580s

The 580s decade ran from January 1, 580, to December 31, 589.

580

This section is transcluded from AD 580. (edit | history)

By place

Byzantine Empire

• The 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.
• The Slavs begin to migrate into the Balkan Peninsula. The Avars, under King (khagan) Bayan I, invade the Lower Danube (modern Bulgaria).
• Siege of Sirmium: The Avars march to the right bank of the River Sava, and besiege the Byzantine stronghold of Sirmium (Pannonia).

Europe

• The Lombards drive the last Ostrogoths across the Alps (Northern Italy). During the "Rule of the Dukes" the Lombards adopt Roman titles, names, and traditions.^[1]
• King Liuvigild calls for an Arian synod in Toledo (central Spain), which modifies several doctrines; he tries to unify the Christians within the Visigothic Kingdom.

Britain

• Æthelberht succeeds his father Eormenric as king (bretwalda) of Kent (approximate date).

Asia

• The Northern Zhou dynasty, strategically based in the basin of the Wei River, is supreme in Northern China. In the south only the Chen dynasty remains a rival.^[2]
• The Chinese city of Ye (Henan) is razed to the ground by Yang Jian, future founder of the Sui dynasty, who defeats a resistance force under Yuchi Jiong.

By topic

Religion

• Gregory of Tours is brought before a council of bishops, on charges of slandering the Frankish queen Fredegund (approximate date).

Significant people

• Pope Gregory I
• Bahrām Chōbin
• Fredegund
• Guntram
• Emperor Wen of Sui
• Yan Zhitui

Births

Transcluding articles: 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, and 589

580

• Abdel Rahman ibn Awf, companion of Muhammad
• Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi, companion of Muhammad
• Cadfan ap Iago, king of Gwynedd (approximate date)
• Clemen ap Bledric, king of Dumnonia (approximate date)
• Dayi Daoxin, Chán Buddhist patriarch (d. 651)
• Didier of Cahors, Frankish bishop (approximate date)
• Fabia Eudokia, Byzantine empress (approximate date)
• Livinus, Irish apostle (approximate date)
• Maximus the Confessor, monk and theologian (d. 662)
• Pepin the Elder, Frankish Mayor of the Palace (d. 640)
• Umm Salama, wife of Muhammad (approximate date)
• Wei Zheng, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (d. 643)

581

• Sun Simiao, Chinese medicine doctor (approximate date)
• Yan Shigu, Chinese author of the Tang dynasty (d. 645)

582

• Arnulf of Metz, Frankish bishop and saint (approximate date)
• Li Mi, Chinese rebel leader during the Sui dynasty (d. 619)

583

• Abu Ubaidah, companion of Muhammad (d. 639

• Liuva II, king of the Visigoths (d. 603)
• Theodosius, Byzantine co-emperor (approximate date)
• Umar, companion of Muhammad (d. 644) and second Caliph of Rashidun Caliphate
• Xiao Xian, prince of the Liang dynasty (d. 621)

584

• Amand, bishop and saint (approximate date)
• Chlothar II, king of the Franks (d. 629)
• Yang Zhao, prince of the Sui dynasty (d. 606)

585

• Du Ruhui, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (d. 630)
• Edwin of Northumbria, king of Deira and Bernicia (d. 633)
• Goar of Aquitaine, priest and hermit (approximate date)
• Yang Jian, imperial prince of the Sui dynasty (d. 618)
• Yuchi Gong, general of the Tang dynasty (d. 658)
• Khalid Ibn Al-Walid, general of the rashidun Caliphate (d. 642)

586

• Theudebert II, king of Austrasia (d. 612)
• Yang Hao, prince of the Sui dynasty (approximate date)

587

• Soga no Emishi, statesman of Japan (d. 645)
• Theuderic II, king of Austrasia (d. 613)
• Zhang Xingcheng, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (d. 653)

588

• Eligius, bishop and saint (approximate date)
• Suintila, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)
• Yu Zhining, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (d. 665)

589

• Li Jiancheng, prince of the Tang dynasty (d. 626)
• Ramlah bint Abi Sufyan, wife of Muhammad (d. 666)

Deaths

Transcluding articles: 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, and 589

580

• Audovera, wife of Chilperic I (approximate date)
• Bacurius III, king of Iberia (Georgia)
• Eormenric, king of Kent (approximate date)
• Galam Cennalath, king of the Picts
• Gao Anagong, high official of Northern Qi
• Martin of Braga, missionary and archbishop
• Wei Xiaokuan, general of Western Wei (b. 509)
• Xuan Di, emperor of Northern Zhou (b. 559)
• Yuchi Jiong, general of Northern Zhou

581

• Feng Xiaolian, concubine of Gao Wei (approximate date)
• Jing Di, Chinese emperor of Northern Zhou (b. 573)
• Taspar Qaghan, ruler (khagan) of the Göktürks

582

• April 5 – Eutychius, patriarch of Constantinople
• August 14 – Tiberius II Constantine, Byzantine Emperor
• Agathias, Greek poet and historian (approximate date)
• Ashina, empress of Northern Zhou (b. 551)
• Justinian, Byzantine general (magister militum)
• Tamkhosrau, Sassanid Persian general (marzban)
• Xuan Di, emperor of the Chen dynasty (b. 530)

583

• February 1 – Kan Bahlam I, ruler of Palenque (b. 524)
• Miro, king of the Suevi (approximate date)

584

• April 15 – Ruadhán of Lorrha, Irish abbot and saint
• Chilperic I, king of Neustria (or Soissons)
• Deiniol, bishop of Bangor (Wales)
• Ingund, wife of Visigoth prince Hermenegild
• Maurus, Roman abbot and saint (b. 512)
• Approximate date – Bridei I, king of the Picts

585

• April 13 – Hermenegild, Visigothic prince (or 586)
• September 14 – Bidatsu, emperor of Japan (b. 538)^[24]
• Cassiodorus, Roman statesman and writer (approximate date)
• Frithuwald, king of Bernicia (approximate date)
• Gundoald, Merovingian usurper king (approximate date)
• John of Ephesus, Armenian bishop (approximate date)
• Rigunth, daughter of Chilperic I (b. 570)
• Xiao Ming Di, emperor of the Liang dynasty (b. 542)

586

• April 21 – Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths
• Hermenegild, Visigothic prince (or 585)
• Prætextatus, bishop of Rouen (or 589)
• Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd
• Zhu Manyue, empress of Northern Zhou (b. 547)

587

• April – Yōmei, emperor of Japan (b. 518)
• August 13 – Radegund, Frankish princess
• Æscwine, king of Essex (approximate date)
• Ishbara Qaghan, ruler (khagan) of the Göktürks
• Mononobe no Moriya, clan leader (Ō-muraji)
• Varāhamihira, Indian astronomer (b. 505)

588

• Áed mac Bricc, Irish bishop and saint
• Ælla, king of Deira (approximate date)
• Agericus, bishop of Verdun
• Fridianus, Irish prince and saint
• Li Ezi, empress of Northern Zhou (b. 536)
• Monulph, bishop of Maastricht

589

• March 1 – David, Welsh bishop and saint
• Bagha Qaghan, ruler of the Turkic Khaganate
• Finnian of Moville, Irish missionary (b. 495)
• Zhang Lihua, consort of the Chen dynasty

References

1. "The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 500–c. 700" by Paul Fouracre and Rosamond McKitterick (p. 8)
2. Imperial Chinese Armies (p. 24). C.J. Peers, 1995. ISBN 978-1-85532-514-2
3. Treadgold, p. 226
4. Martindale, Jones& Morris 1992, p. 36
5. Shahîd 1995, p. 459–462
6. Grousset 81
7. Martindale, Jones & Morris 1992, p. 679
8. Martindale, Jones & Morris 1992, p. 270
9. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 167
10. Sharer, Robert J.; Traxler, Loa P. (2006). The ancient Maya (6th ed.). Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 461. ISBN 978-0-8047-4817-9.
11. Rome at War (AD 293–696), p. 60. Michael Whitby, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-359-4
12. Imperial Chinese Armies (p. 33). C.J. Peers, 1995. ISBN 978-1-85532-514-2
13. Thompson 1979, p. 105
14. Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899), Book 12
15. Edmonds, Columba (1908)
16. Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 168; Whitby & Whitby 1986, pp. 41–43
17. History of the Byzantine Empire from DCCXVI to MLVII, George Finlay, p. 316
18. Martindale, Jones & Morris 1992, p. 322
19. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS A) s.a. 588
20. Tony Jaques, Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F–O, (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007), p. 463
21. Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 176
22. Litchi City Putian Archived May 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
23. A Chronicle of England (1864), James Edmund Doyle, p. 22
24. Brown, Delmer. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 262-263.

Bibliography

• Greatrex, Geoffrey; Lieu, Samuel N. C. (2002). The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (Part II, 363–630 AD). London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-14687-9.
• Martindale, John Robert; Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin; Morris, J., eds. (1992). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III: A.D. 527–641. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-20160-5.
• Whitby, Michael; Whitby, Mary (1986). The History of Theophylact Simocatta. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-822799-1.