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The 570s

181 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 6th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

570 CE33 entries

  • Abraha, Christian ruler of coastal Yemen, who was acting as a general for the Christian kingdom in Abyssinia, begins a military expedition in Arabia against the predominantly pagan Quraysh of Mecca, known as the Year of the Elephant.
  • The Jews of Clermont-Ferrand are forced to convert to Christianity.
  • A limestone statue of Boddhisattva is created in Henan (approximate date).

571 CE17 entries

  • The Visigoths under King Liuvigild invade the Byzantine province of Spania (modern Andalusia), and seize the city of Córdoba. After the death of his brother Liuva I, he becomes sole ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom (approximate date).
  • Wuffa becomes the first king of East Anglia, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies (approximate date).
  • Battle of Bedcanford: The Anglo-Saxons under King Cuthwulf fight against the Britons, and conquer the settlements of Aylesbury, Benson, Eynsham and Limbury (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).

572 CE20 entries

  • June 28 – Alboin, king of the Lombards, is murdered at Verona in his palace, at the instigation of his wife Rosamund (daughter of the Gepid king Cunimund), and her henchman, Helmechis (the king's squire); both flee to seek Byzantine protection in Ravenna. Alboin is succeeded as king by Cleph, who is not related by blood.
  • Siege of Pavia (569–572): King Alboin captures Ticinum (Pavia); after a siege the Byzantine garrison surrenders to the Lombards. The city is of strategic importance, lying at the rivers Po and Ticino, and becomes the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards.
  • Taspar Qaghan succeeds his brother Muqan Qaghan as ruler (khagan) of the Turkic Khaganate (Central Asia).

573 CE17 entries

  • The Lombards again raid Southern Gaul, but are defeated by the Franks under Mummolus, patricius and son of the Gallo-Roman count of Auxerre, and are driven out.
  • King Cleph completes the Lombard conquest of Tuscany (Central Italy) and extends his dominion to the gates of Ravenna.
  • Battle of Arfderydd: Leading his warband, Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio is slain by the sons of Eliffer, Gwrgi and Peredur. Myrddin Wyllt goes mad watching this defeat (according to the Annales Cambriae).

574 CE14 entries

  • July 13 – Pope John III dies at Rome after a 13-year tenure. The Holy See becomes sede vacante until June of the following year.
  • December 7 – Emperor Justin II retires due to recurring seizures of insanity; he abdicates the throne in favour of his general Tiberius. Justin proclaims him Caesar and adopts him as his own son.
  • The Visigoths under King Liuvigild invade Cantabria (Northern Spain), and destroy the city of Amaya (Burgos). He massacres the inhabitants and adds the province to the Visigothic Kingdom.

575 CE18 entries

  • June 2 – Pope Benedict I succeeds Pope John III as the 62nd pope.
  • Zhiyi, Chinese monk, travels to Mount Tiantai for intensive study and practice. He works with a group of disciples on the Indian meditation of śamatha and vipaśyanā.
  • Byzantine–Sassanid War: A Byzantine army under command of Maurice drives the Persians from Cappodocia (modern Turkey), and strengthens the Byzantine position in Caucasian Albania.

576 CE9 entries

  • The Göktürks under Tardu cross the Cimmerian Bosporus into the Crimea, and besiege the city of Panticapaeum (Ukraine).
  • Baduarius, son-in-law of the Byzantine emperor Justin II, is sent to Italy to resist the Lombard conquest. He leads an aborted counter-assault against the Lombards and dies soon after.
  • Jinji becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

577 CE22 entries

  • A predecessor of the modern match, small sticks of pinewood impregnated with sulfur, are first used in China. Besieged by military forces of Northern Zhou and Chen, Northern Qi court ladies use the "lighting sticks" to start fires for cooking and heating.
  • The Temple of Dendur, dedicated to the Egyptian gods Isis, Harpocrates (Horus) and Osiris, is converted for use as a Christian church (approximate date).
  • Summer – Tiberius, Byzantine co-ruler (Caesar), establishes a naval base at Derbent on the Caspian Sea to construct a Byzantine fleet (approximate date).

578 CE16 entries

  • October 5 – Emperor Justin II dies after several periods of insanity. On the advice of his wife Sophia, he has raised his general Tiberius to the rank of co-emperor (Caesar). From December 574 he has ruled jointly with Sophia, and now succeeds them as emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
  • October 22 – Tzi-B'alam, who had been the ruler of the Mayan city state of Copán in Honduras, dies after a 25-year reign that began in May 553.
  • November 15 – K'ak' Chan Yopaat, becomes the new ruler of the Mayan city state of Copán in Honduras, and rules until his death 49 years later in 628.

579 CE15 entries

  • July 30 – Pope Benedict I dies after a 4-year reign, and is succeeded by Pelagius II as the 63rd pope. During the Lombard siege of Rome, he labors to solve the problems of famine.
  • September 2 – Uneh Chan becomes the ruler of the Mayan city state of Calakmul in southern Mexico and reigns until 611.
  • Khosrau I dies after a 48-year reign, during which he has extended his realm from the River Oxus to the Red Sea. He is succeeded by his son Hormizd IV, who becomes king of the Persian Empire.