Timeline / Fire Emblem: Three Houses

A timeline of events leading up to the start of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Dates are approximated and taken from character profiles, in-game events and conversations, datamining, and books from the Garreg Mach Monastery library. Be warned it will contain spoilers.

Ancient History

• Sothis descends to Fódlan from beyond the stars and takes a humanoid form. From her blood, she creates the Children of the Goddess, a race that can change at will between humanoid and draconic form. They settle in Zanado.
• Sothis and the Children of the Goddess share knowledge with ancient humans, helping them flourish into the civilization of Agartha. Agartha at some point begins waging wars against other humans, against Sothis' teachings.
• The now-technologically advanced Agarthans wage war against Sothis and her kin out of a desire to gain her power and live outside her and her children's influence. They bombard the land with weapons of mass destruction that scorch Fódlan, Sothis building a special fortress to protect her children from their weapons. In the end the Agarthans are decimated by a massive flood unleashed by Sothis. The surviving Agarthans go into hiding underground and swear revenge.
• Sothis expends a great deal of her power to restore life back to the ravaged land over many years. She is able to revive mankind somehow (implied to be different from the Agarthans), and falls into a deep slumber to recover her strength.
• The woman known as Seiros (possibly not her birth name) is the only Child of the Goddess confirmed to have been born from Sothis during this post-war era before Sothis went dormant.

Pre-Imperial Foundation Era

• Humans build civilization anew on Fódlan while most of the Children of the Goddess continue to live peacefully in Zanado near Sothis' resting place (the structure that she built to protect her children from the Agarthans). Some Children of the Goddess travel and explore the rest of the world, creating stories of people like them that last even into the modern era.
• Three of the Four Saints, Cichol, Indech, and Macuil, are born among the Children of the Goddess at some point around this time.
• The descendants of the Agarthans (referred to in the present day as “those who slither in the dark") guide a bandit named Nemesis to Sothis’ resting place, a location that would later be known as the Holy Tomb. He would enter Sothis’ resting place and absconds with her corpse. "Those who slither" craft the Sword of the Creator from Sothis' bones and heart, and Nemesis gains the Crest of Flames by consuming her blood.
• Nemesis (possibly with a group of allies) attacks Zanado, killing almost all the Children of the Goddess present. They gain new Crests and weapons (eventually called the Hero’s Relics) from their remains, said weapons built by the Agarthan descendants. Seiros – the last Child of the Goddess directly born to Sothis – is the sole survivor of the massacre. With the power he has gained, Nemesis is able to unite a great army of allies (most or all of whom have no knowledge of how he got such power), lead them in war and become a king, spreading the Relics and Crests about in exchange for loyalty.
• At some point prior to the foundation of the Empire, Cichol marries a woman in Enbarr and has a daughter named Cethleann, who would eventually be known as one of the Four Saints. He, Indech and Macuil are not in Zanado and thus escape the massacre.

Foundation Era (1st and 2nd Centuries of the Imperial Calendar)

41 years before the foundation of the Adrestian Empire:

• Seiros, passing herself off as a human, visits Enbarr in her search for surviving Children of the Goddess, where Wilhelm Paul Hresvelg grants her comfort and shelter. She confides some of the secrets of her identity to him.

Imperial Year 1:

• Seiros and Wilhelm co-found the Adrestian Empire in Enbarr, and the latter is crowned Emperor Wilhelm I.

32:

• Wilhelm I raises a military force with the intention of uniting Fódlan, kicking off the "War of Heroes."

46:

• The Battle at Gronder occurs, where the Imperial Army, alongside Seiros and the Four Saints, score a victory against Nemesis’ Liberation Army.

85:

• The Church of Seiros is formally established in Enbarr.

91:

• Seiros leads Imperial forces in the Battle of Tailtean, where she personally kills Nemesis and turns the tides of war against his remaining lieutenants, known as the 10 Elites.

92-97:

• Seiros hunts down and slays the 10 Elites and collects the Hero’s Relics. Their families and allies are spared and most of them are accepted as Imperial nobles; others opt to simply leave the continent, taking at least one Relic weapon with them.

98:

• The War of Heroes ends. Wilhelm I’s successor, Lycaon I, dies of illness.
• Cethleann is injured at some point during the War of Heroes. Cichol, having lost his wife in the same battle that injured Cethleann, takes her to Zanado and remains there while Cethleann goes into a long period of sleep to heal from her injuries.

180s (estimated):

• Construction of Garreg Mach Monastery is completed.²
• Using the Chalice of Beginnings, a Nabatean artifact, Seiros attempts a ritual to resurrect Sothis called the Rite of Rising. The ritual is a failure, and to prevent it from being attempted again, Seiros hides the Chalice deep beneath Garreg Mach, while the Four Apostles (Crest-bearers whose blood was used in the Rite) go into self-imposed exile.²

Rebellion Era (8th-11th Centuries)

721:

• Dagda, a nation far to the southwest of Fódlan, attacks the Imperial land of Mach.

728:

• In retaliation for Dagda's attack, the Empire invades the island nation of Brigid and forces it into vassalage.

731:

• With a foothold in Brigid, the Empire launches an attack on Dagda, but loses despite having superior numbers.

747:

• Loog, a descendant of House Blaiddyd of the Faerghus region, rebels against the Empire in what would become known as the War of the Eagle and Lion. He is aided by powerful weapons and a advisor named Pan, all of mysterious origin (likely "those who slither in the dark" seeking to divide and weaken Fódlan for their later plans).

751:

• Loog's army attains victory against the Empire, and the Church of Seiros grants Loog dominion over the newly-independent Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.

801:

• Leicester launches its own separate rebellion against the Empire, and Faerghus seizes the opportunity to capture Leicester and claim the land as its own.

801-860 (Estimation)

• Seiros (who has since adopted the name Rhea) is attacked while traveling in Faerghus but is saved by a Kingdom knight named Jeralt who is mortally wounded in the process. She gives him her blood to save his life and heal his injuries, giving him the Major Crest of Seiros and extending his lifespan. He joins the Knights of Seiros afterward and eventually becomes the most celebrated captain in the order’s history.²

861:

• King Klaus I of Faerghus dies, and the country is split into three separate territories ruled by his three sons.

881:

• When the archduke ruling over the Leicester region dies, the lords of Leicester refuse to recognize the next archduke's authority.

901:

• The Crescent Moon War ends with the duke of House Riegan leading a war of independence against Faerghus, with him as the head of the new Leicester Alliance.

961:

• Almyra, a large nation to the east, invades Alliance territory via the mountains of Fódlan's Throat. The Empire steps in to defend against the Almyrans, achieving a narrow victory.

Early 960s:

• The Officers Academy is founded with the intent of giving subsequent generations the skill to repel further foreign invasions.²

1070s:

• The southern branch of the Church of Seiros rebels against the Empire, and its bishop is excommunicated.

Modern Era (12th Century)

1101:

• The three nations agree to build a fortress called Fódlan's Locket along the eastern mountains to protect it from future Almyran attacks.

1128:

• Hanneman is born to House Essar of Adrestia.¹

1135:

• Alois is born as the second son of a merchant family.¹

1140:

• Tomas begins working at the monastery at the recommendation of House Ordelia.

1141:

• Aelfric is born. He is taken in by the Church of Seiros after being orphaned.

1146:

• Jeralt meets Alois and takes him on as his squire following the death of his previous one.
• Manuela Casagranda is born.¹

1153:

• Balthus is born the eldest son of Lord Albrecht of Leicester.
• Cassandra Rubens Charon is born to House Charon.¹

1155:

• Shamir is born.¹

1157:

• Mercedes is born to the late Baron Martritz, with her mother remarrying into House Bartels.

1158:

• Emile von Bartels is born to Baron Bartels and the former Baroness Martritz.
• Manuela becomes a member of Mittelfrank Opera Company.

1159:

• Hapi is born in the hidden village of Timotheos.
• Byleth is born the only child of Jeralt and Sitri Eisner. Sitri dies shortly after Byleth's birth.
• A fire breaks out at the monastery, and Jeralt disappears from the monastery with the newborn Byleth.
• Alois is Knighted.
• Hanneman becomes an authority on Crestology in the Empire.

1160:

• Hubert is born as the eldest son of Marquis Vestra.
• Sylvain is born as the second son of Margrave Gautier.
• Leonie is born to a hunter from the Alliance village of Sauin.
• Yuri is born to a prostitute in western Fódlan.

1161:

• Lorenz is born the eldest son of Count Gloucester.
• Hilda is born the only daughter of Duke Goneril.
• Constance is born the eldest daughter of Count Nuvelle.
• Manuela takes the Imperial capital by storm as the "Divine Songstress."

1162:

• Edelgard is born as the fourth daughter of Ionius IX, Emperor of Adrestia and the first child of Anselma von Arundel.
• Dimitri is born to Lambert Egitte Blaiddyd, King of Faerghus.
• Claude is born as the grandchild of Duke Riegan on his mother's side.
• Ferdinand is born as the eldest son of Duke Aegir.
• Bernadetta is born as the eldest daughter of Count Varley's son.
• Dorothea is born to an Imperial lady-in-waiting.
• Felix is born as the second son of Duke Fraldarius.
• Ingrid is born to Count Galatea of Faehrgus, and is subsequently arranged to marry Glenn, eldest son of Duke Fraldarius.
• Marianne is born to a lord in the Leicester region.
• Ignatz is born as the second son of a merchant family from the Alliance.
• Raphael is born as the eldest son of another merchant family from the Alliance.
• Seteth is summoned to Garreg Mach Monastery as an assistant to the archbishop.

1163:

• Linhardt is born as the eldest son of Count Hevring.
• Caspar is born as the second son of Count Bergliez.
• Annette is born to Gustave, a knight in the service of King Lambert.
• Ashe is born to a family of restaurant owners in the barony of Gaspard.

1164:

• Petra is born as the granddaughter of the King of Brigid.
• Hanneman revokes his Imperial peerage when his sister dies.

1165:

• Lysithea is born the eldest daughter of Count Ordelia.
• Cyril is born in a settlement in western Almyra.
• Hanneman absconds from the Empire and becomes a professor at the Officers Academy.
• Cornelia Arnim, a colleague of Hanneman's, leaves the Empire. She then cures a plague that devastated Faerghus and killed Lambert's first wife.

Between 1165 and 1167:

• Anselma is exiled from the Empire due to political strife and seeks asylum in the Kingdom. Thanks to Cornelia's support, she receives it. During her stay, she meets Lambert and ends up becoming his second wife behind closed doors.²

1167:

• Ionius IX begins reforms in the Empire in an attempt to consolidate power for himself and to abolish the consort kin. In response, House Hrym rebels and attempts to split out from the Empire with support from House Ordelia of the Alliance. The Empire catches wind of this scheme, purges House Hrym's bloodline and puts Duke Aegir in control of the territory via an adoptee. It also sabotages House Ordelia in the process, causing its standing within the Alliance to drop sharply.
• The Empire gains control of House Ordelia in the aftermath. "Those who slither in the dark," posing as Imperial mages, use this opportunity to experiment on House Ordelia's children, killing all but Lysithea, who gains two Crests but has a drastically reduced lifespan as a result. Once satisfied, they leave House Ordelia.
• Hubert becomes Edelgard's vassal.

Between 1165 and 1168:

• Cornelia is promoted to court mage by Faerghus's royal family. At some point after this she is killed and replaced by a member of "those who slither in the dark" in order to give them influence in Faerghus to destabilize it.²

1168:

• Hapi is captured and subjected to magical experimentation by Cornelia.

1169:

• Linhardt and Caspar meet and become friends.

Early 1170s:

• A severe famine strikes the Kingdom land of Galatea.

1170:

• Cyril is orphaned during a battle between Fódlan and Almyra.
• Aelfric is made a Cardinal, and learns of Abyss. He becomes something of a leader to the people in it.

1171:

• The Imperial noble houses of Arundel, Vestra, Hevring, Bergliez, Varley, Gerth, and Hrym, conspire to steal power from Emperor Ionius IX of House Hresvelg. While the ailing Emperor still technically rules, most of the true political power is held by Duke Aegir, the prime minister. The incident later becomes known as the "Insurrection of the Seven."
• Edelgard is taken to the Kingdom by her uncle, Lord Arundel.
• Dorothea is discovered by an Imperial noble, who invites her to join the Mittelfrank Opera Company, where she becomes incredibly popular.
• Cassandra and Christophe Gaspard attend and graduate from the Officers Academy at Garreg Mach.

1172:

• Balthus graduates from the Officers Academy.
• Tomas leaves the Monastery and returns to House Ordelia.

1173:

• Lonato, lord of the Faerghus house of Gaspard, adopts Ashe.
• Balthus relinquishes his claim to House Albrecht to his younger brother.
• Edelgard and Dimitri meet and become friends.²

1174:

• Leonie meets Jeralt and resolves to become a mercenary like him.
• Yuri is discovered and adopted by Count Rowe.
• Lord Arundel suddenly stops donating to the Church of Seiros. He then returns alongside Edelgard to the Empire, and begins openly collaborating with Duke Aegir.
• Upon returning, Edelgard and her siblings are put through Crest experimentation. Edelgard is the only survivor.
• Manuela leaves the opera company and becomes a professor at the Officers Academy.

1175:

• The combined forces of Dagda and Brigid raid the western coast of Fódlan, attacking and destroying most of the Imperial territories in that area, leading to the fall of Houses Ochs and Nuvelle. The eldest son of the Macneary royal family of Brigid is killed in the conflict by an army led by Count Bergliez, leaving his daughter Petra as the next in line to succeed the throne.
• Shamir participates in the Dagda and Brigid War, and consequently joins the Knights of Seiros following the end of it.
• While exploring Abyss, Aelfric finds the perfectly preserved body of Sitri. He begins forming a plan to revive her using the Chalice of Beginnings by searching for those with the Crests of the Four Apostles, and grows to distrust Rhea.

1176:

• House Bartels is wiped out. Emile von Bartels, one of its heirs, goes missing and is believed to have been the culprit.
• King Lambert of Faerghus and his entourage (including Glenn) are assassinated by "those who slither in the dark" and conspirators from Faerghus during a diplomatic mission to the northern land of Duscur, with Prince Dimitri the sole survivor of the incident. The Kingdom responds by waging a massive campaign against Duscur as punishment and almost completely wipes the small nation out, blaming them for the attack. House Kleiman assumes control of the former Duscur territory. Rufus of Itha, Lambert's older brother, assumes the crown as regent in his place until Dimitri is old enough to become king. This incident is dubbed the "Tragedy of Duscur". The Western Church grows more dissatisfied with Rhea's rule and her differing ideology, claiming she may be culpable in some way in the tragedy.
• Dedue, one of the survivors of the Tragedy of Duscur, swears allegiance to Dimitri and becomes his vassal.
• Christophe is turned over to the Knights of Seiros by Cassandra after he refuses to abandon taking part in a plot by the Western Church to assassinate Rhea and is swiftly executed. The crime he is convicted of is being involved in the Tragedy of Duscur, the rationale being that revealing a plot to kill Rhea would only cause more chaos. During this period, Cassandra is framed for a separate assassination plot and flees Faerghus, eventually finding refuge in the Church of Seiros. She adopts the alias of Catherine and joins the Knights of Seiros out of gratitude to Rhea.
• Marianne's parents vanish around the time she awakens her Crest, leaving her alone. Shortly after, she is adopted by Margrave Edmund.
• Constance attends the Fhirdiad School of Sorcery, graduating the following year and transferring to the Officers Academy.
• Hapi is released/rescued from captivity and takes refuge in a church in Faerghus.

1177:

• Sylvain's older brother Miklan is disowned/disinherited by House Gautier after it is learned that Sylvain bears the Crest of Gautier that he was not born with. Some years later, Miklan leaves House Gautier and turns to a life of crime as a result.
• Disappointed in himself by his failure to be present to protect King Lambert, Gustave leaves Faerghus territory, adopts the alias of Gilbert Pronislav, and serves as a Knight of Seiros. As a result, Annette and her mother go to live with Gustave’s younger brother, the new Baron Dominic.
• Raphael's parents and Duke Oswald von Riegan are killed by monsters, with evidence pointing to House Gloucester being behind it.
• Cyril is captured while serving in the Almyran army and becomes a servant of House Goneril.
• Emile is found by Edelgard. He is then adopted as a foster child by House Hrym of the Empire and given the identity of Jeritza von Hrym.

1178:

• A rebellion breaks out in western Faerghus, but the instigators are quickly defeated. Dimitri and Felix serve among the counter-rebellion forces, though this causes Felix to develop animosity towards Dimitri.
• Annette and Mercedes meet at the Fhirdiad School of Sorcery and become friends. Lorenz also attends the School of Sorcery, but leaves before graduating due to political upheaval in Faerghus.
• Cyril is noticed by Archbishop Rhea and is invited to work at Garreg Mach Monastery.
• Yuri attends and is expelled from the Officers Academy, and then moves to Abyss.
• Jeritza becomes a teacher at the Officers Academy on the recommendation of House Hrym and Lord Arundel.

Between 1177 and 1179:

• Constance relocates once again to Abyss sometime after attending the Officers Academy.²

1179:

• Claude is announced as a legitimate heir to House Riegan.
• Raphael sells his estate, closes his family's merchant business, and resolves to become a knight.
• Balthus goes into hiding in Abyss to avoid debt collectors.
• Hapi is discovered by the Knights of Seiros and is imprisoned in Abyss when a cure for her curse is not found.
• Tomas returns to Garreg Mach Monastery.
• Flayn begins living at Garreg Mach Monastery.
• Monica von Ochs, a student of the Officers Academy, is captured by Solon, who is disguised as Tomas, and held captive to be used as a Kill and Replace for Kronya.
• Between the border of the Empire and Alliance, a battle between Captain Berling's mercenary company and Jeralt's Mercenaries breaks out, the results of which split the timelines into either the events of Three Houses, or Three Hopes. In Three Houses, Jeralt's Mercenaries seemingly kill all the major figures of the mercenary company, while in Three Hopes, a single member survives named Shez, on account of a being called Arval waking up inside them and saving them. In Three Houses, this leads to Byleth and Jeralt heading towards Ramire Village, while in Three Hopes, Shez is the one who heads towards Ramire Village, both groups leading to the events of the start of their games.

¹ - Estimated based on given age in-game.
² - Estimated based on in-game evidence.