Religion & Belief in the 6th century

200 sourced entries, 500 CE to 599 CE, oldest first. Also see Religion & Belief across every century or everything else in the 6th century.

• 500The Arian Baptistry is erected by Theodoric the Great, at the same time as the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo (Ravenna).source
• 500Roman catacomb burials end (approximate date).source
• 500Tikal is founded (approximate date).source
• 500The Codex Argenteus, Gothic manuscript of bishop Ulfilas's translation of the Bible, is written (approximate date).source
• 501Pope Symmachus, accused of various crimes by secular authorities who support an ecclesiastical opponent, asserts that the secular ruler has no jurisdiction over him. A synod held in 502 will confirm that view.source
• 502October 23 – The Synodus Palmaris, called by Gothic king Theodoric the Great, clears Pope Symmachus of all charges, thus ending the schism of Antipope Laurentius.source
• 502December 24 - Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate.source
• 502Caesarius becomes bishop of Arles. His episcopal see, near the mouth of the Rhone River and close to Marseille, retains its ancient importance in the social and commercial life of Gaul for forty years.source
• 502The Nanhua Temple, located southeast of Shaoguan, is founded by the Indian monk Zhiyao Sanzang. The temple covers an area of 42.5 ha and consists of a set of historical Buddhist buildings.source
• 504Theodoric the Great builds the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, originally dedicated to Christ the Redeemer.source
• 506February 2 – King Alaric II issues the "Lex Romana Visigothorum" or Breviary of Alaric, an abstract of Roman laws and imperial decrees, compiled by a commission appointed to provide a law code for Alaric's Roman subjects. The "Lex Romana" will be the standard for justice in the Visigothic realm.source
• 506September 10 – Council of Agde: The bishops of Visigothic Gaul under the presidency of Caesarius of Arles meet.source
• 506Antipope Laurentius is persuaded by Theodoric the Great to resign his claim to the throne of Pope Symmachus, ending a schism in the Catholic Church; Laurentius then fasts until his death.source
• 507A Mayan altar with the head of the death god is built in Copán, Honduras.source
• 507Clovis I dictates the Salic Law (Code of the Barbaric Laws) to the Franks (a written codification of civil law for citizens of the Frankish Kingdom).source
• 507The first and smaller of the two Buddhas of Bamyan is erected in central Afghanistan.source
• 508King Clovis I fails in an effort to take the walled city of Carcassonne (Southern Gaul). He establishes Paris (Lutetia) as his capital and gets baptized, making Roman Catholicism the official religion of the Kingdom of the Franks.source
• 511The convent of Saint-Césaire is built in Arles.source
• 511Riots erupt in the streets of Antioch, between supporters of Patriarch Flavian II and Emperor Anastasius I, in sympathy with Non-Chalcedonianism.source
• 511Macedonius II is deposed as patriarch of Constantinople, and replaced by Timothy I.source
• 511First Council of Orléans: Clovis I convenes a synod of Gallic bishops to reform the Church, and create a link between the Crown and the Catholic episcopate.source
• 513Vigor becomes bishop of Bayeux. He opposes paganism and founds a monastery later known as Saint-Vigor-le-Grand (Normandy).source
• 515The St. Maurice's Abbey (Switzerland) is founded by Sigismund of Burgundy. He sets up five groups of monks to whom he entrusts the liturgy of the praise of God.source
• 516November 6 – The Council of Tarragona (modern Spain) is held.source
• 517Council of Epaone: Bishops of southern Gaul convene near Epao (present Anneyron) in Burgundy. The synod enacts the first legislation against wooden altars, forbidding the building of any but stone altars with chrism (a mixture of oil and spice).source
• 517King Sigismund of Burgundy is opposed by his son Sigeric, and has him strangled. Overcome with remorse, he retreats to the monastery that he founded, St. Maurice's Abbey (modern Switzerland).source
• 517Emperor Wu Di of the Liang Dynasty becomes a Buddhist, and introduces the new religion to central China. He demands that sacrifices to imperial ancestors be changed to using dried meat, instead of the traditional animals (goats, pigs and cows).source
• 518September 29 – Severus, patriarch of Antioch, is deposed by a synod for his Monophysitism. Paul the Jew is appointed to replace him.source
• 519March 28 – The Eastern and Western churches reconcile their differences, ending the Acacian Schism.source
• 519The Memoirs of Eminent Monks is compiled.source
• 519In Ireland, the Diocese of Kildare is erected.source
• 519Jacob of Serugh becomes bishop of Batnan (near modern Diyarbakir, Turkey).source
• 520February 25 – Epiphanius is elected patriarch of Constantinople by Byzantine Emperor Justin I.source
• 520Bodhidharma, Buddhist monk, arrives in Luoyang. He spreads Buddhism and travels to the northern Chinese kingdom of Wei, to the Shaolin Monastery.source
• 520The construction of the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, is started (approximate date).source
• 520The monastery of Seridus, where Barsanuphius and John the Prophet lived as hermits, is founded in the region of Gaza.source
• 521February 22 – Samson of Dol is ordained as bishop in Brittany, on the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter.source
• 521Ecclesius becomes a bishop of Ravenna.source
• 524January 1 – Venantius Opilio is appointed by Byzantium's Emperor Justin to administer the Western Roman Empire as the Roman consul, replacing Anicius Maximus. The Emperor Justin appoints himself as consul for the West, an office vacant since 522, but has Theodorus Filoxenus administering the west.source
• 524October 23 – Anicius Manlius Boethius, one of Rome's most prolific writers and philosophers, is beaten to death at the prison at Pavia, where he has been imprisoned for treason. During his prison sentence, he has written his final work, The Consolation of Philosophy. The date of the death of St. Boethius is later celebrated as his feast day on the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints.source
• 525The Arian baptistery of Santa Maria is built in Ripa (Rome).source
• 525King Theodoric the Great sends Pope John I to Constantinople, to negotiate a withdrawal of Byzantine emperor Justin's edict against Arian Christianity.source
• 525Dionysius Exiguus, Scythian theologian-mathematician, inaugurates the practice of using A.D. (Anno Domini) in Rome for calendar dates after the birth of Jesus Christ, a system which has been supported by subsequent studies. Dionysius also produces his tables for computing the date of "Cyclus Paschalis" (Easter Tables).source
• 525Buddhist caves are completed at Ajanta (India) with stone carvings (approximate date).source
• 526Pope John I returns to Ravenna from Constantinople. Theodoric the Great finds that he has been only partly successful in persuading the Byzantine emperor Justin I to withdraw his edict against Arian Christianity, and throws the pope into prison.source
• 526Ecclesius, bishop of Ravenna, commissions two new churches, one for Ravenna and one for its port, Classis.source
• 526c. 526–547 – Sanctuary apse's mosaic showing Jesus enthroned and flanked by Saint Vitalis and Ecclesius, Basilica of San Vitale (Ravenna) is made.source
• 527Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, formally adopts Buddhism as a state religion (approximate date).source
• 527The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is rebuilt until 565, restoring the architectural tone of the basilica.source
• 527Justinian I outlaws pagan religious practices in Egypt, and dispatches Byzantine missionaries to southern territories (approximate date).source
• 528February 13 – Emperor Justinian I appoints a commission (including the jurist Tribonian) to codify all laws of the Roman Empire that are still in force from Hadrian to the current date; this becomes the Corpus Juris Civilis.source
• 528Bulguksa, a Buddhist temple, is built in South Korea.source
• 528King Seong of Baekje adopts Buddhism as the state religion.source
• 528The Hephthalites (White Huns) move from the Hindu Kush into the Punjab region, and eastward across the Ganges Delta, ravaging cities and Buddhist monasteries.source
• 529April 7 – Emperor Justinian I issues the Codex Justinianus (Code of Civil Laws), reformulating Roman law in an effort to control his unruly people (see 532).source
• 529The Benedictine Order is established at Monte Cassino near Naples by Benedict of Nursia, who founds a monastery and formulates for his monks strict rules in the "Regula Benedicti".source
• 529The Canons of the Council of Orange are established, approving the Augustinian doctrine of sin and grace over Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism, but without Augustine's absolute predestination.source
• 529Queen Amalasuntha receives a delegation sent by a council of Gothic nobles urging that she have her son Athalaric, now 13, taught an education in the Roman tradition—not by elderly schoolmasters, but by men who will teach him to "ride, fence, and to be toughened, not to be turned into a bookworm".source
• 530December 15 – Emperor Justinian I selects a second commission to excerpt and codify the writings of the jurists on Roman law. This becomes the Digest (Pandects).source
• 530Brendan, Irish abbot, allegedly climbs to the top of Mount Brandon to look for the Americas (approximate date).source
• 530Tribonian becomes quaestor sacri palatii and chief editor of the compilation of the old Roman lawyers' writings.source
• 532February 23 – Emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia. He chooses Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles as architects. The material for the construction is brought from all over the empire, such as large stones from quarries in Porphyry, Egypt. More than 10,000 people are employed.source
• 533January 2 – After an interregnum of 2 months and 15 days, Pope John II becomes the 56th pope of Rome, and the first to adopt a regnal name upon elevation to the papacy (his birth name, Mercurius, being of pagan origin).source
• 533March 25 – In a letter, Emperor Justinian I declares the Bishop of Rome (currently John) to be "head of all Bishops, and the true and effective corrector of heretics."source
• 533December 16 – The Digesta or Pandectae, a collection of jurist writings and other sources, is completed (see Corpus Juris Civilis).source
• 534January 1 – Decius Paulinus enters the office of consul (the last to hold this office in the West).source
• 534Justinian I commemorates the victory against the Vandals by stamping medals in his honor with the inscription "Gloria Romanorum" (approximate date).source
• 535Anthimus I becomes patriarch of Constantinople (535–536).source
• 535Byzantine troops drive the extremist Monophysite party out of Alexandria, and establish Theodosius I as patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church.source
• 535The Byzantine city of Justiniana Prima is founded, and later becomes a bishop's seat of the Central Balkans.source
• 535A Christian basilica is completed at Leptis Magna in North Africa.source
• 536May 2–June 4 – Council of Constantinople.source
• 536September 19 – Council of Jerusalem.source
• 536Before March 13 – Anthimus I is deposed as patriarch of Constantinople in favour of Menas.source
• 536The Little Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (begun in 527) is completed as the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus.source
• 537March 29 – Pope Vigilius succeeds Silverius as the 59th pope, when the latter is deposed by Belisarius at the order of Justinian I.source
• 537December 27 – The construction of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (begun in 532) is completed.source
• 538The Third Council of Orléans takes place, and prohibits rural labor on Sunday.source
• 538As a result of persecutions by the Byzantine Empire, Monophysite Christians establish the Coptic Church in Alexandria (approximate date).source
• 540Pope Vigilius rejects Monophysitism in letters to Justinian I and patriarch Menas of Constantinople.source
• 540Benedict of Nursia writes his monastic rules, containing precepts for his monks (approximate date).source
• 540Cassiodorus, former Roman statesman, establishes a monastery at his estate in Italy. The Vivarium "monastery school" is for highly educated and sophisticated men, who copy sacred and secular manuscripts, intending for this to be their sole occupation (approximate date).source
• 541January 1 – Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius is appointed as consul in Constantinople, the last person to hold this office.source
• 541Jacob Baradaeus becomes bishop of Edessa (approximate date).source
• 542Brendan establishes a monastic settlement on Eileach an Naoimh (approximate date).source
• 543Barsanuphius, a famous hermit close to Gaza, retreats fully from the world after the death of Seridus, abbot of the nearby monastery, and fellow hermit John the Prophet with whom he wrote over 850 letters to people seeking his advice and guidance. Aelianos follows Seridus as abbot of the monastery.source
• 543The fortress city of Old Dongola (modern Sudan) along the River Nile becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Makuria. Several churches are built, including the "Old Church" (approximate date).source
• 543The doctrine of apocatastasis is condemned by the Synod of Constantinople.source
• 544Justinian I issues a new edict condemning the Three Chapters. In Western Europe, Pope Vigilius refuses to acknowledge the imperial edict and is ordered to summon to Constantinople.source
• 544Jacob Baradaeus consecrates Sergius of Tella as patriarch of Antioch, opening a permanent schism between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.source
• 545The monastery of Clonmacnoise is founded in Ireland by Ciarán Mac a tSaor on the River Shannon (approximate date).source
• 545The Synod of Brefi is held at Llanddewi Brefi, to condemn the Pelagian heresy. Dubricius, archbishop of South Wales, resigns his position in favour of David (approximate date).source
• 546December 17 – Sack of Rome: After almost a year's siege, the capture of a grain fleet sent by the exiled Pope Vigilius near the mouth of the Tiber, and failure of troops of the Byzantine Empire under Belisarius to relieve the city, the Ostrogoths under King Totila plunder Rome and destroy its fortifications. He then withdraws to Apulia (Southern Italy).source
• 546Approximate date – The Diocese of Bangor is established in the Welsh kingdom of Gwynedd, with Deiniol consecrated as first bishop.source
• 546The Basilica of San Vitale (Ravenna) is completed by bishop Maximianus, during the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna.source
• 546Winter – Pope Vigilius arrives in Constantinople, to meet with Emperor Justinian I. The future Pope Pelagius I is sent by Totila to negotiate with Justinian.source
• 547The Basilica of San Vitale (Ravenna) is consecrated by bishop Maximianus of Ravenna.source
• 548Saint Catherine's Monastery is established in the Sinai Peninsula.source
• 549The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory (which still exists) is founded in Ireland.source
• 549c. 549–564 – Transfiguration of Christ, mosaic in the apse, Church of the Virgin, Saint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt, is made.source
• 549Totila conquers the city of Perugia (Central Italy) and stations a Gothic garrison. He takes bishop Herculanus prisoner, and orders him to be completely flayed. The Ostrogoth soldier asked to perform this gruesome execution shows pity, and decapitates Herculanus before the skin on every part of his body is removed.source
• 549Fifth Council of Orléans: Nine archbishops and forty-one bishops pronounce an anathema against the errors of Nestorius and Eutyches.source
• 549Bishop Maximianus of Ravenna consecrates the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe.source
• 550Justinian I sends two Nestorian monks on a mission to Central Asia, to spread Christianity in the East (approximate date).source
• 550The main redaction of the Babylonian Talmud is completed under Rabbis Ravina and Ashi (approximate date).source
• 550The churches of Lazica (Georgia) and Armenia split. While the Armenian Church remains independent, the Georgian church unites with the Byzantine Empire. This ecclesiastical union deepens political and cultural contact between the two states. As a sign of Lazica's status vis-à-vis Byzantium, Lazic princes are vested with honorific titles of the Byzantine court, including kouropalates, or "minister of the imperial palace" (approximate date).source
• 550In Ireland, the Diocese of Tuam is erected.source
• 550Chararic, king of the Suevi, converts to Catholicism.source
• 552Eutychius becomes patriarch of Constantinople.source
• 552The Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath is established in Ireland.source
• 552Buddhism in Japan is introduced, according to the Nihon Shoki.source
• 553May 5 – The Fifth Ecumenical Council is held in Constantinople. In an edict, Emperor Justinian I condemns the Three Chapters, causing further schisms and heresies of monoenergism and monothelitism.source
• 554August 13 – Byzantine Emperor Justinian I issues a pragmatic sanction reorganizing Italy, and rewards the praetorian prefect Liberius for over 60 years of distinguished service, granting him extensive estates in Italy.source
• 554The second and larger of the two Buddhas of Bamyan is erected in central Afghanistan.source
• 554Pope Vigilius was allowed to return to Rome after years of pressure from Emperor Justinian regarding the Second Council of Constantinople.source
• 554Cassiodorus, Roman statesman, founds the Monastery at Vivarium (approximate date).source
• 556April 16 – The diplomatic representative (apocrisiarius) to Constantinople is elected as Pope Pelagius I, succeeding Vigilius as the 60th pope of Rome.source
• 557King Chlothar I of the Franks founds the Abbey of St. Medard at Soissons (Northern France).source
• 557The Jiming Temple in Nanjing is built; the Buddhist pagoda is located near Xuanwu Lake.source
• 558December 23 – The Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés is dedicated by Germain, bishop of Paris.source
• 558December 23 - Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks.source
• 558The Bangor Abbey is founded by the Irish abbot Comgall in Northern Ireland (approximate date).source
• 560Columba quarrels with Finnian of Moville over authorship of a psalter, leading to a pitched battle the next year.source
• 561The First Council of Braga is held. The council condemns the doctrine of Priscillianism.source
• 561Jnanagupta, a Buddhist monk from Gandhara (Pakistan), begins translating Buddhist texts into Chinese.source
• 563Columba, Irish missionary monk, travels to Scotland with twelve companions. He lands on the Kintyre Peninsula, near Southend, and begins his evangelising mission to the Picts. On the island of Iona, he founds a monastery (Iona Abbey) on the west coast in the Inner Hebrides.source
• 563The new Hagia Sophia (cost: 20,000 pounds of gold), with its numerous chapels and shrines, octagonal dome and mosaics, becomes the centre and most visible monument of Eastern Orthodoxy.source
• 564Cadoc, abbot of Llancarfan (Wales), settles in Weedon and is made bishop (approximate date).source
• 564Samson of Dol, one of seven founder saints of Brittany, attends a council in Paris and witnesses several royal decrees (approximate date).source
• 565January 22 – Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople is deposed as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople by Justinian I after he refuses the Byzantine Emperor's order to adopt the tenets of the Aphthartodocetae, a sect of Monophysites. From April 12 he is replaced by John Scholasticus.source
• 565May 2 – Ahkal Moʼ Nahb II becomes the new ruler of Palenque and reigns until his death in 570.source
• 565Saint Catherine's Monastery in Mount Sinai, Saint Catherine, South Sinai Governorate, Egypt by Justinian I, which contains the oldest active library, being Ebla tablets (c. 2500–2250 BC) in the city of Ebla, Syria, discovered by Italian archaeologist Paolo Matthiae and his team in 1974–75, the first, if not the oldest, inactive library.source
• 565Columba begins preaching in the Orkney Islands (approximate date).source
• 565The Madaba Map is made in the Byzantine church of Saint George. The floor mosaic contains the depiction of the Holy Land (approximate date).source
• 567The Second Council of Tours is held. It decrees that any cleric found in bed with his wife will be excommunicated.source
• 567John III, patriarch of Constantinople, organizes a compromise between the Chalcedonians and Monophysites.source
• 568Paulinus I, patriarch of Aquileia, flees with the treasures of his church and transfers them to the island of Grado.source
• 568Emperor Justin II and his wife Sophia send the Cross of Justin II ("Vatican Cross") to Rome, to improve the relations with the Byzantine Empire.source
• 569November 19 – In Poitiers the "Vexilla Regis" is first sung during the Procession.source
• 569John of Ephesus completes his "Biographies of Eastern Saints" (approximate date).source
• 569The Nubian kingdom of Alodia is converted to Christianity by Byzantine missionaries (according to John of Ephesus).source
• 569Emperor Justin II and his wife Sophia send a relic of the "True Cross" to the Frankish princess Radegund, who has founded a monastery at Poitiers.source
• 570The first mention is made of the Spear of Destiny (approximate date).source
• 570Muhammad, Islamic prophet, is born in Mecca (today's Saudi Arabia). His father Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib dies a few months before his birth, so he and his mother Aminah bint Wahb are protected by Muhammad's paternal grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, who is recognized as the leading figure in his tribe, the Quraysh.source
• 570The Jews of Clermont-Ferrand are forced to convert to Christianity.source
• 570Year of the Elephant, according to Islamic tradition.source
• 570A limestone statue of Boddhisattva is created in Henan (approximate date).source
• 570The anonymous Pilgrim of Piacenza travels the Holy Sites of Christianity in Syria, Palestine and Sinai, an experience that he later writes down as a travel report (approximate date).source
• 571The Monophysites again reject the Council of Chalcedon, causing another schism.source
• 573Sigibert I appoints Gregory to succeed his mother's cousin, Eufronius, as bishop of Tours (approximate date).source
• 573Pope John III is forced by the Lombards to retire from Rome, and takes up residence at the Catacombs along the Via Appia (approximate date).source
• 574Marius Aventicensis is made bishop of Aventicum (modern Avenches).source
• 575June 2 – Pope Benedict I succeeds Pope John III as the 62nd pope.source
• 575Zhiyi, 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.source
• 577The Temple of Dendur, dedicated to the Egyptian gods Isis, Harpocrates (Horus) and Osiris, is converted for use as a Christian church (approximate date).source
• 577Eutychius is restored as patriarch of Constantinople, after an exile of 12 years at Amasia (modern Turkey).source
• 579Leander, Catholic bishop of Seville, is exiled by Liuvigild and withdraws to Constantinople. At the Byzantine court he composes works against Arianism (approximate date).source
• 579Pelagius II sends Gregory as his apocrisiarius (ambassador to the imperial court in Constantinople). He is part of a Roman delegation to ask for military aid against the Lombards.source
• 580The Roman Senate sends an embassy to Constantinople, with a gift (3,000 pounds of gold) to Emperor Tiberius II Constantine, along with a plea for help against the Lombards.source
• 580Gregory of Tours is brought before a council of bishops, on charges of slandering the Frankish queen Fredegund (approximate date).source
• 580King Liuvigild calls for an Arian synod in Toledo (central Spain), which modifies several doctrines; he tries to unify the Christians within the Visigothic Kingdom.source
• 581Second Council of Mâcon: In a council of Christian bishops in Mâcon (Burgundy), Jews are prohibited from serving as judges or customs officers.source
• 581The Lombards under Zotto, Duke of Benevento, sack the abbey of Monte Cassino near Naples. The Benedictine monks who survive flee to Rome, but they return to the site, and rebuild the monastery.source
• 582April 11 – John Nesteutes becomes the 33rd bishop or patriarch of Constantinople.source
• 584The Exarchate of Ravenna is founded, and organised into a group of duchies, mainly coastal cities on the Italian Peninsula. The civil and military head of these Byzantine territories is the exarch (governor) in Ravenna.source
• 585Columbanus, Irish missionary, gathers 12 companions for his journey to Britain, probably to the Scottish coast. After a short time, he crosses the English Channel and lands in Brittany (France).source
• 585Zhiyi, Chinese monk, returns to the city of Jinling, where he completes his commentarial works on the Lotus Sutra.source
• 585King Wideok of Baekje (Korea) sends an official escort (bearing tribute), along with a master of Buddhist meditation, a reciter of Buddhist magic spells, a temple architect, and a sculptor of Buddhist images, to the Chinese court of the Sui dynasty (approximate date).source
• 585The Armenian bishop Kardutsat goes with 7 priests, on a missionary trip to the steppes north of the Caucasus. He succeeds in baptizing many Huns and in translating books into their language.source
• 586King Custennin of Dumnonia is converted to Christianity.source
• 586Japanese Buddhism comes under attack as a "foreign" religion.source
• 586Saint Comgall founds an abbey in Bangor, Northern Ireland.source
• 587The filioque clause is first used in the Nicene Creed, against the Arians in Visigothic Spain (approximate date).source
• 588The Skellig Michael monastery is founded on a steep rocky island off the coast of Ireland (approximate date).source
• 588The Lombard Kingdom (Italy) is converted to Roman Catholicism under the rule of King Authari (approximate date).source
• 588The Guanghua Temple in Putian (China) is built during the Chen dynasty, under Emperor Chen Wu Di.source
• 589The Third Council of Toledo, called by King Reccared I of the Visigoths, renounces Arianism and embraces Catholicism.source
• 589King Childebert II attempts to impose taxes on the citizens of Tours; Bishop Gregory successfully opposes this by claiming state immunity instituted by Fredegund.source
• 589Gregory, archdeacon of Rome, converts English slaves on the Roman market. He calls them Angels if they would be Christians.source
• 589The Council of Narbonne is held. In Septimania, Jews are forbidden from chanting psalms while burying their dead.source
• 590February 7 – Pope Pelagius II falls victim to the plague that devastated Rome. He is succeeded by Gregory I, age 50, as the 64th pope, and the first from a monastic background.source
• 590March 26 – Theodosius, eldest son of Maurice, is proclaimed as co-emperor. He becomes his father's heir to the Byzantine throne.source
• 590Egidius, bishop of Reims, is tried at Metz before a council of bishops for a conspiracy against King Childebert II; he is found guilty and exiled to Strasbourg.source
• 590Columbanus, Irish missionary, obtains from King Guntram the Gallo-Roman castle Luxovium (Luxeuil-les-Bains), where he founds the Abbey of Luxeuil.source
• 590John of Biclaro, Visigoth chronicler, finishes his "Chronicle" before he is appointed bishop of Girona (Catalonia, Spain).source
• 590Gregory I begins a vigorous program of rebuilding aqueducts and restoring Rome. He feeds the citizens with doles of grain, as under Roman imperial rule.source
• 591Pope Gregory I criticizes the bishops of Arles and Marseille for allowing the forced baptism of Jews in Provence (France).source
• 591Jnanagupta, Afghan Buddhist monk, translates the Vimalakirti Sutra into Chinese.source
• 593The Shitennō-ji monastery is founded at Osaka (Japan) by Shōtoku.source
• 594Approximate date – Pope Gregory I publishes his Dialogues.source
• 594Amos succeeds John IV as Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.source
• 595June – Pope Gregory I the Great sends a group of Benedictine monks under Augustine of Canterbury on a mission to Britain, to Christianize King Æthelberht, and convert the Kingdom of Kent from native Anglo-Saxon paganism. He carries letters of commendation to bishops, and is accompanied by Frankish interpreters.source
• 595Muhammad, Islamic prophet, meets and marries Khadija. She is a 40-year-old widow and 15 years older than he. Supported by Khadija's wealth, they form a successful merchant partnership.source
• 596Gregorian Mission: Augustine of Canterbury lands with a group of missionaries on the Isle of Thanet (South East England). He is welcomed by King Æthelberht of Kent, who accepts baptism along with the rest of his court at the behest of his Christian Frankish wife, Bertha. Æthelbert assigns Augustine and his 40 monks a residence at Canterbury (Kent), where they found a Benedictine monastery that will make the town a centre of Christianity (or 597).source
• 597December 25 – At Christmas, Christianity spreads rapidly in Kent; Augustine and his fellow-labourers baptise more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.source
• 597Gregorian Mission: Augustine of Canterbury lands with a group of missionaries on the Isle of Thanet (South East England). He is welcomed by King Æthelberht of Kent, who accepts baptism (along with the rest of his court) at the behest of his Christian Frankish wife, Bertha. Æthelbert assigns Augustine and his 40 monks a residence at Canterbury, where they found a Benedictine monastery that will make the town a centre of Christianity (or 596).source
• 598The Guoqing Temple is built on Mount Tiantai (Zhejiang), and becomes the site for the teachings of Chinese Buddhism.source
• 598Maurice makes peace with King Agilulf, conceding northern Italy. Pope Gregory I the Great negotiates a truce, ending 30 years of Lombard terror. Agilulf expands the Lombard Kingdom by occupying Sutri and Perugia.source
• 598Missionaries begin to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity throughout much of what will later be the British Isles (approximate date).source
• 599Venantius Fortunatus, Latin poet and hymnodist in the Merovingian court, is appointed bishop of Poitiers.source