By place edit

Europe edit

• King Childebert II, age 15, takes up his sole rule of Austrasia. A Frankish army under King Guntram marches to Comminges (Pyrenees), and besieges the citadel of Saint-Bertrand.
• July – Gundoald, Merovingian usurper king, and his followers are defeated during the siege of Saint-Bertrand. He is executed and Guntram stages a triumphal entry into Orléans.
• The Visigoths under King Liuvigild devastate the Suevic Kingdom in Gallaecia (northwest Spain). After the conquest, Liuvigild reintroduces the Arian Church among the Sueves.^[1]
• Winter – Famine strikes Gaul (according to Gregory of Tours). Traders plunder the people by selling scarcely a peck of grain or half measure of wine for the third of a gold piece.

Persia edit

• The Persian commander, Kardarigan ("black hawk"), begins an unsuccessful siege of Monokarton (modern Turkey).

Britain edit

• Hussa succeeds his brother Frithuwald as king of Bernicia (approximate date).
• Creoda becomes king of Mercia (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).

Asia edit

• September 15 – Emperor Bidatsu, age 47, dies of smallpox after a 13-year reign, and is succeeded by his brother Yōmei as the 31st emperor of Japan.
• Emperor Xiao Jing Di succeeds his father Xiao Ming Di as ruler of the Liang dynasty (China).

By topic edit

Religion edit

• King Wideok of Baekje (Korea) sends an official escort (bearing tribute), along with a master of Buddhist meditation, a reciter of Buddhist magic spells, a temple architect, and a sculptor of Buddhist images, to the Chinese court of the Sui dynasty (approximate date).
• The Armenian bishop Kardutsat goes with 7 priests, on a missionary trip to the steppes north of the Caucasus. He succeeds in baptizing many Huns and in translating books into their language.^[2]
• Columbanus, Irish missionary, gathers 12 companions for his journey to Britain, probably to the Scottish coast. After a short time, he crosses the English Channel and lands in Brittany (France).^[3]
• Zhiyi, Chinese monk, returns to the city of Jinling, where he completes his commentarial works on the Lotus Sutra.

• 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)

• April 13 – Hermenegild, Visigothic prince (or 586)
• September 14 – Bidatsu, emperor of Japan (b. 538)^[4]
• 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)