**478 C.E.: following Odoacer's death, Pope Simplicius seizes power in Rome and appoints a new Emperor, Valentinian VI. Outraged, the Eastern Emperor Zeno dismisses the coronation as illegitimate; to "punish" the Pope, he convinces the powerful Crimean Gothic warlord Theodoric, an Arian Christian, to attack Italia and the Western Empire. Theodoric gladly accepts, ravages Italia, is paid off by the Pope, then moves westward and unifies the many Gothic petty kingdoms of Hispania and Aquitania. Meanwhile, the Franks are unified and converted to Christianity by Clovis I; under this new king, the Franks move to settle vast lands between the Seine and the Loire. Aelle is High King of the Saxons, and chieftains Cerdic and his son Cyneric estabilish the kingdom of Westseaxna.
**500 C.E.: the seemingly unstoppable Saxon advance into Englaland is halted by Brython king Magnus Artorius at Mons Badonicus, ensuring the survival of British Celts west of the Severn. The kingdom of Diocleia is estabilished by Theodemir III, warlord of the Balkan Goths, as an Imperial vassal state. A huge Slavic tribal confederation is led by three brothers Lech, Cech and Rus, conquering lands on the Elbe river and giving birth to the three great Slavic peoples: the Polish, the Czechs, and the Russians.
**533 C.E.: a Byzantine expedition, led by Belisarius, is defeated by Vandal king Gelimer at Ad Decimum, thus enduring the survival of the Vandal kingdom in northern Africa. Gelimer would move on to reorganize his lands into a centralized and efficient state, and later conquering western Sicilia, Sardinia, the Baleares and Carthago Nova before being assassinated. Pelagianism is the most popular religion among the British Saxons, and Aescwine rules them as high king.
**595 C.E.: Leogivild, High King of the Spanish Goths, is assassinated upon converting to Catholicism and attempting to impose the Pope's authority over his lands. The kings reunite in a council in Toletum and nominate Reccared, Leogivild's youngest song, as new High King. Under his rule, the Gothic kingdoms become even more fragmented and independent. Around this time, the Lombards under Alboin invade Italia en masse, taking territory from the Goths and the Romans alike. In Britain, Áedán mac Gabráin is High King of Alba, Rheged and Éire; after driving the Saxons out of southern Scotland, he will be killed eight years later at the battle of Degasastan.
**622 C.E.: the Hijra, Prophet Muhammad's escape from Mecca to Medina, takes place; Muslims regard this event as the birth of Islam. In a short time, most of the Arabian tribes and kingdoms are united under his rule and converted to the new religion; only Saba and its vassal states in the South of Arabia remain true to the old ways and don't bend the knee to the Muslims. The Eastern Empire is starting to show signs of weakness, menaced by Slavic invasions in the Balkans, constant conflicts with the Sassanids and civil unrest.
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