CHAPTER THREE:
The Christian Era:
From Christ to Columbus
1 BC to 1492 AD
1 BC
December 25: Christ is born in Bethlehem.
c.2 AD
The Gypsies are exiled from Egypt for harboring the infant Jesus.
33 AD
Jesus Christ is Crucified in Jerusalem.
~ The great religion of Christianity is founded.
43 AD
Rome conquers the isle of Britain.
64 AD
Nero plays the fiddle as Rome burns.
67 AD
St. Linus succeeds St. Peter as the second Pope of the Catholic Church.
70 AD
The Second Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed under the Roman Emperor Titus and the Jews are expelled from Israel.
~ Beginning of the Jewish Diaspora.
184-205 AD
In China: The Yellow Turban Rebellion
Peasants across the country rise up in rebellion against the Empire. They wear yellow turbans.
220 AD
In China: The Fall of the Han Dynasty
The Beginning of the Three Kingdoms Period
226 AD
The second Persian Empire is founded by the Sassanians upon the defeat of the last Parthian king.
270 AD
The birth of St. Nicholas, aka. Father Christmas.
278 AD
In China: The Jin Dynasty establishes dominance in China, bringing to an end the Three Kingdoms Period.
But this period of unity would prove to be brief as internicine conflict would erupt again within a couple decades.
285 AD
Diocletian splits the Roman Empire between the East and the West.
286 AD
The capital of the Roman Empire is moved to Milan.
303 AD
St. George bravely slays a dragon and saves the princess of Silene.
304 AD
In China: The invasion of the “Five Barbarians” forces the Jin Dynasty into the south of China as the north is taken over by a succession Sixteen Kingdoms up until 439 AD.
312 AD
Constantine the Great, on the eve of battle, sees a vision of the Cross in the sky informing him that he shall conquer under the sign of Christ.
313 AD
Constantine signs the Edict of Milan, officially recognizing Christianity within the Roman Empire.
324 AD
Constantinople, formerly Byzantium, is established as the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire.
325 AD
The Council of Nicaea
A unified creed is established for all of Christendom and the books of The Holy Bible are laid out in their proper order.
393 AD
The Olympic Games are outlawed by Roman Emperor Theodosius I.
395 AD
The Roman Empire is permanently divided between the East and West following the death of Theodosius I.
c.400 AD
Buddhism and Taoism become popular in China.
402 AD
The capital of the Roman Empire is moved from Milan to Ravenna.
410 AD
Rome is sacked by the barbarian Visigoths under King Alaric.
The Romans abandon the isle of Britain.
420 AD
In China: Following the collapse of the Jin Dynasty, the period of Southern and Northern Dynasties begins, marked by the rise of Buddhism and Taoism.
432 AD
March 17: St. Patrick drives the snakes out of Ireland.
447-453 AD
Atilla the Hun ravages the Roman Empire.
c.450 AD
The Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes invade the isle of Britain.
476 AD
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
The boy Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the West, is deposed by Odoacer and his Germanic barbarians.
~ The Eastern Roman Empire remains. It is known to later generations as the Byzantine Empire.
c.500-1100 AD
The Dark Ages
500-542 AD
The reign of Arthur, King of the Britons.
505 AD
The Scandinavian hero Beowulf slays the horrendous monster Grendel and Grendel's mother.
c.520 AD
St. Brendan and his Irish monks sail to America nearly a thousand years before Columbus.
525 AD
The calendar era “Anno Domini” is invented by the Scythian monk Dionysius Exiguus, counting the years since the birth of Jesus Christ.
527-565 AD
The Reign of Justinian the Great; Emperor of the Byzantines.
532 AD
The Nika Riots
When political riots threaten the security of Constantipole, Justinian, in proper fashion, slaughters 30,000 of the protestors and restores the peace.
535-554 AD
The Gothic War
Emperor Justinian with his general, Count Belisarius, reconquers much of the old Western Roman Empire.
c.540 AD
The Plague of Justinian ravages Constantinople.
555 AD
Beowulf dies after slaying a mighty dragon.
570 AD
The Arab prophet Mohammed is born on the outskirts Mecca.
589 AD
In China: All the country is brought under control again after nearly four centuries of political fragmentation.
Beginning of the Sui Dynasty
597 AD
St. Augustine becomes bishop of Canterbury, brings Christianity to Britain.
610 AD
The prophet Mohammed recieves The Koran through divine revelations from the angel Gabriel.
...Also, he gets whisked away in the middle of the night, on a winged horse, to Jerusalem and back.
618 AD
In China: Emperor Gaozu takes the throne from the Sui and ushers in a new golden age of China which will last for three hundred years.
A time of philosophy, poetry and music in which China’s empire is the greatest in the world.
Beginning of the T’ang Dynasty
622 AD
The Hijira
Mohammed and his followers flee from Mecca to Medina.
622-628 AD
Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire makes war against the Persians.
630 AD
Mecca is conquered by the Mohammedans.
632 AD
The death of Mohammed.
Abu Bakr becomes the first caliph. By this time nearly all of the Arabian Peninsula has been conquered by the Mohammedans and the Caliphate firmly established. Capital at Mecca.
637 AD
Caliph Omar of the Mohammedans captures Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire and builds the Dome of the Rock on the hallowed Temple Mount.
651 AD
The Persian Empire is conquered by the Mohammedans.
661 AD
Ali, the last of the four patriarchal caliphs is assasinated. The Omayyads take control of the Caliphate and the capital is moved to Damascus.
c.700-1300 AD
The Golden Age of Islam
711 AD
The Mohammedans conquer most of Spain, renaming the land “Al-Andalus”.
712 AD
Mohammedan conquerors enter India.
718 AD
The Spanish Reconquista Begins
King Pelayo, a noble Visigoth, wins a victory against the Mohammedan army. Thus begins the 800 year Christian reconquest of Spain.
732 AD
Charles Martel defeats the armies of the Ommayad Caliphate, saving France and the rest of Christian Europe from the Mohammedans.
742-814 AD
The Life of Charlemagne; Father of France, participant in the Spanish Reconquista, and conqueror of the largest European empire since the Fall of Rome.
750 AD
The Abbasids defeat the Omayyad Caliphate and establish there own. The city of Baghdad is constructed as the capital of the new caliphate.
756 AD
The Emirate of Cordoba is founded in Al-Andalus (Mohammedan Spain).
793 AD
Viking invaders land on British soil.
c.800 AD
Gunpowder is invented in China.
800 AD
December 25: Charlemagne is crowned Emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III.
843 AD
Charlemagne's Empire is partitioned three ways. Birth of the nations of France and Germany.
874-884 AD
In China: The Huang Chao Rebellion
878 AD
Alfred the Great repels the Vikings from Britain.
c.900 AD
The Abbasid Caliphate begins to fall apart.
907 AD
In China: Political upheaval rules as the land falls into the fragmented control of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
The Fall of the T’ang Dynasty
908 AD
In China: The K’itan Empire is founded in the north and rules until 1125 AD.
911 AD
Treaty of St Claire-sur-Epte and the founding of the duchy of Normandy.
960 AD
In China: The Sung Dynasty gains power over most of China.
969 AD
The Fatimids rest Egypt from the Abbasids. The city of Cairo is built.
962 AD
The Holy Roman Empire is created by King Otto I who is crowned it's first emperor by Pope John XII.
988 AD
St. Basil returns from the Byzantine Empire and baptises the Russians
Christianity is brought to Russia.
1003 AD
Vikings under Leif Ericson breifly settle the land they call Vinland in what would later become Newfoundland, Canada.
1031 AD
The Emirate of Cordoba in Spain disintegrates into many petty Mohammedan kingdoms.
1038 AD
In China: The Tangut Empire is established in the north-west of China and lasts until 1227 AD.
1054 AD
The Great Schism
The Orthodox Church in the East seperates from the Roman Catholic Church in the West.
1066 AD
The Norman invasion of Britain under King William the Conquerer.
1095 AD
November 27: Pope Urban II proclaims the First Crusade to answer the threat of the Mohammedan incursion against Christendom in the East.
1095-1099 AD
The First Crusade
Crusaders sack the city of Jerusalem and reclaim it in the name of Christendom.
c.1100 AD
In China: The Sung Dynasty begins using gunpowder in warfare.
1115 AD
In China: The Great Jin Dynasty rises to prominence in the north and the Sung Dynasty is forced into the south of China.
1122 AD
Frederick Barbarossa is born, Holy Roman Emperor and ancestor of Ryley Nickel.
1125 AD
In China: The Great Jin Dynasty annhilates the K’itan Empire.
1129 AD
The Order of the Knights Templar is founded.
c.1130 AD
The cannon is invented in China.
1136 AD
The Novgorod Republic is established in northern Russia.
1145-1149 AD
The Second Crusade
Waged in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in the Holy Land.
1162-1227 AD
The Heinous Life of Genghis Khan; The most notorious conqueror of all time.
1189-1192 AD
The Third Crusade
Christian sovereigns including King Phillip of France, Frederick Barbarossa and the noble King Richard the Lionheart attempt to reconquer the Holy Land from the Mohammedan Saladin.
c.1190 AD
In the absence of the noble King Richard, Robin Hood and his Merry Men resort to outlawry under the misrule of Richard's brother King John I.
The mariner's compass is invented in Italy.
c.1200 AD
The Feudal Period begins in Japan. A time dominated by Shogun warlords and Samurai.
1201-1204 AD
The Fourth Crusade
Western knights disgrace the name of Christendom when they sack the Christian city of Constantinople.
The Latin Empire is established in the land of the Byzantines.
1207-1241 AD
Genghis Khan and his successors conquer a great empire for the Mongols, from the Pacific Ocean to the steppes of Russia.
1212 AD
Alfonso VIII and his Christian allies defeat the Mohammedans at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The tides are turned in favour of the Christians in the Spanish Reconquista.
The Children's Crusade
1214-1294 AD
The Life of Roger Bacon; Introduces gunpowder to Europe under the influence of Satan.
1217-1221 AD
The Fifth Crusade
Christian knights attempt to reaquire Jerusalem and conquer Egypt.
1228-1238 AD
The Sixth Crusade
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II wheels and deals with the sultan of Egypt for some property in the Holy Lands.
1234 AD
In China: After twenty-three years of war, the Mongols defeat the Great Jin Dynasty in the north.
They then turn their eyes to the Sung Dynasty in the south.
1241 AD
The death of Ögedai Khan at the doorsteps of the Holy Roman Empire marks an end to Mongol expansion in Europe.
1248-1254 AD
The Seventh Crusade
Waged when Jerusalem once again falls into Mohammedan control.
1250 AD
After the death of Frederick II, the Holy Roman Empire is split into many petty kingdoms. An emperor remains but power is greatly diminished.
1258 AD
The Mongols under Hulagu Khan sack the city of Baghdad, defeating the Abbasid Caliphate and bringing an end to the Golden Age of Islam.
1260 AD
Mohammedans from Egypt rout the Mongols out of Syria.
c.1260-1270 AD
The great Mongol Empire disintegrates into four lesser khanates.
1261 AD
The city of Constantinople is recaptured by the Byzantines and the Byzantine Empire is restored.
1270 AD
The Eighth Crusade
1271 AD
Kublai Khan conquers the Sung Dynasty and all of China is under Mongol rule.
They establish a new capital at Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Beginning of the Yuan Dynasty in China
1271-1291 AD
The Ninth Crusade
Crusaders lose all possessions in the Holy Land.
1271-1298 AD
Marco Polo travels to China and back.
1281 AD
Mongol invaders of Japan are repelled by the Kamikaze Typhoon.
1299 AD
The Ottoman Empire is Founded
Osman I and his Ottoman Turks establish in Anatolia (modern Turkey) a dynasty that will one day fulfill his dream of a caliphate spanning three continents.
The Renaissance
c.1300 - 1600 AD
Ancient learning is revived across Europe.
1307 AD
Friday, October 13: Members of the Knights Templar in France are burned at the stake by orders of King of Phillip the Fair.
1309 AD
Pope Clement V moves the Holy Seat of the Roman Catholic Church to Avignon.
1315-1317 AD
The Great Famine scourges Europe.
1337-1453 AD
The Hundred Year's War
A rather drawn out conflict between France and England over the latter possessing territories on French soil.
1347-1351 AD
The Black Death
Europe and much of the rest of the World is ravaged by a deadly plague killing over a third of the World's population.
1368 AD
The Mongols fall out of power in China and the Ming Dynasty is established.
1377 AD
Pope Gregory XI moves the Holy Seat back to Rome.
1378-1417 AD
The Western Schism
The Papacy is split between Avignon and Rome.
c.1400 AD
The cannon comes into use in Europe during the Hundred Year's War.
1421 AD
The Chinese sailer Cheng Ho sails the world.
1431 AD
Joan of Arc, heroine of the French, is burnt at the stake by the English.
1431-1476 AD
The Vile Life of Vlad the Impaler; Lord of Transylvania, defender of the Faith against the Ottomans, and torturer and impaler of tens of thousands of souls.
He is said to have died in 1476 but lives on as Count Dracula...
c.1450 AD
Movable type printing is introduced to Europe by Johannes Gutenberg who prints The Holy Bible.
1452-1519 AD
The Life of the great genius Leonardo da Vinci; Artist and inventor.
1453 AD
Fall of the Byzantine Empire
Emperor Constantine Palaiologos makes his last stand against the Ottoman Turks.
The Byzantine Empire is defeated and Constantinople renamed Istanbul.
The Hundred Year's War comes to an end. Fucking finally.
1462-1505 AD
The Reign of Ivan the Great; First Tsar of Russia.
1475-1564 AD
The Life of Michaelangelo; Great painter and sculptor.
1478 AD
The Spanish Inquisition is founded in Spain.
(Completely unexpectedly, too. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition)
1492 AD
Mohammed XII of Granada surrenders his kingdom to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, completing the Reconquista and reinheriting Spain in the name of Christendom.
Next up: The AGE OF EXPLORATION...
