Timeline of Orthodoxy in Greece
Encyclopedia
This is a timeline of the presence of Orthodoxy in Greece. The history of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically, as well as the territory now composing the modern state of Greece
.
Christianity was first brought to the geographical area corresponding to modern Greece by the Apostle Paul
, although the church’s apostolicity also rests upon St. Andrew
who preached the gospel in Greece and suffered martyrdom in Patras, Titus, Paul’s companion who preached the gospel in Crete where he became bishop, Philip
who, according to the tradition, visited and preached in Athens, Luke the Evangelist
who was martyred in Thebes, Lazarus of Bethany
, Bishop of Kittium in Cyprus, and John the Theologian
who was exiled on the island of Patmos where he received the Revelation
recorded in the last book of the New Testament
. In addition, the Theotokos
is regarded as having visited the Holy Mountain
in 49 AD according to tradition. Thus Greece became the first European area to accept the gospel
of Christ. Towards the end of the 2nd century the early apostolic bishoprics had developed into metropolitan sees in the most important cities. Such were the sees of Thessaloniki
, Corinth
, Nicopolis
, Philippi
and Athens
.
By the 4th century almost the entire Balkan peninsula constituted the Exarchate of Illyricum which was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome. Illyricum was assigned to the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople by the emperor in 732. From then on the Church in Greece remained under Constantinople till the fall of the Byzantine empire
to the Turks in 1453. As an integral part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate the church remained under its jurisdiction up to the time when Greece won her freedom from Turkish domination. During the Ottoman occupation up to 6,000 Greek clergymen, ca. 100 Bishops, and 11 Patriarchs knew the Ottoman sword.
The Greek War of Independence
of 1821-28, while leading to the liberation of southern Greece from the Turkish yoke, created anomalies in ecclesiastical relations, and in 1850 the Endemousa Synod
in Constantinople declared the Church of Greece
autocephalous
.
In the twentieth century during much of the period of communism, the Church of Greece
saw itself as a guardian of Orthodoxy. It cherishes its place as the cradle of the primitive church and the Greek clergy are still present in the historic places of Istanbul
and Jerusalem, and Cyprus
. The autocephalous Church of Greece is organised into 81 dioceses, however 35 of these are nominally under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople but are administered as part of the Church of Greece (except for the dioceses of Crete, the Dodecanese, and Mount Athos
which are under the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople).
The Archbishop of Athens and All Greece presides over both a standing synod of twelve metropolitans (six from the new territories and six from southern Greece), who participate in the synod in rotation and on an annual basis, and a synod of the hierarchy (in which all ruling metropolitans participate), which meets once a year.
Among the current concerns of the Church of Greece are the Christian response to globalization
, to interreligious dialogue
, and a common Christian voice
within the framework of the European Union
.
The population of Greece is 11.1 million (UN, 2007), 98% of which are Greek Orthodox (CIA World Factbook).
Patriarchate of Rome Era (325-732)
,_where_the_hellenic-orthodox_spirit_remains_alive_-_oil_painting_on_canvas.jpg)
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
Christianity was first brought to the geographical area corresponding to modern Greece by the Apostle Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
, although the church’s apostolicity also rests upon St. Andrew
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
who preached the gospel in Greece and suffered martyrdom in Patras, Titus, Paul’s companion who preached the gospel in Crete where he became bishop, Philip
Philip the Apostle
Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostle who preached in Greece, Syria, and Phrygia....
who, according to the tradition, visited and preached in Athens, Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist was an Early Christian writer whom Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius said was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles...
who was martyred in Thebes, Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days, is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death...
, Bishop of Kittium in Cyprus, and John the Theologian
John of Patmos
John of Patmos is the name given, in the Book of Revelation, as the author of the apocalyptic text that is traditionally cannonized in the New Testament...
who was exiled on the island of Patmos where he received the Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
recorded in the last book of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. In addition, the Theotokos
Theotokos
Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
is regarded as having visited the Holy Mountain
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
in 49 AD according to tradition. Thus Greece became the first European area to accept the gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
of Christ. Towards the end of the 2nd century the early apostolic bishoprics had developed into metropolitan sees in the most important cities. Such were the sees of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
, Nicopolis
Nicopolis
Nicopolis — or Actia Nicopolis — was an ancient city of Epirus, founded 31 BC by Octavian in memory of his victory over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium the previous year. It was later the capital of Epirus Vetus...
, Philippi
Philippi
Philippi was a city in eastern Macedonia, established by Philip II in 356 BC and abandoned in the 14th century after the Ottoman conquest...
and Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
.
By the 4th century almost the entire Balkan peninsula constituted the Exarchate of Illyricum which was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome. Illyricum was assigned to the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople by the emperor in 732. From then on the Church in Greece remained under Constantinople till the fall of the Byzantine empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
to the Turks in 1453. As an integral part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate the church remained under its jurisdiction up to the time when Greece won her freedom from Turkish domination. During the Ottoman occupation up to 6,000 Greek clergymen, ca. 100 Bishops, and 11 Patriarchs knew the Ottoman sword.
The Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
of 1821-28, while leading to the liberation of southern Greece from the Turkish yoke, created anomalies in ecclesiastical relations, and in 1850 the Endemousa Synod
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod...
in Constantinople declared the Church of Greece
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
autocephalous
Autocephaly
Autocephaly , in hierarchical Christian churches and especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, is the status of a hierarchical church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop...
.
In the twentieth century during much of the period of communism, the Church of Greece
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
saw itself as a guardian of Orthodoxy. It cherishes its place as the cradle of the primitive church and the Greek clergy are still present in the historic places of Istanbul
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
and Jerusalem, and Cyprus
Cypriot Orthodox Church
The Church of Cyprus is an autocephalous Greek church within the communion of Orthodox Christianity. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches, achieving independence from the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East in 431...
. The autocephalous Church of Greece is organised into 81 dioceses, however 35 of these are nominally under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople but are administered as part of the Church of Greece (except for the dioceses of Crete, the Dodecanese, and Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
which are under the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople).
The Archbishop of Athens and All Greece presides over both a standing synod of twelve metropolitans (six from the new territories and six from southern Greece), who participate in the synod in rotation and on an annual basis, and a synod of the hierarchy (in which all ruling metropolitans participate), which meets once a year.
Among the current concerns of the Church of Greece are the Christian response to globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, to interreligious dialogue
Interfaith
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels...
, and a common Christian voice
Christian worldview
Christian worldview refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which a Christian individual, group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it. Different denominations of Christianity have varying worldviews...
within the framework of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
The population of Greece is 11.1 million (UN, 2007), 98% of which are Greek Orthodox (CIA World Factbook).
Apostolic era (33-100)
- ca. 47-48 Apostle Paul's mission to Cyprus.
- ca. 49 Paul's mission to PhilippiPhilippiPhilippi was a city in eastern Macedonia, established by Philip II in 356 BC and abandoned in the 14th century after the Ottoman conquest...
, ThessalonikiThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
and VeriaVeriaVeria is a city built at the foot of Vermion Mountains in Greece. It is a commercial center of Macedonia, the capital of the prefecture of Imathia, the province of Imathia and the seat of a bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church...
; Lydia of ThyatiraLydia of ThyatiraLydia of Thyatira is a character in the New Testament. She is regarded as the first recorded convert to Christianity in Europe.-Name:The name, "Lydia", meaning "the Lydian woman", by which she was known indicates that she was from Lydia in Asia Minor. Though she is commonly known as “St...
becomes the first convert to Christianity in Europe after hearing Paul’s words in Philippi proclaiming the Gospel of Christ during his second mission journey (Acts 16:14-15). - 49 Paul's mission to Athens.
- ca. 51-52 Metropolis of Korinthos founded during Paul's first mission to Corinth; Paul writes his two Epistles to the Thessalonians.
- ca. 54 Paul writes his First Epistle to the CorinthiansFirst Epistle to the CorinthiansThe first epistle of Paul the apostle to the Corinthians, often referred to as First Corinthians , is the seventh book of the New Testament of the Bible...
. - ca. 55 Paul revisits Corinth.
- ca. 56 Paul revisits Macedonia; he writes his Second Epistle to the CorinthiansSecond Epistle to the CorinthiansThe second epistle of Paul the apostle to the Corinthians, often referred to as Second Corinthians , is the eighth book of the New Testament of the Bible...
. - ca. 61 Paul shipwrecked in Crete.
- 62 Crucifixion of Apostle Andrew in Patras.
- ca. 64 Paul ordained the Apostle Titus bishop of GortynGortynGortyn, Gortys or Gortyna is a municipality and an archaeological site on the Mediterranean island of Crete, 45 km away from the modern capital Heraklion. The seat of the municipality is the village Agioi Deka...
in Crete, becoming the first Bishop of Crete. - ca. 95 Apocalypse of John written on the island of Patmos.
- 96 Martyrdom of Dionysius the AreopagiteDionysius the AreopagiteDionysius the Areopagite was a judge of the Areopagus who, as related in the Acts of the Apostles, , was converted to Christianity by the preaching of the Apostle Paul during the Areopagus sermon...
of the Seventy. - 100 Death of St. John the Theologian in Ephesus.
Ante-Nicene era (100-325)
- ca. 100 During the second and third centuries, Greece was divided into provinces including Achaea, Macedonia, and Moesia.
- ca. 120 Martyrdom of Eleutherios and his mother AnthiaEleutherius and AntiaEleutherius and his mother Antia are venerated as Christian saints and martyrs....
. - 124 Apostles QuadratusQuadratus of AthensSaint Quadratus of Athens is said to have been the first of the Christian apologists. He is said by Eusebius of Caesarea to have been a disciple of the Apostles...
and Aristides present Christian apologies to Emperor Hadrian at Athens. - 128 Aquila'sAquila of SinopeAquila of Sinope was a 2nd Century CE native of Pontus in Anatolia known for producing an exceedingly literal translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek around 130 CE. He was a proselyte to Judaism and a disciple of Rabbi Akiba...
Greek translation of the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
. - ca. 130 Death of Apostle QuadratusQuadratus of AthensSaint Quadratus of Athens is said to have been the first of the Christian apologists. He is said by Eusebius of Caesarea to have been a disciple of the Apostles...
, of the SeventySeventy DisciplesThe seventy disciples or seventy-two disciples were early followers of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke . According to Luke, the only gospel in which they appear, Jesus appointed them and sent them out in pairs on a specific mission which is detailed in the text...
. - 156 Martyrdom of Polycarp of SmyrnaPolycarpSaint Polycarp was a 2nd century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him...
. - 180-192 Theodotion'sTheodotionTheodotion was a Hellenistic Jewish scholar,, perhaps working in Ephesus who in ca. AD 150 translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. Whether he was revising the Septuagint, or was working from Hebrew manuscripts that represented a parallel tradition that has not survived, is debated...
Greek translation of the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
. - 190 Death of Athenagoras of AthensAthenagoras of AthensAthenagoras was a Father of the Church, a Proto-orthodox Christian apologist who lived during the second half of the 2nd century of whom little is known for certain, besides that he was Athenian , a philosopher, and a convert to Christianity. In his writings he styles himself as "Athenagoras, the...
, a Christian apologist who wrote in defense of the resurrection of the dead. - 193-211 Symmachus'Symmachus the EbioniteSymmachus was the author of one of the Greek versions of the Old Testament. It was included by Origen in his Hexapla and Tetrapla, which compared various versions of the Old Testament side by side with the Septuagint...
Greek translation of the Old Testament. - 202 Death of Great MartyrGreat martyrGreat Martyr or Great-Martyr is a classification of saints who are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Rite of Constantinople....
HaralambosCharalampusSaint Charalampus was an early Christian bishop in Magnesia, a region of Thessaly, in the diocese of the same name. His name Χαράλαμπος means joyful light in Greek...
, Bishop of MagnesiaMagnesia PrefectureMagnesia Prefecture was one of the prefectures of Greece. Its capital was Volos. It was established in 1899 from the Larissa Prefecture. The prefecture was disbanded on 1 January 2011 by the Kallikratis programme, and split into the peripheral units of Magnesia and the Sporades.The toponym is...
. - 210 Hippolytus of Rome, bishop and martyr and last of Greek-speaking fathers in Rome, writes Refutation of All HeresiesRefutation of all HeresiesThe Refutation of All Heresies or Philosophumena is a compendious Christian polemical work of the early third century, now generally attributed to Hippolytus of Rome. Most of it was recovered in 1842 in a manuscript at Mount Athos, but the complete text is not known...
(Philosophumena), and Apostolic Tradition. - ca 250 Matrydom of Christopher of LyciaSaint Christopher.Saint Christopher is a saint venerated by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, listed as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd century Roman Emperor Decius or alternatively under the Roman Emperor Maximinus II Dacian...
; martyrdom of Cyprian and JustinaCyprian and JustinaSaints Cyprian and Justina are honored in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy as Christians of Antioch, Pisidia who in 304, during the persecution of Diocletian, suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia on September 26, the date of their feast.-Legend:The outline of the...
at Nicomedia; death of Hieromartyr Leonidas, Bp. of Athens. - ca. 251 Martyric death of Isidore of ChiosIsidore of ChiosIsidore of Chios was a faithful Christian who fell victim on the island of Chios in 251 under the persecutions ordered by the Roman emperor Decius...
under the persecutions of Decius. - 270 Death of Gregory the WonderworkerGregory ThaumaturgusGregory Thaumaturgus, also known as Gregory of Neocaesarea or Gregory the Wonderworker, was a Christian bishop of the 3rd century.-Biography:Gregory was born at Neo-Caesarea around 213 A.D...
(Thaumaturgus), founder of the Church in CappadociaCappadociaCappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
. - 286 Martyrs Timothy and Mavra.
- 293 Emperor DiocletianDiocletianDiocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
institutes the TetrarchyTetrarchyThe term Tetrarchy describes any system of government where power is divided among four individuals, but usually refers to the tetrarchy instituted by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 293, marking the end of the Crisis of the Third Century and the recovery of the Roman Empire...
.
- 302 20,000 Martyrs burned at Nicomedia20,000 Martyrs of NicomediaThe 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia allegedly died in Nicomedia in Bithynia during the rule of Emperors Diocletian and Maximian in the early fourth century...
. - 303 Death of Great-Martyr PanteleimonSaint PantaleonSaint Pantaleon , counted in the West among the late-medieval Fourteen Holy Helpers and in the East as one of the Holy Unmercenary Healers, was a martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia during the Diocletian persecution of 303 AD...
and martyrdom of George the Trophy-bearerSaint GeorgeSaint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
at Nicomedia. - 304 Death of Virgin-Martyr Anysia of ThessalonikiAnysia of SalonikaSaint Anysia of Salonika was a Christian virgin and martyr of the 4th century.Anysia was born to a wealthy and pious Christian family in Salonika. She dedicated herself to vows of chastity and poverty, praying and helping the poor. The legend of her martyrdom states that in 304, a Roman soldier...
. - 306 Martyric death of DemetriosSaint Demetrius of ThessalonikiSaint Demetrius of Thessaloniki was a Christian martyr, who lived in the early 4th century.During the Middle Ages, he came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox military saints, often paired with Saint George...
in ThessalonikiThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
. - 306-37 Reign of Emperor Constantine the GreatConstantine IConstantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
. - ca. 306 Death of Great-Martyr Barbara of NicomediaSaint BarbaraSaint Barbara, , Feast Day December 4, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr....
; death of Bp. Parthenios of LampsacusLampsacusLampsacus was an ancient Greek city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been transmitted in the nearby modern town of Lapseki.-Ancient history:...
. - 311 Martyrdom of Bp. Methodius of OlympusMethodius of OlympusThe Church Father and Saint Methodius of Olympus was a Christian bishop, ecclesiastical author, and martyr.-Life:Few reports have survived on the life of this first scientific opponent of Origen; even these short accounts present many difficulties. Eusebius does not mention him in his Church...
. - 313 Edict of MilanEdict of MilanThe Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire...
issued by Constantine the GreatConstantine IConstantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
and co-emperor Licinius, officially declaring religious freedom in the Roman Empire. - 314 Council of AncyraSynod of AncyraThe Synod of Ancyra was an ecclesiastical council, or synod, convened in Ancyra , the seat of the Roman administration for the province of Galatia, in 314...
held. - 316 Death of Blaise of SebasteSaint BlaiseSaint Blaise was a physician, and bishop of Sebastea . According to his Acta Sanctorum, he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded...
. - 319 Matyrdom of Theodore StratelatesTheodore StratelatesTheodore Stratelates , also known as Theodore of Heraclea, is a martyr and Warrior Saint venerated with the title Great-martyr in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches....
("the General"), under Licinius.
Patriarchate of Rome Era (325-732)
Nicene era (325-451)
- 325 First Ecumenical Council held in Nicea, condemning ArianismArianismArianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
, setting the PaschalionComputusComputus is the calculation of the date of Easter in the Christian calendar. The name has been used for this procedure since the early Middle Ages, as it was one of the most important computations of the age....
, and issuing the first version of the Nicene CreedNicene CreedThe Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
, also establishing the supremacy of honor of the Apostolic Sees as Rome, followed by Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. - 330 Byzantium refounded as Constantinople / New Rome, Christian capital of the Roman Empire, and is dedicated to the TheotokosTheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
by Emperor Constantine. - 333 Constantine commissions EusebiusEusebius of CaesareaEusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
, to prepare 50 copies of the Bible for churches in the new capital. - 335 Building of the Protaton church at Karyes (Athos)Karyes (Athos)Karyes is a settlement in Mount Athos. It is the seat of the clerical and secular administration of the Athonite monastic state. The 2001 Greek census reported a population of 233 inhabitants...
, dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, oldest church on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. - ca. 330-337 Church of Panagia Ekatontapyliani (Hundred Doors) in Paros founded by St. Helen, during her pilgrimage to the Holy LandHoly LandThe Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. - 337 Under Constantine the Great Greece was part of the prefectures of Macedonia and Thrace.
- 340-570 ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
overtakes Rome as the largest city in the world by population. - 342 Death of Nicholas of MyraSaint NicholasSaint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
. - 348 Death of Spyridon of TrimythousSaint SpyridonSaint Spyridon, Bishop of Trimythous also sometimes written Saint Spiridon is a saint honoured in both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions.-Life:...
. - ca.354 Emperor Constantius II sent the ArianArianismArianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
bishop Theophilos the IndianTheophilos the IndianTheophilos the Indian , also called "The Ethiopian", was an Arian bishop who was alternately in and out of favor with the court of the Roman emperor Constantius II. Originally from the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean, he came to the court of Constantine I as a young man and was ordained a...
on mission to south Asia via Arabia where he is said to have converted the Himyarites and built three churches in southwest Arabia; he is also said to have found Christians in India. - 358 Basil the GreatBasil of CaesareaBasil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian...
founds monastery of Annesos in Pontus, the model for Eastern monasticismMonasticismMonasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...
. - 359 Councils of SeleuciaCouncil of SeleuciaThe Council of Seleucia was an early Christian church synod at Seleucia Isauria .In 358, the Roman Emperor Constantius II requested two councils, one of the western bishops at Ariminum and one of the eastern bishops at Nicomedia to resolve the Arian controversy over the nature of the divinity of...
in the east and RiminiCouncil of RiminiThe Council of Rimini was an early Christian church synod held in Ariminum ....
in the west. - 360 First church of Hagia SophiaHagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
inaugurated by Emperor Constantius IIConstantius IIConstantius II , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 361. The second son of Constantine I and Fausta, he ascended to the throne with his brothers Constantine II and Constans upon their father's death....
. - 364 Council of LaodiceaCouncil of LaodiceaThe Council of Laodicea was a regional synod of approximately thirty clerics from Asia Minor that assembled about 363–364 AD in Laodicea, Phrygia Pacatiana.-Historical context:...
held. - 375 Basil the GreatBasil of CaesareaBasil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian...
writes On the Holy Spirit, confirming the divinity of the Holy SpiritHoly SpiritHoly Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
. - 377 Epiphanius of SalamisEpiphanius of SalamisEpiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...
(Cyprus) writes PanarionPanarionIn early Christian heresiology, the Panarion , to which 16th-century Latin translations gave the name Adversus Haereses , is the most important of the works of Epiphanius of Salamis...
(Πανάριον, "Medicine Chest"), also known as Adversus Haereses ("Against Heresies"), listing 80 heresies, some of which are not described in any other surviving documents from the time . - 378 Visigoths defeat Emperor Valens at the Battle of AdrianopleBattle of AdrianopleThe Battle of Adrianople , sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between a Roman army led by the Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels led by Fritigern...
, permanently weakening northern borders of the empire.
- 379 Death of Basil the Great; the Cappadocian FathersCappadocian FathersThe Cappadocian Fathers are Basil the Great , who was bishop of Caesarea; Basil's brother Gregory of Nyssa , who was bishop of Nyssa; and a close friend, Gregory of Nazianzus , who became Patriarch of Constantinople...
Basil the GreatBasil of CaesareaBasil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian...
, Gregory of Nazianzus the TheologianGregory of NazianzusGregory of Nazianzus was a 4th-century Archbishop of Constantinople. He is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age...
, and Gregory of NyssaGregory of NyssaSt. Gregory of Nyssa was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great and a good friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity...
set their mark on all subsequent history of the Greek churches, through Basil's On the Holy Spirit, and Rules; Gregory of Nazianzus' Five Theological Orations; and Gregory of Nyssa's polemical works against various heretical teachings. - 380 Christianity established as the official faith of the Roman Empire by Emperor Theodosius the GreatTheodosius ITheodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
. - 381 Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, condemning Macedonianism/PneumatomachianismMacedonians (religious group)The Macedonians were a Christian sect of the 4th century, named after Bishop Macedonius I of Constantinople. They professed a belief similar to that of Arianism, but apparently denying the divinity of the Holy Spirit, and regarding the substance of Jesus Christ as being the same in kind as that of...
and AppollinarianismApollinarismApollinarism or Apollinarianism was a view proposed by Apollinaris of Laodicea that Jesus could not have had a human mind; rather, that Jesus had a human body and lower soul but a divine mind....
, declaring the divinity of the Holy Spirit, confirming the previous Ecumenical CouncilEcumenical councilAn ecumenical council is a conference of ecclesiastical dignitaries and theological experts convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
, and completing the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. - ca. 383 First monastic institution established in Constantinople at PsamathiaSamatyaSamatya is a neighborhood of the Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located along the Marmara Sea, and borders to the west on the neighborhood of Yedikule . The name originates from the Greek word Ψαμάθιον Samatya is a neighborhood of the Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located along the Marmara...
, outside the city. - 386 Panagia Soumela MonasterySumela MonasteryThe Sümela Monastery , , i.e. monastery of the Panaghia at Melá mountain) is a Greek Orthodox monastery, standing at the foot of a steep cliff facing the Altındere valley, in the region of Maçka in Trabzon Province, modern Turkey...
founded in Trebizond, Pontus, Asia Minor, after St. Luke'sLuke the EvangelistLuke the Evangelist was an Early Christian writer whom Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius said was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles...
Icon of the Mother of GodTheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
appears at Mt. Mela. - 391 Death of Gregory the TheologianGregory of NazianzusGregory of Nazianzus was a 4th-century Archbishop of Constantinople. He is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age...
. - 391-92 Closing of all non-Christian temples in the Empire; Theodosius the GreatTheodosius ITheodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
ends pagan Eleusinian MysteriesEleusinian MysteriesThe Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance...
by decree. - 394 Epiphanius of SalamisEpiphanius of SalamisEpiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...
(Cyprus) attacks teachings of OrigenOrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
as heretical. - 395 Death of Gregory of NyssaGregory of NyssaSt. Gregory of Nyssa was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great and a good friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity...
; re-division of Empire with death of Emperor Theodosius the Great. - ca. 395 Theodosius I divided the prefecture of Macedonia into the provinces of Creta, Achaea, Thessalia, Epirus Vetus, Epirus Nova, and Macedonia; the Aegean islands formed the province of Insulae in the prefecture of Asiana; the placing of the cincture (sash) of the Most Holy TheotokosTheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
in the Church of the Virgin in Halkoprateia-Constantinople (395-408). - 398 John ChrysostomJohn ChrysostomJohn Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
becomes Abp. of Constantinople. - 399 Death of Evagrius PonticusEvagrius PonticusEvagrius Ponticus , also called Evagrius the Solitary was a Christian monk and ascetic. One of the rising stars in the late fourth century church, he was well-known as a keen thinker, a polished speaker, and a gifted writer...
, the first monk to write extensively on the spiritual life, influencing his students PalladiusPalladiusPalladius was the first Bishop of the Christians of Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick. The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion consider Palladius a saint.-Armorica:...
and John Cassian, Maximus the ConfessorMaximus the ConfessorMaximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius...
, Diadochos of PhotikiDiadochos of PhotikiSaint Diadochos of Photiki was a fifth century ascetic whose work is included in the Philokalia.Scholars have acknowledged his great influence on later Byzantine saints such as Maximos the Confessor, John Climacus, Symeon the New Theologian, and in general the Hesychast movement of the 14th century...
, Isaac of NinevehIsaac of NinevehIsaac of Nineveh also remembered as Isaac the Syrian and Isaac Syrus was a Seventh century bishop and theologian best remembered for his written work. He is also regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church...
, Symeon the New TheologianSymeon the New TheologianSymeon the New Theologian was a Byzantine Christian monk and poet who was the last of three saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox church and given the title of "Theologian"...
, and Gregory PalamasGregory PalamasGregory Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. The teachings embodied in his writings defending Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam are sometimes referred to as Palamism, his followers as Palamites...
, among others. - 403 Synod of the OakSynod of the OakThe Synod of the Oak was a provincial synod, held in Constantinople in July of 403, which condemned and deposed John Chrysostom as Patriarch of Constantinople....
held near Chalcedon, deposing and exiling John ChrysostomJohn ChrysostomJohn Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
. - 407 Death of John Chrysostom in exile.
- 421 Emperor of the east Theodosius IITheodosius IITheodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
declares war on Persia when Persia begins persecuting Christians; the persecution lasts until 457. - 425 University of ConstantinopleUniversity of ConstantinopleThe University of Constantinople, sometimes known as the University of the palace hall of Magnaura in the Roman-Byzantine Empire was founded in 425 under the name of Pandidakterion...
founded as the first university in the world. - 426 Euthymius the GreatEuthymius the GreatSaint Euthymius , often styled the Great, was an Abbot in Palestine.Venerated in both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.-Biography:He was born in Melitene in Lesser Armenia...
establishes lavraLavraIn Orthodox Christianity and certain other Eastern Christian communities Lavra or Laura originally meant a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center...
in Palestinian desert, consecrated in 428 by Bp. Juvenal of JerusalemJuvenal of JerusalemSaint Juvenal was a bishop of Jerusalem from about 422. In 451, on the see of Jerusalem being recognised as a Patriarchate by the Council of Chalcedon, he became the first Patriarch of Jerusalem, an office he occupied until his death in 458....
. - 431 Third Ecumenical Council held in Ephesus, condemning NestorianismNestorianismNestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...
and PelagianismPelagianismPelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius , although he denied, at least at some point in his life, many of the doctrines associated with his name. It is the belief that original sin did not taint human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without...
, confirming the use of the term TheotokosTheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
to refer to the Virgin Mary, and confirming autocephalyAutocephalyAutocephaly , in hierarchical Christian churches and especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, is the status of a hierarchical church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop...
of Church of CyprusCypriot Orthodox ChurchThe Church of Cyprus is an autocephalous Greek church within the communion of Orthodox Christianity. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches, achieving independence from the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East in 431...
. - 437 Seven Sleepers of EphesusSeven SleepersThe Seven Sleepers, commonly called the "Seven Sleepers of Ephesus", refers to a group of Christian youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus around 250 AD, to escape a persecution of Christians being conducted during the reign of the Roman emperor Decius...
awakened to prove resurrection of the dead. - 438 Codex TheodosianusCodex TheodosianusThe Codex Theodosianus was a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Theodosius II in 429 and the compilation was published in the eastern half of the Roman Empire in 438...
published; relics of John ChrysostomJohn ChrysostomJohn Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
brought to Constantinople and buried in the Church of the Holy ApostlesChurch of the Holy ApostlesThe Church of the Holy Apostles , also known as the Imperial Polyandreion, was a Christian church built in Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, in 550. It was second only to the Church of the Holy Wisdom among the great churches of the capital...
. - 440 Death of Alexios the Man of GodAlexius of RomeSaint Alexius or Alexis of Rome or Alexis von Edessa was an Eastern saint whose veneration was later transplanted to Rome, a process facilitated by the fact that, according to the earlier Syriac legend that a "Man of God" of Edessa, Mesopotamia who during the episcopate of Bishop Rabbula lived by...
, Fool-for-Christ. - 447 Earthquake in Constantinople, when a boy was lifted up to heaven and heard the TrisagionTrisagionThe Trisagion , sometimes called by its opening line Agios O Theos or by the Latin Tersanctus, is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Catholic Churches.In those Churches which use the Byzantine Rite, the Trisagion is chanted...
. - 449 Robber Synod of Ephesus, presided over by Dioscorus of AlexandriaDioscorus of AlexandriaPope Dioscorus I of Alexandria was Patriarch of Alexandria from 444. He was deposed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 but was recognized as Patriarch by the Coptic Church until his death. He died in Asia Minor, on September 17, 454...
, with an order from the emperor to acquit EutychesEutychesEutyches was a presbyter and archimandrite at Constantinople. He first came to notice in 431 at the First Council of Ephesus, for his vehement opposition to the teachings of Nestorius; his condemnation of Nestorianism as heresy precipitated his being denounced as a heretic...
the MonophysiteMonophysitismMonophysitism , or Monophysiticism, is the Christological position that Jesus Christ has only one nature, his humanity being absorbed by his Deity...
.
Early Byzantine era (451-843)
- 451 Fourth Ecumenical Council meets at Chalcedon, condemning EutychianismEutychianismEutychianism refers to a set of Christian theological doctrines derived from the ideas of Eutyches of Constantinople . Eutychianism is a specific understanding of how the human and divine relate within the person of Jesus Christ .At various times, Eutyches taught that the human nature of Christ was...
and MonophysitismMonophysitismMonophysitism , or Monophysiticism, is the Christological position that Jesus Christ has only one nature, his humanity being absorbed by his Deity...
, affirming doctrine of two perfect and indivisible but distinct natures in Christ, and recognizing Church of Jerusalem as patriarchate. - 452 Second finding of the Head of John the Forerunner, at Emesa.
- 457 First coronation of Byzantine Emperor by patriarch of Constantinople; Proterius of AlexandriaProterius of AlexandriaHieromartyr Proterius of Alexandria , Patriarch of Alexandria , was elected by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to replace Dioscorus of Alexandria, who had been deposed by the same council...
is lynched by an Alexandrian mob; rejecting the Christological definitions of Chalcedon, the Egyptian or Coptic church goes its own way, becoming one of the Oriental Orthodox ChurchesOriental OrthodoxyOriental Orthodoxy is the faith of those Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the First Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon...
. - 458 Death of Bp. Theodoret of CyrrhusTheodoretTheodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria . He played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms...
, influential author and theologian who played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies. - 462 IndictionIndictionAn indiction is any of the years in a 15-year cycle used to date medieval documents throughout Europe, both East and West. Each year of a cycle was numbered: first indiction, second indiction, etc...
moved to September 1; Studion Monastery founded.
- 463 Death of Patapius of Thebes.
- ca.471 Patr. Acacius of ConstantinoplePatriarch Acacius of ConstantinopleAcacius was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 471 to 489. Acacius was practically the first prelate throughout the Eastern Orthodoxy and renowned for ambitious participation in the Chalcedonian controversy....
was first called "Oikoumenikos" (Ecumenical). - 484 Acacian SchismAcacian schismThe Acacian schism between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches lasted thirty-five years, from 484-519. It resulted from a drift in the leaders of Eastern Christianity toward Monophysitism, and Emperor Zeno's unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the parties with the Henotikon.-Chronology:In the...
. - 493 Death of Daniel the StyliteDaniel the StyliteSaint Daniel the Stylite is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic Churches. He was born in a village by the name of Maratha in upper Mesopotamia near Samosata, in today what is now a region of Turkey. He entered a monastery at the age of twelve and lived there...
an ascetic who lived for 33 years on a pillar near the city of Constantinople. - ca. 500 ZosimusZosimusZosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury.- Historia Nova :...
, pagan Greek historian writes Historia Nova ("New History"), a history of the Roman Empire to 410 AD, with an anti-Christian view offering a different interpretation to church affairs than from Christian sources; Pseudo-Dionysius the AreopagitePseudo-Dionysius the AreopagitePseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, also known as Pseudo-Denys, was a Christian theologian and philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, the author of the Corpus Areopagiticum . The author is identified as "Dionysos" in the corpus, which later incorrectly came to be attributed to Dionysius...
's writing corpus including the Divine Names, Mystical Theology, Celestial Hierarchy, and Ecclesiastical Hierarchy influences the development of Byzantine mystical spirituality and hesychasm through Maximus the ConfessorMaximus the ConfessorMaximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius...
, Symeon the New TheologianSymeon the New TheologianSymeon the New Theologian was a Byzantine Christian monk and poet who was the last of three saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox church and given the title of "Theologian"...
, and Gregory PalamasGregory PalamasGregory Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. The teachings embodied in his writings defending Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam are sometimes referred to as Palamism, his followers as Palamites...
. - ca.500-550 Andreas of CaesareaAndreas of CaesareaAndreas of Caesarea was a Greek theological writer and bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Krumbacher assigned him to the first half of the sixth century. He is variously placed by other scholars, from the fifth to the ninth century.-Works:...
, Bp. of CaesareaKayseriKayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...
in Cappadocia, writes the oldest surviving commentary on the Book of RevelationBook of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
. - 502 Start of Byzantine-Sassanid Wars, lasting until 562.
- 518 Patriarch John II of ConstantinopleJohn of CappadociaJohn II, surnamed Cappadox or the Cappadocian, was Patriarch of Constantinople in 518-520, during the reign of Byzantine emperor Anastasius I after an enforced condemnation of the Council of Chalcedon. His short patriarchate is memorable for the celebrated Acclamations of Constantinople, and the...
is addressed as "Oikoumenikos Patriarches" (Ecumenical Patriarch); the Byzantine government begins persecution of non-Chalcedonians in the east, especially in Mesopotamia. - 519 Eastern and Western churches reconciled with end of Acacian SchismAcacian schismThe Acacian schism between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches lasted thirty-five years, from 484-519. It resulted from a drift in the leaders of Eastern Christianity toward Monophysitism, and Emperor Zeno's unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the parties with the Henotikon.-Chronology:In the...
.
- 520 Romanus the Melodist the greatest hymnographer, develops the KontakionKontakionKontakion is a form of hymn performed in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The word derives from the Greek word kontax , meaning pole, specifically the pole around which a scroll is wound. The term describes the way in which the words on a scroll unfurl as it is read...
, a chanted verse sermon, to perfection; influenced by Ephrem the SyrianEphrem the SyrianEphrem the Syrian was a Syriac and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century. He is venerated by Christians throughout the world, and especially in the Syriac Orthodox Church, as a saint.Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as...
, he in turn influences Andrew of CreteAndrew of CreteFor the martyr of 766 of the same name, see Andrew of Crete .Saint Andrew of Crete For the martyr of 766 of the same name, see Andrew of Crete (martyr).Saint Andrew (Andreas) of Crete (also known as Andrew of Jerusalem) For the martyr of 766 of the same name, see Andrew of Crete (martyr).Saint...
. - 529 Emperor JustinianJustinian IJustinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
closes the School of AthensThe School of AthensThe School of Athens, or in Italian, is one of the most famous paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1510 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms now known as the , in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican...
, which PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
had founded in 387 BC. - 529-534 Justinian's Corpus Juris CivilisCorpus Juris CivilisThe Corpus Juris Civilis is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Eastern Roman Emperor...
issued, first comprehensive legal code in history of Roman Empire;; Justinian's Novella 131 formulated the proposed government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees under the auspices of a single universal empire (Pentarchy). - 532 Justinian the Great orders building of Hagia SophiaHagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
. - 537 Construction of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople completed; Justinian decrees that all dates must include the IndictionIndictionAn indiction is any of the years in a 15-year cycle used to date medieval documents throughout Europe, both East and West. Each year of a cycle was numbered: first indiction, second indiction, etc...
. - 537-752 Byzantine PapacyByzantine PapacyThe Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of the papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the apocrisiarii or the inhabitants of Byzantine Greece, Byzantine Syria, or Byzantine Sicily...
. - ca. 540 Death of Osios David of ThessalonikiDavid the DendriteDavid the Dendrite , also known as David the tree-dweller and David of Thessalonika, is a patron saint of Thessaloniki and a renowned holy fool. Originally from Mesopotamia, David became a monk at the Monastery of Saints Merkourios and Theodore outside Thessaloniki. Famed for his sound advice,...
. - 538 Emperor Justinian the Great, via deportations and force, manages to get all five patriarchates officially into communion.
- 540 Bulgar raids into Illyricum and northern Greece.
- 543 Doctrine of apokatastasis condemned by Synod of Constantinople; Justinian the Great sends missionaries to Nubia (the three kingdoms of Nobatia/NovatiaNobatiaNobatia or Nobadia was an ancient African Christian kingdom in Lower Nubia and subsequently a region of the larger Nubian Kingdom of Makuria...
, Alodia/AlwaAlodiaAlodia or Alwa was the southernmost of the three kingdoms of Christian Nubia; the other two were Nobatia and Makuria to the north.Much about this kingdom is still unknown, despite its thousand year existence and considerable power and geographic size. Due to fewer excavations far less is known...
, and Makuria). - 544 According to tradition the MandylionImage of EdessaAccording to Christian legend, the Image of Edessa was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus was imprinted — the first icon ....
of Edessa destroys Persian siege works.
- 553 Fifth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in an attempt to reconcile Chalcedonians with non-Chalcedonians—the Three ChaptersThree-Chapter ControversyThe Three-Chapter Controversy, a phase in the Chalcedonian controversy, was an attempt to reconcile the Non-Chalcedonian Christians of Syria and Egypt with Chalcedonian Eastern Orthodoxy, following the failure of the Henotikon...
of Theodore of MopsuestiaTheodore of MopsuestiaTheodore the Interpreter was bishop of Mopsuestia from 392 to 428 AD. He is also known as Theodore of Antioch, from the place of his birth and presbyterate...
, Theodoret of CyrrhusTheodoretTheodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria . He played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms...
, and Ibas of EdessaIbas (Assyrian bishop)Ibas was bishop of Edessa and was born in Syria. His name in Syriac is Ihiba or Hiba, the quivalent of Donatus...
are condemned for their NestorianismNestorianismNestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...
, and OrigenOrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
and his writings are also condemned. - 553 Ostrogoth kingdom in Italy conquered by the Byzantine Empire after the Battle of Mons LactariusBattle of Mons LactariusThe Battle of Mons Lactarius took place in 552 or 553 in the course the Gothic War waged on behalf of Justinian I against the Ostrogoths in Italy....
. - 556 Completion of Justinian the Great's fortification monastery of St. Catherine in the SinaiSaint Catherine's Monastery, Mount SinaiSaint Catherine's Monastery lies on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai in the city of Saint Catherine in Egypt's South Sinai Governorate. The monastery is Orthodox and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site...
; a chapel and anchorites had already been there at least since the 4th century when Egeria visited in ca. 385. - 557 Death of Cyriacus the Anchorite.
- 562 Isidorus of Miletus completes repair on dome of Hagia SophiaHagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
, now higher by 20 feet than the AnthemianAnthemius of TrallesAnthemius of Tralles was a Greek professor of Geometry in Constantinople and architect, who collaborated with Isidore of Miletus to build the church of Hagia Sophia by the order of Justinian I. Anthemius came from an educated family, one of five sons of Stephanus of Tralles, a physician...
original. - 563 Re-consecration of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople after its dome is rebuilt.
- 565-66 Completion of the mosaic of the TransfigurationTransfiguration of JesusThe Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels describe it, and 2 Peter 1:16-18 refers to it....
in apseApseIn architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
of the Church of the Mother of God on Mt. Sinai. - 565-78 The Cherubic HymnCherubikonThe Cherubikon, or Cherubic Hymn, is the troparion normally sung at the Great Entrance during the Byzantine liturgy. The hymn is sung in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. The hymn symbolically incorporates those present at the liturgy into the presence of the angels...
was added to the Divine LiturgyDivine LiturgyDivine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
by Emperor Justin IIJustin IIJustin II was Byzantine Emperor from 565 to 578. He was the husband of Sophia, nephew of Justinian I and the late Empress Theodora, and was therefore a member of the Justinian Dynasty. His reign is marked by war with Persia and the loss of the greater part of Italy...
. - 566 Bp. Longinus sent from Constantinople to Nubia as missionary.
- 568 Exarchate of RavennaExarchate of RavennaThe Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the Lombards.-Introduction:...
established, to 752, a Greek imperial outpost and place of contact with the Latin West. - 575 The Chronographia (Χρονογραφία) of John MalalasJohn MalalasJohn Malalas or Ioannes Malalas was a Greek chronicler from Antioch. Malalas is probably a Syriac word for "rhetor", "orator"; it is first applied to him by John of Damascus .-Life:Malalas was educated in Antioch, and probably was a jurist there, but moved to...
in 18 books, chronicles the years from creation to 563 AD. - 576 Dual hierarchy henceforth in Alexandria, Chalcedonian (Greek)Greek Orthodox Church of AlexandriaThe Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.Officially, it is called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the...
and Monophysite (Coptic). - 577 Patr. John III ScholasticusJohn ScholasticusJohn Scholasticus was the 32nd patriarch of Constantinople from April 12, 565 until his death in 577. He is also regarded as a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church....
is responsible for the first collection of Canon Law, the NomocanonNomocanonNomocanon is a collection of Ecclesiastical law, consisting of the elements from both the Civil law and the Canon law.-Byzantine nomocanons:Collections of this kind were found only in Eastern law...
, of the Orthodox Church. - 580 Serious invasion of Slavs migrating into the Balkans and Greece; last recorded persecution of pagans in Byzantine EmpireByzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. - 582 Persection of MonophysitesMonophysitismMonophysitism , or Monophysiticism, is the Christological position that Jesus Christ has only one nature, his humanity being absorbed by his Deity...
renewed under emperor MauriceMaurice (emperor)Maurice was Byzantine Emperor from 582 to 602.A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians...
. - ca. 590 ParthenonParthenonThe Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although...
in Athens converted into a Christian church dedicated to Agia Sophia. - 594 Evagrius ScholasticusEvagrius ScholasticusEvagrius Scholasticus was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, Ecclesiastical History, comprises a six-volume collection concerning the Church's history from the First Council of Ephesus to Maurice’s...
writes Ecclesiastical History, covering the years 431 to 594 AD.
- 586 St. Demetrios of ThessalonikiSaint Demetrius of ThessalonikiSaint Demetrius of Thessaloniki was a Christian martyr, who lived in the early 4th century.During the Middle Ages, he came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox military saints, often paired with Saint George...
saves Thessaloniki from Avar-Slav siege. - 602 Final series of wars between Byzantine Empire and Sassanid Empire.
- 610 HeracliusHeracliusHeraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
changes official language of the Empire from Latin to GreekMedieval GreekMedieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, is the stage of the Greek language between the beginning of the Middle Ages around 600 and the Ottoman conquest of the city of Constantinople in 1453. The latter date marked the end of the Middle Ages in Southeast Europe...
, already the lingua franca of the vast majority of the population. - 612 Holy SpongeHoly SpongeThe Holy Sponge is one of the Instruments of the Passion of Jesus Christ. It was dipped in vinegar and offered to Christ to drink during the Crucifixion, according to Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36; and John 19:29...
and Holy LanceHoly LanceThe Holy Lance is the name given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the cross in John's account of the Crucifixion.-Biblical references:The lance is mentioned only in the Gospel of John and not in any of the...
brought to Constantinople from Palestine. - 617 Persian Army conquers Chalcedon after a long siege.
- 620 Slavs attack Thessaloniki.
- 626 Akathist HymnAkathistThe Akathist Hymn is a hymn of Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic tradition dedicated to a saint, holy event, or one of the persons of the Holy Trinity...
to the Virgin MaryTheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
written, after Constantinople liberated from a siege of 80,000 Avars, Slavs and the Persian fleetSiege of Constantinople (626)The Siege of Constantinople in 626 by the Avars, aided by large numbers of allied Slavs and the Sassanid Persians, ended in a strategic victory for the Byzantines...
. - 627 Emperor HeracliusHeracliusHeraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
decisively defeats Sassanid Persians at Battle of NinevehBattle of Nineveh (627)The Battle of Nineveh was the climactic battle of the Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628. The Byzantine victory broke the power of the Sassanid dynasty and for a period of time restored the empire to its ancient boundaries in the Middle East...
, recovering True CrossTrue CrossThe True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
and breaking power of the Sassanid dynasty. - 630 Second Elevation of the Holy CrossElevation of the Holy CrossThe Elevation of the Holy Cross is one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, celebrated on September 14. It is one of the two feast days which is held as a strict fast...
, on March 21, 630 AD, when Emperor Heraclius entered Jerusalem amidst great rejoicing, and together with Patriarch Zacharios (609-633), transferred the Cross of ChristTrue CrossThe True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
with great solemnity into the temple of the ResurrectionChurch of the Holy SepulchreThe Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....
; it is the first and only time a Byzantine emperor sets foot in the Holy LandHoly LandThe Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. - 632 Christian influences on Islamic practice include veiling of women, hospitality for monastic travellers, prostrations, facing east for prayer, fixed hours for daily office of prayer, ritual ablutions before worship.
- 633 Death of Patr. Modestus of JerusalemModestus of JerusalemModestus of Jerusalem was a Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, who is commemorated as a saint by the Orthodox church, on May 17, March 29 or December 17 in the Palestinian-Georgian calendar venerates him or December 16 and October 19 in the Acta Sanctorum.He was born in Cappadocian Sebasteia...
, who had restored many buildings after the Persian sack of 614, including the rotunda of the Anastasis. - 634 Emperor Heraclius issues edict ordering all Jews to be baptized; many Jews flee to protection of Persians or Muslim Arabs.
- 639 Death of Patr. Sophronius I of JerusalemSophroniusSophronius was the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 until his death, and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches...
; his poetry and prayers become part of the LiturgyDivine LiturgyDivine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
, including the TropariaTroparionA troparion in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or one of a series of stanzas. The word probably derives from a diminutive of the Greek tropos...
of the Royal HoursRoyal HoursThe Royal Hours are a particularly solemn celebration of the Little Hours in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. The Royal Hours are celebrated only three times a year: on the Eve of the Nativity, the Eve of Theophany, and Great Friday....
chanted on Great FridayGood FridayGood Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
and the eveEveEve is the first woman created by God in the Book of Genesis.Eve may also refer to:-People:*Eve , a common given name and surname*Eve , American recording artist and actress-Places:...
s of the NativityNativity of JesusThe Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....
and Theophany, and the main prayer of Great Blessing of Water on Theophany. - 641 St. Christopher of TrebizondSaint Christopher of TrebizondSaint Christopher of Trebizond was born in a village called Gazaree in Trebizond in the region of Pontus, Asia Minor..He was the head of the Soumela Monastery on Mount Mela in the second half of the seventh century ....
heads the Monastery of Panagia SoumelaSumela MonasteryThe Sümela Monastery , , i.e. monastery of the Panaghia at Melá mountain) is a Greek Orthodox monastery, standing at the foot of a steep cliff facing the Altındere valley, in the region of Maçka in Trabzon Province, modern Turkey...
.(641-668). - 646 Alexandria recaptured by Muslim Arabs after a Byzantine attempt to retake Egypt fails, ending nearly ten centuries of Greco-RomanGreco-Roman worldThe Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman culture, or the term Greco-Roman , when used as an adjective, as understood by modern scholars and writers, refers to those geographical regions and countries that culturally were directly, protractedly and intimately influenced by the language, culture,...
civilization in Egypt; the monophysiteMonophysitismMonophysitism , or Monophysiticism, is the Christological position that Jesus Christ has only one nature, his humanity being absorbed by his Deity...
Coptic patriarch Benjamin I and his followers willingly accepts Arab rule, preferring it to the Byzantines; Maximus the ConfessorMaximus the ConfessorMaximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius...
takes lead in opposing MonothelitismMonothelitismMonothelitism is a particular teaching about how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus, known as a Christological doctrine, that formally emerged in Armenia and Syria in 629. Specifically, monothelitism teaches that Jesus Christ had two natures but only one will...
. - 648 Pope Theodore I of RomePope Theodore IPope Theodore I , who was pope from November 24, 642, to May 14, 649, is considered a Greek, but was born in Jerusalem. He was made a cardinal deacon, and a full cardinal by Pope John IV....
excommunicates patriarch Paul II of ConstantinoplePatriarch Paul II of ConstantinoplePaul II was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 641 to 653. He assumed regency for Byzantine emperor Constans II after a succession crisis in 641....
. - 649 Arabs invade and conquer Cyprus.
- 650 The Patriarchate of Constantinople counted 32 metropoles, or capitals of ecclesiastical provinces, 1 autocephalous metropolis, 34 autocephalous archbishoprics, and 352 bishoprics—a grand total of 419 dioceses.
- 654 Invasion of Rhodes by Arabs.
- 662 ParthenonParthenonThe Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although...
in Athens rededicated in honour of the Mother of GodTheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
as "Panagia Atheniotissa" (Panagia of Athens), becoming the fourth most important pilgrimage site in the Eastern Roman Empire after Constantinople, Ephesus and Thessalonica; death of Maximus the ConfessorMaximus the ConfessorMaximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius...
. - 669-78 First Arab siege of ConstantinopleSiege of Constantinople (674)The First Arab Siege of Constantinople in 674 was a major conflict of the Byzantine-Arab Wars, and was one of the numerous times Constantinople's defences were tested. It was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Umayyad Caliphate...
; at Battle of Syllaeum Arab fleet destroyed by Byzantines through use of Greek FireGreek fireGreek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning while floating on water....
, ending immediate Arab threat to eastern Europe. - 680-681 Sixth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, condemning MonothelitismMonothelitismMonothelitism is a particular teaching about how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus, known as a Christological doctrine, that formally emerged in Armenia and Syria in 629. Specifically, monothelitism teaches that Jesus Christ had two natures but only one will...
and affirming ChristologyChristologyChristology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
of Maximus the Confessor, affirming that Christ has both a human will and a divine will; Patr. Sergius of ConstantinopleSergius I of ConstantinopleSergius I was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 610 to 638.In 626 during the absence of Emperor Heraclius on campaign against Sassanid Persia, the Avars laid siege to Constantinople. Along with the magister militum Bonus, he had been named regent and was in charge of the city's defense...
and Pope Honorius of RomePope Honorius IPope Honorius I was pope from 625 to 638.Honorius, according to the Liber Pontificalis, came from Campania and was the son of the consul Petronius. He became pope on October 27, 625, two days after the death of his predecessor, Boniface V...
are both explicitly anathemaAnathemaAnathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...
tized for their support of Monothelitism. - 685 First monastics come to Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
; emperor Justinian II is the first emperor to have the figure of the Lord Jesus Christ stamped on a coinByzantine coinageByzantine currency, money used in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the West, consisted of mainly two types of coins: the gold solidus and a variety of clearly valued bronze coins...
. - 688 Emperor Justinian IIJustinian IIJustinian II , surnamed the Rhinotmetos or Rhinotmetus , was the last Byzantine Emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711...
and Caliph Abd al-Malik sign treaty neutralizing Cyprus. - 692 The "Pentarchy" form of government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in TrulloQuinisext CouncilThe Quinisext Council was a church council held in 692 at Constantinople under Justinian II. It is often known as the Council in Trullo, because it was held in the same domed hall where the Sixth Ecumenical Council had met...
, held in Constantinople, which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem;
- 705 Long period of fighting begins between Trebizond in eastern Asia Minor and the Arabs.
- 706 Greek replaced by Arabic as administrative language in Egypt.
- 707 Byzantines lose Balearic Islands to Moors;
- 710 Pope ConstantinePope ConstantinePope Constantine was pope from 708 to 715. With the exception of Antipope Constantine, he was the only pope to take such a "quintessentially" Eastern name of an emperor...
makes last papal visit to Constantinople before 1967. - 712 Death of Andrew of CreteAndrew of CreteFor the martyr of 766 of the same name, see Andrew of Crete .Saint Andrew of Crete For the martyr of 766 of the same name, see Andrew of Crete (martyr).Saint Andrew (Andreas) of Crete (also known as Andrew of Jerusalem) For the martyr of 766 of the same name, see Andrew of Crete (martyr).Saint...
. - 717-18 Second Arab siege of Constantinople.
- 720 Martyrdom of Nicholas the New of Vounina.
- 726 IconoclastIconoclasmIconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
Emperor Leo the IsaurianLeo III the IsaurianLeo III the Isaurian or the Syrian , was Byzantine emperor from 717 until his death in 741...
starts campaign against iconsIconographyIconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
.
Patriarchate of Constantinople Era (732-1850)
- 732-33 Byzantine Emperor Leo III the IsaurianLeo III the IsaurianLeo III the Isaurian or the Syrian , was Byzantine emperor from 717 until his death in 741...
transfers Southern Italy (Sicily and Calabria), Greece, and the Aegean from the jurisdiction of the Pope to that of the Ecumenical Patriarch in response to Pope St. Gregory IIIPope Gregory IIIPope Saint Gregory III was pope from 731 to 741. A Syrian by birth, he succeeded Gregory II in March 731. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by the iconoclastic controversy in the Byzantine Empire, in which he vainly invoked the intervention of Charles Martel.Elected by...
of Rome's support of a revolt in Italy against iconoclasm, adding to the Patriarchate about 100 bishoprics; the Iconoclast emperors took away from the Patriarch of Antioch 24 episcopal sees of Byzantine IsauriaIsauriaIsauria , in ancient geography, is a rugged isolated district in the interior of South Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains. In...
, on the plea that he was a subject of the Arab caliphs; the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople became co-extensive with the limits of the Byzantine Empire. - 734 Death of Peter the AthonitePeter of Mount AthosSaint Peter of Mount Athos is reputed to have been the first hermit to settle upon the 'Holy Mountain' circa the 8th century. Peter is known to history primarily through unattributable legend....
, commonly regarded as one of the first hermits of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. - 739 Emperor Leo III (717-41) publishes his Ecloga , designed to introduce Christian principle into law; Byzantine forces defeat UmayyadUmayyadThe Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
invasion of Asia Minor at Battle of AkroinonBattle of AkroinonThe Battle of Akroinon was fought at Akroinon or Akroinos in Phrygia, on the western edge of the Anatolian plateau, in 740 between an Umayyad Arab army and the Byzantine forces. The Arabs had been conducting regular raids into Anatolia for the past century, and the 740 expedition was the largest...
. - 746 Byzantine forces regain Cyprus from the Arabs.
- 754 Iconoclastic CouncilCouncil of HieriaThe iconoclast Council of Hieria was a Christian council which viewed itself as ecumenical, but was later rejected by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. It was summoned by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V in 754 in the palace of Hieria opposite Constantinople. The council...
(Council of Hieria) held in Constantinople under the authority of Emperor Constantine V Copronymus, condemning icons and declaring itself to be the Seventh Ecumenical Council; Constantine begins dissolution of the monasteries.
- 764 Martyrdom of Stephen the YoungerStephen the YoungerSaint Stephen the Younger was a Byzantine monk from Constantinople who became one of the leading opponents of the iconoclastic policies of Emperor Constantine V . He was executed in 764, and became the most prominent iconodule martyr...
, Byzantine monk from Constantinople who became one of the leading opponents of the iconoclastic policies of Emperor Constantine V. - 787 Seventh Ecumenical Council held in Nicaea, condemning iconoclasmIconoclasmIconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
and affirming venerationVenerationVeneration , or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a saint: an angel, or a dead person who has been identified by a church committee as singular in the traditions of the religion. It is practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches...
of iconsIconographyIconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
. - 789 Death of Philaret the Merciful.
- 803 Death of Irene of Athens, wife of Byzantine Emperor Leo IV; St. Luke's icon brought to Agiassos on MytileneMytileneMytilene is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the capital of the island of Lesbos. Mytilene, whose name is pre-Greek, is built on the...
. - 814 Bulgarians lay siege to Constantinople; conflict erupts between Emperor Leo VLeo V the ArmenianLeo V the Armenian was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 813 to 820. A senior general, he forced his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe, to abdicate and assumed the throne. He ended the decade-long war with the Bulgars, and initiated the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm...
and Patr. Nicephorus on the subject of iconoclasm; Leo deposes Nicephorus, Nicephorus excommunicates Leo. - 816 Death of Gregory Decapolites (November 20November 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)Nov. 19 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - Nov. 21-Fixed commemorations:All fixed commemorations below are observed on December 3 by Old Calendarists-Saints:*St. Gregory Decapolites *Archbishop Proclus of Constantinople...
). - 824 Byzantine CreteCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
falls to Arab insurgents fleeing from the Umayyad Emir of Cordoba Al-Hakam I, establishing an emirate on the island until the Byzantine reconquest in 960. - 826 Death of Theodore the StuditeTheodore the StuditeTheodore the Studite was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios monastery in Constantinople. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium...
. - 828 Death of Patr. Nicephorus I of Constantinople.
- 838 Caliph al-Mu'tasimAl-Mu'tasimAbu Ishaq 'Abbas al-Mu'tasim ibn Harun was an Abbasid caliph . He succeeded his half-brother al-Ma'mun...
captures and destroysSack of AmoriumThe Sack of Amorium by the Abbasid Caliphate in mid-August 838 was one of the major events in the long history of the Byzantine–Arab Wars. The Abbasid campaign was led personally by the Caliph al-Mu'tasim , in retaliation to a virtually unopposed expedition launched by the Byzantine emperor...
AmoriumAmoriumAmorium was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Arab sack of 838. Its ruins are located near the village of Hisarköy, Turkey....
in Anatolia. - ca. 839 First Rus'-Byzantine War, where the Rus' attacked Propontis (probably aiming for Constantinople) before turning east and raiding Paphlagonia.
- 840 Panagia Proussiotissa icon found near Karpenissi.
Byzantine Imperial era (843-1204)
- 843 Empress TheodoraTheodora (9th century)Theodora was a Byzantine Empress as the spouse of the Byzantine emperor Theophilos, and regent of her son, Michael III, from Theophilos' death in 842 to 855...
secures return of icon-veneration with Triumph of Orthodoxy occurring on first Sunday of Great LentGreat LentGreat Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important fasting season in the church year in Eastern Christianity, which prepares Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Pascha . In many ways Great Lent is similar to Lent in Western Christianity...
, restoring iconsIconographyIconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
to churches. - 845 42 Martyrs of Amorium in Phrygia taken as hostages from Amorium to SamarraSamarraSāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
(in Iraq) and executed there. - 846 Death of Joannicius the GreatJoannicius the GreatVenerable Saint Joannicius the Great, in original Greek Ioannikios the Great - respected Byzantine Christian saint, sage, theologian, prophet and wonderworker, the hermit of Mount Olympus , monk and abbot...
. - 850 Third Finding of the head of John the Forerunner.
- 858 Photius the Great becomes patriarch of Constantinople.
- 860 Second Rus-Byzantine WarRus'-Byzantine War (860)The Rus'–Byzantine War of 860 was the only major military expedition of the Rus' Khaganate recorded in Byzantine and Western European sources. Accounts vary regarding the events that took place, with discrepancies between contemporary and later sources, and the exact outcome is unknown...
, a naval raid and the first siege of Constantinople by the Rus'. - ca. 860 Christianization of the Rus' KhaganateChristianization of the Rus' KhaganateThe Christianization of the Rus' Khaganate is supposed to have happened in the 860s and was the first stage in the process of Christianization of the East Slavs which continued well into the 11th century...
. - 861 Cyril and Methodius of Thessaloniki depart from Constantinople to missionize the Slavs; Council of Constantinople attended by 318 fathers and presided over by papal legates confirms Photius the Great as patriarch and passes 17 canons.
- 864 Christianization of BulgariaChristianization of BulgariaThe Christianization of Bulgaria was the process by which 9th-century medieval Bulgaria converted to Christianity. It was influenced by the khan's shifting political alliances with the kingdom of the East Franks and the Byzantine Empire, as well as his reception by the Pope of the Roman Catholic...
: Baptism of Prince Boris of Bulgaria; SynaxisSynaxisIn Eastern Christianity , a Synaxis is an assembly for liturgical purposes, generally through the celebration of Vespers, Matins, Little Hours, and the Divine Liturgy....
of the TheotokosTheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
in Miasena in memory of the return of her icon.
- 867 Council in Constantinople held, presided over by Photius, which anathematizes Pope Nicholas IPope Nicholas IPope Nicholas I, , or Saint Nicholas the Great, reigned from April 24, 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority and power, exerting decisive influence upon the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe.He...
for his attacks on work of Greek missionaries in Bulgaria and use by papal missionaries of Filioque; Pope Nicholas dies before hearing news of excommunication; Basil the Macedonian has Emperor Michael IIIMichael IIIMichael III , , Byzantine Emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the Amorian-Phrygian Dynasty...
murdered and usurps Imperial throne, reinstating Ignatius as patriarch of Constantinople. - 867 Death of Kassiane, Greek-Byzantine poet and hymnographer, who composed the Hymn of Kassiani, chanted during Holy WeekHoly WeekHoly Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
on Holy Wednesday. - 869-870 Robber Council of 869-870 held, deposing Photius the Great from the Constantinopolitan see and putting the rival claimant Ignatius on the throne, declaring itself to be the "Eighth Ecumenical Council."
- 870 Conversion of Serbia; Malta conquered from the Byzantines by the Arabs.
- 874 Translation of relics of Nicephorus the Confessor, interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople.
- 877 Death of Ignatius I of Constantinople, who appoints Photius to succeed him.
- 877 Arab MuslimsArab MuslimsArab Muslims are adherents of the religion of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, or genealogically as Arabs. They greatly outnumber other ethnic groups in the Middle East. Muslims who are not Arabs are called mawali by Arab Muslims....
conquer all of Sicily from Byzantium and make Palermo their capital. - 879-880 Eighth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople attended by 383 fathers passing 3 canons, confirms Photius as Patriarch of Constantinople, anathematizes additions to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, and declares that the prerogatives and jurisdiction of the Roman pope and the Constantinopolitan patriarch are essentially equal; the council is reluctantly accepted by Pope John VIIIPope John VIIIPope John VIII was pope from December 13, 872 to December 16, 882. He is often considered one of the ablest pontiffs of the ninth century and the last bright spot on the papacy until Leo IX two centuries later....
. - 881 Death of Theoktiste of LesbosTheoctiste of LesbosTheoctiste of Lesbos is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the communion of Eastern Catholic and Latin Rite Catholic Churches.Born on the island of Lesbos, Theoctiste was orphaned as a child...
. - ca.883 Death of Joseph the HymnographerJoseph the HymnographerJoseph the Hymnographer was a monk of the ninth century. He is one of the greatest liturgical poets and hymnographers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is also known for his confession of the Orthodox Faith in opposition to Iconoclasm. He is called "the sweet-voiced nightingale of the Church".He...
. - 885 Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
gains political autonomy, as Emperor Basil lays down the boundaries of the monastic republic; death of Methodius. - 892 Death of Theodora the Myrrh-gusher of Thessaloniki.
- 902 Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabids.
- 904 Thessaloniki sacked and pillaged by Saracen pirates under Leo of TripoliLeo of TripoliLeo of Tripoli was a Greek renegade and pirate serving Arab interests in the early tenth century. Born in the Byzantine Empire to Christian parents, he later converted to Islam and took employment with his former captors as an admiral....
, a Greek pirate serving Saracen interests. - 907 Third Rus'-Byzantine WarRus'-Byzantine War (907)The Rus'–Byzantine War of 907 is associated in the Primary Chronicle with the name of Oleg of Novgorod. The chronicle implies that it was the most successful military operation of the Kievan Rus' against the Byzantine Empire. Paradoxically, Greek sources do not mention it at all.- Primary Chronicle...
, a naval raid of Constantinople (TsargradTsargradTsargrad is a historic Slavic name for the...
in Old Slavonic) led by Varangian Prince Oleg of NovgorodOleg of NovgorodOleg of Novgorod was a Varangian prince who ruled all or part of the Rus' people during the early 10th century....
, which was relieved by peace negotiations. - 911 Holy Protection of the Virgin Mary; Russian envoys visit Constantinople to ratify a treaty, sent by Oleg, Grand Prince of Rus'.
- 912 Nicholas MystikosNicholas MystikosNicholas I Mystikos or Nicholas I Mysticus was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from March 901 to February 906 and from May 912 to his death in 925. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is May 16.Nicholas was born in the Italian Peninsula and had become a friend of the Patriarch Photios...
becomes Patriarch of Constantinople. - 921 Death of Irene Chrysovalantou.
- 925 Death of Peter the Wonderworker and Bp. of Argos, whose writings appear in Patrologia GraecaPatrologia GraecaThe Patrologia Graeca is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers and various secular writers, in the ancient Koine or medieval variants of the Greek language. It consists of 161 volumes produced in 1857–1866 by J. P. Migne's Imprimerie Catholique...
. - 941 Fourth Rus'-Byzantine WarRus'-Byzantine War (941)The Rus'–Byzantine War of 941 took place during the reign of Igor of Kiev. The Khazar Correspondence reveals that the campaign was instigated by the Khazars, who wished revenge on the Byzantines after the persecutions of the Jews undertaken by Emperor Romanus I Lecapenus.The Rus' and their allies,...
. - 944 City of Edessa recovered by Byzantine army, including Icon Not Made By Hands
- 953 Monastery of Hosios LoukasHosios LoukasHosios Loukas is an historic walled monastery situated near the town of Distomo, in Boeotia, Greece. It is one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine architecture and art, and has been listed on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, along with the monasteries of Nea Moni and Daphnion.-...
founded by St. Luke the Younger near Stiris (Thebes) in Greece. - 957 Olga of KievOlga of KievSaint Olga , or Olga the Beauty, hypothetically Old Norse: Helga In some Scandinavian sources she was called other name. born c. 890 died 11 July 969, Kiev) was a ruler of Kievan Rus' as regent Saint Olga , or Olga the Beauty, hypothetically Old Norse: Helga In some Scandinavian sources she was...
baptized in Constantinople. - 960 Nikephoros Phokas recaptures CreteCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
for the Byzantines. - 961 Founding of Agia LavraAgia LavraAgia Lavra is a monastery near Kalavryta, Achaea, Greece. It was built in 961 AD, on Helmos Mountain, at an altitude of 961 meters, and can be described as the symbolic birth-place of modern Greece. It stands as one of the oldest monasteries in the Peloponnese.It was built in 10th century but was...
monastery in Kalavryta, Peloponesse, (the symbolic birth-place of modern Greece in 1821). - 963 Athanasius of Athos establishes first major monastery on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, the Great Lavra; founding of Philosophou Monastery in DimitsanaDimitsanaDimitsana is a village and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is built on the ruins of the ancient town Teuthis...
, Peloponnese (Metropolis of Gortyna and Megalopolis); death of Michael MaleinosMichael MaleinosSaint Michael Maleinos was a Byzantine monk who commanded great respect among Christians of Asia Minor. He was the brother of general Constantine Maleinos and uncle of Nikephoros Phokas, who was greatly influenced by Michael and became Byzantine emperor several years after his death...
, a Byzantine monk who commanded great respect among Christians of Asia Minor, and was later adopted as a patron saint of Mikhail FeodorovichMichael of RussiaMikhail I Fyodorovich Romanov Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was the first Russian Tsar of the house of Romanov. He was the son of Feodor Nikitich Romanov and Xenia...
, the first Romanov tsar. - ca.963-1018 The Chronicle of MonemvasiaChronicle of MonemvasiaThe Chronicle of Monemvasia is a medieval text of which four versions, all written in medieval Greek, are extant. The author of the account is currently unknown...
is composed, narrating the events that depict the AvaroEurasian AvarsThe Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
-SlavicSouth SlavsThe South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
conquest and colonization of mainland Greece, covering a period from 587 to 805 AD. - 965 Emperor Nikephoros II PhokasNikephoros IINikephoros II Phokas was a Byzantine Emperor whose brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of Byzantine Empire in the tenth century.-Early exploits:...
regains CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
completely for the Byzantines. - 968-71 Fifth Rus'-Byzantine War, resulting in a Byzantine victory over the coalition of Rus', Pechenegs, Magyars, and Bulgarians in the Battle of Arcadiopolis, and the defeat of Sviatoslav of KievSviatoslav I of KievSviatoslav I Igorevich ; , also spelled Svyatoslav, was a prince of Rus...
by John I TzimiskesJohn I TzimiskesJohn I Tzimiskes or Tzimisces, was Byzantine Emperor from December 11, 969 to January 10, 976. A brilliant and intuitive general, John's short reign saw the expansion of the empire's borders and the strengthening of Byzantium itself.- Background :...
. - 969 Emperor Nikephoros II PhokasNikephoros IINikephoros II Phokas was a Byzantine Emperor whose brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of Byzantine Empire in the tenth century.-Early exploits:...
captures Antioch and Aleppo from Arabs. - 972 Emperor John I TzimiskesJohn I TzimiskesJohn I Tzimiskes or Tzimisces, was Byzantine Emperor from December 11, 969 to January 10, 976. A brilliant and intuitive general, John's short reign saw the expansion of the empire's borders and the strengthening of Byzantium itself.- Background :...
grants Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
its first charter (TypikonTypikonThe Typikon, or Typicon; plural Typika is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the various Eastern Orthodox Christian church services and ceremonies, in the form of a perpetual calendar...
). - 975 Emperor John I Tzimiskes in a Syrian campaign takes Emesa, Baalbek, Damascus, Tiberias, Nazareth, Caesarea, Sidon, Beirut, Byblos and Tripoli, but fails to take Jerusalem.
- 980 Revelation of the Axion EstinAxion EstinAxion estin , or It is Truly Meet, is a theotokion, i.e. a Hymn to Mary , which is chanted in the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches...
(the hymn "It Is Truly Meet"), with the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to a monkMonkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. - 980-983 Iviron MonasteryIviron monasteryHoly Monastery of Iviron is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece...
is built under the supervision of Ioannes the IberianJohn the IberianJohn the Iberian was a Georgian monk, who is venerated as a saint. A member of the Georgian nobility, he was married and served as a military commander. However, he later became a monk in Bithynia and then traveled to Constantinople to rescue his son, Euthymius the Illuminator...
and TornikiosTornikiosT'ornike also known as Tornikios or Thornikios was a retired Georgian general and monk who came to be better known as a founder of the formerly Georgian Orthodox Iviron Monastery on Mt Athos in the modern-day northeastern Greece....
. - 987 Sixth Rus'-Byzantine War, where Vladimir of Kiev dispatches troops to the Byzantine Empire to assist Emperor Basil IIBasil IIBasil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
with an internal revolt, agreeing to accept Orthodox ChristianityOrthodox ChristianityThe term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
as his religion and bring his people to the new faith. - 988 Baptism of Rus' begins with the conversion of Vladimir of Kiev who is baptized at Chersonesos, the birthplace of the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches; Vladimir marries Anna, sister of Byzantine emperor Basil II.
- ca.990 Bp. ŒcumeniusŒcumeniusOecumenius , once believed to be a Bishop of Trikka in Thessaly writing about 990 , was reputed to be the author of several commentaries on books of the New Testament...
of Trikka (now Trikkala) in Thessaly writes several commentaries on books of the New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. - ca.992 Greek monk and wonderworkerThaumaturgyThaumaturgy is the capability of a saint or magician to work miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking...
St. Sergius of ValaamSergius of ValaamSaint Sergius of Valaam was a Greek monk and wonderworker credited with bringing Orthodox Christianity to Karelian and Finnish people. Conflicting church traditions place him possibly as early as the 10th century or as late as the 14th....
co-founded the Valaam MonasteryValaam MonasteryThe Valaam Monastery, or Valamo Monastery is a stauropegic Orthodox monastery in Russian Karelia, located on Valaam, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe.-History:...
(along with Herman of ValaamHerman of ValaamHerman of Valaam - a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. Herman of Valaam together with Sergius of Valaam are considered to be the founders of the Valaam Monastery...
), in Russian KareliaRepublic of KareliaThe Republic of Karelia is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is located in the northwestern part of Russia, taking intervening position between the basins of White and Baltic seas...
on Valaam island, and is credited with bringing Orthodox Christianity to the Karelian and Finnish people. - 998 Death of Nikon the Metanoeite ("preacher of repentance").
- ca.999 Icon of the Panagia PortaitissaPanagia PortaitissaThe Panagia Portaitissa or Theotokos Iverskaya is an Eastern Orthodox icon of Virgin Mary. The original of this image is found in the Georgian Iviron monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, where it is believed to have been since the year 999...
appears on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
near Iviron monasteryIviron monasteryHoly Monastery of Iviron is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece...
. - 10th c. Paris PsalterParis PsalterThe Paris Psalter is a Byzantine illuminated manuscript containing 449 folios and 14 full-page miniatures "in a grand, almost classical style", as the Encyclopædia Britannica put it....
produced, a Byzantine illuminated manuscriptIlluminated manuscriptAn illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
containing 449 folios and 14 full-page miniatures "in a grand, almost classical style", considered a key monument of the so-called Macedonian RenaissanceMacedonian RenaissanceMacedonian Renaissance is a label sometimes used to describe the period of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire , especially the 10th century, which some scholars have seen as a time of increased interest in classical scholarship and the assimilation of classical motifs into Christian...
in Byzantine artByzantine artByzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
. - 11th c. Kaisariani MonasteryKaisariani MonasteryThe Kaisariani Monastery or, more formally, the Holy Monastery of Kaisariani is an Eastern Orthodox monastery built on the north side of Mount Hymettus, in East Central Greece...
is founded on the slopes of Mount HymettosHymettusHymettus, also Hymettos is a mountain range in the Athens area, East Central Greece. It is also colloquially known as Trellos or Trellovouno , a name of uncertain origin...
, one of the oldest and most important monasteries in Attica; death Theodora of Vastas.
- 1004 Nilus the Younger, born to a Greek family in the Byzantine Theme of Calabria, founds the famous Greek Basilian monasteryBasilian monkBasilian monks are monks who follow the "Rule" of Saint Basil the Great, bishop of Caesarea. The chief importance of the monastic rules and institutes of St. Basil lies in the fact that to this day his reconstruction of the monastic life is the basis of most of the monasticism practiced in the...
of GrottaferrataGrottaferrataGrottaferrata, Italy is a small town and comune in the province of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, 20 km south east of Rome. It is bounded by other communes, Frascati, Rocca di Papa, Marino, and Rome.-History:...
, becoming the first abbott. - 1009 Patr. Sergius II of Constantinople removes name of Pope Sergius IVPope Sergius IVPope Sergius IV , born Pietro Martino Buccaporci, was Pope from July 31, 1009, until his death. The date of his birth is unknown. His birth name is believed to have been Pietro Martino Buccaporci...
from the diptychDiptychA diptych di "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. Devices of this form were quite popular in the ancient world, wax tablets being coated with wax on inner faces, for recording notes and for measuring time and direction.In Late Antiquity, ivory diptychs with...
s of Constantinople, because the pope had written a letter to the patriarch including the Filioque. - 1018 Emperor Basil IIBasil IIBasil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
went on a pilgrimage to Athens directly after his final victory over the BulgariansFirst Bulgarian EmpireThe First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
for the sole purpose of worshipping at the Parthenon. - 1022 Death of Symeon the New TheologianSymeon the New TheologianSymeon the New Theologian was a Byzantine Christian monk and poet who was the last of three saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox church and given the title of "Theologian"...
. - 1034 Patriarch Alexius I StuditesPatriarch Alexius I of ConstantinopleAlexius Studites , Patriarch of Constantinople, was a member of the Monastery of Stoudios , succeeded Eustathius as Patriarch in 1025, the last of the Patriarchs appointed by the emperor Basil II....
writes the first complete Studite TypikonTypikonThe Typikon, or Typicon; plural Typika is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the various Eastern Orthodox Christian church services and ceremonies, in the form of a perpetual calendar...
, for a monastery he established near Constantinople; this was the Typikon introduced into the Rus' lands by Theodosius of the Kiev CavesTheodosius of KievTheodosius of Kiev is an 11th century saint who brought Cenobitic Monasticism to Kievan Rus' and, together with St Anthony of Kiev, founded the Kiev Caves Lavra...
. - 1042 Founding of Nea MoniNea Moni of ChiosNea Moni is an 11th century monastery on the island of Chios that has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located on the Provateio Oros Mt. in the island's interior, about 15 km from Chios town...
Monastery on Chios. - 1043 University of ConstantinopleUniversity of ConstantinopleThe University of Constantinople, sometimes known as the University of the palace hall of Magnaura in the Roman-Byzantine Empire was founded in 425 under the name of Pandidakterion...
is re-organized under Michael PsellosMichael PsellosMichael Psellos or Psellus was a Byzantine monk, writer, philosopher, politician and historian...
. - 1053 Death of Lazarus the Wonder-worker of Mt. Galesius near Ephesus.
- 1054 The Great SchismEast–West SchismThe East–West Schism of 1054, sometimes known as the Great Schism, formally divided the State church of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively...
between Orthodox East and Latin West. - 1068 Arrival of the first Seljuk Turks to Anatolia, by which time the religious war between Byzantium and Islam had already run a course of four centuries.
- 1071 Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at the Battle of ManzikertBattle of ManzikertThe Battle of Manzikert , was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks led by Alp Arslan on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert...
, beginning Islamization of Asia Minor; Norman princes led by Robert GuiscardRobert GuiscardRobert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
capture Bari, the last Byzantine stronghold in Italy, bringing to an end over five centuries of Byzantine rule in the southCatapanate of ItalyThe Catepanate of Italy was a province of the Byzantine Empire, comprising mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Salerno. Amalfi and Naples, although north of that line, maintained allegiance to Constantinople through the catepan...
. - ca. 1071-1176 Byzantine epic poem Digenes Akritas is written, set in the ninth and tenth centuries, inspired by the almost continuous state of warfare with the Arabs in eastern Asia Minor, presents a comprehensive picture of the intense frontier life of the AkritesAcritic songsThe Acritic songs are the heroic or epic poetry that emerged in the Byzantine Empire probably in the 9th century. The songs celebrated the exploits of the Akrites, the frontier guards defending the eastern borders of the Byzantine Empire. The historical background was the almost...
, the border guards of the Byzantine Empire. - 1073 Seljuk Turks conquer Ankara.
- 1077 Seljuks capture Nicaea.
- 1087 Translation of the relics of Nicholas of Myra from Myra to Bari.
- 1083 Metropolis of Paronaxia separates from the Metropolis of Rhodes.
- 1088-93 Emperor Alexios I KomnenosAlexios I KomnenosAlexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...
gave the island of Patmos to Blessed Christodoulos of Patmos to develop as an independent monastic state, who founded the Monastery of Saint John the TheologianMonastery of Saint John the TheologianThe Monastery of Saint John the Theologian is a Greek Orthodox monastery founded in 1088 in Chora on the island of Patmos. UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage site. It is built on a spot venerated by both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox as the cave where St...
on PatmosPatmosPatmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,984 and an area of . The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 meters above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi ,...
. - 1093 Death of Christodoulos the Wonderworker of Patmos.
- 1118-1137 Imperial monastery of Christ PantocratorZeyrek Mosque- External links :*...
founded. - 1127-1145 ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
largest city in the world by population. - 1147 Roger II of SicilyRoger II of SicilyRoger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily...
takes Corfu from the Byzantine Empire, and pillages Corinth, Athens and Thebes. - 1176 Sultanate of Rum defeats Byzantine Empire in the Battle of MyriokephalonBattle of MyriokephalonThe Battle of Myriokephalon, also known as the ', or in Turkish, was a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks in Phrygia on September 17, 1176. The battle was a strategic reverse for the Byzantine forces, who were ambushed when moving through a mountain pass...
, marking end of Byzantine attempts to recover Anatolian plateau. - 1192-1571 Church of Cyprus is subordinated to a Latin Hierarchy established by the Crusaders.
- 12th c. SketeSketeA Skete is a monastic style community that allows relative isolation for monks, but alsoallows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection...
life begins in Meteora.
Latin Occupation and End of Byzantium (1204-1456)
- 1204 Fourth CrusadeFourth CrusadeThe Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
sacks Constantinople, laying waste to the city and stealing many relics and other items; Great SchismEast–West SchismThe East–West Schism of 1054, sometimes known as the Great Schism, formally divided the State church of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively...
generally regarded as having been completed by this act; Venetians use the imperial monastery of Christ PantocratorZeyrek Mosque- External links :*...
as their headquarters in Constantinople. - 1204 Latin Occupation of mainland Greece under Franks and Venetians begins: the Latin EmpireLatin EmpireThe Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...
of Constantinople, Latin Kingdom of ThessalonicaKingdom of ThessalonicaThe Kingdom of Thessalonica was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over the conquered Byzantine lands.- Background :...
, the Principality of AchaeaPrincipality of AchaeaThe Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica...
, and the Duchy of AthensDuchy of AthensThe Duchy of Athens was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century....
; The Venetians controlled the Duchy of the ArchipelagoDuchy of the ArchipelagoThe Duchy of the Archipelago or also Duchy of Naxos or Duchy of the Aegean was a maritime state created by Venetian interests in the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea, in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, centered on the islands of Naxos and Paros.-Background and establishment of the...
in the Aegean. - 1205 Latins annex Athens and convert the Parthenon into a Roman Catholic church - Santa Maria di Athene, later Notre Dame d'Athene.
- 1211 Venetian crusaders conquer Byzantine Crete, retaining it until ousted by Ottoman Turks in 1669.
- 1224 The Byzantines recover Thessaloniki and surrounding area, liberated by the Greek ruler of Epirus Theodore Komnenos DoukasTheodore Komnenos DoukasTheodore Komnenos Doukas was ruler of Epirus from 1215 to 1230 and of Thessalonica from 1224 to 1230.-Life:...
.
- 1235 St. Olympiada and nuns martyred by pirates on Lesbos.
- 1249 MystrasMystrasMystras is a fortified town and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sparti, of which it is a municipal unit. Situated on Mt...
citadel built by Franks in the Peloponnese. - 1258 Michael VIII PalaiologosMichael VIII PalaiologosMichael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453...
seizes the throne of the Nicaean Empire, founding the last Roman (Byzantine) dynasty, beginning reconquest of Greek peninsula from Latins. - 1259 Byzantines defeat Latin Principality of AchaeaPrincipality of AchaeaThe Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica...
at the Battle of PelagoniaBattle of PelagoniaThe Battle of Pelagonia took place in September of 1259, between the Empire of Nicaea and the Despotate of Epirus, Sicily and the Principality of Achaea...
, marking the beginning of the Byzantine recovery of Greece. - ca. 1259-80 Martyrdom by Latins of monks of Iviron MonasteryIviron monasteryHoly Monastery of Iviron is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece...
. - 1261 End of Latin occupation of Constantinople and restoration of Orthodox patriarchs; Emperor Michael VIII PalaiologosMichael VIII PalaiologosMichael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453...
makes MystrasMystrasMystras is a fortified town and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sparti, of which it is a municipal unit. Situated on Mt...
seat of the new Despotate of MoreaDespotate of MoreaThe Despotate of the Morea or Despotate of Mystras was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. Its territory varied in size during its 100 years of existence but eventually grew to take in almost all the southern Greek peninsula, the...
, where a Byzantine renaissance occurred.
- 1265-1310 Arsenite Schism of Constantinople, beginning when Patr. Arsenius AutorianusPatriarch Arsenius I of ConstantinopleArsenios Autoreianos , Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, lived about the middle of the 13th century....
excommunicated emperor Michael VIII PalaiologosMichael VIII PalaiologosMichael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453...
. - 1274 Orthodox clergy attending the Second Council of LyonSecond Council of LyonThe Second Council of Lyon was the fourteenth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, convoked on 31 March 1272 and convened in Lyon, France, in 1274. Pope Gregory X presided over the council, called to act on a pledge by Byzantine emperor Michael VIII to reunite the Eastern church with the West...
, accept supremacy of Rome and filioque clause. - 1275 Unionist Patr. of Constantinople John XI BeccusPatriarch John XI of ConstantinopleJohn XI Bekkos was Patriarch of Constantinople from June 2, 1275 to December 26, 1282, and the chief Greek advocate, in Byzantine times, of the reunion of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches...
elected to replace Patr. Joseph I Galesiotes, who opposed Council of Lyon. - 1275 Persecution of Athonite monks by Emp. Michael VIII and Patr. John XI Beccus; death of 26 martyrs of Zografou monasteryZograf MonasteryThe Saint George the Zograf Monastery or Zograf Monastery is a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos in Greece...
on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, martyred by the Latins. - 1279 HieromonkHieromonkHieromonk , also called a Priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism....
Ieronymos Agathangelos writes an Apocalypse dealing with the destinies of the nations. - 1281 Pope Martin IVPope Martin IVPope Martin IV, born Simon de Brion held the papacy from February 21, 1281 until his death....
authorizes a Crusade against the newly re-established Byzantine EmpireByzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
in Constantinople, excommunicating Emperor Michael VIII PalaiologosMichael VIII PalaiologosMichael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453...
and the Greeks and renouncing the union of 1274; French and Venetian expeditions set out toward Constantinople but are forced to turn back in the following year due to the Sicilian VespersSicilian VespersThe Sicilian Vespers is the name given to the successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out on the Easter of 1282 against the rule of the French/Angevin king Charles I, who had ruled the Kingdom of Sicily since 1266. Within six weeks three thousand French men and women were slain by...
. - 1283 Accommodation with Rome officially repudiated.
- 1287 Last record of Western RiteLatin liturgical ritesLatin liturgical rites used within that area of the Catholic Church where the Latin language once dominated were for many centuries no less numerous than the liturgical rites of the Eastern autonomous particular Churches. Their number is now much reduced...
Monastery of Amalfion on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. - 14th c. "Golden Age" of Thessaloniki in both literature and art, many churches and monasteries built.
- 1300-1400 The "Chronicle of MoreaChronicle of MoreaThe Chronicle of the Morea is a long 14th-century history text, of which four versions are extant: in French, Greek , Italian and Aragonese. More than 9,000 lines long, the Chronicle narrates events of the Franks' establishment of feudalism in mainland Greece. West European Crusaders settled in...
" (Το χρονικό του Μορέως) narrates events of the establishment of feudalismFeudalismFeudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
in mainland Greece, mainly in the Morea/Peloponnese, by the Franks following the Fourth CrusadeFourth CrusadeThe Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, covering a period from 1204 to 1292. - 1309 Rhodes falls to the Knights of St. John, who establish their headquarters there, renaming themselves the "Knights of Rhodes".
- 1310 Arsenite Schism of Constantinople is ended by the reconciliation of the Arsenites to the Josephites.
- 1326 The city of Prussa in Asia Minor falls to the Ottoman Turks after a nine-year siege.
- 1331 The city of NicaeaIznikİznik is a city in Turkey which is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea, the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Church, the Nicene Creed, and as the capital city of the Empire of Nicaea...
, capital of the Empire only 100 years previously, falls to the Ottoman Turks. - 1336 MeteoraMeteoraThe Metéora is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos. The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in...
in Greece are established as a center of Orthodox monasticismMonasticismMonasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...
. - 1337 NicomediaNicomediaNicomedia was an ancient city in what is now Turkey, founded in 712/11 BC as a Megarian colony and was originally known as Astacus . After being destroyed by Lysimachus, it was rebuilt by Nicomedes I of Bithynia in 264 BC under the name of Nicomedia, and has ever since been one of the most...
captured by Ottoman Turks. - 1338 Gregory PalamasGregory PalamasGregory Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. The teachings embodied in his writings defending Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam are sometimes referred to as Palamism, his followers as Palamites...
writes Triads in defense of the Holy Hesychasts, defending the Orthodox practice of hesychast spiritualityHesychasmHesychasm is an eremitic tradition of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the Eastern Catholic Churches, such as the Byzantine Rite, practised by the Hesychast Hesychasm is an eremitic tradition of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the Eastern Catholic Churches,...
and the use of the Jesus PrayerJesus PrayerThe Jesus Prayer or "The Prayer" is a short, formulaic prayer esteemed and advocated within the Eastern Orthodox church:The prayer has been widely taught and discussed throughout the history of the Eastern Churches. It is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice, its use...
. - 1341-47 Civil warByzantine civil war of 1341–1347The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 was a conflict between supporters of designated regent John VI Kantakouzenos and guardians acting for John V Palaiologos, Emperor Andronikos III's nine-year-old son, in the persons of the Empress-dowager Anna of Savoy, the Patriarch of Constantinople John XIV...
between John VI Cantacuzenus (1347–54) and John V Palaeologus (1341–91). - 1341-51 Three sessions of the Ninth Ecumenical CouncilFifth Council of ConstantinopleFifth Council of Constantinople is a name given by some to the Quinisext Council of 692, and by others to a series of six patriarchal councils held in Constantinople between 1341 and 1351 to deal with a dispute concerning hesychasm...
held in Constantinople, affirming hesychasticHesychasmHesychasm is an eremitic tradition of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the Eastern Catholic Churches, such as the Byzantine Rite, practised by the Hesychast Hesychasm is an eremitic tradition of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the Eastern Catholic Churches,...
theology of Gregory PalamasGregory PalamasGregory Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. The teachings embodied in his writings defending Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam are sometimes referred to as Palamism, his followers as Palamites...
and condemning rationalistic philosophy of Barlaam of CalabriaBarlaam of CalabriaBarlaam of Seminara , ca. 1290-1348, or Barlaam of Calabria was a southern Italian scholar and clergyman of the 14th century. Humanist, philologist, and theologian. He brought an accusation of heresy against Gregory Palamas for the latter's defence of Hesychasm...
. - ca.1351 Holy Royal Patriarchal StavropegicStauropegicStauropegic, also rendered stavropegic, stauropegial, or stavropegial is a title or description applied to Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christian monasteries subordinated directly to a Patriarch or Synod, rather than to their local Bishop...
Monastery of the Vlatades (Moni Vlatadon) is founded in ThessalonikiThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
. - 1354 Ottoman Turks make first settlement in Europe at Gallipoli.
- 1359 Death of Gregory PalamasGregory PalamasGregory Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. The teachings embodied in his writings defending Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam are sometimes referred to as Palamism, his followers as Palamites...
. - 1360 Death of John KukuzelisJohn KukuzelisSaint John Kukuzelis or Kukuzel was a medieval Orthodox Christian composer, singer and reformer of Orthodox Church music....
the Hymnographer. - 1365 Ottoman Turks made Adrianople their capital.
- 1382 Founding of the Great Meteora Monastery.
- 1386-7 Church of St Athanasius of Mouzaki built in Kastoria, Greece.
- 1390 Ottomans take PhiladelphiaAlasehirAlaşehir, in Antiquity and the Middle Ages known as Philadelphia , i.e. " brotherly love" is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is situated in the valley of the Kuzuçay , at the foot of the Bozdağ...
, last significant Byzantine enclave in Anatolia. - ca.1391 Death of Nicholas CabasilasNicholas CabasilasNicholas Cabasilas was a Byzantine mystic and theological writer.Cabasilas is a saint within the Orthodox Church. His feast day is June 20.-Life:...
, well known theological writer and mystic of the Orthodox Church who took the side of the monks of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
and St Gregory PalamasGregory PalamasGregory Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. The teachings embodied in his writings defending Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam are sometimes referred to as Palamism, his followers as Palamites...
in the HesychastHesychasmHesychasm is an eremitic tradition of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the Eastern Catholic Churches, such as the Byzantine Rite, practised by the Hesychast Hesychasm is an eremitic tradition of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the Eastern Catholic Churches,...
controversy. - 1391-98 Ottoman Turks unsuccessfully besiege Constantinople for the first time.
- 1422 Second unsuccessful Ottoman siegeSiege of Constantinople (1422)The first full-scale Ottoman Siege of Constantinople took place in 1422 as a result of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II's attempts to interfere in the succession of Ottoman Sultans, after the death of Mehmed I in 1421...
of Constantinople. - 1426 Death of New Martyr Ephraim of Nea MakriEphraim of Nea MakriSt. Ephraim of Nea Makri or St. Ephraim of Mount Amomon , believed to have lived from 1384 to 1426, is venerated as a martyr and miracle-working saint by many Greek Orthodox Christians in Greece. His status as a saint is controversial, as there are no sources testifying to his existence as an...
(a "newly revealed" ("νεοφανείς") saint from 1950). - 1429 The Turks capture Thessaloniki.
- 1430 The monks of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
submit to Sultan Murad IIMurad IIMurad II Kodja was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 ....
and keep their autonomy. - 1438 Council of FlorenceCouncil of FlorenceThe Council of Florence was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It began in 1431 in Basel, Switzerland, and became known as the Council of Ferrara after its transfer to Ferrara was decreed by Pope Eugene IV, to convene in 1438...
unsuccessfully tries to unite the Greek East and Latin West. - 1450 Death of Empress Helena Palaeologina (St. Ypomoni of Loutraki).
- 1452 Unification of Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches in Hagia Sophia on West's terms, when Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, under pressure from Rome, allows the union to be proclaimed.
- 1453 Constantinople fallsFall of ConstantinopleThe Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
to the Ottoman Turks, ending Roman Empire; Hagia SophiaHagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
turned into a mosque; martyrdom of Constantine XI PalaiologosConstantine XIConstantine XI Palaiologos, latinized as Palaeologus , Kōnstantinos XI Dragasēs Palaiologos; February 8, 1404 – May 29, 1453) was the last reigning Byzantine Emperor from 1449 to his death as member of the Palaiologos dynasty...
, last of the Byzantine Emperors; many Greek scholars escape to the WestGreek scholars in the RenaissanceThe migration of Byzantine scholars and other émigrés from southern Italy and Byzantium during the decline of the Byzantine Empire and mainly after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 until the 16th century, is considered by some scholars as key to the revival of Greek and Roman studies and...
with books that become translated into Latin, triggering the RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
; beginning of the genre of lamentation folk songs known as "Moirologia", or dirgeDirgeA dirge is a somber song expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. A lament. The English word "dirge" is derived from the Latin Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam , the first words of the first antiphon in the Matins of the Office...
s (Byzantine secular music).
Ottoman Turkish Rule (1456-1821)
- 1456 Turkish Domination of Greece.
- 1456-1587 Byzantine Church of Theotokos PammakaristosPammakaristos ChurchPammakaristos Church, also known as the Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos , in 1591 converted into a mosque and known as Fethiye Mosque and today partly a museum, is one of the most famous Byzantine churches in Istanbul, Turkey...
became the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. - 1460 Parthenon Cathedral dedicated to the Mother of GodTheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
turned into a mosque. - 1462 Wonderworking icon of the Archangel MichaelMichael (archangel)Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
of MantamadosMantamadosMantamados is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located at the northeast corner of the island, and has a land area of 122.435 km²....
is created; Matrona of ChiosMatrona of ChiosOur venerable Mother Matrona of Chios was born during the 15th century in the village of Volissos on the island of Chios, Greece. This is the same village in which St. Markella was martyred...
reposes October 22. - 1463 Martyric death of RaphaelRaphael of LesvosSt. Raphael the Newly-Appeared Martyr of Lesvos is an Eastern Orthodox saint martyred by Turkish soldiers with his companions Sts...
, Nicholas and IreneIrene of LesvosSt. Irene the Newly-Appeared Martyr of Lesvos is an Eastern Orthodox saint martyred by Turkish soldiers with her companions Sts...
on Mytilene (Lesvos). - 1472 Decrees of the Council of Ferrara-FlorenceCouncil of FlorenceThe Council of Florence was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It began in 1431 in Basel, Switzerland, and became known as the Council of Ferrara after its transfer to Ferrara was decreed by Pope Eugene IV, to convene in 1438...
repudiated by Patriarchate of Contantinople. - 1511 Death of Joseph the Sanctified of Crete.
- 1530 Mother of God restores sight to blind youth through the Cassiope icon of CorfuCorfuCorfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
. - 1546 New MartyrNew MartyrThe title of New Martyr or Neomartyr of the Eastern Orthodox Church was originally given to martyrs who died under heretical rulers . Later the Church added to the list those martyred under Islam and various modern regimes, especially Communist ones, which espoused state atheism...
John of Ioannina. - 1554 New Martyr Nicholas of Psari in Corinth.
- 1556 Death of Maximos the GreekMaximus the GreekMaximus the Greek, also known as Maximos the Greek or Maksim Grek , was a Greek monk, publicist, writer, scholar, humanist, and translator active in Russia...
.
- 1556-65 The Patriarchal School of Joasaph IIPatriarch Joasaph II of ConstantinopleJoasaph II, known as "the Magnificent" , was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1556 to 1565.-Life:Joasaph was born in Thrace. He studied in Ioannina and then in Nafplio, learning Arabic, Persian and Turkish...
is initially established in Constantinople, the forerunner of the Great School of the NationPhanar Greek Orthodox College-See also:*Fener*Greeks in Turkey*Zografeion Lyceum*List of schools in Istanbul*Ottoman Greeks...
(I Megali tou Genous Sxoli / Η Μεγάλη του Γένους Σχολή). - 1559 Death of Iconographer Theophanes the CretanTheophanes the CretanTheophanis Strelitzas , also known as Theophanes the Cretan or "of Crete" or "Theophanes Bathas", was a leading icon painter of the Cretan school in the first half of the sixteenth century, and in particular the most important figure in Greek wall-painting of the period.He was born in Heraklion...
. - 1571 Restoration of Church of CyprusCypriot Orthodox ChurchThe Church of Cyprus is an autocephalous Greek church within the communion of Orthodox Christianity. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches, achieving independence from the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East in 431...
to Orthodox rule. - 1573 The Church of San Giorgio dei GreciSan Giorgio dei GreciSan Giorgio dei Greci is a church in the sestiere or neighborhood of Castello, Venice, northern Italy. It was the center of the Scuola dei Greci, the Confraternity of the Greeks in Venice....
is completed by the Greek community of Venice, the oldest and historically most important church of the Greek Orthodox Diaspora, becoming the ethnic and religious center of Hellenism in the city and broader region of Venice which at its peak numbered 15,000 members. - 1573-81 Correspondence between Patr. Jeremias IIPatriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople-External links:**...
and the Lutheran professors at Tübingen. - 1574-82 Michael DamaskinosMichael DamaskinosMichael Damaskenos or Michail Damaskenos was a leading post-Byzantine Cretan painter. He is a major representative of the Cretan School of painting that flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries, whilst Crete was under Venetian rule...
, the greatest Cretan iconographerCretan SchoolThe term Cretan School describes an important school of icon painting, also known as Post-Byzantine art, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the Fall of Constantinople, becoming the central force in Greek painting during the...
of the day, paints the iconostasisIconostasisIn Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
of the Church of San Giorgio dei GreciSan Giorgio dei GreciSan Giorgio dei Greci is a church in the sestiere or neighborhood of Castello, Venice, northern Italy. It was the center of the Scuola dei Greci, the Confraternity of the Greeks in Venice....
in Venice. - 1576 Pope Gregory XIIIPope Gregory XIIIPope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
establishes Pontifical Greek College of St. Athanasius (popularly known as the 'Greek College') in Rome, which he charged with educating Italo-Byzantine clerics. - 1579 Death of Gerasimos of CephaloniaGerasimus of KefaloniaSaint Gerasimos of Kefalonia is the patron saint of the island of Kefalonia in Greece.Gerasimos came from the aristocratic and wealthy Notaras family. He was ordained a Monk at Mount Athos, went to Jerusalem for 12 years, spent some time in Crete and Zakynthos and in 1555 arrived on Kefalonia...
. - 1583 Sigillion of 1583 issued against Gregorian CalendarGregorian calendarThe Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
by council convened in Constantinople. - 1587–Present. The relatively modest Church of St GeorgeChurch of St. George, IstanbulThe Church of St. George is the principal Greek Orthodox cathedral still in use in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and , the capital of the Byzantine Empire until 1453...
in the Phanar district of Istanbul becomes the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. - 1589 Death of Philothei of AthensPhilotheiSaint Philothei was born in Athens to an illustrious and wealthy family. Against her will, she was married to a cruel man. When he died three years later, the Saint gave away her worldly belongings, took up the monastic life and established a convent, in which she became a mother to her disciples...
. - 1590 Death of Timothy of Penteli (Athens).
- 1596 Death of Nilus the Myrrh-gusher of Mt. Athos.
- 1601 New Hieromartyr Seraphim, Bishop of Phanarion and Neokhorion.
- 1602 Seraphim of Lebadeia
- 1624 Death of Dionysius of ZakynthosDionysios of ZakynthosSaint Dionysios of Zakynthos was a 16th century Orthodox Christian Archbishop of Aegina. He was born on the Greek island of Zakynthos in 1546. He is the patron saint of Zakynthos and is celebrated on August 24 and December 17....
. - 1625 The Patriarchal School (Great School of the NationPhanar Greek Orthodox College-See also:*Fener*Greeks in Turkey*Zografeion Lyceum*List of schools in Istanbul*Ottoman Greeks...
) opened again under the direction of Theofilos Korydaleas having many students, however Korydaleas' liberal ideas caused the school's closure; Confession of Faith by Metrophanes KritopoulosPatriarch Metrophanes of AlexandriaMêtrophanês Kritopoulos, sometimes Critopoulos, Critopoulus, Kritopulus was a Greek monk and theologian who served as Greek Patriarch of Alexandria between 1636 and 1639.-Biography:...
written. - 1638 First translation of the New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
into Modern Greek, by the Greek hieromonk Maximos Rodios of Gallipoli (Kallioupolitis). - 1650-1700 Ottoman ConstantinopleIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
is largest city in the world by population.
- 1657 New Hieromartyr Parthenius III, Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 1662 The Patriarchal School (Great School of the NationPhanar Greek Orthodox College-See also:*Fener*Greeks in Turkey*Zografeion Lyceum*List of schools in Istanbul*Ottoman Greeks...
) acquired permanent income, a building and remarkable teachers, among them Alexandros MavrokordatosPrince Alexander MavrocordatosAlexandros Mavrokordatos was a Greek statesman and member of the Mavrocordatos family of Phanariotes....
who bore the title Confidant. - 1669 Greek island of Crete taken by Ottoman Empire from Venetians.
- 1677 Bishop Henry Compton of London builds church for the Greeks in London.
- 1682 Greek church in London closed.
- 1684 New Hieromartyr Zacharias, Bishop of Corinth.
- 1687 Parthenon devastated by Venetian shelling.
- 1694 Plan for Worcester College, Oxford (then Gloucester Hall) to become a college for the Greeks.
- 1695 New Hieromartyr Romanos of Diminitzas, Lacedemonia.
- 1713 Theological School of Patmos founded.
- 1716 Miracle of St. SpyridonSaint SpyridonSaint Spyridon, Bishop of Trimythous also sometimes written Saint Spiridon is a saint honoured in both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions.-Life:...
, who saves Corfu from Turkish invasion. - 1720 Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring (Poros) founded.
- 1728 The Ecumenical Patriarchate formally replaced the Creation EraByzantine calendarThe Byzantine calendar, also "Creation Era of Constantinople," or "Era of the World" was the calendar used by the Eastern Orthodox Church from c. 691 to 1728 in the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It was also the official calendar of the Byzantine Empire from 988 to 1453, and in Russia from c...
(AM) calendar, in use for over 1000 years, with the Christian EraAnno Dominiand Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
(AD). - 1730 Death of John the Russian.
- 1735 Death of Athanasius the New, Wonderworker of Christianopolis.
- 1740 Miracle performed by the glorious Prophet and Forerunner John the Baptist, on the island of Chios.
- 1741 Synodal reform initiated, when Metr. Gerasimos of Heraclia obtains a Firman (decree) from Ottoman officials, regulating and subordinating the election of the Patriarch of Constantinople to the five Metropolitans of Heraclia, Kyzikos, Nicomedia, Nicaea, and Chalcedon, creating the so-called System of the Elders (Γεροντισμος), established gradually, in place until the late 19th century.
- 1743 New Hieromartyr Anastasios of Ioannina.
- 1749 Athonite Ecclesiastical AcademyAthonite AcademyThe Athonite or Athonias Academy is a Greek Orthodox educational institution founded at 1749 in Mount Athos, then in the Ottoman Empire and now in Greece. The school offered high level education, where ancient philosophy and modern physical science were taught...
("Athonite School") is founded on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
by the brethren of the Monastery of Vatopedion. - 1751 New Virgin Martyr Kyranna of Thessalonica.
- 1753-59 Eminent theologian and scholar Eugenios VoulgarisEugenios VoulgarisEugenios Voulgaris or Boulgaris or Vulgares was a Greek Orthodox educator, and bishop of Kherson . Writing copiously on theology, philosophy and the sciences, he disseminated western European thought throughout the Greek and eastern Christian world, and was a leading contributor to the Modern...
heads the Athonite School, envisaging a revivial and upgrading of learning within the Orthodox Church through substantial training in the classics combined with an exposure to modern European philosophy. - 1754 HesychastHesychasmHesychasm is an eremitic tradition of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the Eastern Catholic Churches, such as the Byzantine Rite, practised by the Hesychast Hesychasm is an eremitic tradition of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the Eastern Catholic Churches,...
Renaissance begins with the Kollyvades MovementKollyvades MovementThe Kollyvades Movement was a movement that began in the second half of the eighteenth century among the monastic community of Mount Athos, which was concerned with the restoration of traditional practices and opposition to unwarranted innovations, and which turned unexpectedly into a movement of...
; most of the Kollyvades were men of high intellectual caliber, educated in ancient Greek and Christian literatures and well versed in the Biblical and Patristic sources of the church; among them were St. Makarios of CorinthMacarius of CorinthMacarius of Corinth Macarius of Corinth Macarius of Corinth (birth name: Macarius Notaras was born in Corinth in 1731 and died in Chios in April 1805. St Macarius as Bishop and later Metropolitan of Corinth, was a mystic and spiritual writer who worked to revive and mostly sustain the Orthodox...
, Christophoros of Arta, Agapios of Cyprus, Athanasios of ParosAthanasius PariosFather Athanasios Parios was a Greek hieromonk who was a great and eminent theologian, philosopher, educator, and hymnographer of his time, and one of the "Teachers of the Nation" during the Modern Greek Enlightenment. He was the second leader of the Kollyvades movement, succeeding Neophytos...
, Neophytos Kausokalyvites, and also St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite. - 1756 Sigillion of 1756 issued against the Gregorian CalendarGregorian calendarThe Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
by Patr. Cyril V of Constantinople. - 1759 School on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
forced to close down. - 1768 Community of Orthodox Greeks establishes itself in New Smyrna, FloridaNew Smyrna Beach, FloridaNew Smyrna Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 20,048 according to the 2000 census. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 23,161.-History:...
. - 1770 Cretan insurrection against the Ottomans led by Ioannis DaskalogiannisDaskalogiannisIoannis Vlachos , better known as Daskalogiannis was a wealthy shipbuilder and shipowner who led a Cretan revolt against Ottoman rule in the 18th century.-Life and career:...
of the SfakiaSfakiaSfakiá is a mountainous area in the southwestern part of the island of Crete, in the Chania peripheral unit. It is considered one of the few places in Greece to never have been fully occupied by foreign powers...
region is subjugated; Hieromartyr George of Neapolis. - 1779 Death of Kosmas Aitolos, Equal to the ApostlesEqual-to-apostlesAn equal-to-the-apostles is a special title given to some canonized saints in Eastern Orthodoxy. It is also used by Eastern Rite Catholic Churches that are in communion with Rome...
. - 1782 First publication of PhilokaliaPhilokaliaThe Philokalia is a collection of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters of the Eastern Orthodox hesychast tradition. They were originally written for the guidance and instruction of monks in "the practise of the contemplative life". The collection was compiled in...
on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
; New Martyr Zacharias of Patra in Morea. - 1793 New Martyr Polydorus of Cyprus.
- 1794 Glorification of Bp. Panaretos of Paphos (+1790); new martyr Alexander the former Dervish.
- 1795 New Martyr Theodora of Byzantium (Mytiline).
- 1796 Nicodemus the Hagiorite publishes Unseen Warfare in Venice.
- 1798 Patriarch Anthimios of Jerusalem contended that the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
was part of the Divine DispensationDivine ProvidenceIn Christian theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's activity in the world. " Providence" is also used as a title of God exercising His providence, and then the word are usually capitalized...
granted by GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
to protect OrthodoxyOrthodoxyThe word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
from the taint of Roman CatholicismRoman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and of Western secularismSecularismSecularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
and irreligionIrreligion by countryIrreligion varies in the different countries around the world....
. - 1800 The Rudder published and printed in Athens; Death of Hieromonk Nikephoros TheotokisNikephoros TheotokisNikephoros Theotokis or Nikiforos Theotokis was a Greek scholar and theologian, who became an archbishop in the southern provinces of the Russian Empire...
, "Teacher of the Nation". - 1802 New Martyr Luke of Mytilene.
- 1803 Dance of ZalongoDance of ZalongoThe term Dance of Zalongo refers to an event in Greek history involving a mass suicide of women from Souli and their children during the Souliote war of 1803, near the village of Zalongo in Epirus. The name also refers to popular dance song commemorating the event. The same event made and impact in...
. - 1805 Death of Makarios of CorinthMacarius of CorinthMacarius of Corinth Macarius of Corinth Macarius of Corinth (birth name: Macarius Notaras was born in Corinth in 1731 and died in Chios in April 1805. St Macarius as Bishop and later Metropolitan of Corinth, was a mystic and spiritual writer who worked to revive and mostly sustain the Orthodox...
, a central figure in the Kollyvades MovementKollyvades MovementThe Kollyvades Movement was a movement that began in the second half of the eighteenth century among the monastic community of Mount Athos, which was concerned with the restoration of traditional practices and opposition to unwarranted innovations, and which turned unexpectedly into a movement of...
. - 1808 New Hieromartyr Nicetas of Serres.
- 1809 Death of Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain the "Hagiorite"; Hieromartyr Nicetas the Hagiorite.
- 1813 Death of Athanasius PariosAthanasius PariosFather Athanasios Parios was a Greek hieromonk who was a great and eminent theologian, philosopher, educator, and hymnographer of his time, and one of the "Teachers of the Nation" during the Modern Greek Enlightenment. He was the second leader of the Kollyvades movement, succeeding Neophytos...
, the second leader of the Kollyvades movement, succeeding Neophytos Kausokalyvites (1713–1784). - 1814 Martyrdom of Euthymius and Ignatius of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. - 1816 Martyrdom of Acacius of Athos.
- 1819 Council at Constantinople endorses views of Kollyvades fathers.
Greek War of Independence (1821-1829)
- 1821 Greek War of IndependenceGreek War of IndependenceThe Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
begins as Metr. Germanos of PatrasGermanos of PatrasGermanos was an Orthodox Metropolitan of Patras.Germanos was born in Dimitsana, northwestern Arcadia, Peloponnese...
declares Greek independence on Day of AnnunciationAnnunciationThe Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
(March 25), also Kyrio-Pascha, at the Monastery of Agia LavraAgia LavraAgia Lavra is a monastery near Kalavryta, Achaea, Greece. It was built in 961 AD, on Helmos Mountain, at an altitude of 961 meters, and can be described as the symbolic birth-place of modern Greece. It stands as one of the oldest monasteries in the Peloponnese.It was built in 10th century but was...
, Peloponnese; martyrdom of Patr. Gregory V of ConstantinoplePatriarch Gregory V of ConstantinopleGregory V was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1797 to 1798, from 1806 to 1808 and from 1818 to 1821. He was responsible for much restoration work to the Patriarchal Cathedral of St George, which had been badly damaged by fire in 1738...
, Abp. Kyprianos of CyprusKyprianosArchbishop Kyprianos of Cyprus was the head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church in the early 19th century at the time that the Greek War of Independence broke out....
, and Abp. Gerasimos of Crete in retaliation; former Ecumenical Patr. Cyril VI of Constantinople (1813–18) is hanged at the gate of Adrianople's cathedral; Metropolitans Gregorios of Derkon, Dorotheos of Adrianople, Ioannikios of Tyrnavos, and Joseph of Thessaloniki are decapitated on the Sultan's orders in Constantinople; Metropolitans Chrysanthos of Paphos, Meletios of Kition and Lavrentios of Kyrenia are executed in Nicosia, Cyprus; liberation fighters started calling themselves "Hellenes" (for continuity with their ancient Hellenic heritage), rather than using the generic "Romioi" (Ρωμιοί, which referred to both their Roman citizenshipRoman citizenshipCitizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
and religious affiliation to Orthodox Christendom); death of Nikephoros of ChiosNikephoros of ChiosFather Nikephoros of Chios is the spiritual son and disciple of Macarius of Corinth who was known for his holy life and character, being known as a saint even during his lifetime. His feast day is celebrated on May 1.-Life:St...
. - 1823 Wonderworking Icon of Panagia EvangelistriaAnnunciationThe Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
found on Tinos, led by a vision from Saint Pelagia of Tinos, becoming the most venerated pilgrimage item in Greece, at the Church of EvangelistriaOur Lady of TinosOur Lady of Tinos is the major Marian shrine in Greece. It is located in the town of Tinos on the island of Tinos.The complex is built around a miraculous icon which according to tradition was found after the Virgin appeared to the nun St. Pelagia and revealed to her the place where the icon was...
; martyrdom of Hieromonk Christos of Ioannina. - 1825 Archimandrite Gregorios DikaiosPapaflessasPapaflessas , born Grigorios Demetrios Flessas , was a Greek patriot, priest, and government official of the old Flessas Family. The word papa- in the name "Papaflessas" indicates his status as a cleric since the word means "priest" in Greek...
("Papaflessas") is killed during the Battle of ManiakiBattle of ManiakiThe Battle of Maniaki was fought on June 1, 1825 in Maniaki, Greece between Egyptian forces led by Ibrahim Pasha and Greek forces led by Papaflessas.-Battle:...
on June 20, fighting against the forces of Ibrahim PashaIbrahim Pasha of EgyptIbrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager...
at Maniaki, MesseniaMesseniaMessenia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011...
. - 1827 Europe recognises the autonomy of Greece.
- 1828 Ioannis KapodistriasIoannis KapodistriasCount Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias |Academy of Athens]] Critical Observations about the 6th-Grade History Textbook"): "3.2.7. Σελ. 40: Δεν αναφέρεται ότι ο Καποδίστριας ήταν Κερκυραίος ευγενής." "...δύο ιστορικούς της Aκαδημίας κ.κ...
first president of Greece and confiscates Athonite metochia; Greek church opened in London (2nd time). - 1829 Treaty of AdrianopleTreaty of AdrianopleThe Peace Treaty of Adrianople concluded the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829 between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. It was signed on September 14, 1829 in Adrianople by Russia's Count Alexey Fyodorovich Orlov and by Turkey's Abdul Kadyr-bey...
ends Greek War of Independence, culminating in the creation of the modern Greek state.
First Hellenic Republic (1829-1832)
- ca. 1829 The purified and formal language of KatharevousaKatharevousaKatharevousa , is a form of the Greek language conceived in the early 19th century as a compromise between Ancient Greek and the Modern Greek of the time, with a vocabulary largely based on ancient forms, but a much-simplified grammar. Originally, it was widely used both for literary and official...
of Modern GreekModern GreekModern Greek refers to the varieties of the Greek language spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic...
is promoted as the official language (to 1976); Ioannis KapodistriasIoannis KapodistriasCount Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias |Academy of Athens]] Critical Observations about the 6th-Grade History Textbook"): "3.2.7. Σελ. 40: Δεν αναφέρεται ότι ο Καποδίστριας ήταν Κερκυραίος ευγενής." "...δύο ιστορικούς της Aκαδημίας κ.κ...
made NafplionNafplionNafplio is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf. The town was the first capital of modern Greece, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. Nafplio is now the capital of the peripheral unit of...
the first official capital of modern Greece (1829–1834). - 1830 The fully sovereign status of Greece was accepted in the London ProtocolLondon Protocol-1814:On June 21, 1814, a secret convention between the Great Powers: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Prussia, Austria, and Russia awarded the territory of current Belgium and the Netherlands to William I of the Netherlands, then "Sovereign Prince" of the United Netherlands...
of February 3, 1830. - 1832 Treaty of ConstantinopleTreaty of Constantinople (1832)The Τreaty of Constantinople was the product of the Constantinople Conference which opened in February 1832 with the participation of the Great Powers on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire on the other. The factors which shaped the treaty included the refusal of Léopold, King of Belgium, to...
, European powers establish Greek protectorate; Otho IOtto of GreeceOtto, Prince of Bavaria, then Othon, King of Greece was made the first modern King of Greece in 1832 under the Convention of London, whereby Greece became a new independent kingdom under the protection of the Great Powers .The second son of the philhellene King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto ascended...
enthroned as Greek King.
Kingdom of Greece (1833-1924)
- 1832-35 "Bavarokratia" closes down 600 monasteries and nationalises monastic land-holdings
- 1833 The National Assembly at Nauplio declares the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
as independent from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople - 1834 Suppression of many monasteries in the new Greek kingdom.
- 1835 On February 2 the Ecumenical Patriarch Constantius II of Constantinople (1834–35) celebrating with 12 bishops and an enormous flood of the faithful, consecrated the rebuilt Church of the Life-Giving FontChurch of St. Mary of the Spring (Istanbul)The Monastery of the Mother of God at the Spring or simply Zoödochos Pege , is an Eastern Orthodox sanctuary in Istanbul...
dedicating it to the Most Holy TheotokosTheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
. - 1837 School of Theology at the National and Capodistrian University of Athens founded.
- 1838 Council of Constantinople held, attended by Patriarchs Gregory VI of Constantinople and Athanasius V of Jerusalem, whose main theme was the Unia, and the extermination of Latin dogmas and usages; death of New MartyrNew MartyrThe title of New Martyr or Neomartyr of the Eastern Orthodox Church was originally given to martyrs who died under heretical rulers . Later the Church added to the list those martyred under Islam and various modern regimes, especially Communist ones, which espoused state atheism...
George of Ioannina. - 1839 Theophilos KairisTheophilos KairisTheophilos Kairis was a Greek priest and revolutionary. He was born in Andros, Cyclades, Ottoman Greece, as a son of a distinguished family....
of Andros condemned and imprisoned for teaching a form of Deism. - 1843 Georgios RizarisManthos and Georgios RizarisManthos Rizaris and Georgios Rizaris were Greek benefactors, merchants and members of the organization Filiki Eteria.Rizari brothers were born in the village of Monodendri of Zagori region . They lost both parents at an early age. Manthos Rizaris, the elder brother, moved to Moscow, in order to...
, a benefactor, merchant, and member of the Filiki EteriaFiliki Eteriathumb|right|200px|The flag of the Filiki Eteria.Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends was a secret 19th century organization, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece and to establish an independent Greek state. Society members were mainly young Phanariot Greeks from Russia and local...
organization, funded the building of the Rizareios Ecclesiastical School in Athens, which continues to function as a religious and educational institution today, based in HalandriChalandriChalandri or Halandri is a northern suburb in Athens, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region...
, Athens. - 1844 Prime Minister Ioannis KolettisIoannis KolettisIoannis Kolettis was a Greek politician who played a significant role in Greek affairs from the Greek War of Independence through the early years of the Greek Kingdom, including as Minister to France and serving twice as Prime Minister....
first coined the expression the "Great Idea" (Megali IdeaMegali IdeaThe Megali Idea was an irredentist concept of Greek nationalism that expressed the goal of establishing a Greek state that would encompass all ethnic Greek-inhabited areas, since large Greek populations after the restoration of Greek independence in 1830 still lived under Ottoman rule.The term...
), envisaging the restoration of the Christian Orthodox Byzantine Empire with its capital once again established at Constantinople, becoming the core of Greek foreign policy until the early 20th century; King Otho I accepts constitution. - 1845 Death of priest and scholar Neophytos DoukasNeophytos DoukasNeophytos Doukas was a Greek priest and scholar, author of a large number of books and translations from ancient Greek works, and one of the most important personalities of modern Greek Enlightenment during the Ottoman occupation of Greece...
, author of a large number of books and translations of ancient Greek works, and one of the most important personalities of the Greek EnlightenmentDiafotismosThe Modern Greek Enlightenment was an ideological, philological, linguistic and philosophical movement among 18th century Greeks that translate the ideas and values of European Enlightenment into the Greek world.-Origins:...
during the Ottoman occupation of GreeceOttoman GreeceMost of Greece gradually became part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century until its declaration of independence in 1821, a historical period also known as Tourkokratia ....
.
Autocephalous Era (1850-Present)
- 1850 Permanent Synod in Constantinople presided over by Patr. Anthimos IV of Constantinople recognised the AutocephalyAutocephalyAutocephaly , in hierarchical Christian churches and especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, is the status of a hierarchical church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop...
of the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
; due to certain conditions issued in the "Tomos" decree, the Greek National Church must maintain special links to the "Mother Church". - 1856 Death of Neophytos Vamvas, Greek cleric and educator who had translated the Bible into Modern GreekModern GreekModern Greek refers to the varieties of the Greek language spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic...
. - 1857-66 J.P. MigneJacques Paul MigneJacques Paul Migne was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely-distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a universal library for the Catholic priesthood.He was born at Saint-Flour, Cantal and studied...
produces the Patrologia GraecaPatrologia GraecaThe Patrologia Graeca is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers and various secular writers, in the ancient Koine or medieval variants of the Greek language. It consists of 161 volumes produced in 1857–1866 by J. P. Migne's Imprimerie Catholique...
in 161 volumes, including both the Eastern FathersChurch FathersThe Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
and those Western authors who wrote before Latin became predominant in the Western Church in the 3rd century. - 1863 George IGeorge I of GreeceGeorge I was King of Greece from 1863 to 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the former king Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers...
enthroned as King of Greece. - 1864 Holy Trinity Church, first Orthodox parish established on American soil in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Greeks.
- 1866 Greek church takes over the Diocese of the Ionian IslandsIonian IslandsThe Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
from Constantinople; beginning of the Great Cretan RevolutionCretan Revolt (1866–1869)The Cretan Revolt of 1866–1869 or Great Cretan Revolution was a three year uprising against Ottoman rule, the third and largest in a series of Cretan revolts between the end of the Greek War of Independence in 1830 and the establishment of the independent Cretan State in 1898.-Background:The...
(1866–1869); the holocaust of Arkadi MonasteryArkadi MonasteryThe monastery of Arkadi is an Eastern Orthodox monastery, situated on a fertile plateau 14 mi to the southeast of Rethymnon on the island of Crete ....
in Crete. - 1871 Body of Patr. Gregory VPatriarch Gregory V of ConstantinopleGregory V was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1797 to 1798, from 1806 to 1808 and from 1818 to 1821. He was responsible for much restoration work to the Patriarchal Cathedral of St George, which had been badly damaged by fire in 1738...
returned to Athens and entombed in cathedral. - 1877 Death of Arsenios of Paros (August 18).
- 1878 Council of Athens, convened and presided over by Metr. Procopius I of Athens, condemned the Makrakists, obtaining closure of Apostolos Makrakis' "School of the Logos" on the pretext that it taught doctrines opposed to the tenets of the Church, and addressed an encyclical to the whole body of Christians in Greece that was read in the churches, charging Makrakis with attempting to introduce innovations.
- 1878 CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
is ceded to Britain by Ottoman Empire at the Congress of BerlinCongress of BerlinThe Congress of Berlin was a meeting of the European Great Powers' and the Ottoman Empire's leading statesmen in Berlin in 1878. In the wake of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the meeting's aim was to reorganize the countries of the Balkans...
. - 1881 Ottomans cede ThessaliThessalyThessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
and ArtaArta PrefectureArta is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Arta.-Geography:The regional unit of Arta is located north of the Ambracian Gulf. The main mountain ranges are the Athamanika in the northeast, the Pindus in the east, and Valtou in the...
regions to Greece; Thessaly and part of EpirusEpirus (region)Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south...
added to the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
. - 1882 During the patriarchate of Joachim IIIPatriarch Joachim III of ConstantinopleJoachim III the Magnificent was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1878 to 1884 and from 1901 to 1912.He was born in Constantinople in 1834, with origin from Kruševo. He was educated in Vienna....
, the Great School of the NationPhanar Greek Orthodox College-See also:*Fener*Greeks in Turkey*Zografeion Lyceum*List of schools in Istanbul*Ottoman Greeks...
was housed in a new large building in the area of the PhanarFenerFener is a neighborhood midway up the Golden Horn within the district of Fatih in Istanbul , Turkey. The streets in the area are full of historic wooden houses, churches, and synagogues dating from Byzantine and Ottoman eras. The area's name is a Turkish transliteration of the original Greek φανάρι...
.
- 1885 Prominent Greek painter Nicholaos GysisNicholaos GysisNikolaos Gyzis was considered one of Greece's most important 19th-century painters. He was most famous for his work Eros and the Painter, his first genre painting. It was auctioned in May 2006 at Bonhams in London, being last exhibited in Greece in 1928...
paints the famous "Secret schoolKrifo scholioIn Greek history, the term Krifó scholió refers to supposedly illegal underground schools for teaching the Greek language and Christian doctrines, provided by the Greek Orthodox Church under Ottoman rule in Greece between the 15th and 19th centuries...
" ("κρυφό σχολειό"), referring to the underground schools provided by the Greek Orthodox Church in monasteries and churches during the time of Ottoman rule in Greece (15th-19th c.) for keeping alive Orthodox Christian doctrines and Greek language and literacy. - 1888 TypikonTypikonThe Typikon, or Typicon; plural Typika is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the various Eastern Orthodox Christian church services and ceremonies, in the form of a perpetual calendar...
of the Great Church of Christ is published with revised church services, prepared by Protopsaltis George Violakis, issued with the approval and blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch, while the SabaiteSabbas the SanctifiedSaint Sabbas the Sanctified , a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba...
(monastic) Typikon continues to be used in the Church of RussiaRussian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
(i.e. from 1682-1888 the Greek and Russian Churches had shared a common Typikon); death of Panagis of LixouriLixouriLixouri is the main town on the peninsula of Paliki in the island of Kefalonia, one of the Ionian Islands of western Greece. Lixouri is the second largest community in Kefalonia after Argostoli and before Sami and is the capital of the small peninsula...
(Cephalonia). - 1890-1917 Emigration of 450,000 Greeks to the United StatesGreek AmericanGreek Americans are Americans of Greek descent also described as Hellenic descent. According to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimation, there were 1,380,088 people of Greek ancestry in the United States, while the State Department mentions that around 3,000,000 Americans claim to be of Greek descent...
, many as hired labor for the railroads and mines of the American West. - 1894 On March 8, Nektarios of Pentapolis was appointed Dean of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School, remaining as Dean until 1908, becoming a spiritual guide to many.
- 1897 Greco-Turkish WarGreco-Turkish War (1897)The Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War and known as the Black '97 in Greece, was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and Ottoman Empire. Its immediate cause was the question over the status of the Ottoman province of Crete, whose Greek majority long desired union...
. - 1901 Evangeliaka riots in Athens Greece in November, over translations of New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
into Demotic (Modern) GreekDimotikiDemotic Greek or dimotiki is the modern vernacular form of the Greek language. The term has been in use since 1818. Demotic refers particularly to the form of the language that evolved naturally from ancient Greek, in opposition to the artificially archaic Katharevousa, which was the official...
, resulting in fall of both government and Metropolitan of Athens, and withdrawal of publications from circulation. - 1902 Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
takes responsibility for Greek Orthodox parishes in Australasia from the Church of Jerusalem. - 1904 Ecumenical Patriarchate publishes the "Patriarchal" Text of the Greek New Testament, based on about twenty Byzantine manuscripts, the standard text of the Greek-speaking Orthodox churches today;
- 1904-1910 Nektarios of Pentapolis began building the Convent of the Holy Trinity on the island of Aegina, while yet Dean of the Rizarios School.
- 1905 Death of Apostolos Makrakis.
- 1907 Archim. Eusebius Matthopoulos founds Zoe Brotherhood; ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael MorganRaphael MorganVery Rev. Raphael Morgan was a Jamaican-American priest of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, designated as "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies, later the founder and superior of the Order of the Cross of Golgotha, and thought to be the first Black Orthodox clergyman in America.He spoke...
, "Priest-Apostolic" (Ιεραποστολος) to America and the West Indies, and the first African-American Orthodox priest. - 1908 Death of Methodia of KimolosKimolosKimolos is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, belonging to the islands group of Cyclades, located on the SW tip of them, near the bigger island of Milos. It is considered as a middle class, rural island, not included in the tourist hotspots, thus, ferry connection is sometimes of bad quality...
; jurisdiction of Greek Church in AmericaGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of AmericaThe Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Church of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Demetrios of America.-About the Archdiocese:...
and the Greek Church in AustraliaGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of AustraliaThe Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.- Archbishop of Australia...
was temporarily given to the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
under an agreement made between the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
and the Holy Synod of Athens (until 1922 in America; until 1924 in Australia); Nektarios of Pentapolis took up permanent residence on Aegina, where he spent the last years of his life, devoting himself to the direction of his convent and to very intense prayer. - 1912 Kyriopascha occurs; Balkan WarsBalkan WarsThe Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
: EpirusEpirus (region)Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south...
, MacedoniaMacedonia (Greece)Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
and the eastern Aegean islands are liberated and come under the administration of the Greek Church, but remain under the nominal authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople. - 1914-18 World War I.
- 1914 According to the Corfu ProtocolProtocol of CorfuThe Protocol of Corfu , signed on May 17, 1914, was an agreement between representatives of the Albanian Government and the Provisional Government of Northern Epirus, which officially recognized the area of Northern Epirus as an autonomous region within the Albanian state...
Northern EpirusNorthern EpirusNorthern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
is granted autonomy within Albania; Byzantine & Christian MuseumByzantine & Christian MuseumThe Byzantine and Christian Museum is situated at Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. It was founded in 1914 and houses more than 25,000 exhibits with rare collections of pictures, scriptures, frescoes, pottery, fabrics, manuscripts and copies of artifacts from the 3rd century AD to the...
is founded in Athens, becoming one of the most important museums in the world in Byzantine Art. - 1917 Hierarchy of the Greek Church changed in accordance with political control of the country.
- 1918 The "St. Sophia Redemption Committee" is formed in Britain after the ArmisticeArmistice DayArmistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
, whose members included two future Foreign Secretaries and many prominent public figures, seeking to restore Hagia SophiaHagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
into an Orthodox Church (1918–1922); Roman Catholic opposition to the St Sophia Redemption Committee included Msgr. Manuel Bidwell (Chancellor of the Archdiocese of WestminsterRoman Catholic Archdiocese of WestminsterThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in England. The archdiocese consists of all the London boroughs north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, together with the towns southwest of Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames and...
) who was on the initial committee, Roman Catholic British MP Sir Stuart CoatsStuart CoatsSir Stuart Auchincloss Coats, 2nd Baronet was a British politician and Member of Parliament for Wimbledon from 1916 to 1918 and then East Surrey from 1918 to 1922....
also on the committee, Cardinal Pietro GasparriPietro GasparriPietro Gasparri was a Roman Catholic archbishop, diplomat and politician in the Roman Curia and signatory of the Lateran Pacts.- Biography :...
the Papal Secretary of StateCardinal Secretary of StateThe Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Holy See, usually known as the "Vatican", Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia...
, and the Vatican who wished to block St. Sophia becoming a Greek Orthodox Church (according to the Grand VizierGrand VizierGrand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
of Constantinople who had an offer of Papal support).- 1918-1923 Allied Occupation of Constantinople.
- 1918-1924 Emigration of 70,000 Greeks to the United StatesGreek AmericanGreek Americans are Americans of Greek descent also described as Hellenic descent. According to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimation, there were 1,380,088 people of Greek ancestry in the United States, while the State Department mentions that around 3,000,000 Americans claim to be of Greek descent...
. - 1919-1922 Greco-Turkish WarGreco-Turkish War (1919-1922)The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...
; a million refugeesGreek refugeesGreek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the Greeks from Asia Minor who were evacuated or relocated in Greece following the Treaty of Lausanne and the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey...
flee to Greece joining half a million Greeks who had fled earlier; Greek Genocide eliminates the Christian population of Trebizond and Anatolia.
- 1920 Death of Nektarios of Pentapolis (Aegina); St. Nektarios lived on Aegina for 13 years, and was buried in the precinct of the church that he founded; Chrysanthos, Bp. of Trebizond is condemned to death in absentiaIn absentiaIn absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
by a Court Martial in Ankara; Dodecanese Islands ceded to Greece by Italy; publication of Encyclical Letters by Constantinople on Christian unity and on the Ecumenical Movement; Treaty of SèvresTreaty of SèvresThe Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany before this treaty to annul the German concessions including the economic rights and enterprises. Also, France, Great Britain and Italy...
cedes Eastern Thrace and Ionia (Zone of Smyrna) to Greece, but is superseded in 1923 by the Treaty of Lausanne by which these areas were again lost. - 1921 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of AmericaGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of AmericaThe Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Church of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Demetrios of America.-About the Archdiocese:...
formally founded. - 1922 Metropolis of Aitolia and Akarnania founded in its modern form; death of Ethnomartyr Metr. Chrysostomos (Kalafatis) of SmyrnaChrysostomos of SmyrnaChrysostomos Kalafatis , known as Saint Chrysostomos of Smyrna, Chrysostomos of Smyrna and Metropolitan Chrysostom, was the Greek Orthodox bishop of Smyrna between 1910 and 1914, and again from 1919 to his death in 1922...
, lynched by a Turkish mob incited by Nureddin PashaNureddin PashaNureddin Pasha , often called Bearded Nureddin , was a Turkish military officer, who served in the Ottoman Empire during World War I and in the Turkish army during the Greco-Turkish War...
on Sunday September 10; Greek troops advancing on Constantinople are routed by Turks; the predominantly Orthodox Christian city of Smyrna is destroyedGreat Fire of SmyrnaThe Great Fire of Smyrna or the Catastrophe of Smyrna was a fire that destroyed much of the port city of Izmir in September 1922. Eye-witness reports state that the fire began on 13 September 1922 and lasted until it was largely extinguished on September 22...
, ending 1900 years of Christian civilization; Patriarch Meletios IV (Metaxakis)Patriarch Meletius IV of ConstantinopleMeletius IV was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1921 to 1923. He also served as Greek Patriarch of Alexandria under the episcopal name Meletius II from 1926 to 1935...
transferred the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America from the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
back to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
. - 1923 Exchange of Christian and Muslim populationPopulation exchange between Greece and TurkeyThe 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...
between Greece and Turkey; Treaty of LausanneTreaty of LausanneThe Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Lausanne was ratified by the Greek government on 11 February 1924, by the Turkish government on 31...
affirmed the international status of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with Turkey guaranteeing respect and the Patriarchate’s full protection, also granting control of the Holy MountainMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
to Greece; Patriarch ceases to be regarded as head of the Christian Orthodox MilletMillet (Ottoman Empire)Millet is a term for the confessional communities in the Ottoman Empire. It refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own system...
(millet-i RûmRûmRûm, also Roum or Rhum , an indefinite term used at different times in the Muslim world to refer to the Balkans and Anatolia generally, and for the Byzantine Empire in particular, for the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in Asia Minor, and referring to Greeks living outside of Greece or non-muslims...
) in Turkey; Patr. Meletios IV (Metaxakis) promulgates reformed calendarRevised Julian calendarThe Revised Julian calendar, also known as the Rectified Julian calendar, or, less formally, New calendar, is a calendar, originated in 1923, which effectively discontinued the 340 years of divergence between the naming of dates sanctioned by those Eastern Orthodox churches adopting it and the...
. - 1924 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of AustraliaGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of AustraliaThe Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.- Archbishop of Australia...
formally founded; death of Arsenios of Cappadocia.
Second Hellenic Republic (1924-1935)
- 1924 Constitution of the Holy MountainMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
agreed; Greek government adopts Revised Julian calendarRevised Julian calendarThe Revised Julian calendar, also known as the Rectified Julian calendar, or, less formally, New calendar, is a calendar, originated in 1923, which effectively discontinued the 340 years of divergence between the naming of dates sanctioned by those Eastern Orthodox churches adopting it and the...
. - 1925 School of Theology established at the Aristotle University of ThessalonikiAristotle University of ThessalonikiThe Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is the largest Greek university, and the largest university in the Balkans. It was named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, Chalcidice, about 55 km east of Thessaloniki, in Central Macedonia...
. - 1925-45 Emigration of less than 30,000 Greeks to the United States, many of whom were "picture brides" for single Greek men.
- 1926 Proposal for Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
to be turned into a Casino by Dictator Theodoros PangalosTheodoros Pangalos (general)Major General Theodoros Pangalos was a Greek soldier and politician. A distinguished staff officer and an ardent Venizelist and anti-royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in the September 1922 revolt that deposed King Constantine I and in the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic...
. - 1928 The Ecumenical Patriarchate issued a tome by which it ceded to the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
, on a temporary basis, 35 of its metropolitan dioceses in northern Greece to be administered by it. - 1930 Mustafa Kemal AtatürkMustafa Kemal AtatürkMustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
officially renamed Constantinople to IstanbulIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, which comes from the Greek expression "eis tin poli" (to the City) . - 1931 Benaki MuseumBenaki MuseumThe Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece...
opens in Athens, housing Byzantine, Post-Byzantine, and Neo-Hellenic ecclesiastical and national art collections. - 1932 Death of Papa-Nicholas (Planas).
- 1933 Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
bans FreemasonryFreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
. - 1935 Old CalendarOld calendaristsThe term Old Calendarist refers to any Orthodox Christian or any Orthodox Church body which uses the historic Julian calendar , and whose Church body is not in communion with the Orthodox Churches that use the New Calendar...
schism, when three bishops declared their separation from the official Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
stating that the calendar change was a schismatic act; Greek Old CalendaristGreek Old CalendaristsGreek Old Calendarists are groups that separated from the Orthodox Church of Greece or from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, precipitated by disagreement over the abandonment of the traditional Julian Calendar.- History :Up until the early 20th century, the Eastern Orthodox Church used the...
groups maintain that they have not separated over a mere calendar, rather that the calendar is a symptom of what has been called "the pan-heresy of ecumenismEcumenismEcumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
;" Mustafa Kemal Atatürk transformed Hagia SophiaHagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
into a museum.
Kingdom of Greece restored (1935-1967)
- 1936 Apostolic Ministry of the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
founded; General Ioannis MetaxasIoannis MetaxasIoannis Metaxas was a Greek general, politician, and dictator, serving as Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941...
, Prime Minister of Greece during the 4th of August Regime4th of August RegimeThe 4th of August Regime , commonly also known as the Metaxas Regime , was an authoritarian regime under the leadership of General Ioannis Metaxas that ruled Greece from 1936 to 1941...
(1936–41), propagated a Third Hellenic Civilization (Ancient Greece and Byzantium being the first two). - 1938 Death of Silouan of Mt AthosSilouan the AthoniteSaint Silouan the Athonite, also sometimes referred to as Saint Silvanus the Athonite or Staretz Silouan , was an Eastern Orthodox monk of Russian origin. He was born Simeon Ivanovich Antonov, of Russian Orthodox parents who came from the village of Sovsk in Russia's Tambov region...
. - 1939-49 WWII and subsequent Greek Civil WarGreek Civil WarThe Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
(1942–49), famine and widespread bloodshed. - 1939 The emigration of the Antiochian GreeksAntiochian GreeksAntiochian Greeks are members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch who have resided in the territory of contemporary Turkish province of Hatay, which includes the old city of Antioch or modern-day Antakya. The community has a long heritage that dates back to the establishment of Antioch in 323...
reaches its peak. - 1943 Massacre of KalavrytaMassacre of KalavrytaThe Holocaust of Kalavryta , or the Massacre of Kalavryta , refers to the extermination of the male population and the subsequent total destruction of the town of Kalavryta, in Greece, by German occupying forces during World War II on 13 December 1943...
by German occupation forces, including the monks and monastery of Agia LavraAgia LavraAgia Lavra is a monastery near Kalavryta, Achaea, Greece. It was built in 961 AD, on Helmos Mountain, at an altitude of 961 meters, and can be described as the symbolic birth-place of modern Greece. It stands as one of the oldest monasteries in the Peloponnese.It was built in 10th century but was...
; the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews of Athens fails, thanks to the combined efforts of Abp. Damaskinos (Papandreou) of Athens, Greek resistance groups and the Greek people. - 1945 Abp. Damaskinos (Papandreou) of Athens serves as regent in an attempt to stabilise Greece.
- 1946-82 Approximately 211,000 Greeks emigrated to the USGreek AmericanGreek Americans are Americans of Greek descent also described as Hellenic descent. According to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimation, there were 1,380,088 people of Greek ancestry in the United States, while the State Department mentions that around 3,000,000 Americans claim to be of Greek descent...
, especially after 1966, tapering off considerably since the 1980s. - 1947 The Dodecanese Islands are liberated but remain under the Patriarchate of ConstantinopleEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
. - 1948 Death of Savvas the New of Kalymnos.
- 1950 Uncovering of the relics of St. Ephraim of Nea MakriEphraim of Nea MakriSt. Ephraim of Nea Makri or St. Ephraim of Mount Amomon , believed to have lived from 1384 to 1426, is venerated as a martyr and miracle-working saint by many Greek Orthodox Christians in Greece. His status as a saint is controversial, as there are no sources testifying to his existence as an...
(+1426). - 1952 New Monastery of Panagia Soumela built in the village of Kastania, in Macedonia, Greece, housing the wonder-working icon of Panagia Soumela, becoming a center of religious pilgrimage.
- 1953 The Athonite School was officially re-established in Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, now named the ‘Athonite Ecclesiastical Academy’, it occupies a wing of the Skete of St. Andrew in KaryesKaryes (Athos)Karyes is a settlement in Mount Athos. It is the seat of the clerical and secular administration of the Athonite monastic state. The 2001 Greek census reported a population of 233 inhabitants...
, and follows the Greek secondary school curriculum combined with ecclesiastical education. - 1955 Istanbul PogromIstanbul PogromThe Istanbul riots , were mob attacks directed primarily at Istanbul's Greek minority on 6–7 September 1955. The riots were orchestrated by the Turkish government under Adnan Menderes. The events were triggered by the false news that the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, north Greece—the...
: In September an organised mob was turned against the ethnic Greek community and the Ecumenical PatriarchateEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
in an orchestrated pogrom, destroying 73 churches, 1,004 residences, 5,000 small- and medium-sized businesses, two cemeteries, 23 schools and 5 athletic centres; the number of ethnic Greeks who were forced to leave Turkey by 1960 as a result of these events is estimated at around 9,000. - 1956 Dr. Constantine Cavarnos founds the Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies in Belmont, Massachusetts.
- 1959 Death of Blessed Elder Joseph (Spilaiotis) the Hesychast.
- 1960 Death of Anthimos of Chios.
- 1961 GlorificationGlorification-Catholicism:For the process by which the Roman Catholic Church or Anglican Communion grants official recognition to someone as a saint, see canonization.-Eastern Orthodox Church:...
of Nektarios of Pentapolis (+1920). - 1962-68 The 12-Volume "Religious and Ethical Encyclopedia" (Θρησκευτική και Ηθική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια,ΘΗΕ) is compiled as a joint effort between academics, university scholars and other contributors.
- 1963 Soter Brotherhood is created, as the more traditionalist members broke away from the Zoe Brotherhood to form a smaller new brotherhood under the leadership of Prof. Panagiotes N. Trembelas, having a profound influence on the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
; Second Pan-Orthodox Conference held in Rhodes; 1000th anniversary celebration of founding of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. - 1963 Soter Brotherhood is created, as the more traditionalist members broke away from the Zoe Brotherhood to form a smaller new brotherhood under the leadership of Prof. Panagiotes N. Trembelas, having a profound influence on the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
; Second Pan-Orthodox Conference held in Rhodes; 1000th anniversary celebration of founding of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. - 1964 Panagia Malevi icon of the Mother of God begins gushing myrrh; third Pan-Orthodox Conference held in Rhodes; in March Turkey denounced the 1930 bilateral agreement on disputes arising from the exchange of populations and expelled more than 17,000 ethnic Greeks, who were deprived of all access to their real estate, goods and chattels, subsequently followed by the de facto exodus of 40,000 ethnic Greeks of Turkish citizenship.
- 1965 Death of iconographer Photios KontoglouPhotios KontoglouPhotis Kontoglou was a Greek writer, painter and iconographer.-Life :He was raised by his mother, Despoina Kontoglou, and his uncle Stefanos Kontoglou, who was abbot in the nearby monastery of Aghia Paraskevi. He spent his childhood among the monastery, the sea and the fishermen. In 1913, he...
, who was a strong influence in the reintroduction of traditional Byzantine and postbyzantine style in church iconography; first Metropolitan for Piraeus is elected, His Eminence Chrysostomos (Tabladorakis) of Argolidos; Monastery of Panagia Pantanassa (Kranidiou) founded; Pope Paul VI of Rome and Patr. Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of ConstantinoplePatriarch Athenagoras I of ConstantinopleEcumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I , born Aristocles Spyrou was the 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1948 to 1972.-Life:...
mutually nullify the excommunicationExcommunicationExcommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
s of 1054; the Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies is established in ThessalonikiThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, located at the Holy Patriarchal and StavropegialStauropegicStauropegic, also rendered stavropegic, stauropegial, or stavropegial is a title or description applied to Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christian monasteries subordinated directly to a Patriarch or Synod, rather than to their local Bishop...
Monastery of Vlatadon (Moni Vlatadon). - 1966 Death of Righteous Father Ieronymos (Apostolides) of Aegina; Center for Byzantine Research established at the Aristotle University of ThessalonikiAristotle University of ThessalonikiThe Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is the largest Greek university, and the largest university in the Balkans. It was named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, Chalcidice, about 55 km east of Thessaloniki, in Central Macedonia...
; Translation of the sacred relics of the Holy Apostle TitusApostle TitusTitus was a companion of Saint Paul, mentioned in several of the Pauline epistles. Titus was with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch and accompanied them to the Council of Jerusalem, although his name occurs nowhere in the Acts of the Apostles....
of Crete, from Venice (which had taken them in 1669), back to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Crete. - 1967 GlorificationGlorification-Catholicism:For the process by which the Roman Catholic Church or Anglican Communion grants official recognition to someone as a saint, see canonization.-Eastern Orthodox Church:...
of Arsenios of Paros (+1877) by the Patriarchate of ConstantinopleEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
.
Military Dictatorship (1967-1974)
- 1968 Orthodox Academy of Crete (OAC) founded by the Archdiocese of Crete, near the Moni Gonia MonasteryMoni Gonia MonasteryMoni Gonia Monastery, Monastery of Our Lady of Gonia or Monastery of Panaghia Odigitria is an orthodox monastery located 1 km north of Kolymvari and some 26 km from Chania, on the coast of the south-east Rodopos peninsula in Crete, Greece, overlooking the Gulf of Chania.-History:Today...
. - 1970 Death of Amphilochios (Makris) of Patmos.
- 1971 Halki SeminaryHalki seminaryThe Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki , was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki , the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until...
, Orthodoxy's most prominent theological school, is closed by Turkish authorities breaching Article 40 of the Lausanne Treaty and Article 24 of the Turkish Constitution which both guarantee religious freedom and education. - 1972 Ecclesiastical coup in CyprusEcclesiastical coupThe Ecclesiastical coup is the name given to the events staged by three bishops of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus against the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III in the period from March 1972 to July 1973.-Background:...
fails to remove Abp. Makarios IIIMakarios IIIMakarios III , born Andreas Christodolou Mouskos , was the archbishop and primate of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and the first President of the Republic of Cyprus ....
from the Presidency; death of missionary ArchimandriteArchimandriteThe title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
Chrysostomos PapasarantopoulosChrysostomos PapasarantopoulosRev. Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos was a pioneering missionary of the Orthodox faith in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Congo.-Childhood Years:Rev...
, having laboured to spread the Orthodox faith in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Congo. - 1974 Turkish invasion of CyprusTurkish invasion of CyprusThe Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus...
, Turkish forces advance capturing the 37% of the island, 3,000 are killed or missing, 200,000 become refugees; the Monarchy is voted out by a plebiscite vote of 69%.
Third Hellenic Republic (1974-Present)
- 1974 Esphigmenou Monastery (Athos)Esphigmenou MonasteryEsphigmenou monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece, dedicated to the Ascension of Christ. It is built next to the sea at the northern part of the Athonite peninsula. Located near the Hilandar monastery, it is the northernmost of all Athonite...
, a stronghold for the conservative Greek Old CalendaristsOld calendaristsThe term Old Calendarist refers to any Orthodox Christian or any Orthodox Church body which uses the historic Julian calendar , and whose Church body is not in communion with the Orthodox Churches that use the New Calendar...
, withdrew its representative from the common meetings of the Holy Community at KaryesKaryes (Athos)Karyes is a settlement in Mount Athos. It is the seat of the clerical and secular administration of the Athonite monastic state. The 2001 Greek census reported a population of 233 inhabitants...
(the administrative center of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
), accusing the PatriarchateEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
of being ecumenistEcumenismEcumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
, and refusing to commemorate the Patriarch; Metr. SeraphimArchbishop Seraphim of AthensSeraphim - born Vissarion Tikas was Archbishop of Athens and All Greece from 1974 to 1998....
of Ioannina is elected Archbishop of Athens and all Greece (1974–1998); the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Patras is inaugurated, being the largest church in Greece, housing the relics of Saint AndrewSaint AndrewSaint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
the Apostle. - 1975 Death of Papa-Dimitris (Gagastathis); Article 3 of the Greek ConstitutionConstitution of GreeceThe Constitution of Greece , was created by the Fifth Revisional Parliament of the Hellenes and entered into force in 1975. It has been revised three times since, most significantly in 1986, and also in 2001 and in 2008. The Constitutional history of Greece goes back to the Greek War of...
officially declares the prevailing religion in Greece as Eastern Orthodoxy under the authority of the autocephalous Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
, united in doctrine to the Ecumenical PatriarchateEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
.- 1976 The DimotikiDimotikiDemotic Greek or dimotiki is the modern vernacular form of the Greek language. The term has been in use since 1818. Demotic refers particularly to the form of the language that evolved naturally from ancient Greek, in opposition to the artificially archaic Katharevousa, which was the official...
(Demotic) dialect of Modern GreekModern GreekModern Greek refers to the varieties of the Greek language spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic...
was made the official language, replacing the purified and formal KatharevousaKatharevousaKatharevousa , is a form of the Greek language conceived in the early 19th century as a compromise between Ancient Greek and the Modern Greek of the time, with a vocabulary largely based on ancient forms, but a much-simplified grammar. Originally, it was widely used both for literary and official...
dialect of Modern Greek which had been in use for nearly two centuries since foundation of the modern Greek state. - 1978 Abortions are legalised in Greece but only under certain specific circumstances.
- 1980 Death of Elder Philotheos (Zervakos) of Paros; Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue, 1st plenary, met in Patmos and Rhodes; Greek priest-monkHieromonkHieromonk , also called a Priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism....
Fr. Athanasios Anthides travelled to India to begin a systematic Orthodox Mission in the rural area of ArambahArambagArambag is a town and a municipality in Hooghly district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the head quarter of Arambagh subdivision.-Geography:...
, in West BengalWest BengalWest Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
state, in eastern India. - 1981 Greece becomes the 10th member of the European Community, January 1; Adultery is decriminalized in the penal code.
- 1982 Monotonic orthographyGreek diacriticsGreek orthography has used a variety of diacritics starting in the Hellenistic period. The complex polytonic orthography notates Ancient Greek phonology...
was imposed by law on the Greek language, however the Greek Orthodox ChurchChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
continues to use polytonic orthographyGreek diacriticsGreek orthography has used a variety of diacritics starting in the Hellenistic period. The complex polytonic orthography notates Ancient Greek phonology...
. - 1983 Death of Elder Arsenios the cave-dweller of Mt. Athos.
- 1984 Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Commission, 3rd plenary, meets in Khania, Crete.
- 1986 Root of JesseTree of JesseThe Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the Ancestors of Christ, shown in a tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David; the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a genealogy...
icon of the Mother of God in Andros begins gushing myrrh; glorification of Arsenios the Cappadocian (+1924) by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. - 1987 In April, parliament approved a law to expropriate monastic land in order to redistribute some to poor peasants, and to take over administration of urban church-owned assets; Abp. Seraphim (Tikas) of AthensArchbishop Seraphim of AthensSeraphim - born Vissarion Tikas was Archbishop of Athens and All Greece from 1974 to 1998....
was victorious however in preventing the government from expropriating church landholdings, by allowing some land redistribution while opposing nationalisation of church and monastery land. - 1988 Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
and the MeteoraMeteoraThe Metéora is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos. The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in...
are designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites; radio station "Church of Piraeus 91.2 FM" begins transmitting in October. - 1989 Elder Ephraim of Philotheou begins founding AthoniteMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
-style monasteries in North America. - 1990 The Friends of Mount Athos society is formed by people sharing a common interest for the monasteries of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, with Metr. Kallistos (Ware)Timothy WareKallistos Ware is an English bishop within the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate and one of the best known contemporary Eastern Orthodox theologians. From 1982 to his retirement in 2001 he held the position of Bishop of Diokleia...
of Diokleia being the President of the society, also including Prince PhilipPrince Philip, Duke of EdinburghPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
(Duke of Edinburgh) and Prince CharlesCharles, Prince of WalesPrince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
(Prince of Wales and Heir Apparent to the British throne) among its members; the monasteries of DaphniDaphni MonasteryDafní or Daphní is a monastery 11 km north-west of downtown Athens in Chaidari, south of Athinon Avenue . It is situated near the forest of the same name, on the Sacred Way that led to Eleusis...
(Athens), Hosios LoukasHosios LoukasHosios Loukas is an historic walled monastery situated near the town of Distomo, in Boeotia, Greece. It is one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine architecture and art, and has been listed on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, along with the monasteries of Nea Moni and Daphnion.-...
(Beotia) and Nea Moni of ChiosNea Moni of ChiosNea Moni is an 11th century monastery on the island of Chios that has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located on the Provateio Oros Mt. in the island's interior, about 15 km from Chios town...
, are designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites; death of Fr. Athanasios Anthides, first Greek Orthodox Missionary to India, succeeded a year later by priest-monkHieromonkHieromonk , also called a Priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism....
Fr. Ignatios Sennis, who came to CalcuttaKolkataKolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
to continue the mission. - 1991 Death of Elder Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) the KapsokalivitePorphyrios BairaktarisPorphyrios Bairaktaris was an Athonite hieromonk known for his gifts of spiritual discernment--i.e. a type of clairvoyance which he sometimes called "spiritual television."...
(Evangelos (Bairaktaris)) February 7. - 1992 Deaths of Gabrielia (Papayannis) and Chrysanthi of Andros; Synaxis of primates of Orthodox churches in Constantinople; Thessaloniki was selected as the cultural capital of EuropeEuropean Capital of CultureThe European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
(1997). - 1993 Church of CyprusCypriot Orthodox ChurchThe Church of Cyprus is an autocephalous Greek church within the communion of Orthodox Christianity. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches, achieving independence from the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East in 431...
condemned Freemasonry as a religion incompatible with Christianity; canonization of Chrysostomos (Kalafatis) of SmyrnaChrysostomos of SmyrnaChrysostomos Kalafatis , known as Saint Chrysostomos of Smyrna, Chrysostomos of Smyrna and Metropolitan Chrysostom, was the Greek Orthodox bishop of Smyrna between 1910 and 1914, and again from 1919 to his death in 1922...
.
- 1994 Death of Elder Paisios (Eznepidis) of Mt. Athos, July 12; Museum of Byzantine CultureMuseum of Byzantine cultureThe Museum of Byzantine Culture is a museum in Thessaloniki, Greece, which opened in 1994.-History:To design the museum, a nationwide architectural competition was announced in 1977. The competition was ultimately won by the entry of Kyriakos Krokos. Construction of the building began in March...
is inaugurated in Thessaloniki; Greek Parliament passes a resolution affirming the genocide in the Pontus region of Asia Minor and designated May 19 a day of commemoration; the Liaison Office of the Orthodox Church to the European Union was established by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Brussels. - 1995 Death of Eldress Macrina of Volos; Ecumenical Patr. Bartholomew I visits Patmos as part of the celebration of the 1,900th anniversary of the writing of the Book of RevelationBook of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
by the Evangelist John. - 1997 A bomb explodes at the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
, seriously injuring Orthodox deacon Nectarius Nikolou and damaging several buildings. - 1998 Death of Elder Ephraim of Katounakia; Thessaloniki Summit held to discuss Orthodox participation in WCCWorld Council of ChurchesThe World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
; Archbishop Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) was enthroned in Athens as the new head of the Greek Orthodox ChurchChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
(1998–2008); a proposal to force the separation of church and state in Greece was rejected; Greek parliament affirmed the genocide of Greeks in Asia Minor as a whole (Pontian and Anatolian Ottoman GreeksOttoman GreeksOttoman Greeks were ethnic Greeks who lived in the Ottoman Empire , the Republic of Turkey's predecessor...
), and designated September 14 a day of commemoration; on December 8 the Bioethics Committee of the Church of Greece was appointed, to study in depth contemporary bioethical problems from a scientific viewpoint based on Orthodox ethos and the theological perception of man, society and values; posthumous recognition by the State of IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
of Metr. Joachim (Alexopoulos) of Demetrias for saving the lives of 700 people during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
who were hidden by the residents of the villages of Mount PelionPelionPelion or Pelium is a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in central Greece, forming a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the Aegean Sea...
, having his name inscribed in the Holocaust Museum in WashingtonUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
, and entered on the Righteous Honor Wall at Yad VashemYad VashemYad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
in Jerusalem. - ca.2000 Notable Greek Orthodox modern writers of the younger generation include: Metr. John ZizioulasJohn ZizioulasJohn Zizioulas is the Eastern Orthodox metropolitan of Pergamon. He is the Chairman of the Academy of Athens and a noted theologian.-Academic Education and Career:...
of Pergamon, Archimandrite Vasileios Gontikakis, Prof. Christos YannarasChristos YannarasChristos Yannaras is an important Greek philosopher and writer of more than 50 books, translated into many languages.- Biography :Christos Yannaras is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens...
, Prof. Fr. John S. RomanidesJohn S. RomanidesJohn Savvas Romanides was a Greek Orthodox priest, author and professor who, for a long time, represented the Greek Church to the World Council of Churches. He was born in Piraeus, Greece, on 2 March 1928 but his parents emigrated to the United States when he was only two months old. He grew up in...
(+2001), Bp. Hierotheos (Vlachos)Hierotheos (Vlachos)Metropolitan Hierotheos is a Greek theologian.He was born in Ioannina, Greece in 1945. He graduated from the Theological School of the University of Thessaloniki and was ordained deacon in 1971 and priest in 1972...
of Nafpaktos, Protopresbyter Nikolaos LoudovikosNikolaos LoudovikosProtopresbyter Fr. Nikolaos Loudovikos is a Greek theologian, priest, psychologist, author and professor.Fr. Nikolaos Loudovikos was born in Volos, Greece in 1959...
, Protopresbyter George MetallinosGeorge MetallinosProtopresbyter Fr. George Metallinos is a Greek theologian, priest, historian, author and professor ....
, Protopresbyter Theodore Zisis, and Panayiotis Nellas, among others. - 2000 Government of Greece orders removal of compulsory reference to religious affiliation on state identity cards, despite campaigns against this from the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
and the majority of the public. - 2001 Death of Elder Haralambos Dionysiatis, teacher of noetic prayerJesus PrayerThe Jesus Prayer or "The Prayer" is a short, formulaic prayer esteemed and advocated within the Eastern Orthodox church:The prayer has been widely taught and discussed throughout the history of the Eastern Churches. It is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice, its use...
; on the first trip to Greece by a Pope since AD 710, Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul IIBlessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
of Rome apologizes to Orthodox Church for Fourth CrusadeFourth CrusadeThe Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
; a day earlier some 1,000 Orthodox conservatives took to the streets to denounce his visit; in March, Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens blessed the Hellenic Genocide Petition Effort, which urged that the government not violate Law 2675/98 by deleting the term "genocide" when explaining the destruction of Hellenism in Asia Minor; Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens visits the Patriarchate of MoscowRussian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
, being also received by Russian President Vladimir PutinVladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
. - 2002 Metropolis of Glyfada is established as a new metropolisMetropolis (religious jurisdiction)A metropolis is a see or city whose bishop is the metropolitan of a province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces....
separating from Metropolis of Nea Smyrni; Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens consented to the construction of a mosque in Athens to end the situation of the Greek capital being the only EU capital without a Muslim place of worship; Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople declared the monks of Esphigmenou Monastery (Athos)Esphigmenou MonasteryEsphigmenou monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece, dedicated to the Ascension of Christ. It is built next to the sea at the northern part of the Athonite peninsula. Located near the Hilandar monastery, it is the northernmost of all Athonite...
as being in schismSchism (religion)A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...
with the Orthodox Church. - 2003 Orthodox Churches in Europe commemorated the 550th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople in May; the Greek Minister of Culture Evangelos VenizelosEvangelos VenizelosEvangelos Venizelos is a Greek politician, currently Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Greece since 17 June 2011...
informs Europarliament session that the status of the monasteries on Holy Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
and its way of life will remain unchanged, citing official recognition of this status fixed in Article 105 of the Greek ConstitutionConstitution of GreeceThe Constitution of Greece , was created by the Fifth Revisional Parliament of the Hellenes and entered into force in 1975. It has been revised three times since, most significantly in 1986, and also in 2001 and in 2008. The Constitutional history of Greece goes back to the Greek War of...
and also legally confirmed in the special Athens Treaty clause specifying conditions on which Greece joined the European Union; in February, the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox ChurchChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
issued a statement opposing the threat of war in Iraq. - 2003 Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens has falling out with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew over who should have the final say in the appointment of bishops in northern Greece, but rift is mended four months later; the proposal to build a mosque outside Athens before the 2004 Olympics was blocked due to opposition from residents and Greece's Orthodox Church which disagreed with the location and plans for the funding for the multimillion-pound mosque to come from Saudi Arabia's King Fahd; Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens inaugurated the Office of the Representation of the Church of Greece to the European Union in Brussels.
- 2004 In September, a helicopter carrying Patr. Petros VII (Papapetrou) of AlexandriaPatriarch Peter VII of AlexandriaPetros VII was the Greek Orthodox Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa from 1997 to 2004.-Biography:...
along with 16 others (including 3 other bishops of the Church of AlexandriaGreek Orthodox Church of AlexandriaThe Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.Officially, it is called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the...
) crashed into the Aegean Sea while en route to the monastic community of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
with no survivors. - 2005 Church of Greece hosted the WCCWorld Council of ChurchesThe World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
World Conference on Mission and Evangelism in Athens, the first in an Orthodox country in the history of this body; in October, the "Grey WolvesGrey WolvesThe Idealist Youth , commonly known as Grey Wolves , is an ultra-nationalist neo-fascist youth organization. It is accused of terrorism. According to Turkish authorities, the organization carried out 694 murders between 1974–1980.-Name:...
" Turkish terrorist group staged a rally outside the Ecumenical PatriarchateEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleThe Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
in PhanarFenerFener is a neighborhood midway up the Golden Horn within the district of Fatih in Istanbul , Turkey. The streets in the area are full of historic wooden houses, churches, and synagogues dating from Byzantine and Ottoman eras. The area's name is a Turkish transliteration of the original Greek φανάρι...
, proceeding to the gate where they laid a black wreath, chanting "Patriarch Leave" and "Patriarchate to Greece", inaugurating the campaign for the collection of signatures to oust the Ecumenical Patriarchate from Istanbul; Britain's Prince CharlesCharles, Prince of WalesPrince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
arrived on the monastic community of Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
for a three-day visit in May; Vladimir PutinVladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
becomes the first Russian state leader to visit Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. - 2006 Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens visits Vatican, the first head of the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
to visit the Vatican, reciprocating the Pope's visit to Greece in 2001, signing a Joint Declaration on the importance of the Christian roots of Europe and protecting fundamental human rights; government of Greece announces it will fund and build a €15 million (US$19 million) new mosque in Athens, to be the first working mosque in the Greek capital since the end of Ottoman rule over 170 years prior, welcomed by Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens and the Church of Greece in accordance with its established position; Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens castigated globalisation as a "crime against humanity"; Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis goes on a three-day pilgrimage to Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
; Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVIBenedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
met with Greek Orthodox Seminarians from the Apostoliki Diakonia theology college in Greece who were visiting Rome, urging them to confront the challenges that threaten the faith by working to unify all Christians; a ruling by a first-instance court in Athens approved the formation of an association of people who worship the 12 gods of Mount OlympusTwelve OlympiansThe Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon , in Greek mythology, were the principal deities of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hades were siblings. Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis were children of Zeus...
, linked to New Age practises by the Church of Greece. - 2006 The church reported that there were 216 men’s monastic communities and 259 for women along with 66 sketes, with a total of 1,041 monks and 2,500 nuns, witnessing to a modern modest revival in monasticismMonasticismMonasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...
; in September, barely 48 hours after a Somali Islamic cleric called for Muslims to kill the Pope, Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens told a sermon in Athens that Christians in Africa were suffering at the hands of "fanatic Islamists", citing the example of Roman Catholic monks who were slaughtered the previous year "because they wore the cross and believed in our crucified Lord"; Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens criticized the authors of a state issued elementary school sixth grade history textbook, as attempting to conceal the Church's role in defending Greek national identity during Ottoman occupation, the book being later removed in 2007; death of Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios, having authored thousands of recorded lectures in the spirit of patristic traditional Orthodoxy. - 2007 Greek Minority Lyceum at the Phanar (Megali tou Genous SxoliPhanar Greek Orthodox College-See also:*Fener*Greeks in Turkey*Zografeion Lyceum*List of schools in Istanbul*Ottoman Greeks...
- today a middle and high school of the Greek minority) wins a judgement condemning Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), for violation of the European Convention On Human Rights (protection of property); 1600th anniversary celebration of the repose of John ChrysostomJohn ChrysostomJohn Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
; the International Association of Genocide ScholarsInternational Association of Genocide ScholarsThe International Association of Genocide Scholars is a global, interdisciplinary, non-partisan organization that seeks to further research and teaching about the nature, causes, and consequences of genocide, and advance policy studies on prevention of genocide. The Association, founded in 1994 by...
passed the IAGS Resolution on Genocides Against Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, and Other Christians by the Ottoman Empire 13 July 2007, affirming that the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities between 1914-1923 was genocide; a half-finished painting in the Church of the Holy Virgin in AxioupoliAxioupoliAxioupoli , known until 1927 as Boymitsa , is a small town and a former municipality in the former Paionia Province of Kilkis regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Paionia, of which it is a municipal unit...
s, northern Greece, of Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin cutting off the beard of St Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), painted as a symbol of communist oppression of the Church, offended traditionalists who wanted it removed.
- 2008 Death of Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens, proving to be one of the most popular archbishops in Greek history, reviving the appeal of the Church in a secular age, especially among young people; Abp. Ieronymos II (Liapis) of AthensArchbishop Ieronymos II of AthensIeronymos II is the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece and as such the primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece. He was elected on 7 February 2008.-Early life and career:...
elected; GlorificationGlorification-Catholicism:For the process by which the Roman Catholic Church or Anglican Communion grants official recognition to someone as a saint, see canonization.-Eastern Orthodox Church:...
of George (Karslidis) of Drama; Pan-Orthodox meeting in Constantinople in October of the Primates of the fourteen Orthodox Churches, signing a document calling for inter-orthodox unity and collaboration and "the continuation of preparations for the Holy and Great Council"; the 13-member standing committee of the Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
denounced government plans to introduce a civil partnerships law, saying government support for common law marriage would amount to state-sanctioned “prostitution;” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Addresses European ParliamentEuropean ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. - 2009 The European Court on Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Turkey violated the property rights of the BozcaadaTenedosTenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...
Kimisis Teodoku Greek Orthodox Church on the Aegean island of Bozcaada; the Ecumenical Patriarchate has filed more than two dozen cases with the ECHR to recover some of the thousands of properties it has lost; US President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
made an explicit appeal in his speech to the Turkish Parliament for the reopening of the hotly contested Greek Orthodox Theological Seminary on HalkiHalki seminaryThe Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki , was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki , the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until...
, viewed by the European Union and others as a test case for religious freedom in Turkey; a delegation from the Orthodox Church of Greece headed by Metropolitan Nectarios of Kerkira, Paxoi and Diapontioi Nisoi visited several monasteries in West Ukraine; Patr. Mor Ignatius Zakka I IwasIgnatius Zakka I IwasIgnatius Zakka I Iwas is the 122nd reigning Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and as such, Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church. Also known by his traditional episcopal name, Severios, he was enthroned as patriarch on 14 September 1980 in St. George's...
of the Oriental Church of AntiochSyriac Orthodox ChurchThe Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....
went on an official visit to Greece, as the guests of the Greek Government and the Greek Orthodox Church to congratulate the new Abp. of the Greek Church and to renew the relationship between both churches; Elder Joseph of Vatopedi reposes peacefully, funeral service held July 1; Russian Orthodox Patr. Kirill of Moscow called on Turkish authorities to re-open the Theological Seminary on HalkiHalki seminaryThe Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki , was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki , the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until...
; over 1,000 Muslims rallied in the city streets of Athens over unsubstantiated claims that Greek police allegedly tore up and trampled on the Quran, smashing 75 cars, injuring 14 people, overturning trash bins and attacking banks; a group of Orthodox clergy in Greece, led by three senior archbishops, published a manifesto, A Confession of Faith Against Ecumenism, pledging to resist all ecumenical ties with Roman Catholics and Protestants, amongst its signatories including six metropolitans, as well as 49 archimandriteArchimandriteThe title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
s, 22 hieromonkHieromonkHieromonk , also called a Priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism....
s, and 30 nuns and abbesses, as well as many other priests and church elders; pilgrimage to Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
of the former Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor YanukovychViktor YanukovychViktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
, current leader of the opposition in parliament; Greek Orthodox Church urges Christians across Europe to unite in an appeal against a ban on crucifixes in classrooms in Italy. - 2010 On Sunday, August 15, 2010 Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I conducted the first Divine LiturgyDivine LiturgyDivine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
in 88 years at the historic monastery of Panagia SoumelaSumela MonasteryThe Sümela Monastery , , i.e. monastery of the Panaghia at Melá mountain) is a Greek Orthodox monastery, standing at the foot of a steep cliff facing the Altındere valley, in the region of Maçka in Trabzon Province, modern Turkey...
in TrapezountaTrabzonTrabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
, northeastern Turkey, marking the first official religious service carried out at the ancient monastery since the foundation of the modern Turkish Republic; death of Metr. Augoustinos KantiotesAugoustinos KantiotesMetropolitan Augoustinos Kantiotes was the Greek Orthodox bishop of Florina. He was born in Paros in village of Piso Livadi.Kantiotes was a defender of traditional Greek Orthodox beliefs. He was a writer of spiritual literature and is credited for the spiritual renewal of Greece, and the...
of FlorinaFlorinaFlorina is a town and municipality in mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. It is also the Metropolitan seat for the region. It lies in the central part of Florina peripheral unit, of which it is the capital. Florina belongs to the periphery of West...
, a prolific spiritual writer and defender of traditional Orthodox theology. - 2011 On Sunday 3 April 2011, at 9:30 pm, in the Church of the Holy Trinity in KalymnosKalymnosKalymnos, is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese and is located to the west of the peninsula of Bodrum , between the islands of Kos and Leros : the latter is linked to it through a series of islets...
, the face of ChristChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
crowned with thornsCrown of ThornsIn Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus Christ before his crucifixion...
appeared in the icon of the Virgin Mary on the iconostasisIconostasisIn Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
; canonization of 1241 New Martyrs of NaoussaNaousa, ImathiaNaousa or Naoussa is a city in the Imathia peripheral unit of Macedonia, Greece. Population 34,441.It is famous for its parks and for its ski resorts...
, Greece, massacred by the Ottoman Turks from Thursday of Bright Week to the Sunday of Thomas in 1822.
See also
- Church of GreeceChurch of GreeceThe Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
- List of archbishops of Athens
- Greek Orthodox ChurchGreek Orthodox ChurchThe Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
- Orthodox Church organization
History- History of the Orthodox Church
- History of Eastern ChristianityHistory of Eastern ChristianityChristianity has been, historically a Middle Eastern religion with its origin in Hebrew tribal Judaism.Eastern Christianity refers collectively to the Christian traditions and churches which developed in the Middle East, Egypt, Asia Minor, The Far East, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Northeastern Africa...
- History of the Eastern Orthodox Church under the Ottoman EmpireHistory of the Eastern Orthodox Church under the Ottoman EmpireIn AD 1453, the city of Constantinople, the capital and last stronghold of the Byzantine Empire, fell to the Ottoman Empire.By this time Egypt had been under Muslim control for some seven centuries...
- History of Eastern Orthodox Churches in the 20th centuryHistory of Eastern Orthodox Churches in the 20th centuryThe Eastern Orthodox Churches trace their roots back to the Apostles and Jesus Christ. Apostolic succession established by the seats of Patriarchy . Eastern Orthodoxy reached its golden age during the high point of the Byzantine Empire, and then continued to flourish in Russia after the Fall of...
- Timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in AmericaTimeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in AmericaThe History of Orthodoxy in America is complex and resists any easy categorizations or explanations.- Early visits and missions :* 1741 Divine Liturgy celebrated on a Russian ship off the coast of Alaska....
Church Fathers- Apostolic FathersApostolic FathersThe Apostolic Fathers are a small number of Early Christian authors who lived and wrote in the second half of the first century and the first half of the second century. They are acknowledged as leaders in the early church, although their writings were not included in the New Testament...
- Church FathersChurch FathersThe Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
- Ante-Nicene FathersAnte-Nicene FathersThe Ante-Nicene Fathers, subtitled "The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325", is a collection of books in 10 volumes containing English translations of the majority of Early Christian writings. The period covers the beginning of Christianity until before the promulgation of the Nicene Creed...
- Desert FathersDesert FathersThe Desert Fathers were hermits, ascetics, monks, and nuns who lived mainly in the Scetes desert of Egypt beginning around the third century AD. The most well known was Anthony the Great, who moved to the desert in 270–271 and became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism...
- Nicene and Post-Nicene FathersNicene and Post-Nicene FathersA Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, usually known as the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers , is a set of books containing translations of early Christian writings into English. It was published between 1886 and 1900...
- List of Church Fathers
Published works
Byzantine Era- Rev. Dr. Andrew Louth. Greek East and Latin West : The Church, AD 681-1071. The Church in History Vol. III. Crestwood, N.Y. : St. Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2007.
- Rev. Dr. Andrew Louth and Dr. Augustine Casiday (Eds.). Byzantine Orthodoxies: Papers from the Thirty-Sixth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Durham, 23-25 March 2002. Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies, Volume 12. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006.
- Donald NicolDonald NicolDonald MacGillivray Nicol FBA, MRIA was a British Byzantinist.- Life :Nicol was born to a Church of Scotland minister, and received a classical education at King Edward VII School in Sheffield and St Paul's School in London...
. Church and Society in Byzantium. Cambridge University Press, 2008. - Dimitri ObolenskyDimitri ObolenskySir Dimitri Obolensky was born Prince Dmitriy Dmitrievich Obolensky to Prince Dimitri Alexandrovich Obolensky and Countess Maria Shuvalov . He was descended from Rurik, Igor, Svyatoslav, St Vladimir of Kiev, St Michael of Chernigov, and Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov...
. The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500-1453. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers Inc., 1971. - John MeyendorffJohn MeyendorffJohn Meyendorff was a modern Orthodox scholar, writer and teacher. He was born into the Russian nobility as Ivan Feofilovich Baron von Meyendorff , but was known as Jean Meyendorff during his life in France.Fr John Meyendorff retired as Dean of St Vladimir's Seminary on June 30, 1992...
. The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church. Crestwood, N.Y. : St. Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1982. - John Meyendorff. Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes. 2nd ed. Fordham Univ Press, 1979.
- J. M. HusseyJoan M. HusseyJoan Mervyn Hussey , MA PhD FSA FRHistS was a British Byzantine scholar and historian.-Education:...
. Church & Learning in the Byzantine Empire, 867-1185. Oxford University Press, 1937. - Liebeschuetz, John Hugo Wolfgang Gideon. Barbarians and Bishops: Army, Church, and State in the Age of Arcadius and Chrysostom. Clarendon Press, 1990. ISBN 0-19-814886-0
- Milton V. Anastos. Aspects of the Mind of Byzantium: Political Theory, Theology, and Ecclesiastical Relations with the See of Rome. Ashgate Publications, Variorum Collected Studies Series, 2001.
- Milton V. Anastos. "The transfer of Illyricum, Calabria, and Sicily to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 732-33." In: Anastos, Studies in Byzantine Intellectual History. Variorum Collected Studies Series, London, 1979.
- Prof. Anthony Kaldellis. A Heretical (Orthodox) History of the Parthenon. Department of Greek and Latin, The Ohio State University. 01/02/2007. (.pdf)
- Prof. Fergus MillarFergus Millar-External links:* staff page at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford* announcement of "History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ."...
. A Greek Roman Empire: Power and Belief under Theodosius II (408-450). University of California Press, 2007. - Fr. Robert F. TaftRobert F. TaftRobert F. Taft, S.J. is a former Professor of Eastern Liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. He has made numerous contributions to the history of Byzantine, Syriac and Armenian liturgy.His magnum opus is A History of the Liturgy of St.John Chrysostom , Rome, 1978-2000...
(S.J.), Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute. Through Their Own Eyes: Liturgy as the Byzantines Saw It. InterOrthodox Press, 2006. 172pp. - Speros Vryonis, (Jr)Speros VryonisSperos Vryonis Jr. is an American historian of Greek descent and a specialist in Greek and Byzantine history. He is the author of a number of works on Byzantine/Greek-Turkish relations, including The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh...
. "Byzantine Attitudes towards Islam during the Late Middle Ages." Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies 12 (1971). - Steven RuncimanSteven RuncimanThe Hon. Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH — known as Steven Runciman — was a British historian known for his work on the Middle Ages...
. The Byzantine Theocracy. Cambridge University Press, 2004. - Timothy S. MillerTimothy MillerTimothy S. Miller is a historian of religion whose special interest is new religious movements and the history of communitarianism.Miller received his Ph.D...
. Medieval Byzantine Christianity. Ed. by Derek Krueger. A People's History of Christianity, Vol. 3. Minneapolis, Fortress Press. 2006. pp. 252.
Latin Occupation- Aristeides Papadakis (with John MeyendorffJohn MeyendorffJohn Meyendorff was a modern Orthodox scholar, writer and teacher. He was born into the Russian nobility as Ivan Feofilovich Baron von Meyendorff , but was known as Jean Meyendorff during his life in France.Fr John Meyendorff retired as Dean of St Vladimir's Seminary on June 30, 1992...
). The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy: The Church 1071-1453 A.D. The Church in History Vol. IV. Crestwood, N.Y. : St. Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1994. - Deno John Geanakoplos. Byzantine East and Latin West: Two worlds of Christendom in Middle Ages and Renaissance: Studies in Ecclesiastical and Cultural History. Oxford Blackwell 1966.
- E. Brown. "The Cistercians in the Latin Empire of Constantinople and Greece." Traditio 14 (1958), pp. 63–120.
- Gill Page. Being Byzantine: Greek Identity before the Ottomans, 1200-1420. Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN 9780521871815
- Joseph Gill. Church Union: Rome and Byzantium, 1204-1453. Variorum Reprints, 1979.
- Kenneth M. Setton. Catalan Domination of Athens, 1311-1388. Mediaeval Academy of America, 1948.
- Kenneth Meyer Setton. The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571: The Thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Volume 1. American Philosophical Society, 1976.
- P. Charanis. "Byzantium, the West and the Origin of the First Crusade." Byzantion 19 (1949), pp. 17–36.
- Prof. Tia M. Kolbaba. The Byzantine Lists: Errors of the Latins. 1st Ed. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000. 248pp.
- R. Wolff. "The Organisation of the Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople 1204-61." Traditio 6 (1948), pp. 33–60.
- William Miller. The Latins in the Levant: A History of Frankish Greece 1204-1566. Cambridge, Speculum Historiale, 1908.
Ottoman Turkish Occupation- Apostolos E. Vacalopoulos. The Greek Nation, 1453-1669: The Cultural and Economic Background of Modern Greek Society. Transl. from Greek. Rutgers University Press, 1975. (One of the few scholarly studies in English of this period)
- Bat Ye'orBat Ye'orBat Ye'or is a pseudonym of Gisèle Littman, née Orebi, an Egyptian-born British writer and political commentator who writes about the history of non-Muslims in the Middle East, and in particular the history of Christian and Jewish dhimmis living under Islamic governments.She is the author of eight...
. The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude: Seventh-Twentieth Century. Translated by Miriam Kochan. Published by Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1996. 522pp. - Fr. Nomikos Michael Vaporis. Witnesses for Christ: Orthodox Christian Neomartyrs of the Ottoman Period 1437-1860. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2000. 377pp.
- George P. Henderson. The Revival of Greek Thought, 1620-1830. State University of New York Press, 1970. (Focuses on the intellectual revivial preceding the War of Independence in 1821)
- George A. Maloney, (S.J.). A History of Orthodox Theology Since 1453. Norland Publishing, Massachusetts, 1976.
- Leften S. StavrianosL. S. StavrianosLeften Stavros Stavrianos was a Greek-Canadian historian. His most influential books are considered to be A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century and The Balkans since 1453. He was one of the very first historians to challenge Orientalist views of the Ottoman Empire.- Biography...
. The Balkans Since 1453The Balkans since 1453The Balkans Since 1453 is a book by the Greek-Canadian historian L.S. Stavrianos published in 1958. It is a large, synthetical work which encompasses the major political, economic and cultural events of the Balkans from the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the late 1940s.Stavrianos paid particular...
. Rinehart & Company, New York, 1958. - Speros Vryonis, (Jr)Speros VryonisSperos Vryonis Jr. is an American historian of Greek descent and a specialist in Greek and Byzantine history. He is the author of a number of works on Byzantine/Greek-Turkish relations, including The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh...
. The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1971. (Very comprehensive, masterpiece of scholarship) - Steven RuncimanSteven RuncimanThe Hon. Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH — known as Steven Runciman — was a British historian known for his work on the Middle Ages...
. The Great Church in Captivity: A Study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the Eve of the Turkish Conquest to the Greek War of Independence. Cambridge University Press,1986. - Theodore H. Papadopoulos. Studies and Documents Relating to the History of the Greek Church and People Under Turkish Domination. 2nd ed. Variorum, Hampshire, Great Britain, 1990. (Scholarly; Source texts in Greek)
- Articles
- Elizabeth A. Zachariadou. The Great Church in captivity 1453–1586. Eastern Christianity. Ed. Michael Angold. Cambridge University Press, 2006. Cambridge Histories Online.
- Elizabeth A. Zachariadou. Mount Athos and the Ottomans c. 1350–1550. Eastern Christianity. Ed. Michael Angold. Cambridge University Press, 2006. Cambridge Histories Online.
- I. K. Hassiotis. From the 'Refledging' to the 'Illumination of the Nation': Aspects of Political Ideology in the Greek Church Under Ottoman Domination. Balkan Studies 1999 40(1): 41-55.
- Socrates D. Petmezas. Christian Communities in Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Ottoman Greece: Their Fiscal Functions. Princeton Papers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 2005 12: 71-127.
Greek War of IndependenceGreek War of IndependenceThe Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
- David Brewer. The Greek War of Independence : the struggle for freedom from Ottoman oppression and the birth of the modern Greek nation. Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 2001. 393pp.
- Douglas Dakin. The Greek struggle for independence, 1821-1833. London, Batsford 1973.
- Joseph Braddock. The Greek Phoenix: The Struggle for Liberty from the Fall of Constantinople to the Creation of a New Greek Nation. NY. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. 1973. 1st ed. 233pp.
- Nikiforos P. Diamandouros [et al.] (Eds.). Hellenism and the First Greek war of Liberation (1821–1830) : Continuity and Change. The Modern Greek Studies Association of the United States and Canada. Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies, 1976.
Modern Greece- Anastasios Anastassiadis. Religion and Politics in Greece: The Greek Church's 'Conservative Modernization' in the 1990's. Research in Question, No.11, January 2004. (PDF).
- C.M. Woodhouse. Modern Greece. 4th ed. Boston : Faber and Faber, 1986.
- Charles A. Frazee. The Orthodox Church and independent Greece, 1821-1852. Cambridge University Press 1969.
- Demetrios J. ConstantelosDemetrios ConstantelosDemetrios J. Constantelos is a researcher in Byzantology and a professor emeritus of history and religious studies at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ. He was born in Spilia, Messenia, Greece...
. The Greek Orthodox Church: Faith, History, and Practice. Seabury Press, 1967. - Dimitri E. Conomos, Graham Speake. Mount Athos, the Sacred Bridge: The Spirituality of the Holy Mountain. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2005.
- Effie Fokas. Religion in the Greek Public Sphere: Nuancing the Account. Journal of Modern Greek Studies. Volume 27, Number 2, October 2009, pp. 349–374.
- Herman A. Middleton. Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives & Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece. 2nd Ed. Protecting Veil Press, 2004.
- John Hadjinicolaou (Ed.). Synaxis: An Anthology of the Most Significant Orthodox Theology in Greece Appearing in the Journal Synaxē from 1982 to 2002. Montréal : Alexander Press, 2006.
- John L. Tomkinson. Between Heaven and Earth: The Greek Church. Anagnosis Books, Athens, 2004.
- Mother Nectaria McLees. EVLOGEITE! A Pilgrim's Guide to Greece. 1st Ed. St. Nicholas Press, Kansas City, MO, 2002. 927 pp.
- Norman Russell. Modern Greek Theologians and the Greek Fathers. Philosophy & Theology Volume 18, Issue 1. 2007.10.17. Pages 77–92. (ISSN 08902461)
- Rev. Dr. Nicon D. Patrinacos (M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon)). A Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy - Λεξικον Ελληνικης Ορθοδοξιας. Light & Life Publishing, Minnesota, 1984.
- Rev. A. H. Hore. Eighteen centuries of the Orthodox Greek Church. London: James Parker & Co. 1899. 706pp. (Re-printed: Gorgias Press LLC, 2003.)
- 1976 The Dimotiki