496

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King Clovis I leading the Franks to victory, by Ary Scheffer (1881)

Battle of Tolbiac (496)

Year 496 (CDXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paulus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1249 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 496 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Emperor Anastasius I has Euphemius, patriarch of Constantinople, deposed and excommunicated. He appoints Macedonius II as his successor. Euphemius is sent into exile.

Europe

• Battle of Tolbiac: King Clovis I defeats the Alamanni at Zülpich (Germany). Gibuld, last king of the Alamanni, is killed in battle and the territory is incorporated into the Frankish Kingdom.
• December 25 – Clovis I is baptized into the Catholic faith at Rheims, by Saint Remigius. The conversion strengthen the bonds between his Gallo-Roman subjects, led by their Catholic bishops.

Africa

• Thrasamund succeeds his brother Gunthamund after his death and becomes king of the Vandals. He ends under his rule the persecution of the Catholics.

Asia

• King Kavadh I of Persia is deposed and exiled to Susiana by his younger brother Djamasp. He is installed by the nobles to the Sassanid throne.
• Emperor Xiao Wen Di of Northern Wei starts the Sinicization process by changing his clan name to the Han Chinese surname Yuan.

By topic

Religion

• February 14 – Pope Gelasius I introduces Valentine's Day, after he has abolished Lupercalia (approximate date).
• November 21 – Gelasius I dies after a 4-year reign and is succeeded by the Rome-born Anastasius II as the 50th pope.

Births

• Childebert I, king of the Franks (d. 558)
• Erzhu Tianguang, general of Northern Wei (d. 532)
• Gao Huan, general of Northern Wei (d. 547)
• Germain, bishop of Paris (d. 576)

Deaths

• Athanasius, Coptic Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria
• Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia (b. 438)
• November 21 – Pope Gelasius I
• Gennadius of Massilia, priest and historian
• Gibuld, king of the Alamanni
• Gunthamund, king of the Vandals and Alans

References