Prior to 18th century
| History of Italy |
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 Italyportal |
- 730 BCE - Chalcidians take settlement from the Siculi; town renamed "Zancle". [1]
- 671 BCE - Samians take Zancle. [2]
- 397 BCE - Settlement sacked by Carthaginian forces in the Battle of Messene. [3]
- 343 BCE - Carthaginians ousted by forces of Timoleon. [3]
- 282 BCE - Mamertines take Messina (approximate date). [3]
- 241 BCE - Messina becomes a civitas foederata. [3]
- 35 BCE - Messina attacked by forces of Octavian. [3]
- 520 CE - Roman Catholic diocese of Messina active (approximate date). [4]
- 535 CE - Belisarius of the Byzantine Empire takes Sicily. [5]
- 843 - Arabs in power over most of the island, including Messina. [5] [3]
- 902 - Fall of Taormina to the Saracens. The Muslim conquest of the island had begun in 826. Some time between the fall of Syracuse in 878 and the fall of Taormina in 902, the imperial administrator and military commander for the Thema of Sicily, the Strategos, moves across the strait to Rhegion, in Calabria. [3]
- 965 - Fall of Rometta, an outpost near Messina, and the last imperial possession on the island of Sicily. After this event, the Byzantine military post of "Strategos of Sicily" is altered to "Strategos of Calabria" in the chroniclers' lists. [3]
- 1038 - George Maniakes liberates Messina and the eastern third of Val Demone, and carries on with the annexation of the eastern coast of Val di Noto, also liberating Syracuse [6] . [3]
- 1061 - Normans arrive in the area. They respect the native population. [3]
- 1098 - Messina Cathedral construction begins. [3]
- 1190 - Messina is sacked, looted, and burned by forces of the Angevin King Richard, including the emblematic, Basilian Monastery of San Salvatore, on the pretext of the Norman King William's widow, Joan, and Richard's sister, not receiving her husband's inheritance from the new King of Sicily, Tancred . [3]
- 1194 - Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor in power in Sicily. [3]
- 1197 - Messina Cathedral consecrated. [3]
- 1232
- 1282
- Messina revolts against the Angevin Kingdom of Naples, joining the other rest of Sicily in the Sicilian Vespers. [3]
- The city is besieged for five weeks by an Angevin army under Charles I of Anjou, before the approach of an Aragonese army relieves the city.
- Aragonese rule begins. [3]
- 1296 - Fair begins.[ citation needed ]
- ca.1430 - Birth of Antonello da Messina a painter. [3]
- 1473 - Printing press in operation. [8] [9]
- 1535 - Entry of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor into Messina.
- 1545 - Forte Gonzaga (fort) built.
- 1546 - Forte del Santissimo Salvatore (fort) built.
- 1548 - Jesuit College (Messina) founded.
- 1616 - Palazzo del Monte di Pietà (Messina) built.
- 1638 - Orto Botanico "Pietro Castelli" dell'Università di Messina (garden) established.
- 1674 - Messina revolt against Spanish rule begins. [1] [10]
- 1686 - Real Cittadella (fort) built.
- 1693 - 1693 Sicily earthquake. [2]
