421
Encyclopedia
Common year starting on Saturday
This is the calendar for any common year starting on Saturday, January 1 . Examples: Gregorian years 1994, 2005, 2011 and 2022...
(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Agricola and Eustathius (or, less frequently, year 1174 Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita is Latin for "from the founding of the City ", traditionally set in 753 BC. AUC is a year-numbering system used by some ancient Roman historians to identify particular Roman years...
). The denomination 421 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
calendar era
Calendar era
A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...
became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Roman Empire
- February 8 – Constantius IIIConstantius IIIFlavius Constantius , commonly known as Constantius III, was Western Roman Emperor for seven months in 421. A prominent general and politician, he was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, and in 421 briefly became co-emperor of the Western Empire with Honorius.- Early life and rise to...
is appointed co-emperor (Augustus) with his ineffectual brother-in-law, HonoriusHonorius (emperor)Honorius , was Western Roman Emperor from 395 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the eastern emperor Arcadius....
, and becomes the real ruler of the Western Roman EmpireWestern Roman EmpireThe Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
. - March 25 – VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
is founded at twelve o'clock noon (according to legend) with the dedication of the first church, San GiacomoSan Giacomo di RialtoSan Giacomo di Rialto is a church in the sestiere of San Polo, Venice, northern Italy. It is believed to be the oldest church in the city, supposedly consecrated in the year 421. It survived a fire in the Rialto in the early 16th century. It is notable for the large 15th century clock above the...
, at the islet of RialtoRialtoThe Rialto is and has been for many centuries the financial and commercial centre of Venice. It is an area of the San Polo sestiere of Venice, Italy, also known for its markets and for the Rialto Bridge across the Grand Canal....
(ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
). - June 7 – Emperor Theodosius IITheodosius IITheodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
marries Aelia EudociaAelia EudociaAelia Eudocia Augusta was the wife of Theodosius II, and a prominent historical figure in understanding the rise of Christianity during the beginning of the Byzantine Empire. Eudocia lived in a world where Greek paganism and Christianity were still coming together...
, a woman of Greek origin. The weddingWeddingA wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
is celebrated at ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
with chariot racingChariot racingChariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death, but generated strong spectator enthusiasm...
in the HippodromeHippodrome of ConstantinopleThe Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with only a few fragments of the original structure surviving...
. - September 2 – Constantius III dies suddenly of an illness, his wife Galla PlacidiaGalla PlacidiaAelia Galla Placidia , daughter of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, was the Regent for Emperor Valentinian III from 423 until his majority in 437, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life...
becomes for the second time a widowWidowA widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
. She departs with her children Grata HonoriaJusta Grata HonoriaJusta Grata Honoria, commonly referred to during her lifetime as Honoria, was the older sister of the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III. Coins attest that she was granted the title of Augusta not long after the ascension of her brother in 426....
and ValentinianValentinian III-Family:Valentinian was born in the western capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia and Flavius Constantius. The former was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, and the latter was at the time Patrician and the power behind the throne....
to the court of Constantinople.
Europe
- RugilaRugilaRugila also referred to as Rua, Ruhas, Ruga and Rona , was a warlord who was a major factor in the Huns' early victories over the Roman Empire. He served as an important forerunner to Attila the Hun during the fifth century AD. Initially he had ruled together with his brother Octar , who died ca....
, chieftain of the HunsHunsThe Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, attacks the dioceseRoman dioceseA Roman or civil diocese was one of the administrative divisions of the later Roman Empire, starting with the Tetrarchy. It formed the intermediate level of government, grouping several provinces and being in turn subordinated to a praetorian prefecture....
s of DaciaDiocese of DaciaThe Diocese of Dacia was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, in the area of modern Serbia and western Bulgaria. It was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum...
and ThraceDiocese of ThraceThe Diocese of Thrace was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the eastern Balkan Peninsula The Diocese of Thrace was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the eastern Balkan Peninsula The Diocese of Thrace was a diocese of the later...
(BalkansBalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
). Theodosius II allows Pannonian Ostrogoths to settle in Thrace, to defend the DanubeDanubeThe Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
frontier. - The FranksFranksThe Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
conquer new territories in their kingdom and sack the old RomanRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
capital Augusta Treverorum (modern TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
).
Persia
- Roman–Sassanid WarRoman–Sassanid War (421–422)The Roman–Sassanid war of 421–422 was a conflict between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanids. The casus belli was the persecution of Christians by the Sassanid king Bahram V; the Christian Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II declared war and obtained some victories, but in the end the two...
: Theodosius II starts a war against the Sassanids. He send an expeditionary force under command of Ardaburius, and invades MesopotamiaMesopotamiaMesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
. - Autumn – Ardaburius devastates ArzaneneAghdznikAghdznik , also known as Altzniq or Arzanene, was a province of Greater Armenia. It covered an area of , divided into 11 districts:*Angegh-home*Tigranakert*Arzn*Qagh*Ketik*Tatik*Aznvadzor*Erkhetq*Gzeghq*Salnodzor*Sasun....
(ArmeniaKingdom of ArmeniaThe ancient Kingdom of Armenia was an independent monarchy from 331 BC to AD 428. The peak of the kingdom's power and its integration in Hellenistic culture under Tigranes and his son Artavasdes is also referred to as Armenian Empire. After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, the former Satrapy of...
) and forced the Persians to retreat to Nisibis (SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
). King Bahram VBahram VBahram V was the fourteenth Sassanid King of Persia . Also called Bahram Gur or Bahramgur , he was a son of Yazdegerd I , after whose sudden death he gained the crown against the opposition of the grandees by the help of Mundhir, the Arab dynast of al-Hirah.- Reign and war with Rome :Bahram V...
allies himself with the Lakhmids ArabsLakhmidsThe Lakhmids , Banu Lakhm , Muntherids , were a group of Arab Christians who lived in Southern Iraq, and made al-Hirah their capital in 266. Poets described it as a Paradise on earth, an Arab Poet described the city's pleasant climate and beauty "One day in al-Hirah is better than a year of...
of HirahAl-HirahAl Hīra was an ancient city located south of al-Kufah in south-central Iraq.- Middle Ages:Al Hīra was a significant city in pre-Islamic Arab history. Originally a military encampment, in the 5th and 6th centuries CE it became the capital of the Lakhmids.The Arabs were migrating into the Near East...
.
Deaths
- September 2 – Constantius IIIConstantius IIIFlavius Constantius , commonly known as Constantius III, was Western Roman Emperor for seven months in 421. A prominent general and politician, he was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, and in 421 briefly became co-emperor of the Western Empire with Honorius.- Early life and rise to...
, emperor of the Western Roman EmpireWestern Roman EmpireThe Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire.... - Jin GongdiEmperor Gong of JinEmperor Gong of Jin was last emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China. He became emperor in 419 after his developmentally disabled brother Emperor An was killed by the regent Liu Yu, and during his brief reign, actual power was in Liu Yu's hands. In 420, under pressure from Liu Yu, he...
, last emperor of the Jin DynastyJìn Dynasty (265-420)The Jìn Dynasty , was a dynasty in Chinese history, lasting between the years 265 and 420 AD. There are two main divisions in the history of the Dynasty, the first being Western Jin and the second Eastern Jin...
(b. 386386Year 386 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Euodius...
) - Li XunLi XunLi Xun , courtesy name Shiru , was the final ruler of the Chinese state Western Liang, who tried to hold out against the conquering Northern Liang armies under its prince Juqu Mengxun, after his brother Li Xin's death in 420...
, ruler of the Chinese state Western LiangWestern LiangThe Western Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was founded by the Li family of the Han Chinese. The founder of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan , traced his ancestry to the Western Liang rulers.... - Mary of EgyptMary of EgyptMary of Egypt is revered as the patron saint of penitents, most particularly in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.-Life:...
, patron saintPatron saintA patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
(approximate date) - Ravina IRavina IRavina I was a Jewish Talmudist, and rabbi, accounted as an Amora sage of the 5th and 6th generation of the Amora era. He began the process of compiling the Talmud with Rav Ashi. He died in 421. The Talmud was ultimately completed by his nephew Ravina II....
, rabbiRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
(teacher) and Jewish TalmudistTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....