Category: Biblical Timeline

The Fourth Crusade of 1203 ended in the large-scale destruction of Constantinople. After some detours in the cities of Venice, Zadar, and Constantinople, not a single Crusader arrived in Jerusalem to reconquer it. After they deposed the Greek ruling family, the Crusaders then declared Baldwin, Count of Flanders, as the new ruler of the city. The Byzantine Empire briefly disappeared after the establishment of the Latin Empire in 1204 where it is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History.

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The Latin Empire

After they had destroyed Constantinople in April 1204, the Crusaders elected Baldwin, Count of Flanders, as the Emperor of the new Latin Empire. In reality, what he held was far from an empire as the Venetians and the Franks divided the lands between them. The result was the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae (or Partitio Romaniae), and the Byzantine lands were divided as follows:

1. One-quarter of the so-called Empire went to Emperor Baldwin. It included a part of Constantinople, Thrace, and northwestern part of Asia Minor.

2. Three-eighths of the land was given to the Franks under Marquis Boniface of Montferrat (Thessalonica). The territories were given to the marquis after he was passed over for the role of the emperor during the election.

3. Three-eighths of the land was given to the Republic of Venice. It included a part of Constantinople, as well as the islands between Venice and the Dardanelles.

Many parts of the empire were not even in their hands, so the deal was effective in paper only. The presence of Alexius (the usurper), Mourtzouphlos, and the kings that surrounded the Byzantine empire also made the Crusader rulers’ job difficult. In 1205, many of the Crusader soldiers went home which left the ex-emperors free to come back if they wanted. To safeguard their hold on the empire, Baldwin captured Mourtzouphlos and ordered his execution. Meanwhile, Marquis Boniface also captured the former usurper Alexius. But this did not mean that their thrones were safe.

Three other men rose to challenge the Crusaders’ claim to the empire. The first was Alexius I of Trebizond who came from the powerful Komnenus family. His son-in-law, Theodore I Laskaris, also declared himself the first independent Emperor of Nicaea. Michael I Komnenos Doukas, a cousin of Alexius, declared himself the ruler of the Despotate of Epirus as well.

A hostile neighbor, King Kaloyan of Bulgaria (nicknamed Ionnitsa), also threatened the Latin Empire. He conquered the city of Adrianople in 1205 and captured Emperor Baldwin when he and his knights rushed in to take the city back. Baldwin died in Kaloyan’s prison, and the Latin Empire passed on to his brother Henry. It seemed that the odds were in the Latin Empire’s favor once again as Henry proved to be a competent ruler. He toppled the rulers of the rogue states one by one, but his reign was cut short when he died in 1216.

The Latin Empire passed on to another member of Henry’s family when he died. It took many years before Constantinople recovered from the destruction it suffered. The recovery was also hampered because of the incompetence of the rulers who succeeded the emperor. The rule of the Latin Emperors ended in 1261 when the last emperor fled Constantinople for his homeland in Western Francia.

The total separation of the Greek and Roman churches occurred in AD 1054 where it is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History. This was after Humbert, the Cardinal of Silva Candida, excommunicated Patriarch Michael Cerularius of Constantinople in his own turf, the Hagia Sophia. Patriarch Michael answered this excommunication with his own condemnation of Cardinal Humbert. This event marked the separation of the path of the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

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East-West Schism of 1054

The separation of the Greek and Roman churches did not even start in the middle of the eleventh century. However, the breakdown of the relationship between the two churches started many years before with the Photian Schism and other such incidents. The friction between the two churches only intensified starting in the late tenth century when the German Ottonian rulers intervened directly in the papal elections. This was an act which cemented the alliance between the Roman Church and the northern Europeans. This did not sit well with the rulers of the church in Constantinople as they still considered the Germans as “barbarians” and not Romans.

The German clergy contributed some innovations to the church which the Byzantine patriarchs opposed. Including the supposedly unauthorized introduction of the Filioque into the original creed chanted in Rome during the coronation of the Ottonian Emperor Henry II and the use of azymes (unleavened bread) in the Eucharist. Additional issues, such as the wearing of beards of the Greek patriarchs (Latin priests needed to shave) and the celibacy of Roman Church priests (Greek patriarchs were allowed to marry) were also bones of contention for both sides.

In 1048, the German Bishop Bruno of Egisheim-Dagsburg was elected as Pope Leo IX and Michael I Cerularius was appointed as Patriarch of Constantinople. Both were controversial figures, with Pope Leo fully backed by the Holy Roman Emperor and zealous with the reforms he wanted to implement, while the powerful and ambitious Patriarch Michael was just as rigid and zealous in keeping Constantinople independent from the German-backed papacy.

The issue worsened when the Norman warriors invaded southern Italy and started to grab, one by one, the Byzantine territories. The Normans had converted to Roman Christianity earlier. They imposed the Latin rites to the former Byzantine territories they conquered. When the Patriarch Michael heard about this, he retaliated by closing down Latin rite churches in Constantinople and compelling the affected clergy to follow Greek rites or risk being excommunicated. Michael also ordered Leo, Archbishop of Ochrid, to compose a letter which condemned some of the Latin practices, such as celibacy and the use of unleavened bread.

Pope Leo IX decided to send Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida (along with two other papal legates) to Constantinople in 1054 with two missives. The first letter contained Leo’s disapproval of the condemnation composed by Leo of Ochrid against the Roman Church. The second contained the pope’s acceptance of the Byzantine alliance against the Romans (it also included a not-so-subtle put-down on the Patriarch’s authority). The situation worsened when both parties attacked each other during a discussion and refused to give in. Pope Leo died on April 19, 1054. The office remained vacant for a year until the election of Pope Victory II.

Patriarch Michael continued his defiance, and on the 15th of July, 1054. The papal legates led by Cardinal Humbert entered the Hagia Sophia while a daily service was being celebrated. They condemned the Greek church in front of the attendees and denounced the patriarch. After this public condemnation, Humbert handed over a papal bull of excommunication on the altar, stormed out of Hagia Sophia, and the legates shook the dust off their feet. Insulted, the patriarch also issued his own anathematization of the Roman Church which marked the separation of the Greek from its Latin counterpart.

Jerusalem: The City of Peace

The Order of Malta, also known as Order of Saint John, was founded not on the Mediterranean island itself but in the ancient city of Jerusalem in 1048 according to the Biblical Timeline with World History. For thousands of years, Jerusalem was the holiest of cities for the Jews. In the centuries that followed it became a beacon for Christianity and an important pilgrimage site for Christians. When Islam rose in the seventh century, the holy city of Jerusalem became one of the most important sites for the faith. The city soon found itself under Muslim hands after the Umayyads’ aggressive takeover in AD 638.

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Although it was completely dominated by the Muslims from the early eighth century onwards, the rulers of the city allowed the Christian and Jewish inhabitants to remain and worship freely (provided, of course, that they abide by the conditions set before them). They also allowed the relatively safe passage of European pilgrims who flocked to the holy city during the Medieval Period. However, the overland route from Europe to Western Asia became more challenging with the arrival and domination of the Seljuk Turks. If the threat of the Seljuk Turks warriors was not enough, there was always good old banditry to deter would-be pilgrims from coming into Jerusalem. A sea route was developed as an alternative since the overland journeys posed great threats to regular travellers and Jerusalem-bound pilgrims.

The Order of Saint John of Jerusalem

In the middle of the eleventh century, a number of Italian merchants from the Duchy of Amalfi requested for the Fatimid ruler to grant them a piece of land where their fellow Italian pilgrims could rest while they were in Jerusalem. The Fatimid ruler gave them a site near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Amalfi merchants wasted no time in building a church on the piece of land they owned. It was followed by a monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a women’s house, and finally, a xenodochium (hospice) built in 1048 to cater specifically to the sick inhabitants and the destitute pilgrims.

The hospice was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist (hence, the name Order of Saint John). The founders later built separate hospices for men and women. Stories, such as the claim that when he was alive, Jesus visited the site to cure the sick or that the hospice was around when the apostles were alive, were connected to the hospice and lent a sheen of history to it. Nevertheless, the hospice continued to serve pilgrims and sick inhabitants of Jerusalem well into the twelfth century after the first of the Crusaders captured Jerusalem. It was later renamed the Order of Malta when the Knights Hospitaller were driven out of Jerusalem and Rhodes in the thirteenth century.

Gregory IX reigned between 1227 and 1241 where he can be found on the Biblical Timeline with World History. He was a controversial figure in papal history because of his part in the Inquisition against religious movements he considered as heretical. The pope also had a hard relationship with the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily Frederick II Hohenstaufen.

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Early Life and Election as Pope

Pope Gregory IX was born in 1145 in the ancient town of Anagni. He descended from the noble house of the Segni. The boy was named Ugo (or Ugolino), and he became the Count of Segni before his election as pope. He studied in Paris and Bologna in his youth. His uncle, Pope Innocent III, later appointed him the cardinal deacon of the church of Sant’ Eustachio in 1198. He was elevated to cardinal bishop of Ostia in 1206. It was a position that he kept until his election as pope. He became a papal legate to Germany many times during his service as cardinal bishop. He was also a staunch supporter of the Crusade. He preached its endorsement twice in Italy in 1217. He was then appointed as the Dean of the College of Cardinals in the following year.

He was elected as pope in 1227 after the death of Pope Honorius III and took the name Gregory IX to honor the monastery of  Saint Gregory ad Septem Solia. The 83-year old pope canonized Saint Francis of Assisi the next year. It was followed by the canonization of Saint Dominic later in 1234. He was a supporter of both religious orders, and after a time sent Franciscan and Dominican missionaries to Finland and Romania. He also favored the Cistercian and Camaldolese orders, as well as the supporters of the twelfth-century theologian Joachim of Fiore.

Heresies

Pope Gregory IX played a great part in the suppression of the followers of the religious movements that he considered as heretical, such as Catharism (Albigensians in France) and the Waldensian movement (a forerunner of Protestantism). Both started out in France and spread in some parts of Europe. He enlisted the help of Raymond VII of Toulouse to stamp out these beliefs. Local bishops were in charge of the procedures for Inquisition in the past, but Gregory placed it under his direct control later. He supported the Militia of Jesus Christ in 1234 to pursue heretics and placed it under the Dominican Order. Although the Inquisition centered in parts of France, Germany, and Italy, it gradually spread to Spain during the reign of King James I of Aragon.

Gregory died on the 22nd of August, 1241.

The Council of Toulouse was held in 1229 in response to the Albigensian heresy that rose in France where it is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History. The Council decreed that the common people (those who were not priests) should not read unauthorized copies of the Bible.

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Heresies and the Ban of Reading Unauthorized Bibles

In the eleventh century, a new belief that came from Manichaeism found its way in some parts of France and Italy. This belief spread into southern Europe, and a lot of its believers came from the town of Albi in France that is why they were called the Albigensians. The Albigenses considered themselves Christians, but what made them different was their belief in the god of light and the god of darkness. For them, life was a constant struggle, and the two gods fought each other every day. Other Albigensian beliefs also included:

* The belief that when people died, they would be reincarnated into another body
* The ban on eating meat
* The disapproval of marriage
* The belief that men and women are equal
* The refusal to submit to authorities, especially the feudal lords

The number of Albigensian believers grew in southern Europe until the pope became alarmed at the spread of the heresy. At first, he ordered the priests to bring them back to the “right” path through preaching and teaching. To prevent the Albigensian beliefs from spreading, the local bishop assembled the Council of Toulouse in 1229. The council told the people to look for the heretics in their own areas and allowed the people to destroy their houses. The council also ordered the people to destroy Bibles that were translated into French and other non-Latin languages. The people were also prohibited from reading any of the unauthorized copies of the Bible.

The Inquisition started in 1233, and the suffering of the Albigensians only increased as the years passed. The decision to forbid the people from reading non-Latin Bibles would be confirmed in the Tarragona Council in 1234.

The Chimu people of Peru expanded their territory starting around 1250 after they conquered neighboring states, such as those in the Lambayeque and Casma Valleys. They were still expanding when the Incas rose to power and took what the Chimu empire had conquered years before. The Chimu’s expansion in Peru is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History during 1250 AD.

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The Legend of the Chimu People

The Chimu people claimed that their ancestors sailed to present-day Peru from the north by means of rafts. Eleven rulers succeeded their first king when he died. This type of leadership continued until another king rose to rule the kingdom alone. They inherited the territory and culture of the Moche Empire which had crumbled around AD 700.

They settled near the irrigated fields of the valley which allowed them to grow food and feed their people. The small settlement eventually grew into a city which they called Chan Chan. The Chimu city became so magnificent that it contained as much as ten palace complexes and five pyramids which they used for rituals.

Expansion

The Chimu people started to build road networks which allowed them to move their troops around their territories easily. These roads also allowed them to conquer neighboring kingdoms starting around 1250. The Chimu conquered the Casma Valley in the south, and in 1350, they invaded the Lambayeque Valley (Sican culture) in the north. The Chimu rulers allowed each conquered territory to be governed by local leaders who answered directly to them and used captive peoples as farm workers. The Chimu Empire continued to expand until they were conquered by the powerful Incas in 1470.

Around 1150, the ancient Puebloans (Anasazi) moved down from the mesa tops and started to carve their homes on the cliff sides. Many of these cliff dwellings were constructed between 1200 and 1250. The construction of these magnificent houses and kivas are chronicled on the Bible Timeline Poster with World History around this period. Some of these magnificent cliff dwellings can be found in the Cliff-Fewkes Canyon at present-day Mesa Verde National Park. At its height, it was the home to 33 separate cliff dwellings with more than 500 rooms and around 60 kivas. Many of the rooms were used as dwellings while others were used as storage areas.

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Cliff Villages and High Rise Residential Areas

The largest of the villages that were constructed within the Cliff-Fewkes Canyon at Mesa Verde was the Cliff Palace. It had around 220 rooms and 23 kivas. The village probably housed around 250 to 350 inhabitants, and also featured a round tower and two to four-story buildings—one of which showed remnants of impressive colorful wall paintings.

Another large village called the Sunset House had 30 rooms and four kivas carved out a ledge. This village was accessible via trails near the Cliff Palace and Little Long House. Other cliff dwellings include the Mummy House with 12 rooms and two kivas, Oak Tree House with 55 living rooms and six kivas, and the New Fire House which was built on two ledges. The New Fire House had 20 residential rooms on the top ledge, three kivas, and a number of dwellings on the lower ledge.

Other cliff dwellings that were built on the nearby Navajo Canyon include the Square Tower House, Little Long House, and other smaller structures. The Square Tower House was made up of 70 residential rooms plus seven kivas and was named after the square four-story building on the site. The Little Long House was located northwest of the Square Tower House.

Kivas

A structure called the Sun Temple was built with two layers of D-shaped walls separated by compartments and contained two kivas inside. It stood side by side with an extension which contained several compartments, a kiva, and a circular area which was constructed as the base of a tower. The roof of the Sun Temple was long gone, and another tower of unknown purposes stood nearby.

A kiva called the Fire Temple, meanwhile, was carved 100 feet below the Fewkes Canyon and has an unconventional rectangular shape. It was used for rituals and other religious ceremonies. Its location was near a source of water that was an indication of its religious importance to the Ancient Puebloans.

The Prehistoric Indian culture called the Hopewell (or Hopewellian) flourished in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys during the Formative period of North America. Just like the Poverty Point, Adena, and Mississippian cultures, the Hopewell culture was known for the great mounds their people built in Ohio and some portions of Illinois. Some of the most well-known mounds were first discovered in the property of a farmer named Captain M.C. Hopewell in Chillicothe, Ohio, from which the Hopewell name was taken. These mounds reached up to forty meters high and contained multiple burials. Some of the mounds were geometric in shape, but others were shaped like animals, particularly the massive Serpent Mound found in Peebles, Ohio. The end of the Hopewell culture is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History during 1150 AD.

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The Hopewellians were known for their vast trade networks from which they imported obsidian, copper, shells, mica, and alligator bones from different parts of the present-day United States. Many of these objects were recovered from the Hopewell sites. They were also master craftsmen who specialized in making stone pipes, ceramics, obsidian spear points, and jewelry. These objects were later deposited under the mounds as grave goods.

The Hopewell people cultivated the Native American staple of corn, beans, and squash. They continued hunting and gathering food over the years. For reasons still unknown, the Hopewell culture disappeared between 700 and 1300 AD. Just like other cultures, archeologists point to climate change, drought, warfare, and epidemics as possible causes of the end of the Hopewell Culture.

The ancient capital of the Chimu Empire called the Chan Chan is located hundreds of miles from the Inca capital of Cuzco. It seemed that over the years, the Inca had eclipsed their distant neighbors. Although the Chimu Empire was relatively smaller than what the Inca people built in their heyday, it remains as one of Peru’s most important cultures and the magnificent city of Chan Chan as its enduring legacy. The height of the Chimu Culture at Chan Chan, Peru is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History during 1100 AD.

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Origin of the Chimu and Height of the Empire’s Power

According to Chimu legend, their ancestors sailed from the north by means of rafts or balsas. They were led to the coast of Peru by a single ruler. When he died, he was replaced by eleven successors who ruled the fledgling republic. This form of government continued until the rise of the powerful ruler Chimu Capac.He expanded the state’s domain by conquering neighboring peoples. Chimu-appointed governors ruled these vassal states on his behalf.  They paid tribute to the Chimu which further contributed to the empire’s wealth.

The Chimu people were the direct inheritors of the collapsed Moche Culture which flourished in the Moche Valley between 100 and 800 AD. The Chimu settled in the valley around 900 AD (a hundred years after the disappearance of the Moche in the area). The city grew between 1100 and 1200 AD. At the empire’s peak, Chimu rulers controlled an area of as much as 500 kilometers from its base in the city of Chan Chan (“Sun-Sun” in Yunga or Mochica language) in the Moche Valley. The city covered an area of about eleven square miles. It was enclosed by a high defensive wall that protected its 200,000 or so inhabitants.

The End of the Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty’s domination of China officially ended in 907 with the death of the puppet Emperor Ai of Tang. The long road to its decline started during the time of the An Lushan rebellion (755-763). The Tang emperors had lost the Mandate of Heaven, but their legitimacy to rule was not the only casualty of the disintegration. China lost its domination of the Central Asian frontier to the Tanguts after the Tang lost many soldiers during the years of war. The troops loyal only to the different military generals increased, which meant that the power in the provinces now shifted to the local governors. The Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms that came later are recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History between 907 – 960 AD.

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The weak central government was unable to curb corruption committed by the government officials. The common people suffered from severe oppression and poverty so that many were forced to resort to banditry. Huang Chao, a former soldier, and trader, turned into a prolific bandit and rebel after the oppression he experienced during the last years of the Tang. He started his career in Guangzhou. The rebellion he launched quickly spread to the other parts of China until his troops captured Chang’an in 881. He was the first and last king of this “kingdom of Qi” as Huang Chao died in 884 and a new Tang Dynasty was reinstated. The reinstatement, however, was short-lived as its last emperor, Ai of Tang, was ousted by the military commander Zhu Wen in 907 AD.

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

The tumultuous period between the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279) was called the era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

The Five Dynasties which flourished during this period were:

Later Liang (907-923)

Zhu Wen, the founder of the Later Liang Dynasty, served as a high-ranking officer in Huang Chao’s rebel army during the last years of the Tang dynasty. He rose to prominence when he helped capture the city of Chang’an in 881.  He maintained the control of the imperial family thereafter. Zhu Wen installed Ai of Tang as puppet emperor in 905, but removed the young figurehead two years later and declared himself the new emperor of the brand new Later Liang Dynasty.

He established the city of Kaifeng as the Later Liang capital, but he also controlled the main capital Chang’an and the secondary capital Luoyang. The Later Liang held the greater part of northern China except for the territories dominated by other dynasties and kingdoms. Three kings had ruled Later Liang before the dynasty fell apart. It was later overpowered by the Shatuo Turks from the State of Jin, as well as Later Tang in 923.

Later Tang (923-936)

The Later Tang Dynasty was founded by Li Cunxu (Emperor Zhuangzong), and it rose after the dissolution of its rival dynasty, the Later Liang. Its rulers originated from the Shatuo Turks who had a strong alliance with their northern neighbors, the Khitans. Li Cunxu took over the territories once controlled by the collapsed Later Liang dynasty, then established his capital at Luoyang, and extended his rule from the Shanxi region to as far west as Sichuan. The Later Tang Dynasty ended when it was overpowered by the Liao dynasty of the Khitans.

Later Jin (936-947)

Shi Jingtang, the son-in-law of the Later Tang emperor Li Cunxu, rebelled against his father-in-law and declared himself as the emperor of a new dynasty, the Later Jin. Upon the dissolution of the Later Tang, the Later Jin dynasty took over its territories except for the Sichuan region which was ceded to the Kingdom of Later Shu. Its rulers further lost the Sixteen Prefectures it previously held to the powerful Liao dynasty of the Khitans. It was dissolved by the Liao after Shi Jingtang’s successor rebelled against them.

Later Han (947-951)

The Later Han Dynasty was founded by a former military governor of Bingzhou, Liu Zhiyuan, who rebelled against the Later Jin after its dissolution by the Liao dynasty. He took advantage of Later Jin dynasty’s weakness and the Khitans’ succession issues to declare himself emperor of the Later Han. He ruled from the city of Kaifeng and took over the territories of the Later Jin, but the dynasty’s domination was cut short when Liu Zhiyuan’s son and heir, Liu Chengyou, was ousted in 951 by Guo Wei.

Later Zhou (951-960)

The Later Zhou dynasty was established after a successful coup led by the Han Chinese military commander named Guo Wei against the Later Han’s Liu Chengyou. Guo Wei declared himself the emperor of the Later Zhou and proved to be a capable ruler who provided relative stability to his domain. He died in 954 and was succeeded by his adoptive son, Guo Rong, whose promising reign was cut short when he died in 959. The deceased Guo Rong was succeeded by his young son, but the boy was later deposed by the general Zhao Kuangyin (later Emperor Taizu of Song) in a coup d’etat in 960.

The Ten Kingdoms:

Wu (907-937)

The kingdom of Wu rose right after the collapse of the Tang dynasty in 907. It was established by the soldier-turned-governor Yang Xingmi of Luzhou prefecture. Before the fall of the Tang, Emperor Zhongzong appointed Yang Xingmi as the Prince of Wu and refused to recognize Zhu Wen’s legitimacy as emperor of the Later Liang after the removal of the last Tang emperor. Yang Xingmi, however, later declared Wu as an independent kingdom and proclaimed himself as its king. He then ruled from the city of Guangling and controlled parts of present-day provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Hubei. The last king of Wu was deposed by Xu Zhigao, the adopted son of the powerful director of the guard Xu Wen in 937, who then founded the kingdom of Southern Tang.

Wuyue (907-978)

The coastal kingdom of Wuyue was under the control of the powerful Qian family whose members rose to prominence in the military during the last years of the Tang dynasty. It was founded by Qian Liu, the Prince of Yue and Wu, who took advantage of the Tang collapse in 907 to declare himself king of the independent kingdom of Wuyue. He ruled from the coastal city of Hangzhou and controlled present-day Shanghai, Zhejiang, parts of Jiangsu province, and Fujian after the fall of the kingdom of Min. The coastal kingdom of Wuyue benefited from the maritime trade with Korea and Japan. Unlike its neighbors, its citizens enjoyed a measure of stability until it was absorbed by the Song Dynasty in 978.

Min (909-945)

Located south of Wuyue in present-day Fujian province, the less prosperous kingdom of Min rose to become one of China’s Ten Kingdoms in 909. It was founded by the former military officer Wang Shenzi who established the city of Fuzhou as his capital and declared himself the Prince of Min when the Tang dynasty collapsed. Although Fujian is located near the coast, its rugged landscape made it isolated and less prosperous than the neighboring Wuyue. When the kingdom of Southern Tang rose to prominence and threatened its delicate independence, the king of Min had no choice but to seek an alliance its northern neighbor, the kingdom of Wuyue. Both kingdoms, however, were unable to resist the Southern Tang which conquered Min in 945.

Chu (907-951)

The Chu kingdom was founded by Ma Yin, a governor who named himself the Prince of Chu when the Tang Dynasty collapsed. He established the kingdom’s capital in Changsha and controlled the Hunan province as well as parts of Guangxi. Ma Yin’s kingdom was relatively peaceful and prosperous. However, its decline started after his death and the rise of the kingdom of the Southern Tang. The kingdom of Chu was later folded into the Song Dynasty domain in 963.

Southern Han (917-971)

The Southern Han Kingdom was established after Liu Yin, a governor, and military officer, became Prince of Nanping two years after the fall of the Tang Dynasty. He declared himself king in 917 and called his domain the Great Han in 918. The king ruled from Guangzhou and controlled the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, as well as parts of northern Vietnam and the island of Hainan. Just like neighboring kingdoms, it fell to the Song in 971.

Former Shu (907-925)

Wang Jian, the governor of Western Sichuan, declared himself the king of Shu when the Tang collapsed in 907. Its capital was in Chengdu and the Former Shu dominated Sichuan, Chongqing, as well as parts of Shaanxi, Hubei, and Gansu. It was conquered by Later Tang ruler Li Cunxu, but it retained it brief independence for some time after the Later Tang’s collapse and until it was conquered by the Later Shu.

Later Shu (934-965)

One of the many military governors who took power during the Ten Kingdoms period was Meng Zhixiang. He was a Later Tang governor who was assigned to govern the Former Shu Kingdom until he rebelled and founded his own kingdom which he christened Later Shu (a different ruling family from the Former Shu). It had the same capital and territories as the Former Shu, but it fell to the Song in 965.

Jingnan (924-963)

Also known as Nanping, the kingdom of Jingnan was founded by Gao Jixing who was the military governor of Jiangling County. It was established when the Later Liang fell to the Later Tang in 924. Jingnan’s domain was known to be the smallest and the weakest among the Ten Kingdoms. The Song Dynasty acquired it in 963.

Southern Tang (937-975)

Xu Zhigao was the adopted son of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Wu. He declared himself king in 937 and renamed his little domain as the kingdom of Southern Tang. Its later rulers absorbed the kingdom of Min in 945 and added the kingdom of Chu in 951. The Southern Tang became a vassal state of Later Zhou but fell to the Song in 976.

Northern Han (951-979)

Years before the domination of the Song, a man named Liu Min tried to revive the glory days of the Han dynasty by folding in the Later Han territories into his own when the dynasty fell in 971. He established his kingdom’s capital in Taiyuan and the Northern Han ruler controlled the Shanxi region which was wedged between the more powerful Khitan Liao territory and the Song. It later fell to the Song in 979.