580s

This is a list of events occurring in the 580s, ordered by year.

580

By place

Europe

• Ethelbert becomes king of Kent.
• The Roman Senate sends an embassy to Constantinople; this is its last recorded act.

Asia

• The ancient Chinese city of Ye is razed to the ground by Yang Jian.

581

By place

Europe

• Tauric Chersonesus is besieged by the Gokturks.

Asia

• The Sui Dynasty replaces the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the last of the Northern Dynasties in China. First ruler of the Sui Dynasty is Sui Wen Di.
• The "Great City of Helu" is renamed Suzhou under the Sui dynasty in China.
• In Turkish Empire interregnum begins. Because there are several candidates to throne; Talopien (Late khagan's candidate), Ishbara (Kurultay's choice) and Tardu (the western yabgu).

582

By place

Byzantine Empire

• The Avars take over the city of Sirmium.
• Maurice succeeds Tiberius II Constantine as Emperor.

Asia

• Daxing, the new capital of the Sui Dynasty, is constructed.

By topic

Religion

• John Nesteutes becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.

583

By place

Byzantine Empire

• April – Fire devastates Constantinople.
• May – An earthquake strikes Constantinople.
• The Eurasian Avars, a mounted people who have swept across Russia and southeastern Europe, seize Byzantine forts along the Danube and reach the walls of Constantinople.

Europe

• Eborico (also called Eurico) succeeds his father Miro as King of the Suevi.

America

• Yohl Iknal succeeds K'an B'alam as queen of the Mayan city of Palenque (in present-day Chiapas).

584

By place

Asia

• Fourth Turkic khagan Taspar dies. Interregnum. Tardu interferes and declares independence from the east. Period of dual khaganates. From now on the west khaganate is also called Onok.

Europe

• Andeca deposes and kills Eboric to become king of Galicia and of the Suevi.
• After a ten year interregnum, the Lombards elect Authari as their king.
• The Lombards sack Monte Cassino.
• The Avars sack Singidunum and Slavs raid near Constantinople.
• Kubrat becomes king of the Bulgars (approximate date).
• The Visigoths take Cordoba from Byzantium.

585

By place

Europe

• The Suebi kingdom on the Iberian peninsula is conquered by the Visigoths under King Leovigild.
• Hussa succeeds his brother Frithuwald as king of Bernicia (traditional date).
• Creoda becomes king of Mercia.
• Famine strikes Gaul.

Asia

• Emperor Yōmei ascends to the throne of Japan.
• In China, Emperor Xiaojing succeeds Emperor Xiaoming as ruler of the Nan Liang Dynasty.

586

By place

Byzantine Empire

• The Vlachs are first mentioned in a Byzantine chronicle.
• The Byzantines defeat the Persians at Battle of Solachon, near Daraa.
• The Avars besiege Thessaloniki, failing to take it.

Europe

• Reccared succeeds his father Leovigild as king of the Visigoths.

By topic

Art

• February – Page with Crucifixion, from the "Rabbula Gospels", from Monastery of Saint John the Evangelist in Beth Zagba, Syria, is completed. It is now kept at Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence.

Religion

• Saint Comgall founds an abbey in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
• Constantine of Kernyw converts to Christianity.

587

By place

Europe

• Sledda becomes king of Essex.
• Guntram, king of Paris, adopts Childebert II.

Asia

• The Nan Liang Dynasty of Ancient China ends.
• Emperor Sushun ascends to the throne of Ancient Japan.
• Members of the pro-Buddhist group defeat their opponents in Ancient Japan.

Religion

• Reccared, king of the Visigoths, renounces Arianism and adopts Catholicism.
• The filioque clause is first used in the Nicene Creed, against the Arians in Spain.

588

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Guaram becomes prince of Iberia.

Europe

• Æthelric becomes first King of Northumbria, after the kingdom is formed from the union of the two small Anglian kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira.

Asia

• The First Perso-Turkic War is fought.
• Shivadeva ascends the throne of the Lichchhavi dynasty in Nepal.
• A large meteorite impact kills 10 people in rural China.

By topic

Religion

• The Lombards are converted to Christianity.
• The Skellig Michael monastery is founded on a steep rocky island off the coast of Ireland.

589

By place

Europe

• October 17 – The Adige River overflows its banks, flooding the church of St. Zeno and damaging the walls of Verona.
• The plague hits Rome, and its victims included Pope Pelagius II.

China

• The Chen Dynasty ends; Jiankang (Nanjing), the last of the Southern dynasties, is completely destroyed; China is reunited under the Sui Dynasty.
• The Chinese scholar-official Yan Zhitui makes the first reference to the use of toilet paper in human history.

By topic

Religion

• The Third Council of Toledo, called by King Reccared of the Visigoths, renounces Arianism and embraces Catholicism.
• The Council of Narbonne is held.

Significant people

Births

Deaths

References