Directory

525 CE

In this year, the monk Dionysius Exiguus proposed a calendar starting with the birth of Jesus (the AD system), so this was the first time the year was designated AD. However, the system was not used in general until the reign of Charlemagne in the 9th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Emperor Justin I rebuilds the city of Anazarbus (modern Turkey) and renames it "Justinopolis".source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Cosmas Indicopleustes, Alexandrian explorer-geographer, travels up the Nile. He will venture as far to the east as Ceylon, become a monk, and write "Topographia Christiana" to vindicate the biblical account of the world (see 550).source
  • Bernicia (North East England) is settled by the Angles (approximate date).source
  • Kaleb, king of Aksum, collects a fleet and crosses from Africa to conquer Yemen. He establishes better trade ports on the Red Sea.source

Religion & Belief

  • King Theodoric the Great sends Pope John I to Constantinople, to negotiate a withdrawal of Byzantine emperor Justin's edict against Arian Christianity.source
  • Buddhist caves are completed at Ajanta (India) with stone carvings (approximate date).source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The Arian baptistery of Santa Maria is built in Ripa (Rome).source

Science & Discovery

  • Dionysius Exiguus, Scythian theologian-mathematician, inaugurates the practice of using A.D. (Anno Domini) in Rome for calendar dates after the birth of Jesus Christ, a system which has been supported by subsequent studies. Dionysius also produces his tables for computing the date of "Cyclus Paschalis" (Easter Tables).source

Crime & Justice

  • Frankish tribesmen, under the command of King Chlothar I, plunder Burgundy.source

Climate & Environment

  • The Daisan river, tributary of the Euphrates, floods Edessa, and within a couple of hours fills the entire city except for the highest parts. Eventually the pent-up waters break through the city walls. The Shroud of Turin is allegedly discovered during the rebuilding of the city (see Image of Edessa).source

Births

  • Pope Benedict I, Pope of Catholic church (d. 579)source
  • Alexander of Tralles, physician (approximate date)source
  • Yujiulü, empress of Western Wei (d. 540)source
  • John Climacus, monk and writer (approximate date)source
  • Wideok, king of Baekje (Three Kingdoms of Korea)source
  • Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths (d. 586)source
  • Justin, Byzantine aristocrat and general (d. 566)source

Deaths

  • Boethius, Roman philosopher and writer (or 524)source
  • Yuan Cha, high official of Northern Wei (approximate date)source
  • Yūsuf Dhū Nuwas, king of the Himyarite Kingdom (Yemen).source