Crete
island of Greece
42 dated entries naming Crete, drawn from 40 separate years between 2160 BCE and 1966 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.
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22nd century BC
19th century BC
17th century BC
15th century BC
14th century BC
5th century BC
4th century BC
- 343 BCEPhalaikos unsuccessfully lays siege to Kydonia on the island of Crete.source
- 331 BCEWhile Alexander is fighting in Asia, Agis III of Sparta, profiting from the Macedonian king's absence from Greece, leads some of the Greek cities in a revolt. With Persian money and 8,000 Greek mercenaries, he holds Crete against Macedonian forces. In the Peloponnesus he routs a force under the Macedonian general Coragus and, although Athens stays neutral, he is joined by Elis, Achaea (except Pellene) and Arcadia, with the exception of Megalopolis, the staunchly anti-Spartan capital of Arcadia, which Agis III's forces besiege.source
- 326 BCEFollowing the mutiny of his army at the Hyphasis River, Alexander is persuaded by his army leaders to abandon his plans for invading the Ganges Valley. Alexander appoints Nearchus, a Cretan with naval experience, as admiral and places under his command all in the ranks of his army with any knowledge of seafaring. Nearchus has Indian shipwrights build 800 vessels, some as large as 300 tons, to take the army through Persian Gulf waters to Babylon. Alexander the Great begins the return march down the Indus to the sea.source
- 324 BCEDinarchus, a professional speech writer in Athens, comes to prominence in the scandal that follows the flight to Athens of Alexander the Great's treasurer, Harpalus. When Harpalus escapes and flees to Crete, Dinarchus writes the prosecution speeches against Demosthenes, Demades, Aristogiton, Philocles and other well-known politicians accused of misappropriating some of this money.source
3rd century BC
2nd century BC
- 188 BCEHannibal flees via Crete to the court of King Prusias I of Bithynia who is engaged in warfare with Rome's ally, King Eumenes II of Pergamum.source
- 150 BCEThe pretender to the Seleucid throne, Alexander Balas, who claims to be the son of the late Antiochus IV, defeats the Seleucid king, Demetrius I Soter, in battle and kills him. The Roman Senate, along with Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamum and Ptolemy VI Philometor of Egypt, support Alexander Balas and he becomes the ruler of the Seleucid Empire. Demetrius I Soter's son, Demetrius, goes into exile in Crete.source
1st century BC
- 71 BCEMarcus Antonius is defeated by the Cretans, who have made an alliance with the pirates. He is compelled to concede a humiliating peace. Antonius dies in office the same year and is awarded, posthumously, with the cognomen Creticus.source
- 69 BCEKydonia, an ancient city on the island of Crete falls to Roman military forces.source
- 32 BCESparta under Caius Iulius Eurycles, whose father Antony had been ordered to be executed for piracy, declares his support for Octavian. Lappa (modern Argyroupoli) in Attica and Kydonia in Crete revolt against Cleopatra.source
3rd century
4th century
7th century
- 679Emperor Constantine IV signs a peace treaty, of a nominal 30-year duration, with Caliph Mu'awiya I of the Umayyad Caliphate. Constantine pays an annual tribute of 3,000 (nomismata) pounds of gold, 50 horses and 50 slaves. The Arab garrisons are withdrawn from their bases on the Byzantine coastlands, including Crete & Cyzicus.source
9th century
- 828Kydonia, on the northwest coast of Crete, is destroyed by Saracen pirates (approximate date).source
- 841Constantine Kontomytes, Byzantine general (strategos) of the Thracesian Theme, inflicts a severe defeat on the Cretan Saracens. He leads a Byzantine expeditionary force, to raid the monastic community near Mount Latros (modern Turkey).source
13th century
- 1212Spring – After the fall of Argos the Crusaders complete their conquest of the Morea in southern Greece. The city, along with Nauplia, is given to Othon de la Roche, a Burgundian nobleman, as a fief, along with an income of 400 hyperpyron from Corinth. Meanwhile, the Venetians conquer Crete and evict Henry, Count of Malta ("Enrico Pescatore"), a Genoese adventurer and pirate, active in the Mediterranean.source
- 1263Before July – Battle of Settepozzi: A Byzantine-Genoese fleet (some 50 galleys) is routed by the Venetians near Spetses in the Argolic Gulf, who capture four ships and inflict considerable casualties. Later, the Genoese that survive the battle managed to capture Chania on Crete. They receive orders to avoid direct confrontations with the Venetian fleet, but instead are engaged in raiding against the Venetian merchant convoys in the Euripus Strait.source
14th century
16th century
17th century
- 1614April 7 – El Greco, or Domênikos Theotokópoulos (Greek: Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος), Cretian painter, sculptor and architect (b. 1541)source
- 1669July 24 – During an attempt by a fleet of French Navy ships to stop the siege of Candia by bombardment of Ottoman positions on the island of Crete, the arsenal of gunpowder on the French flagship, the 56-gun warship Thérèse, catches fire and explodes. Out of 350 crew on the Thérèse, only seven survive. Demoralized, the remaining French commanders halt the bombardment and the fleet withdraws.source
- 1669June 25 – François de Vendôme, Duke of Beaufort, disappears in battle, during the siege of Candia in Crete.source
- 1671October 30 – The Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire sign a treaty delineating the borders between their territories in modern-day Greece, with Venice acknowledging the loss of the island of Crete in the Cretan War.source
- 1691December 6 – During the Morean War, Captain Luca Dalla Rocca of Naples betrays Venice by surrendering the fortress of Gramvousa, on the island of Crete to the Ottoman Turks, in return for a large amount of money and sanctuary in Istanbul.source
19th century
- 1824Egyptian and Albanian troops of the Ottoman Empire overturn the Greek revolt on Crete.source
- 1898December 21 – Prince George of Greece arrives in Crete as its High Commissioner, and is escorted by the flagships of four nations.source
- 1899January 9 – After a successful revolt against the Ottoman Empire by the inhabitants of the island of Crete, the area, which joins Greece, gets its first constitution.source
- 1900March 16 – British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans purchases the land on Crete on which the ruins of the Palace of Knossos stand. He begins to unearth some of the palace three days later.source
20th century
- 1905March 23 – The Theriso revolt begins in Crete as about 1,500 people led by Eleftherios Venizelos demand unification with Greece.source
- 1913December 1 – Crete, having obtained self rule from Turkey after the First Balkan War, is annexed by Greece.source
- 1941May 20 – WWII: The Battle of Crete begins, as Germany launches an airborne invasion of Crete, the first mainly airborne invasion in military history.source
- 1944German General Kreipe is kidnapped on Crete, Greece.source
- 1966December 8 – The Typaldos Line's ferry sinks in rough seas in the Aegean Sea near Crete, leaving 217 dead.source
Named in the same entries
- Greece (5)
- Ottoman Empire (3)
- Republic of Venice (3)
- Byzantine Empire (2)
- Turkey (2)
- Saracens (2)
- Athens (2)
- Sparta (2)
- Aegean Sea (2)
- Pergamum (2)
- Umayyad Caliphate (1)
- Arabs (1)