| Before 252 BC | | Carthaginian invasion led to the name Mahón (now Maó) being adopted and the word is regarded to be of Carthaginian or Punic origin. |
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123 BC | | Quintus Caecilius Metellus led the Roman assault. The name Minorca is believed to date from this time as the Romans called the Island the little one to differentiat it from Mallorca, the major one. | Circa 427 AD | | The Vandal arrival; the Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century.The Vandals are perhaps best known for their sack of Rome in 455. Thus their name became symnonymous with wanton and mindless distruction, which it does to this day. | Circa 859 AD | | Norman invasion or more likely a series of raids on the Island caused great damage to Byzantine churches andother historic buildings. The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of these territories who had inter married with the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock. It was the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066 AD which changed the course of British history. Throughout medieval Europe they played a major political, military, and cultural role and their influence was felt as far as the Middle East. | 903 | | The Moorish invasion introduced Islamic culture to the island. Their hold on the Island was maintained for over 300 years andeven to this day its legacy can be found in the Mineret which is incorporated in the Catherall in Ciutadella, the placenames which contain "bini" which is Arabic for son of!and in the Menorcan diet, cous cous was introduced as a food by the Arabs. | 1231-2 AD | | The Moors accepted Spanish domination by Jaume I of Aragón and for a time Islam and Christianity co-existed side by side. | 1287-1288 AD | | Spanish invasion! Alfonso III of Aragón invaded with devastating consequencies for the Mors. The Moorish population were held to ransom or enslaved. Christian culture once more became dominant on the Island. | The 16th Century | | This century was a disasterous time for Menorca and its people. The island became a regular targetfor vicious raids by Pirate forces. In 1535 Barbarossa and in 1588 Mustafá Pialí between them destroyed Maó and Ciutadella. Barbarossa, as he was known in Europewas a Turkish privateer and Ottoman Admiral who dominated the Mediterranean for decades. He was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli, which now the Greek island of Lesbos. He died in Constantinople, the Ottoman capital in 1546. Constantinople is now known as Istanbul in Turkey. | 1707 | | The islanders could not agree which side to take during the War of the Spanish Succession which allowd France to claim the Island for itself with virtually not a shot being fired. | 1708 | | A year later a joint British and Dutch "intervension reversed the Ilanders enforced choice of sides againwithout any major military intervension. In 1713 Britain was granted sovereignty by the Treaty of Utrecht and Britain was a popular occupying force for virtuall the next fifty years.This popularity was due in no small part to Richard Kane who was Governor from 1712. | 1756 | | The French invaded during the Seven Years' War and the British Garrison was forced to surrender following Royal Navy withdrawal in the Battle of Minorca. | 1781 | | A joint Spanish and French invasion during the British Colonial War of 1775-83 encountered stiff resistance andthe British Garrison resisted the siege for over five months. Eventually the British forces were overcome by disease and forced to surrender. | 1798 | | During the Napoleonic Wars Britain launched an invasion and took Menorca once more. | 1802 | | Britain handed Minorca back to Spain under the Treaty of Amiens having chosing to keep Malta as its main Mediterranean base. |
