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Heraclius

Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641

28 dated entries naming Heraclius, drawn from 26 separate years between 575 CE and 641 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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6th century

  • 575Heraclius, emperor of the Byzantine Empire (approximate date)source

7th century

  • 608Heraclian revolt: Heraclius the Elder, exarch of Africa, and his son (also named Heraclius) revolt against Emperor Phocas, whose regime in Constantinople has become unpopular and violent.source
  • 609Nicetas, cousin of future emperor Heraclius, launches an overland invasion in Egypt. He defeats a Byzantine army under Bonus (comes Orientis) outside Alexandria, sent from Constantinople.source
  • 610October 3 – Heraclian revolt: Heraclius arrives with a fleet from Africa at Constantinople. Assisted by an uprising in the capital, he overthrows and personally beheads Emperor Phocas. Heraclius gains the throne with help from his father Heraclius the Elder. His first major act is to change the official language of the Byzantine Empire from Latin to Greek (already the language of the vast majority of the population).source
  • 611July 7 – Eudoxia Epiphania, daughter of Byzantine emperor Heracliussource
  • 612August 13 – Empress Eudokia, wife of Heraclius, dies of epilepsy. She leaves two children, and is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.source
  • 613Emperor Heraclius marries his niece Martina; she becomes empress (Augusta) of the Byzantine Empire. This second marriage is considered to fall within the prohibited degree of kinship, and is approved by the Catholic Church in Constantinople.source
  • 617Byzantine-Sassanid War: The Persian army under Shahin Vahmanzadegan conquers Chalcedon in Anatolia, and reaches the Bosporus, threatening Constantinople. Emperor Heraclius begins peace negotiations, promising an annual tribute of 1,000 talents of gold and silver. Shahin withdraws with his army to Syria, to focus on the invasion of Egypt.source
  • 618The Persians besiege Alexandria; the defence of the city is led by Nicetas (cousin of emperor Heraclius). The Byzantine resistance is undermined by a blockade of the harbor; the usual grain supplies are cut off from Egypt to Constantinople.source
  • 619Byzantine–Sasanian War: The besieged city of Alexandria is captured by the Persians. Nicetas, cousin of Emperor Heraclius, and Chalcedonian patriarch, John V, flee to Cyprus. King Khosrow II extends his rule southwards along the Nile.source
  • 621Emperor Heraclius concludes a peace agreement (in exchange for an annual tribute) with the Avars on the Balkan Peninsula, giving him a free hand to assemble Byzantine forces in Asia Minor, for non-military expenditure against the Persian Empire.source
  • 622Byzantine–Sasanian War: Emperor Heraclius sails from Constantinople with an expeditionary force (probably 50,000 men), and starts a counter-offensive against the Persian Empire (his young son, Constantine III, is left behind as regent under the charge of Sergius I, patriarch of Constantinople, and patrician Bonus). He lands a few days later at the junction of Cilicia and Syria, near Alexandretta and ancient Issus.source
  • 623Byzantine–Sassanid War: Emperor Heraclius invades Armenia, leaving his son Constantine (age 11) and co-regent Bonus to defend Constantinople against the Persians still at Chalcedon (modern Turkey). He sails with 5,000 reinforcements to join the Byzantine army at Trapezus. Raising additional forces in Pontus, Heraclius strikes through the mountains of Armenia and the northern sub-Caucasian principalities. He plunders Media (Azerbaijan), and avoids the Persian armies who attempt to trap him.source
  • 624Byzantine–Sasanian War: Emperor Heraclius advances with an expeditionary force (40,000 men) along the Araxes River, destroying the fortress city of Dvin, capital of Armenia, and Nakhchivan (modern Azerbaijan). At Ganzak, Heraclius defeats the Persian army and destroys the famous fire temple at Takht-e Soleymān, an important Zoroastrian shrine. He winters his army in Caucasian Albania to gather forces for the next year.source
  • 624March 25 – Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium, departs from his capital at Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey) with his wife, the Empress Martina, and two of his children, and does not return for more than four years.source
  • 626July 31 – The Avars and Persian allies under Shahrbaraz launch an attack along the entire length of the Theodosian Walls (about 5.7 kilometres); the main effort is concentrated against the central section, particularly the low-lying mesoteichion. After a fierce infantry battle on the walls, the Byzantine army holds off many assaults on the city. Emperor Heraclius makes arrangements for a new army under his brother Theodore to operate against the Persians in western Anatolia, while he returns to his own army in Pontus.source
  • 627Spring – Byzantine–Sasanian War: Emperor Heraclius sweeps through southern Armenia with a 50,000-man expeditionary force, recapturing most of the Byzantine fortresses lost to the Persians ten and fifteen years earlier. The army of Shahrbaraz, still in Anatolia, is now cut off completely. Hearing from Byzantine agents (showing him letters) that King Khosrau II, dissatisfied with his failure to capture Constantinople, is planning to have him executed, he surrenders to Heraclius, refusing to join the Byzantine army against his ungrateful sovereign.source
  • 629September 14 – Emperor Heraclius enters Constantinople in triumph. In a ceremonial parade, accompanied by the True Cross, he is welcomed by the citizens and his son Heraclius Constantine.source
  • 630March 21 – Emperor Heraclius returns the True Cross, one of the holiest Christian relics, to Jerusalem. He tries to promote Monothelitism, which is rejected by the Christians.source
  • 631Emperor Heraclius appoints Cyrus, patriarch of Alexandria, with power to act as viceroy (dioikesis) of Egypt. He begins a 10-year persecution against the non-Chalcedonian Coptic Christians.source
  • 634Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Heraclius, ill, infirm, and unpopular with the Eastern Orthodox Church, is unable to personally lead the Byzantine army to resist the Muslim conquest of the Levant. He sends his brother Theodore to assemble forces to retake the newly won Muslim territories. Monophysites and Jews throughout Syria welcome the Arab invaders, as they are discontented with Byzantine rule.source
  • 635Emperor Heraclius makes an alliance with Kubrat, ruler (khagan) of Great Bulgaria, to break the power of the Avars on the Balkan Peninsula.source
  • 636Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Heraclius assembles a large army consisting of contingents of Byzantines, Slavs, Franks, Georgians, Armenians, and Christian Arabs. He establishes a base at Yaqusah (near Gadara), close to the edge of the Golan Heights, protecting the vital main road from Egypt to Damascus. The base is protected by deep valleys and precipitous cliffs, well supplied with water and grazing.source
  • 637John Athalarichos, illegitimate son of Heracliussource
  • 638Emperor Heraclius creates a buffer zone (or no man's land) in the heartland of Asia Minor. In the mountainous terrain of Anatolia, the Byzantine forces develop a system of defensive guerrilla warfare. The strategy is known as ‘shadowing warfare’, as it avoids battle with major Muslim invaders, and instead attacks raiding parties on their return when they are laden with booty, captured livestock or prisoners.source
  • 640At the request of Porga of Croatia, one of the first dukes or princes (Croatian: knez) of Dalmatian Croatia, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius sends Christian missionaries to the Croatian Provinces (approximate date).source
  • 641February 11 – Emperor Heraclius, age 65, dies of dropsy at Constantinople after a 31-year reign. He reorganized the imperial administration, but lost Armenia, parts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Byzantine Mesopotamia to the Muslim Arabs. Heraclius is succeeded by his sons Constantine III and Heraklonas.source
  • 641February 11 – Heraclius, Byzantine emperorsource

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