History Pages - Part 11
The Prophet Mohammed and the Rise of Islam - AD 600-800
- AD 570-632
- The Prophet Mohammed of Islam
- AD 600-700
- Slavic invasions of Northern Byzantine regions; Slavs eventually migrated into, but did not rule, southern Greece.
In Greece - Widespread civil war and invasions by Persians, Arabs and Slavs - AD 600-1300
- The Age of the Jewish Rabbinic Geonim (Gaons) - scholars and interpreters of Jewish Law
- AD 609
- The Pantheon (pagan temple) in Rome renamed the Church of Santa Maria Rotonda
- AD 610
- Call of the Prophet Mohammed - his vision of the Angel Gabriel in the cave of Hira, and descent of the Quran
- AD 610-641
- Reign of Emperor Heraclius - made Greek the official language of the Byzantine Empire. The Empire in great danger : Avars, Slavs and Bulgars overran the Balkans, and Persians invaded the eastern provinces
- AD 614
- Persians invaded and took Jerusalem, Damascus, and the "Holy Cross of Christ" from the Byzantine Empire; allowed Jews back, but drove them out again 3 years later
- AD 615
- Earliest records of some of the Prophet Mohammed's teachings
- AD 616
- Persians overran Egypt
- AD 622
- The Hegira - Flight of the Prophet Mohammed from Medina to Mecca - Year 1 of the Muslim Calendar, 1 a.h. (anno hegirae)
- AD 622-680
- The Monothelite controversy, which was condemned by the 6th Ecumenical Council of Constantinople
- AD 624
- Prophet Mohammed married Aysha, the 10-year old daughter of Abu Bekr
- AD 624-627
- Prophet Mohammed attacked and destroyed Jewish Arabians who did not convert to Islam
- AD 625
- Prophet Mohammed began to dictate the Quran
Brahmagupta, Indian mathematician and teacher at Ujjain
Paulinus of Rome went as a missionary to Northumbria - AD 626
- Edwin of Northumbria founded Edinburgh, set about bringing Christianity to his people
First great siege of Constantinople, by the Avars and the Persians under Shahen - AD 627
- Byzantines defeated Persians at Nineveh
- AD 628
- Prophet Mohammed captured Mecca, and wrote to all the rulers of the world explaining Islam
Heraclius defeated the Persians and brought back "The Cross of Christ", perhaps the first full-fledged crusade - AD 629
- Heraclius recovered Jerusalem from Persians
The title Basileus was taken by the Emperor Heraclius after defeating the Persians
Pope Honorius I sided with Emperor Heraclius and the Monothelites - AD 630
- The Arab (Islamic) Conquest of the Middle East began
- AD 632
- Christianity brought to East Anglia
Death of Prophet Mohammed. Abu Bekr, father-in-law of Prophet Mohammed, became the first of the "rightly guided caliphs" of Islam; Medina became the seat of the "rightly guided caliphs". Fatima, youngest daughter of the Prophet Mohammed was the ancestress of the House of the Fatimids. Her sons were Hassan and Hussein - AD 632-732
- Arab conquest of the Middle East, North Africa, Spain and Southern France
- AD 633
- Moslem invasion of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Persia
- AD 634
- Omar I, the second Caliph, took Syria, Persia, and Egypt, and defeated Heraclius in Holy War
- AD 635
- Christianity brought to Wessex
- AD 635-750
- Damascus became the capital of the Caliphs
- AD 636
- Battle of Yarmuk - Arabs defeated the Byzantine army, took Syria and Palestine
Persian Zoroastrians fled to India, settled there
The southern Irish Church submitted to Roman Catholicism
Building of the church at Glastonbury (on the site reputed to have been founded by Joseph of Arimathea, and the burial place of King Arthur)
Building of the church at St. Albans (site of the first Christian martyrs) - AD 636-1,099
- First Muslim Period in Israel/Palestine
- ca. AD 637
- French and German diverged into separate languages
- AD 638
- Omar I captured Jerusalem, left the Christian shrines alone, started to build on the Temple Mount (derelict since the Roman destruction of AD 135), and permitted Jews to return to Jerusalem
The emperor Heraclius wrote the "Ecthesis", which claimed that Christ had only one "nature" - the Monothelite heresy - AD 640
- Aidan went as a missionary to Northumbria
- AD 641
- Arab Conquest of Egypt, led by Omar I
The School of Alexandria was destroyed, and the Library of Alexandria, "The Center of Western Culture", with 300,000 scrolls, burned to the ground
Death of Emperor Heraclius; the Byzantine Empire was reduced to Asia Minor, the Balkan coastline, north Africa and Sicily - AD 641-668
- Emperor Constans II, grandson of Heraclius. The bulk of his reign was occupied with wars against the Arabs. He was murdered in Sicily
- AD 642
- Omar I conquered the Persian Empire, drove out Zoroastrianism, introduced Islam, and set up a Caliphate which lasted until 1258
- AD 645
- Anglo-Saxon king Ethelhere died and was buried in a ship with treasure at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk - excavated in 1939
- AD 648
- Arabs took Cyprus
- AD 650
- Introduction of Neumes for writing groups of musical notes
Caliph Othman collected the Quran into 114 chapters - AD 658
- Omayyad dynasty began in Damascus
- AD 661
- Ali (last of the four "rightly guided caliphs") assassinated
- AD 664
- Council of Whitby - to settle differences between Roman and Eastern Christian practices in Britain. King Oswy of Northumbria was persuaded to adopt the Roman traditions
- AD 669
- Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, re-organized the Church in England
Arabs attacked Constantinople - AD 670
- Arab invasion of Africa
- AD 671
- Caedmon, first Christian English Poet and Song-writer, born. He lived as a cow-herd at Whitby Abbey until his talents were discovered by Hilda of Whitby, who arranged for his education
- AD 672-735
- The Venerable Bede - English monk, historian, and translator of parts of the New Testament
- AD 673-754
- Boniface, missionary to the Germans, murdered 754
- AD 674-678
- Second siege of Constantinople by the Arabs
- AD 675-749
- John of Damascus, Christian scholar
- AD 679
- Bulgars (a Hunnish tribe) invaded the Byzantine Empire and settled south of the Danube
- AD 680
- Seventh Ecumenical Council convened in Constantinople. Condemned Monophysitism and Monothelitism, and affirmed that Christ is of two wills and two energies without division, alteration, separation or confusion. An appendix to this Council, the Synod in Trullo, drew up what became the constitution and rule of the Byzantine Church. The Monophysite churches of Armenia, Syria and Egypt seceded
Massacre of Ali's son Husayn and the Shiites in Iraq - AD 688-741
- Charles Martel - "The Hammer"
- ca. AD 690
- The earliest Bible translations into England's vernacular, with continued work by Bede and others from that time on
- AD 691
- Construction of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount by Caliph Abd-al-Malik
- AD 692
- The Quinisext Council at Constantinople settled the Canon of the Bible for the Eastern Church - the Council was not recognized by the Roman Church
- AD 697
- Carthage fell to the Arabs as they advanced towards Spain
- AD 699
- Arabs overran Armenia
- AD 700
- The Psalms translated into Anglo-Saxon
The Lindisfarne Gospels - illuminated book of manuscript Gospels, still in existence - AD 711
- Arab Moslems invaded Spain, allowed Jews to live and study freely
- AD 712
- Moslem state set up in India
- AD 715
- The Moslem empire extended from the Pyrenees to China, with Damascus as its capital
Boniface started his missionary work in Germany - AD 717-718
- Third siege of Constantinople
- AD 720
- The Iconoclasts - "Image breakers" - did not allow the use of images in Byzantine Churches
Arabs invaded France, captured Narbonne - AD 725
- Boniface chopped down the sacred Donar oak tree at Fritzlar in Hesse, and the Germanic tribes accepted Christianity
Charles Martel conquered Bavaria - AD 726
- King Ine of Wessex introduced "Peter's Pence", a tax intended to support a College in Rome. This tax became a major grievance between the English and the Roman Churches
Controversy about Images, Emperor Leo III forbade the worship of icons and followed it with the general destruction of icons representing Christ and the saints. His original motive was probably theological, but the movement became an attack on the Church, and particularly the monasteries whose power was aided by their possession of holy pictures. The icons were replaced by symbols, such as the Cross. Iconoclasm met with passionate resistance. Riots in Constantinople. The Iconoclastic conflict continued until AD 843
Patriarchates of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria under Arab rule - AD 730
- Pope Gregory III excommunicated the Byzantine Emperor Leo III
The Venerable Bede wrote the "Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum" - Ecclesiastical History of the English People - AD 732
- Battle of Tours - Charles Martel led the French forces and won the Battle against Moslem invaders - this stopped the Moslem advance into Europe
- AD 735
- Charles Martel conquered Burgundy
- AD 735-804
- Alcuin - monk, historian, reformer
- AD 742-814
- Charlemange of France, grandson of Charles Martel, Holy Roman Emperor of Europe, protected Jews in his kingdom
- AD 740-1,259
- Jewish Kingdom of Khazar - stood against Moslems, Byzantines, and Russians, until taken by Genghis Khan
- AD 750
- First recorded use of hops for brewing beer - in Bavaria
- AD 750-900
- The Pueblo Period in North America
- AD 750-1,258
- The Abbasids destroyed the Omayyads, and become Islamic Caliphs of Baghdad - the "Golden Age" of Islamic culture
- AD 751
- Battle of Samarkand - Arabs defeated Chinese, and captured some Chinese paper manufacturers, who taught the Arabs the art of making paper
Islam developed four sects - Hafenites, Malikites, Shafites, Sunnites - AD 759
- The Franks recaptured Narbonne from the Arabs
- AD 760
- Jewish Karaite sect founded by Anan Ben David; accepted only the Biblical writings, did not accept the Oral Law
Turkish Empire founded in Armenia by Tartars
Arabic Numerals in use - AD 766
- Alcuin made York a center for learning
- AD 778
- Basques defeated the army of Charlemagne at Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees - the leaders Roland and Oliver became the subjects of "The Song of Roland"
- AD 780-802
- Byzantine Empress Irene, restored adoration of images in the Eastern Church
- AD 782
- Alcuin left York and went to the court of Charlemagne to help develop schools and learning
- AD 786-809
- Harun al-Rashid, Caliph of the Abbasids - "Golden Period of Arab Learning"
- AD 787
- Eighth Ecumenical Council was convened in Nikaia by Empress Irene, condemned Iconoclasm and restored the use of icons
Danes started to invade England - AD 792
- Vikings started to attack Britain
- AD 795
- Cynewulf, Anglo-Saxon Christian poet
- AD 796
- Alcuin became head of the University of Tours
- AD 800
- Charlemagne crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III, December 25, in Rome
The Synod of Aix-la-Chapelle introduced the "Filioque"; ("and the Son", referring to the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father) into the Creed. This became a major cause of dissension between Eastern and Western Churches
Haroun Al-Raschid sent an Embassy to the court of Charlemagne
Main Sources : Smithsonian Timelines of Ancient History, The Timetables of History (Bernard Grun)
Go here for Geography PagesCopyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
