Editing 540 (section)

=== By topic ===

==== Religion ====
* [[Cassiodorus]], former [[Roman Empire|Roman]] statesman, establishes a [[monastery]] at his [[Estate (house)|estate]] in Italy. The Vivarium "monastery school" is for highly [[Education|educated]] and sophisticated men, who copy [[sacred]] and secular [[manuscript]]s, intending for this to be their sole occupation (approximate date). 
* [[Pope Vigilius]] rejects [[Monophysitism]] in letters to Justinian I and [[patriarch Menas of Constantinople]].  
* [[Benedict of Nursia]] writes his [[Rule of Saint Benedict|monastic rules]], containing [[precept]]s for his [[monk]]s (approximate date).

==== World ====
* [[Global variable|Global environmental]] cooling occurs, due either to a [[Impact event|comet impact]] or volcanic eruption in [[Central America]], evidenced by global tree ring growth diminution.<ref>{{cite web|title=In 1986 I discovered that a series of Irish oaks exhibited their narrowest rings in the immediate vicinity of..|url=http://www.aryabhata.de/illig/baillie2.doc}} 080205 aryabhata.de</ref><ref>Baillie, M.G.L. (2007). Tree-Rings Indicate Global Environmental Downturns that could have been Caused by Comet Debris, Chap. 5 in Bobrowsky, Peter T. and Hans Rickman (eds.), ''Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society: An Interdisciplinary Approach'', Springer-Verlag, Berlin. {{ISBN|3-540-32709-6}}, pp. 105–122.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1354622/Comet-caused-Dark-Ages-says-tree-ring-expert.html|title=Comet caused Dark Ages, says tree ring expert|last1=Highfield|first1=Roger|last2=Uhlig|first2=Robert|last3=Derbyshire|first3=David|date=9 Sep 2000|work=Daily Telegraph|access-date=6 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36086096|title=El Chichon eruption implicated in Mayan upheaval - BBC News|work=BBC News |date=April 20, 2016 |language=en-GB|access-date=2016-04-20}}</ref> Recent evidence from Swiss ice core points to volcanic eruptions in Iceland.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gibbons|first=Ann|date=November 15, 2018|title=Why 536 was 'the worst year to be alive'|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Science {{!}} AAAS|language=en}}</ref> Historical evidence records this earlier as the [[Extreme weather events of 535–536]].
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