istoryworld
Events relating to europe
St Benedict founds a monastery at Monte Cassino and writes a Rule for the monks which becomes the basis of the Benedictine order
Theodora shows her mettle, as empress, in her response to the anarchy and terror unleashed in Constantinople by the Nika revolt
The codification of Roman law, ordered by Justinian, is completed
Belisarius lands in Sicily at the start of a five-year campaign to recover Ravenna for the Byzantine emperor
The great domed church of Santa Sophia, bebuilt on the orders of Justinian, is completed after only five years of construction
The vast dome of Santa Sophia in Constantinople is supported on a square of four arches, making the most sophisticated use so far of the pendentive
Justinian and Theodora, each with a retinue of attendants, face each other in mosaic from the walls of San Vitale in Ravenna
The Slavs arrive in the Balkans and settle in all parts of the region except Albania
Most of Spain is by now in the hands of the Visigoths, though for a while the Byzantines win back territories in the south
St Columba establishes a monastery on the island of Iona, from which Celtic Christianity is carried to Scotland and northern England
The Lombards invade northern Italy, and within four years occupy it as far south as the Po
Fugitives from the Lombard invasion of northern Italy take refuge on islands in the Venetian lagoon - and become the founders of Venice
Byzantine Italy is brought under a new administration, or exarchate, based in Ravenna
The word filioque ('and from the Son') becomes a major bone of contention between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches
Gregory, bishop of Tours, brings his 'History of the Franks' up to this year
Pope Gregory I negotiates with the Lombards who are threatening Rome
Augustine, arriving with a party of monks from Rome, reaches Canterbury and is well received by the pagan king of Kent
Ritual intoning of the psalms, derived from Jewish synagogues, is formalized in Christian worship as Gregorian chant
The distinction between capital and lower-case emerges in the scriptoria of the Irish monasteries
The Scots, a tribal group of northern Ireland, extend their kingdom across the sea into Scotland
St Columban founds a monastery at Bobbio, the furthest outpost of Celtic Christianity
In the Frankish kingdoms the 'mayors of the palace' steadily become more powerful than their nominal masters, the Merovingian kings
The Book of Durrow, one of the earliest of the great Celtic manuscripts, is written and illuminated in Ireland
The Vikings develop the fast and narrow longships with which they raid across the North Sea
