__NOTOC__ Year 451 (

CDLI The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) is an international digital library project aimed at putting text and images of an estimated 500,000 recovered cuneiform tablets created from between roughly 3350 BC and the end of the pre-Christian er ...

) was a

common year starting on Monday A common year starting on Monday is any non-leap year (i.e., a year with 365 days) that begins on Monday, 1 January, and ends on Monday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is G. The most recent year of such kind was 2018 and the next one wil ...

(link will display the full calendar) of the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

. At the time, it was known as the Year of the

Consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

Marcianus Marcian (; la, Marcianus, link=no; grc-gre, Μαρκιανός, link=no ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the Byzantine Empire, East from 450 to 457. Very little of his life before becoming emperor is known, other than that he wa ...

and Adelfius (or, less frequently, year 1204 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 451 for this year has been used since the early

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, when the

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

calendar era A calendar era is the period of time elapsed since one '' epoch'' of a calendar and, if it exists, before the next one. For example, it is the year as per the Gregorian calendar, which numbers its years in the Western Christian era (the Copti ...

became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Europe

* Spring – Attila gathers his

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s—Bastarnae, Gepids, Heruli, Heruls, Ostrogoths, Rugians, Scirians and Thuringians (among others), and smashes through Germany, causing widespread panic and destruction. He arrives in Gallia Belgica, Belgica with an army (50,000 men) and crosses the Rhine. * April 7 – Attila's forces invade Gaul and sack Metz. The major cities of Strasbourg, Worms, Germany, Worms, Mainz, Trier, Cologne, Reims, Tournai, Cambrai, Amiens and Beauvais are destroyed by the Huns. * Eudocia (daughter of Valentinian III), Eudocia, daughter of Emperor Valentinian III, marries Huneric in Ravenna. The engagement serves to strengthen the Military alliance, alliance between the Western Roman Empire and the Vandals, Vandal Kingdom. * June – Attila approaches ''Aurelianum'' (modern Orléans) and the city's inhabitants close the gates, forcing him to lay siege. After learning of the Hun invasion, Flavius Aetius (''magister militum'') moves quickly from Italy into Gaul, and joins forces with Visigoths, Visigoth king Theodoric I. * June 20 – Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (Châlons): Attila avoids a pitched battle near Orléans, and withdraws to the Catalaunian Plains (Champagne-Ardenne). The Roman coalition defeats the Huns, but Theodoric I is killed in the encounter. This is one of the last military victories of the Western Roman Empire, before the victories of Emperor Majorian against the Alemanni, Visigoths, Suebi and Burgundians, between 457 and 461. * Thorismund succeeds his father Theodoric I as king of the Visigoths. He is crowned in the capital at Toulouse, and extends the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania.

Persia

* May 26 – Battle of Avarayr, Battle of Vartanantz: King Yazdegerd II defeats the Armenians, Armenian army (66,000 men) under their rebel leader Mamikonian, Vartan Mamikonian on the Avarayr Plain (Armenia). Despite the loss of Mamikonian, who is killed, the Armenians consider this battle to have been a moral and Religion, religious victory, since Yazdegerd, out of respect for their efforts, allows them to remain Christians, Christian. The anniversary is a national and religious holiday. * Yazdegerd II issues a decree to abolish the Shabbat, and orders the execution of Jews, Jewish leaders, including the Exilarch.

By topic

Religion

* October 8–November 1 – Council of Chalcedon, an ecumenical council of the Church: The monophysitism of Eutyches is repudiated, and the Chalcedonian Definition set forth. As a result of this council, the Oriental Orthodox Churches eventually become a separate communion. More immediately, Jerusalem becomes a List of Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Patriarchate, and Dioscorus of Alexandria is deposed as Patriarch of Antioch.

Births

* Brigit of Kildare, Irish patron saint (approximate date) * Jacob of Serugh, Syrian poet and Theology, theologian (approximate date)

Deaths

* July 29 – Tuoba Huang, prince of Northern Wei (b. 428) * Theodoric I, king of the Visigoths * Liu Yikang, prince of the Liu Song dynasty (b. 409) * Pei Songzhi, Chinese historian (b. 372)

References

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