Russian Empire
The Russian Empire and its tsars.
Category: States
- 1472Ivan III of Moscow marries Sophia Palaiologina, niece of the last Byzantine emperor
Raised in Rome under Cardinal Bessarion, Sophia marries the grand prince of Moscow (proxy ceremony in Rome in June, wedding in Moscow in November). The match fed Moscow's later claim to be the 'Third Rome'.
- January 16, 1547Ivan IV is crowned first tsar of Russia with Byzantine imperial ritual
Ivan IV is crowned in Moscow's Dormition Cathedral by Metropolitan Macarius with a rite modelled on Byzantine precedent, presenting Moscow as heir to the Roman and Byzantine emperors.
- December 2, 1805Napoleon defeats Russia and Austria at Austerlitz
Outnumbered by about 85,000 to 72,000, Napoleon routed the Russian and Austrian armies of Alexander I and Francis II. Austria left the Third Coalition by the Treaty of Pressburg on 26 December.
- July 7, 1807Treaties of Tilsit: France allies with Russia and cuts Prussia down
Napoleon and Alexander I agreed an alliance on the Neman river on 7 July. By the 9 July treaty Prussia lost about half its territory and population, including lands that formed the Duchy of Warsaw.
- June 24, 1812 – December 24, 1812Napoleon invades Russia with the Grande Armée
Over 450,000 men crossed the Neman on 24 June 1812. Russia withdrew deeper, preserving its army and, at Borodino and Moscow, denying a decisive result; only about 120,000 of Napoleon's force survived. The campaign ended 24 December.
- September 7, 1812Napoleon fights the Russian army at Borodino
West of Moscow, Napoleon failed to destroy Kutuzov's Russian army in what was among the bloodiest single days of the wars. The Russians then withdrew and abandoned Moscow.
- September 14, 1812Napoleon enters a burning, deserted Moscow
French troops occupied Moscow, set ablaze under governor Rostopchin. Napoleon waited about five weeks for a peace offer that never came, then began the retreat in October.
- October 16, 1813 – October 19, 1813Battle of Leipzig: the Sixth Coalition defeats Napoleon
Russian, Austrian, Prussian and Swedish armies under Alexander I, Schwarzenberg, Blücher and Bernadotte defeated Napoleon in the largest battle of the wars. France lost control of lands east of the Rhine.
- September 1814 – June 9, 1815The Congress of Vienna redraws Europe
Metternich, Castlereagh, Alexander I, Hardenberg and the defeated France's Talleyrand sought a balance of power and the restoration of the pre-revolutionary order. The Final Act was signed on 9 June 1815.
- February 4, 1859Tischendorf secures Codex Sinaiticus at Mount Sinai
On 4 February 1859 Constantin von Tischendorf is shown the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus at Saint Catherine's Monastery. It goes to Russia, and in 1933 the Soviet state sells it to the British Museum.