slug: thessaly

label: Thessaly

description: geographic region of Greece

section: Conflict & Security

text: An eclipse of the sun discourages the Greek army from following up the victory of Salamis. Xerxes returns to Persia leaving behind an army under Mardonius, which winters in Thessaly.

title: 480 BC

year_label: 479 BCE

text: The Persian commander Mardonius, now based in Thessaly, wins support from Argus and western Arcadia. He tries to win over Athens, but fails.

title: 479 BC

text: The Spartan co-ruler Leotychides and the Athenian leader Themistocles lead a fleet and army to reoccupy northern Greece and to punish the aristocratic family of the Aleuads for having aided the Persians. Leotychides is caught accepting a bribe during the operations in Thessaly.

title: 477 BC

text: Argos rises against Sparta. Athens supports Argos and Thessaly. The small force that is sent by Sparta to quell the uprising in Argos is defeated by a joint Athenian and Argos force at Oenoe. (Battle of Oenoe)

title: 460 BC

year_label: 424 BCE

text: After he frustrates the Athenian attack on Megara, Brasidas marches through Boeotia and Thessaly to Chalcidice at the head of 700 helots and 1000 Peloponnesian mercenaries to join the Macedonian king Perdiccas II. Refusing to be made a tool for the furtherance of Perdiccas' ambitions, Brasidas wins over the important cities of Acanthus, Stagirus, Amphipolis, and Torone as well as several minor towns. An attack on Eion is foiled by the arrival of Thucydides at the head of an Athenian squadron.

title: 424 BC

year_label: 402 BCE

section: Economy & Finance

text: Archelaus I, King of Macedonia, helps establish a pro-Macedonian oligarchy in Larissa in Thessaly.

title: 402 BC

year_label: 385 BCE

text: Jason of Pherae becomes tyrant of Thessaly.

title: 385 BC

year_label: 372 BCE

text: Jason of Pherae, the ruler of Thessaly, allies himself first with Athens and then with Macedon.

title: 372 BC

year_label: 370 BCE

text: The tagus of Thessaly, Jason of Pherae, dies, after making Thessaly a powerful force in Greek politics.

title: 370 BC

year_label: 369 BCE

text: Alexander of Pherae becomes tyrant of Thessaly following the death of his father. Alexander's tyranny causes the Aleuadae of Larissa to seek the help of Alexander II of Macedon. Alexander II successfully gains control of Larissa and several other cities but, betraying a promise he has made, put garrisons in them. This provokes a hostile reaction from Thebes. The Theban general Pelopidas drives the Macedonians from Thessaly.

title: 369 BC

year_label: 368 BCE

text: While the previous year's intervention by the Macedonians in Thessaly is successful, after the Macedonian troops withdraw, Alexander of Pherae treats his subjects as cruelly as before. So the Thessalians seek Thebes' support. Pelopidas is sent to their assistance, but is treacherously seized and imprisoned.

title: 368 BC

year_label: 364 BCE

text: The army of Thebes under their statesman and general, Pelopidas, defeats Alexander of Pherae in the Battle of Cynoscephalae in Thessaly, but Pelopidas is killed during the battle. As a result of his loss of this battle, Alexander is compelled by Thebes to acknowledge the freedom of the Thessalian cities, to limit his rule to Pherae, and to join the Boeotian League.

title: 364 BC

text: Pelopidas, Theban statesman (killed in the Battle of Cynoscephalae in Thessaly)

title: 364 BC

year_label: 358 BCE

text: Alexander of Pherae, Despot of Pherae in Thessaly is murdered by his wife's brother at her instigation.

title: 358 BC

text: Alexander of Pherae, Despot of Pherae in Thessaly, Greece

title: 358 BC

year_label: 356 BCE

text: Philip II of Macedon secretly offers the city of Amphipolis back to the Athenians in exchange for the valuable port of Pydna. Despite the Athenians being willing to comply, both Pydna and Potidaea are conquered by the Macedonians (along with other Athenian strongholds in Thessaly and Chalcidice) despite being defended by Athenian forces led by general and mercenary commander, Chares, as well as generals Iphicrates and Timotheus.

title: 356 BC

text: The Phocians capture and sack Delphi in whose territory the famous temple and oracle stand. A sacred war is declared against them by the other members of the Great Amphictyonic League. The Phocians, led by two capable generals, Philomelus and Onomarchus, use Delphi's riches to hire a mercenary army to carry the war into Boeotia and Thessaly.

title: 356 BC

text: Having blamed their defeats to Philip II in Thessaly and Chalcidice on his colleagues (Iphicrates and Timotheus), Chares is left in sole command of the Athenian fleet. Chares, in need of money for his war effort, frowns upon asking it from Athens, so, partly compelled by his mercenaries, he enters the service of the insurgent Achaemenid satrap of Phrygia Artabazus who rewards Chares very generously.

title: 356 BC

section: Events › By place › Persian Empire

year_label: 353 BCE

text: The Phocians threaten Thessaly to their north. Philip II of Macedon saw his opportunity to penetrate south.

title: 353 BC

year_label: 352 BCE

text: Philip then moves against Thrace. He makes a successful expedition into Thrace, gaining a firm ascendancy in the country, and brings away a son of Cersobleptes, the King of Thrace, as a hostage. Philip II's Thessalian victory earns him election as president (archon) of the Thessalian League.

title: 352 BC

year_label: 345 BCE

section: Religion & Belief

text: Supported by Thebes and Thessaly, Macedonia takes over Phocis' votes in the Amphictyonic League, a Greek religious organisation formed to support the greater temples of Apollo and Demeter. Despite some reluctance on the part of the Athenian leaders, Athens finally accepts Philip II's entry into the Council of the League. The Athenian statesman Demosthenes is among those who recommend this stance in his oration On the Peace.

title: 345 BC

year_label: 338 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Philip II advances into Peloponnesus. He defeats Thessaly, subdues Sparta and summons a Pan-Hellenic Congress at Corinth. This results in the establishment of Macedonian hegemony over central Greece (including Athens).

title: 338 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonia

year_label: 302 BCE

text: Antigonus' son Demetrius Poliorcetes attacks Cassander's forces in Thessaly. Cassander loses his possessions south of Thessaly to Demetrius. Antigonus and Demetrius crown their success by renewing the pan-Hellenic league. Ambassadors from all the Hellenic states (with the exception of Sparta, Messenia and Thessaly) meet at Corinth to elect Antigonus and Demetrius protectors of the new league.

title: 302 BC

year_label: 288 BCE

text: Athens revolts and Demetrius besieges the city. Pyrrhus takes Thessaly and the western half of Macedonia and, with the assistance of Ptolemy's fleet, relieves Athens from Demetrius' siege.

title: 288 BC

year_label: 281 BCE

text: Cineas, a Thessalian serving as chief adviser to King Pyrrhus of Epirus, after visiting Rome attempts, without success, to dissuade Pyrrhus from invading southern Italy.

title: 281 BC

year_label: 276 BCE

text: Antigonus II Gonatas consolidated his control over Macedon and Thessaly.

title: 276 BC

year_label: 274 BCE

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

year_label: 223 BCE

text: The king of Macedonia, Antigonus III Doson, restores Macedonian influence in the Peloponnese for the first time in almost two decades. After signing alliances with the Achaeans, Boeotians, Thessalians and the Acarnanians, Antigonus invades the Peloponnese and drives the Spartans out of Argos, taking Orchomenus and Mantineia in the process.

title: 223 BC

year_label: 192 BCE

text: Seleucid forces under their king, Antiochus III, invade Greece at the invitation of the Aetolian League, who are revolting against the Romans. The Aetolians appoint him commander in chief of their league. Antiochus lands in Demetrias, Thessaly with only 10,500 men and occupies Euboea. However, he finds little support for his cause in central Greece.

title: 192 BC

year_label: 171 BCE

text: Thanks to the efforts of Eumenes II of Pergamum while in Rome, the Romans declare war on Macedonia and send troops to Thessaly, thus beginning the Third Macedonian War. In the resulting Battle of Callicinus the Macedonians, led by their king, Perseus, are victorious over a Roman force led by consul Publius Licinius Crassus.

title: 171 BC

year_label: 170 BCE

text: In Thessaly, King Perseus of Macedon repulses a Roman army which is commanded by Aulus Hostilius Mancinus. Meanwhile, the Thracian city of Abdera is sacked by Roman and Pergamese troops.

title: 170 BC

year_label: 168 BCE

text: The Roman general, Lucius Aemilius Paulus, is elected consul and arrives in Thessaly to lead the Roman army which has been trapped by Perseus' forces.

title: 168 BC

section: Events › By place › Albania

year_label: 48 BCE

text: July 10 – Battle of Dyrrhachium: Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia; he retreats to Thessaly.

title: 48 BC

text: Emperor Alexander Severus decides that Thessaly should be a separate province from Macedonia. He increases taxes, in order to maintain the war against the Sassanids, and strengthen the defenses of the Roman Empire.

title: 230

text: The Slavs under Chatzon attack in longboats along the coasts of Thessaly, western Anatolia, and various Greek islands. They besiege the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki in a combined land and sea attack. The Slavs with their families encamp before the city walls.

title: 615

text: A Byzantine expeditionary force under Staurakios, chief minister (logothete), begins a campaign against the communities (Sclaviniae) of Greece. Setting out from Constantinople, the imperial army follows the Thracian coast into Macedonia, and then south into Thessaly, Central Greece and the Peloponnese. Staurakios restores a measure of Byzantine authority over these areas, and collects booty and tribute from the locals.

title: 783

text: Spring – The Normans under Duke Robert Guiscard take Dyrrhachium (modern-day Durrës) in Illyria and advance inland, capturing most of Macedonia and Thessaly. Robert is forced to leave Greece to deal with an uprising in Italy. He leaves his son Bohemond in charge of the army, who lays siege to the city of Larissa. Emperor Alexios I Komnenos mobilizes a new army, and with the support of 7,000 Seljuk Turks he clears Thessaly from the Normans.

title: 1082

text: March 15 – The Battle of Halmyros is fought in Greece as the mercenaries of the Catalan Company defeat the Latin forces (some 15,000 men), and their allies under Walter V at Halmyros (southern Thessaly). After the battle, they take control of the Duchy of Athens. Later, Catalan forces peacefully occupy all of Attica and Boeotia, which they rule as part of Greece (until the 1380s).

title: 1311

text: Stefan the Mighty, Emperor of Serbia, conquers Thessaly and Epirus.

title: 1348

text: The Ottomans conquer Thessaly (now eastern Greece) and begin an eight-year siege of Constantinople, in the Byzantine Empire. In the same year, they begin building the Anadoluhisarı fortress to defend themselves during the siege.

title: 1394

text: May 22 – Byzantine–Ottoman Wars: After a two-day battle, Turakhan Beg, Ottoman governor of Thessaly, breaks through the Hexamilion wall, and ravages the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece.

title: 1423

text: Byzantine–Ottoman Wars: The Ottoman governor of Thessaly Turahan Bey breaks through the Hexamilion wall for the second time, and ravages the Peloponnese Peninsula.

title: 1431

text: December 10 – After hesitating for several weeks, Sultan Murad II, of the Ottoman Empire, destroys the Hexamilion wall, in an assault that includes cannons. Murad and the Ottoman governor of Thessaly, Turakhan Beg, ravage the Peloponnese Peninsula at will, with the Sultan devastating the northern shore, while Glarentza and Turakhan raid in the interior. The Despotate of the Morea is turned into an Ottoman vassal state.

title: 1446

text: October – Byzantine–Ottoman Wars: The Ottoman governor of Thessaly, Turakhan Beg, breaks through the Hexamilion wall for the fourth time, and ravages the Peloponnese Peninsula to prevent the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea from assisting Constantinople, during the final Ottoman siege of the imperial capital.

title: 1452

text: February 28 – A train crash in Thessaly, Greece, kills 57 people and injures dozens. The crash leads to nationwide protests and strikes against the condition of Greek railways and their mismanagement.

title: 2023


slug: theuderic-ii

label: Theuderic II

description: King of Burgundy

section: Births

text: Theuderic II, king of Austrasia (d. 613)

title: 587

section: Deaths

date: October

text: October – King Childebert II dies; his mother Brunhilda attempts to rule Austrasia and Burgundy, as regent for her grandsons. He is succeeded by his two young sons, Theudebert II and Theuderic II.

title: 595

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Queen Fredegund defeats her old rival Brunhilda of Austrasia, who supports the claims of her grandsons Theudebert II and Theuderic II to the Frankish throne, against those of Fredegund's son Chlothar II. She dies a few months later at Paris and is buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis.

title: 597

text: King Chlothar II of Neustria is defeated by his nephews, Theudebert II and Theuderic II, at Dormelles (approximate date).

title: 600

section: Crime & Justice

text: Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia conspires to have Berthoald, Mayor of the Palace, assassinated. She convinces King Theuderic II to send him to inspect the royal villae along the Seine. Brunhilda then has the noblemen who actually carried out the murder arrested and killed.

title: 604

text: Queen Brunhilda pressures her grandson Theuderic II to go to war against his brother, Theudebert II of Austrasia. She puts Protadius, Mayor of the Palace, in charge of the Burgundian army. At the palace of Quierzy (Picardy), Theuderic assembles his army. The soldiers under Uncelen, Duke of Alemannia, refuse to fight against their countrymen, and declare that the king orders Protadius' death. He is killed by the Frankish warriors, and Theuderic is forced to sign a peace treaty.

title: 606

text: Visigoths, Austrasians, Neustrians and Lombards form an alliance against King Theuderic II of Burgundy, whose grandmother and sister have murdered Theuderic's wife Ermenberga, daughter of Witteric, king of the Visigoths. Fighting takes place around Narbonne, but little is known of the details or outcome (approximate date).

title: 607

text: King Theuderic II loses Alsace, Champagne and Thurgau to his elder brother Theudebert II of Austrasia. His Burgundian army is defeated east of the Jura Mountains against the Alemanni.

title: 610

text: King Theudebert II is defeated by his brother Theuderic II at Toul (northeastern France). He is captured in battle and, after having his royal paraphernalia taken, is handed over to his grandmother Brunhilda. He is put in a monastery, and assassinated with his son Merovech. Theuderic, age 25, becomes sole ruler of Austrasia and Burgundy.

title: 612

text: Theuderic II, king of Austrasia

title: 613

text: King Theuderic II dies of dysentery in the Austrasian capital of Metz, while preparing a campaign against his longtime enemy, Chlothar II. His grandmother Brunhilda attempts to establish a third regency for her illegitimate great-grandson Sigebert II.

title: 613


slug: theuderic-iii

label: Theuderic III

description: King of the Franks

text: Theuderic III, king of the Franks (d. 691)

title: 654

text: Spring – King Chlothar III of Neustria and Burgundy dies after a reign of 16 years, in which he has been a puppet — roi fainéant — of the Neustrian mayor of the palace, Ebroin. He is buried in the Basilica of St. Denis, and succeeded by his brother Theuderic III.

title: 673

text: Theuderic III retakes the throne of his elder brother Childeric II. He inherits the Frankish kingdoms of Neustria and Burgundy.

title: 675

text: Childebert III, Merovingian Frankish king and son of Theuderic III

title: 678

date: December 23

text: December 23 – King Dagobert II is murdered in a hunting accident, near Stenay-sur-Meuse (Ardennes), probably on orders from Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace of Austrasia. He is succeeded by Theuderic III, who becomes sole ruler of the Frankish Kingdom.

title: AD 679

text: Waratton, mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy, dies and is succeeded by his son-in-law Berchar. He advises King Theuderic III to break the peace treaty with Pepin of Herstal, and declares war on Austrasia.

title: 686

text: Battle of Tertry: King Theuderic III of Neustria is defeated by Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, near Péronne (modern France), at the River Somme. Theuderic withdraws to Paris and is forced to sign a peace treaty. Pepin becomes "de facto" ruler of the Frankish Kingdom, and begins calling himself Duke of the Franks. He establishes a base for the future rise of the Pippinids and the Carolingians. Pepin appoints Nordebert as Duke of Burgundy, and puts him in charge of Neustria and Burgundy (as a sort of regent).

title: 687

text: Theuderic III, king of the Franks (b. 654)

title: 691

text: King Theuderic III dies and is succeeded by his son Clovis IV, age 9, as sole ruler of the Franks. He becomes a puppet—a roi fainéant—of his uncle Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia.

title: 691

text: Childebert III succeeds Clovis IV as sole king of the Franks. He is the son of Theuderic III and becomes a puppet—a roi fainéant—of Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia.

title: 695

text: Prüm Abbey is founded by Bertrada, daughter of former king Theuderic III, and her son Charibert, count of Laon (approximate date).

title: 721

section: Events › By topic › Religion


slug: thirteen-colonies

label: Thirteen Colonies

description: group of 13 North American colonies of Great Britain from the founding of Georgia until American Independence (1732–1776)

section: Health & Medicine

date: January 24

text: January 24 – The first Jewish doctor in the Thirteen Colonies of America, Jacob Lumbrozo, arrives in Maryland.

title: 1656

section: Events › January–March

date: July 27

text: July 27 – The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act, requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports.

title: 1663

section: Events › July–September

date: July 2

text: July 2 – Major John Talcott and his troops begin sweeping Connecticut and Rhode Island, capturing large numbers of Native Americans from Algonquian tribes and exporting them out of the English colonies as slaves.

title: 1676

section: Culture & Society

date: April 24

text: April 24 – The first regular newspaper in the Thirteen Colonies of British North America, The Boston News-Letter, is published.

title: 1704

section: Events › April–June

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The first chocolate factory in the Thirteen Colonies is established by Dr. James Baker at Dorchester, Massachusetts.

title: 1765

section: Events › Date unknown

date: March 22

text: March 22 – Royal assent is given to the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765, historically referred to as the Stamp Act, imposing the first direct tax levied from Great Britain on the thirteen American colonies, effective November 1. The revenue measure (which requires the purchase of a stamp to be affixed for validation of all legal documents, but also to licensed newspapers and even playing cards and dice) is made to help defray the costs for British military operations in North America, including the French and Indian War.

title: 1765

date: November 1

text: November 1 – The Stamp Act goes into effect in the thirteen American colonies.

title: 1765

section: Events › July–December

date: February 11

text: February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and sent to the other Thirteen Colonies. Refusal to revoke the letter will result in dissolution of the Massachusetts Assembly, and (from October) incur the institution of martial law to prevent civil unrest.

title: 1768

date: June 10

text: June 10 – The crisis of 1772 is triggered when, following the flight of their partner Alexander Fordyce to France, the London banking house of Neal, James, Fordyce and Down (which has been speculating in East India Company stock) suspends payment. The resultant panic causes other banks to fail, extends to Scotland, Amsterdam and the Thirteen Colonies and threatens the East India Company with bankruptcy.

title: 1772

date: December 16

text: December 16 – Boston Tea Party: A group of American colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, steal aboard ships of the East India Company and dump their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor, in protest against British tax policies.

title: 1773

section: Events › October–December

date: September 25

text: September 25 – American Revolution: Siege of Fort St. Jean – Battle of Longue-Pointe: Thirteen Colonies revolutionary forces under Maj. Ethan Allen attack Montreal in Quebec, commanded by British General Guy Carleton. Allen's forces are defeated, and Allen himself is captured and held on British ships until he is released.

title: 1775

date: January 10

text: January 10 – American Revolution: Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet Common Sense, arguing for independence from British rule in the Thirteen Colonies.

title: 1776

section: Events › January–February

date: April 7

text: April 7 – American pioneers establish the town of Marietta (in modern-day Ohio), the first permanent American settlement outside the original Thirteen Colonies.

title: 1788

date: May 29

text: May 29 – Rhode Island ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the last of the 13 original states to do so.

title: 1790


slug: thirty-years-war

label: Thirty Years' War

description: war principally fought in Central Europe from 1618 to 1648

date: March 10

text: March 10 – Tommaso Caracciolo, Field Marshal of Spanish forces in the Thirty Years' War (d. 1631)

title: 1572

date: June 2

text: June 2 – Rudolf Christian, Count of East Frisia, ruler of East Frisia in the early years of the Thirty Years' War (d. 1628)

title: 1602

section: Births › April–June

section: Conflict & Security

date: May 23

text: May 23 – The Second Defenestration of Prague – Protestant noblemen hold a mock trial, and throw two direct representatives of Ferdinand II of Germany (Imperial Governors) and their scribe out of a window into a pile of manure, exacerbating a low-key rebellion into the Bohemian Revolt (1618–1621), precipitating the Thirty Years' War into armed conflict, and further polarizing Europe on religious grounds.

title: 1618

date: September 19

text: September 19 – The Siege of Pilsen begins as the first major battle of the Thirty Years' War, as Bohemian Protestants lay siege to the Bohemian Catholic city and lasts for more than two months.

title: 1618

date: August 5

text: August 5 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Věstonice – Bohemian forces defeat the Austrians.

title: 1619

text: June 10 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Sablat: Protestant forces are defeated.

title: 1619

date: November 23

text: November 23 – Thirty Years' War– Battle of Humenné: Polish Lisowczycy troops assist the Holy Roman Emperor by defeating a Transylvanian force, forcing Gabor Bethlen to raise his siege of Vienna.

title: 1619

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: October 8

text: October 8 – Thirty Years' War – The Treaty of Munich is signed by Ferdinand II and Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria.

title: 1619

text: The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) continues (principally on the territory of modern-day Germany).

title: 1620

section: Events › Ongoing

date: November 8

text: November 8 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of White Mountain – Catholic Habsburg forces are victorious over Bohemian rebels two hours from Prague.

title: 1620

date: December 31

text: December 31 – Thirty Years' War: The Peace of Nikolsburg is signed between Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and Gabor Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania. Bethlen agrees to renounce his claims to Hungary. In return Bethlen receives several counties and lands along the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire, and Moravia is granted religious freedom.

title: 1621

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: June 21

text: June 21 – Thirty Years' War: Twenty-seven Czech lords are executed on the Old Town Square in Prague, as a consequence of the Battle of White Mountain.

title: 1621

date: April 27

text: April 27 – Thirty Years' War – Skirmish at Mingolsheim: Protestant forces under Mansfeld and Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach defeat the Imperial forces under Tilly. The Protestants win, but afterwards Tilly links up with a Spanish army under Gonzalo de Córdoba, greatly increasing his strength.

title: 1622

date: August 29

text: August 29 – Thirty Years' War: While on their way to relieve the Siege of Bergen-op-Zoom in the Netherlands, the army of Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick is blocked by a Spanish army, led by Gonzalo de Córdoba. In the Battle of Fleurus, Cordoba manages to fight off the Protestant assault. The next day, Cordoba surprises the retreating Protestant army with his cavalry, resulting in the destruction of most of the Protestant army.

title: 1622

date: July 13

text: July 13 – Thirty Years' War: After Mansfeld fails to relieve the siege of Heidelberg, Frederick V of the Palatinate cancels Mansfeld's contract and disbands his army. The unemployed army of Mansfeld and Christian the Younger of Brunswick is subsequently hired by the Dutch.

title: 1622

date: June 20

text: June 20 – Thirty Years' War: Imperial forces under Tilly attempt to prevent Christian the Younger of Brunswick from moving his army across the Main River, to link up with Mansfeld. At the Battle of Höchst, Tilly manages to inflict considerable casualties on the Protestant forces, as well as seizing Brunswick's baggage train. Nonetheless, the bulk of Brunswick's forces manage to unite with Mansfeld.

title: 1622

date: May 6

text: May 6 – Thirty Years' War: While waiting for the Protestant forces of Christian the Younger of Brunswick to join them, Mansfeld and Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach split up their forces as a diversion for the Imperial army of Tilly. Their plan fails, as Tilly manages to cut off Georg Friedrich at Wimpfen. At the ensuing Battle of Wimpfen, Georg Friedrich's army is almost completely destroyed.

title: 1622

text: September 19 – Thirty Years' War: Heidelberg, the capital of the Electorate of the Palatinate, is taken by the Imperial army of Tilly' after a three-month siege.

title: 1622

date: August 6

text: August 6 – Thirty Years' War: Pursued by the army of the Catholic League (German) led by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, the army of the Protestant Electoral Palatinate led by Christian the Younger of Brunswick attempts to flee to the Dutch Republic. Tilly's army catches Brunswick five miles from the border. In the resulting Battle of Stadtlohn, Christian's army is destroyed. This brings the Palatinate campaign to an end.

title: 1623

date: February 25

text: February 25 – Thirty Years' War: Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria becomes Elector of the Electorate of the Palatinate.

title: 1623

date: December 9

text: December 9 – Thirty Years' War: The Netherlands and England sign the Treaty of The Hague, a military peace treaty for providing economical aid to King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway, during his military campaigns in Germany.

title: 1625

date: April 25

text: April 25 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Dessau Bridge – Albrecht von Wallenstein defeats Ernst von Mansfelds army.

title: 1626

date: August 27

text: August 27 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Lutter – Tilly defeats King Christian IV of Denmark's army.

title: 1626

date: November 20

text: November 20 – Thirty Years' War: Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, signs the Capitulation of Franzburg, in which Pomerania is forced to pay for the Imperial army that Wallenstein sent to occupy it. Nonetheless, despite the treaty, Pomerania is devastated by the Imperial troops.

title: 1627

date: August 4

text: August 4 – Thirty Years' War: With the help of Danish and Swedish reinforcements, Stralsund is able to resist Wallenstein's siege until the landing of a Danish army, led by Christian IV of Denmark, forces Wallenstein to raise the siege, and move his army to confront the new threat.

title: 1628

date: May 13

text: May 13 – Thirty Years' War: As a result of its refusal to accept the capitulation of Franzburg, the siege of Stralsund is begun by Field Marshals Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg and Wallenstein's of the Holy Roman Imperial Army, and lasts until August 4.

title: 1628

date: September 2

text: September 2 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Wolgast: Wallenstein defeats Christian IV of Denmark's army.

title: 1628

date: May 22

text: May 22 – Thirty Years' War: Christian IV of Denmark and Albrecht von Wallenstein sign the Treaty of Lübeck, ending Denmark's involvement in the Thirty Years' War.

title: 1629

text: May 29 – Thirty Years' War: Prince Frederick of Denmark, the Lutheran administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, is expelled by the Catholic League as a result of the Edict of Restitution. He is replaced by the staunch catholic Francis of Wartenberg.

title: 1629

date: August 13

text: August 13 – Thirty Years' War: As a result of heavy pressure from the Prince-electors, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, dismisses general Albrecht von Wallenstein from command of the Imperial Army.

title: 1630

date: July 9

text: July 9 – Thirty Years' War: Stettin is taken by Swedish forces.

title: 1630

date: September 4

text: September 4 – Thirty Years' War: the Treaty of Stettin is signed by Sweden and the Duchy of Pomerania, forming a close alliance between them, as well as giving Sweden full military control over Pomerania.

title: 1630

text: April 13 – Thirty Years' War: Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden defeats an imperial garrison at the city of Frankfurt an der Oder.

title: 1631

text: August – Thirty Years' War: Running out of supplies, Tilly is forced to send his army into the Electorate of Saxony in order to secure supplies, as well as to force a reaction from John George, Elector of Saxony and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.

title: 1631

text: December 23 – Thirty Years' War: Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden takes the city of Mainz, without any resistance.

title: 1631

text: December 5 – Tommaso Caracciolo, Field Marshal of Spanish forces in the Thirty Years' War (b. 1572)

title: 1631

text: January 23 – Thirty Years' War: Sweden and France sign the Treaty of Bärwalde, a military alliance in which France provides funds for the Swedish army invading northern Germany.

title: 1631

text: July 22 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Werben: Tilly defeats Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, but not decisively.

title: 1631

text: May 20 – Thirty Years' War: After a two-month siege, the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor, under the command of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly sacks the Protestant German city of Magdeburg, and massacres over 20,000 inhabitants. Shocked by the massacre, many Protestant states in the Holy Roman Empire decide to ally with Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and support his ongoing invasion.

title: 1631

text: May 30 – Thirty Years' War: Bavaria and France sign the Treaty of Fontainebleau, forming a secret alliance; however, this does not last long.

title: 1631

text: October 10 – Thirty Years' War: A Saxon army takes over Prague.

title: 1631

text: September 11 – Thirty Years' War: As a result of Tilly's invasion, John George, Elector of Saxony, who has until now stayed neutral, allies with Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, in order to drive the Imperial army out of Saxony.

title: 1631

text: September 17 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Breitenfeld: Tilly's Holy Roman Imperial army is decisively defeated by Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden, shattering the imperial army of the Holy Roman Empire, and marking the first significant victory for the Protestants in the war.

title: 1631

text: April 15 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Rain – Gustavus Adolphus defeats Tilly's Catholic League armies for the second time within a year; Tilly is severely wounded during the battle and dies on April 30.

title: 1632

text: March – Thirty Years' War: Gustavus Adolphus invades Bavaria with his army.

title: 1632

text: March 21 – Thirty Years' War: King Gustavus Adolphus makes a triumphant entry into Nuremberg, where he is welcomed by the populace and pledges to protect the cause of Protestantism.

title: 1632

text: March 9 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Bamberg – Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, commander of the Catholic League, defeats the Swedish army under Gustav Horn, and recaptures the town of Bamberg.

title: 1632

text: May 17 – Thirty Years' War: Munich, capital of Bavaria, is captured by the Swedish army.

title: 1632

text: September 9 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of the Alte Veste – Besieged by Wallenstein at Nuremberg, Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus attempts to break the siege, but is defeated.

title: 1632

text: July 8 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Oldendorf – Sweden defeats the Holy Roman Empire near Hessisch Oldendorf.

title: 1633

text: May 30 – Thirty Years' War – The Peace of Prague is signed, which ends the German civil war aspect of the conflict.

title: 1635

text: Thirty Years' War: French intervention starts.

title: 1636

text: June 22 – The Battle of Tornavento is fought in north-west Italy in the course of the Thirty Years' War, as France and Savoy respond to an attack by Spain. While the battle is a stalemate, the city of Castano Primo is heavily damaged.

title: 1636

text: October 4 (September 24 Old Style) – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Wittstock: A Swedish-allied army defeats a combined Imperial-Saxon army.

title: 1636

text: July 16 – Thirty Years' War: The siege of Saint-Omer ends after almost two months as the French-held Flemish city falls after being besieged by Spanish and German troops.

title: 1638

text: July 28 – Thirty Years' War: Swedish Army Field Marshal Johan Banér begins a destructive campaign against the Duchy of Pomerania, held by the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1638

text: March 3 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Rheinfelden – A mercenary army under Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, fighting for France, defeats forces of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1638

text: March 5 – Thirty Years' War: The Treaty of Hamburg is signed by France and Sweden, providing the latter with funds.

title: 1638

text: April 14 – In the Battle of Chemnitz, Swedish forces under Johan Banér inflict a crushing defeat on the army of the Holy Roman Empire, prolonging the Thirty Years' War and allowing the Swedes to occupy Pirna and advance into Bohemia.

title: 1639

text: June 2 – Bavarian and Spanish troops capture the town of Bad Kreuznach during the Thirty Years' War, 17 months after it had been taken in a French and Saxon attack.

title: 1641

text: May 19 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Rocroi: The French defeat the Spanish at Rocroi in France.

title: 1643

text: November 24 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Tuttlingen – France is defeated by forces of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1643

text: March 5 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Jankau: The armies of Sweden decisively defeat the forces of the Holy Roman Empire, in one of the bloodiest battles of the war, in southern Bohemia, some 50 kilometres (31 mi) southeast of Prague.

title: 1645

text: May 2 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Herbsthausen (or Mergentheim): The Bavarian army, led by Franz von Mercy, catches French forces led by Marshal Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne unawares, and heavily defeats them.

title: 1645

text: March 14 – Thirty Years' War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.

title: 1647

text: July 19 – The last major battle of the Thirty Years' War, the Battle of Prague ends in a Swedish victory after three days of fighting over the army of Bohemia. The troops loot the Prague Castle and steal many of Bohemia's most valuable artifacts.

title: 1648


slug: thomas-becket

label: Thomas Becket

description: English archbishop and martyr, 1119/1120–1170

section: Religion & Belief

text: Spring – King Henry II has the Palace of Westminster (which is badly damaged by Stephen's supporters during The Anarchy) repaired. Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, is given the task of repairing the buildings.

title: 1155

section: Events › By place › England

section: Deaths

date: April 18

text: April 18 – Theobald of Bec, archbishop of Canterbury in England dies after an illness. King Henry II is informed and expresses the wish to have his friend Thomas Becket elected as the successor.

title: 1161

date: June 3

text: June 3 – King Henry II has his chancellor Thomas Becket elected to succeed the late Theobald of Bec as archbishop of Canterbury. He accepts the pallium sent by Pope Alexander III.

title: 1162

date: November 2

text: November 2 – Thomas Becket, having contended with Henry II over the power of secular courts, is found guilty of contempt of court, and exiled to France.

title: 1164

date: December 29

text: December 29 – Thomas Becket is assassinated by four knights (who believe themselves to be carrying out Henry II's wishes) in Canterbury Cathedral, after his refusal to be arrested for breaking his agreement with Henry II.

title: 1170

text: December 29 – Thomas Becket, English archbishop

title: 1170

date: June 14

text: June 14 – King Henry II has his 15-year-old son, Henry the Young King, crowned by Roger, Archbishop of York, as junior king and heir to the English throne. The coronation drives Pope Alexander III to allow the exiled Thomas Becket (whose privilege as Archbishop of Canterbury to crown English monarchs has been infringed) to lay an interdict on England as punishment, and this threat forces Henry to negotiate with Becket. Sir William Marshal is appointed tutor-in-arms to Henry the Young King.

title: 1170

date: May 21

text: May 21 – Henry II of England does penance at Avranches Cathedral for the murder of Thomas Becket.

title: 1172

date: February 21

text: February 21 – Thomas Becket is canonized by Pope Alexander III. His tomb in Canterbury Cathedral becomes a shrine and a popular pilgrimage destination.

title: 1173

date: July 7

text: July 7 – Henry II does penance at Canterbury for the murder of Thomas Becket (see 1170), even though indirect. He is whipped by the monks as punishment.

title: 1174

text: Arbroath Abbey located in the Scottish town of Arbroath, is consecrated and dedicated to St. Thomas Becket.

title: 1197


slug: thomas-cranmer

label: Thomas Cranmer

description: leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury

section: Births

date: July 2

text: July 2 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1556)

title: 1489

date: March 30

text: March 30 – Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

title: 1533

date: May 14

text: May 14 – Thomas Cranmer declares Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn to be null and void.

title: 1536

date: May 27

text: May 27 – A joint delegation of Lutherans from various German cities arrives in England for meetings with King Henry VIII; Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury; and Thomas Cromwell, the former Chief Minister of England.

title: 1538

section: Crime & Justice

date: November 23

text: November 23 – Catherine Howard, the Queen consort of England, is arrested after 16 days of questioning by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, reveals that she had also been conducting an adulterous affair with Francis Dereham while married to King Henry VIII. She is imprisoned at Syon Abbey in Middlesex near London.

title: 1541

date: March 7

text: March 7 – Five Roman Catholic priests— John Larke, John Ireland, the vicar of Eltham and Robert Singleton are executed at Tyburn, outside of London, in England after being convicted of participating in the Prebendaries' Plot to remove Thomas Cranmer, the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury.

title: 1544

date: July 21

text: July 21 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, delivers his most important sermon, speaking at St Paul's Cathedral to defend the Church of England's reasons for uniformly requiring the use of The Book of Common Prayer.

title: 1549

date: November 24

text: November 24 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and top cleric of the Church of England, delivers the proposed Forty-two Articles to the Privy Council of King Edward VI.

title: 1552

date: November 13

text: November 13 – Thomas Cranmer is officially removed from office as the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury by order of Pope Paul IV and Queen Mary I.

title: 1555

date: March 21

text: March 21 – In Oxford, Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, is burned at the stake for treason for his role in the English Reformation as chief bishop of the Anglican Church.

title: 1556


slug: thomas-edison

label: Thomas Edison

description: American inventor and businessman (1847–1931)

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: October 28

text: October 28 – Thomas Edison applies for his first patent, the electric vote recorder.

title: 1868

section: Events › October

date: August 8

text: August 8 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.

title: 1876

section: Events › August

section: Science & Discovery

date: November 21

text: November 21 – Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record sound, considered his first great invention. Edison demonstrates the device for the first time on November 29.

title: 1877

section: Events › November

date: February 19

text: February 19 – The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.

title: 1878

section: Events › February

date: December 31

text: December 31 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

title: 1879

section: Events › December

date: November 4

text: November 4 – Thomas Edison applies for a patent for his invention of the incandescent light bulb (U.S. Patent 223,898 will be granted on January 27, 1880).

title: 1879

date: October 22

text: October 22 – Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests his first practical electric light bulb (it lasts hours before burning out).

title: 1879

date: February 24

text: February 24 – The SS Columbia, which will be the first outside usage of Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb, is launched at the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works of John Roach & Sons in Chester, Pennsylvania.

title: 1880

date: January 27

text: January 27 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the incandescent light bulb. Edison filed for a US patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires." Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament, including using "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways," Edison and his team later discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could last more than 1200 hours.

title: 1880

section: Events › January

date: May 13

text: May 13 – In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.

title: 1880

section: Events › May

date: January 25

text: January 25 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.

title: 1881

date: September 4

text: September 4 – Thomas Edison flips the switch to the first commercial electrical power plant in the United States, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan. This is considered by many as the day that begins the electrical age.

title: 1882

section: Events › September

date: January 19

text: January 19 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires begins service in Roselle, New Jersey, United States, installed by Thomas Edison.

title: 1883

date: February 27

text: February 27 – In West Orange, New Jersey, Thomas Edison meets with Eadweard Muybridge, who proposes a scheme for sound film.

title: 1888

date: October 21

text: October 21 – Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder is recorded by Adelbert Theodor Wangemann, a German associate of Thomas Edison, on wax cylinders via phonograph. The two surviving wax cylinders that are produced make von Moltke, who was born in 1800, the earliest-living human whose voice has been recorded, and the only person born in the 18th century whose voice will be heard into the 21st.

title: 1889

date: May 20

text: May 20 – Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope is first displayed at Edison's Laboratory, for a convention of the National Federation of Women's Clubs.

title: 1891

date: August 9

text: August 9 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.

title: 1892

date: February 1

text: February 1 – Thomas Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio in West Orange, New Jersey.

title: 1893

date: August 31

text: August 31 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the Kinetoscope, a precursor of the movie projector.

title: 1897

date: March 10

text: March 10 – A Circuit Court decision in the United States ends Thomas Edison's monopoly on 35 mm movie film technology.

title: 1902

section: Events › March

date: March 3

text: March 3 – Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison's cylinder.

title: 1904


slug: thomas-jefferson

label: Thomas Jefferson

description: Founding Father, U.S. president from 1801 to 1809 (1743–1826)

date: December 25

text: December 25 – Filippo Mazzei, Italian physician, friend of Thomas Jefferson (d. 1816)

title: 1730

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: February 1 – Thomas Jefferson's home at Shadwell, Virginia is destroyed by fire, along with most of his books.

title: 1770

section: Events › January– March

date: September 6

text: September 6 – Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, wife of Thomas Jefferson (b. 1748)

title: 1782

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: April 26

text: April 26 – John Adams is appointed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Thomas Jefferson as ambassador to France.

title: 1785

section: Events › April–June

text: March 10 – Thomas Jefferson is appointed the new U.S. Minister to France, and Benjamin Franklin's request for permission to return home is accepted.

title: 1785

section: Events › January–March

text: Thomas Jefferson returns from Europe, bringing the first macaroni machine to the United States.

title: 1789

section: Events › Date unknown

date: March 21

text: March 21 – Thomas Jefferson reports to President George Washington in New York, as the new United States Secretary of State.

title: 1790

date: November 3

text: November 3 – John Adams defeats Thomas Jefferson, in the 1796 U.S. presidential election.

title: 1796

section: Events › October–December

date: December 3

text: December 3 – The 1800 United States presidential election: The Electoral College casts votes for president and Vice President that result in a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, requiring a contingent election which will select Jefferson as president.

title: 1800

date: February 17

text: February 17 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved, when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.

title: 1801

text: December 3 – Thomas Jefferson defeats Charles C. Pinckney in the United States presidential election.

title: 1804

date: March 19

text: March 19 – Filippo Mazzei, Italian physician, friend of Thomas Jefferson (b. 1730)

title: 1816

section: Deaths › January–June

section: Culture & Society

text: January 25 – Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia.

title: 1819

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 4

text: July 4 – Former U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both die on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.

title: 1826

section: Events › July–September

text: July 4 – Thomas Jefferson, 83, 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743), at 12:50 p.m. at his home near Charlottesville, Virginia.

title: 1826

section: Deaths › July–December

section: Economy & Finance

date: April 13

text: April 13 – The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.

title: 1976

section: Events › April


slug: thomas-more

label: Thomas More

description: English statesman, lawyer and philosopher (1478–1535)

section: Births

date: February 7

text: February 7 – Thomas More, English statesman and humanist (d. 1535)

title: 1478

text: William Roper, son-in-law and biographer of Thomas More (d. 1578)

title: 1496

section: Crime & Justice

date: September 3

text: September 3 – Sir Thomas More becomes undersheriff of the City of London.

title: 1510

text: c. December – Thomas More's most famous work, Utopia, completed this year, is published in Leuven (in Latin).

title: 1516

section: Religion & Belief

date: March 5

text: March 5 – The Dutch priest Erasmus of Rotterdam sends the new Ninety-five Theses of Martin Luther to England, delivering the Protestant manifesto to Sir Thomas More.

title: 1518

date: April 15

text: April 15 – Sir Thomas More, noted for being a Catholic social philosopher and author of the 1516 novel Utopia, is appointed by King Henry VIII as the Speaker of the English House of Commons for the first parliamentary session since 1515. He serves until the Parliament adjourns on August 15.

title: 1523

date: October 26

text: October 26 – Cardinal Thomas Wolsey falls from power in England, due to his failure to obtain an annulment of Henry VIII's marriage and to prevent Habsburg expansion in Europe. Thomas More succeeds him as Lord Chancellor.

title: 1529

date: March 18

text: March 18 – The Supplication against the Ordinaries is presented to Henry VIII by Thomas More the Speaker of the House of Commons. Henry responds by stating that the Commons could hardly expect such consideration after they refused to assent to the government's proposals. Shortly afterwards, Parliament is prorogued until April 10.

title: 1532

date: May 16

text: May 16 – Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.

title: 1532

text: April 13 – Sir Thomas More, having been brought before a royal commission to swear his allegiance to the Act of Succession, testifies that he accepts Parliament's right to declare Anne Boleyn the legitimate Queen of England, but denies that the marriage is spiritually valid of the king's second marriage". Holding fast to the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy, More refuses to take the oath of supremacy toward King Henry VIII. More is confined in the Tower of London. He will be executed on July 6, 1535.

title: 1534

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Sir Thomas More, author of Utopia and one time Lord Chancellor of England, is executed for treason, after refusing to recognize King Henry VIII as head of the English Church, and separate from the Roman Catholic Church.

title: 1535


slug: thrace-theme

label: Thrace (theme)

description: Byzantine district (theme)

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Constantine IV is forced to acknowledge the Bulgar state in Moesia, and to pay protection money to avoid further inroads into Byzantine Thrace. Consequently, Constantine creates the Theme of Thrace of the Byzantine Empire (located in the south-eastern Balkans).

title: 681

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Summer – Battle of Boulgarophygon: Simeon I invades the Theme of Thrace (in the southeastern Balkans). The Byzantines transfer a new army to Europe, to deal with the Bulgarian threat. The armies clash at Boulgarophygon (modern Turkey); the Byzantines are completely destroyed in battle.

title: 896

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Spring and Summer – The Hungarians make an alliance with the Pechenegs, and fight their way through Thrace to Constantinople.

title: 934

text: Spring – Allied with the Rus', a Hungarian army raids Moesia and Thrace. Emperor Romanos I buys peace, and accepts to pay a yearly tribute (protection money) to the Hungarians. His frontiers now 'protected' on the Balkan Peninsula, Romanos sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (80,000 men) led by general John Kourkouas (his commander-in-chief) to invade northern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).

title: 943

text: Emperor John I delegates the war in the Balkans to his brother-in-law, the Domestic of the Schools Bardas Skleros, and to the eunuch general Peter Phokas, who begin to gather a Byzantine army in Thrace. At the news of this, a powerful Kievan expeditionary force (30,000 men), along with many Bulgarians and a Pecheneg contingent, is sent south over the Balkan Mountains. After sacking the Bulgarian stronghold of Philippolis (modern-day Plovdiv), they bypass the heavily defended city of Adrianople, and turn towards Constantinople.

title: 970

text: John I returns in triumph to Constantinople. He brings along Boris II, ruler (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire, and his family, together with the contents of the Bulgarian imperial treasury. Boris is given the Byzantine 'court title' of magistros as compensation. The Bulgarian lands in Thrace and Lower Moesia become part of the Byzantine Empire.

title: 971

text: Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recently held by the Kievan Rus', into six new themes. He turns his attention to the East against the Abbasid Caliphate and its vassals, beginning with an invasion of Upper Mesopotamia. John transfers Byzantine troops to Macedonia, and the region of Philippopolis in Thrace, to dilute the Slavs.

title: 972

text: Spring – Pecheneg Revolt: Emperor Constantine IX decides to transfer 15,000 Pecheneg warriors from their positions in the Balkans to the eastern front. Upon approaching the Bosporus, the Pechenegs decide to turn back, and march through Bulgaria, until they reach the Byzantine city of Serdia. Later, joined by followers, the Pecheneg tribes raise the banner of revolt in Thrace.

title: 1049

text: Spring – Tzachas, a Seljuk Turkish military commander, establishes an independent maritime state centred in the Ionian coastal city of Smyrna (modern-day İzmir). He proclaims himself emperor (basileus), and concludes an alliance with the Pechenegs in Thrace. Tzachas uses his fleet to blockade Constantinople by sea, while the Pechenegs besiege the capital by land.

title: 1091

text: Summer – The nomadic Cumans cross the River Danube and invade Thrace, to support the pretender Constantine Diogenes (son of the late Emperor Romanos IV). The Cumans occupy the province of Paristrion (located in the Lower Danube). Emperor Alexios I places Byzantine detachments to guard the passes over the Balkan Mountains, but they are bypassed.

title: 1095

date: January 31

text: January 31 – Battle of Rusion: The Bulgarian forces (some 7,000 men), under Tsar Kaloyan, defeat the remnants of the Latin army, near the fortress of Rusion in Thrace. Around 120 knights, supported by soldiers and cavalry, are killed in battle or captured.

title: 1206


slug: thrace

label: Thrace

description: geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe

year_label: 654 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Traditional date of the foundation of Abdera in Thrace by colonists from Clazomenae.

title: 654 BC

section: Events

year_label: 556 BCE

section: Science & Discovery

text: Pisistratus is expelled to Euboea from Athens, and makes his fortune from Thrace's mines.

title: 556 BC

year_label: 550 BCE

text: Abdera is destroyed by the Thracians.

title: 550 BC

year_label: 513 BCE

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Darius the Great subdues the Getae and east Thrace in his war against the Scythians. To accomplish this, he builds a massive pontoon bridge across the Bosphorus Strait.

title: 513 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia

year_label: 492 BCE

text: The Persians under Mardonius subdue and capture Thrace and Macedonia.

title: 492 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 465 BCE

text: Thasos revolts from the Delian League. The revolt arises from rivalry over trade with the Thracian hinterland and, in particular, over the ownership of a gold mine. Athens under Kimon lays siege to Thasos after the Athenian fleet defeats the Thasos fleet

title: 465 BC

year_label: 447 BCE

text: Pericles leads Athenian forces in the expulsion of barbarians from the Thracian peninsula of Gallipoli, in order to establish Athenian colonists in the region. Thus Pericles starts a policy of cleruchy (klerouchos) or "out-settlements". This is a form of colonisation where poor and unemployed people are assisted to emigrate to new regions.

title: 447 BC

year_label: 437 BCE

text: Pericles, concerned for Athenian trade with Greek settlements to the East, and in order to counteract a new and possibly threatening Thracian–Scythian alliance, leads Athens' fleet to Pontus on the Black Sea and establishes friendly relations with the Greek cities of the region.

title: 437 BC

year_label: 431 BCE

text: Athens enters into an alliance with King Sitalkes of Thrace, after Nymphodorus, an influential Athenian, marries Sitalkes' sister. Nymphodorus then negotiates an agreement between Athens and Macedon's King Perdiccas II, through which Perdiccas regains Therma. As a result, Athens withdraws its support for Perdiccas' brother, Philip, and the Thracians promise to assist Perdiccas in capturing him. In return, Perdiccas marches on the Chalcidians, the people he has originally persuaded to revolt.

title: 431 BC

year_label: 429 BCE

text: The Athenians under Xenophon march into Thrace to attack Chalcis. They destroy crops outside Spartolus and begin negotiating with pro-Athenian factions in Chalcis, but the anti-Athenian factions ask for help from Olynthus. An army from Chalcis, Spartolus, and Olynthus meet the Athenians in battle, but their hoplites are defeated. Reinforcements soon arrive from Olynthus, and they launch a second attack on the Athenians. The Athenians are routed, with all of their generals and 430 other men killed.

title: 429 BC

year_label: 395 BCE

text: The "Corinthian War" begins, with Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Argos (with the backing of Persia) against Sparta. The Spartans prepare to send out an army against this new alliance, and order Agesilaus to return to Greece. Agesilaus sets out for Sparta with his troops, crossing the Hellespont and marching west through Thrace.

title: 395 BC

year_label: 376 BCE

text: The Thracian city of Abdera is sacked by the Triballi.

title: 376 BC

year_label: 364 BCE

text: The Athenian general, Iphicrates, fails in attempts to recover Amphipolis. Retiring to Thrace, Iphicrates fights for his father-in-law, the Thracian king Cotys I, against Athens for the possession of the Thracian Chersonese. Cotys I is victorious and controls the whole Chersonese peninsula by 359 BC.

title: 364 BC

year_label: 358 BCE

text: Cersobleptes, in conjunction with his brothers, Amadocus II and Berisades, inherits the dominions of the Thracian king, Cotys I, following his murder. However, the overall management of Thracian affairs is assumed by the Euboean adventurer, Charidemus, who is connected by marriage with the royal family, and who plays the prominent part in the ensuing negotiations with Athens for the possession of the Thracian Chersonese.

title: 358 BC

year_label: 357 BCE

text: The Macedonian general, Parmenion, wins a great victory over the Illyrians. King Philip II of Macedon, having disposed of an Illyrian threat, occupies the Athenian city of Amphipolis (which commands the gold mines of Mount Pangaion). Philip II now has control of the strategic city which secures the eastern frontier of Macedonia and gives him access into Thrace.

title: 357 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonia

text: Philip then moves against Thrace. He makes a successful expedition into Thrace, gaining a firm ascendancy in the country, and brings away a son of Cersobleptes, the King of Thrace, as a hostage. Philip II's Thessalian victory earns him election as president (archon) of the Thessalian League.

title: 352 BC

year_label: 350 BCE

text: Philip II has Abdera in Thrace sacked.

title: 350 BC

year_label: 343 BCE

text: King Philip II of Macedon again marches against Cersobleptes, King of Thrace, defeats him in several battles, and reduces him to the condition of being a tributary.

title: 343 BC

year_label: 342 BCE

text: Philip begins a series of campaigns in Thrace with the aim of annexing it to be a province of Macedonia. When the Macedonian army approaches Thracian Chersonese (the Gallipoli Peninsula), an Athenian general named Diopeithes ravages this district of Thrace, thus inciting Philip's rage for operating too near one of his towns in the Chersonese. Philip demands his recall. In response, the Athenian Assembly is convened. Demosthenes convinces the Athenians not to recall Diopeithes.

title: 342 BC

year_label: 341 BCE

text: Philip II of Macedon completes his annexation of Thrace. This is regarded by Athens as a further threat to the city's safety.

title: 341 BC

year_label: 335 BCE

text: Returning to Macedonia by way of Delphi (where the Pythian priestess acclaims him "invincible"), King Alexander III of Macedonia advances into Thrace in order to secure the Danube as the northern boundary of the Macedonian kingdom. After forcing the Shipka Pass and crushing the Triballi, he crosses the Danube to disperse the Getae. Turning west, he then defeats and shatters a coalition of Illyrians who are invading Macedonia.

title: 335 BC

year_label: 330 BCE

text: Alexander's regent in Macedonia, Antipater, makes peace with the Thracians (with whom he has been warring) and then marches south with a large force of over 40,000 men. He wins a hard-fought Battle of Megalopolis in Arcadia against Agis III of Sparta and his Greek mercenaries. Agis III is killed, and Spartan resistance is broken.

title: 330 BC

year_label: 323 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Lysimachus becomes governor of Thrace.

title: 323 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonian Empire

year_label: 316 BCE

text: Arsinoe II, Queen of Thrace and later co-ruler of Egypt with her brother and husband Ptolemy II of Egypt (d. 270 BC)

title: 316 BC

year_label: 315 BCE

text: Antigonus claims authority over most of Asia, seizes the treasury at Susa and enters Babylon, where Seleucus is governor. Seleucus flees to Ptolemy in Egypt and enters into a league with him, Lysimachus (the ruler of Thrace) and Cassander, against Antigonus. This leads to the First Coalition War.

title: 315 BC

year_label: 314 BCE

text: Antigonus, the ruler of the Asian parts of the late Alexander the Great's empire, faces a coalition consisting of Cassander, the Macedonian regent; Lysimachus, the satrap of Thrace; and Ptolemy, the satrap of Egypt, who have taken the side of the ousted satrap of Babylon, Seleucus.

title: 314 BC

year_label: 311 BCE

text: In view of the threat by Seleucus to his control of the East, Antigonus decides to make peace with all of his adversaries, except Seleucus, who now holds Babylon. All of the diadochi confirm the existing boundaries and the freedom of the Greek cities. Ptolemy and Lysimachus are confirmed as satraps of Egypt and Thrace, respectively, and Antigonus and Cassander are confirmed as commanders of the army in Asia and Europe. Antigonus, no longer regent but now titled the strategos (officer in charge) of the whole of Asia, rules in Syria from the Hellespont to the Euphrates, including Asia Minor.

title: 311 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia Minor/Syria/Palestina

year_label: 309 BCE

text: Lysimachus, the Macedonian ruler of Thrace and one of diadochi, founds the city of Lysimachia on the north-western extremity of the Thracian Chersonese (the modern Gallipoli peninsula) to serve as his capital.

title: 309 BC

section: Events › By place › Thrace

year_label: 300 BCE

text: Ptolemy concludes an alliance with King Lysimachus of Thrace and gives him his daughter Arsinoe II in marriage.

title: 300 BC

section: Events › By place › Egypt

year_label: 292 BCE

text: While Demetrius Poliorcetes is campaigning in Boeotia, he receives news that Lysimachus, the ruler of Thrace, has been taken prisoner by Dromichaetes. Hoping to seize Lysimachus's territories in Thrace, Demetrius delegates command of his forces in Boeotia to his son, Antigonus and immediately marches north. However, while he is away, the Boeotians rise in rebellion, but are defeated by Antigonus, who bottles them up in the city of Thebes and puts them under siege.

title: 292 BC

year_label: 284 BCE

text: Ptolemy I's eldest (legitimate) son, Ptolemy Keraunos, whose mother, Eurydice, the daughter of Antipater, had been repudiated by the new King Ptolemy II, flees Egypt to the court of Lysimachus, the king of Thrace, Macedon and Asia Minor.

title: 284 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia Minor

text: Lysimachus' wife, Arsinoe, being keen to gain the succession to the kingdom of Thrace for her sons in preference to Agathocles (the eldest son of Lysimachus), intrigues against him with the help of her brother Ptolemy Keraunos. They accuse him of conspiring with Seleucus to seize the throne, and Agathocles is put to death. This atrocious deed by Lysimachus and his family arouses great indignation. Many of the cities in Asia Minor revolt and some of his most trusted friends desert him.

title: 284 BC

year_label: 283 BCE

text: Following Demetrius Poliorcetes' death in captivity as a prisoner of Seleucus, his son Antigonus assumes the title of King of Macedonia, though in name only, as King Lysimachus of Thrace is in control of Macedonia. Demetrius' remains are given to Antigonus and he is honoured with a grand funeral in Corinth. After this, Demetrius is interred in the town of Demetrias which he had founded.

title: 283 BC

text: Arsinoe, daughter of Lysimachus, king of Thrace, marries Ptolemy II of Egypt as part of the alliance between Thrace and Egypt against Seleucus.

title: 282 BC

text: The Battle of Corupedium in Lydia is the last battle of the Diadochi, the rival successors to Alexander the Great. It is fought between the armies of Lysimachus, King of Thrace, Macedonia, Western Anatolia and Seleucus, ruler of Eastern Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Babylonia and Iran. Seleucus kills Lysimachus during the battle.

title: 281 BC

text: Seleucus takes over Thrace and then tries to seize Macedonia. However, he falls into a trap near Lysimachia, Thrace, set by Ptolemy Keraunos, one of the sons of Ptolemy I and Arsinoe II's half brother, who murders Seleucus and takes Macedonia for himself.

title: 281 BC

text: Lysimachus, king of Thrace and Macedonia (b. c. 360 BC)

title: 281 BC

text: The Egyptian King Ptolemy II's first wife, Arsinoe I (daughter of the late King Lysimachus of Thrace) is accused, probably at instigation of Ptolemy II's sister (who also has the name Arsinoe), of plotting his murder and is exiled by the King. Arsinoe then marries her own brother, a customary practice in Egypt, but scandalous to the Greeks. The suffix "Philadelphoi" ("Brother-Loving") consequently is added to the names of King Ptolemy II and Queen Arsinoe II. The former queen, Arsinoe I, is banished to Coptos, a city of Upper Egypt near the Wadi Hammamat, while her rival adopts her children.

title: 276 BC

text: With the restoration of the territories captured by Pyrrhus, and with grateful allies in Sparta and Argos, and garrisons in Corinth and other Greek key cities, Antigonus II securely controls Macedonia and the other states of Greece. Antigonus becomes the chief of the Thessalian League and is on good terms with neighbouring Illyria and Thrace. He secures his position in central and south Greece by keeping Macedonian occupation forces in the cities of Corinth, Chalcis on the island of Euboea, and Demetrias in Thessaly, the three "shackles" of Hellas.

title: 271 BC

text: Arsinoe II, queen to Lysimachus, the king of Thrace, and later wife of her brother, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt (b. c. 316 BC)

title: 270 BC

text: Berenice's brother, Ptolemy III, sets about to avenge his sister's murder by invading Syria which begins the Third Syrian War (also known as the Laodicean War). Ptolemy III's navy, perhaps with the aid of rebels in the cities, advances against Seleucus II's forces as far as Thrace, across the Hellespont, and also captures some islands off the Anatolian coast.

title: 246 BC

text: Peace is finally reached between Ptolemy III and Seleucus II. Ptolemy manages to keep the Orontes River region in Syria and Antioch as well as Ephesus in Asia Minor and Thrace and Cilicia.

title: 241 BC

text: Antiochus Hierax tries to raise revolts against his brother Seleucus II in Syria and the east of the Seleucid kingdom. However, he is captured and exiled to Thrace, where he lives as a virtual prisoner.

title: 227 BC

text: Antiochus Hierax, brother of the Seleucid King Seleucus II manages to escape from captivity in Thrace and flees to the mountains to raise an army, but he is killed by a band of Galatians.

title: 226 BC

text: With the Rhodian fleet and economy suffering from the depredations of the pirates, Philip begins attacking the lands of Rhodes' allies in Thrace and around the Sea of Marmara.

title: 205 BC

text: Antiochus III's army crosses the Hellespont into Thrace, where he claims sovereignty over territory that has been won by Seleucus I in 281 BC. A war of harassment and diplomacy with Rome ensues. The Romans send ambassadors demanding that Antiochus stay out of Greece and set free all the autonomous communities in Anatolia. To meet these demands would mean Antiochus III giving up the western part of his Seleucid Empire. Thus Antiochus refuses the Romans' demands.

title: 196 BC

text: The Romans under Manius Acilius Glabrio and Cato the Elder cut the Seleucid king Antiochus III off from his reinforcements in Thrace and outflank his position at the pass of Thermopylae in the Battle of Thermopylae. With the remainder of his troops, Antiochus flees to Chalcis on Euboea and from there he retreats by sea to Ephesus.

title: 191 BC

text: In Thessaly, King Perseus of Macedon repulses a Roman army which is commanded by Aulus Hostilius Mancinus. Meanwhile, the Thracian city of Abdera is sacked by Roman and Pergamese troops.

title: 170 BC

text: Marcus Junius Brutus proceeds to secure his position in Thrace and Macedonia. Gaius Cassius Longinus campaigns in Syria and defeats the army of Publius Cornelius Dolabella at Laodicea.

title: 43 BC

text: August – Lucius Decidius Saxa and Gaius Norbanus Flaccus are appointed by Mark Antony, to lead an advanced force of eight legions to Macedonia along the Via Egnatia into Thrace.

title: 42 BC

text: Revolt in Thrace against Roman rule led by Vologases.

title: 13 BC

text: Rhoemetalces I – king of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace from 12 BC to 12 AD

title: 10s

text: Cotys III (or Cotys VIII), Roman client king of Thrace

title: 10s

text: Rhoemetalces III, Roman client king of Thrace (murdered)

title: 40s

text: The Costoboci cross the Danube (Dacia) and ravage Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula. They reach Eleusina, near Athens, and destroy the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

title: AD 170

text: The Costoboci cross the Danube (Dacia) and ravage Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula. They reach Eleusis, near Athens, and destroy the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

title: AD 171

text: Aemilianus rules the Roman Empire for three months; he promises to fight in Thrace and goes to war against Persia. The Senate gives him the rank of Pontifex Maximus.

title: 253

text: Gallienus usurpers: The rebellion of Macrianus Major, Macrianus Minor, and Quietus against Gallienus comes to an end. They march from Asia to Europe but they are defeated in Thrace by Gallienus' general Aureolus, and both Macrianus Major and Macrianus Minor are killed. Quietus flees to Emesa, where he is killed by Odaenathus of Palmyra.

title: 261

text: First Gothic invasion: The Goths, originally from Scandinavia, with the Sarmatians (from modern Iran), invade the Balkans and Greece. They ravage Moesia and Thrace.

title: 267

text: The Goths begin to raid Thrace and Asia Minor. Aurelian begins a campaign against the Goths in Thrace.

title: 275

text: Emperor Probus travels with his army west across the Sea of Marmara (Turkey), and through the provinces of Thrace, Moesia, and Pannonia to defeat the Goths along the lower Danube. He acquires from the troops the title of Gothicus.

title: 277

text: Emperor Maximinus Daza crosses the Bosphorus with an army of 70,000 men and lays siege to Heraclea in Thrace. He captures the city after eight days.

title: 313

text: October 8 – Battle of Cibalae: Constantine the Great defeats his rival Licinius near the town of Colonia Aurelia Cibalae (modern-day Vinkovci, Croatia). Licinius is forced to flee to Sirmium and loses all of the Balkans except for Thrace. Peace negotiations are initiated between the two Augusti, but they are unsuccessful.

title: 316

text: July 3 – Battle of Adrianople: Emperor Constantine the Great defeats his rival Licinius near Adrianople, forcing him to retreat to Byzantium. Constantine then invades Thrace with a Visigothic force and raids the countryside.

title: 324

text: September 28 – Procopius revolts and bribes two legions passing by Constantinople. He proclaims himself Emperor, and takes control of Thrace and Bithynia.

title: AD 365

text: Gothic War: Emperor Valens permits the Visigothic chieftain Fritigern and his people to cross the Danube from Thrace (later Romania), and settle on Roman soil in Lower Moesia, on the condition that they provide soldiers to the legions. The Visigoths embark by troops on boats and rafts, and canoes made from hollowed tree trunks. The river is swollen by frequent rains; a large number try to swim and are drowned in their struggle against the force of the stream.

title: 376

text: The Goths (possibly Greuthungi) make an alliance with some of the Huns and Alans along the Danube, and entice them across the river. With the balance of power now shifted Saturninus concentrates his forces to avoid his outposts being overrun. This opens the passes, allowing the Goths, Huns and Alans to break out into the lowlands of southern Thrace.

title: 377

text: Spring – Emperor Valens returns to Constantinople and mobilises an army (40,000 men). He appoints Sebastianus, newly arrived from Italy, as magister militum to reorganize the Roman armies in Thrace.

title: 378

text: October 3 – Emperor Theodosius I commands his general Saturninus to conclude a peace treaty with the Visigoths, allowing them to settle south of the Danube. They are installed as foederati in Moesia and Thrace with the title of "Allies of the Roman People", in exchange for furnishing a contingent of auxiliary troops to defend the borders.

title: 382

text: Magnus Maximus, usurping emperor of the West, invades Italy. Emperor Valentinian II, age 16, is forced out of Rome. He flees with his mother Justina and sisters to Thessaloniki (Thrace).

title: 387

text: Stilicho, Roman general (magister militum), defeats the Visigoths and Huns in Thrace. Emperor Theodosius I permits Alaric to go free on condition he provides, as foederati, military services to the Roman Empire.

title: 392

text: The Goths, led by Alaric, invade and devastate Thrace and Macedonia and impose a tribute on Athens.

title: 395

text: Summer – The Huns under Rugila devastate Thrace and move steadily towards Constantinople. The citizens prepare themselves for a long siege, depending on the strength of the Theodosian Walls.

title: 434

text: Battle of the Utus: Attila defeats the Roman army near the river Utus (Vit, Bulgaria). The Huns are forced to abandon the siege of Constantinople. They march north and plunder the defenseless Balkan provinces (including Thrace, Scythia, Moesia, Dacia and Illyricum).

title: 447

text: August 25 – Pulcheria is forced to marry and co-rule the Eastern Roman Empire. She gives the imperial diadem to the Illyrian (or Thracian) officer and senator Marcian, age 58, and is crowned as empress in the Hippodrome at Constantinople, in the first religious coronation ceremony.

title: 450

text: Basiliscus returns to Constantinople after a disastrous expedition against the Vandals. He is forced to seek sanctuary in the church of Hagia Sophia to escape the wrath of the people. Leo I gives him imperial pardon, but banishes him for 3 years to Heraclea Sintica (Thrace).

title: 468

text: The Goths, led by Theodoric Strabo, revolt in Thrace after the assassination of Aspar. Leo I sends Basiliscus to suppress the uprising.

title: 471

text: Theodoric Strabo signs a peace treaty with Leo I, and according to the terms the Goths are paid with an annual tribute of 2,000 pounds of gold. Leo gives him an independent state in Thrace and he obtains the rank of magister militum.

title: 473

text: King Theodoric the Great starts a 4-year campaign against the Byzantine Empire. The Ostrogoths ravage the Roman provinces (Moesia and Thrace), and threaten the capital of Constantinople itself.

title: 479

text: Theodoric Strabo defeats the Bulgars in Thrace, and moves with an army (13,000 men) towards Constantinople. After logistical problems, he is forced to return to Greece. In an encampment at Stabulum Diomedis, near Philippi, he falls from an unruly horse onto a spear and dies.

title: 481

text: The Ostrogoths are given status as foederati; they control a large part of Macedonia and Thrace (Balkans).

title: 483

text: The Bulgars ravage Thrace. A semi-nomadic people, they have absorbed the surviving Huns and meet no opposition from Byzantine forces.

title: AD 502

text: Emperor Anastasius I completes the strategic fortress at Dara (Northern Mesopotamia). He raises the city walls to 30 feet (10 m), disregarding Persian protests. Alarmed by the depredations of Slavs and Bulgars in Thrace, he builds the Anastasian Wall from the Black Sea to Propontis, across the narrow peninsula near Constantinople (modern Turkey).

title: 507

text: The 542 Sea of Marmara earthquake takes place in the winter of 542, in the vicinity of the Sea of Marmara. It also affects the coasts of Thrace and the Edremit Gulf.

title: 542

text: August 14 – Emperor Tiberius II Constantine, age 47, dies (possibly from deliberately poisoned food) at Constantinople, after a 4-year reign during which Thrace and Greece have been inundated by the Slavs. He is succeeded by his son-in-law Maurice, former notary who has commanded the Byzantine army in the war against the Persian Empire.

title: 582

text: Autumn – Comentiolus reopens the Gate of Trajan pass, near Ihtiman (Bulgaria). This strategic mountain pass, whose fortress "Stipon" defends the border between the provinces Thrace and Macedonia, is not used for decades.

title: 599

text: The Avars send envoys to Constantinople for a meeting with Heraclius. He is warned about an ambush, and flees for safety behind the city walls in time. Angry at the failure to capture the Byzantine emperor, the Avars plunder Thrace and return to the Danube River, carrying off 270,000 people.

title: 617

text: Maximus the Confessor, Christian monk, is recalled from exile in Thrace. He is tried, and sentenced to mutilation. His tongue and his right hand are cut off to prevent his further opposition to the Monothelites.

title: 661

text: April – A Muslim expeditionary force disembarks on the Thracian shore (near Hebdomon), and lays siege to the massive Theodosian Walls, on the landward side to the west.

title: 674

title: 681

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Justinian II carries out a Balkan campaign and marches through Thrace, where he restores Byzantine rule. He establishes a theme administration, and migrates many Bulgars and Slavs to the Opsician Theme (Asia Minor).

title: 688

text: Justinian II ascends to the throne again and rewards his ally Tervel, ruler (khagan) of the Bulgarian Empire, for his assistance with the title of kaisar (Caesar), which makes him second only to Justinian and the first foreign ruler in Byzantine history to receive such a title, and a territorial concession in northeastern Thrace, a region called Zagora in modern-day Bulgaria.

title: 705

text: The Bulgars under Tervel, ruler (khagan) of the Bulgarian Empire, raid Thrace and reach the city walls of Constantinople. Skirmishes continue until 716; Emperor Philippicus transfers a Byzantine army from the Opsikion Theme in Asia Minor, to police the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 712

text: June 3 – Emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed, and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace, after a reign of 1 year and 6 months. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, a bureaucrat and imperial secretary, who restores internal order and begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army. He executes the officers who have been directly involved in the conspiracy against Philippicus.

title: 713

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Muslim general Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik leads his army of 80,000 men from Pergamum to Abydos, where he crosses the Hellespont. To prevent interference by the Bulgars, or by any Byzantine forces in Thrace, he sends part of his army to a covering position near Adrianople; with his main body, Maslama builds siege lines to blockade Constantinople, which is protected by the massive Theodosian Walls.

title: 717

text: Artabasdos, Byzantine general (strategos) of the Armeniac theme, defeats Constantine V and advances on Constantinople, where he is crowned emperor. He secures the support of the themes of Thrace and Opsikion, and abandons Leo's religious policy of iconoclasm. Constantine seeks the support of the Anatolic theme.

title: 741

text: Arab–Byzantine Wars: Taking advantage of discontent among the Muslim Arabs, Emperor Constantine V invades Syria, and captures Germanikeia (modern Turkey). He organises the resettlement of part of the local Christian population in Thrace.

title: 746

text: Battle of Marcellae: Constantine V sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (500 ships and 6,000 cavalry) to Thrace, and defeats the Bulgars around the Danube Delta and near the fortress city of Markeli (modern Bulgaria). Kormisosh is forced to accept a peace treaty, and confirms the existing frontier. Due to the constant political crisis, the Bulgarian Empire is on the verge of destruction. Kormisosh is deposed during a palace coup and succeeded by Vinekh, a member of the Vokil clan.

title: 756

text: June – Battle of Anchialus: Emperor Constantine V sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (800 ships and 9,600 cavalry) to Thrace, to defend the fortress city of Anchialus on the Black Sea Coast. Meanwhile, Telets, ruler (khagan) of the Bulgarian Empire, blocks the mountain passes and takes positions on the heights near Anchialus. During a desperate cavalry charge, the Bulgars are defeated and many are captured; Telets manages to escape. Constantine enters Constantinople in triumph, and kills all the prisoners.

title: 763

text: A Byzantine expeditionary force under Staurakios, chief minister (logothete), begins a campaign against the communities (Sclaviniae) of Greece. Setting out from Constantinople, the imperial army follows the Thracian coast into Macedonia, and then south into Thessaly, Central Greece and the Peloponnese. Staurakios restores a measure of Byzantine authority over these areas, and collects booty and tribute from the locals.

title: 783

text: Battle of Marcellae: Constantine VI leads a Byzantine expeditionary force into northern Thrace. At the border castle of Marcellae, near the modern town of Karnobat (Bulgaria), the Bulgarians under Kardam defeat the Byzantines.

title: 792

text: May – Krum, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, begins his territorial expansion and raids the Byzantine northern frontier. He leads his warriors — mostly Bulgars, Slavs, Thracians and Macedonians — across the Carpathian Mountains, over the Danube River, and throughout Transylvania, Thrace, and Macedonia.

title: 803

text: Autumn – Siege of Adrianople: Krum captures Adrianople—one of the most important Byzantine fortresses in Thrace—after being attacked with siege engines. The garrison is forced to surrender, due to starvation. On the orders of Krum, the population of the surrounding area (numbering about 10,000) is transferred to Bulgarian territory, north of the Danube.

title: 813

text: Byzantine general Thomas the Slav leads a revolt, and secures control over most of the Byzantine themes (provinces) in Anatolia. He gets recognition from the Abbasid Caliphate, and concludes a peace treaty with Caliph al-Ma'mun. Thomas crosses with his fleet from Abydos to Thrace, and blockades Emperor Michael II in Constantinople; but Thomas' first attack on the capital fails.

title: 821

text: Emperor Michael II defeats the rebel forces under Thomas the Slav in Thrace. He and his supporters are forced to seek refuge in Arkadiopolis (modern Turkey). After five months of blockade, Thomas surrenders and is delivered to Michael, seated on a donkey and bound in chains. He pleads for clemency and prostrates before Michael, but is executed.

title: 823

text: October – Battle of Thasos: Saracens from the newly founded Emirate of Crete almost annihilate the Byzantine fleet at Thasos, close to the coast of Thrace. The Cyclades and other islands in the Aegean Sea are pillaged.

title: 829

text: Presian I, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, sends his prime-minister Isbul against the Smolyani (a Slavic tribe in Byzantine territory near the Struma River). The Bulgarian army campaigns along the Aegean coasts, and conquers most of Thrace and Macedonia, including the fortress city of Philippi, as recorded in the Presian Inscription.

title: 837

text: April - May – The Byzantines refuse to pay the yearly tribute. A Hungarian army, led by Apor, invades Macedonia and Thrace. He plunders its territories until reaching Constantinople. On his way back, Apor is defeated during a night attack by Byzantine forces.

title: 959

text: August – Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos denies any crusader access and begins to hinder the German forces who try to cross his frontier. Frederick I progresses with force, by capturing Philippopolis and defeats a Byzantine army (some 3,000 men) that attempts to recapture the city. The Germans are delayed for six months in Thrace.

title: 1189

text: July 17–18 – Alexios III tries to counterattack from the Gate of St. Romanus but retreats without a fight. Embarrassed, he prefers to escape and abandon his subjects, fleeing with the imperial treasure to Develtos (a fortified town on the Gulf of Burgas) in Thrace. Meanwhile, the Byzantine aristocracy restores the ex-emperor Isaac II to the imperial throne. On August 1, Alexios Angelos is crowned co-emperor as Alexios IV.

title: 1203

text: Emperor Theodore II Laskaris, who is in exile in the Empire of Nicaea, conducts a military campaign to recover Thrace from the Bulgarians.

title: 1255

text: Mongol armies, led by Nogai Khan, raid Thrace.

title: 1265

section: Events › By place › North Africa and Asia

text: December – Roger de Flor, Italian nobleman and adventurer, settles with the Catalan Company in Gallipoli and other towns in the southern part of Thrace and visits Constantinople to demand payment for his forces. He lives at the expense of the local population and uses the city as a base for his marauding raids in the surrounding area.

title: 1304

text: June 6 – Andronikos II Palaiologos concludes a peace agreement and divides the Byzantine Empire in two. Andronikos III is recognized as co-emperor and receives Thrace and Macedonia. He rewards his followers and gives them towns and regions to administer. Adrianople becomes the new capital.

title: 1321


slug: thracian-chersonese

label: Thracian Chersonese

description: ancient name of the Gallipoli peninsula

year_label: 499 BCE

text: Miltiades the Younger, the ruler of the Thracian Chersonese, which has been under Persian suzerainty since approximately 514 BC, joins the Ionian revolt. He seizes the islands of Lemnos and Imbros from the Persians.

title: 499 BC

year_label: 407 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: The defeat gives the enemies of Alcibiades an excuse to strip him of his command. He never returns again to Athens. He sails north to land he owns in the Thracian Chersonese. Except for a brief appearance at Aegospotami, Alcibiades' involvement in the Peloponnesian War is over.

title: 407 BC

year_label: 358 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: Cersobleptes, in conjunction with his brothers, Amadocus II and Berisades, inherits the dominions of the Thracian king, Cotys I, following his murder. However, the overall management of Thracian affairs is assumed by the Euboean adventurer, Charidemus, who is connected by marriage with the royal family, and who plays the prominent part in the ensuing negotiations with Athens for the possession of the Thracian Chersonese.

title: 358 BC

year_label: 357 BCE

text: Euboean mercenary Charidemus recaptures the Thracian Chersonese for Athens. He receives, from Athens, a golden crown for his part in the victory.

title: 357 BC

text: Philip begins a series of campaigns in Thrace with the aim of annexing it to be a province of Macedonia. When the Macedonian army approaches Thracian Chersonese (the Gallipoli Peninsula), an Athenian general named Diopeithes ravages this district of Thrace, thus inciting Philip's rage for operating too near one of his towns in the Chersonese. Philip demands his recall. In response, the Athenian Assembly is convened. Demosthenes convinces the Athenians not to recall Diopeithes.

title: 342 BC

text: Lysimachus, the Macedonian ruler of Thrace and one of diadochi, founds the city of Lysimachia on the north-western extremity of the Thracian Chersonese (the modern Gallipoli peninsula) to serve as his capital.

title: 309 BC

year_label: 277 BCE

text: Antigonus crosses the Hellespont and defeats the Celts under the command of Cerethrius at the Battle of Lysimachia near Lysimachia at the neck of the Thracian Chersonese. After this success, he is acknowledged by the Macedonians as their king.

title: 277 BC

year_label: 190 BCE

text: For assisting the Romans in defeating Antiochus III, Eumenes II of Pergamum is rewarded with a great increase in territory. He is given control over the Thracian Chersonese (the modern Gallipoli peninsula) and over most of the former Seleucid possessions in Anatolia.

title: 190 BC

section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire


slug: thrasybulus

label: Thrasybulus

description: Athenian general and politician (c. 440 – 388 BC)

year_label: 411 BCE

text: The Athenian navy under Thrasybulus recalls Alcibiades from Sardis. Alcibiades' election is confirmed by the Athenians at the request of Theramenes. A Spartan fleet in the Hellespont at Cynossema is then defeated by an Athenian fleet commanded by Thrasybulus and Alcibiades.

title: 411 BC

year_label: 410 BCE

text: Commanding 20 ships, the Athenian generals Theramenes and Thrasybulus collaborate with Alcibiades and the main Athenian fleet in inflicting a major defeat on the Spartan navy commanded by Mindarus and its supporting Persian land army near Cyzicus on the shore of the Propontis (Sea of Marmara). As a result of its victory in the Battle of Cyzicus, Athens regains control over the vital grain route from the Black Sea.

title: 410 BC

text: The Athenian general Thrasybulus recaptures Abdera and Thasos.

title: 407 BC

year_label: 404 BCE

text: The Athenian general Thrasybulus is exiled by the Thirty Tyrants, and he retires to Thebes.

title: 404 BC

year_label: 403 BCE

text: Thrasybulus leads the democratic resistance to the new oligarchic government, known as the Thirty Tyrants, that the victorious Spartans have imposed on Athens. He commands a small force of exiles that invades Attica and, in successive battles, defeats first a Spartan garrison and then the forces of the oligarchic government (which includes the Spartan general, Lysander) in the Battle of Munychia. The leader of the Thirty Tyrants, Critias, is killed in the battle.

title: 403 BC

year_label: 393 BCE

text: Pharnabazus dispatches Conon with substantial funds and a large part of the fleet to Attica, where he joins in the rebuilding of the long walls from Athens to Piraeus, a project that had been initiated by Thrasybulus in the previous year. The construction is soon completed and Athens quickly takes advantage of its walls and its fleet to seize the islands of Scyros, Imbros, and Lemnos, on which it establishes cleruchies (citizen colonies).

title: 393 BC

year_label: 389 BCE

text: The Athenian general, Thrasybulus, leads a force of triremes to levy tribute from cities around the Aegean and support Rhodes, where a democratic government is struggling against Sparta. On this campaign, Thrasybulus captures Byzantium, imposes a duty on ships passing through the Hellespont, and collects tribute from many of the Aegean Islands.

title: 389 BC

year_label: 388 BCE

text: The Athenian general, Thrasybulus, sails to Lesbos, where, with the support of the Mytileneans, he defeats the Spartan forces on the island and wins over a number of cities. While still on Lesbos, however, Thrasybulus is killed by raiders from the city of Aspendus where his financial exactions have made him unpopular.

title: 388 BC

section: Deaths

text: Thrasybulus, Athenian general who helped overthrow the Thirty Tyrants

title: 388 BC


slug: three-kingdoms-of-korea

label: Three Kingdoms of Korea

description: period of Korean history (1st century BCE – 7th century CE), where three kingdoms (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla) coexisted on the Korean peninsula

text: Biryu of Baekje, king of Baekje (Three Kingdoms of Korea)

title: 344

section: Deaths › Date unknown

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

title: 356

text: Guisin, king of Baekje (Korea)

title: 427

text: Chinese chronicles record a memorial sent by the "King of Japan" (possibly Yūryaku), who describes himself as "Supreme Director of Military Affairs in Japan and Korea" to the Court of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The Chinese emperor responds by confirming the Japanese dynasty in those titles. This is the earliest verifiable date in Japanese history.

title: 478

text: Samgeun, king of Baekje (Korea)

title: 479

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: Dongseong, king of Baekje (Korea)

title: 501

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

title: 512

text: Seong becomes king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

title: 523

text: Muryeong, king of Baekje (Three Kingdoms of Korea)

title: 523

section: Births

text: Wideok, king of Baekje (Three Kingdoms of Korea)

title: 525

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

title: 554

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

title: 562

section: Culture & Society

text: King Wideok of Baekje (Korea) sends an official escort (bearing tribute), along with a master of Buddhist meditation, a reciter of Buddhist magic spells, a temple architect, and a sculptor of Buddhist images, to the Chinese court of the Sui dynasty (approximate date).

title: 585

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

title: 595

text: Emperor Wéndi sends diplomatic letters to the royal court of Goguryeo (Korea). He demands the cancellation of the military alliance with the Eastern Turk Khanate, and the raiding of Sui border regions.

title: 596

text: Wideok, king of Baekje (Korea) (b. 525)

title: 598

date: August 4

text: August 4 – Goguryeo War: Emperor Wéndi orders his youngest son, Yang Liang (assisted by the co-prime minister Gao Jiong), to conquer Goguryeo (Korea) during the rainy season, with a Chinese army (300,000 men).

title: 598

text: Goguryeo–Sui War: Emperor Yángdi invades Goguryeo (Korea) with an expeditionary force of over one million men, named the "24 Armies".

title: 612

text: Yeongyang, king of Goguryeo (Korea)

title: 618

text: Ŭlchi Mundŏk, military leader of Goguryeo (Korea) (approximate date)

title: 619

text: Mu, king of Baekje (one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea)

title: 641

text: Winter – Yŏn Kaesomun seizes power over Goguryeo (Korea), and places King Bojang on the throne.

title: 642

text: Yeongnyu, king of Goguryeo (Korea)

title: 642

date: May 1

text: May 1 – First conflict of the Goguryeo–Tang War: A Chinese expeditionary army under Emperor Taizong of Tang crosses the Liao River into Goguryeo (one of the Three kingdoms of Korea).

title: 645

section: Events › By place › China

text: Seondeok, queen of Silla (Korea)

title: 647

text: Gyebaek, general of Baekje (Korea)

title: 660

text: Bojang, king of Goguryeo (Korea)

title: 682

text: Anseung, king of Goguryeo (Korea)

title: 683

date: December 27

text: December 27 – Emperor Gaozong dies at Luoyang, age 55, after a 34-year reign in which he expanded the Chinese Empire by acquiring Korea as a vassal state.

title: 683

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