Events, Verisoph

August 70 Roman destruction of the Second Temple 0 cit. Roman forces under Titus crush the Jewish revolt and burn the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The loss of the Temple ends sacrificial worship and forces a lasting reshaping of the religion around study, prayer, and law. Its destruction is still mourned on the fast of Tisha B'Av. religion / war ●●●

c. 73 Fall of Masada 0 cit. According to the historian Josephus, the last Jewish rebels at the desert fortress of Masada died as Roman forces closed in around 73 or 74 CE. The site later became a national symbol in Israel. culture / war ●●

c. 100 The cult of Mithras spreads through the Roman army 0 cit. Mithraism, a mystery religion centered on the god Mithras slaying a bull, drew many Roman soldiers and met in underground temples. Its origins drew on the Persian deity Mithra reshaped in a Roman setting. religion / war ●●

132 to 136 Bar Kokhba Revolt 0 cit. Simon bar Kokhba leads a final Jewish revolt against Rome that is crushed with enormous loss of life. Rome bans Jews from Jerusalem and renames the province Syria Palaestina. religion / war ●●●

184 to 205 Yellow Turban Rebellion 0 cit. A massive peasant revolt led by Taoist sect leaders shakes the Han dynasty. Suppressing it empowers regional warlords and begins the Han collapse. religion / society / war ●●●

March 193 Praetorians auction the imperial throne 0 cit. After murdering Emperor Pertinax, the Praetorian Guard openly auctioned the imperial throne to the highest bidder. The wealthy senator Didius Julianus won the bidding and was proclaimed emperor, but he was despised by the public and executed within nine weeks. The episode became the classic symbol of the guard's power to make and unmake emperors by force. politics / war ●●●

March 193 Praetorian Guard Auctions the Roman Throne 0 cit. After murdering the emperor Pertinax, the Praetorian Guard publicly auctioned the imperial throne to the highest bidder, the senator Didius Julianus. The episode is one of the starkest documented instances of a military body openly overriding civilian and constitutional authority. It is cited in civil-military relations literature as an extreme case of praetorianism, where armed force replaces political legitimacy outright. politics / war ●●

208 Battle of Red Cliffs 0 cit. Allied southern warlords defeated the much larger army of Cao Cao on the Yangtze in 208 CE. The battle set the stage for the division of China into three states. war ●●●

c. 220 to c. 280 Wars of the Three Kingdoms Period 0 cit. no story The rival states of Wei, Shu, and Wu fight for control of China after the fall of the Han dynasty. The era's wars and famines cause one of history's largest population collapses before Jin reunifies the country. politics / war ●●●●

220 Fall of the Han Dynasty 0 cit. In 220 CE the last Han emperor abdicated in favor of the warlord Cao Pi, ending four centuries of Han rule. China fragmented into the rival states of the Three Kingdoms period. politics / war ●●●●

220 Fall of the Han and the Three Kingdoms 0 cit. The last Han emperor abdicated in 220 CE, ending four centuries of Han rule. China split into the rival states of Wei, Shu, and Wu. politics / war ●●●●●

c. 304 Age of division and the Northern and Southern dynasties 0 cit. From the early fourth century, nomadic peoples ruled the north while Chinese dynasties held the south. This long period of disunity lasted until the Sui reunification. politics / war ●●●

28 October 312 Praetorian Guard disbanded 0 cit. After backing his rival Maxentius, who died at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Emperor Constantine I dissolved the Praetorian Guard and demolished its barracks, the Castra Praetoria. The guard had a long history of assassinating and installing emperors, and Constantine wanted no rival power base in the capital. Its role was replaced by new imperial escort units loyal directly to him. politics / war ●●

c. 350 Kingdom of Kush at Meroe Collapses 0 cit. Around 350 CE the Nubian Kingdom of Kush, centered on Meroe, declined and was raided by the Kingdom of Aksum. The long-lived African state faded, and its capital was largely abandoned. politics / war ●●

376 to 382 Gothic War of 376-382 0 cit. no story Goths fleeing the Huns revolt inside the Roman Empire and destroy an imperial army at Adrianople, killing Emperor Valens. The settlement that follows plants armed Gothic peoples permanently inside Roman territory. war ●●●

391 The Serapeum of Alexandria is destroyed 0 cit. A Christian crowd destroys the Serapeum, the great temple of the god Serapis and one of the wonders of the ancient world. It became a symbol of the violent end of organized paganism in the Roman world. religion / war ●●●

24 August 410 Sack of Rome by Alaric 0 cit. On 24 August 410 CE the Visigoths under Alaric captured and sacked the city of Rome. It was the first time in nearly 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy, a shock felt across the Roman world. politics / war ●●●●

c. 426 Augustine Sets Out Just War Criteria 0 cit. In The City of God, completed around 426, Augustine of Hippo argued that war could be morally justified when waged by legitimate authority, for a just cause, and with right intention, rather than out of hatred or lust for power. His arguments, developed across several of his writings, became the foundation of the Christian just-war tradition. Later thinkers, including Thomas Aquinas, built directly on Augustine's criteria. religion / war ●●●

c. 434 to c. 453 Hunnic Wars of Attila 0 cit. no story Attila's Huns ravage the Balkans, Gaul, and Italy, extracting tribute from both Roman empires. His empire collapses after his death, but the invasions accelerate the fall of the Roman West. war ●●●●

451 Battle of Avarayr 0 cit. Armenian forces under Vardan Mamikonian fight the Sassanid Persian army, which is trying to force Armenians to abandon Christianity for Zoroastrianism. The Armenians lose the battle and Vardan is killed, but sustained resistance leads to the Nvarsak treaty of 484, which secures the right to practice Christianity. Avarayr becomes a lasting symbol of Armenian faith and identity. religion / war ●●

476 Rome falls, and the East survives contested 0 cit. The Germanic commander Odoacer deposed the boy emperor Romulus Augustulus and sent the western imperial regalia to Constantinople, an act later marked as the end of the western Roman Empire. The eastern half carried on unbroken, still calling itself Roman and still governed from Constantinople. Historians debate how sharp a break 476 really was, since imperial authority in the west had been fading for decades. politics / war ●●●

533 Belisarius reconquers North Africa 0 cit. Justinian's general Belisarius landed in North Africa and crushed the Vandal kingdom in a swift campaign, returning the rich province to imperial rule. The victory opened Justinian's western reconquest and revived the dream of a Mediterranean ruled from one throne. It also stretched the empire's armies thin across a vast frontier. politics / war ●●

535 to 554 Gothic War of 535-554 0 cit. no story Emperor Justinian's generals reconquer Italy from the Ostrogoths in a two-decade war. The fighting devastates Italy and leaves it open to Lombard invasion. war ●●●

c. 540 The reconquest of Italy from the Goths 0 cit. Belisarius and later the eunuch general Narses fought a long war to take Italy from the Ostrogoths, capturing Ravenna in 540 and finishing the struggle by 554. The campaigns restored imperial rule but wrecked the peninsula, ruining cities and starving the countryside. The exhausted gains were largely lost within a generation to the invading Lombards. politics / war ●●

589 Sui reunification of China 0 cit. The Sui dynasty conquered the southern Chen in 589 CE, ending nearly three centuries of division. It rebuilt centralized government across a reunified empire. politics / war ●●●●●

c. 600 The stirrup 0 cit. Paired foot supports let a rider stay firmly seated and use weapons from horseback. The stirrup reshaped cavalry warfare across Asia and Europe. technology / war ●●●

602 to 628 Byzantine-Sasanian War of 602-628 0 cit. no story The last and greatest Roman-Persian war sees Persia overrun Egypt and the Levant before Heraclius strikes back into the Persian heartland. Both empires emerge exhausted just before the Arab conquests. war ●●●●

c. 622 to c. 750 Early Muslim Conquests 0 cit. no story Arab armies united by Islam conquer the Sasanian Empire and strip Byzantium of Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, reaching Spain and Central Asia within a century. The conquests permanently reshape the religious and political map of the Old World. religion / war ●●●●●

628 Heraclius breaks the Persian Empire 0 cit. After the Sasanian Persians overran Syria, Egypt, and Jerusalem, the emperor Heraclius struck deep into Persia and won a crushing victory, ending a war that had raged since 602. He recovered the True Cross and restored the eastern provinces. But both empires were spent by the long fight, and neither was ready for the storm about to come out of Arabia. religion / war ●●

January 630 Conquest of Mecca 0 cit. Muhammad returns to Mecca at the head of a large force and takes the city with little fighting. He clears the Kaaba of its idols and rededicates it to the worship of one God. Most of the Quraysh accept Islam, and Arabia's tribes increasingly align with Medina. politics / religion / war ●●●

c. 636 to c. 651 Muslim conquest of Sasanian Persia 0 cit. Arab armies defeat the Sasanian Empire in a series of battles beginning at al-Qadisiyyah, and by 651 the last Sasanian ruler is dead. Persia passes into Muslim rule, and over following centuries most Persians adopt Islam. Persian scholars and administrators go on to shape Islamic civilization deeply. politics / religion / war ●●●

August 636 The Arab conquests strip away the eastern provinces 0 cit. Armies of the new Islamic caliphate shattered a Byzantine field army at the Yarmuk in 636 and swept through Syria, Palestine, and Egypt within a decade. The empire lost its richest provinces, its grain, and Jerusalem itself, shrinking to Anatolia, the Balkans, and a string of coasts. The blow reshaped Byzantium into a smaller, embattled, and more thoroughly Greek Orthodox state. politics / religion / war ●●●

c. 640 Byzantine theme system established 0 cit. Facing Arab and Slavic invasions, the Byzantine Empire reorganized its territory into military provinces called themes, each under a general who commanded local troops settled on land in exchange for hereditary military service. This let the shrunken empire field defensive armies without the cost of a fully professional standing force. The theme system remained the backbone of Byzantine defense for several centuries. politics / war ●●

c. 645 Arab conquest brings Armenia under the caliphate 0 cit. Arab armies overrun Armenia in the mid-seventh century, and it becomes a province of the caliphate under a resident governor. Armenians keep their Christian faith and much local autonomy through noble houses called nakharars, but pay tribute and periodically revolt. Caliphal control weakens over the following two centuries. politics / religion / war ●●

c. 647 to c. 709 Arab conquest of North Africa 0 cit. Arab forces push west from Egypt across the Maghreb, founding the garrison city of Kairouan around 670 as a base. By the early 700s Muslim rule reaches the Atlantic, and Berber peoples convert in large numbers. North Africa becomes the launch point for the crossing into Spain. politics / religion / war ●●

651 Fall of the Sasanian Empire 0 cit. In 651 CE the last Sasanian king, Yazdegerd III, was killed while fleeing the Arab conquest. The fall ended the Persian empire and brought Iran under Muslim rule. politics / religion / war ●●●●

651 The Arab conquest ends Zoroastrian Persia 0 cit. The Muslim Arab conquest topples the Sassanid empire, and Zoroastrianism slowly gives way to Islam in its homeland. Over the following centuries many of the faithful would flee eastward to India. religion / war ●●●

668 Unification of Korea under Silla 0 cit. Silla defeated Goguryeo and Baekje to unify most of the Korean peninsula. The Unified Silla period brought a flowering of Buddhist art and culture. politics / war ●●●●

10 October 680 Battle of Karbala 0 cit. Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad, is killed with his small band by Umayyad forces. His martyrdom becomes the defining event of Shia identity and hardens the Sunni-Shia split. religion / war ●●●●

711 Fall of the Visigothic Kingdom 0 cit. In 711 CE an Umayyad army defeated and killed the Visigothic king Roderic near the Guadalete River. Muslim forces swept across most of the Iberian Peninsula, ending the Visigothic kingdom. politics / religion / war ●●●

711 Muslim conquest of Hispania 0 cit. A largely Berber army under Tariq ibn Ziyad crosses from North Africa and defeats the Visigoths, bringing most of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule within a few years. The region, called al-Andalus, becomes a center of learning and religious mixing for centuries. Muslim rule in parts of Spain lasts until 1492. politics / religion / war ●●●

711 Muhammad bin Qasim's conquest of Sindh 0 cit. An Umayyad army under Muhammad bin Qasim conquers Sindh in the Indus valley, the first lasting Muslim foothold in the Indian subcontinent. It opens the long history of Islam in South Asia. Larger Muslim states there follow with the Delhi Sultanate centuries later. politics / religion / war ●●

711 Muslim conquest of Iberia opens a new era for Jews 0 cit. Arab and Berber armies overthrow the Visigothic kingdom, whose late kings had persecuted and tried to forcibly baptize the Jews. Under Muslim rule Jews were tolerated as a protected but subordinate people, and their conditions improved sharply. This opening set the stage for centuries of Jewish life in the land they called Sepharad. politics / religion / war ●●●

717 Greek fire saves Constantinople 0 cit. An Umayyad army and fleet besieged Constantinople for a year, aiming to end the empire, but the great walls and a secret incendiary weapon held them off. This 'Greek fire', sprayed from ships and burning even on water, became the empire's most feared weapon; its exact recipe was a guarded secret and is still debated. The failed siege blunted the Arab advance into Europe and let Byzantium endure. technology / war ●●

c. 718 to c. 1492 Reconquista 0 cit. no story Christian kingdoms gradually reconquer Muslim-ruled Iberia over nearly eight centuries, ending with the fall of Granada in 1492. The struggle forges the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal. religion / war ●●●●

750 Fall of the Umayyad Caliphate 0 cit. In 750 CE the Abbasid revolution defeated the Umayyad army at the Battle of the Zab and overthrew the ruling dynasty. The Abbasids massacred the Umayyad family and moved the center of the caliphate eastward. politics / religion / war ●●●●

December 755 to 763 An Lushan Rebellion 0 cit. General An Lushan revolts against the Tang dynasty, seizing both capitals in a war that kills or displaces tens of millions. The Tang survive but never recover their former power. politics / war ●●●●

756 Pepin's Donation creates the Papal States 0 cit. The Frankish king Pepin the Short defeated the Lombards and granted conquered lands in central Italy to the pope. This Donation of Pepin created the Papal States, a territory the popes would rule for over a thousand years. politics / religion / war ●●●●

772 to 804 Saxon Wars 0 cit. no story Charlemagne fights a three-decade campaign to conquer and forcibly Christianize the Saxons. The wars extend Frankish power across Germany. religion / war ●●●

772 to 804 Charlemagne forces the Saxons to convert 0 cit. Charlemagne cuts down the Irminsul and wages decades of war to convert the pagan Saxons by the sword, including the massacre of thousands at Verden in 782. The old Germanic religion was stamped out on the continent centuries before it fell in the Norse north. religion / war ●●●

c. 793 to c. 1066 Viking Invasions of Europe 0 cit. no story Scandinavian raiders and armies attack and settle across the British Isles, Francia, and beyond for nearly three centuries. The Viking age founds new states from Normandy to the Danelaw and Kievan Rus. exploration / war ●●●●

June 793 The Lindisfarne raid opens the Viking Age 0 cit. Norse raiders sack the monastery of Lindisfarne off the English coast, the shock that opened the Viking Age. For nearly three centuries Norse seafarers raided, traded, and settled from Russia to North America. religion / war ●●●●

795 Viking raids and the founding of Dublin 0 cit. Viking raids on Irish monasteries began around 795 and grew into permanent settlement. Norse traders established a fortified base at Dublin by 841 and founded other port towns including Waterford, Wexford, Cork and Limerick. These were Ireland's first true towns, and they tied the island into wider North Atlantic trade networks. economy / war ●●

c. 800 Odin leads the Norse gods as god of wisdom and war 0 cit. Odin, chief of the Norse Aesir, sought wisdom at the cost of an eye and hung on the world tree to win the runes. He gathered slain warriors to Valhalla for the final battle. religion / war ●●●

c. 800 Carolingian Feudal Levy and Knight Service 0 cit. Under Charlemagne and his successors, military obligation became tied to landholding: nobles who held land from the king owed him mounted warriors, knights, in return. This system of feudal levies spread across medieval Europe and made war-fighting the specialized business of an armored aristocracy rather than the general citizenry. It set the pattern for European "who fights" arrangements for the next several centuries, until the rise of paid professional and mercenary forces. society / war ●●

c. 850 Gunpowder 0 cit. Chinese alchemists mixed saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur into an explosive powder. Gunpowder led to firearms and cannon and changed warfare worldwide. technology / war ●●●●●

869 to 883 The Zanj Rebellion 0 cit. Enslaved East Africans, known as the Zanj, rose in a massive revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate that lasted 14 years. It was one of the largest slave uprisings in history before it was crushed. society / war ●●●

874 to 884 Huang Chao Rebellion 0 cit. no story A huge rebel army under Huang Chao sacks both Tang capitals and massacres the merchant city of Guangzhou. The devastation fatally weakens the Tang dynasty. society / war ●●●

c. 880 Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum 0 cit. Pact between Alfred the Great of Wessex and the Viking king Guthrum defining the boundary between English and Danish rule. It formalized the Danelaw and set legal terms between the two peoples. diplomacy / politics / war ●●

907 Collapse of the Tang Dynasty 0 cit. In 907 CE the warlord Zhu Wen forced the last Tang emperor to abdicate, ending nearly three centuries of Tang rule. China broke apart into the rival regimes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. politics / war ●●●●

907 Collapse of the Tang and Five Dynasties 0 cit. The Tang dynasty fell in 907 CE, opening a period of fragmentation known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Rival regimes competed until the Song reunified much of China. politics / war ●●●

c. 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte 0 cit. Agreement between King Charles the Simple of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo, granting Rollo lands around Rouen in exchange for defense and baptism. It created what became the Duchy of Normandy. diplomacy / politics / war ●●●

August 955 Otto I defeats the Magyars at Lechfeld 0 cit. Otto I, king of the Germans, crushed a Magyar raiding army near Augsburg. The victory ended decades of steppe raids and made Otto the strongest ruler in the West. It set the stage for his claim to the imperial crown. politics / war ●●

c. 988 Varangian Guard formed for the Byzantine emperor 0 cit. Byzantine Emperor Basil II received several thousand Scandinavian and Rus warriors from Kievan Rus and formed them into an elite personal guard, later known as the Varangian Guard. Composed largely of Norse and, from the 11th century, Anglo-Saxon warriors, the unit was famed for its loyalty since its foreign members had no local political ties. It served as the Byzantine emperors' bodyguard for several centuries. politics / war ●●

c. January 1005 Chanyuan Treaty 0 cit. Peace between Song China and the Khitan Liao dynasty under which the Song paid annual tribute in silk and silver. It bought more than a century of peace on the northern frontier. diplomacy / economy / politics / war ●●●

23 April 1014 Battle of Clontarf 0 cit. High King Brian Boru defeated an alliance of the Norse of Dublin and the king of Leinster at Clontarf, though Brian himself was killed. Nationalist tradition later cast it as the battle that broke Viking power in Ireland. Historians now read it more as a struggle for the high kingship among Irish rival dynasties, in which Norse forces fought on both sides. politics / war ●●

1025 Basil II brings the empire to its medieval peak 0 cit. Basil II, called the Bulgar-Slayer after his long and brutal wars, died having pushed the frontiers to their greatest extent since Justinian. The empire he left was rich, disciplined, and dominant across the Balkans and the east. Within fifty years weak rule and court rivalries would squander that strength. politics / war ●●

c. 1037 Founding of the Seljuk Empire 0 cit. The Seljuk Turks under Tughril established a large empire across Persia and the Near East. They became protectors of the Abbasid caliph and pushed into Anatolia. politics / war ●●●●

c. 1040 Samuel ibn Naghrillah, vizier and general of Granada 0 cit. Samuel ibn Naghrillah, known as Samuel ha-Nagid, rose to become vizier of the Muslim kingdom of Granada and led its armies in the field, an almost unheard-of height for a Jew. He was also a major Hebrew poet and Talmudic scholar. His career shows how far a Jew could rise under Muslim rule, but it also stirred resentment that would soon turn deadly. culture / politics / war ●●●

c. 1048 to c. 1308 Byzantine-Seljuk Wars 0 cit. no story Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantium at Manzikert in 1071 and settle Anatolia, which gradually turns Turkish and Muslim. The Byzantine appeal for help against them triggers the Crusades. war ●●●

September 1066 to 1071 Norman Conquest of England 0 cit. no story William of Normandy defeats King Harold at Hastings and subdues England over the following years. The conquest replaces the English ruling class and ties England to continental Europe. politics / war ●●●●

30 December 1066 The 1066 Granada massacre 0 cit. A mob stormed the royal palace, killed Joseph ibn Naghrillah, the Jewish vizier and son of Samuel ha-Nagid, and turned on the Jewish quarter. Chroniclers put the dead in the thousands, though the exact figure is uncertain. The massacre is a reminder that convivencia was never full equality: Jewish standing depended on rulers, and a shift in the crowd's mood could erase it overnight. religion / society / war ●●●

26 August 1071 Battle of Manzikert opens Anatolia to the Turks 0 cit. The Seljuk Turks crush a Byzantine army at Manzikert, in the Armenian highlands, opening Anatolia to Turkish settlement. Byzantium had annexed the Bagratid kingdom and sacked Ani only years earlier, leaving Armenia exposed. Many Armenians migrate south, laying the ground for a new Armenian state in Cilicia. politics / war ●●

26 August 1071 Manzikert opens Anatolia to the Turks 0 cit. The Seljuk Turks defeated and captured Emperor Romanos IV at Manzikert in eastern Anatolia. The battlefield loss was not catastrophic in itself, but the civil wars that followed let the Turks pour into Anatolia, the empire's heartland and its main source of soldiers and grain. The slow loss of Asia Minor was a wound Byzantium never truly healed. politics / war ●●●

1085 Toledo falls to Christian Castile 0 cit. Alfonso VI of Castile captured Toledo, a major step in the Christian Reconquista of Iberia. Under early Christian rule Jews often kept their standing, and Toledo became a famous center where Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars translated Arabic and Greek learning into Latin. For a time the transfer of power did not end Jewish flourishing. politics / science / war ●●

27 November 1095 Council of Clermont 0 cit. Pope Urban II calls on Western Christians to march east and take Jerusalem, launching the First Crusade. Two centuries of crusading follow, reshaping relations between Christian Europe and the Islamic world. religion / war ●●●●

27 November 1095 Council of Clermont launches the First Crusade 0 cit. Pope Urban II called on Western knights to march east and recover Jerusalem, promising spiritual rewards to those who went. The appeal launched the Crusades and showed the papacy directing armies across the continent. politics / religion / war ●●●●

1095 Byzantium's appeal helps launch the First Crusade 0 cit. Emperor Alexios I Komnenos asked the west for mercenaries to help recover lost lands from the Turks. Pope Urban II answered at the Council of Clermont with a call for a far grander armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem, launching the First Crusade. The crusaders helped Byzantium regain ground but also brought a large, unpredictable Latin army into a wary and mutually suspicious relationship. diplomacy / religion / war ●●●

August 1096 to July 1099 First Crusade 0 cit. no story Western European armies answer the papal call to take Jerusalem, capturing it in 1099 amid great slaughter. The victory founds the Crusader states and opens two centuries of holy war in the Levant. religion / war ●●●●

May 1096 to 1096 Crusaders massacre the Rhineland communities 0 cit. As the First Crusade set out for Jerusalem, bands led by Count Emicho turned on the Jews of the Rhineland instead. They killed thousands in Worms, Mainz, Cologne, and Speyer, giving victims the choice of baptism or death. Many Jews killed themselves and their families rather than convert, an act remembered as Kiddush Hashem, the sanctification of God's name. The massacres left a deep scar on Ashkenazi memory and liturgy. religion / society / war ●●●

15 July 1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem 0 cit. After a long siege, the armies of the First Crusade stormed Jerusalem and killed much of its Muslim and Jewish population. The massacre, carried out in the name of the faith the pope had called them to defend, became a lasting symbol of holy war. politics / religion / war ●●●

1119 Founding of the Knights Templar 0 cit. The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon were founded around 1119 to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. They are relevant to Freemasonry only through a later legend, not through any real historical link. religion / war ●●●

c. 1125 to c. 1234 Jin-Song Wars 0 cit. no story The Jurchen Jin dynasty conquers northern China from the Song, who hold the south for another century. The long division ends only when the Mongols destroy the Jin. war ●●●

1127 Jurchen Jin conquer the north and Southern Song 0 cit. The Jurchen Jin captured the Song capital Kaifeng in 1127 and seized northern China. The Song court fled south and rebuilt at Hangzhou as the Southern Song. politics / war ●●●●

c. 1140 to c. 1291 Templar Castles and Fortifications 0 cit. The order built and garrisoned major castles that anchored Crusader defenses, including strongholds in the Levant and on the Iberian frontier. These fortresses were centers of military and economic power. economy / war ●●●

c. 1141 Treaty of Shaoxing 0 cit. Peace between Song China and the Jurchen Jin dynasty that ceded northern China to the Jin and made the Southern Song a tribute-paying state. It fixed the border at the Huai River for decades. diplomacy / politics / war ●●●

1147 to 1150 Second Crusade 0 cit. no story Launched after the fall of Edessa, the crusade of the French and German kings fails disastrously outside Damascus. The failure emboldens Muslim reunification under Nur ad-Din. religion / war ●●●

c. 1147 to c. 1290 Northern Crusades 0 cit. no story German and Scandinavian crusaders conquer and Christianize the pagan peoples of the Baltic. The campaigns create the Teutonic Order's state in Prussia and Livonia. religion / war ●●●

1147 The Almohads shatter the Golden Age 0 cit. The Almohads, a strict Berber dynasty from North Africa, conquered Muslim Spain and abolished the old tolerance of Jews and Christians. They offered conversion, exile, or death, and the ancient Jewish communities of al-Andalus were destroyed or driven out. Maimonides was among the refugees. The Golden Age under Muslim rule was over. politics / religion / war ●●●

c. 1150 The Guelphs and Ghibellines divide Italy 0 cit. Across the Italian cities, factions formed around two loyalties: Guelphs backing the pope and Ghibellines backing the emperor. The names came from rival German dynasties but became labels for local feuds that ran for generations. The split shows how the papal-imperial rivalry seeped into everyday politics. politics / religion / war ●●

1169 The Norman invasion of Ireland 0 cit. The deposed king of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, invited Anglo-Norman lords from Wales to help recover his kingdom. Led by Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow, they landed in 1169 and quickly seized Wexford, Waterford and Dublin. Their arrival began roughly eight centuries of English and later British involvement in Ireland. politics / war ●●●

1171 Henry II and the Lordship of Ireland 0 cit. Alarmed by Strongbow's success, King Henry II of England landed in 1171 to bring the Norman lords and Irish kings under his authority. He took the title Lord of Ireland, a claim the papacy had earlier endorsed. English control was real near Dublin but thin elsewhere, and over later centuries many Norman families became, as the saying went, more Irish than the Irish themselves. politics / war ●●

29 May 1176 The Lombard League defeats Barbarossa at Legnano 0 cit. An alliance of northern Italian cities, backed by the pope, beat Emperor Frederick Barbarossa's army in the field. The loss forced him to recognize the cities' self-rule. It showed the limits of imperial power south of the Alps against wealthy, self-governing towns. politics / war ●●

1180 to April 1185 Genpei War 0 cit. no story The Minamoto and Taira clans fight a civil war that ends with the Taira destroyed at the naval battle of Dan-no-ura. The victory establishes the Kamakura shogunate and seven centuries of samurai rule. politics / war ●●●

1181 The Assize of Arms sets the duty to bear arms for defence 0 cit. Henry II's Assize of Arms required free men to keep weapons and armour matched to their wealth and to answer a muster in defence of the realm. It put into law an older idea that ordinary men, not just paid soldiers, owed service to defend their own country. This obligation became the root of the English militia and, much later, of the home guard tradition. politics / war ●

4 July 1187 Templar Losses at the Battle of Hattin 0 cit. Saladin's forces crushed the Crusader army, and many captured Templars were executed. The defeat led to the loss of Jerusalem and weakened the Crusader states. religion / war ●●●

1189 to September 1192 Third Crusade 0 cit. no story Richard the Lionheart, Philip of France, and Frederick Barbarossa march against Saladin after his capture of Jerusalem. The crusade retakes the coast but not Jerusalem, ending in a negotiated truce. religion / war ●●●●

2 September 1192 Treaty of Jaffa 0 cit. Truce between Richard I of England and Saladin ending the Third Crusade. Jerusalem stayed under Muslim rule but Christian pilgrims gained free access to the holy sites. diplomacy / religion / war ●●●

1202 to April 1204 Fourth Crusade 0 cit. no story A crusade bound for Egypt is diverted and sacks Christian Constantinople in 1204. The blow permanently weakens Byzantium and deepens the split between the Latin and Greek churches. religion / war ●●●●

13 April 1204 The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople 0 cit. A crusade meant for the Holy Land was diverted and turned on the Christian city of Constantinople, which the crusaders looted and burned. Pope Innocent III had forbidden the attack and condemned it, but the assault crippled the Byzantine Empire and deepened the split between Rome and the Eastern Church. politics / religion / war ●●●●