542
Year 542 (DXLII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. From this year forward, the appointment of particular Roman consuls was abandoned and the office was merged with that of Byzantine emperor. Thus, the consular year dating was abandoned in practice, even though it formally remained until the end of the 9th century. The denomination 542 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.
| Millennium: | 1st millennium |
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| 542 by topic |
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| Gregorian calendar | 542 DXLII |
| Ab urbe condita | 1295 |
| Assyrian calendar | 5292 |
| Balinese saka calendar | 463–464 |
| Bengali calendar | −51 |
| Berber calendar | 1492 |
| Buddhist calendar | 1086 |
| Burmese calendar | −96 |
| Byzantine calendar | 6050–6051 |
| Chinese calendar | 辛酉年 (Metal Rooster) 3238 or 3178 — to — 壬戌年 (Water Dog) 3239 or 3179 |
| Coptic calendar | 258–259 |
| Discordian calendar | 1708 |
| Ethiopian calendar | 534–535 |
| Hebrew calendar | 4302–4303 |
| Hindu calendars | |
| - Vikram Samvat | 598–599 |
| - Shaka Samvat | 463–464 |
| - Kali Yuga | 3642–3643 |
| Holocene calendar | 10542 |
| Iranian calendar | 80 BP – 79 BP |
| Islamic calendar | 83 BH – 81 BH |
| Javanese calendar | 429–430 |
| Julian calendar | 542 DXLII |
| Korean calendar | 2875 |
| Minguo calendar | 1370 before ROC 民前1370年 |
| Nanakshahi calendar | −926 |
| Seleucid era | 853/854 AG |
| Thai solar calendar | 1084–1085 |
| Tibetan calendar | 阴金鸡年 (female Iron-Rooster) 668 or 287 or −485 — to — 阳水狗年 (male Water-Dog) 669 or 288 or −484 |
King Totila razes the walls of Florence
Events
Byzantine Empire
- Plague of Justinian: Bubonic plague, spread from Egypt, kills at least 230,000 in Constantinople (before counting stops), and perhaps two million or more in the rest of the empire. Emperor Justinian I contracts the disease but recovers.
- Lazic War – Justinian I sends a Byzantine army (30,000 men) to Armenia. The Persians, severely outnumbered, are forced to retreat, but at Dvin the Byzantines are defeated by a force of 4,000 men in an ambush, and are completely routed.[1]
- The 542 Sea of Marmara earthquake takes place in the winter of 542, in the vicinity of the Sea of Marmara. It also affects the coasts of Thrace and the Edremit Gulf.[2]
Europe
- Spring – Battle of Faventia: King Totila scatters the Byzantine forces near Faventia (modern Faenza) with 5,000 men, beginning the resurgence of Gothic resistance to the reconquest of Italy.
- Battle of Mucellium: Totila marches down into Tuscany and defeats the Byzantines at Florence, in the valley of Mugello. He treats his prisoners well, and many are induced to join his banner.
- March – Totila bypasses Rome and begins his expedition in Southern Italy.[3] He captures Beneventum and receives the submission of the provinces of Apulia, Lucania and Bruttium.
- Siege of Naples: Totila besieges the city of Naples in Campania. A Byzantine relief force from Sicily is intercepted and almost destroyed by Gothic warships.
- King Childebert I and his brother Chlothar I invade Visigothic Spain. They capture Pamplona, but Zaragoza withstands a siege and the Franks retreat to Gaul. From this expedition Childebert brings back to Paris a relic, the tunic of Saint Vincent.
Religion
- Brendan establishes a monastic settlement on Eileach an Naoimh (approximate date).
Literature
- Gildas, British monk, writes his work "De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae" (approximate date).
Births
- Su Wei, high official of the Sui Dynasty (d. 623)
- Xiao Min Di, emperor of Northern Zhou (d. 557)
- Xiao Ming Di, emperor of the Liang Dynasty (d. 585)
References
- Farrokh 2007, p. 235
- Antonopoulos, 1980
- J.B. Bury, 1923. History of the later Roman Empire, chapter XIX
Sources
- Antonopoulos, J. (1980), Data from investigation of seismic Sea waves events in the Eastern Mediterranean from 500 to 1000 A.D., Annals of Geophysics
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