istoryworld
Events relating to italy
Dionysius Exiguus, commissioned by the pope to improve chronology, makes an error of at least four years in his selected event for AD 1
St Benedict gathers fellow hermits at Subiaco into a series of small monasteries
Boethius, in prison in Pavia and awaiting execution, writes the Consolation of Philosophy
By the end of his long reign Theodoric amply justifies his title 'the Great' and his place in legend as Dietrich von Bern
St Benedict founds a monastery at Monte Cassino and writes a Rule for the monks which becomes the basis of the Benedictine order
Belisarius lands in Sicily at the start of a five-year campaign to recover Ravenna for the Byzantine emperor
Justinian and Theodora, each with a retinue of attendants, face each other in mosaic from the walls of San Vitale in Ravenna
The Lombards invade northern Italy, and within four years occupy it as far south as the Po
Fugitives from the Lombard invasion of northern Italy take refuge on islands in the Venetian lagoon - and become the founders of Venice
Byzantine Italy is brought under a new administration, or exarchate, based in Ravenna
Pope Gregory I negotiates with the Lombards who are threatening Rome
St Columban founds a monastery at Bobbio, the furthest outpost of Celtic Christianity
The Venetians for the first time elect their own doge, acting independently of the Byzantine governor in Ravenna
Pepin III, after recovering Byzantine territories in Italy from the Lombards, hands control of the region to the pope in Rome
After two campaigns in Lombardy, Charlemagne establishes himself as king of the Lombards in northern Italy
Charlemagne, meeting the English scholar Alcuin on a visit to Italy, invites him to become head of the palace school in Aachen
In St Peter's in Rome, on Christmas Day, pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne emperor - supposedly to Charlemagne's surprise
The Venetians move their administration from the island of Torcello to the Rialto
The Arabs get a foothold in Sicily and begin a slow process, not complete till AD 965, of squeezing the Byzantines out of the island
The Venetians, acquiring from Alexandria some bones believed to be those of St Mark, build St Mark's to house the valuable relic
Medieval Europe's first institute of higher education is established, with the founding of the medical school at Salerno
The imperial coronation of Otto I by Pope John XII in St Peter's puts in place the formal role of a Holy Roman emperor
Pope Gregory VII decrees that only the church may make ecclesiastical appointments, thus initiating the investiture controversy between pope and emperor
The emperor Henry IV stands as a penitent outside the pope's castle at Canossa, so as to be released from excommunication.
Venice acquires valuable trading privileges from Constantinople, her merchants being excused all dues and customs in the Byzantine empire
