History Pages - Part 10
Masoretes, Byzantines, the beginnings of Western Europe - AD 400-600
- AD 370-425
- Rabbi Hillel, formulated the interpretation of the Torah
- AD 374
- Ambrose became bishop of Milan
- AD 376
- Barbarian invasions - Emperor Valens gave permission to the Visigoths to cross the Danube and settle within the Empire
- AD 378
- Death of Valens in battle against invading Goths
- AD 380-392
- Emperor Theodosius I of the East, reunited the Roman Empire, made Christianity the official state religion and prohibited the practice of pagan rituals including the Olympic Games; but allowed Judaism and the religion of the Samaritans. Theodosius began inviting barbarian cavalry to fight for the Empire against other barbarians
- AD 381
- Council of Theodosius at Constantinople, The Second Ecumenical Council, affirmed that Jesus had a truly human soul
- AD 382
- Pope Damasus I called a council, listed the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testaments
- AD 382-384
- Pope Damasus I asked Jerome to revise and unify Latin Bibles
- AD 383
- Roman Legions started to evacuate Britain as they were needed to defend Rome from invaders
Britain was cut off from the Roman Empire - AD 384
- Jerome presented Pope Damasus I with the new Latin translation of the Gospels
- AD 386
- Ambrose of Milan introduced the singing of hymns as part of the Church liturgy
Conversion of Augustine
Jerome moved to Bethlehem, lived as a monk in a cave at Bethlehem, learnt Hebrew, translated the whole Bible into Latin
approx. date for the completion of the Jerusalem Talmud (commentary on the Mishnah) - AD 390
- Apollinaris of Laodicea, taught the heresy that Jesus had a human body but a divine spirit
- ca AD 391
- Ammianus Marcellinus, Christian historian, wrote "Res gestae"
- AD 392
- Death of Theodosius the Great
- AD 395
- Roman Empire divided again into the Western Empire, centered on Rome, and the Eastern Empire, centered on Byzantium (modern Istanbul in Turkey)
- AD 395-641
- Byzantine period in Egypt. Egyptian hieroglyphics dropped out of use and their meaning was forgotten
- AD 396-398
- Alaric the Goth invaded and plundered Greece and the Balkans
- AD 397
- Ambrose, bishop and governor of Milan, wrote "de Fide"
- AD 398
- John Chrysostom became bishop of Constantinople
- ca. AD 400
- The Vulgate, Latin translation of the Bible, by Jerome. The Vulgate Latin text became the standard Western Christian Bible
The Peshitta, Syriac (Aramaic) Bible, produced. The Peshitta became the standard Syrian Christian Bible - ca. AD 400
- Age of the Masoretes began
Jews dispersed throughout Europe and Russia, developed settled cultures in Spain (Ashkenazi), and Rhine valley (Yiddish); subject to restrictions, persecutions, and pogroms by Christians
Beginning of alchemy - the search for the "Philosophers' Stone" - reputed to turn everything into gold, and the "Elixir of Life" - reputed to give eternal youth
- AD 400
- Babylonian Talmud & Jerusalem Talmud - commentaries on the Mishnah
- AD 400-461
- Leo I (the Great) of Rome
- AD 400-600
- Egyptian, Syrian and Armenian Christians translated the Bible and the Liturgy into their own languages and rejected traditional Eastern Orthodoxy (They became the Melchite Churches)
- AD 401-403
- Visigoths (Western Goths) invaded Italy
- AD 401-417
- Pope Innocent I
- AD 403
- Letters of the Church Fathers Epiphanius of Constantia and John Chrysostom
- AD 410
- Alaric and the Visigoths sacked Rome
- AD 410-436
- Roman Legions left Britain to defend Rome. The Dark Age of Britain began
- AD 411
- Augustine wrote "The City of God" after the Sack of Rome
- AD 412-444
- Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, expelled the Jews and incited a mob to kill the female philosopher Hypatia
- AD 416
- The Council of Carthage condemned Pelagianism;
Visigoths took Spain - AD 418
- Franks took Gaul
- AD 422-432
- Pope Celestine I, sent Palladius to Ireland as its first bishop
- AD 425
- Constantinople University founded;
Barbarians started to invade and settle in former Roman provinces :
- Visigoths in what is now Spain and Portugal
- Franks in Gaul
- Vandals in Spain
- Huns in Pannonia
- Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths) in Dalmatia
- Suevi in what is now Portugal
- Alemanni in Alsace, AD 443
- AD 428
- Nestorius became Patriarch of Constantinople
- AD 428-477
- Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, invaded northern Africa, and founded a kingdom there
- AD 429
- Saxons, Angles, and Jutes started to invade southern Britain, driving the Picts and Scots northwards
- ca. AD 430-460
- St. Patrick in Ireland
- AD 431
- The Council of Ephesus - condemned Nestorius, and used the title "Mother of God" for the Virgin Mary
Syrian Church split into Eastern (Nestorian, those who disagreed with the Council of Ephesus) and Western (Jacobite) parts - AD 433-453
- Attila the Hun, the "Scourge of God"
- AD 440-461
- Pope Leo I (45th Pope)
- AD 442-450
- Attila and the Huns of central Asia attacked Greek and Roman cities
- AD 451
- The Ecumenical Council of the Church, at Chalcedon - affirmed that Christ is "One Person in two Natures". The Churches in Egypt and Syria broke off from the Greek and Roman Churches;
Death of Nestorius of Constantinople. His followers, the Nestorians, said that Mary was not the "Mother of God" - AD 454
- Eutyches of Constantinople, founder of the Monophysite sect who said that Jesus was divine but not human
- AD 455
- The Vandals under Gaiseric sacked Rome, Pope Leo I negotiated with them to try to spare the people
- AD 457-474
- Pope Leo I, 46th Pope, became emperor of remaining (eastern) Roman empire
- AD 474-491
- Zeno, eastern Roman emperor
- AD 476
- End of the Western Roman Empire - Odoacer of the Germans killed the last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and made himself King of Italy
- AD 476-491
- Emperor Zeno (of the East), commissioned the Ostrogoth leader Theodoric to invade Italy and conquer the western Empire
- AD 477
- Kingdom of Sussex (Southern Saxons) founded in Britain
- AD 480-524
- Boëthius, Roman philosopher and theologian
- AD 480-543
- Benedict of Nursia - developed a system for Monasticism in the Western Church, founded the Benedictines
- AD 481-511
- Clovis became king of the Franks at the age of 15, and founded the Merovingian dynasty
- AD 484-519
- First Schism between Eastern and Western Churches - the Acacian schism, over the "Henoticon" which denied that Christ was the Son of God. The Pope of Rome, Felix III, excommunicated the Eastern Patriarch of Constantinople, Acacius. Photinus, deacon of Thessalonica, was of the Greek church and held to the Acacian heresy. Photinus persuaded emperor Anastasius I to accept the Acacian heresy
- AD 489
- Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, invaded and conquered Italy
Zeno destroyed Nestorian school at Edessa, erected Church of St. Simeon - AD 490-583
- Cassiodorus, Roman historian and theologian
- AD 491
- The Armenian Church cut ties with Byzantine and Rome Churches
- AD 491-518
- Anastasius I, Eastern Roman emperor
- AD 492-496
- Pope Gelasius I (50th Pope). The term "Vicar of Christ" was introduced as one of the Pope's titles
- AD 493
- Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths) under Theodoric the Great took over the Western Roman Empire;
Clovis I of the Franks married a Christian princess, Clothilde - AD 495
- Kingdom of Wessex (West Saxons) founded in Britain
- AD 496
- Clovis I of the Franks defeated the Alemanni, and was baptized as a Christian by Remigius (St. Remy), Bishop of Rheims;
Pope Gelasius produced the Gelasian Missal - book of prayers, chants, and instructions for celebrating the Mass - AD 498
- Nestorians (heretical Christian sect) driven out of Edessa, settled in Nisibis in Persia
- AD 498-506
- The Lawrencian schism, caused by the anti-Pope Lawrence
- ca. AD 500
- The Babylonian Talmud
- AD 500
- The German tribe of the Marcomanni left Bohemia and settled in Bavaria
Czechs moved into Bohemia and settled there
Lombards invaded and settled in the region north of the River Danube
Battle of Badon Hill - Britons defeated the Saxons. The British leader may be the prototype for the legends of King Arthur
"Dionysius the Areopagite", from Syria (not the man mentioned in the Bible) neo-platonic philosopher
Incense introduced in Christian church services
First plans of Vatican - AD 500-560
- Dionysius Exiguus - Roman theologian, wrongly calculated the date for the Birth of Christ as December 23, 753 years after the foundation of Rome
- AD 507-711
- The Visigoth kingdom in Spain
- AD 518-527
- Justin I, emperor of Byzantine empire (former Eastern Roman empire)
- AD 519
- End of the First Schism between the Eastern and Western Churches
- AD 521
- Boëthius introduced Greek musical notation to the West
- AD 524
- Boëthius wrote "de consolatione philosophia", the Consolation of Philosophy, while in prison awaiting execution on a charge of high treason
- AD 525
- Dionysius Exiguus set Christian calendar (AD - Anno Domini, Year of the Lord) and calculated Jesus' birth as having been on December 23, 1AD, (He was probably off by several years)
- AD 527-565
- Emperor Justinian I, "The Great", became Byzantine emperor in Constantinople. Aided by his wife Theodora (an ex-actress and a Monophysite), his General Belisarius, and the eunuch Narses, he recovered North Africa from the Vandals and Italy from the Goths
- AD 529
- Emperor Justinian I of Byzantium closed the 1,000-year old School of Philosophy in Athens because it was too pagan. The pagan professors from the School moved to Persia and Syria
- AD 529
- Justinian's Code of Civil Law, Codex Vetus or Corpus Iuris, a re-organization and updating of Roman law;
Benedict of Nursia founded the Monastery of Monte Cassino and the Benedictine Order, and drew up his monastic rule;
The Council of Orange ended the Pelagian controversy - AD 532-537
- Building of the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) Church in Constantinople, by Justinian
- AD 533
- Justinian's general Belisarius defeated the Vandals, and made North Africa a province of the Byzantine Empire
- AD 537
- Battle of Camlan, Britain - death of king Arthur
- AD 537-555
- Pope Vigilius, involved in death of Pope Silverius, conspired with Justinian and Theodora, excommunicated by N. African bishops in 550
- AD 539-562
- War between the Byzantine Empire and Persia
- AD 540
- First Welsh poets - Taliesin, Aneirin, Llywarch Hên
- AD 540-594
- Gregory of Tours, author of a History of the Franks
- AD 540
- Bulgars invaded the Balkan peninsula, ravaged Thrace, Macedonia, and Illyricum, and got as far as Corinth;
Persian King Chosroes sacked Antioch;
Empress Theodora of Byzantium introduced imperial apparel of white robe, purple cloak, gold tiara, pointed red shoes - AD 542
- Gildas wrote "de excide et conquestu Britanniae" (The Conquest of Britain) - one of the earliest sources of British history
- AD 542-594
- The Plague of Constantinople, carried by rats on ships from Egypt and Syria, spread throughout Europe, and killed about half of the total population of Europe
- AD 543
- Justinian condemned Origen;
A year of disastrous earthquakes all over the known world - AD 544
- Justinian condemned the "3 Chapters" of Theodore of Mopsuestia and other writings of "2-natures" Christology of the Council of Chalcedon
- AD 547
- Pope Vigilius issued "Iudicatum" supporting Justinian's anti-"2-natures" views;
Gildas recorded the symptoms of the Plague as it reached Britain - AD 550-1453
- Byzantine Greek as spoken in Constantinople (Byzantium) became the standard for "good Greek"
- AD 550
- The Byzantine Greek Text of the Bible became the standard Bible of the Eastern Church. There was much smoothing and conflation of the text;
The crucifix became a Christian icon;
Procopius wrote "de Bellis" (About Wars) about the Persian, Vandal, and Gothic Wars with Byzantium;
St. David brought Christianity to Wales - AD 552
- Justinian sent missionaries to China and Ceylon
- AD 553
- Justinian's missionaries smuggled silkworms out of Asia, and the silk industry became a state monopoly in Byzantium;
The Byzantine general Narses took Rome for Byzantium;
The Fifth Ecumenical Council - the Second Council of Constantinople, called by Justinian; - AD 556-561
- Pope Pelagius I, selected by Justinian, endorsed the "Iudicatum" of 547
- AD 560
- St. Deniol founded the Abbey of Bangor in Wales
- AD 563
- St. Columba led a mission of twelve monks from Ireland to the Isle of Iona, founded a monastery, and started his mission to the Picts of Scotland;
Consecration of the Church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom)in Constantinople - AD 568
- Lombards invaded Italy. Stayed until 774
- AD 570-632
- Mohammed "The Prophet" (pbuh) of Islam
- AD 572-628
- Wars between Byzantine Empire and Persia
- AD 573-594
- Gregory, bishop of Tours; wrote a History of the Franks "Gesta Francorum"
- AD 589
- Visigoths of Spain converted to Catholic Christianity;
Lombards of Italy converted to Catholic Christianity - AD 590
- Plague hit Rome
- ca. AD 590
- Colubanus went as missionary from Ireland to Gaul, founded the monastery at Luxeuil, introduced the usages of the Celtic Church
- AD 590-604
- Pope Gregory I "The Great" - introduced picture books for illiterate people to learn the Bible, wrote a manual on the duties of the clergy, collected Church chants in the "Antiphonar", commanded that a way be found to collect and preserve the singing of the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos (Gregorian Chant) and founded the Schola Cantorum - School for Singers - in Rome
- AD 596
- Gregory the Great sent Augustine of Canterbury as a Missionary to England
- AD 597
- Augustine of Canterbury landed at Thanet (in Kent, England), preached to Ethelbert of Kent, and founded a monastery. Augustine offended the Celtic Christian leaders by his imperious manner, so they did not join in his mission to the Saxons
Ethelbert of Kent and many of his court became Christians. His Queen was already a Christian princess, who had married Ethelbert on the condition that she be allowed to bring a Christian missionary with her
First English School founded, at Canterbury - AD 600
- Smallpox spread from India into Asia Minor and southern Europe
Main Source : Smithsonian Timelines of Ancient History, The Timetables of History (Bernard Grun)
Go here for Geography PagesCopyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
