HANDOUT FOR NOV. 8: BYZANTIUM c.650-900.
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Significant Emperors:
Heraclius 610-641
Justinian II 685-695, overthrown, but returns to rule again 705-711.
Leo III 717-741 first Iconoclast emperor.
Constantine V 741-775
Irene 797-802, claims the throne for herself after murdering her son.
Theophilus 829-842
Iconoclasm:
Iconodules: supporters of icon-veneration.
Iconoclasts: opponents of icon-veneration.
726-787: First phase of Iconoclasm.
John of Damascus (c.675-749) a theologian living under Muslim rule; defends icons.
754: Church Council in Constantinople decrees in favor of Iconoclasm.
787: Council at Nicaea rejects Iconoclasm and restores icon-worship.
813-842: Iconoclasts in power again.
Other events:
674-678: First siege of Constantinople by Arabs.
717-718: Second siege of Constantinople by Arabs.
811: Krum, khan of the Bulgars, kills Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I in battle and uses his skull for a drinking-cup.
c.862: Khan Boris of the Bulgars accepts Christianity.
c.863-869: Cyril and Methodius preach Christianity to the Slavs. "Cyrillic" alphabet invented.