Avar–Persian siege of Constantinople
While Emperor Heraclius campaigned in the East, the Avar khagan with Slav and Bulgar allies besieged Constantinople in concert with a Persian army across the Bosporus; the Byzantine fleet kept them apart, and the siege failed.
- Date
- 29 June – 7 August 626exact date · duration: 39 daysDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Constantinopletoday: Istanbul, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Avars, Sasanian Empire, Byzantine Empire, Heraclius
- Threads
- Early medieval Europe (500–1000)
- Also known as
- Siege of Constantinople (626); Осада Константинополя (626)
The Avar vanguard appeared before the Theodosian Walls on 29 June 626, and the khagan arrived with the main army — up to 80,000 Avars, Slavs and Bulgars — on 29 July. Across the strait, the Persian general Shahrbaraz was encamped at Chalcedon. The city was defended by the patrician Bonus and Patriarch Sergius, who carried the icon of the Virgin along the walls. In early August the Byzantine fleet sank the Slav dugout boats (monoxyla) that tried to ferry Persian troops across the Bosporus, and on 7 August, when the Slavs attacked the sea walls from the Golden Horn together with an assault on the land walls, their flotilla was destroyed; the next day the khagan withdrew.
The Avar khaganate never again threatened Constantinople, and its authority over the Slavs weakened. The deliverance was attributed to the Virgin; a new proem of the Akathist hymn is traditionally linked with it. In 627 Heraclius invaded Mesopotamia and forced Persia to make peace.
Connections
Related events
- The Avars settle in the Carpathian Basinbetween 567 and 568 · Western and Central EuropeThe high point and the turning point of the power of the Avar khaganate
Same participants
- Crisis of the Third CenturyMarch 235 – 20 November 284 · Western and Central Europevia Sasanian Empire
- Avar campaign against the Antes602 · Eastern Europevia Avars
- First Arab siege of Constantinople674–678 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Byzantine Empire
Same place
- Founding of Constantinople11 May 330 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Council of Chalcedon8 October – 1 November 451 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Corpus Juris Civilis7 April 529 – 16 November 534 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Construction of Hagia Sophia23 February 532 – 27 December 537 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Plague of Justinian541–549 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Jordanes and Procopius describe the Sclaveni and the Antesbetween 550 and 554 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople907 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 9112 September 911 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Sack of Constantinople12–13 April 1204 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Fall of Constantinople29 May 1453 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Accession of Suleiman the Magnificent30 September 1520 · Balkans and Anatolia
Adjacent events in the thread
- Gregorian mission to the Anglo-Saxons597 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Avar campaign against the Antes602
- Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv: the legendary founding of Kyivbetween 500 and 700
- Rise of the Khazar Khaganatebetween 630 and 650 – c. 670
- Early Slavic cultures: Prague-Korchak, Penkovka and Kolochinc. 450 – c. 700
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Siege of Constantinople (626)
- Wikipedia (Russian): Осада Константинополя (626)
- Howard-Johnston J. The Siege of Constantinople in 626 // Constantinople and its Hinterland / ed. C. Mango, G. Dagron. — Aldershot: Variorum, 1995. — P. 131–142.
- Wikidata: Q312268