A world chronology · 400–499

The 5th century

16 sourced events, 14 nations, in the order they happened.

Every record below is drawn from the chronicle of the nation it belongs to, with the same citations. Read down for the whole period, or jump to a stretch of it; within each year the world is grouped by continent.

Asia
6 events · 5 nations
Europe
6 events · 5 nations
Africa
3 events · 3 nations
North America
1 event · 1 nation

2 events · 2 nations

400s

1 record

Asia

  1. ARM

    Armenia · Culture & Ideas · c. 405 CE

    Mesrop Mashtots creates the Armenian alphabet

    The scholar Mesrop Mashtots devised the 36-letter Armenian alphabet, enabling Scripture and literature in Armenian and launching a 5th-century golden age of writing and translation.

    The First Christian Nation and the Alphabet

    Sources: Armenian alphabet (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Mesrop Mashtots (World History Encyclopedia)

1 record

Europe

  1. ESP

    Spain · Peoples & Migration · 409 CE

    Germanic peoples enter Iberia

    As Roman power waned, Germanic groups crossed into the peninsula; the Visigoths emerged as the dominant power and built a kingdom on the Roman and Christian inheritance.

    Iberia: Celts, Phoenicians, Rome and the Visigoths

    Sources: Spain (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Visigoth (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

2 events · 2 nations

410s

2 records

Asia

  1. LBN

    Lebanon · Religion · late 4th–early 5th century

    Saint Maron and the Maronite origins

    The Maronite community traces its origin to Saint Maron, a Syrian hermit whose ascetic following grows into a distinct church that later takes refuge in the mountains of Lebanon.

    Roman Heliopolis and the Rise of Christianity

    Sources: Maronite church (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

  1. GBR

    United Kingdom · Politics & Power · c. AD 410

    End of Roman Britain

    Roman authority was effectively withdrawn from Britain around 410, after which the former province fragmented and Germanic-speaking peoples gradually settled across what became England.

    Roman Britain and the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms

    Sources: Roman Britain (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

2 events · 2 nations

420s

1 record

North America

  1. HND

    Honduras · Politics & Power · c. 426-822 CE

    Dynasty of sixteen kings

    A line of at least sixteen rulers governs Copán, raising temples, stelae, and the Hieroglyphic Stairway during the city's Classic-period height.

    Copán and the First Peoples

    Sources: Copán (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Hieroglyphic Stairway (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

1 record

Asia

  1. ARM

    Armenia · Politics & Power · 428 CE

    End of the Armenian monarchy

    The Sasanian Persians abolished the Arsacid kingdom of Armenia and ruled the territory through appointed officials, ending the ancient Armenian monarchy.

    Urartu and the Armenian Kingdom

    Sources: Armenia — Caucasus, Soviet Union, Genocide (Modern Armenia) (Encyclopædia Britannica)

5 events · 4 nations

430s

2 records

Asia

  1. CYP

    Cyprus · Religion · 5th c. CE

    An autocephalous Church

    The Church of Cyprus was recognised as self-governing (autocephalous), free from the authority of any neighbouring patriarch, a distinction its archbishops have defended throughout the island's history.

    Roman and Byzantine Cyprus: An Early Christian Island

    Sources: Cyprus: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

  1. IRL

    Ireland · Religion

    Palladius sent to the Irish

    Pope Celestine I commissioned the bishop Palladius as the first bishop 'to the Irish believing in Christ', marking the formal arrival of organised Christianity on the island.

    Gaelic Ireland and the Monastic Golden Age

    Sources: Ireland Converts to Christianity (EBSCO Research Starters) · Saint Patrick (World History Encyclopedia)

1 record

Europe

  1. IRL

    Ireland · Religion · 5th century

    The mission of St Patrick

    The British-born missionary Patrick, traditionally active from the 430s, evangelised much of Ireland, secured toleration for Christians and fostered a native clergy and monasticism; his feast is 17 March.

    Gaelic Ireland and the Monastic Golden Age

    Sources: Saint Patrick (World History Encyclopedia) · Ireland Converts to Christianity (EBSCO Research Starters)

2 records

Africa

  1. DZA

    Algeria · War & Rupture

    Vandals take Carthage

    After seizing Hippo Regius, Genseric's Vandals capture Carthage in 439 and rule a kingdom commanding the western Mediterranean.

    Vandals, Byzantines and the Coming of Islam

    Sources: North Africa: The Vandal conquest (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Battle of Tricamarum (World History Encyclopedia)

  2. TUN

    Tunisia · War & Rupture · 439 CE

    Vandals take Carthage

    Gaiseric's Vandals seize Carthage, making it the capital of a kingdom in North Africa.

    Roman Africa, Christianity & the Vandals

    Sources: History of Tunisia (Wikipedia) · Africa Proconsularis (Roman province) (UNRV Roman History)

3 events · 3 nations

450s

1 record

Asia

  1. NPL

    Nepal · Formation · c. 450 CE

    Rise of the Licchavi dynasty

    The Licchavis establish the first well-documented dynasty of the Kathmandu Valley, using Sanskrit, minting coins and linking India and Tibet by trade.

    Ancient Kingdoms: Kirata and Licchavi

    Sources: Licchavi era (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Nepal — History (Himalayas, Monarchy, Unification) (Encyclopædia Britannica)

2 records

Africa

  1. EGY

    Egypt · Religion · 451 CE

    Council of Chalcedon and the Coptic schism

    Doctrinal disputes over the nature of Christ separate the Egyptian (Coptic) Church from the imperial church of Constantinople.

    Greco-Roman and Byzantine Egypt

    Sources: Ptolemaic Dynasty (World History Encyclopedia)

Asia

  1. JOR

    Jordan · Religion · 5th - 6th century CE

    Christian Byzantium and the mosaics of Um er-Rasas

    Under Byzantine rule Christianity spread across the plateau and church floors were laid with elaborate mosaics, preserved most fully at Um er-Rasas, later a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    Rome, the Decapolis and Byzantine Christianity

    Sources: Um er-Rasas (Kastrom Mefa'a) (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

1 event · 1 nation

470s

1 record

Europe

  1. ITA

    Italy · Politics & Power · 476 CE

    Fall of the Western Roman Empire

    The Germanic leader Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus, traditionally regarded as the last Western Roman emperor, ending Roman imperial rule in Italy.

    The Roman Republic and Empire

    Sources: Ancient Rome (World History Encyclopedia) · Italy (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

1 event · 1 nation

490s

1 record

Europe

  1. FRA

    France · Religion · c. 496–508

    Baptism of Clovis I

    The first Frankish king to adopt Catholic Christianity, aligning crown and Church.

    The Franks & the Birth of France

    Sources: Clovis I (Encyclopædia Britannica)