Year 538 ( DXXXVIII) was a

common year starting on Friday A common year starting on Friday is any non-leap year (i.e. a year with 365 days) that begins on Friday, 1 January, and ends on Friday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is C. The most recent year of such kind was 2021 and the next one will ...

(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iohannes without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1291 ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an exp ...

''). The denomination 538 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

March 12 Events Pre-1600 * 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. * 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...

– Siege of Rome: King Vitiges of the Ostrogoths ends his siege (after 374 days) and abandons Rome. He retreats with his Gothic army northeast along the ''

Via Flaminia The Via Flaminia or Flaminian Way was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had ...

''. * Belisarius attacks the Goths when they have crossed the

Milvian Bridge The Milvian (or Mulvian) Bridge ( it, Ponte Milvio or ; la, Pons Milvius or ) is a bridge over the Tiber in northern Rome, Italy. It was an economically and strategically important bridge in the era of the Roman Empire and was the site of the f ...

. After fierce resistance, Vitiges routs in panic, and many are slain or drowned in the river. *

Gothic War Gothic War may refer to: *Gothic War (248–253), battles and plundering carried out by the Goths and their allies in the Roman Empire. *Gothic War (367–369), a war of Thervingi against the Eastern Roman Empire in which the Goths retreated to Mont ...

: Vitiges strengthens the garrisons of various towns and besieges Ariminum. Byzantine forces under the Armenian general Narses arrive at

Picenum Picenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum was ''Regio V'' in the Augustan territorial organization of Roman Italy. Picenum was also ...

. * April – Belisarius secures Liguria, Mediolanum (modern Milan) and Ariminum, but disagreements, especially with Narses, leads to disunity in the Byzantine army. * Summer – King Theudebert I sends a small Frankish force across the Alps, and defeats the Goths and Byzantines at the River Po. Belisarius retreats to Tuscany. * Sittas, Byzantine general, suppresses a revolt in Armenia in protest against heavy taxation. During the campaign he is killed by Artabanes, leader of the revolt.

Britain

* King Cuneglas of Rhos abandons his wife in favour of his sister-in-law, a nun who he drags from her convent (approximate date). * Gabrán mac Domangairt becomes king of Dál Riata ( Scotland).

Asia

* King Seong of Paekche ( Korea) moves the capital from Ungjin (present-day Gongju) further south to Sabi (present-day Buyeo County), on the Geum River. He sends a diplomatic mission that formally introduces Buddhism to the Japanese imperial court (see also

552 __NOTOC__ Year 552 ( DLII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 552 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era beca ...

). * The

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

ends and the Asuka period, the second part of the Yamato period in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, begins.

By topic

Religion

* As a result of persecutions by the Byzantine Empire, Monophysite Christians establish the Coptic Church in Alexandria (approximate date). * The Third Council of Orléans takes place, and prohibits rural labor on

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

. * The first time since Emperor Justinian's decree of

533 __NOTOC__ Year 533 ( DXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinianus without colleague (or, less frequently, ye ...

, making John (the Bishop of Rome) Chief Bishop of all the churches, that the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over the Church can actually be implemented by

Vigilius Vigilius may refer to: * Pope Vigilius (died 555), Pope 537-555 * Vigilius of Trent (-405), bishop, martyr and saint ** Church of Saint Vigilius of Trent (Pinzolo) * Vigilius of Thapsus, 5th-century bishop and writer * Vigilius Eriksen (1722-1782), ...

Society

* Third year of worldwide

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

, a consequence of the Extreme weather events of 535–536.

Births

Emperor Bidatsu was the 30th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')敏達天皇 (30) retrieved 2013-1-31. according to the traditional order of succession. The years of reign of Bidatsu start in 572 and end in 585; however, there are no c ...

(d.

585 __NOTOC__ Year 585 ( DLXXXV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 585 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

) *

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...

, French bishop, historian (d.

594 __NOTOC__ Year 594 ( DXCIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 594 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

) * Zhiyi, de facto founder of Tiantai Buddhism (d.

597 __NOTOC__ Year 597 ( DXCVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 597 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

)

Deaths

* February 8 –

Severus of Antioch Severus the Great of Antioch (Greek: Σεβῆρος; syr, ܣܘܝܪܝܘܣ ܕܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ), also known as Severus of Gaza or Crown of Syrians (Syriac: ܬܓܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܥܝܐ; Tagha d'Suryoye; Arabic: تاج السوريين; Taj al-Suriyyun ...

, patriarch of Antioch * Cailtram, king of the Picts (approximate date) *

Comgall mac Domangairt Comgall mac Domangairt was king of Dál Riata in the early 6th century. He was the son of Domangart Réti and grandson of Fergus Mór. The '' Annals of Ulster'' report his death in 538, 542 and 545, the ''Annals of Tigernach'' in 537. Comgall N ...

, king of Dál Riata (approximate date) * Damascius, Byzantine philosopher * Saint Manchan, Irish Saint. * Sittas, Byzantine general ('' magister militum'')