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Medieval History
Page 2
- 347 After having shown increasing favor to Christianity, Constantine is believed by some to have become a Christian on his death-bed.
- 378 The Germanic Visigoths were admitted into the empire in what is now Bulgaria because of the threat of the Huns to the East. Like most German tribesmen, the Visigoths admired the Roman empire greatly and were very happy to have become residents of the empire.
- 376 The Visigoths then marched on Constantinople to protest against the taxes they were expected to pay, and the emperor decided to teach these tax-dodgers a lesson they wouldn't forget. He attacked them, and the Eastern imperial armies were crushingly defeated in the Battle of Adrianople.
- 379-395 During his reign, the emperor Theodosius the Great restored order, and raised Christianity to the status of the official and only recognized religion except for Judaism in the empire.
- 404 The winter was very cold that year and on Christmas Day, the Rhine River was frozen solid for much of its length. Various German groups including the Alans, Vandals and Sueves, simply hauled their wagons across the river and began raiding throughout Gaul now known as France.
- 408 Stilicho, commander of the armies of the western Roman empire, transfered man of the garrison troops from the frontiers of the Empire in the West to defend Italy, and especially the Roman capital which was now located in the small, but well-defended, town of Ravenna against the threat of invasion by the Visigoths, a Germanic tribe that Theodosius had settled in Illyria what used to be Yugoslavia. Stilicho was relatively successful in holding back the Visigoths, and so his enemies at the imperial court had him assassinated.
- 410 Alaric, king of the Visigoths, captured and sacked the city of Rome.
- 440-461 Pope Leo I "the Great."
- 451 Aėtius, command of western Roman armies, defeated Attila, king of the Huns, in the battle of Chalons. He was assassinated shortly afterward.
- 455 Attila threatened the city of Rome, and Pope Leo I negotiated on behalf of the city.
- 455 The City of Rome was attacked from the sea by the Vandals, and sacked.
- 476 Odovacar, commander of western Roman armies, deposed the child-emperor, Romulus Augustulus, assassinated Orestes, the regent, and sent the imperial regalia to the eastern emperor as a sign that the western Roman empire had ceased to exist.
Medieval History Page 3
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