450 - 479 A.D. - Break up of the Roman Empire

by Deborah Marino Lùna 22, 2022

(Feature Photo: Illustration of the murder of Attila the Hun after his wedding ceremony in 453; Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

450

RULERS & ROYALTY: Theodoric I, king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France), dies, and is succeeded by Thorismund – Valentinian III is emperor of the Western Roman Empire – Theodosius II, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, dies, and is succeeded by Marcian – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

Theodoric I, king of the Visigoths, is killed in the Battle of Catalaunian Plains, and is succeeded by his son, Thorismund

July 29, Theodosius II, the Roman Emperor in the east, dies, and is succeeded by Marcian

451

RULERS & ROYALTY: Thorismund is king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France), dies, and is succeeded by Thorismund – Valentinian III is emperor of the Western Roman Empire – Marcian is emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

452

RULERS & ROYALTY: Thorismund is king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France) – Valentinian III is emperor of the Western Roman Empire – Marcian is emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

453

RULERS & ROYALTY: Thorismund, king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France), is murdered, and succeeded by his brother Theodoric II – Valentinian III is emperor of the Western Roman Empire – Marcian is emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

454

RULERS & ROYALTY: Theodoric II is king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France) – Valentinian III is emperor of the Western Roman Empire – Marcian is emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

Aetius, who is ruling in the Western Roman Empire as magister militum is personally assassinated by Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III (as a direct result, Valentinian commits suicide next year) (The Inheritance of Rome, Pg. 83)

455

RULERS & ROYALTY: Theodoric II is king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France) – Valentinian III, emperor of the Western Roman Empire, dies and won't be succeeded by a legitimate heir until 457 – Marcian is emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

Vandals (a Germanic people) sack Rome

March 16, Valentinian III, emperor of the Western Roman Empire, commits suicide

456

RULERS & ROYALTY: Theodoric II is king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France) – Marcian is emperor of the Roman Empire – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

The Visigoths begin to expand their kingdom in southern Gaul (modern-day southern France) (History of the World, Map by Map, Pg. 80)

457

RULERS & ROYALTY: Theodoric II is king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France) – Marcian, the Roman Emperor in the east, dies, and he is succeeded by Leo I (emperor not pope) – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

January 27, Marcian, the Roman Emperor in the east, dies, and he is succeeded by Leo I (emperor not pope)

Britons flee Kent after an Anglo-Saxon victory at Aylesford (History of the World, Map by Map, Pg. 80)

458

RULERS & ROYALTY: Theodoric II is king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France) – Childeric I (first Merovingian king) becomes king of the Salian Franks – Leo I (emperor not pope) is emperor of the eastern Roman Empire – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

Childeric I, who is known as the first Merovingian king, begins his rule; His son Clovis I will be the one to unite all the Frankish Kingdoms and most of Roman Gaul (modern-day France) to form the Merovingian Dynasty/Empire

459

RULERS & ROYALTY: Theodoric II is king of the Visigoths (modern-day southwestern France) – Childeric I (first Merovingian king) is king of the Salian Franks – Leo I (emperor not pope) is emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire – Leo I is the 45th pope/bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

460

461

RULERS & ROYALTY: – Childeric I (first Merovingian king) is king of the Salian Franks – Pope Leo I dies and Pope Hilarius is installed as Bishop of Rome – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

March 17, Patricius (St. Patrick) dies in Ireland (b. 385)

462

RULERS & ROYALTY: – Childeric I (first Merovingian king) is king of the Salian Franks – Laoghaire is High King of Ireland

463

RULERS & ROYALTY: – Childeric I (first Merovingian king) is king of the Salian Franks – High King of Ireland Laoghaire rule ends