slug: sicily

label: Sicily

description: island in the Mediterranean, region of Italy

year_label: 488 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Theron becomes tyrant of Acragas in Sicily.

title: 488 BC

section: Events › By place › Sicily

year_label: 480 BCE

text: The Greek city of Himera in Sicily, in its quarrel with Akragas, enlists Carthaginian support. With the help of Gelo, the tyrant of Syracusae, and Theron of Akragas, the Carthaginians are defeated in the Battle of Himera. After the defeat, Hamilcar kills himself.

title: 480 BC

year_label: 478 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Gelo, tyrant of the cities of Gela and Syracuse in Sicily

title: 478 BC

year_label: 476 BCE

text: The Greek poet Pindar visits Sicily and is made welcome at the courts of Theron of Acragas and Hieron I of Syracuse. They commission some of his greatest poetry. It is through these connections that Pindar's reputation spreads all over the Greek world.

title: 476 BC

section: Events › By topic › Literature

year_label: 467 BCE

section: Culture & Society

text: Aeschylus' play, The Persians is produced in Sicily.

title: 467 BC

year_label: 466 BCE

text: The Tyrant, Thrasybulus, is driven out by the citizens of Syracuse, Sicily. The city moves to a democratic system of government.

title: 466 BC

section: Events › By place › Italy

year_label: 460 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Ducetius, a Hellenised leader of the Siculi, an ancient people of Sicily, takes advantage of the confusion that follows the collapse of the tyranny in Syracuse and other Sicilian states. With the support of the Syracusan democracy, he drives out the colonists of the former tyrant Hieron from Catana and restores it to its original inhabitants.

title: 460 BC

section: Events › Siculi

year_label: 459 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: The Sicilian town of Morgantina was destroyed by Ducetius, Hellenised leader of the Siculi (according to Diodorus Siculus).

title: 459 BC

year_label: 454 BCE

text: Hostilities between Segesta and Selinunte, two Greek cities on Sicily, take place over access to the Tyrrhenian Sea.

title: 454 BC

year_label: 450 BCE

text: After minor preliminary successes (including the capture of Inessa from its Greek colonists), Ducetius, a Hellenised leader of the Siculi, an ancient people of Sicily, is decisively defeated by the combined forces of Syracuse and Acragas. Ducetius flees to exile in Corinth.

title: 450 BC

year_label: 446 BCE

text: Ducetius, the Hellenised leader of the Siculi, an ancient people of Sicily, returns from exile in Corinth to Sicily and colonises Cale Acte on the north coast with Greek and Siculi settlers.

title: 446 BC

year_label: 440 BCE

text: Ducetius, a Hellenized leader of the Sicels and founder of a united Sicilian state

title: 440 BC

year_label: 433 BCE

text: Pericles renews alliances with the Rhegium on the southwest corner of Italy and Leontini in southeast Sicily, threatening Sparta's food supply route from Sicily.

title: 433 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 431 BCE

text: A Theban raid on Plataea, the only pro-Athenian city in Boeotia, is a failure and the Plataeans take 180 prisoners and put them to death. Athens supports Plataea while Sparta aligns itself with Thebes. Sparta enlists the help of the Greek cities in Italy and Sicily. Both Sparta and Athens appeal to Persia, but without result.

title: 431 BC

year_label: 427 BCE

text: In an effort to blockade Sparta from access to Sicilian corn, Athens responds to a plea for help from a delegation from the city of Leontini led by Gorgias, the sophist and rhetorician. Leontini is being threatened by Syracuse which is allied to Sparta. However, the Athenian mission led by the Athenian general Laches is unable to offer much help. Laches is later prosecuted by Cleon for his unsuccessful mission to support Athenian interests in Sicily.

title: 427 BC

year_label: 424 BCE

text: At the Congress of Gela, the statesman Hermocrates of Syracuse persuades the cities of Sicily to agree to make peace and urges the exclusion of foreign powers. As a result, the three-year war between his city and Sicily's pro-Athenian town ends and the Athenian forces, which had been sent to Sicily to support Greek settlements, are forced to withdraw.

title: 424 BC

year_label: 418 BCE

text: Alcibiades urges the Athenians to conquer Syracuse, subdue Sicily and Carthage and thus gain added forces that will enable them to finish the war against Sparta. His bold offensive plan wins the support of the Athenians.

title: 418 BC

year_label: 416 BCE

text: In Sicily, the Ionian city of Segesta asks for Athenian help from the Dorian city of Selinus (which is supported by the powerful Sicilian city of Syracuse). The people of Syracuse are ethnically Dorian (as are the Spartans), while the Athenians, and their allies in Sicily, are Ionian. The Athenians feel obliged to assist their ally and therefore prepare an armada to attack Sicily.

title: 416 BC

year_label: 414 BCE

text: Athens responds to appeals from its general, Nicias, by sending out 73 vessels to Sicily under the command of Demosthenes to assist Nicias and his forces with the siege of Syracuse.

title: 414 BC

year_label: 409 BCE

text: Taking advantage of the quarrels between the Greek cities in Sicily and of the mutual exhaustion of Athens and Syracuse, Carthage seeks to reimpose its influence over the island. Hannibal Mago, grandson of Hamilcar, invades Sicily with a strong force. He defeats the Sicilian Greeks and avenges his grandfather through the torture and killing of 3,000 Greek prisoners. In the Battle of Selinus and Battle of Himera he captures and destroys both cities before returning triumphantly to Carthage with the spoils of war.

title: 409 BC

year_label: 406 BCE

text: The Carthaginians again invade Sicily and attack Agrigentum (Acragas). Plague breaks out in their camp and Hannibal Mago dies. Himilco assumes command and captures Agrigentum (Acragas), Gela and Camarina. Gela is destroyed and its treasures sacked. The survivors take refuge in Syracuse. The plague is carried back to Carthage by its soldiers.

title: 406 BC

section: Events › By place › Carthage

year_label: 403 BCE

text: Andocides, Athenian orator and politician, who has been implicated in the mutilation of the Herms on the eve of the departure of the Athenian expedition against Sicily in 415 BC, returns from exile under the general amnesty.

title: 403 BC

year_label: 398 BCE

text: Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, breaks his peace treaty with Carthage and strikes at Carthaginian cities in the western corner of Sicily which have been weakened by the plague. There is a massacre of Carthaginians in many of these cities. Motya, with its fine harbour, is attacked and captured.

title: 398 BC

year_label: 397 BCE

text: Siege of Syracuse: A Carthaginian expeditionary army (some 50,000 men) under Himilco crosses to Sicily. They conquer the north coast and put Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, on the defensive and besiege Syracuse. However, the Carthaginian army suffers from the plague. The Syracuse counterattacked and completely defeat Himilco's army. Himilco has to escape back to Carthage.

title: 397 BC

year_label: 396 BCE

text: The Carthaginians are forced to abandon their siege of Syracuse (begun in 398 BC) due to a plague, but destroy Messina. Dionysius' first war with Carthage ends with a notable victory for Dionysius, who confines his enemy's power to an area of northwest Sicily. On his return home, the Carthaginian general, Himilco, commits suicide.

title: 396 BC

year_label: 357 BCE

text: The brother-in-law of Dionysius I, Dion, exiled from Syracuse in 366 BC by Dionysius II, assembles a force of 1,500 mercenaries at Zacynthus and sails to Sicily. Dion wrests power from the weak Dionysius II, who is exiled and flees to Locri.

title: 357 BC

year_label: 344 BCE

text: The aristocracy of Syracuse appeal to their mother city of Corinth against their tyrant Dionysius II. The Corinthian general Timoleon is chosen to lead a liberation force to Sicily. Landing at Tauromenium (Taormina) on March 21st, Timoleon faces two armies, one under Dionysius and the other under Hicetas (tyrant of nearby Leontini), who has also called in Carthaginian forces. By shrewd tactics Timoleon defeats his enemies and occupies Syracuse.

title: 344 BC

year_label: 343 BCE

text: After his surrender to the Corinthian general Timoleon, who takes over as ruler of Syracuse, the former tyrant, Dionysius II, is allowed to retire to Corinth to live in exile, although he dies within the year. The Syracusan constitution is changed by Timoleon with the new constitution designed to have safeguards against tyranny. Timoleon invites new settlers from Greece to come to Sicily.

title: 343 BC

year_label: 340 BCE

text: Hicetas, the tyrant of Leontini, again persuades Carthage to send a large army to Sicily, which lands at Lilybaeum. Timoleon of Syracuse meets this large Carthaginian army in the Battle of the Crimissus in the west of Sicily and achieves a brilliant victory against superior odds. Despite this victory, the Carthaginians continue to occupy the western half of Sicily, with a treaty being concluded that confines the Carthaginians to the area west of the Halycus (Platani) River.

title: 340 BC

year_label: 338 BCE

text: Carthage makes another effort to conquer all of Sicily. The Carthaginians dispatch some mercenaries to extend the conflict between Timoleon and the Sicilian tyrants. But this effort ends in the defeat of Hicetas, the tyrant of Leontini, who is taken prisoner and put to death. By a treaty between Syracuse and Carthage, the dominion of Carthage in Sicily is confined to the lands west of the Halycus (Platani) River.

title: 338 BC

year_label: 313 BCE

text: Deinocrates, the leader of the Syracusan exiles, sends envoys to the Carthaginians to ask them for help against Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse. The Carthaginians, fearing for their own possessions in Sicily, send a large force to the island.

title: 313 BC

year_label: 307 BCE

text: With his expeditionary army now superior in numbers to the Carthaginians, Agathocles decides to leave his son Archagathus in command of the African campaign and return to Sicily. He starts constructing transports and when enough ships have been built sets sail for Sicily.

title: 307 BC

section: Events › By place › North Africa

year_label: 306 BCE

text: A peace agreement is reached between Syracuse and Carthage. The peace restricts Carthaginian power in Sicily to the area west of the Halycus (Platani) River. This agreement allows the tyrant of Syracuse, Agathocles, to strengthen his rule over the Greek cities in the east of Sicily.

title: 306 BC

text: The tyrant Agathocles of Syracuse takes on the title of King of Sicily. He extends his influence into southern Italy and the Adriatic.

title: 304 BC

text: Ptolemy gives his stepdaughter Theoxena in marriage to Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse (in south-eastern Sicily).

title: 298 BC

text: The tyrant of Syracuse, Agathocles, dies after restoring the Syracusan democracy on his death bed by stating that he does not want his sons to succeed him as king. However, the resulting dissension among his family about the succession leads to a renewal of Carthaginian power in Sicily.

title: 289 BC

text: Agathocles, tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily from 317 BC and self-styled king of Sicily after 304 BC (b. 361 BC)

title: 289 BC

text: Following the death of Agathocles, some of his disbanded mercenaries seize Messana in northeast Sicily and set up a society, calling themselves Mamertines (Sons of Mars). The city becomes a base from which they will ravage the Sicilian countryside.

title: 288 BC

text: Pyrrhus captures Eryx, the strongest Carthaginian fortress in Sicily. This prompts the rest of the Carthaginian-controlled cities in Sicily to defect to Pyrrhus.

title: 277 BC

text: When Pyrrhus returns from Sicily, he finds himself vastly outnumbered by a superior Roman army under the command of consul Manius Curius Dentatus. After the inconclusive Battle of Beneventum, Roman commander and statesman, Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, negotiates a peace with Pyrrhus, after which Pyrrhus decides to end his campaign in Italy and return to Epirus, which results in the loss of all his Italian holdings.

title: 275 BC

text: Following the departure of Pyrrhus from Sicily, the Syracusan army and the city's citizens appoint Hiero II as the commander of their slaves. He strengthens his position by marrying the daughter of Leptines, the city's leading citizen.

title: 275 BC

text: Pyrrhus returns from Italy and Sicily and invades Macedonia defeating Antigonus II Gonatas at the Battle of the Aous and conquering Upper Macedonia and Thessaly while Antigonus holds onto the coastal Macedonian towns. Antigonus' troops desert him and Pyrrhus is declared King of Macedonia.

title: 274 BC

text: Hamilcar Barca, founder of Barcid Spain and leading Carthaginian general who will fight against Rome in Sicily and Italy, against the Libyans and the mercenary revolt in Africa, and against the Iberians and Celti-Iberians in Spain (d. 228 BC)

title: 270 BC

text: The Mamertines, a body of Campanian mercenaries who have been employed by Agathocles, the former tyrant of Syracuse, capture the stronghold of Messana (Messina in north-eastern Sicily), from which they harass the Syracusans. The Syracusan military leader, Hieron, defeats them in a pitched battle at the Longanus River near Mylae, but Carthaginian forces intervene to prevent him from capturing Messana. His grateful countrymen then choose Hieron as their king and tyrant, to be known as Hieron II.

title: 269 BC

text: The Romans under the consul Manius Valerius Messalla secure the alliance of Hiero II of Syracuse. The treaty with Rome restricts Hiero's kingdom to southeast Sicily and the eastern coast of Sicily as far as Tauromenium. From this date until his death, Hiero remains loyal to the Romans.

title: 263 BC

text: The Romans, determined to win control of Sicily from Carthage, build a fleet based on the model of a captured Carthaginian quinquereme.

title: 261 BC

text: Hannibal Gisco returns to fight in Sicily as the admiral in charge of the Carthaginian fleet in the Strait of Messina. With the Romans about to launch their first ever navy, Carthage is determined that this innovation be thwarted. Gisco defeats part of the Roman fleet and captures the Roman consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina in an encounter near Lipari; the consul's nickname Asina (which means donkey) is earned in this encounter. However, this Carthaginian victory is of limited practical value as the bulk of the Roman fleet continues to manoeuvre in the surrounding waters.

title: 260 BC

text: The Carthaginians under Hamilcar take advantage of their victory at Thermae in Sicily by counterattacking the Romans and seizing Enna. Hamilcar continues south to Camarina, in Syracusan territory, to try to convince the Syracusans to rejoin the Carthaginian side.

title: 259 BC

text: The Romans are able to regain the initiative in Sicily against Carthage by retaking Enna and Camarina. In central Sicily, they take the town of Mytistraton, which they have attacked twice previously. The Romans also move in the north by marching across the northern coast toward Panormus, but are not able to take the city due to the city's heavily fortified walls.

title: 258 BC

text: The Battle of Tyndaris is fought between the Roman fleet (with Gaius Atilius Regulus in command) and the Carthaginian fleet off Tyndaris (modern Tindari) in Sicily. Hiero II, tyrant of Syracuse, has allowed Tyndaris to be a base for the Carthaginians. However, after this battle, the town falls to Roman forces.

title: 257 BC

text: Rome aims for a quick end to hostilities in the First Punic War and decides to invade the Carthaginian colonies in Northern Africa to force the enemy to accept terms. A major fleet is built, including transports for the army and its equipment, and warships for their protection. Carthage under Hamilcar tries to intervene but a force under the Roman general and consul Marcus Atilius Regulus and his colleague Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus defeat the Carthaginian fleet in the Battle of Cape Ecnomus off the southern coast of Sicily.

title: 256 BC

text: The Battle of Adis (or Adys) is fought near the city of that name, 40 mi km southeast of Carthage, between Carthaginian forces and a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus. The Romans inflict a crushing defeat upon the Carthaginians, and the latter then sue for peace. The ensuing negotiations between the parties lead to Regulus demanding Carthage agree to an unconditional surrender, cede Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia to Rome, renounce the use of their navy, pay an indemnity, and sign a vassal-like treaty. These terms are so harsh that the people of Carthage resolve to keep fighting.

title: 255 BC

text: A Roman army led by consuls Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina and Aulus Atilius Calatinus capture Panormus in Sicily.

title: 254 BC

text: A second Roman war fleet of 150 ships is wrecked on the voyage from Lilybaeum (in Sicily) to Rome.

title: 253 BC

text: With Panormus captured, much of western inland Sicily falls with it. The cities of Ieta, Solous, Petra and Tyndaris agree to peace with the Romans in the same year. This defeat marks the end of significant Carthaginian land-based campaigning in Sicily.

title: 251 BC

text: In the Punic War, the Romans shift their attention to the southwest of Sicily. They send a naval expedition toward the Carthaginian city of Lilybaeum. En route, the Romans seize and burn the Carthaginian held cities of Selinous and Heraclea Minoa. The Romans then begin the siege of Lilybaeum.

title: 250 BC

text: The Battle of Drepana involves the Romans, under the command of the Roman consul Publius Claudius Pulcher, attacking the Carthaginian fleet, under the command of Adherbal, in the harbour of Drepanum (modern Trapani, Sicily). The Romans are badly defeated and lose 93 of their 123 vessels.

title: 249 BC

text: With Hamilcar Barca wearing the Romans down in Sicily, the Romans, by private subscription, build another fleet with the aim of regaining command of the sea.

title: 246 BC

text: The Roman consul and commander, Gaius Lutatius Catulus, blockades the Sicilian cities of Lilybaeum and Drepanum with a fleet of 200 ships.

title: 242 BC

text: March 10 – Battle of the Aegates: The Carthaginian fleet sent to relieve the Roman blockade of the Sicilian cities of Lilybaeum and Drepanum is totally defeated near the Aegates Islands off western Sicily by the Roman fleet led by Roman consul and commander Gaius Lutatius Catulus. The result is a decisive Roman victory which forces an end to the protracted First Punic War, to Rome's distinct advantage.

title: 241 BC

text: Rome takes over full control of Sicily and stations a legion there.

title: 240 BC

text: Hamilcar Barca, Carthaginian general who has assumed command of the Carthaginian forces in Sicily during the last years of the First Punic War with Rome, helped Carthage win the Mercenary War and brought extensive territory in the Iberian Peninsula under Carthaginian control (b. c. 270 BC)

title: 228 BC

text: Gaius Flaminius becomes Rome's first governor of Sicily.

title: 227 BC

text: Sardinia and Corsica are made a combined province. Rome appoints, and in the future annually elects, two praetors (with autocratic consular powers) for this province and for Sicily.

title: 227 BC

text: A loan of money and supplies for the Roman army in Sicily is sought and obtained from Hiero II of Syracuse.

title: 216 BC

text: The Roman general, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who is in Sicily at the time of the revolt of Syracuse, leads an army which storms Leontini and besieges Syracuse. With the help of Archimedes' ideas and inventions, the Syracusans repel his attacks by sea.

title: 214 BC

text: With the capture of Syracuse, the Romans are able to pacify all of Sicily.

title: 211 BC

text: The famine and inflation facing Rome is eased with the pacification, by the Romans, of Sicily.

title: 210 BC

text: Publius Cornelius Scipio boldly determines to disregard Hannibal in Italy and political opposition in the Roman Senate and rather decides to strike at the Carthaginian holdings in North Africa. Scipio crosses to Sicily with an army consisting partly of volunteers as the Roman Senate would not provide him with an army.

title: 205 BC

text: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Roman statesman, consul, Pontifex Maximus and censor; as a praetor, he has been governor of Sicily in 191 BC.

title: 152 BC

text: Eunus, leader of the Slave Revolt (136–132 BC) in Sicily

title: 132 BC

text: Second Servile War: Athenion starts a slave rebellion in Segesta (Sicily).

title: 104 BC

text: Tryphon and Athenion lead the Second Servile War in Sicily.

title: 103 BC

text: L. Domitius takes harsh measures to restore order in Sicily.

title: 97 BC

text: Pompey is ordered by Sulla to stamp out Marian rebels in Sicily and Africa, after his campaigns in he gets the insulting nickname of adulescentulus carnifex, the "teenage butcher".

title: 82 BC

text: In Sicily, Sextus Pompeius leads the naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea against the triumvirs. He blockades the grain routes from Spain and Africa.

title: 42 BC

text: July – Octavian's fleet (102 warships) embarks from Puteoli and tries to invade Sicily, but it is caught in a storm at Vibo and forced to return.

title: 36 BC

text: July – The Roman Senate declares war upon Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. Octavian Caesar is proclaimed dux and the West - Gallic and Spanish provinces, Africa, Sicily and Sardinia - swear an oath (sacramentum) of loyalty to him. In order to assure this oath, Octavian forces the high priest of the Vestal Virgins in Rome to hand over Antony's will, which contains information about the Roman-conquered territories as kingdoms and plans to build a tomb in Alexandria for him and Cleopatra.

title: 32 BC

text: Emperor Tiberius expels the Egyptians from Rome, and deports 4,000 Jews from Sicily.

title: 10s

text: October 28 – Maxentius, son of former Western Emperor Maximian, leads a revolt by the Praetorian Guard and members of the Senate in Rome, and is proclaimed Emperor. Southern Italy supports Maxentius, as do Africa, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. Maxentius recalls Maximian from retirement, who joins his son in Rome.

title: 306

text: April 18 – Eusebius succeeds Marcellus I as the 31st pope, but is himself banished on August 17 to Sicily (these events may have also taken place in 310).

title: 309

text: April 18 – Pope Eusebius succeeds Pope Marcellus I as the 31st pope, but is banished on August 17 by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, where he dies, perhaps from a hunger strike.

title: 310

text: Priscus Attalus, Roman usurper, is forced to participate in a triumph celebrated by Emperor Honorius, in the streets of Rome. After the festivities, he is exiled to the Lipari Islands (north of Sicily).

title: 416

text: A Vandal fleet and their allies (Alans, Goths and Moors) set out from Carthage for Sicily, the principal supplier of oil and grain to Italy after the loss of North Africa. They loot all the coastal towns and besiege Palermo. Heavily laden ships return to the court of King Genseric.

title: 440

text: Theodosius II sends the Eastern imperial fleet, under the command of the Romano-Goth Areobindus, into Sicilian waters, taking the Vandals by surprise.

title: 441

text: End of the Vandal War (439-442): Emperor Valentinian III signs a peace treaty with King Genseric, and recognises the Vandal Kingdom. He grants him sovereignty over most of Africa. Genseric gives back Sicily and Mauretania (Algeria and Morocco). This marks the end of the Vandal migrations; they settle in North Africa, with Carthage as their capital.

title: AD 442

text: Emperor Avitus sends a Germanic naval expedition under command of Ricimer, to defend Sicily. They defeat the Vandals twice: on land at the Battle of Agrigentum, and in a sea battle off Corsica.

title: 456

text: Vandal War (461-468): King Genseric continues the Vandal raids on the coast of Sicily and Italy. Ricimer sends an embassy to Carthage.

title: 461

text: Emperor Anthemius sends a Roman expedition under command of Marcellinus. He expels the Vandals from Sicily and retakes Sardinia. The Eastern general Heraclius of Edessa lands with a force on the Libyan coast, east of Carthage, and advances from Tripolitania.

title: 468

text: Winter – Zeno recognizes the full extent of the Vandal Kingdom, including all of western Africa, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. King Gaiseric gives Sicily, with the exception of the city of Lilybaeum, to Odoacer in return for tribute.

title: 476

text: Amalasuintha rules the Ostrogothic Kingdom that extends throughout the Italian Peninsula, Dalmatia, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.

title: 526

text: June 21 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails in 500 transports, escorted by 92 war vessels (dromons), manned by 20,000 seamen from Constantinople, to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily. The fleet carries 10,000 infantry, about half Byzantine and half foederati, and 5,000 cavalry, consisting of 3,000 Byzantine horsemen, 1,000 foreign allies (Huns and Heruli) and 1,500 of Belisarius' retainers (bucellarii). On the flagship Belisarius is accompanied by his military secretary Procopius, and his wife Antonina.

title: 533

text: Summer – Belisarius lands in Sicily and meets little opposition, save for the Gothic garrison of Palermo. Laying siege to the citadel, he blockades the harbour with his ships. Mundus invades Dalmatia and captures its capital, Salona.

title: 535

text: Battle of the River Bagradas: Belisarius defeats the mutineers, and hurries back to Sicily.

title: 536

text: Siege of Naples: Totila besieges the city of Naples in Campania. A Byzantine relief force from Sicily is intercepted and almost destroyed by Gothic warships.

title: 542

text: Summer – Totila plunders Sicily, after he subdues Corsica and Sardinia. He sends a Gothic fleet to raid the coasts of Greece.

title: 550

text: Emperor Constans II is paranoid about the ambitions of his younger brother, Theodosius, and has him murdered. Having attracted the hatred of the citizens of Constantinople, Constans decides to leave the Byzantine capital and moves to Syracuse (Sicily).

title: 660

text: Constans II moves the imperial court from Constantinople to Syracuse. He tries to stop the Arab conquest of Sicily, and restores Rome as seat of the Byzantine Empire. Constans strips sacred altar vessels from churches all over Rome.

title: 663

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Caliph Muawiyah I launches a series of attacks against Byzantine holdings in Africa, Sicily and the East.

title: 667

text: Mezezius, Byzantine general and patrikios ("first patrician"), is proclaimed emperor by the army in Syracuse. Constantine IV organizes an expedition to suppress the military revolt in Sicily.

title: 668

text: January 11 – Pope John VI dies at Rome, after a reign of little more than 3 years. During his rule, he protected the Byzantine exarch Theophylactus, when he invaded the Italian mainland from Sicily. He also induced Gisulf I, Lombard duke of Benevento, to withdraw from Byzantine territory, ransomed captives and ordered the restoration of Wilfrid, as deposed bishop of York. He is succeeded by John VII as the 86th pope of the Catholic Church.

title: 705

text: Fall – Basil Onomagoulos, Byzantine official, declares himself rival emperor in Sicily after the news arrives that Constantinople has fallen to an Arab siege. Leo III dispatches a chartoularios named Paul, with imperial instructions for the Byzantine army on the island. Basil is arrested and executed; his head is sent to Leo, while the other rebels are mutilated and exiled.

title: 717

text: Emperor Leo III confiscates the papal territories in Sicily and Calabria (Southern Italy), from which Pope Gregory III derives most of his income tax. He transfers ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the former Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum to Anastasius, patriarch of Constantinople. Gregory begins his support of a revolt in Italy against iconoclasm. By now the break between the papacy and the Byzantine Empire is almost complete.

title: 733

text: Sicily, Sardinia, Provence, and Greece are raided by a fleet of Arab Muslim ships sent by the governor of Ifriqya, the ones raiding South Western Europe are led by Habīb Ibn Abi ‘Ubayda Al-Fihrī, while the fleet raiding Greece is led by Mu’awiya ibn Hishām. All of them are successful, submitting the Islands and returning with much wealth from the spoils of war.

title: 740

text: Bubonic plague breaks out in Sicily, Calabria (Southern Italy), and Monemvasia (modern Greece).

title: AD 747

text: Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri launches an assault on the island of Sardinia, perhaps the beginning of the occupation of the island by the Muslim Arabs that lasts until 1005. He also attempts to invade Sicily, but finds the defenses too strong.

title: 752

text: The Republic of Amalfi sends galleys to support the Byzantine general (strategos) of Sicily, Gregorio, against the Aghlabid invaders. It is one of the earliest evidences of the independence of the city.

title: 812

text: May – Euphemius, Byzantine admiral, organises an uprising in Sicily against Emperor Michael II. He proclaims himself Emperor (with the title of basileus) in Syracuse, independent from Constantinople. In turn, Euphemius is defeated by Byzantine troops (reinforcements from the East), and is driven out to North Africa.

title: 826

text: June 14 – Euphemius, exiled Byzantine admiral, asks for the help of North African Arabs, to retake Sicily and Malta from the Byzantines. Emir Ziyadat Allah I of Ifriqiya promises to return the islands to Euphemius, in exchange for a yearly tribute, and sends an Arab Muslim expeditionary force of 10,000 men under the 70-year-old Asad ibn al-Furat, which lands at Mazara del Vallo in Sicily.

title: 827

text: Byzantine–Arab War: Muslim reinforcements from Ifriqiya and Al-Andalus (modern Spain) defeat Byzantine forces under Theodotus in Sicily, but a plague once again compels them to retreat to Mazara del Vallo, and evacuate to North Africa.

title: 830

text: Fall – Muslim Arabs reinvade Sicily, and lay siege to Palermo. Symeon, Byzantine commander of the imperial bodyguard (spatharios), surrenders the city in exchange for a safe departure.

title: 831

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Empire and Byzantine Empire

text: The Saracens conquer Ragusa (Sicily), after its Byzantine garrison is forced by severe famine to surrender. The city and its castle are razed to the ground.

title: 848

text: Byzantine–Arab War: A Muslim expeditionary force, led by Halaf al-Hadim, Arab governor of Sicily, conquers Malta. He is welcomed by the local Christian inhabitants as liberator of the agonizing Byzantine yoke. The Muslims sign a treaty with the Christians to live in peace after liberating the island from the Byzantines.

title: 870

text: August – Siege of Syracuse: The Aghlabids begin raiding the Byzantine territories, in the east of the island of Sicily. They besiege Syracuse, and blockade the fortress city by sea and land.

title: 877

text: Arab–Byzantine wars: Emperor Leo VI ("the Wise") begins an offensive against the Abbasid army in Cilicia, Upper Mesopotamia and Armenia. He also continues the war against the Muslims in Sicily and southern Italy.

title: 900

text: August – Abdallah, son of the Aghlabid emir Ibrahim II, represses a revolt of his Muslim subjects, and then initiates a campaign against the last Byzantine strongholds in Sicily.

title: 900

text: September — The Chamberlain Ja'far ibn Ubayd of the Fatimid Caliphate returns to the Fatimid capital of Mahdiya (now in Tunisia) after a successful 17-month campaign to pillage the Byzantine-ruled island of Sicily.

title: 925

text: Taranto is sieged by Sicilian Arabs.

title: 991

text: August 23 – Robert Guiscard, count of Apulia and Calabria, signs the Treaty of Melfi with Pope Nicholas II. Nicholas recognises the Norman conquest of southern Italy, and accepts the titles of Guiscard as duke of Sicily.

title: 1059

text: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I invade Sicily. Muslim ruler Ayyub ibn Tamim's forces oppose them. The Normans and the Muslim army meet at the Battle of Misilmeri. The Norman forces defeat the Muslim army. Ayyub ibn Tamim flees from Sicily. The Norman conquest of the island continues to expand.

title: 1068

text: February – Norman conquest of Sicily: The Normans conquer Noto and complete the 30-year-long conquest of Sicily from the Moorish rulers. Duke Roger Borsa (a son of Robert Guiscard) surrenders his share in the castles of Calabria, and receives his inheritance of Palermo. He grants charters to various towns and encourages urban planning in Apulia and Calabria.

title: 1091

text: May 15 – The Cathedral of St. Agatha in Catania (Sicily) is consecrated by the Breton abbot Ansger.

title: 1094

text: Count Hugh II (du Puiset), in alliance with the Egyptian city of Ascalon, revolts against King Fulk V of Jerusalem, attempting to take Jaffa. Hugh submits to Fulk and is exiled for three years. While awaiting for a boat to Italy he is attacked by a Breton knight, but survives the attempted murder. Hugh retires to the Sicilian court of his cousin, King Roger II, who appoints him to the lordship of Gargano, where he dies soon afterwards.

title: 1134

text: May 7 – King William I ("the Wicked") of Sicily dies at Palermo after a 12-year reign. He is succeeded by his 12-year-old son William II ("the Good"), whose mother, Margaret of Navarre, will be regent until he comes of age.

title: 1166

text: February 4 – 1169 Sicily earthquake: An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of around 7 strikes the eastern coast of Sicily, causing an estimated 15,000 deaths.

title: 1169

text: June 20 – Treaty of Anagni: Pope Boniface VIII arranges a peace treaty between King Philip IV of France ("the Fair"), Charles II of Naples ("the Lame"), and James II of Majorca. James returns Sicily to the Papal States, seeking to bring peace between the Capetian House of Anjou and the Kingdom of Sicily; the effort is in vain. Boniface is determined to put an end to the War of the Sicilian Vespers, because he wants to declare a new Crusade for the reconquest of the Holy Land.

title: 1295

text: The excommunication of Frederick III of Sicily and the interdict placed on Sicily end.

title: 1335

text: August 15 – Louis "the Child", age 4, succeeds his father, Peter II, as king of Sicily and duke of Athens; he is crowned on September 15 in Palermo Cathedral.

title: 1342

text: October – Ships arrive in the Sicilian city of Messina, carrying people afflicted by the Black Death onboard.

title: 1347

text: March 16 – A fleet from Sicily, commanded by King Martin of Aragon, arrives at Capo San Marco on the island of Sardinia and makes, an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Sardinian leader Brancaleone Doria.

title: 1392

text: The Maltese people rise up against Don Gonsalvo Monroy, count of Malta. The insurgents repel an attempt by the Viceroy of Sicily to bring the island to order. The Maltese do not submit to Catalan-Aragonese rule, until the Magna Charta Libertatis, granting them their new rights, is delivered to them.

title: 1425

text: April 18 – In Sicily, the University of Catania receives papal recognition from Pope Eugene IV, ten years after its founding on October 19, 1434.

title: 1444

text: August 15 – In the city of Modica on the island of Sicily, a massacre is carried out in the Jewish neighborhood of Cartellone, and 360 Jews are killed in what is later referred to as the "Massacre of the Assumption".

title: 1474

text: July – The Holy League, formed to defend the Italian States, attacks French-occupied Genoa. The 1510 influenza pandemic reaches Sicily, where it is nicknamed coccolucio, before spreading to the Italian states and the rest of Europe.

title: 1510

text: June 21 – The apparition of Mary, mother of Jesus is seen by several women in the Sicilian city of Alcamo. She becomes the patron saint of the city and is celebrated as the Madonna of Miracles (la Madonna dei Miracoli)

title: 1547

text: November 17 – A naval battle between the Sicilians and Venetians ends inconclusively.

title: 1617

text: July 7 – The Messina revolt against Spanish rule begins on the island of Sicily as the Italian residents besiege the palace of the Spanish Captain-General and drive out the Spanish garrison.

title: 1674

text: April 22 – The Battle of Augusta is fought in the Mediterranean Sea off of the coast of Sicily during the Franco-Dutch War. The French Navy and the combined Dutch Republic and Spanish forces each lose over 500 men.

title: 1676

text: January 11 – The Mount Etna volcano erupts in Italy, causing a devastating earthquake that kills 60,000 people in Sicily and Malta.

title: 1693

text: May 20 – The Treaty of The Hague, signed between Spain and the Quadruple Alliance (Britain, France, the Netherlands and Austria) on February 17, goes into effect. Spain renounces its claims to the Italian possessions of the French throne, and Austria and the Duchy of Savoy trade Sicily for Sardinia.

title: 1720

text: September 16 – An earthquake strikes Sicily and kills 226 people in Palermo.

title: 1726

text: January 12 – Sicilian revolution of 1848: The Palermo rising erupts in Sicily against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

title: 1848

text: May 15 – Expedition of the Thousand – Battle of Calatafimi: Troops under Giuseppe Garibaldi defeat the army of Naples in Sicily.

title: 1860

text: May 1 – The first Fascio dei lavoratori (Workers League) is founded by Giuseppe De Felice Giuffrida in Catania, Sicily.

title: 1891

text: August 3 – Patton slapping incident: U.S. General George S. Patton Jr. slaps a soldier suffering from battle fatigue, at a field hospital in Sicily. On August 10, he slaps another soldier suffering from the same condition.

title: 1943

text: July 10 – (0245 GMT (4:45 a.m. local time)) – WWII: Allied invasion of Sicily – The Allied invasion of Axis-controlled Europe begins, with landings on the island of Sicily off mainland Italy by the Seventh United States Army and the British Eighth Army, including the 1st Canadian Infantry Division.

title: 1943

text: March 14 – WWII: British submarine HMS Thunderbolt is sunk off Sicily by an Italian corvette, the second time this vessel has been lost with all hands.

title: 1943

text: May 1 – Portella della Ginestra massacre: The Salvatore Giuliano gang of Sicilian separatists opens fire on a Labour Day parade at Portella della Ginestra, Sicily, killing 11 people and wounding 27.

title: 1947

text: January 15 – The 1968 Belice earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000.

title: 1968

text: October 18th - Carravagio's Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence is stolen from the oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo, Sicily.

title: 1969

text: May 5 – An Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo, Sicily; 115 die.

title: 1972

text: September 29 – In the early morning, police in Sicily apprehend 366 people they suspect to be involved in the activities of Cosa Nostra.

title: 1984


slug: sicyon

label: Sicyon

description: ancient Greek city state Sicyon situated in the northern Peloponnesus

year_label: 454 BCE

text: Pericles leads a naval expedition in the Corinthian Gulf, in which Athens defeats Achaea. He then attacks Sicyon and Acarnania, after which he unsuccessfully tries to take Oeniadea on the Corinthian Gulf, before returning to Athens.

title: 454 BC

year_label: 393 BCE

text: Fighting breaks out in Corinth between the democratic and oligarchic parties. The democrats, supported by Argos, launch an attack on their opponents, and the oligarchs are driven from the city. These exiles go to the Spartans, based at this time at Sicyon, for support, while the Athenians and Boeotians support the democrats.

title: 393 BC

year_label: 367 BCE

text: The Theban general, Epaminondas, again invades the Peloponnesus, but this time achieves little beyond winning Sicyon over to an alliance with Thebes. When he returns to Thebes, he is again put on trial, and again acquitted.

title: 367 BC

year_label: 314 BCE

text: Alexander, son of Polyperchon, is killed by Alexion of Sicyon. Alexander's wife Cratesipolis assumes power and holds his army together.

title: 314 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonian Empire

year_label: 312 BCE

text: Telesphorus arrives in to the Peloponnese and starts expelling Cassander's garrisons. He successfully liberates all cities and towns that are being held for Cassander by Polyperchon and his son Alexander; all except Sicyon and Corinth who are being defended by Polyperchon and Alexander themselves.

title: 312 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece/Macedon/Thrace

year_label: 308 BCE

text: Ptolemy crosses from Asia Minor into Greece, where he takes possession of Corinth, Sicyon and Megara.

title: 308 BC

year_label: 303 BCE

text: Demetrius Poliorcetes invades the Peloponnese and occupies Corinth, Sicyon, and Argos in the Peloponnese, and Achaea, Elis and almost all of Arcadia join his side.

title: 303 BC

year_label: 264 BCE

text: Abantidas, the son of Paseas, becomes tyrant of the Greek city-state of Sicyon after murdering Cleinias. He either banishes or puts to death Cleinias' friends and relations. Cleinias' young son, Aratus, narrowly escapes death.

title: 264 BC

year_label: 252 BCE

text: Abantidas, the tyrant of Sicyon, is murdered by his enemies and is succeeded by his father, Paseas.

title: 252 BC

text: Abantidas, tyrant of Sicyon (assassinated)

title: 252 BC

year_label: 251 BCE

text: Paseas, the tyrant of the Greek city-state of Sicyon, is assassinated by Nicocles, with the acquiescence of the Macedonian king Antigonus II. Nicocles reigns as tyrant of Sicyon for only four months, during which period he drives into exile eighty of the city's citizens. Then the citadel of Sicyon is surprised in the night by a party of Sicyonian exiles, headed by a young nobleman, Aratus. The palace of the tyrant is set on fire, but Nicocles escapes from the city through a subterranean passage.

title: 251 BC

text: Paseas, Greek tyrant of Sicyon (assassinated)

title: 251 BC

year_label: 40 BCE

text: Siege of Perusia: trying a last attempt to break the siege, which fails; Lucius Antonius surrenders to Octavian. His life is spared, but the citizens are executed or sold into slavery. Fulvia flees with her children and is exiled to Sicyon, where she dies of a sudden illness.

title: 40 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


slug: sidon

label: Sidon

description: capital city of South Governorate, Lebanon

year_label: 677 BCE

text: From this year to 676 BC, Sennacherib's successor, King Esarhaddon, forced Tyre into tribute after campaigning in Khor and destroying Sidon in 679 BC.

title: 677 BC

section: Events

year_label: 676 BCE

text: In 679 BCE, Sennacherib's successor, King Esarhaddon, campaigned in Khor, destroyed Sidon, and forced Tyre into tribute from 677 BCE to this year.

title: 676 BC

section: Events › By place › Middle East

year_label: 361 BCE

text: With the Persian empire weakening, revolts occur in many parts of the empire, including Sidon, a prosperous and rich Phoenician city.

title: 361 BC

section: Events › By place › Persian Empire

year_label: 350 BCE

text: Sidon, the centre of the revolt against Persia, seeks help from its sister city of Tyre and from Egypt but gets very little.

title: 350 BC

year_label: 349 BCE

text: Sidon is besieged by Persian forces. The Persian Empire reasserted its dominance over Egypt after Nectanebo II was forced to flee following the Persian military campaign under Artaxerxes III. The native Egyptian rule briefly came to an end, and the Persians regained control. This was just a precursor to the later events that would lead to Alexander the Great's conquest of Egypt in the early 4th century BCE, ultimately ending Persian rule and ushering in the Hellenistic period.

title: 349 BC

year_label: 348 BCE

text: After being besieged by the Persian forces of King Artaxerxes III, Sidon is taken and its population is punished with great cruelty.

title: 348 BC

year_label: 333 BCE

text: After taking Byblos and Sidon, Alexander lays siege to Tyre.

title: 333 BC

text: Demetrius rallies the remnants of his army at Tripolis and summons reinforcements from the garrisons of upper Syria and Cilicia; he also writes his father, Antigonus, and urges him to send help. Meanwhile Ptolemy captures Acre, Joppa, Samaria and Sidon, and starts to besiege Tyre.

title: 312 BC

section: Events › By place › Syria/Mesopotamia/Babylonia

year_label: 294 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Ptolemy gains control over Cyprus and the Phoenician coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon.

title: 294 BC

section: Events › By place › Egypt

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor John I raids Mesopotamia and invades Syria, using the Byzantine base at Antioch to press southwards to Tripoli. He conquers the cities of Baalbek, Damascus, Sidon, Tiberias and Caesarea, but fails to take Jerusalem.

title: 975

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: May 20

text: May 20 – The Fatimid governor of Sidon refuses to cooperate and his garrison attacks the Crusader host while they are looting local villages. The Fatimids are repulsed, the towns further south generally follow the example of Beirut. The Crusaders move on to Tyre – Raymond IV decides to wait for two days to allow a force under Baldwin of Le Bourg (supported by knights from Antioch) to catch up with him.

title: 1099

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

text: The Venetians establish a new trade emporium in Sidon (modern Lebanon).

title: 1102

section: Events › By place › Levant

text: Baldwin I marches out against Sidon, with the support of a squadron of sailor-adventurers from various Italian cities. A Fatimid fleet from Egypt defeats the Italians in a sea-battle outside the harbour.

title: 1108

date: February

text: February–May – Crusaders under Baldwin I besiege Beirut. Genoese and Pisan ships blockade the harbour; Fatimid ships from Tyre and Sidon try in vain to break the blockade. The Fatimid governor flees by night through the Italian fleet to Cyprus. On May 13, Baldwin captures the city by assault and the Italians carry out a massacre among the inhabitants.

title: 1110

text: War of the Lombards: Richard Filangieri sails for Beirut, where the town is handed over to him. He occupies Sidon and Tyre – while other Lombard forces appear before Acre. At Acre, Filangieri summons a meeting of the High Court and shows letters from Frederick II appointing him as ambassador (baili).

title: 1231

date: May 22

text: May 22 – King Hugh III of Cyprus ("the Great") signs a peace with Sultan Baibars, Mamluk ruler of Egypt, at Caesarea. The Kingdom of Jerusalem is guaranteed for 10 years the possession of its present lands, which consists mainly of the narrow coastal plain from Acre to Sidon, together with the right to use without hindrance the pilgrim-road to Nazareth. The County of Tripoli is safeguarded by the peace treaty.

title: 1272

date: June

text: June – Al-Ashraf Khalil enters Damascus in triumph with Crusaders chained at their feet and the captured Crusader standards, which are carried upside-down as a sign of their defeat. Following the capture of Acre, Khalil and his Mamluk generals proceed to wrest control of the remaining Crusader-held fortresses along the Syrian coast. Within weeks, the Mamluks conquer Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Haifa and Tartus.

title: 1291

date: June 5

text: June 5 – Jean de Lusignan, regent for the King of Cyprus, uses his navy to attack Sidon in what is now Lebanon, but is then forced to retreat because of a storm.

title: 1369

section: Events › April–June


slug: siege

label: Siege

description: military blockade of a city or fortress

year_label: 211 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: The Romans besiege the town of Capua (which is allied with Hannibal). The town eventually falls to the Romans and its citizens are punished by them. The town's nobility are put to the sword, its territory is confiscated and its municipal organisation is dissolved.

title: 211 BC

year_label: 42 BCE

text: Marcus Brutus begins to plunder the cities of Asia Minor, in order to obtain money and soldiers. The inhabitants of Lycia refuse to submit to Rome, and Brutus besieges Xanthus. After destroying their suburbs, the Xanthians withdraw into the heavily fortified city. The Roman legionaries (2,000 men) force the gate and fight their way into the forum. The citizens make a last stand by the temple of Sarpedon and, as night falls, the Roman army conquers the city.

title: 42 BC

section: Deaths

text: Siege of Perusia: trying a last attempt to break the siege, which fails; Lucius Antonius surrenders to Octavian. His life is spared, but the citizens are executed or sold into slavery. Fulvia flees with her children and is exiled to Sicyon, where she dies of a sudden illness.

title: 40 BC

section: Crime & Justice

date: September 17

text: September 17 – Remistus, Roman general (magister militum), is besieged with a Gothic force at Ravenna and later executed in the Palace in Classis, outside the city.

title: 456

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: King Vortigern is burnt to death, while being besieged by a Romano-British force under Ambrosius Aurelianus at Ganarew (Herefordshire).

title: 459

section: Events › By place › Britannia

text: Aelle, first king of the South Saxons, lands on the Sussex coast of England with his three sons near Cymenshore, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Britons engage him upon landing, but his superior force besieges them at Pevensey and drives them into the wood called Andredes leage. Over the next nine years, Saxon coastal holdings are gradually expanded.

title: 477

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Siege of Naples: Totila besieges the city of Naples in Campania. A Byzantine relief force from Sicily is intercepted and almost destroyed by Gothic warships.

title: 542

text: Belisarius defeats the Gothic army under King Totila, who unsuccessfully besieges the city of Otranto (southern Italy). After their retreat, the Byzantines march towards the city of Rome.

title: 544

section: Events › By place › The Mediterranean World, Europe, and the Middle East

text: Autumn – Balkan Campaign: The Avars, strengthened by the tribute of the Franks, resume their campaign along the Danube River, and besiege the Byzantine fortress city of Tomis (modern Romania) on the Black Sea coast.

title: 597

text: The Slavs invade the area around Thessaloniki, which is unsuccessfully besieged. The city becomes a Byzantine enclave surrounded by Slavic territory. Urban life disappears and many towns in the Balkan Peninsula become villages.

title: 620

text: Battle of Bosra: Muslim forces under Khalid besiege the Byzantine and Christian Arab garrison (12,000 men) at Bosra. After a few days the fortress city surrenders; Khalid imposes a payment of tribute on the inhabitants.

title: 634

section: Events › By place › Arabia

text: King Oswald and his Northumbrian army besiege and conquer Edinburgh (Scotland). His half-brother, Oswiu of Bernicia, marries Princess Rhiainfelt, heiress of North Rheged ("Old North"). Northumbria embraces North Rheged in a peaceful takeover, and Oswiu becomes a sub-king (approximate date).

title: 638

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: The Bulgars under Asparukh subjugate the country of current-day Bulgaria, north of the Balkan Mountains. Emperor Constantine IV leads a combined land and sea operation against the invaders and besieges their fortified camp in Dobruja.

title: 680

text: Alahis, duke of Brescia, starts a civil war in Northern Italy. He besieges Cunipert on an island in Lake Como (Lombardy), who breaks out with Piedmontese troops.

title: 688

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Siege of Constantinople: Maslama begins a combined land and sea effort to capture Constantinople. The capital controls the Bosporus, access between the Mediterranean and Black Sea, and is defended by a garrison of roughly 25,000 men. Leo III orders the granaries be restocked and siege engines installed. The Arab besiegers are suffering immense losses due to disease, and from attrition of siege warfare.

title: 717

text: King Louis the German invades Moravia, crossing the Danube River to besiege the civitas Dowina (identified, although not unanimously, with Devín Castle in Slovakia).

title: 864

text: Summer – Emperor Basil I allies with the Frankish emperor Louis II against the Saracens. He sends a Byzantine fleet of 400 ships (according to the Annales Bertiniani), under the command of Admiral Niketas Ooryphas, to support Louis (who is besieging the city port of Bari) and to clear the south of the Adriatic Sea of Muslim raiders.

title: 869

text: Lambert I, duke of Spoleto, dies while besieging the city of Capua. He is succeeded by his son Guy II.

title: 880

text: Winter – King Henry I (the Fowler) subdues the Polabian Slavs who live on the eastern borders. He then marches against the Slavic Hevelli tribes and seizes their capital, Brandenburg. Henry invades the Glomacze lands in the middle Elbe valley, where he besieges and destroys the main castle called Gana (the later Albrechtsburg) at Meissen (Saxony).

title: 928


slug: sierra-leone

label: Sierra Leone

description: sovereign state in West Africa

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Portuguese navigator Pedro de Sintra reaches the coast of modern-day Sierra Leone.

title: 1460

section: Events › Date unknown

date: September 5

text: September 5 – Hamlet is performed aboard the East India Company ship Red Dragon, under the command of Capt. William Keeling, anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone, the first known performance of a Shakespeare play outside England in English, and the first by amateurs.

title: 1607

section: Events › July–September

date: March 7

text: March 7 – A settlement is formed in Sierra Leone in West Africa as a home for freed slaves.

title: 1792

section: Events › January–March

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Sierra Leone becomes a British Crown Colony.

title: 1808

date: June 28

text: June 28 – The Anglo-French Convention of 1882 is signed, marking territorial boundaries between Guinea and Sierra Leone.

title: 1882

section: Events › June

date: March 20

text: March 20 – British gunboats enter Monrovia, with Arthur Havelock demanding that Liberia cede disputed territory to the British colony of Sierra Leone, of which he is Governor.

title: 1882

section: Events › March

date: December 25

text: December 25 – The German cruiser Admiral Hipper attacks a British shipping convoy (WS 5A) en route to Sierra Leone 700 miles (1,100 km) west of Cape Finisterre in Spain. Admiral Hipper sinks one ship but has to withdraw with engine trouble.

title: 1940

section: Events › December

date: March

text: Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci sinks Canadian Pacific liner RMS Empress of Canada off Sierra Leone. Nearly half of the 392 fatalities are Italian prisoners of war.

title: 1943

date: August 21

text: August 21 – The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone send peacekeepers to intervene in the First Liberian Civil War.

title: 1990

section: Events › August

date: March 6

text: March 6 – A boat carrying market traders capsizes outside Freetown harbour in Sierra Leone, killing at least 86 people.

title: 1996

date: May 25

text: May 25 – A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.

title: 1997

section: Events › May


slug: sigismund-holy-roman-emperor

label: Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor

description: Monarch from the House of Luxemburg (1368-1437)

section: Births

date: February 14

text: February 14 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1437)

title: 1368

section: Deaths

date: November 29

text: November 29 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, dies in Prague. He is succeeded by his son, Wenceslaus, as King of Bohemia, but the office of Holy Roman Emperor falls into abeyance, until Charles's son Sigismund is crowned in 1433.

title: 1378

section: Events › October–December

section: Culture & Society

date: November 25

text: November 25 – The nobles of Greater Poland assemble at Radomsko and, not wishing to be ruled by Mary' of Hungarys fiancee, the future Sigismund of Luxembourg, choose Mary's younger sister, Jadwiga, to become ruler of Poland.

title: 1382

date: November 1

text: November 1 – Sigismund of Luxembourg, Margrave of Brandenburg and son of the late Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, enforces a 1373 agreement of betrothal and marries Mary, Queen of Hungary, citing an agreement that had been made by King Louis I of Hungary.

title: 1385

date: May 17

text: May 17 – Mary of Hungary dies, ending of the reign of Hungary by the Capet-Anjou family. Her co-reigning estranged husband, King Sigismund, becomes sole ruler of Hungary.

title: 1395

section: Events › April–June

date: September 8

text: September 8 – The death of King Stjepan Dabiša leads to the election of his wife Jelena Gruba as Queen of Bosnia. However, most of the Bosnian land is soon appropriated by King Sigismund of Hungary.

title: 1395

section: Conflict & Security

date: March 28

text: March 28 – A War Council in Buda, led by King Sigismund of Hungary is held with representatives of various Christian nations to begin the Nicopolis Crusade against the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire for the liberation of Bulgaria.

title: 1396

section: Events › January–December

date: September 25

text: September 25 – Battle of Nicopolis: The Ottomans defeat a joint crusade by Hungary, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Wallachia, led by King Sigismund of Hungary. This is the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages.

title: 1396

section: Religion & Belief

date: April 28

text: April 28 – King Zsigmond of Hungary refuses to comply with demands of the Archbishop John Kanizsai and the Palatine Derek Bebek, he is taken prisoner. Sigismund remains captive until October 29.

title: 1401

date: February 19

text: February 19 – Sigismund of Křižanov, Prokop of Luxemburg and King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia carry out an unsuccessful raid on the military garrison of Jihlava in an attack against the Kingdom of Croatia, led by Sigismund of Luxembourg. The Bohemians are routed, and Wenceslas is captured.

title: 1402

date: December 6

text: December 6 – King Zsigmond of Hungary marries for the second time, in a wedding to Barbara of Cilli.

title: 1405

date: September 20

text: September 20 – Following the death of Rupert, King of the Romans, on May 18, a council of three electors— Louis III, Elector Palatine; Werner von Falkenstein, Elector of Trier and Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg, Burgrave of Nuremberg votes to elect King Sigismund of Hungary as the new King of the Romans and the informal "King of Germany". The rest of the electors of the Holy Roman Empire refuse to accept Sigismund.

title: 1410

date: January 18

text: January 18 – Jobst, King of the Romans and Elector of Brandenburg, a member of the House of Luxembourg who had been elected to rule as the German monarch on October 1, dies suddenly at the age of 35 following a suspected poisoning. His death clears the way for Jobst's cousin and rival, Sigismund of Hungary, to become the new King of the Romans, and for control of the Electorate of Brandenburg to pass from the House of Luxembourg to the House of Hohenzollern, with Frederick of Hohenzollern becoming the new Elector in return for supporting the election of Sigismund.

title: 1411

date: November 8

text: November 8 – The coronation of Sigismund of Luxembourg as King of the Romans takes place at Aachen, four years after he had been elected.

title: 1414

text: September 20 – Sigismund, King of the Germans, who convened the Council of Constance, meets in Spain with the antipope Benedict XIII, and makes an unsuccessful attempt to persuade Benedict to resign.

title: 1415

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: August 15 – Sigismund, King of Germany, and King Henry V of England conclude the Treaty of Canterbury, an alliance of the two nations against France.

title: 1416

date: December 2

text: December 2 – Through the Council of Constance and diplomatic treaties during late 1416, Sigismund, King of Germany unifies the fractured Catholic Church and isolates the Bohemian reformers, providing him with the necessary authority to later initiate the Hussite Wars against Jan Žižka.

title: 1416

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Sigismund, King of Germany, creates the independent Duchy of Savoy with Count Amadeus the Peaceful becoming the first Duke of Savoy and taking the regnal title Amadeus VIII.

title: 1416

date: March 15

text: March 15 – Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor, orders the execution of the Hussite Jan Krása, who had led an uprising against the Empire at Wroclaw.

title: 1420

text: November 1 – Hussite Wars: Battle of Vyšehrad – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, fails and is ejected from Bohemia.

title: 1420

date: September 28

text: September 28– A treaty is signed at Vienna between Sigismund, King of Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia and Germany and Albert V, Duke of Austria for Sigismund's daughter Elizabeth of Luxembourg, to marry Albert (on April 19, 1422) and confirming Elizabeth's rights as heiress presumptive to the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia.

title: 1421

date: August 1

text: August 1 – In Germany, Frederick of Wettin is enfoeffed by Sigismund, King of the Germans at Ofen as the new Elector of Saxony

title: 1425

section: Events › July –September

text: Bratislava Castle is converted to a fortress under Sigismund of Luxembourg.

title: 1430

date: May 31

text: May 31 – Sigismund is crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. The Imperial throne has been vacant for more than 52 years since the death of Sigismund's father, Charles IV, in 1378.

title: 1433

date: July 5

text: July 5 – The Hussite Wars effectively end in Bohemia. Sigismund is accepted as King.

title: 1436

date: December 9

text: December 9 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1368)

title: 1437

text: December 9 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, dies, and is succeeded by Frederick III.

title: 1437


slug: sigismund-i-the-old

label: Sigismund I the Old

date: February 2

text: February 2 – Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)

title: 1494

date: August 19

text: August 19 – Sigismund I the Old succeeds his brother as king of Poland.

title: 1506

section: Events › July–September

date: December 8

text: December 8 – Sigismund I the Old (Zygmunt Jagiellon), younger brother of the late Alexander Jagiellon, becomes the King of Poland and (as Zygimantas II) the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He will reign for more than 40 years, dying in 1548 at the age of 81.

title: 1506

date: January 24

text: January 24 – Sigismund I the Old is formally crowned King of Poland, at a ceremony in Kraków.

title: 1507

text: December 6 – Bona Sforza of Italy, daughter of the late Duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Sforza, marries King Sigismund of Poland by proxy at Naples, then begins a three month journey to Kraków to assume the throne.

title: 1517

date: April 18

text: April 18 – The widowed Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, marries Milanese noblewoman Bona Sforza in Wawel Cathedral and she is crowned as Queen consort of Poland.

title: 1518

date: May 5

text: May 5 – An assassination attempt is made against King Sigismund of Poland, who is shot at while walking outside his residence at Wawel Castle overlooking Kraków.

title: 1523

date: July 17

text: July 17 – The betrothal ceremony of 12-year-old Princess Elisabeth, niece of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to the 17-year-old Prince Sigismund II Augustus, son of King Sigismund of Poland (who is also the Grand Duke of Lithuania) and heir to the throne, takes place in Innsbruck. The two are married five years later on May 5, 1543.

title: 1538

date: April 1

text: April 1 – Sigismund II Augustus succeeds his father, Sigismund I the Old, as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.

title: 1548


slug: sigismund-ii-augustus

label: Sigismund II Augustus

title: 1538

text: May 5 – Elizabeth of Austria, daughter of Archduke Ferdinand I, marries Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland. Her coronation as Queen consort of Poland takes place three days later at Kraków Cathedral as the Archbishop of Gniezno, Piotr Gamrat, places the crown of Hedwig of Kalisz upon her head.

title: 1543

title: 1548

date: October 31

text: October 31 – At the first sejm of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, deputies demand that the king renounce his wife Barbara Radziwiłł.

title: 1548

date: December 7

text: December 7 – Lithuanian noble Barbara Radziwiłł, wife of Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania since 1547, has an elaborate coronation in Kraków as Queen consort and Grand Duchess, five months before her death at the age of 30.

title: 1550

date: January 13

text: January 13 – Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, issues an edict against Protestants, at the urging of the Archbishop Mikołaj Dzierzgowski, Primate of Poland.

title: 1557

section: Events › January–March

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: October 17

text: October 17 – Postal history of Poland: King Sigismund II Augustus appoints an Italian merchant living in Kraków to organise a consolidated postal service in Poland, the origin of Poczta Polska.

title: 1558

date: November 28

text: November 28 – The Treaty of Vilnius is concluded during the Livonian War, between the Livonian Confederation and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. With the treaty, the non-Danish and non-Swedish part of Livonia, with the exception of the Free imperial city of Riga, subjects itself to Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus with the Pacta subiectionis (Provisio ducalis). In turn, Sigismund grants protection from the Tsardom of Russia, and confirms the Livonian estates' traditional privileges, laid out in the Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti.

title: 1561

date: October 8

text: October 8 – Catherine of the Austrian Habsburgs, Queen of consort of Poland since 1553 as wife of Sigismund II Augustus, leaves Poland to return to Austria after the failure of her marriage. She never comes back to Poland, though she remains the official queen consort until her death in 1572.

title: 1566

date: April 5

text: April 5 – 1573 Polish–Lithuanian royal election: Polish and Lithuanian nobles gather at Warsaw to elect a successor to King Sigismund II Augustus, who had died the previous July 7. The vote comes down to four candidates, from France, the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden and Russia.

title: 1573


slug: sigismund-iii-vasa

label: Sigismund III Vasa

description: King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 until 1632 and King of Sweden from 1592 until 1599 (1566–1632)

text: August 19 – Polish and Lithuanian nobles elect Sigismund III Vasa, King of Sweden, as the ruler of the after the death in December of the previous King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania, Stephen Báthory.

title: 1587

date: December 27

text: December 27 – Sigismund III Vasa is formally crowned as King Zygmunt Waza of Poland and Duke of Lithuania in a coronation ceremony at Kraków.

title: 1587

date: March 9

text: March 9 – The Treaty of Bytom and Będzin is signed between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Austria, ending the War of the Polish Succession. Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, renounces his claims to the thrones of Poland and Lithuania and acknowledges Sigismund III Vasa of Sweden as the heir to the throne.

title: 1589

date: November 17

text: November 17 – Sigismund III Vasa becomes the new King of Sweden upon the death of his father, King John III.

title: 1592

date: August 3

text: August 3 – Poland's council of nobles, the Sejm, grants permission to King Sigismund III Vasa and his wife, Queen consort Anne, to travel to Sweden to claim the Swedish crown.

title: 1593

date: December 2

text: December 2 – The proposal for the Union of Brest (moving the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Roman Catholic Church) is made in a petition by the Metropolitan Michael Rohoza in a petition to Sigismund, monarch of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland. After a similar petition to Pope Clement VIII on June 12, 1595, the Union will be proclaimed on October 8, 1596.

title: 1594

date: February 19

text: February 19 – The coronation of Sigismund III Vasa as King of Sweden takes place at Uppsala.

title: 1594

text: The Riksdag of the Estates at Söderköping in Sweden elects the Lutheran Duke Charles as the country's regent, in place of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Sweden.

title: 1595

section: Events › Date unknown

text: King Sigismund III Vasa moves the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw.

title: 1596

date: July 23

text: July 23 – Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, departs from Danzig (now Gdańsk) with 80 transports, several warships and exiled members of the Swedish parliament to invade Sweden. The troops land at Kalmar on July 31, and secure its surrender.

title: 1598

date: September 25

text: September 25 – Battle of Stångebro at Linköping in Sweden: The Catholic King Sigismund of Sweden and Poland is defeated in his attempt to resume control of Sweden by the Protestant forces of his uncle, Charles. Sigismund is deposed shortly thereafter.

title: 1598

date: July 24

text: July 24 – Swedish King Sigismund III Vasa is dethroned by his uncle Duke Charles, who takes over as regent of the realm until 1604, when he becomes King Charles IX.

title: 1599

section: Crime & Justice

date: March 20

text: March 20 – Linköping Bloodbath: Five Swedish nobles are publicly executed by decapitation and Polish–Swedish King Sigismund III Vasa is de facto deposed as ruler of Sweden.

title: 1600

date: September 12

text: September 12 – King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland receives the delivery of eight specially woven Persian carpets displaying Poland's royal coat of arms, after having dispatched agent Sefer Muratowicz to Kashan.

title: 1602

date: February 24

text: February 24 – At Linköping in Sweden, the Riksdag declares that Sigismund, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, who has been absent for five years, has effectively abdicated as King of Sweden, and recognizes Karl, Duke of Södermanland, as the new monarch.

title: 1604

date: December 11

text: December 11 – King Sigismund III of Poland marries his former sister-in-law, Constance, daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, after Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor refuses to permit the King to marry Anna of Tyrol. King Sigismund, a widow, had previously been married to Constance's older sister, Anne.

title: 1605

date: November 8

text: November 8 – Wladyslaw IV Waza is elected king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, after Sigismund III Vasa's death.

title: 1632

date: November 19

text: November 19 – Alexander Charles Vasa, 5th son of King Sigismund III Vasa (b. 1614)

title: 1634

text: Sigismund's Column is erected in Warsaw to commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa, who moved the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596.

title: 1644


slug: silesia

label: Silesia

description: region of Central Europe now located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany

text: Heraclius invites the Croats, a Slavic tribe living in Galicia, Silesia, and Bohemia, to settle in Illyricum. They are given the land between the Drava River and the Adriatic Sea for ridding of Avars. The Serbs are allowed to move from their homeland north of the Carpathians to a territory east of the Croats. Heraclius asks Pope Honorius I to send missionaries to both groups.

title: 626

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Bolesław III, duke of Poland, begins a civil war against his half-brother Zbigniew, for control over Lesser Poland and Silesia.

title: 1106

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: February 19 – Other Silesian nobles follow the example of Casimir of Cieszyn at Opava and swear homage to King John of Bohemia, including the Piast nobles Leszek of Racibórz, Siemowit of Bytom and George of Bytom.

title: 1327

section: Events › January – March

date: November 11

text: November 11 – The Battle of Kratzau takes place in Bohemia in what is now the city of Chrastava in the Czech Republic, as the Silesian troops of the Bohemian Crown Lands under of the Holy Roman Empire

title: 1428

date: May 3

text: May 3 – At Olomouc, Hungarian King Matyáš Korvín is elected by the Czech Catholic estates to be the King of Bohemia and his rule is accepted by the occupied regions of Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia, though the other Bohemian estates remain loyal to the Bohemian King Jiří z Poděbrad.

title: 1469

date: September 1

text: September 1 – King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary accepts the draft of the Treaty of Brno with slight modifications regarding the division of the lands of the Bohemian crowned claimed by both Hungary and King Vladisalus II of Bohemia. Under the terms, Vladislaus II cedes Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia to Corvinus, and both monarchs are permitted to refer to themselves as "King of Bohemia".

title: 1478

text: Martin Luther expels theologian Caspar Schwenckfeld from Silesia.

title: 1540

section: Climate & Environment

date: September 15

text: September 15 – The estimated 6.0 magnitude Neulengbach earthquake causes significant damage and some loss of life, in Lower Austria and Vienna; the effects are felt as far as Bohemia and Silesia.

title: 1590

date: July 25

text: July 25 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Neu Titschein: Remnants of the Bohemian army temporarily hold off the Imperial advance in Silesia.

title: 1621

date: December 16

text: December 16 – Frederick II of Prussia invades the Habsburg possession of Silesia, starting the War of the Austrian Succession.

title: 1740

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Peace of Breslau: Austria cedes Silesia to Prussia.

title: 1742

section: Events › April –June

date: January 8

text: January 8 – King Augustus III of Poland, acting in his capacity as Elector of Saxony, signs an agreement with Austria, pledging help in war in return for part of Silesia to be conveyed to Saxony.

title: 1743

date: December 25

text: December 25 – The Treaty of Dresden gives Prussia full possession of Silesia.

title: 1745

section: Events › October –December

date: February 2

text: February 2 – At Versailles in France, representatives of the Russian Empire and the Austrian Empire enter into an alliance against Prussia, with each nation pledging 80,000 troops. Other clauses to the treaty, not disclosed to the public, commit Austria to pay Russia one million rubles per year during the war to pay for the expenses of 24,000 of the Russian troops, and two million rubles upon the conquest of Silesia (a Prussian province that had been seized from Austria in 1746).

title: 1757

date: July 21

text: July 21 – Battle of Burkersdorf: In his last major battle, Frederick defeats Marshal Daun in Silesia.

title: 1762

date: October 7

text: October 7 – Siege of Schweidnitz in Silesia. Prussia takes the strategic fortress from Austria.

title: 1762


slug: silk-road

label: Silk Road

description: trade routes through Asia connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea

year_label: 167 BCE

text: The Parthians capture the key central Asian city of Herat. This victory effectively chokes off the movement of trade along the Silk Road to China and means that the Hellenic kingdom of Bactria is doomed.

title: 167 BC

section: Events › By place › Parthia

year_label: 114 BCE

text: Silk Road routes opened to traders and merchants, exporting goods from east to west.

title: 114 BC

section: Events

year_label: 108 BCE

text: Emperor Wu of Han founds Jiuquan in the Hexi Corridor as a military outpost on the Silk Road to Central Asia. It serves to protect diplomats and merchants, and it cuts off the kings of the region from the Xiongnu. He also founds Xianlei in present-day Inner Mongolia, extending Han control further north than before.

title: 108 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia

year_label: 73 CE

text: Ban Chao (Pan-Ch’ao), competing with the Xiongnu, imposes a Chinese protectorate on the kings of Lop Nor and Khotan in the Tarim Basin, with the aim of controlling the Silk Road.

title: AD 73

year_label: 94 CE

text: The Chinese General Ban Chao completes his conquest of the Tarim Basin by taking Yānqi, which is located on the strategic Silk Road.

title: AD 94

text: The Xiongnu occupy the Gansu area, an economically important province situated along the Silk Road.

title: 397

section: Events › By place › China

text: The city of Tbilisi (Georgia) on the Kura River is founded by King Vakhtang I of Iberia. Its location gives it control of the trade routes between western and eastern Transcaucasia.

title: 458

section: Events › By topic › Exploration and Colonization

text: Arab armies conquer Khurasan (Iran), and the Silk Road along Transoxiana (Central Asia).

title: 655

text: Muslim Conquest: Arab forces of the Umayyad Caliphate resume the push to capture Persian lands, and begin to move towards the lands east and north of the plateau, towards Greater Khorasan (Iran) and the Silk Road along Transoxiana.

title: 662

section: Events › By place › Arab Empire

text: Muslim introduction of papermaking: The first paper mill in the Islamic world begins production at Samarkand. Captured craftsmen, taken at the Battle of Talas River, have by some accounts revealed the technique of papermaking (although paper may have arrived from China much earlier via the Silk Road). Arab scholars will use paper to produce translations of Ancient Greek and Roman writings.

title: 751

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Caliph al-Mansur orders the closing of the Canal of the Pharaohs (Egypt). The only remaining land routes to transship camel caravans' goods are from Alexandria to ports on the Red Sea, or the northern Byzantine termini of the Silk Road.

title: 770

text: Arab traders make Baghdad a financial center of the Silk Road between China and Europe. Caravans carry little or no money on their long journeys; Chinese traders use what they call fei qian (zh) ("flying money") to avoid robbery. The Arabs have adopted a similar banking system known as hawala to transmit funds (approximate date).

title: 793

section: Events › By topic › Commerce

text: The Samanid Dynasty establishes a court at Bukhara (modern Uzbekistan), which becomes a rival city to Baghdad on the strategic Silk Road.

title: 875

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire


slug: silla

label: Silla

description: kingdom on the Korean Peninsula (c.57 BCE-935 CE)

year_label: 69 BCE

section: Births

text: Hyeokgeose, Korean king and founder of Silla (d. AD 4)

title: 69 BC

year_label: 57 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Bak Hyeokgeose becomes the first ruler of the kingdom of Silla (traditional date).

title: 57 BC

year_label: 4 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Namhae becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 0s BC

section: Events › 4 BC › Korea

year_label: 4 CE

text: AD 4 – Namhae Chachaung succeeds Bak Hyeokgeose as king of the Korean kingdom of Silla (traditional date).

title: 0s

section: Events › Korea

section: Deaths

text: AD 4 – Hyeokgeose, Korean king of Silla (b. 75 BC)

title: 0s

year_label: 24 CE

text: King Yuri ascends to the throne as ruler of Silla (Korea).

title: 20s

section: Events › 24 AD › Korea

year_label: 57 CE

text: Accession of King Talhae as Korean ruler of Silla.

title: 50s

section: Events › 57 AD › Korea

year_label: 66 CE

text: Baekje invades Silla in the Korean Peninsula, and captures Castle Ugok.

title: AD 66

year_label: 80 CE

text: King Pasa becomes ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: AD 80

text: Talhae of Silla, Korean ruler of Silla

title: AD 80

year_label: 85 CE

text: Baekje invades the outskirts of Silla in the Korean peninsula. The war continues until the peace treaty of 105.

title: AD 85

text: A peace treaty is signed between Baekje and Silla in the Korean peninsula (the war started in AD 85).

title: AD 105

text: King Jima succeeds Pasa as ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: AD 112

text: Pasa (the Great), Korean ruler of Silla

title: AD 112

text: Ilseong becomes ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: AD 134

text: Jima of Silla (or Jima Isageum), Korean ruler of Silla

title: AD 134

text: Adalla becomes ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: AD 154

text: Ilseong, Korean ruler of Silla

title: AD 154

text: King Chogo of Baekje wages war against Silla in the Korean peninsula.

title: AD 167

text: Beolhyu becomes king of Silla.

title: AD 184

section: Events › By place › Korea

text: Beolhyu, Korean ruler of Silla

title: AD 196

text: Jobun becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 230

text: Cheomhae becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 247

text: Michu of Silla ascends to the Korean throne of Silla, becoming the first ruler of the Long Kim line.

title: 261

text: Yurye becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 284

text: Girim becomes the king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 298

text: Haelhae becomes the king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 310

text: Naemul becomes king of the Silla dynasty (Three Kingdoms of Korea).

title: 356

text: Silseong becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 402

text: Asin of Baekje allies with Silla against Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo (Korea).

title: 403

text: Nulji becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 417

text: Jabi becomes the king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 458

text: Soji becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 479

text: Jangsu of Goguryeo invades Silla with the Mohe. Baekje and Gaya come to Silla's aid and defeats the Goguryeo troops.

title: 481

text: Jijeung becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: AD 500

text: Muryeong becomes king of Baekje (one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea). During his reign, the kingdom remains allied with Silla and expands its relationships with China and Japan.

title: 501

text: The island nation of Usan-guk is conquered by the Silla dynasty (Korea), under general Kim Isabu.

title: 512

text: Beopheung becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 514

section: Religion & Belief

text: Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, formally adopts Buddhism as a state religion (approximate date).

title: 527

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Silla conquers the city-state of Geumgwan Gaya (Korea) during the Three Kingdoms period.

title: 532

text: Jinheung becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 540

text: King Seong of Baekje attacks the kingdoms of Goguryeo and Silla. However, under a secret agreement, Silla troops attack the exhausted Baekje army, and take possession of the entire Han River valley.

title: 553

text: Baekje and the Gaya Confederacy wage war upon Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, but are defeated.

title: 554

text: The city-state Ara Gaya, a member of the Gaya confederacy, surrenders to Silla in the Korean peninsula.

title: 559

text: Silla, by order of king Jinheung, wages war upon Gaya (Three Kingdoms of Korea) and conquers it.

title: 562

text: Jinji becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 576

text: Jinpyeong becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 579

text: Kim Yu-shin, general of Silla (Korea) (d. 673)

title: 595

text: Muyeol, king of Silla (Korea) (d. 661)

title: 603

text: Seondeok is crowned queen of Silla (Korea).

title: 632

text: Queen Seondeok of Silla (Korea) builds an astronomical observatory near Gyeongju (Cheomseongdae), one of the oldest in East Asia.

title: 637

text: A stone tower astronomical observatory (named Cheomseongdae) at Gyeongju is constructed in Silla (South Korea) around this time.

title: 647

section: Events › By topic › Astronomy and science

text: Jindeok becomes queen of the Korean kingdom of Silla after the death of Queen Seondeok.

title: 647

text: Seondeok, queen of Silla (Korea)

title: 647

text: Muyeol becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 654

text: Jindeok of Silla, queen of Silla

title: 654

text: Baekje in southwestern Korea is conquered by an alliance of the Tang dynasty and Silla, led by general Su Dingfang and King Munmu of Silla. The Japanese envoys detained in Chang'an are paroled.

title: 660

text: King Munmu becomes the 30th ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 661

text: Battle of Baekgang: Korean Baekje forces and their Japanese allies are defeated in a naval battle, by a joint Silla–Tang coalition.

title: 663

text: A Goguryeo restoration movement, led by Geom Mojam in northern Korea, places Anseung on the throne. Geom is later murdered, and Anseung flees to neighboring Silla.

title: 670

text: Silla seizes control of the former Baekje capital of Sabi from the Tang Protectorate General to Pacify the East.

title: 671

text: August 18 – Kim Yu-shin, general of Silla (b. 595)

title: 673

text: The broad-based peninsular effort under Silla's leadership, to prevent Chinese domination of Korea, succeeds in forcing Chinese troops to withdraw into Manchuria, in northeast China.

title: 676

text: Sinmun becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

title: 681

text: Kim Daeseong, chief minister of Silla, orders the construction of the Bulguksa and Seokguram temples at Gyeongju (South Korea).

title: 751

text: Hyegong, king of Silla (Korea) (d. 780)

title: 758

text: Gyeongdeok, king of Silla (Korea)

title: 765

text: Heungdeok, king of Silla (Korea) (d. 836)

title: AD 777

text: March, days unknown - An earthquake in Silla with a magnitude of 6.7–7.0 on the Richter scale kills more than 100 people.

title: 779

text: King Hyegong of Silla is killed in a revolt, terminating the kingly line of succession of former ruler Muyeol, the architect of Silla's unification of the Korean Peninsula (see 668).

title: 780

text: Hyegong, king of Silla (Korea) (b. 758)

title: 780

text: Seondeok, king of Silla (Korea)

title: 785

text: Aejang, king of Silla (Korea) (d. 809)

title: 788

text: Wonseong, king of Silla (Korea)

title: 798

text: Kim Yang, viceroy of Silla (Korea) (d. 857)

title: AD 808

text: Aejang, king of Silla (b. 788)

title: 809

text: Heondeok, king of Silla (Korea)

title: 826

text: Heungdeok, king of Silla (b. 777)

title: 836

text: Chang Pogo, a powerful maritime hegemon of Silla, is assassinated by aristocratic elements at his garrison headquarters by Yŏm Chang (or 841).

title: 846

text: Gyeongmun, king of Silla (Korea) (d. 875)

title: 846

text: Kim Yang, viceroy of Silla (Korea) (b. 808)

title: 857

text: Heongang, king of Silla (approximate date)

title: 861

text: Jinseong, queen of Silla (approximate date)

title: 865

text: Gyeongmun, king of Silla (Korea) (b. 841)

title: 875

text: Hyogong, king of Silla (Korea) (d. 912)

title: 885

text: Heongang, king of Silla (Korea)

title: 886

text: Jeonggang, king of Silla (modern Korea)

title: 887

text: Former Silla general Kyŏn Hwŏn seizes the cities of Wansanju and Mujinju, taking over the territory of Baekje. He wins the support of the people, and declares himself king.

title: 892

text: Gyeongsun, king of Silla (Korea) (d. 978)

title: 897

text: Jinseong, queen of Silla (Korea)

title: 897

text: Hyogong, king of Silla (Korea) (b. 885)

title: 912

text: Sindeok, king of Silla (Korea)

title: 917

text: Gyeongmyeong, king of Silla (Korea)

title: 924

text: King Gyeongsun, the last ruler of Unified Silla, formally surrenders and abdicates in favour of Taejo of Goryeo. This completes Taejo's unification of Korea, bringing the Silla dynasty to an end.

title: 935

text: Gyeongsun, king of Silla (Korea) (b. 896)

title: 978


slug: simeon-i-of-bulgaria

label: Simeon I of Bulgaria

description: Bulgarian Tsar who ruled from 893 to 927

text: Simeon I, ruler (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire (or 865)

title: 864

text: Simeon I, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire (or 864)

title: 865

text: Vladimir, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, is dethroned by his father Boris I, with help from loyal boyars. He is blinded, and succeeded by his brother Simeon I, as prince of Bulgaria; the capital is moved from Pliska to Preslav. Simeon makes an alliance with the Pechenegs (or Patzinaks), a semi-nomad Turkic tribe from the Central Asian steppes.

title: 893

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Stylianos Zaoutzes, leading minister and basileopator, convinces Emperor Leo VI (the Wise) to move the Bulgarian market from Constantinople to Thessaloniki. This affects the commercial importance of Bulgarian trade. Simeon I, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, mobilizes his Bulgarian forces and invades Byzantine territory, ravaging the countryside.

title: 894

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Simeon I (the Great), ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, seeks refuge in the fortress of Drastar, while the Magyars reach the outskirts of the capital Preslav. Facing a difficult situation with war on two fronts, Simeon calls for a truce. Leo VI sends the diplomat Leo Choirosphaktes to Bulgaria, to negotiate the terms.

title: 895

text: Battle of Southern Buh: Bulgarian forces under Simeon I ('the Great') defeat the Magyars, near the banks of the Southern Buh river (modern Ukraine). The Magyars withdraw from Bulgaria, and are forced to migrate to new pastures. Led by Árpád, they settle in the Carpathian Basin (modern Hungary).

title: 896

text: Emperor Leo VI (the Wise) is forced to sign a peace treaty with Simeon I, ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire. All Slavic-inhabited lands of Macedonia and southern Albania are ceded to the Bulgarians.

title: 904

date: August

text: August – Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Simeon I (the Great), ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire, launches a campaign at the head of a large Bulgarian army, and reaches Constantinople unopposed. The Bulgarians besiege the Byzantine capital and construct ditches from the Golden Horn to the Golden Gate at the Marmara Sea.

title: 913

text: Spring – Empress Zoe Karbonopsina leads a palace coup at Constantinople and, with the support of the magistros John Eladas, overthrows Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos as regent over her son, Emperor Constantine VII. She allows Nicholas to remain as patriarch, repudiates the title granted to Simeon I of Bulgaria (see 913) and nullifies the marriage plans (with a Bulgarian princess) made for her son by Nicholas.

title: 914

date: August 20

text: August 20 – Battle of Achelous: A Byzantine expeditionary force (62,000 men) under General Leo Phokas (the Elder) is routed by the Bulgarians at the Achelous River near the fortress of Anchialos (modern Pomorie) on the Black Sea coast. Phokas flees to Mesembria (modern Nesebar) and escapes by boarding a ship. Tsar Simeon I (the Great) becomes de facto ruler of the whole Balkan Peninsula, except the well-protected Byzantine capital of Constantinople and the Peloponnese.

title: 917

date: September 7

text: September 7 – Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Tsar Simeon I, ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire, leads the burning of the Church of St. Mary of the Spring in Constantinople.

title: 924

section: Events › July—September

date: September 9

text: September 9 – After pillaging the suburbs of Constantinople, Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria meets with the Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos on the Golden Horn to arrange a truce, according to which Byzantium will pay the Bulgarians an annual tribute in exchangefor the return of some cities on the Black Sea coast.

title: 924

date: October

text: October — In Byzantium, John Mystikos, chief minister (paradynasteuon), is deposed by the Emperor Romanos I, flogged, and sent into exile in a monastery. He is replaced by the chamberlain (protovestiarios) Theophanes, who becomes the closest adviser of Emperor Romanos I. At this time the Byzantine Empire has been embroiled in a protracted and disastrous war with Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria.

title: 925

section: Events › By date › July – December

text: Battle of the Bosnian Highlands: Bulgarian forces under Duke Alogobotur are ambushed and defeated by a Croatian army of King Tomislav, in the mountainous area of Eastern Bosnia. Tsar Simeon I meets his first defeat against Croatia, but overruns the Western Balkans several times.

title: 926

date: May 27

text: May 27 – Simeon I, emperor (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire, dies of heart failure in his palace at Preslav after a 34-year reign. He is survived by four sons and succeeded by his second son Peter I, who signs a peace treaty with the Byzantine Empire. The peace is confirmed by Peter's marrying Maria Lekapene (the daughter of Christopher Lekapenos, son and co-emperor of Romanos I). The treaty restores the borders to those established by several treaties (thus recognizing Bulgaria's possession of Macedonia).

title: 927

title: 927


slug: simon-bolivar

label: Simón Bolívar

description: Venezuelan statesman and military officer (1783–1830)

date: December 2

text: December 2 – Coronation of Napoleon I: At the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Napoleon crowns himself as the first Emperor of the French in a thousand years. Witnessing this, Simón Bolívar dedicates himself to liberating Venezuela from Spanish rule.

title: 1804

section: Events › October–December

date: October 14

text: October 14 – After a ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela, the municipality gives Simón Bolívar the title of El Libertador.

title: 1813

date: October 30

text: October 30 – The independent government of Venezuela is established by Simón Bolívar.

title: 1817

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Battle of Boyacá: Simón Bolívar is victorious over the Royalist Army in Colombia. Colombia acquires its definitive independence from Spanish rule.

title: 1819

section: Events › July–September

date: December 17

text: December 17 – The Republic of Gran Colombia is formally established, with Simón Bolívar as its first president.

title: 1819

date: August 30

text: August 30 – At the Congress of Cúcuta, the Republic of Gran Colombia (a federation covering much of present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador) is established, with Simón Bolívar as the founding President, and Francisco de Paula Santander as vice president.

title: 1821

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Battle of Carabobo: Simón Bolívar wins Venezuela's independence from Spain.

title: 1821

section: Events › April–June

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: July 26

text: July 26 – Guayaquil Conference: José de San Martín arrives in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to meet Simón Bolívar.

title: 1822

date: July 27

text: July 27 – Guayaquil Conference: Simón Bolívar and General José de San Martín meet in Guayaquil, which Bolívar later annexes.

title: 1822

date: May 24

text: May 24 – Battle of Pichincha: Simón Bolívar secures the independence of Quito.

title: 1822

date: November 12

text: November 12 – The first Constitution of Peru is proclaimed, albeit it is almost immediately annulled by Simón Bolívar.

title: 1823

date: October 22

text: October 22 – Simón Bolívar writes to Paraguayan dictator José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia to release his friend the explorer Aimé Bonpland under threat of invasion. Rodríguez never responds to the letter.

title: 1823

date: September 10

text: September 10 – Simón Bolívar is named dictator of Peru.

title: 1823

date: February 10

text: February 10 – Simón Bolívar is proclaimed dictator of Peru.

title: 1824

section: Events › January–March

date: August 6

text: August 6 – Bolivia gains its independence from Spain as a republic, at the instigation of Simón Bolívar.

title: 1825

text: February 10 – Simón Bolívar gives up his title of dictator of Peru and takes the alternative title of El Libertador.

title: 1825

date: June 22

text: June 22 – The Pan-American Congress of Panama is opened in Panama City by Simon Bolivar as an attempt to unify the republics of the Americas that have recently declared independence from Spain, or to at least make a federation to agree on a common defense policy and create a common military. The Congress lasts for 23 days without an agreement.

title: 1826

date: August 27

text: August 27 – In South America, the Empire of Brazil and United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (modern-day Argentina) recognize the independence of Uruguay, causing the end of the Cisplatine War. Simón Bolívar declares himself dictator of Gran Colombia.

title: 1828

date: December 9

text: December 9 – An attempt to assassinate Gran Colombia's President Simon Bolívar fails while he is visiting Jamaica. Bolivar accepts a last-minute invitation to be elsewhere and his servant, hired by the Spanish royal government to kill Bolivar, kills Bolivar's paymaster by mistake.

title: 1828

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Gran Colombia–Peru War: Gran Colombia's President Simón Bolívar declares war on Peru.

title: 1828

date: March 18

text: March 18 – Simón Bolívar, President of Colombia (and former President of Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia), departs from the capital at Bogotá in order to help his ally, General José Antonio Páez, suppress an uprising near the Venezuelan border, but is sidetracked by another rebellion in Cartagena.

title: 1828