520s

The 520s decade ran from January 1, 520, to December 31, 529.

520

This section is transcluded from AD 520. (edit | history)

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Priscian, Latin grammarian, writes the Institutiones Grammaticae ("Grammatical Foundations"). In Constantinople, he codifies this manuscript in 18 volumes, which will be widely used through the Middle Ages. It provides the raw material for the field of speculative grammar.
• July – Byzantine general Vitalian becomes consul, and is shortly later murdered, probably on the orders of Justinian, the nephew and heir-apparent of Emperor Justin I.^[1]

Britannia

• King Pabo Post Prydain of the Pennines (Northern England) abdicates his throne, and divides the kingdom between his two sons. He retires, as a hermit, to Anglesey.^[2]
• The Kingdom of East Anglia is formed, by the merging of the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and perhaps the eastern part of The Fens (approximate date).
• King Budic II returns to Cornouaille (Brittany), to claim the Breton throne (approximate date).

Europe

• Ostrogothic ruler Theodoric the Great builds the Mausoleum of Theodoric as his future tomb in Ravenna (Italy).^[3]

Asia

• Bodhidharma, Buddhist monk, arrives in Luoyang. He spreads Buddhism and travels to the northern Chinese kingdom of Wei, to the Shaolin Monastery.

By topic

Religion

• February 25 – Epiphanius is elected patriarch of Constantinople by Byzantine Emperor Justin I.
• The construction of the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, is started (approximate date).

Significant people

• Ahkal Mo' Nahb I, Ajaw (Lord) of Palenque (Mayan Empire)
• Boethius, philosopher
• Childebert I, Frankish king, 524-558
• Clodoald, saint
• Chlodomer, King of Orleans, 511-524
• Chlothar I, Frankish King
• Dionysius Exiguus, inventor of the Anno Domini
• Godomar, King of Burgundy
• Guntheuc, Queen of Orleans
• Justin I, Eastern Roman Emperor, 518-527
• Kaleb of Axum, King of Ethiopia
• Sigismund of Burgundy, King of the Burgundians, 516-524
• Theoderic the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, 475-526

Births

Transcluding articles: 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, and 529

520

• Hou Andu, general of the Chen dynasty (d. 563)
• Justin II, emperor of the Byzantine Empire (d. 578)
• Malo, Welsh bishop (approximate date)
• Martin of Braga, missionary and archbishop (d. 580)
• Pope Pelagius II of Rome (d. 589)
• Radegund, Frankish princess (approx.)
• Zuhayr bin Abi Sulma, Arabian poet (approx.)

521

• December 7 – Columba, Gaelic Irish missionary monk (d. 597)
• Agericus, bishop of Verdun (approximate date)
• Gao Cheng, high official and regent of Eastern Wei (d. 549)

522

• 15 October – Colmán of Cloyne, Irish monk (d. 600)
• Clodoald, Merovingian prince (approximate date)
• Wen Di, emperor of the Chen dynasty (d. 566)

523

• Aurelianus, archbishop of Arles (d. 551)

524

• September 18 – Kan Bahlam I, ruler of Palenque (d. 583)
• He Shikai, high official of Northern Qi (d. 571)
• Xiao Daqi, crown prince of Northern Qi (d. 551)
• Xiao Jing Di, emperor of Eastern Wei (d. 552)

525

• Alexander of Tralles, physician (approximate date)
• Pope Benedict I, Pope of Catholic church (d. 579)
• John Climacus, monk and writer (approximate date)
• Justin, Byzantine aristocrat and general (d. 566)
• Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths (d. 586)
• Wideok, king of Baekje (Three Kingdoms of Korea)
• Yujiulü, empress of Western Wei (d. 540)

526

• Wang Lin, general of the Liang Dynasty and Northern Wei (d. 573)
• Yuan Zhao ("the young lord"), emperor of Northern Wei (d. 528)

528

• February 12 – Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, nominal empress regnant of Northern Wei

529

• Wen Xuan Di, emperor of Northern Qi (d. 559)^[21]

Deaths

Transcluding articles: 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, and 529

520

• January 19 – John of Cappadocia, patriarch of Constantinople
• July – Vitalian, Byzantine general, consul
• Abbán, Irish cult leader and saint (approx.)
• Ardgal mac Conaill, king of Uisneach (Ireland)
• Isidore of Alexandria, Neoplatonist philosopher (approximate date)
• Maximinus, Frankish abbot and saint (approximate date)
• Zu Gengzhi, Chinese mathematician (approx.)

521

• July 17 – Magnus Felix Ennodius, bishop and Latin poet
• November 29 – Jacob of Serugh, Syrian poet and theologian

522

• Eutharic, son-in-law of Theodoric the Great^[22]
• Galan Erilich, king of the Picts (approximate date)
• Liu Xie, Chinese writer (approximate date) (b. 465)

523

• August 6 – Pope Hormisdas (b. 450)
• Arethas, leader of the Christian community in Yemen
• Muryeong, king of Baekje (Three Kingdoms of Korea)^[5]
• Philoxenus of Mabbug, Syrian theologian
• Thrasamund, king of the Vandals (b. 450)

524

• June 25 – Chlodomer, king of the Franks
• July 12 – Viventiolus, Archbishop of Lyon (b. 460)
• November 29 – Ahkal Moʼ Nahb I, ruler of Palenque (Mexico) (b. 465)
• Boethius, Roman philosopher and writer (b. 480)^[23]
• Brigit of Kildare, Irish patron saint^[24]
• Sanghapala, Mon-Khmer monk (b. 460)
• Sigismund, king of the Burgundians
• Zhou She, high official of Southern Liang (b. 469)

525

• Boethius, Roman philosopher and writer (or 524)
• Yuan Cha, high official of Northern Wei (approximate date)
• Yūsuf Dhū Nuwas, king of the Himyarite Kingdom (Yemen).

526

• May 18 – Pope John I^[9]
• August 30 – Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths (b. 454)^[25]
• October 30 – Paul of Edessa, Syriac Orthodox bishop of Edessa
• Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, Roman politician

527

• August 1 – Justin I, Byzantine Emperor (b. 450)
• Illan mac Dúnlainge, king of Leinster (Ireland)^[26]

528

• March 31 – Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 510)
• May 17
  • Empress Dowager Hu of Northern Wei
  • Yuan Yong, imperial prince of Northern Wei
  • Yuan Zhao, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 526)
• Anicia Juliana, daughter of Olybrius (approximate date)
• Bodhidharma, Buddhist monk (approximate date)
• Euphrasius, patriarch of Antioch (in the earthquake)
• Jabalah IV ibn al-Harith, king of the Ghassanids
• Justin, Byzantine general (magister militum)
• Procopius of Gaza, Christian sophist and rhetorician

529

• Baderic, king of the Thuringii (b. c. 480)^[27]
• Theodosius the Cenobiarch, monk and founder of the Monastery of St. Theodosius^[28]
• Yuan Hao, imperial prince of Northern Wei^[29]