The First Millenium

[Vince]

568

Along with other German tribes, the Lombards invade Italy. Over a period of about a decade, they conquer most of Italy, establishing the Lombard Kingdom. Exact dates are vague because the Byzantine Empire held on to some territory and insisted that Italy was still part of Byzantium. At its greatest extant, the Lombard Kingdom still had not conquered Sicily, southern Italy, and one part of western Italy, but their kingdom survived until 774.

Fleeing the Lombards, some Italians settle in the marshes of northeastern Italy and found Venice. Stretching across 117 small islands, Venice eventually becomes a powerful republic that is part of Italy today.

The Turks and Persians unite to destroy the White Hun Empire, north of India. The shattered survivors eventually blend in with local populations, surviving for another century as a separate people.

Small but growing in power, the Turks send emissaries to the Byzantines.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to the year 569!


Alodia and Makuria, two Black kingdoms bordering Egypt on the south, convert to Christianity.

The Garamantes are a Berber people who live in modern Libya south of the former Roman province of Africa. They sign a peace treaty with the Byzantines.

Alboin, King of the Lombards, continues his successful invasion of Italy. Surrounded by hostile neighbors, the entire Lombard nation is now migrating southward into the Italian peninsula. Burdened with wars in central and eastern Europe, Byzantia offers only token resistance. Most Catholic bishops reach an accommodation with the Arian Lombards, and except for some looting, the conquest of northern Italy meets only occasional violence. Generally, the Italians aren't happy with the invasion, but they hadn't liked their Byzantine conquerors, so they aren't wiling to fight.

 

[Vince]

It's now the year 570, and one of the worst disasters in history occurs.


Birth of Muhammad, founder of Islam.

Have you ever heard of Ctesiphon? It's the capital of the Persian Empire, and this year it passes Constantinople as the most populated city in the world. Today, nothing remains but ruins, 35 miles from Baghdad.

Ethiopia had conquered Yemen and parts of Saudi Arabia, and they launch an atack on Mecca. Their king is killed in the failed assault.

In central France, the Jews are forced to convert to Catholicism.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 571.

Death of Yared, Ethiopian musician credited with inventing the sacred music tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Yared wrote five volumes of chants which the church still uses.

 

[Vince]

We have now reached 572.

Bidatsu (572-585) begins his tense rule over a Japanese nation that is divided between the Buddhists and the Shintos. He successfully restores good diplomatic relations with two of Korea’s three kingdoms and manages to hold Japan together.

Byzantium is having a hard time holding its restored Roman Empire together. Far to the west, the Visigoths in Spain attack, while close to home, they have to go to war again with the Persians.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 573.

The Battle of Arfderydd takes place, but we're not sure where. Two large armies, formed by alliances of various small British kingdoms, fight it out. Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio, who rules southwest Scotland and northeast England is defeated. His bard and adviser, Myrddin, goes mad with grief and becomes the "Merlin" of King Arthur stories (King Arthur had been killed some time ago).

Three brothers, who share joint rule over modern York in north-central England, are the winners. Labelled one of "The Three Futile Battles of Britain," the battle accomplishes nothing.

Byzantium continues to lose its hold on the former Roman Empire. The Persians capture Dara, an important fort city just outside their territory.

 

[Vince]

574 is a rough year for kings and emperors.

Emperor Justin II retires, choosing Tiberius II Constantine as his heir. Knowing that he was insane and diseased, the Emperor Justin II nobly appoints his friend as his replacement. Tiberius II quickly starts giving away the money Justin had hoarded, winning popularity with the common people. With the Byzantines being defeated on more thasn one front, the new Emperor appoints General Justinian to high command.

The king of the Lombards is assassinated, but the Lombards continue their conquest of Italy. In fact, they go ten years without a king.

The Visigoths retake northern Spain from the Byzantines.

Pope John III dies. As noted earlier, the Lombards destroyed a lot of records, so almost nothing is known about him.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to the year 575!

Benedict I was Pope from June 2, 575 to July 30, 579, becoming the fourth Pope in a row not to be declared a saint. He was not allowed to take office for eleven months after being elected, while the Emperor decided whether or not to confirm him as Pope. With most of the records destroyed, it appears that he gave generously to the poor during the famine that followed the Lombard invasion.

The Turkish Empire (which does not include any parts of modern Turkey) had expanded into a powerful central Asian kingdom. Comprising too many disparate peoples over too large an area, the Emperor would appoint someone to rule the western half in the Emperor's behalf. Tardu, an ambitious young man, becomes ruler of the west. But he is ambitiously planning to seize the entire nation, while China is busy stirring up trouble.

In eastern England, the "North Folk" and the South Folk" (Norfolk and Suffolk counties, today) unite to form East Anglia, a kingdom that survives for three and a half centuries.

 

[Vince]

You have now reached the year 576.

The Persians attack Panticapaeum, a major Byzantine port on the north shore of the Black Sea. But Byzantium's new general, Justinian, hands the Persians a major defeat in eastern Turkey.

Toledo, in the center of modern Spain, becomes the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom.

 

[Vince]

And it is 577 already.

The Kingdom of Wessex seizes a major British fortification, and three British kings unite to dislodge them. But at the The Battle of Deorham, the British suffer a major defeat. Their three kings are slain, and the Anglo-Saxons of Wessex seize three major kingdoms and a large amount of territory.

Brendan the Navigator, who had sailed to Newfoundland in search of the island of Paradise, dies. Hopefully, he finds it.

 

[Vince]

It is now 578.

The Kongo family start a temple-building business in Japan. They must have known what they were doing. The company didn’t fold until the year 2006, becoming the longest continuously operating business in history.

The Visigoths found Reccopolis, one of the few European cities to be founded after the collapse of the \roman Empire. Its uninhabited ruins are an archaeological treasure today.

 

[Vince]

579

579

Pelagius II was Pope from 579 to 590, making five in row who do not get declared to be saints. He fought hard against the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople, and he made rules for the clergy that were so strict that later Popes modified them. He also fought hard to require and enforce that all clergy be celibate.

400 martyrs are slain by the Lombards in Sicily. The Lombards were mostly pagan or Arian and had problems getting along with the Catholic Church.

Plagued by corrupt officials and incompetent Emperors, the Northern Qi dynasty of China is conquered by Northern Zhou. Along with Southern Chen, China now consists of only two rival empires.

 

[Vince]

The year 580 has arrived.

Slavs begin to migrate into the Balkans and Greece, eventually becoming a major ethnic group in the region.

Pope Pelagius leaves married priests alone if they keep their wives and children from inheriting church property.

Æthelberht becomes King of Kent, in the extreme southeastern part of Britain. Kent is prosperous due to its trade connections, and Æthelberht will eventually establish royal control over trade, mint coins, convert to Catholicism, and become a major force in spreading Catholicism through Britain.

After sending an embassy to Constantinople, the Roman Senate is never heard from again.

After an unsuccessful rebellion, Ye, a major Chinese city, is razed to the ground.

 

[Vince]

We are now in 581.

Yang Jian seizes the throne of Northern China from the eight-year-old Emperor and begins the Sui Dynasty. Shortly afterwards, he executes the former Emperor and his family.

The Gokturks are still expanding their Turkish Empire, invading the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea. But their Emperor dies and they go for several years trying to select a new ruler.

 

[Vince]

Congratulations on reaching the year 582.

Byzantium loses Sirmium, a major city in eastern Europe, to the Avars. The Avers have been expanding their empire in central and east Europe.

With the death of the Emperor, General Maurice takes over Byzantia. A successful victor over the Persians, he quickly reverse Byzantium's declining military situation.

John the Faster becomes Patriarch of Constantinople and quickly assumes the new title of "Ecumenical Patriarch," meaning "First Among Equals." Over the new several years, the Pope will authorize various condemnations of him, but the title remains to this day.

 

[Vince]

583 is a REALLY bad year for Constantinople.

In April, a large fire devastates Constantinople. Then, in April, the city has an earthquake. And then the Avars, who have seized most of southeastern Europe and western Russia, reach the walls of Constantinople.

To make matters worse, over to the west, the Avars reach the Danube River.


In southern Mexico, Yohl Ik'nal becomes queen of the Mayan kingdom of Palenque. Defeated later by a neighboring kingdom, she manages to keep her kingdom intact long enough for her descendents to regain their independence.

 

[Vince]

So, the year 584 has arrived.

The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia is founded in central England. It survives for three centuries before merging with the Kingdom of Wessex.

The western part of the Turkish Empire breaks off, forming Onoq ("Ten Arrows"). It seeks peace with Byzantium while waging war against the Persian Empire.

The Lombards elect a new king and continue their slow but successful conquest of Italy, They sack Monte Cassino, 81 miles southeast of Rome.

The Avars are unable to breach the walls of Constantinople, but they sack Belgrade, in southeastern Europe. The Slavs join in, making raids near Constantinople. And in Spain, the Visigoths take Cordoba from the Byzantines.

 

[Vince]

Let's see what happens in 585.


Emperor Yōmei becomes Emperor of Japan for two years after his half-brother dies. He keeps all the chief officials in place and tries to strengthen Buddhism against Shintoism, the native Japanese religion.

The Suebi are the remnants of a small German tribe that had managed to form a kingdom in northern Spain and Portugal 170 years ago. But this year, the Visigoths conquer them and add them to their kingdom.

Bernicia is an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in northeast England and southeast Scotland. Hussa becomes king, possibly by assassinating the previous ruler. He settles down to a troubled reign in which his neighbors try unsuccessfully to drive his kingdom into extinction.

Famine breaks out in France.

 

[Vince]

In 586, things start to improve for the Byzantine Empire.

Byzantium defeats a Persian invasion in Mesopotamia, leaving many Persian survivors to die of thirst in the desert.

The Avars lay siege to Thessalonica, Greece's second-largest city but are unable to take it.

Somwhere in the Arabian desert, a monastery completes the Rabbula Gospels. This magnificent manuscript, with brightly-colored illustrations, uses the Pershitta Manuscript as its text. Written in Aramaic, the Pershitta Manuscript agrees with the Greek Received Text.

Martrydom of Hermengild, Prince of the Visigoths, whose martyrdom was a catalyst in the Visigoths' conversion from Arianism to Catholicism. The next year, his brother, Visigoth King Reccared renounces Arianism in favor of Catholicism.

The Vlachs are mentioned in history for the first time. They are not Romans, but they are eastern Europeans who have been Romanized, and they speak a form of Latin. The Romanians are descended from them.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 587.

Sushun (587-592) becomes Emperor of Japan for five years. He tries to remove his uncle, the head of the powerful Soga clan, from office as Chief Minister, and the Chief Minister responds by assassinating him.

The Catholic Church adds the phrase "and the Son" to the Nicene Creed. The original creed stated that the Holy Spirit proceeded "from the Father."

Varāhamihira, the great Indian mathematician and astronomer, dies. He discovered various mathematical formulas that helped form the basis for the later invention of trigonometry.