__NOTOC__ Year 544 ( DXLIV) was a

leap year starting on Friday A leap year starting on Friday is any year with 366 days (i.e. it includes 29 February) that begins on Friday 1 January and ends on Saturday 31 December. Its dominical letters hence are CB. The most recent year of such kind was 2016 and the next one ...

(link will display the full calendar) of the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

. The denomination 544 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

* Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War: Emperor Justinian I sends Belisarius back to the Ostrogothic Kingdom (Italy) with an inadequate Byzantine Empire, Byzantine expeditionary force (4,000 men and 200 ships).J. Norwich, ''A Short History of Byzantium'', p. 77 * Belisarius defeats the Goths, Gothic army under King Totila, who unsuccessfully Siege, besieges the city of Otranto (southern Italy). After their retreat, the Byzantine Greeks, Byzantines march towards Rome. * Justinian I issues a new edict Three-Chapter Controversy, condemning the Three Chapters. In Western Europe, Pope Vigilius refuses to acknowledge the imperial edict and is ordered to Constantinople.

Persia

* King Khosrau I unsuccessfully attacks the Byzantine fortress city of Dara (Mesopotamia), Dara. The Siege of Edessa (544), siege of Edessa is repulsed, and the Sasanian Empire, Persians are forced into a stalemate.

Africa

* Battle of Kasserine, Cillium: A medium-sized Byzantine army under Solomon (magister militum), Solomon is defeated by the Moors on the border of Numidia. Solomon and his bodyguard are forced to retreat and are later killed..

Asia

* February – Lý Bí is declared emperor and establishes the empire Van Xuân (modern Vietnam). His armies repel attacks from the kingdom of Champa. * October – The Liang dynasty retaliates against Van Xuân, and sends an imperial army (120,000 men) under Emperor Wu of Chen, Chen Baxian to re-occupy the region.

By topic

Religion

* Jacob Baradaeus consecrates Sergius of Tella as patriarch of Antioch, opening a permanent schism between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Births

* Dugu Qieluo, empress of the Sui dynasty (d. 602) * Emperor Jing of Liang, Jing Di, emperor of the Liang dynasty (d. 558) * Yuwen Xian, prince of Northern Zhou (d. 578)

Deaths

* October 18 – Saint Wenna, Wenna, Cornish saint (approximate date) * Dionysius Exiguus, inventor of the Anno Domini era (approximate date) * Solomon (magister militum), Solomon, Byzantine general and Praetorian prefecture of Africa, prefect of Africa

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:544 544,