This century gave rise to more troubles that threatened the Church, including the Nestorian heresy; which called into question the Human and Divine Nature of Christ. The world at this time became under siege by Attila the Hun, who ravaged everywhere he went. The Catholic Church also produced splendid Saints, like Pope Leo the Great and Cyril of Alexandria. This century witnessed the exile of St. John Chrysostom, and the pious deaths of Saints Augustine, Jerome, and John Cassian to name a few.

401
St. Innocent I becomes Pope. He was the son of Pope St. Anastasius I. At a time when the Western Empire was crumbling under barbarian invasions, he seized every opportunity of asserting the Primacy of the Holy See.

403
Synod of the Oak. Oak is a suburb of Chalcedon. The purpose of this Synod was to depose St. John Chrysostom from his See of Constantinople; it was called together by the Exarch of Heraclea, Paul. After condemning St. John for a series of trumped-up charges, the Empress of Arcadius accepted the judgment of the Synod and sent the Bishop into exile. The reaction of the people was riotous protest and coincidentally, was accompanied by an earthquake, all of which frightened the Empress into recalling St. John, but the Great Greek Father of the Church died in exile four years later.

404
Council of Carthage III. This local Council condemned the Donatist heresy. Martyrdom of Saints Tigrius, a priest; and Eutropius, a reader. These Saints were falsely accused of causing the confirmation by the Cathedral Church and the Senate-Hall were burnt down, as an act of reprisal for the exile of St. John Chyrsostom.

405
Exuperus, Bishop of Toulouse, writes Pope Innocent I requesting a list of Canonical Books. Pope Innocent I responded with the identical Canon of Books that would be reaffirmed by the Council of Trent, the only Canon of Biblical Books the Catholic has always had.

St. Gaudentius left his diocese and served as a member of a delegation sent by Pope Innocent I to defend St. John Chrysostom from the charges of a heretic. The delegation was prevented from reaching its destination by John's enemies and it was forced to return to Italy without accomplishing its mission. The ship that the delegation was given for their passage back to Italy sunk while near the city of Lampsacus and the delegation was forced to find other means of returning home. Although the delegation never achieved its goal, St. John Chrysostom appreciated their efforts and sent a letter to St. Gaudentius to thank him.

406
Vandals migrated to Africa.

407
Death of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople and Doctor of the Church.

408
Theodotius becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire.

410
Death of St. Anysius, Bishop of Thessalonica. Alaric captures the City of Rome.

Death of St. Gaudentius.

411
Council of Carthage IV. This local Council condemned the Pelagian doctrines. St. Augustine refuted Pelagius. (Limbo controversy).

412
Pope St. Innocent I excommunicates the heretic, Pelagius.

413
St. Augustine wrote his "Faith and Works." This Treatise is usually categorized as one of his dogmatic writings.

413-426
St. Augustine writes the City of God. In this work, St. Augustine analyzes Alaric's capture of Rome and shows with eloquence second to none, that the Eternal City is not a material city of walls, but rather the spiritual force of Christendom.

414
St. Augustine wrote his Treatise, "The Advantage of Widowhood."

415
St. Augustine writes his Nature and Grace.

Council of Jerusalem. During this local Council, Spanish priest, Paulis Orosius, delivered his Apology against the Pelagian Heresy.

416
St. Jerome writes his "Free Will."

417
Council of Carthagc V. This local Council once again reaffirmed the Canon of the Bible.

St. Zosimus becomes Pope. He was a Greek, possibly of Jewish descent, his father's name was Abraham. He was a presbyter (Greek word for priest), who had been recommended to Pope St. Innocent I by St. John Chrysostom. St. Zosimus anathematized Peligius, the heretic who denied Original Sin and erred on the necessity of Grace. Pope St. Zosimus is buried in St. Lorenzo on the road to Tivoli.

418
St. Boniface I becomes Pope. He was a Roman by birth, the son of the priest, Iocundus. Pope St. Innocent I entrusted him with important missions to Constantinople. He had a Chapel built in the cemetery of St. Felicity on the Via Salaria, near her tomb, where he too is buried.

Euialius is anti-Pope.

Council of Carthage VI. This local Council condemned the doctrines of Pelagius.

420
St. Jerome died at Bethleham, after finishing the Latin Vulgate Bible. St. Jerome will have the highest honor Mother Church gives her Saints, Doctor of the Church. Death of St. Severinus.

420-428
St. John Cassian writes his, Conferences.

421
Martyrdom of St. Maharsapor the Persian.

Martyrdom of St. James Intercisus.

422
St. Celestine I becomes Pope. He was the Archdeacon of Rome, born in Campagna. He was a Deacon under Pope St. Innocent I. He dealt with the Nestorian heresy. He was drawn in to the Christological debate between Nestorius and St. Cyril of Alexandria. He is buried in the cemetery of Priscilla, near the little Basilica of St. Silvestro. His mausoleum is decorated with paintings recalling the Council of Ephesus.

Pope St. Celestine I became Pope in 422. Two extraordinary events mark his reign, the condemnation of the Nestorian Heresey, whom he condemned in 430, and the sending of St. Patrick to Ireland.

He was a Deacon at the time of Pope Innocent I and lived a short time with St. Ambrose in Milan. Pope St. Celestine also condemned the Semi-Pelagians. He died in 432.

423
St. Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, wrote his letter to the monks of Egypt.

423-425
St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote the "Treasury of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity."

425
Valentinian III becomes the Western Roman Emperor.

427
The Egyptians celebrate Christmas on December 25th.

429-430
St. John Cassian wrote the "Incarnation of Christ."

430
Death of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church. He is the Doctor of Grace.

431
The Ecumenical Council of Ephesus. The Council declared the Doctrine of Mary as Mother of God; (Theotokus, Greek word for God Bearer) and that Jesus was True God and True Man. The Council condemned the Nestorians. The Council defined the Hypostatic Union. The Council also reaffirmed the condemnation of Pelagius.

432
St. Sixtus III becomes Pope. He was a Roman by birth.

St. Patrick is consecrated a Bishop in Rome and is sent to Ireland by Pope St. Celestine I. He landed in Wicklow, from there he went to Antrim, back down by Downpatrick, near where he converted Dichu and received from him a grant of land for his first Church at Saul. St. Patrick knew full well he was in pagan territory, he boldly preached to the chief men first. He knew once they were converted the people would follow; and follow they did. He is credited with building 365 Churches and consecrating an equal amount of Bishops. He established schools, convents, and held Synods. He was from Scotland.

Patricius Magonus Sucatus, his name in the Roman style, was born about 389, and according to popular legend, was from Scotland. In 403 he and many others were taken prisoner by raiders to be slaves among pagan inhabitants of Ireland. He remained a slave for six years, serving his pagan master, enduring bodily hardships, while his soul grew marvelously in holiness.

After six years of bondage, he heard a voice in his sleep, warning him to be ready for a brave effort that would bring him his freedom. He then ran away from his master, traveling some 200 miles to a ship that was getting ready to set sail. His request for free passage was denied at first, but in an answer to a silent prayer, the sailors called him back and he sailed with them to the land of his birth.

433
St. Prosper of Aquitaine wrote his explanation of the Psalms.

Paul of Emesa preached before St. Cyril of Alexandria and his sermons show that the December 25th date for Christmas; January 1st, the Octave; and January 6th the Epiphany, was firmly established in Egypt.

434
Attila becomes King of the Huns.

435
Death of St. John Cassian.

436
Pope St. Sixtus III resists the rehabilitation of the Pelagian, Julian of Eclanum.

435-439
Attila the Hun forced the Eastern and Western Empires to pay him not to attack.

438
Birth of St. Remigius, Bishop of Rheims.

440
St. Leo I the Great becomes Pope. He is only one of three Pontiffs to be called The Great, the others being Pope St. Gregory and Pope St. Nicholas. As a Deacon, he briefed Pope St. Celestine I about the Nestorian heresy.

441
Synod of Orange I This Bishop's conference was held at Aransio in Southern France. They made declarations on the administration of the Sacraments.

444
Death of St. Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria and Doctor of the Church.

445
Pope St. Leo the Great persuaded the government to revive the old penal legislation against the Manichaeans.

Attila the Hun murdered his own brother, Bleda.

447
Death of St. Secundinus, Bishop.

Pope St. Leo the Great answered an appeal for help against the revival of Priscillianism, supplying the Bishops with instructions for action.

Theodoret of Cyr, wrote his Treatise in dialogue form against the Monophysites, "Eranistes or Polymorph: A Dialogue between a beggar and a True Believer." Eranistes, meaning a beggar, is the title of Theodoret. His opponent in this work is called Orthaioxos; when he renders, a True Believer.

448
Pope St. Leo the Great received an appeal from the monk Eutyches who had been deposed by his Bishop, Flavian of Constantinople, for teaching the Monophysite doctrine that Christ Incarnate had only one nature, the human nature having been absorbed by the Divine Nature.

449
Pope St. Leo the Great dispatched a letter to Bishop Flavian of Constantinople, condemning Eutyches and set the record straight of Christ's two Natures in His One Person.

The Robber Synod of Ephesus. This was not a Catholic Church conference. It was presided over by the heretic Dioscurus of Alexandria. He professed "advanced Nestorian doctrine" and ignored the Pope and his rights.

Theodoret of Cyr wrote, "The Cure of pagan Maladies."

450
Death of St. Peter Chrysologus, Archbishop of Ravenna, Doctor of the Church. He was a native of Imola, a town in Eastern Emilia.

St. Prosper of Aquitaine wrote, "The Call of All Nations" and "The Book of Theses Gleaned From the Works of St. Augustine."

451
The Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. Declared Jesus was fully Human and fully Divine. Condemned Monophysitism.

Emperor Valentinian with a combined army of Romans and barbarians stopped Attila the Hun near Troyes in the battle of Chalons.

452
Pope St. Leo I the Great persuaded Attila the Hun not to attack Rome. Attila had laid to waste Aquileia, Italy and many Lombard cities.

453
Death of Attila the Hun. Catholic interest in Attila centers chiefly in his relations with those Bishops in France and Italy who restrained the Hunnish leader in his devastating fury. The Huns soon disappeared after his death. The moral power of these Bishops and Pope St. Leo I, is evidence the Faithful looked to them for success against the terrible invader.

455
Petronius Maximus became Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

457
Majorian became Emperor of the western Roman Empire.

458
Death of St. Celine, mother of St. Remigius, bishop of Reims during the conversion of Gaul under Clovis.

459
Death of St. Simeon The Stylite.

460
Death of St. Maxumus, Bishop of Riez.

461
Death of Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor of the Church.

St. Hilary becomes Pope.

Death of St. Patrick, Bishop of Ireland.

466
Birth of Clovis, son of Childeric, King of the Salic Franks.

467
Anthemius became Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

468
Pope St. Hilary forms the Sistine Choir.

St. Simplicius becomes Pope.

472
Olybrius became Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

473
Glycerius becomes Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

474
Acacian schism begins. This was an attempt of the imperial factions to control the Church by gaining the interpretive power of theological issues. This schism separated the Eastern Church from the West for forty years. Pope Felix III excommunicated its founder, Acacius.

Julius Nepos becomes Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

475
Romulus Augustulus becomes Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

476
The Visigoth chieftain, Odoacer, entered Rome and deposed the last of the Roman Emperors in the West. Odoacer then ruled Italy as King. The Eastern Empire, naturally disturbed by the barbarian's triumph, made preparations to discharge Odoacer from Rome. Rome, as a result of the Germanic barbarian invasion, became an unhealthful area of marshes.

477
Death of the Vandal King, Geiserich.

481
Clovis succeeded his father as the King of the Franks of Tournai.

483
St. Felix II becomes Pope. He was the son of a priest and a widower. Shortly after his election, Pope St. Felix II rejected the Henoticon formula. The Henoticon formula in part, maintained that the Son is "Like to the Father," contrary to the Doctrine of Consubstantiality.

484
Death of Vandal King, Hunerich.

485
Victor of Vita, Bishop of Vita in the African Province of Byzacena, wrote of the persecutions the Catholic Church suffered at the hands of the Vandals during the reigns of Kings Geiserich and Henerich.

486
Clovis, King of the Franks, defeated the Roman Governor of Gaul. The Franks were Germanic heathens, but unlike other Tribes, were not spoiled by the taint of Arianism.

489
Theodoric discharged Odoacer and the Osterogoths from Rome. He then settled in Italy and ruled from his capital in Ravenna.

492
St. Gelasius becomes Pope. He was born in Rome of African descent.

493
King Clovis who was master of Gaul from the Loire to the frontiers of the Rhenish Kingdom of Cologne, married Clotilda, the niece of Gondebad, King of the Burgundians. She was later Canonized as St. Clotilda.

496
Anastasius II becomes Pope.

On Christmas day in this year, King Clovis and his warriors, about 3,000 of them, were Baptized at Rheims, France by the Bishop. The whole nation became Catholic, and France is called for the first time, "The Eldest Daughter of the Church" in Europe.

498
St. Symmachus becomes Pope. He was a Sardinian who converted from paganism. He was elected in the St. John Lateran Basilica. On the precise site where the evil Emperor Nero built his circus, the first Papal residence was erected.

498-501
Lawrence is anti-Pope.

499
Anti-Pope Lawrence was appointed to the See of Nuceria by Pope St. Symmachus. His activities as anti-Pope ceased in the year 501, when he resumed his role.

500
The Pseudo-Dionysis Areopagita letters were written.

Clovis was called upon to mediate in a quarrel between his wife's two uncles, Kings Gondebad of Vienne and Godegisil of Geneva. He took sides with the latter, whom he helped to defeat Gondebad at Dijon, and then, deeming it prudent to interfere no further in this fratricidal struggle, he returned home, leaving Godegisil an auxiliary corps of five thousand Franks.