smaller temples on the east side, dedicated to the mounts (vahana)of the respective gods - the bull Nandi for Shiva, the gander Angsa for Brahma, and Vishnu's Eagle Garuda.
• Garuda holds important role for Indonesia, which serves as the national symbol of Indonesia, also to the airline Garuda Indonesia.
• The bas-reliefs along the balustrades on the gallery around Shiva and Brahma temple depict the Ramayana legend.
• They illustrate how Sita, the wife of Rama, is abducted by Ravana. The monkey king Hanuman brings his army to help Rama and rescue Sita.
• This story is also shown by the Ramayana Ballet, regularly performed at full moon at Trimurti open air theatre in west side of the illuminated Prambanan complex.
• On the balsutrades in Vishnu temple there is series of bas-relief depict the story of lord Krishna.



The legend

• The popular legend of Lara Jonggrang is what connects the site of the Ratu Boko Palace, the origin of the Durga statue in northern cell/chamber of the main shrine, and the origin of the Sewu temple complex nearby.
• The legend tells of the story about Prince Bandung Bondowoso who fell in love with Princess Lara Jonggrang, the daughter of King Boko.
• But the princess rejected his proposal of marriage because Bandung Bondowoso had killed King Boko and ruled her kingdom.
• Bandung Bondowoso insisted on the union, and finally Lara Jonggrang was forced to agree for a union in marriage, but she posed one impossible condition Bandung must build her a thousand temples in only one night.
• The Prince entered into meditation and conjured up a multitude of spirits (demons) from the earth.
• Helped by supernatural beings, he succeeded in building 999 temples.
• When the prince was about to complete the condition, the princess woke her palace maids and ordered the women of the village to begin pounding rice and set a fire in the east of the temple, attempting to make the prince and the spirits believe that the sun was about to rise.
• As the cocks began to crow, fooled by the light and the sounds of morning time, the supernatural helpers fled back into the ground.
• The prince was furious about the trick and in revenge he cursed Lara Jonggrang to stone.
• She became the last and the most beautiful of the thousand statues.
• According to the traditions, the unfinished thousandth temple created by the demons become the Sewu temple compounds nearby (Sewu means "thousands" in Javanese), and the Princess is the image of Durga in the north cell of the Shiva temple at Prambanan, which is still known as Lara Jonggrang or Slender Virgin.

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TIMELINE OF MODERN GREEK HISTORY

1821, March 25:

Metropolitan Germanos of Patras blesses a Greek flag at the Monastery of Agia Lavra. Greece declares its independence. Beginning of the Greek War of Independence

1821, 10 April, Easter Monday:

Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged in the central outside portal of the Patriarchate by the Ottomans. The door has remained shut and out of use ever since.

1821, 17 April:

Former Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril VI is hanged in the gate of the Adrianople's cathedral

1821, 4 April:

Constantine Mourousis, Dimitrios Paparigopoulos and Antonios Tsouras are decapitated by the Ottomans in Constantinople

1821, 5 April:

The Phanariotes Petros Tsigris, Dimitrios Skanavis and Manuel Hotzeris are decapitated, while Georgios Mavrocordatos is hanged by the Sultan forces in Constantinople

1821, 23-24 April:

Battle of Alamana. After the Greek defeat, Athanasios Diakos is impaled and put on a spit

1821, 4 May:

Metropolitans Gregorios of Derkon, Dorotheos of Adrianople, Ioannikios of Tyrnavos, Joseph of Thessaloniki, and the Phanariote Georgios Callimachi and Nikolaos Mourousis are decapitated on Sultan orders in Constantinople

1821, 9 July:

The head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church Archbishop Kyprianos, along with 470 prominent Greek Cypriots, amongst them the Metropolitans Chrysanthos of Paphos, Meletios of Kition and Lavrentios of Kyrenia, are executed by beheading or hanging by the Ottomans in Nicosia

1821, 11 September:

Tripoli falls to the Greeks, who proceed to eliminate the Ottoman garrison and officials

1822:

The Chios massacre takes place. A total of about 100,000 people perish
1822, 26 July, Battle at Dervenakia. A decisive victory of the Greeks which saved the revolution.

1823, 18 January:

Nafplio becomes the seat of the Revolutionary Government

1823, March:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, under George Canning, recognizes the Greeks as a nation at war, thus recognizing de facto the Greek Independence

1824, 7-8 June:

The island of Kasos is completely destroyed by the Turkish-Egyptian forces of Hussein Rushdi Pasha

1824, 21 June:

More than 15,000 Greeks of Psara are slaughtered by the forces of Ibrahim Pasha

1824:

The First Siege of Missolonghi takes place

1825, 22 May:

Laskarina Bouboulina is assassinated in Spetses

1825, 5 June:

Odysseas Androutsos is assassinated in Athens

1825, 6 November:

Beginning of the Third Siege of Messolonghi

1826, 10-11 April:

The Siege of Messolonghi (1825)#The Escape takes place. Approximately 8,000 Greek soldiers and civilians perish

1826, 24 June:

Battle of Vergas

1826, 11 November:

Prime Minister Andreas Zaimis transfers the seat of the government to Aegina

1827, 22-24 April:

Battle of Phaleron. Georgios Karaiskakis is killed in action

1827, July 6:

Signing of the Treaty of London

1827, 20 October:

Battle of Navarino

1828, 24 January:

John Capodistria is elected Governor of Greece

1828, 31 January:

Alexander Ypsilantis dies in Vienna

TIMELINE OF MODERN GREEK HISTORY

VIDEO HANTU..hehe

Timeline: Decline and Fall (13th to 15th Centuries)

1204

The Fourth Crusade

The end of the Komnenian dynasty signals a new period of weak and finally incompetent rule.

A disinherited Byzantine prince involves a crusading army in Byzantine politics with disastrous results. The crusaders were originally bound for Egypt. Encouraged by the Venetians, who by now are a significant maritime and economic power, the crusaders instead attack and partially destroy Constantinople - the greatest city in Christendom.

For the first time in almost eight hundred years the walls of Constantinople yield to an attacking army. Committed by one group of Christians against another, the so-called "Fourth Crusade" ranks as one of the most shameful episodes in all of European history.

For the next sixty years Constantinople languishes under Latin rule.

1261 to 1282

Byzantine recovery of Constantinople and reign of the Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos

Although the heart of Empire was torn out by the capture of Constantinople, the Byzantines themselves show a considerable amount of resilience. Three major "successor states" are set up by Byzantines within the borders of the old Empire. The strongest of the successor states is the so-called Empire of Nicaea. In 1261 the Nicaean Emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos, succeeds in recapturing Constantinople from the Latins.

Michael’s brilliance as soldier and diplomat restores the Empire to some of its former glory, but he remains an ambivalent figure in Byzantine history - he had murdered his way to the top but had committed a still greater crime in the eyes of his subjects. In the interests of securing some form of western alliance, Michael had attempted forced union of the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Church union is unthinkable to most ordinary Byzantines - their attitude towards the west permanently embittered by the Fourth Crusade.

1329

Ottoman Turks capture Nicaea

The weakened Empire is unable to hold on to its provinces in Asia Minor. Osman, a Turkish Emir with his power base in northwestern Asia Minor, enhances his power at the expense both of his Turkish neighbours and the Byzantines. His emerging state, named after him, is known as the Ottoman Emirate.

The Ottomans take Nicaea after an unsuccessful Byzantine relief expedition. Little of Asia Minor is left in Byzantine hands.

1341 to 1391

Civil War, Plague, political and military collapse

Byzantium’s position is exacerbated by a protracted civil war, fought out between aristocratic factions and partisans of the Palaiologos family. Superimposed upon civil war is the Black Death, which hits Constantinople in the spring of 1347.

Shorn of virtually all of its territory Byzantium is a virtual dependency of the Ottoman Turks, who now surround Constantinople from Europe and Asia.

1397 to 1402

First Turkish siege of Constantinople

The siege is finally lifted as an incidental effect of the Battle of Ankara - a terrible Ottoman defeat at the hands of Timur-Lenk (Tamburlane) and his army of Mongols and Tartars.

Manuel II Palaiologos undertakes a tour of western Europe (as far afield as Britain) in the hope of stirring up support for what remains of his empire. Western Europe is becoming more aware of its Greek heritage and Manuel encounters much sympathy and expressions of goodwill - unfortunately these do not extend to much in the way of concrete assistance.

1442

Second Turkish siege of Constantinople

The second Turkish attack upon Constantinople, this time led by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II, is a shorter and much fiercer affair than its predecessor. Nevertheless, the Byzantines put up a determined resistance and the Turks eventually lift the siege - partially, also, as a result of clandestine Byzantine interference in Ottoman politics.

1453

The fall of Constantinople

The young Ottoman Sultan, Mehmet II, decides upon the final elimination of the Byzantine "Empire" - which is now effectively reduced to Constantinople itself and the Despotate (Province) of Morea in the Peloponnese.

Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos is the last Byzantine Emperor, strictly speaking the last Roman Emperor, in an unbroken political tradition stretching back to Augustus, almost 1,500 years earlier.

Constantine had been proclaimed Emperor at Mistra (capital of the Despotate of Morea) in 1449 and had precious little time to prepare for the Turkish assault. For the defence of Constantinople he has a small army of just over 8,000 men - 3,000 of them foreigners, including, ironically enough, contingents from Genoa and Venice, the two great Italian maritime cities who had done a considerable amount of damage to the Empire over the previous three centuries.

The defenders, outnumbered at least 10 to 1 by Mehmet’s army, put up an extraordinarily brave and effective defence - differences between Latin and Greek are forgotten in the last few desperate days of the Empire.

Finally, in the early hours of Tuesday, 29 May 1453, the Turks launch wave after wave of attackers against Constantinople’s land walls. Turkish soldiers force their way in through a small gate and organised Byzantine resistance finally collapses. Constantine and most of his Byzantine soldiers die fighting along and around the walls. The aftermath of the City's fall is rivalled only by that of the Fourth Crusade.

Mehmet, who is later to make Constantinople the capital of his own great empire, is a dynamic and ruthless 21-year-old. After touring the City’s ruined Great Palace, he is moved to speak a few lines by a Persian poet:

"The spider weaves the curtains in the palace of the Caesars; The owl calls the watches in the towers of Afrasiab ...."

Timeline: The last Imperial Age (11th-13th centuries)

1025 to 1081

Political instability and military defeat

The eleventh century marks a period of great cultural brilliance for Byzantium, which tends to obscure a disturbing deterioration in the Empire’s political and military affairs.

The Byzantine government goes into free-fall as a series of alternately incompetent or unlucky rulers follow each other in quick succession.

1054

The Great Schism

The Orthodox Patriarch and representatives of the Pope are drawn into a bitter argument over various aspects of religious doctrine and church protocol. The dispute has more to do with the combative arrogance of leaders on both sides than any substantive argument, but ends with mutual excommunication of the Patriarch, on the one hand, and the Papal representatives on the other.

The schism permanently sours relations between eastern and western churches.

1071

Battle of Manzikert and the fall of Bari

The deteriorating situation is brought to a head by two military disasters at opposite ends of the Empire. In Italy, the key Byzantine stronghold of Bari falls to the Normans. A more telling blow falls near the town of Manzikert, in the Armenian borderlands, when the Seljuk Turks rout a Byzantine army under the Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes.

The Seljuk Turks, originating in Central Asia, have made themselves masters of Baghdad and established a protectorate over the Abbasid Caliphate. Their victory over the Byzantines is a stunning blow for the Empire, but one from which recovery should have been possible. Unfortunately the Byzantine political scene is thrown into further disarray by the defeat and there is no effective response to further Seljuk incursions into Byzantine territory.

Over the next ten years virtually all of Asia Minor is lost to the Seljuks, who establish a capital for their new Sultanate of Rum (Turkish for "Rome") at Nicaea.

1081

Alexios I Komnenos is crowned emperor

Alexios is the first truly effective Byzantine leader since Basil II, but he inherits a dreadful situation. The first years of his reign are marked by improvised and not always successful attempts to deal with the Normans of South Italy, who are as much a threat to the Empire in the West as the Seljuks are in the East. Alexios also has to deal with Pecheneg raiders on the Empire’s north-western frontier and with internal plots against his rule.

Alexios is finally able to defeat the Norman invasion of Greece, and scores a decisive victory against the Pechenegs. By the early 1090s his position is secure and the Empire’s precarious position has been stabilised. Asia Minor, though, is still under Turkish control.

1096

The First Crusade is launched

Alexios still lacks the necessary military resources to attempt a reconquest of Asia Minor. He puts out diplomatic feelers to the Pope, Urban II - perhaps a strong mercenary force could be arranged to help free the eastern Christians ?

The original Byzantine request is interpreted by the Pope as a call for a full-blown holy war. At the Council of Clermont, Urban extends the Crusade’s objectives to capture of Jerusalem from the Muslims.

After a false start sometimes known as the "People’s Crusade", the crusading armies proper arrive before Constantinople in late 1096 and early 1097.

Alexios is horrified - the vast crusading army, made up of powerful western noblemen and their retinues, is hostile to the Byzantines and more of a potential threat than help to the empire. Worst of all, the crusading army includes a contingent of Normans - Alexios’s archenemies.

Alexios uses all of his diplomatic skill, and his small but efficient army, to flatter and cajole the crusaders into swearing an oath of allegiance to him. They are safely ferried across the Bosphoros and away from Constantinople.

1099

The Crusaders capture Jerusalem

Against all sensible expectations the Crusaders reach their ultimate objective, Jerusalem, and take it amidst scenes of horrific bloodshed.

As a by-product, the crusade assists Byzantine recovery of the western coastlands of Asia Minor. Overall though, the crusaders represent a dangerous and unstable addition to the politics of the eastern Mediterranean.

1118-1180

Reigns of John II and Manuel I Komnenos

Alexios is succeeded first by his son John, who reigns for 25 years, and then his grandson Manuel, who rules for 37 years.

Byzantium during this period seems as powerful and as wealthy as ever - but during Manuel’s reign there are ample warning signs of trouble to come.

Timeline: The Byzantine high tide (9th-11th Centuries)

842 to 867

Reign of the Emperor Michael III

Michael is a notorious drunkard and makes little personal contribution to his empire. But his reign is marked by a vital cultural life, increased Byzantine prestige, and by the careers of several remarkable individuals - most notably the Emperor’s uncle, Bardas Caesar, the Patriarch Photios, and the missionaries Cyril and Methodios.

Cyril and Methodios are crucial figures in the history of Byzantine influence on Slavic culture and religion. Keen to introduce Christian worship to the Slavs in their own language, Cyril develops the first Slavic alphabet. Bulgaria formally converts to Christianity during the 860s.

860

First Russian attack upon Constantinople

The Rhos, as they are known to the Byzantines, are a combination of northern Slavs with their Viking overlords. They make their first major appearance in Byzantine history with an abortive attack upon Constantinople.

867

Michael III is killed. He is succeeded by his murderer, Basil I (the Macedonian)

Basil, Michael’s former favourite, is an ex-peasant and stablehand who worked his way up through the social world of the Byzantine Imperial Court. He founds the long-lived Macedonian dynasty although, ironically enough, it appears that his ‘son’ - the future emperor Leo VI, may have in fact been fathered by Michael (Basil’s wife, Eudokia Ingerina, was Michael’s former mistress).

886 to 912

Reign of Leo VI ("the wise")

Leo sponsors an extensive programme of writing and publication on a range of different topics, most notably on the law, on diplomatic and court protocol, and on military strategy and tactics. In particular, Byzantine law is recodified in the sixty books of the Basilica, or "Imperial Code".

Leo is spectacularly unlucky in his attempts at marriage and production of a male heir. His first two wives die without children and he has to achieve a dispensation from the church to marry a third time. Leo’s third wife, Eudokia Baena, dies in childbirth (their child, a son, died a few days later).

The church forbids Leo to marry a fourth time, so he takes a mistress, Zoë Karbonopsina ("coal - dark eyes"). They have a son, and Leo marries Zoë in order to secure legitimate succession - resulting in a sharp religious and political controversy.

919

Romanos I Lekapenos is crowned Emperor

Zoë and her young son, Constantine Porphyrogenitos, are left at the centre of a volatile political situation - which results eventually in the usurpation of Romanos Lekapenos.

Previously a high ranking naval officer, Romanos is a basically humane individual who also happens to be a very shrewd politician. He does not formally depose Constantine, but reigns instead as senior emperor.

Romanos’s reign is notable for the first strong indications of a shift in Byzantine politics and society: Land is increasingly accumulated in the hands of powerful officials and military aristocrats. Romanos is plainly worried by this development, which threatens Byzantium’s centralised and tax gathering state structure. He attempts legislation in favour of peasant land-owners, but these measures are largely ineffective.

934 to 976

Conquests on the Eastern Frontier and elsewhere

During this period Byzantium produces a series of fearsomely effective military commanders, including John Kourkuas, Nikephoros Phokas and John Tzimiskes. They lead armies which have become increasingly adapted to the needs of offensive, rather than defensive, warfare.

Arab emirates on the Byzantine border find they can no longer rely upon support from the near-defunct Abbasid Caliphate. The Byzantine advance is delayed for some time, by the talented Hamdanid Arab general Sayf-al-Dawlah, but by the end of the tenth century the entire Arab border zone is under Byzantine control for the first time in over three hundred years.

The Byzantines also consolidate their position in Italy and, in 961, an invasion force led by Nikephoros Phokas succeeds in the reconquest of Crete.

976

Basil II begins independent rule as Emperor

Basil, grandson of Constantine Porphyrogenitos and legitimate Emperor, had been kept in the political background during the rule of the two usurping soldier-emperors Nikephoros Phokas and John Tzimiskes. At the age of 18 he becomes sole effective ruler of the Empire, only to face serious rebellions from senior members of the military aristocracy.

Basil survives the challenge to his throne, but this experience renders him permanently suspicious of the great provincial families of Asia Minor.

989

Vladimir, Prince of Kiev, is baptised

Vladimir’s baptism, and marriage to the Byzantine princess Anna, seals an alliance between Basil and the Russian prince. It is also an important milestone for Byzantium’s great cultural influence over Russia.

6,000 Russian warriors are enrolled into the Byzantine Army as the Varangian Guard.
1018

Basil defeats and annexes the Bulgarian Empire

Despite Bulgaria’s conversion to Orthodox Christianity, Byzantium and Bulgaria remain at loggerheads - Byzantium never quite managing to gain a decisive advantage over its nearest and potentially most dangerous enemy.

For much of his reign Basil had waged war against the Bulgars, who are led by Samuel - their brave and capable Tsar. Basil intends primarily not to destroy the Bulgarian empire, but instead to reduce the Bulgars to client status, dependent upon Byzantine favour. However the final collapse of Bulgarian resistance presents the Byzantines with an opportunity too good to miss.

Bulgaria is formally absorbed into the Byzantine Empire, but is allowed to retain a degree of self-determination.

1025

Death of Basil II

Basil’s death marks the high tide of Byzantium’s status as a medieval superpower - the strongest and wealthiest state in all of Europe and the Middle East. Despite the annexation of Bulgaria, and other territorial advances in Georgia and Armenia, Basil did not seek conquest for its own sake. Instead he attempted to secure the Empire’s existing borders by exhaustion and defeat of its enemies.

Basil commits one cardinal error by failing to properly provide for his succession. He dies unmarried, survived only by his ineffectual brother Constantine, and Constantine's daughters, Zoë and Theodora.

Timeline: The fight to survive (7th to 9th Centuries)

610

Herakleios I becomes Emperor

Herakleios is crowned after a period of disastrous misrule by Phocas, a brutal ex-soldier.

Herakleios re-organises previously ineffective Byzantine resistance against a major Persian invasion. Wars between the two superpowers, Byzantium and Persia, had previously been limited in scope and punctuated by periods of uneasy peace. This latest war develops instead into a death-struggle. For the first time Byzantium’s continued existence as a political entity is seriously threatened.

626

Constantinople besieged by the Avars

A massive barbarian army, working in co-operation with the Persians, lays siege to Constantinople whilst Herakleios is away campaigning in the east. Inspired by the charismatic Patriarch Sergios, the Byzantines successfully resist the attack upon their capital city.

628

Sassanid Persia defeated by the Byzantines

The successful defence of Constantinople represents a turning point in the war against the Persians. Herakleios is later able to defeat all armies sent against him and forces a favourable peace upon the gravely weakened Persians.

636

Battle of the River Yarmuk

Inspired by their new religious faith (the Prophet Mohammed had only died in 632) Arab armies advance upon both the Persian Empire, which is soon absorbed, and the Byzantine Empire.

At first slow to react, the Byzantines finally mobilise a large army against the Arabs. Badly handled and out-fought, the Byzantine Army is destroyed by the Arabs at the Battle of Yarmuk, in Syria.

Already ravaged by the Persian war, Byzantine provinces in the Middle East and North Africa fall quickly to the Arabs. The Byzantines fall back, holding the mountain passes of eastern Asia Minor against further Arab encroachment.

The Arabs establish a powerful state, the Omayyad Caliphate, based around the capital city of Damascus.

673

First Arab attack upon Constantinople

The "Saracens" (Arabs) have built up a powerful war-fleet. They lay a determined sea-born siege upon Constantinople which lasts for five years. For the first time the Byzantines are able to inflict a severe defeat upon the Arabs, who finally withdraw with heavy losses in 678.

An important factor in Byzantine success is the use of a secret weapon - Greek Fire. An explosive and incendiary substance, with sulphur, pitch and petroleum as chief ingredients, Greek Fire is squirted from bellows-operated flamethrowers mounted on Byzantine warships.

717

Second Arab attack upon Constantinople

On this occasion the Arabs send a war-fleet and army that outnumbers Byzantium’s entire armed forces. Once again Constantinople puts up a brave defence and the effects of a severe winter, Greek Fire, and mass desertion by many of their Christian sailors combine to deal the Arabs a severe defeat.

717

Accession of the Emperor Leo III

Leo, originally from the Syrian border, ends a period of political instability within the Empire and makes a major contribution to the defeat of the Arab attack upon Constantinople.

726

Beginning of the Iconoclast Controversy

Reflecting upon the near destruction of the Byzantine Empire, the Emperor Leo and his advisors conclude that a possible cause of such disasters may be divine displeasure. In an attempt to appease God, Leo hits upon the policy of removing or destroying religious images (Icons). Byzantine worship of icons has come uncomfortably close to idolatry and, possibly under the influence of Islamic thought, Leo aims to purify and abstract Christian worship by their removal.

The new policy of Iconoclasm ("image - breaking") meets with immediate opposition and will fiercely divide Byzantine society and politics for the next 120 years. Although primarily a religious controversy, support or rejection of Iconoclasm inevitably reinforces pre-existing antagonisms or divisions in Byzantium. The army, becomes a stronghold of Iconoclasm, whilst the church itself is largely Iconophile (in support of Icons) .

762

Foundation of Baghdad by the Caliph el-Mansur

The new Abbasid Caliphate, centred upon Baghdad, is a mighty cultural, economic and military power on Byzantium’s south-eastern border.

780

Regency of the Empress Irene

Irene, widow of Leo III’s grandson, reigns as regent for her son, Constantine VI. A controversial figure, Irene is a determined woman whose desire to retain political control leads the imprisonment and murder of her now-adult son in 797. Irene refers to herself as Basileos (King, or Emperor).

802

Irene is deposed by the Logothete Nikephoros

The Emperor Nikephoros I is a far-sighted political and financial planner. He places the Empire upon a sound financial footing, Byzantine re-settlement of much of Greece, lost to the Empire for the past two centuries, gains apace during his reign.

811

Defeat and death of Nikephoros I

Nikephoros meets a gruesome end when his army is defeated by the Bulgar Khan Krum. Originally a Turkic people ruling over Slavic subjects, the Bulgars are a constant worry for Byzantine Emperors and their advisors.

Krum, a formidable adversary, mounts Nikephoros’ skull in silver for use as a drinking cup!

829 to 842

Reign of the Emperor Theophilos

Despite on-going military conflict, the reign of Theophilos is notable for a significant level of cultural contact between Byzantium and the Abbasid Caliphate.

Byzantium’s economic health continues to improve, with on-going expansion of trade and the Empire’s money supply. The Byzantine military is reformed and expanded.

842

The end of Iconoclasm

Theophilos is the last Iconoclast emperor. Upon his death his widow, Theodora takes control as regent for their young son, Michael III. Theodora presides over the restoration of Icons as an accepted form of Orthodox worship.