Category: Biblical Timeline

The Khitan people were nomads who originated from the Xianbei (early Mongolians) and occupied China’s northern frontier before the rise of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). They were part of the Kumo Xi tribe which later split into two groups in 388 AD: the group that retained the Kumo XI name and the Khitan (Ch’i-tan) which appeared in Chinese records in the fourth century AD. This led to the rise of the Khitans and the defeat of the Tatars which is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History after the start of 800 AD.

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During the last years of the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the Khitan people united and invaded the Chinese provinces of Hebei and Shaanxi. They later established good relations with the Tang during the Dynasty’s early years. To control the tribe, the imperial court gave their leader a distinctly Chinese-sounding surname of Li, as well as appointed him the governor of his people who lived in Tang territories. The Li clan rose to prominence within the tribe, as well as the imperial court and many of their own men later served as Tang soldiers and generals.

The Gokturks (Tu’chueh), the Khitan people’s powerful Turkic neighbors, rose during the latter part of the eighth century. When they rebelled against the Tang, the Gokturks attacked the rear of the Khitans’ army to prevent them from dominating the steppes just in case they win against Tang China. The Khitans’ ally, the Hsi, also switched sides to the Tang. This caused the group to be defeated and driven out of China.

The Gokturks’ power declined, and Tang China continued to expand its borders. The Khitan people had no choice but to submit to them once again. However, their submission to China did not last long after dissatisfied tribesmen opposed their tribe’s subjugation to China and launched a renewed rebellion. A new Khitan leader named Ketuya emerged during the 720s. He was pushed into the center of the rebellion after he experienced the arrogance of a high-ranking Tang official in the imperial court. He was not one to let the offense pass, so 10 years later Ketuya killed the Khitan king and rebelled against the Tang by submitting to the Gokturks as vassals. Ketuya was killed four years later, but the Tang would never regain complete control of the Khitans.

Power changed hands once again in the succeeding years of the ninth century when the Gokturks while another Turkic group of people, the Uyghur, rose to prominence. With a new powerful neighbor, the Khitans once again submitted themselves as vassals. A renewed Tang-Khitan alliance ended their submission to the Uyghurs. China, by then, had split into different provinces that were ruled by different warlords. The Khitans, meanwhile, took advantage of China’s weakened state to unite their own people. The last years of the Tang saw the rise of the renowned Khitan leader, Abaoji, who would eventually become the first Liao Dynasty Emperor Taizu, one of China’s alien dynasties.

Abaoji was a prominent warrior of the Ila tribe of the Khitan.. He later became the commander of the khagan’s (the Mongolian equivalent of an emperor) personal bodyguard. He then became the chieftain of the Ila in 901 AD and proceeded to attack the neighboring Shiwei, Jurchen, and their former ally, the Hsi. Abaoji was elected as the successor of the deposed Khitan khagan and immediately started the domination of a militarized but divided China. He went on to establish the Liao Dynasty which dominated China for another 200 years. They also subdued the Zubu, a neighboring Tatar tribe, in the 10th century. Emperor Shengzong of Liao quelled a Zubu bid for independence in 983 and finally forced to submit to the Khitan ruler in 1003.

Early Life and Succession as Emperor

Leo V, also nicknamed as ‘the Armenian’ because of his ancestry, ruled as the Byzantine emperor from 813 to 820 AD. He is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History between 787 – 820 AD. The young Leo was born as a commoner and even grew up poor as well as illiterate in a military camp. His skills as a soldier did not go unnoticed by the Byzantine Emperor Michael I Rangabe. He later served as the second-in-command of the Anatolikon theme. Michael later promoted him to the rank of patrician. Later, he served as a high-ranking officer of the rebel Bardanes, alongside Thomas the Slav (Cappadocian) and Michael the Amorian (Phyrigian).

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A monk foretold his succession as Byzantine emperor during the last days of his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe. Michael was later ousted. He and his sons suffered the tragic fate of castration and exile which Leo himself led. It was said that Leo was initially unwilling to take on the role as emperor. His colleague, Michael the Amorian, threatened him with death if he did not enter Constantinople as emperor. He later rewarded Michael’s loyalty with promotion and wealth, while Thomas the Slav became the colonel of the foederati corps.

War with the Bulgars

The Bulgars who established their empire in the northwestern frontier were Byzantium’s longtime enemies and sometimes allies. The relationship between the two empires was not good during the time of Leo V. He inherited the conflict from the emperors who came before him. His first test against this formidable enemy was in 813 AD right after he was crowned as emperor. Krum, the Bulgar khan, decided to attack in the same year. So he sent his brother to besiege Adrianople while he and his troops continued on to Constantinople. He sacrificed men and animals outside the city, and proceeded to attack the neighborhood. These antics failed to impress nor horrify the inhabitants inside. Krum then offered to negotiate for peace in exchange for booty, but Leo saw this as the perfect opportunity to assassinate the khan.

Leo agreed to the negotiation the khan proposed and prepared a place near the shore where assassins were already positioned. The next day, Leo, Krum, and their men went down to the shore. Just as the negotiations started, Leo’s official sent the signal to the assassins to kill the khan. They succeeded in wounding him and killing his treasurer. He escaped and swore to avenge this treachery. The next day, the Bulgars attacked the suburbs around Constantinople and destroyed everything and everyone in their path. The khan also resettled the citizens of some Byzantine towns in his own territories to remind them of the emperor’s treachery.

The emperor had no choice but to negotiate for peace but Krum only rebuffed his effort. Leo decided to lead the attack against the Bulgars himself. The Byzantines won the first round, but when news that the Bulgars no longer had food reached him, Leo took advantage of the situation and led an ambush against them. Both the Bulgars and the Byzantines thought that Leo had abandoned his men, so the enemies thought that it would be a good time to attack the camp. They were thoroughly mistaken as the Byzantines annihilated them. Many Bulgar soldiers were imprisoned by the Byzantines, while Krum was temporarily humbled after this episode.

Revival of Iconoclasm

The monk Philomelion foretold Leo’s accession as emperor which was an event that he apparently never forgot. The emperor sent gifts to the monk to express his gratitude but Philomelion was dead by then. Another monk named Sabbatios had replaced him. When Leo’s representative arrived, he only saw Sabbatios who then took advantage of the opportunity to further the iconoclastic cause. The monk told Leo’s representative that the emperor was not worthy of his position because he venerated idols and warned him that the emperor would not stay in his position for long if he continued this.

This prophecy deeply troubled Leo. He confided to an officer named Theodotos Melissenos about this issue. The cunning Theodotos then told the emperor to consult a monk in Dagisthe about this matter. In truth, Theodotos had already contacted the monk and coached him to tell Leo the same things Sabbatios told the emperor’s representative. Through Theodotos, the monk in Dagisthe already knew that it was the emperor who approached him even though he was dressed like a commoner. He showed off his “prophetic gifts” to impress Leo. The emperor, apparently impressed with the monk’s “power” to know who he was even under disguise, followed the monk’s iconoclastic advise.

Leo V took a page from Leo III the Isaurian’s book and revived the harsh iconoclastic policy previously reversed (or toned-down) in the Second Council of Nicaea. His policy received mixed reactions from the Byzantines but the Patriarch Nicephorus refused to follow Leo’s command. He was exiled to the Marmara Island (Prokonessos). Leo replaced the deposed patriarch with the layman Theodotos Melissenos (Kassiteros) who then proclaimed those who venerated icons as heretics.

Fall of Leo V

Theophanes, the principal historian of this period in the Byzantine empire, did not have a positive view of Leo V. He described the emperor as increasingly cruel as the years passed. His zeal for iconoclasm and his fear of losing his throne led him to be extreme in his punishment of dissenters. Icon worshippers that his good administration and the stability of the empire he brought about during his reign were largely forgotten.

The last years of his reign were marred with the rebellion of his long-time friend and former kingmaker, Michael the Amorion. Leo had Michael tried on Christmas Day, 820. The man was sentenced to death by fire. Just as Michael the Amorion was being led to a furnace, Leo’s wife, the empress Theodosia, plead for him to postpone the execution as it was Christmas Day. Leo followed his wife and granted Michael a reprieve. This proved to be a fatal mistake as Michael later had the emperor assassinated as he attended a matins service. Michael had his assassins, who were disguised as monks, secure the church so that no one could get in and help Leo nor could he get out when they attacked. Leo fought them before they could successfully yet brutally kill him.

The Puppet Pope

Pope John XI held the position of pope in 931 AD until his death in 935 or 936 AD. However, much of his life was spent under the thumb of his notorious mother Marozia and his brother (or step-brother) Alberic II. John XI’s origins and childhood were shrouded in scandal as papal biographers could not establish who his father was from the different men his mother had been with. According to the Frankish chronicler Flodoard of Rheims, he was the son of Marozia and her husband, the Lombard Duke of Spoleto, Alberic I. But according to the Liber Pontificalis and Bishop Liutprand of Cremona’s Antapodosis sive Res per Europam gestae, Pope Sergius III fathered John XI by his former mistress, Marozia. He is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History and the beginning of the 9th century AD.

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An Infamous Family

Theodora, Marozia’s mother, was considered to be the most powerful lady in Rome (or even Italy) in the late 9th century. She apparently passed the baton to her daughter during the early 10th century. Marozia became the mistress of Pope Sergius at the age of 15, but married Alberic I four years later. The future Pope John XI was born the next year in 910 AD, while his brother Alberic II was born in 911 or 912. Alberic I died in 924 and his widow promptly married Guy (Guido) of Tuscany in the same year or in 925 AD. The couple deposed Pope John X, imprisoned him in Castel Sant’Angelo (where he later died), and took over Rome. She appointed Leo VI and Stephen VII as figureheads, and then replaced him with her son in 931 AD after the death of Stephen VII.

Meanwhile, Guy of Tuscany died in 929 AD. Marozia, fearful of becoming powerless, decided to marry her deceased husband’s brother, Hugh (Hugo) of Provence. The equally ambitious Hugh had been planning to dominate Rome as its ruler. So he accepted Marozia’s proposal immediately. Things did not go as planned when during the wedding celebration, Marozia’s teenaged son Alberic II accidentally poured water on the hands of his step-father. This annoyed Hugh of Provence which earned Alberic II a slap on the face. The young Duke of Spoleto then stormed out of the festivities and angered a Roman crowd by pitting them against Hugh of Provence. The angry mob arrived with Alberic as the wedding celebration continued and forced Hugh to escape from Rome. Alberic then ordered for his mother and Pope John XI to be imprisoned.

Pope John XI was nothing more than a puppet for his mother, and he became more so when his brother ruled as the tyrant of Rome. Alberic dominated the frightened citizens of Rome for 20 years. While the equally powerless John XI had no personal independence. There were only a few significant acts that John XI did. One was the confirmation of the privileges of the Cluny Abbey on the condition that a sum of 10 solidi be contributed to the papal coffers every five years. The other was to confirm similar privileges to other monasteries, but apart from these, John XI performed nothing important during his time as pope.

Pope John XI died in December of 935 or January of 936 AD.

Migrations

Mysterious people who built the Stonehenge settled in the island of Britain around 2500 BC. They were soon followed by the Celtic people from continental Europe later called the Britons. These groups of people spread throughout the island. They jostled with the Picts and Caledones who lived in what is now present-day Scotland for territory. The Romans followed and invaded around 43 AD, settled around the island, and continued the wars against the northern barbarians starting in 55 AD. This later led to the founding of England which is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History during 827 AD.

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Anglo-Saxon Invasion

By the middle of the fifth century, the northern tribes continued the raids south into the lands of the Britons. The helpless Roman rulers of the island were also isolated and cut off from any Roman support from the continent. The leaders of the Britons met and appointed a chieftain named Vortigern as their leader to fend off the attacks of the Picts. Vortigern sent the Magister Militum of the Roman army Aetius a letter asking for his assistance against the northern tribes. The Romans were unable to send soldiers abroad when barbarians, such as the Goths and Vandals, threatened Italy itself. When Vortigern realized that help would not arrive, he came up with a plan to invite their Saxon allies into Britain and help them drive off the northern tribes. He appealed to the Saxons who lived in Germany for help and they accepted his invitation. They sailed to Britain with their closest allies, the Angles and the Jutes, to join the battle against the northern tribes.

The combined Briton, Roman, Saxon, and Angle armies defeated the Picts, so Vortigern allowed the Saxons to settle in Kent in return for their help. The Saxons saw that the island was ideal for farming, so they sent messages to their kinsmen in mainland Europe to sail over to Britain and settle there. They slowly invaded the southern and southwestern portions of Britain, while the Angles migrated to the southeastern coast and stayed there permanently. The steady Anglo-Saxon settlement on the island took the Britons by surprise. War soon flared up between the former allies; it was not until 455 AD when Vortigern and his troops defeated the Saxons after years of destructive wars in their territories.

The new settlers continued the war for domination of the island. Ambrosius Aurelianus, one of the last Roman noblemen in the island, also continued the struggle against the Anglo-Saxon invaders after Vortigern’s death. Ambrosius Aurelianus and his allies were initially unsuccessful, but they won in the Battle of Mount Badon in 485 AD and drove off the defeated Anglo-Saxons away to the shores of their homeland in Europe. But this temporary defeat did not deter the Anglo-Saxons from coming back to Britain which they finally did in 491 AD. They started a renewed invasion in the same year and kicked it off with a massacre of the inhabitants of the British fortress of Anderida.

The Saxons, as well as the Angles, eventually overpowered the Britons. By the 6th century, they had conquered the whole eastern and southern coast of Britain. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms split apart and evolved into a Heptarchy (seven domains with seven different rulers) over the years which included:

1.  Northumbria
2.  Mercia
3.  East Anglia
4.  Essex
5.  Kent
6.  Sussex
7.  Wessex

The Saxons had dug deep roots in their new country and dominated the island with their culture, but they still practiced paganism at this point. Pope Gregory I decided to bring the island back into the fold of Christianity, so he sent some monks on an evangelical mission to the pagan Saxons and Angles.The monks landed in Kent which was ruled at that time by the pagan Saxon king Ethelbert. He was later baptized by the monks’ leader Augustine. Many Saxons converted to Christianity in the late 6th century, and England became a Christian nation in 664 AD.

The Vikings

The Saxons were known as mighty warriors, but nothing could have prepared them for the arrival of the ferocious Viking pirates who had sailed from their homeland in Scandinavia. They first terrorized the Frankish Empire, Russia, and even raided in some cities along the Mediterranean Sea. They eventually found themselves in Britain after the Franks built bridges on the banks of the River Seine to prevent them from sailing inland. They first sacked the monastery of Lindisfarne in 793 AD and continued the raids into the British mainland starting in 800 AD.

The Vikings also reached Ireland in 795 AD. They started to settle on some parcels of lands in both islands around 830 to 840 AD. Over the years, the Vikings had removed the king of East Anglia from his throne, ruled his territory, and fought against Ethelred, king of Wessex. The king was supported by Alfred, his younger brother, who took up the struggle against the Vikings and won in 878 AD in the battle at Edington. The Vikings were forced to sign a peace treaty (Treaty of Wedmore) and convert to Christianity after their defeat. Alfred also divided England between Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings who governed their people with their own laws and customs called Danelaw.

A United England

England, during Alfred’s reign, was far from united with the Vikings entrenched deeply on the east and the Anglo-Saxon territories on the southwest (not to mention the Welsh on the western edge of the island). Alfred’s son Edward the Elder managed to unite the peoples of the island (Welsh, Scoti, Danes, and English) under his rule after a series of conquest that he completed in 924 AD. His son, Athelstan, succeeded him as Anglo-Saxon king. He arranged a marriage between the Viking ruler Sihtric of Northumbria and his sister to cement an alliance. When Sihtric died, Athelstan invaded Northumbria and claimed it as part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom through his sister.

The Vikings did not take this very well, so they sent an offer of alliance to the Scots and some renegade Anglo-Saxon noblemen—which they accepted—and met Athelstan in battle in 936 AD. He defeated this Viking-Anglo-Saxon-Scots alliance, and for the first time, an Anglo-Saxon king could finally claim that he had united the different kingdoms that made up England.

The Fatimid Dynasty of Maghreb in North Africa rose to prominence during the waning years of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad. The name Fatimid came from Muhammad’s favorite daughter, Fatima. The Fatimids were members of the militant Ismaili faction of Shi’a sect who believed that the true and rightful imams should descend only from Ismail (a descendant of Ali). Dissatisfied with the weakness of the Abbasid caliphate, the Ismaili Shi’i elected Ubaydallah al-Mahdi as caliph in 909 AD. Al-Mahdi claimed to be a direct descendant of Ismail and Fatima (therefore, fit to rule the ummah) and declared himself the caliph in Maghreb. The addition of Egypt of Syria to the Fatimid Domain is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History during 969 AD.

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The new caliph established Mahdia (in present-day Tunisia) as the Fatimid capital and rallied his Berber troops west to attack Libya and Egypt. Al-Mahdi installed his son, al-Qaim, as the commander of the Fatimid army that would wrest away the cities of Ifriqiya (province of North Africa) from the Abbasid caliph. Al-Qaim, his generals, and their troops marched from Mahdia to Tripoli and besieged the city for six months. They captured Tripoli in 913 AD, while Cyrenaica (Libya) and Alexandria in Egypt followed in the same year.

News of North Africa’s fall into Fatimid hands reached the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir in Baghdad. He dispatched troops in 915 AD to reclaim Egypt when he realized that the al-Qaim might push into Asia soon after his victory in North Africa. The Abbasid caliph’s troops led by the soldier Munis defeated the Fatimid army. Al-Qaim was forced to surrender Egypt temporarily. The Abbasids returned to Egypt in 920 AD but were defeated this time by the Fatimids who became a formidable force in North Africa during the middle of the 10th century. By 969 AD, the Fatimids had established Cairo as its capital, and completely dominated Egypt, Syria, Sicily, and Sudan for many years.

The chaotic Northern and Southern Dynasties abruptly ended when Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou suffered and died from a stroke at the age of twenty. Yang Jian, the Duke of Sui and Emperor Xuan’s father-in-law, had been an excellent as well as shrewd administrator during the time of the former Northern Zhou emperors. It was no different during the time of Emperor Xuan. It was Yang Jian who held the upper hand when it came to politics after the young and unstable Emperor Xuan indulged in vice and cruelty. The Sui Dynasty resulted from this and is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History between 581 – 618 AD.

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Emperor Xuan died in 579 AD and left Northern Zhou to his seven-year-old son, Emperor Jing. To keep the empire intact, Yang Jian appointed himself the coregent of the young ruler but steadily built a circle of supporters composed of trusted government officials to consolidate his power (the generals Yang Su and Gao Jiong, as well as the prominent government official and writer Li Delin, were among his supporters). Gao Jiong silenced any dissent against Yang Jian, while Li Delin praised the Duke of Sui in his writings and supported the belief that the Duke was a better ruler than the current Emperor. By 580 AD, the Duke of Sui’s efforts to sideline the young emperor paid off when Emperor Jing signed his own abdication and Yang Jian formally acceded the throne as Emperor Wendi of Sui. He also ordered the execution of the members of the former royal family (which included his own grandson) to get rid of other claimants to the Northern throne.

Reunification

Yang Jian, now Emperor Wendi of Sui, sought to reunite the Southern Chen domain with his own Northern Kingdom. The Southern Chen kingdom became weak during the rule of its incompetent king. Emperor Wendi conquered it easily after seven years of preparation. The Northern and Southern Dynasties were no more, and a greater part of China was once again united after nearly two hundred years of fragmented kingdoms. Emperor Wendi of Sui then spent the next years strengthening the unity of the northern and southern kingdoms with the establishment of a unified government with a clear hierarchy. He ordered that all weapons be confiscated from civilians to prevent rebellions, had the crumbled portions of the Great Wall rebuilt, laid out a new legal code, and improved relations with his southern domain.

He also fought against the Kingdom of Goguryeo in the Korean Peninsula but was unsuccessful in his quest for domination because of the outstanding defense of the troops led by General Mundeok. Emperor Wendi’s court was beset with intrigues during the last years of his reign. The victims included long-time general Gao Jiong (demoted to the commoner rank after a conflict with Empress Dugu) as well as Li Delin (stripped of his position as governor because of court rumors). One of the emperor’s most ambitious projects was the Grand Canal that connected the Yellow River with the Yangtze, but the canal was built at the expense of the laborers and the taxpayers which made Wendi unpopular among the people toward the end of his reign. Emperor Wendi died in 604 AD and was succeeded by his second son, the Emperor Yangdi of Sui.

One of the emperor’s most ambitious projects was the Grand Canal that connected the Yellow River with the Yangtze, but the canal was built at the expense of the laborers and the taxpayers which made Wendi unpopular among the people toward the end of his reign. Emperor Wendi died in 604 AD and was succeeded by his second son, the Emperor Yangdi of Sui.

Collapse of the Sui Dynasty

Emperor Yangdi continued his father’s Grand Canal project, but it was at a great cost. The people resented the high taxes they needed to pay for the completion of the project while many of the laborers died or became impoverished. He also continued his father’s war with Goguryeo which teetered between a stalemate and a complete failure for twenty years, until the Sui troops were finally defeated by General Mundeok’s forces in Pyongyang during 612 AD. When news of the Sui defeat reached Luoyang, his officers promptly declared a rebellion against Emperor Yangdi. He died in the city while the battle raged on in 618 AD. Upon Yangdi’s death, his sons briefly inherited the throne, but they were soon disposed of in 619 AD. The rebel officer Li Yuan promptly declared himself Gaozu emperor and started the new Tang Dynasty.

Empress Suiko Tenno (Heavenly Sovereign) was Japan’s first female empress and a member of the powerful Soga clan through her mother, Soga no Kitashihime. She was the daughter of Emperor Kimmei, and half-sister of the emperors Bidatsu, Yomei, and Sushun. She was also known as the Empress Toyomike Kashikiya hime no Mikoto, as well as Nakudabe in her childhood. According to the classical Japanese history chronicle Nihon Shoki, she was acclaimed as empress consort of Emperor Bidatsu at eighteen years old. But Bidatsu died after a reign of thirteen years, and he was followed by his half-brothers Yomei (reigned for two years) and Sushun (reigned for five years). Together, Empress Suiko and Emperor Bidatsu had seven sons. She is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History between 593 – 628 AD.

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When Suiko was thirty-nine years old when the Soga clan leader Soga no Umako had the Emperor Sushun assassinated. This left the royal throne vacant which led the ministers to convince Suiko, the most qualified of the royal children, to claim the throne. She initially refused, but the ministers were adamant until she finally accepted the role of Empress in 593 AD. Prince Shotoku Taishi (Mŭmayado no Toyotomimi), the second child of Emperor Yomei, was acclaimed as Imperial Prince in the same year and appointed as regent, as well as chief administrator of the government.

Rise of Buddhism

Buddhism played a large part in Suiko’s youth after her father, Emperor Kimmei, accepted the gifts of the Baekje King Seong. During her first year as Empress, Suiko commissioned the construction of the Temple of Hokoji which was famed for having the relics of Buddha inside the foundation stone of one of its pagoda pillars. The popularity of Buddhism peaked during her reign and was marked by the increase of construction of Buddhist shrines as well as the arrival of Buddhist priests from the Korean peninsula. Two of the earliest arrivals were Hye-cha from Koryo and Hye-chong from Baekje. She allowed the Buddhist priests to live in the Temple of Hokoji. In 606 AD, Suiko commissioned for a 16-foot copper statue of Buddha to be installed inside the Golden Hall of the Gangoji Temple.

Three Kingdoms of Korea

The wars between the kingdoms of Silla, Baekje, and Imna (Gaya confederacy) still simmered during the reign of Suiko, but by 600 AD, Baekje had pretty much faded into the background and was on the verge of collapse. In the same year, a full-scale war flared up between the two remaining kingdoms. Imna was forced to ask Suiko for support against Silla. The Empress agreed to send some troops to the peninsula to help Imna defeat Silla. Both kingdoms sent tributes to Suiko after peace was established, but it would not last as they fought once again after Suiko recalled her generals from the peninsula.

Suiko was compelled to help out Imna in 602 AD, but this time, she decided to send her navy to Silla for an invasion. Preparations for an invasion were underway when Prince Kume, the general of the expedition, fell ill and died. Prince Tahema replaced him as the leader of the expedition, but his wife died on the way to Silla, an event which forced the navy to return to Japan. Empress Suiko canceled the expedition. She would not interfere with Silla-Imna affairs until 622 AD. She died after an illness in 628 AD at the age of 75 and was succeeded by Emperor Jomei as ruler of Japan.

Prince Shotoku Taishi as Coregent

Prince Shotoku Taishi proved to be a capable administrator for Empress Suiko and helped her improve diplomatic relations between Japan and its immediate neighbors. He sent ambassadors to China more than ten years after his appointment as coregent and established a government system based on the ancient Chinese meritocracy. In 604 AD, he issued the Seventeen-Article Constitution based on the values of the Yamato dynasty and established the emperor as the only one who held the highest authority in the land. He also wrote a chronicle of the history of past emperors in 620 AD but died in the following year in the Palace of Ikaruga.

The former Roman provinces of the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, and Hispania quickly fell to the Arabs during the middle of the seventh century. The Byzantines proved to be more resilient and clever in their defense of their capital during the Umayyad invasion. Their use of the “Greek fire” destroyed the majority of the Umayyad navy and the Muslim warriors, led by Caliph Mu’awiyah, retreated after he was forced to sign a peace treaty with the Byzantines. The annual tribute the Byzantines required from the Arabs in exchange for peace discouraged them from attempts for reconquests for many years. It took another 39 years after the First Siege of Constantinople (674-678 AD) before the Arabs made another attempt to conquer the city. The repulse of the Arabs is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History at 717 AD.

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Two men were at the forefront of the fight for Constantinople: Emperor Leo III and the new Umayyad caliph Suleiman. Emperor Leo anticipated the arrival of the Arabs early in his reign and ordered for the preparation of Constantinople’s defenses months before the first Muslims ships sailed through the Dardanelles. The new Arab navy was under the command of caliph Suleiman who supplemented his sailors with as much as eighty thousand land troops who marched through Asia Minor from the Middle East to help him conquer Constantinople.

Emperor Leo took a cue from Constantine IV who fought the same enemy years before and used the “Greek fire” against the Arab navy; once again, the ancient flamethrower set many of their ships on fire and drowned many of their sailors. The weather also helped the Byzantines when the wind fanned the flames of the “Greek fire” and a harsh winter descended on the Sea of Marmara. Suleiman, unused to the bitter cold, died when winter set in and he was replaced by his cousin, Umar II, who then sent a new admiral from Egypt to continue the attacks.

Men from both sides died during the siege of Constantinople, but the Arabs suffered more casualties which compelled caliph Umar to stop and recall his men. All hostilities officially ended on August 15, 718. The Arab navy, as well as the overland troops, limped back home. Constantinople would remain unconquered for another nine hundred years until the rise of the Ottomans.

More than a hundred years after Mohammed’s death in 632 AD, Islam experienced rapid growth after the Arab conquest of the former Roman and Byzantine provinces of North Africa and Mesopotamia, as well as the crumbled Persian empire. They tried to push through the Byzantine territories in Eastern Europe, but they failed during the double invasion of Constantinople in 674 and 717 AD. Constantinople was safe (temporarily, at least) but the Arab, and Berber armies made a massive headway in the Iberian peninsula especially after the defeat of the Visigoth king Ruderic in the Battle of Guadalete in 711 AD. Almost all of the nobility who could claim the Visigothic kingship were wiped out in battle. The Muslims ruled Spain after the near-total defeat of the Visigoths. Hispania officially became the Muslim province of Al-Andalus. According to the Biblical Timeline with World History, the Moors (Islamic Africans) conquered Spain during 740 AD.

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The Moors

When the Arab conquest of North Africa was completed in 702 AD, many of the Berbers (the Greek term for native North Africans) including the Mauri people also converted en masse after they saw their leaders adopt Islam as their religion. The term Moors initially referred to the Mauri people of Mauretania (in present-day northern Morocco), but the word gradually evolved in Europe to cover all Muslims of African-descent who invaded Spain in the eighth century. They were a part of Spain’s rich history and perhaps Islam’s domination of Spain would not have been possible if not for the presence of the Moors.

The Moors constituted the bulk of the Muslim army (along with the Arabs) that crossed the southern tip of Spain eight years later and helped defeat the weakened Visigoths in Iberia. The combined Berber and Arab army were led by a prominent Berber general named Tariq ibn-Ziyad who led them to victory in the Battle of Guadalete. Tariq ibn Ziyad continued to lead the Muslim army into victory in the cities of Toledo and Cordoba until he was recalled by the Caliph in Damascus in 714.

The Moors (which became a catch-all term for all Muslims in Spain by then) led by Abd ar Rahman Al-Ghafiqi would have succeeded in their push into Western Europe if Charles Martel and Odo of Aquitaine had not blocked their path in the Battle of Tours-Poitiers in 732 AD. Al-Ghafiqi died in battle, and the rest of the Muslim army limped back into Al-Andalus. By 740, the Moors had dominated much of Spain except for the northern Kingdom of Asturias which became a tiny remnant of the Visigothic rule after they were defeated by the Arab and Berber armies. The Moors’ domination of Spain was briefly punctuated by the Berber revolt that lasted between 739 to 743 AD.

The Republic

Rome’s shared history with North Africa goes back to the time of the Republic when it was involved in a series of wars with the city of Carthage. The Phoenician city lost out to Rome during the First Punic Wars (264-241 BC). But its dominance saw a brief resurgence in the Second Punic Wars which was led by one of the greatest military commander in history, Hannibal Barca. He led the Carthaginian army and their war elephants across the rugged terrain of the Italian Alps in 218 AD. The series of wars he started against Rome resulted only in a stalemate. More than 60 years later, the Third Punic War flared up between Rome and Carthage and resulted in the total destruction of Carthage in 149 AD. Many of the Carthaginians were sold into slavery, while a great portion of the population starved or fought to death during the siege. The Romans took over Carthage in the same year, and its merchants now had full access (as well as control) to the profitable Mediterranean trade routes. Moreover, the Roman politician and military leader Pompey added many portions of North Africa during his campaigns in the region in the time of the Republic. Rome conquered North Africa between the dates of 300 – 600 AD according to the Biblical Timeline with World History.

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The Republic was on its way out during the political and military domination of Julius Caesar. His affair with the Egyptian princess Cleopatra further cemented Roman rule over Egypt and North Africa and declared himself dictator for life upon his return to Rome. Political strife hounded Julius Caesar in his homeland, and he died in 44 BC after he was assassinated in the Roman Senate.

Under the Roman Empire

By 30 BC, the Roman Empire had dominated most of North Africa, as well the major cities that dotted the Mediterranean coast. The province became Africa Proconsularis which was governed by a proconsul that represented the Roman government. Numidia became Rome’s client kingdom, while African cities such as Hadrumetum, Byzacena, Hippo Regius, and Utica become thoroughly Romanized. Mauretania was added in 41 AD and at its peak, Rome’s African territory spanned from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to Libya in the east (Egypt was a separate province).

The Roman era in North Africa was relatively peaceful and prosperous—a golden age which historians called Pax Romana. The Roman-style architecture and arts dotted the North African landscape while Jupiter, Saturn, Minerva, and a whole slew of Roman gods replaced the ancient Phoenician pantheon. The Romans also built magnificent temples all over the cities of the province while their lifelike sculptures of the gods were worshiped by the native peoples. Some of Rome’s greatest legacies in North Africa were the network of roads built throughout the province which allowed the troops to easily come in and out of a city, as well as enabled the merchants to transport their goods across the land. In addition, remains of Roman-style villas can still be seen in Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya—silent remnants of a long-gone golden age.

Rome also resettled many of its citizens (especially its veterans) in the fertile farmlands across the province. These resettled peoples became farmers who cultivated wheat and olive trees, as well as raised livestock. The province became Rome’s primary source of grain which made farmers and merchants very rich. Meanwhile, native North Africans also rose and became senators, military commanders, and eventually, emperors of Rome. A fine example of social mobility in Roman North Africa was Septimius Severus who was born in the city of Leptis Magna (modern Libya) and became the first Roman emperor of native North African descent. He was followed by his sons Caracalla and Geta, as well as other emperors who were born in North Africa.

Christianity spread from Palestine to Rome and finally to North Africa in the second century. Converts to the new religion were targeted for persecution, and many died in the magnificent El Djem amphitheater for not renouncing their faith. The repressions and the killings stopped when Emperor Constantine the Great adopted Christianity as his religion. Christianity later became a state religion in 380 AD under Emperor Theodosius I and the population of Christians in the province increased during the next 200 years. Saint Augustine, one of the faith’s leading theologians, was born in the African city of Thagaste and became bishop of the city of Hippo.

Decline of Roman Rule and Muslim Conquest of North Africa

During the last years of the empire, various barbarians sacked Rome and even spilled over to North Africa. Some of the most ferocious of these barbarians were the Vandals who managed to cross from Hispania to North Africa and besieged Carthage. They successfully captured the city, but the Byzantine general Belisarius took it back for Constantinople in 533 AD and henceforth was under the control of the Byzantine Empire. Its hold on North Africa would not last long as in 642 AD; Muslim Arabs captured the North African cities from the Byzantine Empire after their conquest of Egypt.