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The 420s

136 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 5th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

420 CE25 entries

  • July 10 – The Jin Dynasty ends in China. Liu Yu (Emperor Wu of Liu Song) becomes the first ruler of the Liu Song Dynasty. The capital of the dynasty is Nanjing.
  • Abdas, bishop of Susa, is accused of burning down one of the fire temples of Ahura Mazda, and after refusing to rebuild it, he is executed, under orders of Shah Yazdegerd I.
  • The Southern Dynasties begin in China.

421 CE14 entries

  • June 7 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia, a woman of Greek origin. The wedding is celebrated at Constantinople with chariot racing in the Hippodrome.
  • September 2 – Constantius III dies suddenly of an illness; his wife Galla Placidia becomes, for the second time, a widow.
  • Roman–Sassanid War: Theodosius II starts a war against the Sassanids, sending an expeditionary force under command of Ardaburius, and invades Mesopotamia.

422 CE17 entries

  • March 3 – Theodosius II issues a law to form provisions in peacetime. He instructs landowners leasing towers in the Theodosian Walls to assist with the build-up of emergency goods. Theodosius pays an annual tribute of 350 pounds of gold to the Huns in order to buy peace.
  • September 4 – Pope Boniface I dies after a 4-year reign that was interrupted for 15 weeks, by the faction of the antipope Eulalius. He is succeeded by Celestine I as the 43rd pope.
  • Petrus, bishop of Illyria, starts construction of the Church of Santa Sabina (approximate date).

423 CE9 entries

  • August 15 – Emperor Honorius, age 38, dies at Ravenna of dropsy, perhaps pulmonary edema. With no children to claim the throne, Joannes, primicerius notariorum ("chief notary", head of the civil service), seizes the throne of the Western Roman Empire, and is declared emperor. Among his supporters are Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum). Joannes' rule is accepted in the dioceses of Gaul, Hispania and Italia, but not in Africa.
  • Winter – Emperor Theodosius II refuses to recognize Joannes as emperor, and prepares for war. He mobilizes an expeditionary force under command of Ardaburius, and his son Flavius Aspar.
  • Theodoret becomes bishop of Cyrrhus (Syria). He converts more than 1,000 Marcionites in his diocese.

424 CE8 entries

  • April 22 – Flavius Anthemius Isidorus becomes the new Praetorian prefect of Illyricum, comprising most of Greece and Serbia, taking office at the capital, Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia).
  • July 7 – (Jing'ping era, 2nd year, 5th month (wǔyuè), the yi'you day) Emperor Shao of the Liu Song dynasty of China, is deposed by government ministers Xu Xianzhi and Fu Liang, who install his younger brother Prince Liu Yilong as the new Emperor.
  • September 17 – (Yuanjia era, 1st year, 8th month (bāyuè), dingyou day) Prince Liu Yilong is formally enthroned as the Emperor Wen of Song of China at its capital in Jiankang.

425 CE15 entries

  • February 27 – The University of Constantinople is founded by emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
  • The Huns advance unopposed on Constantinople, but are halted by a plague that decimates their hordes (see 433).
  • After death of Gamaliel VI, the Sanhedrin is disbanded by the Roman Empire.

426 CE10 entries

  • Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum), ends the Gothic revolt of Theodoric I in southern Gaul.
  • Augustine of Hippo publishes the De Civitate Dei, City of God.
  • K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' becomes the founder of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization at Copán (modern Honduras).

427 CE11 entries

  • King Jangsu transfers the Goguryeo capital from Gungnae City (modern Ji'an, Jilin) on the banks of the Yalu River to Pyongyang (modern Korea).
  • Bonifacius, Roman governor (Last of the Romans), revolts in Africa against Emperor Valentinian III. Under the influence of Aetius, he is convicted of treason by empress-mother Galla Placidia.
  • The Ephthalites (White Huns) invade Western Asia and reduce the Sasanian Empire threat to the Eastern Roman Empire. King Bahram V sends an expeditionary force into Khorasan.

428 CE15 entries

  • April 10 – Nestorius is made patriarch of Constantinople. He preaches a new doctrine, that will be called Nestorianism. It makes a distinction between the divine and human natures of Jesus, but comes under immediate attack from Pope Celestine I, and Cyril of Alexandria.
  • Artaxias IV, last king of Greater Armenia, is deposed by Bahram V. The Arshakuni Dynasty ends and the kingdom becomes a province of the Persian Empire.
  • Hydatius becomes bishop of Aquae Flaviae in Gallaecia (modern Chaves) in Portugal.

429 CE12 entries

  • Emperor Theodosius II starts to reform the Codex Theodosianus in Constantinople. He establishes a committee to codify all Roman laws. All funds raised by Jews to support schools have to be turned over to the state treasury.
  • Spring – The Vandals, led by Genseric ("Caesar King"), invade North Africa. They land with a force of 80,000 men including Alans, and Germanic tribesmen with their families from the Iberian Peninsula, across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. The Vandal fleet raids the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and blockades the grain and oil supply to Italy.
  • Bonifacius, weakened by the civil war against empress Galla Placidia, sues for peace and is elevated to the rank of supreme commander (magister militum) of Africa.