The following page contains a timeline of the major events in the history of Thedas.
Background[]
- Main article: Calendar
The most common calendar is the Chantry calendar, which measures time in "Ages." Each age lasts one hundred years; the current age is the Dragon Age, the ninth since the founding of the Chantry, which marked the beginning of the Chantry calendar. Anything prior to 1:01 Divine is known as the Ancient Era and denoted using negative numbers.
In the 99th year of each Age, the Divine looks for signs or portents of things to come in order to determine the name of the new Age. The Dragon Age was meant to be the Sun Age until a high dragon, believed extinct at the time, rose from the Frostback Mountains and went on a rampage, suggesting an age full of violence and destruction.[1]
There are two other known calendars in Thedas: the Tevinter calendar and the elven calendar. The former is still used in the Tevinter Imperium, while the latter is only used in scholarly circles.
Ancient[]
- Main article: Ancient Age
The years before the foundation of the Chantry are referred to as "Ancient" and are counted backwards: the year immediately preceding 1:01 Divine (the first year of the first named Age) is -1 Ancient, the year before that is -2 Ancient, and so on. The Chantry calendar doesn't have a year zero.
Reaching far back into unrecorded history, the Ancient Age saw the rise and fall of Elvhenan, the arrival of the first humans to Thedas, the creation of most dwarven thaigs and the Deep Roads, the zenith of the Tevinter Imperium, the defilement of the Golden City, the first and longest Blight, the discovery and loss of golem-making, formation of the order of the Grey Wardens, the barbarian invasion of the Tevinter Imperium led by the prophetess Andraste, which ended in her betrayal and death, and the founding of the second elven homeland in the Dales. Many of the events of this time period are known only from oral tradition and have been heavily mythologized as a result.
Ages[]
Divine[]
- Main article: Divine Age
Following the death of their prophetess, the Disciples of Andraste compile the Chant of Light from her teachings, but it's not until they find support of a strong state leader, the future Emperor Kordillus Drakon I of Orlais, that their cult becomes an organized religion. Drakon forms the Chantry as his new state's religion and has Justinia I crowned as the first ever Divine, giving the first Age its name. Shortly thereafter, the Second Blight strikes Thedas and as the Tevinter Imperium proves unwilling to defend its former provinces, Thedosians turn to Kordillus Drakon for salvation. In the wake of his brilliant military campaigns against the Darkspawn, Drakon's empire and the Chantry it represents grow rapidly. The Nevarran Accord of 1:20 Divine establishes the Circle of Magi, a system that allows hitherto ostracized mages to fight the Blight under the Chantry and specifically the Templar Order's supervision. The Grey Wardens convert to the Andrastian faith in gratitude for Drakon's support, further popularizing his religion. Meanwhile, the Dales repeatedly refuse to help human nations against the Blight, and hostility between humans and elves increases. Although the rapid Orlesian expansion stops after Emperor Drakon's death in 1:45 Divine, the Chant of Light spreads throughout Thedas, including Tevinter Imperium. Archdemon Zazikel is finally defeated by the combined armies of the human nations and the Grey Wardens in 1:95 Divine, ending the Blight and starting the period known as "Rebuilding", characterized by rapid growth of culture, trade, and religion in Thedas.
Glory[]
- Main article: Glory Age
The Glory Age, named after the popular attitude in the wake of the Archdemon's defeat, sees the tension between the elven Dales and the human nations, first and foremost, Orlais, escalate into open war. Although initially victorious, the elven nation is crushed within a decade after the Orlesian Chantry calls upon other Andrastian countries for help. This Exalted March, styled after Andraste's march on Tevinter, is successful in annexing the Dales into the Orlesian Empire and scattering the elves once more across the world, now forced to live either in Alienages, or as homeless vagabonds. Another Exalted March lifts the Tevinter occupation of Starkhaven in 2:80 Glory. In 2:83, the first Circle of Magi is annulled in Nevarra.
Towers[]
- Main article: Towers Age
The Grand Cathedral of Val Royeaux, the religious center of the Andrastian faith and the seat of the Divine, is completed after two centuries of construction, giving the new Age its name. Soon thereafter, the Third Blight strikes Thedas, but the Grey Wardens are able to quickly organize a defense and lead the armies of both Orlais and Tevinter to great victory over the Archdemon Toth's Horde at Hunter Fell in 3:25 Towers. The cooperation between two empires doesn't last, however, and in 3:87 Towers, the great Chantry schism occurs as the "Imperial Chantry" cuts ties to Val Royeaux over different theological views on Andraste's divinity and on the role of magic and mages in the society. The Imperial Chantry elects its own Divine, labeled "Black Divine" by the orthodox denomination, and declares the death of the incumbent Orlesian Divine a holiday in Tevinter.
Black[]
- Main article: Black Age
Starting in 4:40 Black, the Orlesian Chantry calls for four Exalted Marches to crush the newly formed Imperial Chantry and to bring the Tevinter Imperium back under its influence. With the last Exalted March taking place as late as 5:10 Exalted, all four, however, fail to take Minrathous and serve only to further estrange it from Val Royeaux. Simultaneously, the Orlesian Empire attempts to invade the Alamarri lands, birthplace of Andraste, but is repelled by the locals.
Exalted[]
- Main article: Exalted Age
Divine Justinia II names the new Age after the still-ongoing Exalted Marches against Tevinter, but these come to an abrupt halt as the Fourth Blight breaks out. With the Orlesian and Tevinter empires less than willing to help, the elven Grey Warden Garahel unites the rest of Thedas and slays the Archdemon Andoral at the colossal battle of Ayesleigh in 5:24 Exalted, giving his life to end the Blight. So many Darkspawn are killed by Garahel's army that many believe they will never return (and indeed, it takes them 400 years to form another Horde), but the Grey Wardens' iconic griffons also take a heavy hit and become extinct over the next two centuries. In the south, the future King Calenhad Theirin unites the Alamarri tribes, founding the Kingdom of Ferelden in 5:42 Exalted.
Steel[]
- Main article: Steel Age
The name of this Age is traced to the murder of Queen Madrigal of Antiva, found impaled by four steel swords in the woods. It is dominated historically and politically by the First Qunari War, which breaks out soon after the first Qunari land on and conquer the Tevinter island of Par Vollen in 6:30 Steel. The Qunari push deeply into Tevinter Imperium, Rivain, Antiva, forcibly converting their inhabitants to the Qun, before the human resistance organizes itself and repels the invaders. Widespread hunting of dragons leads to their borderline extinction.
Storm[]
- Main article: Storm Age
As the First Qunari War draws to a stalemate, the Orlesian and Imperial Chantries join forces and call for the "New Exalted Marches" against the invaders. In the south, the Grey Wardens are banished from Ferelden following a failed coup d'état by Warden-Commander Sophia Dryden. After over 150 years and three Exalted Marches, the Qunari Wars come to an end with the peace treaty of Llomerryn, signed by the Qunari and all human nations except Tevinter, who continue their struggle to take back Par Vollen.
Blessed[]
- Main article: Blessed Age
The birth of the Orlesian Emperor Etienne I's twin sons is declared a good omen by the Chantry, giving the new Age its name. In 8:24 Blessed, the Orlesian Empire launches its second invasion of the Fereldan Valley and successfully sacks Denerim. Despite being driven underground, the Theirin royal bloodline enjoys the support of old Fereldan nobility and continues the struggle against the Orlesian occupation in what becomes known as the Fereldan Rebellion.
Dragon[]
- Main article: Dragon Age
The current Age is named after the first high dragon sighted in centuries. The Fereldan Rebellion successfully drives the Orlesian forces out and reestablishes the Theirin dynasty's sovereignty over Ferelden in 9:02 Dragon. The Fifth Blight breaks out in Ferelden, as the Darkspawn defeat the King's army and the few Fereldan Grey Wardens at the Battle of Ostagar. Amidst a civil war, two surviving Grey Wardens unite the Fereldan armies to slay Archdemon Urthemiel in the Battle of Denerim in 9:31 Dragon. The Darkspawn Civil War follows the Blight but is quickly quelled by the growing Grey Warden order in Ferelden.
To the north, the First Battle of Kirkwall leaves the city without a ruler, allowing the long-standing tensions between the Templar Order and the local Circle of Magi to come to a head in the Kirkwall Rebellion of 9:37 Dragon. The annulment of the Circles of Kirkwall and Dairsmuid incites mages to rebel and flee to Andoral's Reach from across Thedas. In response, the Templar Order secedes from the Chantry to wage war on the rogue Circles. Simultaneously, power struggles among the Orlesian nobles opposed to the reigning Empress spark the Orlesian Civil War in 9:40 Dragon.
After the peace talks between Templars and mages are sabotaged by the Elder One in 9:41 Dragon, the ancient Inquisition is reformed to wage war against him and his army of demons, Red Templars, and Venatori. By the end of 9:42 Dragon, the Inquisition quells the Mage-Templar hostilities and the war in Orlais and leads their combined forces to defeat the Elder One. In 9:44 Dragon, an Exalted Council held to determine the fate of the Inquisition is interrupted by a Qunari plot to take over the southern Thedas. The Inquisition and the agents of Fen'Harel foil the plot, forcing the Qunari to focus on Tevinter. Fen'Harel begins rallying elves from all across Thedas under his banner.
Timeline converter[]
- FA refers to the founding of Arlathan
- TE refers to the founding of the Tevinter Imperium
| Elven calendar | Imperial calendar | Chantry calendar | Major event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 FA | -6405 TE[note 1] | -7600 Ancient[note 1] | Founding of Arlathan |
| 3000 FA | -3405 TE | -4600 Ancient | First contact between Elves and Dwarves |
| 4500 FA | -1905 TE | -3100 Ancient | Claimed first arrival of Humans in Thedas |
| 6405 FA | 0 TE | -1195 Ancient | Tevinter Imperium founded |
| 7205 FA | 800 TE | -395 Ancient | The First Blight begins |
| 7430 FA | 1025 TE | -170 Ancient | The death of Andraste |
| 7600 FA | 1195 TE | 1:01 Divine | Justinia I is elected the first Divine |
| 7604 FA | 1199 TE | 1:05 Divine | The Second Blight begins |
| 7809 FA | 1404 TE | 3:10 Towers | The Third Blight begins |
| 7886 FA | 1481 TE | 3:87 Towers | The Chantry Schism |
| 8011 FA | 1606 TE | 5:12 Exalted | The Fourth Blight begins |
| 8429 FA | 2024 TE | 9:30 Dragon | The Fifth Blight begins |
| 8440 FA | 2035 TE | 9:41 Dragon | The Divine Conclave, War against the Elder One begins |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 -6405 TE and -7600 Ancient related to the founding of Arlathan are roughly estimated. The timeline converter equates 1 FA with -6405 TE / -7600 Ancient and 3000 FA with -3405 TE / -4600 Ancient. That would mean that 3000 years passed in the TE and Chantry calendars but only 2999 in the FA calendar. The table above represents the data found in Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 1 (page 23).