500
| Gregorian calendar | 500
D |
| Ab urbe condita | 1253 |
| Armenian calendar | N/A |
| Assyrian calendar | 5250 |
| Bahá'í calendar | −1344 – −1343 |
| Bengali calendar | −93 |
| Berber calendar | 1450 |
| English Regnal year | N/A |
| Buddhist calendar | 1044 |
| Burmese calendar | −138 |
| Byzantine calendar | 6008–6009 |
| Chinese calendar | 己卯年 (Earth Rabbit)
3196 or 3136
— to —
庚辰年 (Metal Dragon)
3197 or 3137 |
| Coptic calendar | 216–217 |
| Ethiopian calendar | 492–493 |
| Hebrew calendar | 4260–4261 |
| Hindu calendars | |
| - Vikram Samvat | 556–557 |
| - Shaka Samvat | 422–423 |
| - Kali Yuga | 3601–3602 |
| Holocene calendar | 10500 |
| Igbo calendar | −500 – −499 |
| Iranian calendar | 122 BP – 121 BP |
| Islamic calendar | 126 BH – 125 BH |
| Japanese calendar | N/A |
| Juche calendar | N/A |
| Julian calendar | 500
D |
| Korean calendar | 2833 |
| Minguo calendar | 1412 before ROC
民前1412年 |
| Thai solar calendar | 1043 |
500 C.C.
JEWISH HISTORY
(4260-4261 H.C.)
Asia
*It is believed that Abu-Kariba, the King of Himyar, converted to Judaism in this year.
The Himyarite Kingdom (anciently called the Homerite Kingdom by the Greeks and the Romans), was a state in ancient Yemen dating from 110 B.C.T. It conquered neighboring Saba (Sheba) around 25 B.C.T., Qataban around 200 C.C., and Hadramaut around 300 C.C. Its political fortunes relative to Saba (Sheba) changed frequently until it finally conquered the Sabaean Kingdom around 280 C.C.
The Himyarite Kingdom was the dominant state in Arabia until 525 C.C. The economy was based on agriculture. Foreign trade was based on the export of frankincense and myrrh. For many years, the Himyarite Kingdom was also the major intermediary linking East Africa and the Mediterranean world. This trade largely consisted of exporting ivory from Africa to be sold in the Roman Empire. Ships from Himyar regularly traveled the East African coast, and the state also exerted a considerable amount of political control of the trading cities of East Africa.
Between 110 B.C.T. and 300 C.C. the Himyarite Kingdom conquered the Kingdom of Sheba and took Redan for its capital instead of Ma’rib. Later on, Redan was called "Zifar." Its ruins still lie on Mudawwar Mountain near the town of "Yarim." During this period, they began to decline and fall. Their trade failed to a very great extent, firstly, because of the Nabetean domain over the north of Hijaz; secondly, because of the Roman superiority over the naval trade routes after the Roman conquest of Egypt, Syria and the north of Hijaz; and thirdly, because of inter-tribal warfare. Due to these factors, the families of Qahtan were disunited and scattered about all over Arabia.
After 300 C.C., the Himyarite Kingdom experienced a great deal of disorder and turmoil. The great many foreign and civil wars cost the people of Yemen their independence. During this era, the Aksumites invaded Tihama and Najran, making use of the constant intra-tribal conflict of Hamdan and Himyar. The Aksumite occupation of Tihama and Najran lasted until 378 C.C. Afterwards, Yemen expelled the Aksumites.
In the fifth century of the Christian calendar, several kings of Himyar are known to have converted to Judaism. The political context in which these conversions occurred centered on the position of Arabia between the competing empires of Christian Byzantium and Zoroastrian Persia. Neutrality, and good trade relations with both empires, was essential to the prosperity of the Arabian trade routes. It is theorized that the Himyarite kings choice of Judaism may have been an attempt at maintaining neutrality.
However, the conversion of Abu-Kariba was not an overt attempt to maintain neutrality but rather was a healing response.
Around 500 C.C., Abu-Kariba Assad, the King of Himyar, undertook a military expedition into northern Arabia in an effort to eliminate Byzantine influence. The Byzantine emperors had long eyed the Arabian Peninsula as a region in which to extend their influence, thereby to control the lucrative spice trade and the route to India. Without actually staging a conquest of the region, the Byzantines hoped to establish a protectorate over the pagan Arabs by converting them to Christianity. The cross would then bear commercial advantages as it did in Ethiopia. The Byzantines had made some progress in northern Arabia but had met with little success in Himyar.
Abu-Kariba’s forces reached Yathrib and, meeting no resistance and not expecting any treachery from the inhabitants, passed through the city, leaving a son of the king behind as governor. Scarcely had Abu-Kariba proceeded farther, when he received news that the people of Yathrib had killed his son. Smitten with grief, Abu-Kariba turned back in order to wreak bloody vengeance on the city. After cutting down the palm trees from which the inhabitants derived their main income, Abu-Kariba laid siege to the city.
The Jews of Yathrib fought side by side with pagan fellow inhabitants to defend their town and harried the besiegers with sudden sallies. During the siege, Abu-Kariba fell severely ill. Two Jewish scholars in Yathrib, Kaab and Assad by name, hearing of their enemy’s misfortune, called on the Abu-Kariba in his camp and used their knowledge of medicine to restore him to health. While attending Abu-Kariba, the Jews pleaded with Abu-Kariba to lift the siege and make peace.
The sages’ appeal is said to have persuaded Abu-Kariba . He called off his attack and also embraced Judaism along with his entire army. At his insistence, the two Jewish savants accompanied the Himyarite king back to his capital, where he demanded that all his people convert to Judaism.
Initially, there was great resistance. However, after an "ordeal" had justified the king’s demand and confirmed the "truth" of the Jewish faith, many Himyarites embraced Judaism. The conversions, however, were not total, and there remained as many pagans as Jews in the land.
Conversions, by ordeal, were not uncommon in Arabia. Some historians argue that the conversions occurred, not due to political motivations, but because Judaism, by its philosophical, simplistic and austere nature, was attractive to the nature of the Semitic people. In any event, it is known that by the sixth and seventh centuries of the Christian calendar, Judaism flourished in Himyar.
As for Abu-Kariba, his reign did not last long after his conversion to Judaism. His warlike nature prevented him from maintaining peace and prompted him to engage in bold enterprises. It is uncertain how Abu-Kariba met his death. However, some scholars believe that his own soldiers, worn out by constant campaigning, killed him.
After the demise of Abu-Kariba, a pagan named Dhu-Shanatir seized the throne.
***
*Liturgical poetry,
piyyut (a Greek derived term), was finely developed, at first, it would seem, in Israel.
A piyyut (plural piyyutim), is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Piyyutim have been written since Temple times. Most piyyutim are in Hebrew or Aramaic, and most follow some poetic scheme, such as an acrostic following the order of the Hebrew alphabet or spelling out the name of the author.
Many piyyutim are familiar to regular attendees of synagogue services. For example, the best-known piyyut may be Adon Olam ("Master of the World"), sometimes attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol in 11th century Spain. Its poetic form consists simply of rhyming iambic tetrameter, and it is so beloved that it is often sung at the conclusion of many synagogue services, after the ritual nightly saying of the Shema, and during the morning ritual of putting on tefillin. Another well-beloved piyyut is Yigdal ("May God be Hallowed"), which is based upon the Thirteen Principles of Faith developed by Maimonides. The author of a piyyut is known as a paytan (plural paytanim). Composed in learned Hebrew or Aramaic, piyyut drew on and played with biblical expressions and incorporated rabbinic exegesis (midrash). Piyyut was first introduced to stand in for non-fixed parts of the synagogue service (in an era when worshipers did not have prayer books), but it came to embellish parts of the Sabbath and especially festival liturgy when prayers became more standard.
Earlier piyyutim were anonymous, but there now began to appear works by the great classic paytanim (payyetanim), Yosi ben Yosi, Yannai, and Eleazar ben Kalir, Piyyut continued to flourish through the Middle Ages, especially in Mediterranean lands, from Israel to Spain.
***
CHRISTIAN HISTORY
(500 A.D.)
Europe
*Incense was introduced in Christian church services to cover up the smell of unwashed worshippers.
The use of incense dates back to biblical times and may have originated in Egypt, where the gums and resins of aromatic trees were imported from the Arabian and Somali coasts to be used in religious ceremonies. It was also used by the Pharaohs, not only to counteract unpleasant odors, but as they believed, also to drive away demons and gratify the presence of the gods.
The Babylonians used incense extensively while offering prayers to divining oracles. In India, around 2000 B.C.T., various writings mention "perfumers" and "incense sellers". Evidence suggests oils were used mainly for their aroma. Incense spread from there to Greece and Rome. Incense was imported into Israel in the 5th century B.C.T. to be used in religious offerings.
Brought to Japan in the 6th century of the Christian calendar by Chinese Buddhist monks, who used the mystical aromas in their purification rites, the delicate scents of Koh (high-quality Japanese incense) became a source of amusement and entertainmtne with nobles in the Imperial Court during the Heian Era 200 years later.
During the Shogunate period in the 14th century of the Christian calendar, samurai warriors would perfume their helmets and armor with incense to achieve a proud aura of invincibility. It was not until the Muromachi Era during the 15th and 16th century that incense appreciation (Kodo) spread to the upper and middle classes of Japanese society.
When, exactly, incense was introduced into the religious services of the Christian Church is not precisely known. During the first four centuries, there is no evidence for its use. Nevertheless, its common employment in the Temple and the references to it in the New Testament suggest an early familiarity with it in Christian worship.
Symbolically, incense, with its sweet-smelling perfume and high-ascending smoke, is typical of the good Christian's prayer, which, enkindled in the heart by the fire of God's love and exhaling the odor of Christ, rises up as a pleasing offering to God's sight.
***
*Dionysius Exiguus, the inventor of Anno Domini and the man whose work would lead to the establishment of Jesus' birthday as December 25, began living in Rome.
Dionysius Exiguus ("Dennis the Small", "Dennis the Dwarf", "Dennis the Little" or "Dennis the Short") (c. 470 – c. 544) was a 6th-century monk born in Scythia Minor, modern Dobruja shared by Romania and Bulgaria. He was a member of the Scythian monks community concentrated in Tomis, the major city of Scythia Minor. Dionysius is best known as the "inventor" of the Anno Domini (AD) era, which is used to number the years of both the Gregorian calendar and the (Christianized) Julian calendar.
From about 500 C. C., Dionysius lived in Rome, where, as a learned member of the Roman Curia, he translated from Greek into Latin 401 ecclesiastical canons, including the apostolical canons and the decrees of the councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Chalcedon and Sardis, and also a collection of the decretals of the popes from Siricius to Anastasius II. These collections had great authority in the West and still guide church administrations. Dionysius also wrote a treatise on elementary mathematics.
The author of a continuation of Dionysius's Computus, writing in 616, described Dionysius as a "most learned abbot of the city of Rome", and the Venerable Bede accorded him the honorific abbas, which could be applied to any monk, especially a senior and respected monk, and does not necessarily imply that Dionysius ever headed a monastery. Indeed, Dionysius's friend Cassiodorus stated in Institutiones that he was still only a monk late in life.
Dionysius is best known as the inventor of the Anno Domini era, which is used to number the years of both the Gregorian calendar and the Julian calendar. He used it to identify the several Easters in his Easter table, but did not use it to date any historical event. When he devised his table, Julian calendar years were identified by naming the consuls who held office that year. He himself stated that the "present year" was "the consulship of Probus Junior", which he also stated was 525 years "since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ". How he arrived at that number is unknown but there is evidence of the system he applied. He invented a new system of numbering years to replace the Diocletian years that had been used in an old Easter table because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians. The Anno Domini era became dominant in Western Europe only after it was used by the Venerable Bede to date the events in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731.
There exists evidence that Dionysius' desire to replace Diocletian years (Diocletian persecuted Christians) with a calendar based on the incarnation of Christ was to prevent people from believing the imminent end of the world. At the time it was believed that the Resurrection and the end of the world would occur 500 years after the birth of Jesus. The current Anno Mundi calendar commenced with the creation of the world based on information in the Old Testament. It was believed that based on the Anno Mundi calendar Jesus was born in the year 5500 (or 5500 years after the world was created) with the year 6000 of the Anno Mundi calendar marking the end of the world. Anno Mundi 6000 (approximately AD 500) was thus equated with the resurrection of Christ and the end of the world. Since this date had already passed in the time of Dionysius, he therefore searched for a new end of the world at a later date. He was heavily influenced by ancient cosmology, in particular the doctrine of the Great Year that places a strong emphasis on planetary conjunctions. This doctrine says that when all the planets were in conjunction that this cosmic event would mark the end of the world. Dionysius accurately calculated that this conjunction would occur in about 1500 years after the life of Dionysius (in fact in May AD 2000). Dionysius then applied another astronomical timing mechanism based on precession of the equinoxes (that had only been discovered about six centuries earlier). Though incorrect, some oriental astronomers at the time believed that the precessional cycle was 24,000 years which included twelve astrological ages of 2,000 years each. Dionysius believed that if the planetary alignment marked the end of an age (i.e., the Pisces age), then the birth of Jesus Christ marked the beginning of the Age of Pisces 2,000 years earlier on the 25th of March (the former feast of Incarnation, now Annunciation, near the date of the Northern Hemisphere Spring Equinox and beginning of many yearly calendars from ancient times). He, therefore, deducted 2,000 years from the May 2000 conjunction to produce AD 1 for the incarnation of Christ even though modern scholars and the Roman Catholic Church acknowledge that the birth of Jesus was a few years earlier than AD 1.
In 525, Dionysius prepared a table of the future dates of Easter and a set of "arguments" explaining their calculation (computus) on his own initiative, at the request of Pope John I. He introduced his tables and arguments via a letter to a bishop Petronius (also written in 525) and added another explanatory letter (written in 526). These works in volume 67 of the 217 volume Patrologia Latina also include a letter from Bishop Proterius of Alexandria to Pope Leo (written before 457). Though not named by Dionysius, this collection was recently called his Liber de Paschate (Book on Easter).
Dionysius ignored the existing tables used by the Church of Rome, which were prepared in 457 by Victorius of Aquitaine, complaining that they did not obey Alexandrian principles, without actually acknowledging their existence. To be sure that his own tables were correct, he simply extended a set of tables prepared in Alexandria that had circulated in the West in Latin, but were never used in the West to determine the date of Easter (however, they were used in the Byzantine Empire, in Greek). The Latin tables were prepared by a subordinate of Bishop Cyril of Alexandria shortly before Cyril's death in 444. They covered a period of 95 years or five decennovenal (19-year) cycles with years dated in the Diocletian Era, whose first year was 285 (the modern historical year in progress at Easter). Diocletian years were advantageous because their division by 19 yielded a remainder equal to the year of the decennovenal cycle (1–19).
Dionysius' tables were quickly adopted at Rome, and from this time the arguments between Rome and Alexandria regarding the correct date for the celebration of Easter came to an end – both used identical tables and hence observed the feast on the same day.
The epact (the age of the moon on 22 March) of all first decennovenal years was zero, making Dionysius the first known medieval Latin writer to use a precursor of the number zero. The Latin word nulla meaning no/none was used because no Roman numeral for zero existed. To determine the decennovenal year, the Dionysian year plus one was divided by 19. If the result was zero (to be replaced by 19), it was represented by the Latin word nihil, also meaning nothing. Both "zeros" continued to be used by (among others) Bede, by whose extension of Dionysius Exiguus’ Easter table to a great Easter cycle all future Julian calendar dates of Easter Sunday were fixed unambiguously at last. However, in medieval Europe one had to wait as late as the second millennium to see the number zero itself come into use, although it had come into being around the year 600 in India.
Dionysius copied the last decennovenal cycle of the Cyrillian table ending with Diocletian 247, and then added a new 95-year table with numbered Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi (Years of our Lord Jesus Christ) because, as he explained to Petronius, he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians. The only reason he gave for beginning his new 95-year table with the year 532 was that six years were still left in the Cyrillian table after the year during which he wrote. For the latter year he only stated that it was 525 years after the Incarnation of Christ, without stating when the latter event occurred in any other calendar. He did not realize that the dates of the Alexandrian Easter repeated after 532 years, despite his apparent knowledge of the Victorian 532-year 'cycle', indicating only that Easter did not repeat after 95 years. He knew that Victorian Easters did not agree with Alexandrian Easters, thus he no doubt assumed that they had no bearing on any Alexandrian cycle. Furthermore, he obviously did not realize that simply multiplying 19 by 4 by 7 (decennovenal cycle × cycle of leap years × days in a week) fixed the Alexandrian cycle at 532 years, otherwise he would have stated such a simple fact.
Most of the British Church accepted the Dionysian tables after the Synod of Whitby in 664, which agreed that the old British method (the insular latercus) should be dropped in favor of the Roman one. Quite a few individual churches and monasteries refused to accept them, the last holdout finally accepting them during the early 10th century. The Church of the Franks (France) accepted them during the late 8th century under the tutelage of Alcuin, after he arrived from Britain.
Ever since the 2nd century, some bishoprics in the Eastern Roman Empire had counted years from the birth of Christ, but there was no agreement on the correct epoch – Clement of Alexandria (c. 190) and Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 320) wrote about these attempts. Because Dionysius did not place the Incarnation in an explicit year, competent scholars have deduced both AD 1 and 1 BC. Most have selected 1 BC (historians do not use a year zero). Because the anniversary of the Incarnation was 25 March, which was near Easter, a year that was 525 years "since the Incarnation" implied that 525 whole years were completed near that Easter. Consequently one year since the Incarnation would have meant 25 March 1, meaning that Dionysius placed the Incarnation on 25 March 1 BC. Because the birth of Jesus was nine calendar months later, Dionysius implied, but never stated, that Jesus was born 25 December 1 BC. One scholar, Georges Declerq (Declerq, 2002), thinks that Dionysius placed the Incarnation and Nativity in AD 1, basing his conclusion on the structure of Dionysius's Easter tables. In either case, Dionysius ignored his predecessors, who usually placed the Nativity in the year we now label 2 BC. In his 1605 thesis, the Polish historian Laurentius Suslyga was the first to suggest that Christ was actually born around 4 BC, deriving this from the chronology of Herod the Great, his son Philip the Tetrarch, and the daughter of Augustus, Julia. Having read Suslyga's work, Kepler noted that Christ was born during the reign of King Herod the Great, whose death he placed in 4 BC. Kepler chose this year because Josephus stated that a lunar eclipse occurred shortly before Herod's death. According to Josephus, Herod died in the year 4 or 3 BC.
Although Dionysius stated that the First Council of Nicaea in 325 sanctioned his method of dating Easter, the surviving documents are ambiguous. A canon of the council implied that the Roman and Alexandrian methods were the same even though they were not, whereas a delegate from Alexandria stated in a letter to his brethren that their method was supported by the council. In either case, Dionysius' method had actually been used by the Church of Alexandria (but not by the Church of Rome) at least as early as 311, and probably began during the first decade of the 4th century, its dates naturally being given in the Alexandrian calendar. Thus Dionysius did not develop a new method of dating Easter. The most that he may have done was convert its arguments from the Alexandrian calendar into the Julian calendar.
***
*Clotilde, the queen of the Visigothic King Amalaric, was born around this year.
Clotilde (or Chrodechildis) (c. 500–531) was the daughter of King Clovis I of the Franks and Queen Clotilde and the queen of the Visigothic King Amalaric. She was born circa 500.
Clotilde married Amalaric in 511, and ties between both families were initially positive. Clotilde was a Catholic, while Amalaric and his fellow-Visigoths were Arians. Clotilde refused to adopt her husband's religious practices and complained to her kin that she was persecuted for her faith. Amalaric was subsequently kicked out from Narbonne. War ensued in 531 between Clotilde's brother, King Childebert I, and her husband, at Barcelona, Spain. Amalaric was eventually defeated and killed and Clotilde returned to Francia with the Frankish army, but died on the journey and was buried at Paris.
***
*Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, was born around this year.
Saint David (Welsh: Dewi Sant; c. 500 – c. 589) was a Welsh bishop of Menevia during the 6th century; he was later regarded as a saint and as the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and a relatively large amount of information is known about his life. However, his birth date is still uncertain, as suggestions range from 462 to 512. The Welsh annals place his death 569 years after the birth of Christ, but Phillimore's dating revised this to 601.
Many of the traditional tales about David are found in the Buchedd Dewi, a hagiography written by Rhygyfarch in the late 11th century. Rhygyfarch claimed it was based on documents found in the cathedral archives. Modern historians are sceptical of some of its claims: one of Rhygyfarch's aims was to establish some independence for the Welsh church, which had refused the Roman rite until the 8th century and now sought a metropolitan status equal to that of Canterbury. (This may apply to the supposed pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he was anointed as an archbishop by the patriarch).
He became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding monastic settlements and churches in Wales, Dumnonia, and Brittany. St David's Cathedral stands on the site of the monastery he founded in the Glyn Rhosyn valley of Pembrokeshire. He rose to a bishopric and presided over two synods against Pelagianism: the first at Brefi around 560 and the second at Caerleon (the "Synod of Victory") around 569.
His best-known miracle is said to have taken place when he was preaching in the middle of a large crowd at the Synod of Brefi: the village of Llanddewi Brefi stands on the spot where the ground on which he stood is reputed to have risen up to form a small hill. A white dove, which became his emblem, was seen settling on his shoulder. David is said to have denounced Pelagianism during this incident and he was declared archbishop by popular acclaim according to Rhygyfarch, bringing about the retirement of Dubricius. David's metropolitan status as an archbishopric was later supported by Bernard, Bishop of St. David's, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Gerald of Wales.
The Monastic Rule of David prescribed that monks had to pull the plough themselves without draught animals, must drink only water and eat only bread with salt and herbs, and spend the evenings in prayer, reading and writing. No personal possessions were allowed: even to say "my book" was considered an offence. He lived a simple life and practised asceticism, teaching his followers to refrain from eating meat and drinking beer. His symbol, also the symbol of Wales, is the leek (this largely comes from a reference in Shakespeare's Henry V, Act V scene 1).
Rhygyfarch counted Glastonbury Abbey among the churches David founded. Around forty years later William of Malmesbury, believing the Abbey older, said that David visited Glastonbury only to rededicate the Abbey and to donate a travelling altar including a great sapphire. He had had a vision of Jesus who said that "the church had been dedicated long ago by Himself in honour of His Mother, and it was not seemly that it should be re-dedicated by human hands". So David instead commissioned an extension to be built to the abbey, east of the Old Church. (The dimensions of this extension given by William were verified archaeologically in 1921). One manuscript indicates that a sapphire altar was among the items King Henry VIII confiscated from the abbey at its dissolution a thousand years later.
It is claimed that David lived for over 100 years, and that he died on a Tuesday March 1 (now Saint David's Day). It is generally accepted that this was around 590, however, March 1 actually fell on a Tuesday in 589. The monastery is said to have been "filled with angels as Christ received his soul." His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. The Welsh Life of St David gives these as: "Bydwch lawen a chedwch ych ffyd a'ch cret, a gwnewch y petheu bychein a glywyssawch ac a welsawch gennyf i. A mynheu a gerdaf y fford yd aeth an tadeu idi", which translates as, "Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us." "Do ye the little things in life" ("Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd") is today a very well known phrase in Welsh.
David was buried at Saint David's Cathedral at Saint David's, Pembrokeshire, where his shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. During the 10th and 11th centuries the Cathedral was regularly raided by Vikings, who removed the shrine from the church and stripped off the precious metal adornments. In 1275, a new shrine was constructed, the ruined base of which remains to this day, which was originally surmounted by an ornamental wooden canopy with murals of Saint David, Saint Patrick and Saint Denis of France. The relics of Saint David and Saint Justinian were kept in a portable casket on the stone base of the shrine. It was at this shrine that Edward I came to pray in 1284. During the reformation Bishop Barlow (1536–48), a staunch Protestant, stripped the shrine of its jewels and confiscated the relics of David and Justinian.
David's popularity in Wales is shown by the Armes Prydein Fawr, of around 930, a popular poem which prophesied that in the future, when all might seem lost, the Cymry (the Welsh people) would unite behind the standard of David to defeat the English; "A lluman glân Dewi a ddyrchafant" ("And they will raise the pure banner of Dewi"). Unlike many contemporary "saints" of Wales, David was officially recognized at the Vatican by Pope Callixtus II in 1120, thanks to the work of Bernard, Bishop of Saint David's.
David's life and teachings have inspired a choral work by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, Dewi Sant. It is a seven-movement work best known for the classical crossover series Adiemus, which intersperses movements reflecting the themes of David's last sermon with those drawing from three Psalms. An oratorio by another Welsh composer Arwel Hughes, also entitled Dewi Sant, was composed in 1950.
Saint David is also thought to be associated with corpse candles, lights that would warn of the imminent death of a member of the community. The story goes that David prayed for his people to have some warning of their death, so that they could prepare themselves. In a vision, David's wish was granted and told that from then on, people who lived in the land of Dewi Sant (Saint David) "would be forewarned by the dim light of mysterious tapers when and where the death might be expected." The color and/or size of the tapers indicated whether the person to die would be a woman, man, or child.
In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, David is listed under 1 March with the Latin name Dávidis. He is recognized as bishop of Menevia in Wales who governed his monastery following the example of the Eastern Fathers. Through his leadership, many monks went forth to evangelize Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and Armorica (Brittany and surrounding provinces).
***
*Fedelmid Find, a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh diocese, Ireland and Primate of All Ireland from 558 to 578, is believed to have been born in this year.
Fedelmid Find (Also called Feidlimid Fin, Fethlin Fionn, Feidhlimidh Finn, Feidlimidh, Fedlimid, Fedilmid, Feidilmed) b. c.500 - d.30 October 578, was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh diocese, Ireland and Primate of All Ireland from 558 to 578.
Saint Fedelmid Find was a descendant or grandson of Fáelan and was born c. 500 in a place called Domnach Nemand. He was presumably a younger son as he was destined for the church rather than succeeding to the family estate. He probably did not have a wife or children as he is referred to as “virginal” in the Martyrology of Gorman.
On the death of Saint Fiachra mac Colmain, the Archbishop of Armagh on July 25, 558, Fedelmid Find was appointed as the 11th Archbishop in succession to Saint Patrick. Fedelmid Find reigned as Archbishop for 20 years.
Fedelmid Find died in 578. After his death Fedelmid Find was venerated as a saint and his feast was celebrated on the 30th of October, the day of his death.
***
*Conal, an Irish bishop, is believed to have died in this year.
Conal (also known as Conall or Conall Stickler) was an Irish bishop who flourished in the second half of the fifth century and ruled over the church of Drum, County Roscommon, the place being subsequently named Drumconnell, after Conal.
Attracta is said to have prophesied that the episcopal churches of Conal (Drumconnell) and Dachonna (Eas Dachonna) would be reduced to poverty, owing to the fame of a new monastic establishment. This prophecy was strikingly fulfilled, inasmuch as Drum and Assylin soon after ceased to be episcopal sees, while in 1148 the great Cistercian Abbey of Boyle was founded.
Conal died about the year 500, and his feast is celebrated on May 22, though some assign the March 18 or February 9 as the date.
BUDDHIST HISTORY
Asia
*Bhavyaviveka, the founder of the Svatantrika tradition of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhism, is believed to have been born in this year.
Bhavyaviveka (or Bhavya) (Chinese: 清辯 (pinyin: Qīngbiàn); (c. 500 – c. 578) was the founder of the Svatantrika tradition of the Mādhyamaka school of Buddhism. Bhavyaviveka is one of the first Buddhist logicians to employ the 'formal syllogism' of Indian Logic in expounding the Mādhyamaka which he employed to considerable effect in his commentary to Nagarjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, entitled the Prajñāpradīpa.
According to one source, Bhavyaviveka was born to the east of Magadha in India of a Kashatriya family. He was ordained by Nagarjuna.
Another source claims he was born of a royal family of "Mālaya-ra" in South India. After becoming a monk he travelled to Madhya-desa ('Middle India') and received teachings on the Mahayana sutras and Nagarjuna's texts from Acarya Samgharakṣita. After this he returned to southern India and became the head of 50 temples and taught extensively.
Bhavya wrote an independent work on the Madhyamaka entitled the Madhyamakahrdaya-karika in which Bhavya in turn wrote an auto-commentary entitled the Tarkajvala (Blaze of Reasoning).
The Prajñāpradīpa is Bhavyaviveka's commentary upon Nagarjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The Sanskrit is no longer extant (except for a few embedded quotations in the Prasannapadā, Candrakīrti's commentary of the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā and critique of the Prajñāpradīpa) but is available in both an excellent Tibetan translation, rendered by Jñānagarbha and Cog ro Klu'i rgyal mtshan in the early ninth century. The Sanskrit name has been reconstructed as either Prajñāpradīpa or Janāndeepa (where Janāndeepa may or may not be a Prakrit corruption or a poor inverse-translation, for example).
After the death of Buddhapalita (470–550), Bhavyaviveka refuted his views by writing a commentary on the Root Wisdom called Wisdom Lamp (Janāndeepa) relying on Nagarjuna's teachings. This text laid the foundations for the Svatantrika school of Buddhism.
In the Svatantrika tradition reasoning is used to establish that phenomena (dharmas) have no self-nature, and further arguments to establish that the true nature of all phenomena is emptiness. This school differs from the predominant Prasangika tradition in that the latter refrain from making any assertions whatsoever about the true nature of phenomena.
The designation as Bhavyaviveka as 'founder' of the Svatantrika school is not uncontroversial, not least because the very existence of an independent 'Svatantrika' school in India is not well attested. While it is certain that later Tibetan doxographers divided the Madhyamaka philosophy of Nagarjuna into Svatantrika (other inference) and Prasangkika (consequence), and that this manner of division has currency today in contemporary Tibetan monasteries, other methods of division existed.
In the lineage of the Tibetan Panchen Lamas there were considered to be four Indian and three Tibetan mindstream emanations of Amitabha Buddha before Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, who is recognised as the first Panchen Lama. The lineage starts with Subhuti, one of the original disciples of Gautama Buddha. Bhavaviveka is considered to be the third Indian mindstream emanation of Amitabha Buddha in this line.
***
GENERAL HISTORY
Asia
*Erzhu Shilong, an official of the Chinese Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei, was born in this year.
Erzhu Shilong (爾朱世隆) (500–532), courtesy name Rongzong (榮宗), was an official of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei. He first became prominent after his cousin Erzhu Rong overthrew Emperor Xiaoming's mother Empress Dowager Hu (after she poisoned Emperor Xiaoming) and made Emperor Xiaozhuang emperor. Later, when Emperor Xiaozhuang killed Erzhu Rong in 530, Erzhu Shilong participated in the counterattack that overthrew Emperor Xiaozhuang, and thereafter controlled the imperial government during the reign of Emperor Jiemin. When the general Gao Huan, in turn, rebelled in response to Emperor Xiaozhuang's death, the officials in the imperial capital Luoyang rebelled against the Erzhus, and Erzhu Shilong was executed after failing to flee Luoyang.
Erzhu Shilong was a cousin of Erzhu Rong and a fellow member of the ethnic Xiongnu Qihu (契胡) tribe, of which Erzhu Rong was chief. (They were at most as close as second cousins, as they did not have the same grandfather.) Unlike Erzhu Rong, who served his entire career as a general and not a civilian official, Erzhu Shilong was part of the imperial administration during the reign of Emperor Xiaoming, although he became a commander of the imperial guards as well.
In 528, Emperor Xiaoming, in a dispute with his mother Empress Dowager Hu over the continued control of the imperial administration along with her lover Zheng Yan (鄭儼) and Zheng's associate Xu Ge (徐紇), conspired with Erzhu Rong to have Erzhu Rong advance on the capital Luoyang to force Empress Dowager Hu to yield power. When Empress Dowager Hu discovered this, she poisoned Emperor Xiaoming to death and made his distant toddler nephew, Yuan Zhao, emperor. Erzhu Rong immediately denounced her publicly. In order to try to calm Erzhu Rong, Empress Dowager Hu sent Erzhu Shilong to him to try to explain her actions, and while Erzhu Rong wanted to keep Erzhu Shilong with him, Erzhu Shilong chose to return to Luoyang, reasoning that if he did not, Empress Dowager Hu would be aware that Erzhu Rong was planning to attack Luoyang and would take precautions.
Erzhu Rong soon advanced quickly on Luoyang; as he did, Erzhu Shilong secretly fled out of Luoyang and joined him at Shangdang (上黨, in modern Changzhi, Shanxi). Empress Dowager Hu's forces surrendered without significant combat. Erzhu Rong made Yuan Ziyou the Prince of Changle emperor (as Emperor Xiaozhuang), while throwing Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Zhao into the Yellow River to drown. He also slaughtered a large number of imperial officials, and he installed a number of his close associates, among whom was Erzhu Shilong, into high positions in the imperial government.
Emperor Xiaozhuang appointed Erzhu Shilong pushe (僕射) -- a high level imperial official—and placed him in charge of the civil service system. Erzhu Shilong, initially fearing that he was not capable for the position, spent much time and energy studying the laws and regulations, and reformed the system so that it was no longer strictly seniority-based. He received much praise for the reforms. Emperor Xiaozhuang also named him the Duke of Leping.
In 529, when Yuan Hao, the Prince of Beihai, claimed the throne with the support by rival Liang Dynasty troops, and Yuan Hao invaded and advanced toward Luoyang, Emperor Xiaozhuang made Erzhu Shilong be in charge of the key fortress of Hulao (虎牢, in modern Zhengzhou, Henan). Erzhu Shilong, however, lacked military talent, and when the Liang general Chen Qingzhi (陳慶之) captured the nearby city of Yingyang (滎陽, also in modern Zhengzhou), Erzhu Shilong, in panic, abandoned Hulao and fled back to Luoyang, causing Emperor Xiaozhuang to flee the capital. Because of this, when Emperor Xiaozhuang was north of the Yellow River, he demoted Erzhu Shilong to be the governor of Xiang Province (相州, roughly modern Handan, Hebei)However, after Emperor Xiaozhuang returned to Luoyang later that year after Erzhu Rong defeated Yuan Hao, Erzhu Shilong was restored to his position as pushe.
Emperor Xiaozhuang eventually came to fear that Erzhu Rong had designs on the throne. These fears were exacerbated by the chilly relationship that Emperor Xiaozhuang had with his wife, Erzhu Rong's daughter Empress Erzhu Ying'e. Because of Empress Erzhu's jealousy. Emperor Xiaozhuang once asked Erzhu Shilong to try to ask Empress Erzhu to change her ways, and during the conversation Erzhu Shilong had with Empress Erzhu, she remarked that the Erzhus made Emperor Xiaozhuang emperor and that the situation was still changeable. Erzhu Shilong commented that if Erzhu Rong had taken the throne, he would have been an imperial prince. In 530, when Empress Erzhu became pregnant, Erzhu Rong arrived in the capital to attend to her birth, and it was around this time that Emperor Xiaozhuang plotted with the officials Yuan Hui (元徽), the Prince of Chengyang, Li Yu (李彧), Yang Kan (楊侃), and Yuan Luo (元羅) to ambush Erzhu Rong. Erzhu Shilong heard rumors of this, and he personally wrote a warning to Erzhu Rong, but Erzhu Rong failed to heed the warning. Subsequently, when Erzhu Rong was in the palace, Emperor Xiaozhuang ambushed and killed him. Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Rong's wife Princess Beixiang fought their way out of the capital.
Initially, Erzhu Shilong was going to lead the remnants of Erzhu Rong's guards immediately to the Erzhus' stronghold of Jinyang (晉陽, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), then guarded by Erzhu Rong's nephew Erzhu Zhao. Erzhu Rong's strategist Sima Ziru (司馬子如) advised Erzhu Shilong that he needed to quickly make a show of strength to Emperor Xiaozhuang before doing so, and Erzhu Shilong therefore attacked and seized both Beizhong (北中, a fortress directly north of Luoyang across the Yellow River) and the Yellow River bridge connecting Luoyang and Beizhong. Emperor Xiaozhuang tried to get Erzhu Shilong to submit by offering him an "iron certificate" (鐵券, tie quan, which could be used against a death-eligible crime) to Erzhu Shilong if he would be willing to give up resisting. Erzhu Shilong refused—declaring that if Erzhu Rong could be killed after accomplishing so much, the certificate was meaningless. Emperor Xiaozhuang's troops and the Erzhus' troops stalemated for half a month, before an ambush by Emperor Xiaozhuang's official Li Miao (李苗) destroyed the Yellow River bridge, causing Erzhu Shilong to decide to march north. Erzhu Shilong met with Erzhu Zhao at Zhangzi (長子, in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), and they jointly declared Princess Beixiang's nephew Yuan Ye, the Prince of Changguang, emperor, as a competing candidate for the throne. Yuan Ye then named Erzhu Shilong the Prince of Leping.
Soon, the Erzhu forces, under Erzhu Zhao's command, advanced south and caught Emperor Xiaozhuang, who did not expect Erzhu Zhao to be able to cross the Yellow River easily, by surprise when he had his army ride on horsebacks across the river around the new year 531. Emperor Xiaozhuang's imperial guards collapsed, and he was captured by Erzhu Zhao's cavalry soldiers and imprisoned, less than three months after he had killed Erzhu Rong. Erzhu Zhao killed Emperor Xiaozhuang's infant son (by Empress Erzhu), while allowing his soldiers to pillage Luoyang, killing many officials and raping many noble women.
Erzhu Zhao, believing that he had accomplished much, was arrogant in his attitude toward Erzhu Shilong, blaming Erzhu Shilong for failing to sufficiently warn Erzhu Rong. Erzhu Shilong apologized profusely, but bore resentment against Erzhu Zhao after that point. Erzhu Zhao soon returned to Jinyang, leaving Erzhu Shilong in control of Luoyang and the imperial administration. Erzhu Shilong, meanwhile, apprehensive that Yuan Ye's mother Lady Wei might exert political influence, had her assassinated, staging the assassination to look like a robbery.
Erzhu Zhao soon had Emperor Xiaozhuang strangled to death. In light of the Emperor's death, the Erzhus controlled all the important functions of the government. Erzhu Shilong controlled the imperial government, quickly reorganizing it and restoring order in Luoyang. Erzhu Zhao was recognized as the paramount military authority, and controlled the provinces north of the Yellow River, while Erzhu Rong's nephew Erzhu Tianguang controlled the Guanzhong region, and Erzhu Shilong's brother Erzhu Zhongyuan (爾朱仲遠) controlled the southeastern provinces.
In early 531, before the new emperor Yuan Ye could arrive in Luoyang, Erzhu Shilong and his brothers Erzhu Zhongyuan and Erzhu Yanbo (爾朱彥伯), as well as Erzhu Tianguang, because Yuan Ye's lineage was distant from that of recent emperors, believed him to be an inappropriate choice as emperor. Erzhu Tianguang proposed Yuan Gong, the Prince of Guangling, a grandson of Emperor Xianwen, who had been well regarded by the populace. Erzhu Shilong sent Erzhu Yanbo to persuade Yuan Gong to accept the throne, and Yuan Gong agreed. When Yuan Ye arrived in Luoyang, Erzhu Shilong forced him to yield the throne to Yuan Gong, who took the throne as Emperor Jiemin. (Erzhu Zhao, who was not consulted, was initially angry and considered attacking Erzhu Shilong. He only calmed down after Erzhu Shilong sent Erzhu Yanbo to Jinyang to explain the decision to him.)
Erzhu Shilong, by this point, had grown complacent and arrogant, and no longer paid as much attention to handling his duties as well as he had done during Emperor Xiaozhuang's reign. He tried to appease military commanders by promoting most of them to generals, and as a result, the "general" title became no longer a valued one.
Meanwhile, the other members of the Erzhu clan were also growing corrupt, particularly Erzhu Zhongyuan. The general Gao Huan, who had been a follower of Erzhu Rong, believed that the Erzhus could be overthrown, and rebelled in the summer of 531. The members of the Erzhu clan were largely unconcerned, due to Gao's inferiority in numbers, but Erzhu Shilong, knowing Gao's abilities, was concerned. Gao soon declared another distant member of the imperial Yuan clan, Yuan Lang, emperor. When the Erzhu forces converged at Guang'a (廣阿, in modern Xingtai, Hebei) to face Gao, Gao used false rumors to make them suspicious of each other—by making Erzhu Zhao believe that Erzhu Shilong and his brothers were conspiring against him, and by making Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Zhongyuan believing that Erzhu Zhao was conspiring with Gao. As a result, after a major quarrel between Erzhu Zhao and Erzhu Zhongyuan, Erzhu Zhongyuan and Erzhu Rong's cousin Erzhu Dulü (爾朱度律) withdrew, leaving Erzhu Zhao, albeit with still a much larger army than Gao's, alone against Gao. Gao subsequently defeated him, and, brushing his army aside, continued to advance south, entering the important city Yecheng in the spring of 532.
The Erzhu forces recoalesced, and to cement the unity, under Erzhu Shilong's suggestion, Emperor Jiemin married a daughter of Erzhu Zhao and made her his empress. Erzhu Zhao thereafter led a counterattack, trying to capture Yecheng, but was defeated by Gao. After the defeat, instead of turning his army back to Luoyang to join with Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Tianguang (who had by this point arrived from his base in Chang'an), Erzhu Zhao returned to Jinyang. The general Husi Chun rose against the Erzhus at Luoyang, capturing Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Yanbo, and then beheaded them outside the city gates.
***
*Around the year 500, Procopius, the noted Byzantine historian, was born.
Procopius (b. probably between 490 and 507 [c. 500] in Caesarea, Palestine [now in Israel] - d. c. 565) was a Byzantine historian whose works are an indispensable source for his period and contain much geographical information.
From 527 to 531 he was adviser (consilarius) to the military commander Belisarius on his first Persian campaign. In 533 and 534, he took part in an expedition against the Vandals and was in Africa until 536, when he joined Belisarius in Sicily. He was in Italy on the Gothic campaign until 540, after which he apparently returned to Constantinople, since he describes the great plague of 542 in the capital. Nothing is known with certainty of his subsequent life. He may have been prefect of Constantinople in 562.
Procopius’ writings fall into three divisions: the Polemon (De bellis; Wars), in eight books; Peri Ktismaton (De aedificiis; Buildings), in six books; and the Anecdota (Historia arcana; Secret History), published posthumously.
The Wars consists of: (1) the Persian Wars (two books), on the long struggle of the emperors Justin I and Justinian I against the Persian kings Kavadh and Khosrow I down to 549, (2) the Vandal War (two books), describing the conquest of the Vandal kingdom in Africa and subsequent events from 532 to 548, and (3) the Gothic War (three books), describing the war against the Ostrogoths in Sicily and Italy from 536 to 551. The eighth book contains a further summary of events down to 553.
The Buildings contains an account of the chief public works undertaken during the reign of Justinian down to 560. If not written at the command of Justinian (as some have supposed), it is evidently grounded on official information and is a valuable source of information.
The Secret History purports to be a supplement to the Wars, containing explanations and additions that the author could not insert into the latter work for fear of Justinian and Theodora. It is a vehement invective against these sovereigns, with attacks on Belisarius and his wife, Antonina, and on other noted officials. Owing to the ferocity of the attacks upon Justinian, the authenticity of the Secret History was questioned, but Procopius’ authorship is now generally recognized.
*Theodora, the empress of the Byzantine Roman Empire, may have been born in this year.
Theodora, (b. c. [497] 500 - d. June 28, 548, Constantinople [now Istanbul, Turkey]), was the Byzantine empress, - the wife of the emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565), probably the most powerful woman in Byzantine history. Her intelligence and political acumen made her Justinian’s most trusted adviser and enabled her to use the power and influence of her office to promote religious and social policies that favored her interests.
Little is known of Theodora’s early life, but a combination of the official version with that found in the highly colored Secret History of Procopius of Caesarea probably provides the best explanation. Her father was a bear keeper at the Hippodrome (circus) in Constantinople. She became an actress while still young, leading an unconventional life that included giving birth to at least one child out of wedlock. For a time, she made her living as a wool spinner. When Justinian met her, she had been converted to monophysitism, a non-orthodox doctrine that maintains that Jesus had one nature and not the orthodox two. Attracted by her beauty and intelligence, he made her his mistress, raised her to the rank of patrician, and in 525 married her. When Justinian succeeded to the throne in 527, she was proclaimed augusta - empress.
Theodora exercised considerable influence, and though she was never co-regent, her superior intelligence and deft handling of political affairs caused many to think that it was she, rather than Justinian, who ruled Byzantium. Her name is mentioned in nearly all the laws passed during that period. She received foreign envoys and corresponded with foreign rulers, functions usually reserved for the emperor. Her influence in political affairs was decisive, as illustrated in the Nika revolt of January 532. The two political factions in Constantinople, the Blues and the Greens, united in their opposition to the government and set up a rival emperor. Justinian’s advisers urged him to flee, but Theodora advised him to stay and save his empire, whereupon Justinian’s general, Belisarius, herded the rioters into the Hippodrome and cut them to pieces.
Theodora is remembered as one of the first rulers to recognize the rights of women, passing strict laws to prohibit the traffic in young girls and altering the divorce laws to give greater benefits to women. She spent much of her reign trying to mitigate the laws against the monophysites. Though she succeeded in ending their persecution in 533, she never succeeded in changing Justinian’s religious policy from its emphasis on orthodoxy and friendship with Rome.
The best-known representation of Theodora is the mosaic portrait in the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna. Her death, possibly from cancer or gangrene, was a severe blow to Justinian. Her importance in Byzantine political life is shown by the fact that little significant legislation dates from the period between her death in 548 and that of Justinian in 565.
***
*Marinus, the author of a biography of Proclus (a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher and one of the last major Classical philosophers), died.
Marinus was a Neoplatonist philosopher born in Flavia Neapolis (modern Nablus), Palestine around 450 C.C. He was probably a Samaritan, or possibly a Jew.
Marinus came to Athens at a time when, with the exception of Proclus, there was a great dearth of eminent men in the Neoplatonist school. It was for this reason rather than for any striking ability of his own that he succeeded to the headship of the school on the death of Proclus in 485.
During this period, the professors of the old Greek religion suffered persecution at the hands of the Christians and Marinus was compelled to seek refuge at Epidaurus.
Marinus' chief work was a biography of Proclus, the chief source of information on Proclus' life. The publication of the biography is fixed by internal evidence to the year of Proclus's death. Marinus' biography of Proclus was first published with the works of Marcus Aurelius in 1559. It was republished separately by Fabricius at Hamburg in 1700, and re-edited in 1814 by Boissonade with emendations and notes. He is also the author of a commentary on the Data of Euclid.
Other philosophical works are attributed to Marinus, including commentaries on Aristotle and on the Philebus. Marinus died in 500 AD, possibly in Athens.
***
*Zu Chongzhi, a Chinese mathematician known for his calculations of pi, died.
Zu Chongzhi, [Wade-Giles Tsu Ch’ung-chih] (b. 429, Jiankang [modern Nanjing, Jiangsu province], China - d. 500, China), was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, and engineer who created the Daming calendar and found several close approximations for pi.
Like his grandfather and father, Zu Chongzhi was a state functionary. Around 462 he submitted a memorandum to the throne that criticized the current calendar, the Yuanjia (created by He Chengtian [370–447]), and proposed a new calendar system that would provide a more precise number of lunations per year and take into consideration the precession of the equinoxes. His calendar, the Daming calendar, was finally adopted in 510 through the efforts of his son, Zu Geng.
Li Chunfeng (602–670) called Zu Chongzhi the best mathematician ever and gave him credit for three approximations of π: 22/7, 355/113, and the interval 3.1415926 < π < 3.1415927; the third result remained the best in the world until improved by the Arab mathematician al-Kashi (flourished c. 1400). Zu also worked on the mathematical theory of music and metrology, and he constructed several devices, such as a semi-legendary “south-pointing carriage” (most likely a mechanical device that kept a pointer in a fixed position); the carriage was topped by a symbolic figure that, once properly aligned, would always point to the south. None of his writings has survived.
*Bavaria was invaded by the Marcomanni from Bohemia.
The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri or the Suebi. It is believed that their name derives possibly from Proto-Germanic forms of "march" ("frontier, border") and "men".
The Marcomanni settled in the Main River valley soon after 100 B.C.T. To escape Roman aggression in 9 B.C.T. the Marcomanni migrated east to Bohemia, where their king Maroboduus established a powerful kingdom that Augustus perceived as a threat to Rome. Before he could act, however, the revolt in Illyria intervened. Eventually Maroboduus was deposed and exiled by Catualda (19 C.C.).
Tacitus, in the late 1st century of the Christian calendar, mentions the Marcomanni as being under kings appointed by Rome.
In the 2nd century of the Christian calendar, the Marcomanni entered into a confederation with other peoples including the Quadi, Vandals, and Sarmatians, against the Roman Empire. This was probably driven by movements of larger tribes, like the Goths. According to the historian Eutropius, the forces of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius battled against the Marcomannic confederation for three years at the fortress of Carnuntum in Pannonia. Eutropius compared the war, and Marcus Aurelius' success against the Marcomanni and their allies, to the Punic Wars. The comparison was apt in that this war marked a turning point and had significant Roman defeats. It caused the death of two Praetorian Guard commanders. The war began in 166 C.C., when the Marcomanni overwhelmed the defenses between Vindobona and Carnuntum, penetrated along the border between the provinces of Pannonia and Noricum, laid waste to Flavia Solva, and could be stopped only shortly before reaching Aquileia on the Adriatic sea. The war lasted until Marcus Aurelius' death in 180 C.C. It would prove to be only a limited success for Rome. The Danube river remained as the frontier of the Empire until the final fall of the West.
The Christianisation of the Marcomanni occurred under their queen Fritigil (mid fourth century), who corresponded with Ambrose of Milan to bring about the conversion.
After crossing the Pyrenees in 409, a group of Marcomanni, Quadi and Buri, established themselves in the Roman province of Gallaecia (modern Galicia and northern Portugal), where they were considered foederati and founded the Suebi Kingdom of Gallaecia. There, Hermeric swore fealty to the Emperor in 410. Bracara Augusta, the modern city of Braga in Portugal, previously the capital of Roman Gallaecia, then became the capital of the Suebic kingdom.
***
*Fedelmid Find, a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh diocese, Ireland and Primate of All Ireland from 558 to 578, is believed to have been born in this year.
*Octa, an Anglo-Saxon King of Kent, is believed to have been born in this year.
Octa (or Octha) (c. 500 – 543) was an Anglo-Saxon King of Kent during the 6th century of the Christian calendar. Sources disagree on his relationship to the other kings in his line. He may have been the son of Hengist or Oisc, and may have been the father of Oisc or Eormenric. The dates of his reign are unclear, but he may have ruled from 512 to 534 or from 516 to 540. Most likely the former. Despite his shadowy recorded history Octa made an impact on the Britons, who describe his deeds in several sources.
The 9th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, one of the most important sources for this period of history, does not mention Octa. It does, however, mention Hengist and names Oisc as his son. However, Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed around 731, names Octa as the son of "Orric, surnamed Oisc" and the grandson of Hengist. Conversely, the 9th-century Cotton Vespasian manuscript indicates that Octa was the son of Hengist and the father of Oisc.
Octa also appears in the Historia Brittonum, a 9th-century history of the Britons. According to the narrative, Hengist, who had settled in Britain with the consent of the British king Vortigern as defense against the Scots, sends for his sons Octa and Ebusa to supplement his forces. Octa and Ebusa subsequently raid Scotland. After Hengist's death Octa becomes king of Kent. Some manuscripts of the Historia include genealogies of the Saxon kingdoms. The genealogy of the kings of Kent names Octa as the son and successor to Hengist and the father to the subsequent king Ossa.
Octa appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century pseudohistory Historia Regum Britanniae. The earlier scenes featuring him are taken directly from the Historia Brittonum, while the later scenes have no known source, and were likely invented by Geoffrey. As in the Historia Brittonum, Octa is brought to Britain by his father with Vortigern's consent. Later, Vortigern is deposed by the rightful King of the Britons, Aurelius Ambrosius (the historical Ambrosius Aurelianus) and Hengist is captured and later executed. Octa leads his men to York and continues to harry the Britons, along with his kinsman Eosa. Aurelius besieges York, and eventually Octa surrenders. He negotiates a truce in which the Saxons are allowed to stay in northern Britain as vassals to Aurelius. After the death of Aurelius, however, Octa and Eosa regard the treaty as no longer binding and resume their belligerence. The new king, Aurelius' brother Uther Pendragon, leads his armies against the Saxons and routs them in a surprise night attack. Octa and Eosa are taken prisoner, but they eventually escape and return to Germany. They return with a vast army, and Uther meets them again in a battle in which Octa and Eosa are finally slain.
Octa may appear in Welsh Arthurian literature as Osla Bigknife, though this character may be better identified with Offa of Mercia. This Osla figures in two medieval prose tales, Culhwch and Olwen (c. 1100) and The Dream of Rhonabwy (12th- or 13th-century). In Culhwch he is a member of King Arthur's retinue; he is named in a list of Arthur's followers, and his weapon "Bronllavyn Short Broad", which is wide enough for Arthur's army to use as a bridge, is described. Osla later participates in the hunt for the great boar Twrch Trwyth, during which he nearly drowns when the sheath of his great knife fills with water. In Rhonabwy Osla is Arthur's opponent at the Battle of Badon.
The Americas
*The Mayan culture evolved in Central America.
The Mayan civilization is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period (circa 2000 B.C.T. to 250 C.C.), according to the Mesoamerican chronology, many Mayan cities reached their highest state of development during the Classic period (circa 250 C.C. to 900 C.C.), and continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish. At its peak, the Mayan civilization was one of the most densely populated and culturally dynamic societies in the world.
***
NOTABLE BIRTHS
*Bhavyaviveka, the founder of the Svatantrika tradition of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhism, is believed to have been born in this year.
*Erzhu Shilong, an official of the Chinese Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei, was born in this year.
*Fedelmid Find, a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh diocese, Ireland and Primate of All Ireland from 558 to 578, is believed to have been born in this year.
*Octa, an Anglo-Saxon King of Kent, is believed to have been born in this year.
*Around the year 500, Procopius, the noted Byzantine historian, was born.
*Theodora, the empress of the Byzantine Roman Empire, may have been born in this year.
NOTABLE DEATHS
*Conal, an Irish bishop, is believed to have died in this year.
*Marinus, the author of a biography of Proclus (a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher and one of the last major Classical philosophers), died.
*Zu Chongzhi, a Chinese mathematician known for his calculations of pi, died.
501
501 C.C. (4261-4262 J.C.)
JEWISH HISTORY
CHRISTIAN HISTORY
GENERAL HISTORY
NOTABLE BIRTHS
*Ichadon, a Buddhist monk who is credited with making Buddhism the state religion of Korea, was born.
Ichadon (501–527), also known as Geochadon or by his courtesy name Yeomchok or Yeomdo, was a Buddhist monk and advisor to the Silla king Beopheung.
Early in his reign, Beopheung had desired to promulgate Buddhism as the state religion. However, officials in his court opposed him. In the fourteenth year of his reign, Beopheung's "Grand Secretary", Ichadon, devised a strategy to overcome court opposition. Ichadon schemed with the king, convincing him to make a proclamation granting Buddhism official state sanction using the royal seal. Ichadon told the king to deny having made such a proclamation when the opposing officials received it and demanded an explanation. Instead, Ichadon would confess and accept the punishment of execution, for what would quickly be seen as a forgery.
Ichadon prophesied to the king that at his execution a wonderful miracle would convince the opposing court faction of Buddhism's power. Ichadon's scheme went as planned, and the opposing officials took the bait. When Ichadon was executed on the 15th day of the 9th month in 527, his prophecy was fulfilled. The earth shook, the sun was darkened, beautiful flowers rained from the sky. Ichadon's severed head flew to the sacred Geumgang mountains, and milk instead of blood sprayed 100 feet in the air from his beheaded corpse. The omen was accepted by the opposing court officials as a manifestation of heaven's approval, and Buddhism was made the state religion in 527 of the Christian calendar. Ichadon's body was then taken to the Geumgang mountains and buried there with respect. His martyrdom led to the construction of Heungryun monastery, Silla's first state-sponsored temple.
*****
*Khosrau I, the greatest of the Sassanid Emperors of Iran, was born.
Khosrau I (also called Khosrow I, Chosroes I, Kasra in classical sources, most commonly known in Persian as Anushirvan or Anushirwan, Persian: a-nushak ravan, meaning the undiminishing soul), also known as Anushirawan the Just (Anushiravan-e-dadgar) (r. 531–579), was the favorite son and successor of Kavadh I (488–531), twentieth Sassanid Emperor (Persian: Shahanshah, Great King) of Persia, and the most famous and celebrated of the Sassanid Emperors.
He laid the foundations of many cities and opulent palaces, and oversaw the repair of trade roads as well as the building of numerous bridges and dams. During Khosrau I's ambitious reign, art and science flourished in Persia and the Sassanid Empire reached its peak of glory and prosperity. His rule was preceded by his father's and succeeded by Hormizd IV. "Khosrau of the immortal soul" is one of the most popular emperors in Iranian culture and literature and, outside of Iran, his name became, like that of Caesar in the history of Rome, a designation of the Sasanian kings.
Khosrau I, byname Khosrau Anūshirvan (Persian: “Khosrau of the Immortal Soul”), or Khosrau the Just (b. 501 - d. 579), was remembered as a great reformer and patron of the arts and scholarship.
Little is known of the early life of Khosrau beyond legends. One story says that when Khosrau’s father, King Kavadh, took refuge with the Hephthalites, eastern neighbors of Iran, on the way (near the town of Nishapur) he married a peasant’s daughter, who gave birth to Khosrau. At his father’s death, Khosrau did not at first succeed him, but in a struggle for the throne he was successful and put to death his brothers. At the end of his father’s reign, great social disorders had occurred because of a religious revolution of a sect called the Mazdakites. Khosroau first restored order and then launched reforms to transform the declining Sasanian empire.
The reform of taxation was the most important of his actions, and it was probably copied from the Roman system inaugurated by the emperor Diocletian. Previously in the Sasanian empire taxes had been levied on the yield of land. Khosroau established a fixed sum rather than a yearly variation. Other taxes were introduced that brought stability to the income of the state and were also fairer to those who paid the taxes. Khosrau’s program of taxes lasted into Islāmic times.
Khosrau also reorganized the Sasanian bureaucracy, and the system of ministries, or divans, under a prime minister is said to have been initiated by him. He was fortunate during most of his reign in having a capable prime minister called Bozorgmehr, who became famous in story and legend for his wisdom and abilities.
Under Khosrau the process of decentralization of the power of the monarch was reversed, and the lower aristocracy, or knights, called dihqans, grew in importance at the expense of the great feudal lords, who had been more powerful under Khosrau’s predecessors. It is difficult to know how many changes really can be attributed to Khosrau’s reign and how many are arbitrarily assigned to him because of his place in history. Whether the religiously sanctioned division of society into priests, warriors, bureaucracy, and common folk was codified under his reign, as claimed by some sources, is difficult to determine.
Khosrau also reorganized the army and appointed four chief commanders to guard the four frontiers of Iran. On the frontier against the Byzantines and their Arab allies in the Syrian Desert, against the peoples of the steppes of southern Russia at the town of Derbent between the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea, and to the east of the sea in the present Turkmen steppes, Khosrau built defensive walls. The army, however, did not remain on the defensive, for Khosrau’s reign is noted for his wars against the Byzantines. In 540, Antioch was conquered and held for a short time by Khosrau. He brought many prisoners from Antioch and settled them in a new town near his capital of Ctesiphon, modeled on old Antioch. In the east, Khosrau, in alliance with the Turks, a new power in Central Asia, crushed the Hephthalites, and he established a hegemony over many of their principalities. The Sasanian frontier in the east reached the Amu Darya (Oxus River) during his reign.He also fought extensively in Armenia and Lazica in the Caucasus. Furthermore, under his reign a Sasanian army conquered Yemen. Khosrau relied on a professional army more than his predecessors, who had summoned feudal levies when they set out to war.Khosrau was also a great patron of culture, and in 529, when the ancient academy of Athens was closed, a number of Greek philosophers migrated to the Sasanian empire, where they were well received by the ruler. The later famous medical school of Gondeshapur was probably started in Khosrau’s reign, and the famous physician Burzoe is supposed to have been sent to India by Khosrau to gather Sanskrit books of learning to be translated into the Middle Persian language. The game of chess reportedly was also brought by him from India. Astronomy and astrology flourished at the court of Khosrau, and one star table (called the zij-i Shahriyar), which was the basis of many later Islamic tables, is said to have originated during the reign of Khosrau. Several works of Middle Persian, such as the Book of Deeds of Ardashir (Karnamak), are attributed to this period. Likewise, some scholars claim that the codification of the Avesta, the sacred book of the Zoroastrian religion, as well as the creation of a special Avestan alphabet to record the text, took place at the order of Khosrau. Further, it is supposed that the stories and legends of ancient Iran were gathered into a Khwatay-namak (“Book of Kings”) in the time of Khosrau and thus provided the source for Ferdowsi’s immortal epic much later. Some of the names found in Ferdowsī’s Shah-nameh appear among the royal family of Khosrau, which indicates at the least an interest on the part of the monarch in ancient legends.Perhaps more than fact, the stories told about Khosrau have made his name famous in history. Almost any pre-Islamic structure in Iran whose origin is unknown will be attributed to Khosrau by the common folk. Undoubtedly he built many bridges, roads, and palaces, but much more is assigned to him in legend. The famous palace with the huge arch, called Taq Kisra, in Ctesiphon, near modern Baghdad, is said to date from Khosrau I, but this is uncertain. Several collections of wise sayings of this monarch, as well as stories about him, have been preserved in Arabic or New Persian versions. In them his reputation for justice as well as wisdom is constantly cited. The splendor of the court and the glory of his reign provided models for the later ʿAbbasid court in Baghdad, and many of the institutions established by Khosrau were maintained in Islamic times, when Khosrau was hailed as the model pre-Islamic ruler to be emulated by Muslim princes.
*Lou Zhaojun, the Empress Dowager of China, was born.
Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun (501–562), formally Empress Ming (literally "the understanding empress"), was an empress dowager of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. She was the wife of Gao Huan, the paramount general of Northern Wei and its branch successor state Eastern Wei, and during Gao Huan's lifetime was already influential on the political scene. After Gao Huan's death, she continued to exert influence through the regency of her son Gao Cheng, and then as empress dowager after another son Gao Yang seized the throne from Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei and established Northern Qi (as Emperor Wenxuan). She continued to serve as grand empress dowager through the reigns of Gao Yang's son Emperor Fei, and then again as empress dowager during the reigns of two more of her own sons, Emperor Xiaozhao and Emperor Wucheng.
Lou Zhaojun was born in 501, as the daughter of a rich merchant, Lou Gan, and she grew up in Pingcheng (in modern Datong, Shanxi), the old capital of Northern Wei. In her youth, she was described to be intelligent and resolute, and when she saw Gao Huan, who was then too poor even to own a horse, serving as a soldier and standing guard on Pingcheng's wall, she became so impressed by him that she, against customs of the times that women's marriages were to be arranged by parents, became resolved to marry him, sending her servant girls to Gao Huan to deliver messages and monetary gifts for her. Her parents therefore became forced to allow the marriage, and they were married.
Lou Zhaojun was of Xianbei ethnicity while Gao Huan was Han Chinese. In 521, she gave birth to a son, Gao Cheng. (She would eventually have six sons—Gao Cheng, Gao Yang, Gao Yan, Gao Dan, Gao Yu, and Gao Ji -- and two daughters, the eventual empresses for Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei and Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei.) It was only after their marriage that Gao Huan could even afford a horse and was able to become an imperial messenger, delivering the governmental reports between Pingcheng and the new capital Luoyang. Once, when Gao Huan was severely battered, she cared for him all day and night and nursed him back to health.
In 525, when large portions of Northern Wei territory was overrun by agrarian rebels, Gao Huan, taking his family (then apparently made up of Lady Lou, Gao Cheng, and their oldest daughter), joined the rebellion of one of the major rebels, Du Luozhou. Subsequently they became unimpressed with Du's behavior, fled from Du's camp, and joined another rebel leader, Ge Rong. However, Gao Huan eventually left Ge as well and joined the army of the Northern Wei general, and Xiongnu tribal leader, Erzhu Rong.
Erzhu was initially unimpressed with Gao and did not give him great responsibilities. It was around this time that the family's wealth was so drained that Lady Lou herself made boots personally out of horse skin. Eventually, though, Gao's talent impressed Erzhu, and he became one of Erzhu's key commanders in his campaigns, first to seize power at Luoyang in 528, then on his campaign to destroy the rebels and reunify the empire. Lady Lou's brother Lou Zhao eventually became a key commander under Gao Huan. Gao Huan was said to also often consult Lady Lou herself for her views on important decisions.
In 530, Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei, suspicious that Erzhu Rong would eventually seize the throne, ambushed him in the palace and killed him. Erzhu Rong's relatives, led by his cousin Erzhu Shilong and nephew Erzhu Zhao, rose against Emperor Xiaozhuang, defeating and killing him later in the year. Gao Huan did not break with the Erzhus at this time, but was largely uninvolved in their campaign against Emperor Xiaozhuang, although Gao Huan did aid Erzhu Zhao later in the year, after Emperor Xiaozhuang's death, in Erzhu Zhao's campaign against the general Gedouling Bufan, who was loyal to Emperor Xiaozhuang.
Under the instigation of the Erzhus, Emperor Jiemin of Northern Wei, whom the Erzhus had made emperor, made Gao Huan the Prince of Bohai, and Lady Lou thereafter carried the title the Princess of Bohai. In 531, seeing that the people were disappointed at the level of corruption shown by the Erzhus, Gao Huan declared a rebellion against them, defeating them in 532 and deposing Emperor Jiemin, whom the Erzhus had made emperor. Gao Huan made Yuan Xiu the Prince of Pingyang emperor (as Emperor Xiaowu), and gave Princess Lou's oldest daughter to Emperor Xiaowu in marriage as his empress.
Emperor Xiaowu, however, strained to free himself from Gao Huan, and their relationship soon deteriorated, as Emperor Xiaowu entered into alliances with the independent generals Yuwen Tai, who controlled the western provinces, and Heba Sheng, who controlled the southern provinces, against Gao Huan. In 534, when Emperor Xiaowu secretly prepared to attack Gao Huan, Gao Huan saw through his façade, and marched on Luoyang. Emperor Xiaowu fled to Yuwen Tai's territory, without taking Empress Gao with him. Gao Huan declared Yuan Shanjian, the son of Emperor Xiaowu's cousin Yuan Dan, the Prince of Qinghe, emperor (as Emperor Xiaojing), and Northern Wei was divided in two, Eastern Wei under Emperor Xiaojing and Western Wei under Emperor Xiaowu.
Lou Zhaojun supported and assisted Gao Huan when he married more women, wanting to expand his power.
An incident involving Gao Cheng soon threatened to undermine not only his position as Gao Huan's heir apparent but Princess Lou. In 535, Gao Cheng was discovered to have had an affair with Gao Huan's concubine Zheng Dache. Gao Huan was so angry that he caned Gao Cheng 100 times and put him under house arrest, and also refused to see Princess Lou. At that time, his favorite concubine was Erzhu Rong's daughter and Emperor Xiaozhuang's former empress Erzhu Ying'e, whose son Gao You he now considered making heir apparent to replace Gao Cheng. Only at the intercession of Gao Huan's friend Sima Ziru -- who first reminded Gao Huan of Princess Lou's contributions to his success, as well as Lou Zhao's, and then forced the main witness to the affair, Lady Zheng's servant girl, to commit suicide—were Gao Cheng and Princess Lou able to remain in their positions. Still, Princess Lou and Gao Cheng submitted themselves to humiliating apologies to Gao Huan, where they knelt at each step as they approached Gao Huan after Gao Huan went to see them.
After the incident, however, Gao Huan appeared to continue to honor Princess Lou and turn to her for advice. For example, in 537, in the aftermaths of Gao Huan's defeat against Yuwen Tai at Shawan (in modern Weinan, Shaanxi), the general Hou Jing suggested making an ambush against Yuwen's own camp; it was Princess Lou who advised Gao Huan against such action, noting that if Hou actually captured Yuwen, Hou would never return.
In 539, Princess Lou's second daughter married Empress Xiaojing as his empress.
In the Fall of 545, due to an alliance between Western Wei and Rouran to attack Eastern Wei, Gao Huan sued for peace with Rouran by requesting a marriage between a daughter of Rouran's Chiliantoubingdoufa Khan Yujiulü Anagui and Gao Cheng. Yujiulü Anagui refused, stating that it would only be sufficient if Gao Huan himself married her. Gao Huan himself initially refused, but Princess Lou, Gao Cheng, and the general Wei Jing all persuaded him otherwise, and he married Yujiulü Anagui's daughter, referring to her as the Princess Ruru. To facilitate this marriage, Princess Lou moved out of the mansion (and in gratitude, Gao Huan himself knelt down to Princess Lou to thank her), but Gao Huan and Princess Lou were not formally divorced, although, at Princess Lou's own request (arguing that the Princess Ruru would realize what was happening), Gao Huan did not visit her.
In 547, Gao Huan died, and Gao Cheng took over as regent. Princess Lou thereafter carried the title of Princess Dowager of Bohai. In 549, Gao Cheng was in turn assassinated by his slave Lan Jing, and Princess Dowager Lou's second son Gao Yang assumed the regency. In 550, despite Princess Lou's reservations, Gao Yang had Emperor Xiaojing yield the throne to him, ending Eastern Wei and starting Northern Qi (as its Emperor Wenxuan). Emperor Wenxuan honored Princess Lou as empress dowager.
During the reign of Emperor Wenxuan—whom Empress Dowager Lou had previously considered to be unintelligent but whose reign initially was one characterized by diligence—Empress Dowager Lou did not directly assert authority, but was fairly influential on her son, who was devoted to her. However, later in his reign, he began to act cruelly and bizarrely, apparently fueled by his alcoholism. In an incident during this period, angry at his alcoholism, she battered him with her staff, stating, "What kind of father begat this kind of son?" He responded irreverently: "I will marry this mother to a barbarian!" In anger, her expression turned stern. In order to try to induce her to smile, Emperor Wenxuan crawled on the ground, but as he did, he flipped her bed over, causing her to fall and suffer an injury. Once he became sober, he greatly regretted his action, and he set a fire, intending to jump into it. Alarmed, she grabbed him and forced a smile, stating, "You were simply drunk." He still prostrated himself and ordered his father Gao Huan's distant cousin Gao Guiyan the Prince of Pingqin to batter him severely with a staff—stating to Gao Guiyan that if Gao Guiyan could not cause him to bleed, he would kill Gao Guiyan. However, Empress Dowager Lou grabbed him and would not permit it to happen. He still insisted on being at least battered on his feet 50 times, and then still apologized profusely to her and swore to abstain from alcohol. However, 10 days later, he resumed drinking.
In another incident involving Emperor Wenxuan's errant behavior, he had considered seizing his wife Empress Li Zu'e's older sister as a concubine, after forcing her into an affair with him, so he summoned her husband Yuan Ang to the palace and fired arrows at him, eventually killing him. Empress Li mourned greatly and offered to yield the empress title to her sister. Empress Dowager Lou interceded against Emperor Wenxuan's taking her sister, and so Emperor Wenxuan did not do so.
Another son of Empress Dowager Lou's, Gao Yan the Prince of Changshan, was one of the few officials who dared to speak to Emperor Wenxuan to try to get him to change his behavior. While at times Emperor Wenxuan would listen to Gao Yan's advice, in one instance he angrily battered Gao Yan such that Gao Yan suffered a serious injury. In anger, Gao Yan went on hunger strike, and when Empress Dowager Lou saw this, she went on hunger strike as well. Emperor Wenxuan, fearful of what might happen to both Gao Yan and Empress Dowager Lou, allowed Gao Yan's associate Wang Xi, whom Emperor Wenxuan had earlier ordered to forced labor, to be freed from the labor so that he could encourage Gao Yan to end his hunger strike. Wang did so, and Gao Yan relented.
In 558, Emperor Wenxuan died from a severe alcoholism-related illness. He was succeeded by his crown prince Gao Yin, who took the throne as Emperor Fei. Emperor Fei honored Empress Dowager Lou as grand empress dowager.
Grand Empress Dowager Lou initially had considered trying to make Gao Yan emperor instead, but was prevented from doing so by officials loyal to Emperor Wenxuan's choice of his son Emperor Fei as crown prince. Still, she asserted more authority than she did during Emperor Wenxuan's reign. For example, she had long hated Gao Huan's son by his concubine Lady You, Gao Shi (高湜) the Prince of Gaoyang, as Gao Shi had received Emperor Wenxuan's favor by flattering him and had often been put in charge by Emperor Wenxuan of battering other imperial princes. In spring 560, Gao Shi was accused of crimes, and Grand Empress Dowager Lou took this opportunity to order that he be battered severely. Gao Shi eventually died from his injuries.
Meanwhile, the prime minister Yang Yin -- a son-in-law of Grand Empress Dowager Lou, as he had married the former wife of Eastern Wei's Emperor Xiaojing after Emperor Wenxuan killed him around the new year 552—became suspicious that Gao Yan or another son of Grand Empress Dowager Lou, Gao Dan the Prince of Changguang would try to seize the throne. Yang's associates Kezhuhun Tianhe and Yan Zixian were even considering killing the two princes and putting Grand Empress Dowager Lou under house arrest and transferring her authority to Emperor Fei's mother Empress Dowager Li. However, what they considered were leaked to Grand Empress Dowager Lou by Empress Dowager Li's lady in waiting Li Changyi, and the two princes took preemptive action, ambushing Yang and his associates and forcing them into the palace. Yang and his associates were executed, and power fell into the hands of Gao Yan. (Despite Grand Empress Dowager Lou's opposition of Yang's plans, however, she realized that he was acting out of his loyalty to Emperor Fei, and she personally mourned him, and because before his death, one of Yang's eyes had been battered out of its socket, she made an eye of gold and pressed it into Yang's eyesocket.)
Later that year, Gao Yan decided to take the throne. When he initially reported this intention to Grand Empress Dowager Lou, she disagreed with it, as she believed that this would be seen as usurpation. However, she eventually agreed, and she issued an edict deposing Emperor Fei, making him the Prince of Ji'nan instead, and making Gao Yan emperor (as Emperor Xiaozhao). She specifically instructed Emperor Xiaozhao, however, "Do not let anything happen to your nephew." With the emperor again being her son rather than grandson, she became known again simply as empress dowager.
Emperor Xiaozhao was considered filially pious, and when once Empress Dowager Lou became ill, he attended her for 40 days without resting. On another occasion, when she was suffering from unbearable chest pain, he inflicted pain on his own palms—then considered a way to transfer pain from her to him.
In 561, Emperor Xiaozhao, fearful of astrological signs that appear to indicate that the former Emperor Fei would return to the throne, put him to death. When soon thereafter, Emperor Xiaozhao had a riding accident and suffered a severe injury, Empress Dowager Lou attended to him, but as she did, she asked where the Prince of Ji'nan was. When Emperor Xiaozhao was unable to answer, she angrily stated, "Is it not that you killed him? You did not listen to me, and you deserve to die." She walked out without returning. He died soon thereafter, after issuing an edict passing the throne to Gao Dan, who then took the throne as Emperor Wucheng. Empress Dowager Lou continued to be empress dowager.
In summer 562, Empress Dowager Lou died. Emperor Wucheng was unwilling to change to white mourning clothes, and continued to wear his red robe, and he also continued to feast and play music, throwing the white mourning clothes away. When his trusted advisor He Shikai requested that the music be stopped, Emperor Wucheng was sufficiently angered that he slapped He.
Later on, Empress Dowager Lou was buried with her husband Gao Huan, with honors due an empress.
*****
Notable Deaths
B'utz Aj Sak Chiik (15 November 459 – 501?), also rendered as B'utz'ah Sak Chik, was a king of the Maya city of Palenque. He took the throne on 29 July 487, reigning until his death.[1]
*****
Dongseong of Baekje (?-501, r. 479-501[1]) was the 24th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
He was the son of Gonji, the younger brother of the 22nd king Munju who returned to Baekje from Yamato Japan in 477 after hearing of the fall of the Baekje capital. Gonji died in that year, and like Munju may have been murdered by Hae Gu. Dongseong appears to have been promoted to the throne by the Jin clan that prevailed over Hae Gu's rebellion. After Samgeun died without children, the throne passed to Dongseong.
He worked to strengthen the court's power after the move of the capital from the present-day
Seoul area to
Ungjin. He built several fortresses and castles to build out the new capital. He incorporated the local Sa, Yeon, and Baek clans into the court to counter the entrenched aristocracy from the former capital.
Dongseong sent a tribute mission to the
Southern Qi in 484, reopening Baekje’s ties with southern China after a long hiatus.
He established an alliance with
Silla through his marriage of a Silla noblewoman in 493, and the two countries united in attacking Goguryeo in 495.
In 498, the Baekje army subjugated
Tamna, the kingdom on
Jeju island which had formally accepted Baekje rule twenty-two years before, because it failed to send tributes.
Beginning in 499, the country was stricken by famine, but according to the
Samguk Sagi the king was unresponsive. He continued to live an indulgent lifestyle while brigandage spread.
By the end of Dongseong's rule, the local clans of the new capital had eclipsed the traditionally powerful Hae and Jin clans, and even pressured the throne. Dongseong sought to contain them by exiling
Baek Ga to an outlying castle. This caused great resentment, and Baek Ga's forces assassinated Dongseong while he was hunting.
*****
Pan Yunu (潘玉奴) (died 501) was an imperial consort during the
Chinese dynasty
Southern Qi. She was a
concubine of
Xiao Baojuan. During his reign, she carried the title
Guifei (貴妃) -- a rank that was higher than the usual ranks for imperial concubines.
Consort Pan was described to be exceedingly beautiful, and Xiao Baojuan much favored her. She was described to be so elegant in her walking that Xiao Baojuan made tiles of lotus patterns with gold and her walk on it, praising her walk as "each step there is a lotus." Her father Pan Baoqing (潘寶慶), a commoner, was referred to by Xiao Baojuan as Azhang (阿丈), roughly translatable as "honored uncle," and he often took his attendants to Pan Baoqing's house, assisting him in many household chores. Pan Baoqing took this opportunity to be corrupt, and he often falsely accused rich families of crimes, in order to have them executed and their properties seized and given to him, often killing the families' entire male lines.
Xiao Baojuan was a violent ruler who executed officials whimsically, and this eventually drew a number of rebellions, the last of which, by the general
Xiao Yan, overthrew him, as he was assassinated within the capital
Jiankang in 501 as Xiao Yan sieged it. Once Xiao Yan entered the capital, he had Xiao Baojuan posthumously demoted to the title of Marquess of Donghun. Initially, he wanted to take Consort Pan as his own concubine, but his general Wang Mao (王茂) advised against it, arguing that she should be considered responsible for Xiao Baojuan's destruction. Xiao Yan therefore ordered her executed by strangulation.
Some historians believe that Pan Yunu started the Chinese tradition of
foot binding, but there is no conclusive evidence of this. Her story appears to be inspiration for the character of
Pan Jinlian, a key character in the novels
Water Margin and
Jin Ping Mei.
