5th century

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Global territorial situation in the 5th century

The 5th century began on January 1, 401 and ended on December 31, 500 .

Age / Epoch

→ Main article : Late antiquity

In Europe and the Mediterranean, the 5th century is part of the late antiquity. The defining development of these decades was the gradual disintegration of the Western Roman Empire and the establishment of successor empires .

Events / developments

Europe around 450

• On December 31, 406/1 . January 407 Germanic warrior groups cross the Rhine near Mogontiacum ( Rhine crossing from 406 ).
• 410 is Rome by the Visigoths sacked .
• around 410 most Roman troops withdraw from Britain .
• Constantius III. , who had stabilized the Western Roman Empire once more, dies in 421 .
• Vandals under Geiseric conquer Carthage in 439 and plunder Rome in 455 .
• Around 440 Anglo-Saxon mercenaries rebelled in Britain who had allegedly come at the invitation of Vortigern .
• Attila , leader of the European Huns , established a large empire north of the Danube around 440 and threatens to attack Rome in 452 . Pope Leo I meets him. Attila withdraws to his home lands due to epidemics and attacks from the East. After his death in the following year, his empire falls apart.
• The Western Roman army master Flavius ​​Aëtius , who had been the de facto regent of Western Rome for 20 years, was appointed by Emperor Valentinian III in 454 . slain by hand.
• 468 : A large-scale attempt by the Western Emperor Anthemius to defeat the Vandals with Eastern Roman help fails.
• 476 : End of the Western Roman Empire - Romulus Augustulus is deposed by Odoacer .
• The Vandal fleets dominate the western Mediterranean.
• around 475 : The Visigoths write down their popular law in the Codex Euricianus .
• 484: The Sassanid king Peroz I is killed in a battle with the Hephthalites .
• 486 : The Merovingian Clovis I defeats the rex Romanorum Syagrius and founds the Frankish Empire.

• Buddhism comes to Myanmar and Indonesia .

• African and Indonesian settlers come to Madagascar .

Personalities

• Augustine of Hippo (354-430), bishop and theologian ( De civitate Dei )
• Flavius ​​Aëtius , Western Roman army master († 454)
• Flavius Aspar , Eastern Roman army master († 471)
• Attila , King of the Huns († 453)
• Peroz I , Persian King († 484)
• Romulus Augustulus , last Western Roman emperor
• Theodoric the Great , King of the Ostrogoths
• Patrick of Ireland completes the Christianization of Ireland
• Alaric I , King of the Visigoths
• Leo the Great

Inventions and discoveries

• Invention of the stirrups in China
• Use of the heavy plow in the Slavic countries
• Widespread use of horseshoes in Gaul
• Introduction of the Futhorc alphabet ( runes ) in England

literature

• Michael Maas (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2014.

Web links

Commons : 5th Century  Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Ingrid Heidrich: Introduction to the History of the Middle Ages - 5th Century ( Memento from July 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (revised electronic version of Introduction to the History of the European Middle Ages , HCI, Bad Münstereifel 2003, ISBN 3-00-010998- 6 )