THE GENUINE ORTHODOX CHURCH

843 Triumph of Orthodoxy occurs on first Sunday of Great Lent, restoring icons to churches.

850 Third Finding of the head of John the Forerunner.

852 Ansgar founds churches at Hedeby and Ribe in Denmark.

858 Photius the Great becomes patriarch of Constantinople.

860 Christianization of the Rus' Khaganate.

861 Cyril and Methodius 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.

862 Rastislav of Moravia converts to Christianity.

863 First translations of Biblical and liturgical texts into Church Slavonic by Cyril and Methodius.

863 Venetians steal relics of Apostle Mark from Alexandria.

864 Baptism of Prince Boris of Bulgaria; Synaxis of the Theotokos in Miasena in memory of the return of her icon.

865 Bulgaria under Khan Boris I converts to Orthodox Christianity.

866 Vikings raid and capture York in England.

867 Council of Constantinople, convened by Roman Emperor Michael, presided over by Patriarch Photius of Constantinople, and attended by 500 fathers from East and West (the Westerners were the Archbishops of Treves, Cologne and Ravenna). The Council condemns and deposes Pope Nicholas of Rome on the charges of introducing the heretical filioque clause in the creed, as used by the Pope's missionaries in Bulgaria, and for exercising beyond his authority by interfering in dioceses outside his jurisdiction. Pope Nicholas does not accept his deposition, but dies shortly after his condemnation. 

867 Death of Kassiani, Greek-Byzantine poet and hymnographer, who composed the Hymn of Kassiani, chanted during Holy Week 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; death of Rastislav of Moravia; martyrdom of Edmund, King of East Anglia.

877 Death of Ignatius of Constantinople, who appoints Photius to succeed him.

878 King Alfred the Great of Wessex defeats Vikings; the Treaty of Wedmore divides England between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes (the Danelaw).

879-880 Council of Constantinople (Eighth Ecumenical), convened by Roman Emperor Basil II, presided over by Patriarch Photius, and attended by 383 bishops of both east and west. It declares the Council of Nicea in 787 to truly be the Seventh Ecumenical Council, and anathematizes those who refuse to recognize it (particularly those in France). It also annuls the Councils of Rome and Constantinople which had condemned Patriarch Photius. In addition, it declares that the Creed, the Symbol of the Faith, must remain exactly as it was handed down by the Holy Fathers. Anyone who dares to make any additions or subtractions (especially in regards to the filioque clause) is anathematized. Finally, it is decreed that the Churches of East and West are not to interfere in one another's jurisdiction, that the west is to depose western bishops and the east is to depose eastern bishops, and that these depositions must be recognized by all of the Churches. This council is also accepted and fully embraced by Pope John VIII of Rome.

885 Mount Athos gains political autonomy.

885 Death of Methodius.

886 Glagolitic alphabet, (now called Old Church Slavonic) adopted in Bulgarian Empire; St Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, captures London from the Danes.

910 Benedictine Abbey of Cluny founded in France.

899 Death of Alfred the Great.

911 Holy Protection of the Virgin Mary.

912 Normans become Christian; Nicholas I Mysticus becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.

927 Church of Bulgaria recognized as autocephalous by Constantinople.

931 Abbott Odo of Cluny reforms monasteries in Aquitaine, northern France, and Italy, starting the Cluniac Reform movement within the Benedictine order, focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art and caring for the poor.

935 Martyrdom of Wenceslas, prince of the Czechs.

944 City of Edessa recovered by Byzantine army, including Icon Not Made By Hands.

945 Dunstan becomes Abbot of Glastonbury.

957 Olga of Kiev baptized in Constantinople.

960 Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas re-captures Crete for Byzantines; Dunstan becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, reforming monasteries and enforcing rule of Benedict.

962 Denmark becomes Christian nation with baptism of King Harald Blaatand ("Bluetooth"); Holy Roman Empire formed, with Pope John XII crowning Otto I the Great Holy Roman Emperor.

963 Athanasius of Athos establishes first major monastery on Mount Athos, the Great Lavra.

965 Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas gains Cyprus completely for the Byzantines.

969 Death of Olga of Kiev; Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas captures Antioch and Aleppo from Arabs.

972 Emperor John I Tzimiskes grants Mount Athos its first charter (Typikon).

973 Moravia assigned to the Diocese of Prague, putting the West Slavic tribes under jurisdiction of German church.

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.

978 Death of King Edward the Martyr.

980 Revelation of the Axion Estin (the hymn "It Is Truly Meet"), with the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to a monk on Mount Athos.

980-985 The Western Rite Monastery of Amalfion is founded on Mount Athos.

987 Sixth Rus-Byzantine War, where Vladimir of Kiev dispatches troops to the Byzantine Empire to assist Emperor Basil II with an internal revolt, agreeing to accept Orthodox Christianity 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.

992 Death of Michael, first Metropolitan of Kiev.

995 Olaf of Norway proclaims Norway to be a Christian kingdom.

1000 Conversion of Greenland and Iceland.

1008 Conversion of Sweden.

1009 Patr. Sergius II of Constantinople removes name of Pope Sergius IV of Rome from diptychs of Constantinople, because the pope had written a letter to the patriarch including the Filioque.

1009 Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem destroyed by the "mad" Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, founder of the Druze.

1012 Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah issues oppressive decrees against Jews and Christians including the destruction of all Christian and Jewish houses of worship.

1014 Filioque used for first time in Rome by Pope Benedict VIII at coronation of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.

1015 Death of Vladimir of Kiev.

1017 Danish king Canute converts to Christianity.

1022 Death of Simeon the New Theologian.

1027 Frankish protectorate over Christian interests in Jerusalem is replaced by a Byzantine protectorate, which begin reconstruction of Holy Sepulchre.

1034 Patriarch Alexius I Studites writes the first complete Studite Typikon, for a monastery he established near Constantinople; this was the Typikon introduced into the Rus' lands by Theodosius of the Kiev Caves.

1036 Byzantine Emperor Michael IV makes a truce with the Caliph of Egypt to allow rebuilding of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by Byzantine masons; Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Emperor sent to protect pilgrims.

1043 Edward the Confessor crowned King of England at Winchester Cathedral.

1045-1050 Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Novgorod built, the oldest Orthodox church building in Russia, executed in an architectural style more austere than the Byzantine, reminiscent of the Romanesque.

1048 Re-consecration of Holy Sepulchre.

1051 Monastery of the Kiev Caves founded.