Middle Ages
Salic Law (c. 507-511): The Frankish Law Code of Clovis
The code set out Frankish customary law as a list of fines; centuries later one clause on land inheritance was used to justify excluding women from the French throne.
Region
Europe
Middle Ages
Clovis I and the Battle of Vouillé (507): Rise of the Franks
Frankish victory; Alaric II was killed, the Visigoths lost most of Gaul, and Clovis became the dominant ruler between the Pyrenees and the Rhine.
Middle Ages
Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna (c. 520): An Ostrogothic Tomb
The tomb survived the fall of the Ostrogothic kingdom, was converted into a church and is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Middle Ages
Execution of Boethius (524): The Consolation of Philosophy
Boethius was condemned for treason and executed; the book he wrote in prison became one of the most widely read works of the Middle Ages.
Middle Ages
Empress Theodora: From Actress to Ruler of the Byzantine Empire
A former actress became Justinian's crowned empress and political partner, shaping court politics, laws on women and church policy until her death in 548.
Middle Ages
Justinian I: The Byzantine Emperor Who Tried to Restore Rome
Justinian recovered North Africa, Italy and part of Spain, codified Roman law and built Hagia Sophia, but left an exhausted, plague-stricken empire.
Middle Ages
Monte Cassino and the Rule of St Benedict (c. 529)
Benedict's monastery survived repeated destruction, and his Rule became the standard guide for monks and nuns across Western Europe.
Middle Ages
Code of Justinian: The Corpus Juris Civilis and Roman Law
Roman law was compiled into the Code, Digest, Institutes and later Novels, which became the foundation of the civil-law tradition of continental Europe.
Middle Ages
Nika Riots (532): The Revolt That Nearly Toppled Justinian
The revolt was crushed by a massacre in the Hippodrome, reported at about 30,000 dead; Justinian's rule was secured and Hagia Sophia was rebuilt.
Middle Ages
Hagia Sophia (532-537): Building Justinian's Great Church
Justinian's Hagia Sophia, dedicated in 537, became the cathedral of Constantinople and the largest domed interior of its age, serving as a church until 1453.
Middle Ages
Vandalic War (533-534): Belisarius Reconquers North Africa
Byzantine victory: the Vandal kingdom was destroyed, Gelimer surrendered and North Africa was restored to the Roman Empire.
Middle Ages
Gothic War (535-554): Justinian's Reconquest of Italy
Byzantine victory: the Ostrogothic kingdom was destroyed and Italy returned to Roman rule, but the peninsula was ruined and largely lost to the Lombards after 568.