Editing 542

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[[File:Totila fa dstruggere la città di Firenze.jpg|thumb|right|259px|King [[Totila]] razes the walls of [[Florence]]]]
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Year '''542''' ('''[[Roman numerals|DXLII]]''') was a [[common year starting on Wednesday]] 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.

== Events ==
<onlyinclude>

=== By place ===
==== Byzantine Empire ====
* [[Plague of Justinian]]: [[Bubonic plague]], spread from [[Egypt]], kills at least 230,000 in [[Constantinople]] (modern Istanbul; 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]] &ndash; Justinian I sends a Byzantine army (30,000 men) to [[Armenia]]. The [[Sassanid Empire|Persians]], severely outnumbered, are forced to retreat, but at [[Dvin (ancient city)|Dvin]] the [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantines]] are defeated by a force of 4,000 men in an [[ambush]], and are completely routed.<ref>{{Citation|title=Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War|last=Farrokh|first=Kaveh|isbn=978-1-84603-108-3|year=2007|publisher=Osprey Publishing|p=235}}</ref>
*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]].<ref>{{citation | last1=Antonopoulos | first1= J. | title=Data from investigation of seismic Sea waves events in the Eastern Mediterranean from 500 to 1000 A.D. | year=1980 | publisher=Annals of Geophysics | url =https://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/viewFile/4702/4786}}</ref>

==== Europe ====
* Spring &ndash; [[Battle of Faventia]]: King [[Totila]] scatters the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] forces near Faventia (modern [[Faenza]]) with 5,000 men, beginning the resurgence of [[Ostrogoths|Gothic]] resistance to the [[Gothic War (535–554)|reconquest of Italy]].
* [[Battle of Mucellium]]: Totila marches down into [[Tuscany]] and defeats the Byzantines at [[Florence]], in the valley of [[Mugello region|Mugello]]. He treats his prisoners well, and many are induced to join his [[banner]].
* [[March]] &ndash; Totila bypasses [[Rome]] and begins his expedition in [[Southern Italy]].<ref>J.B. Bury, 1923. ''History of the later Roman Empire'', chapter XIX</ref> He captures [[Benevento|Beneventum]] and receives the submission of the provinces of [[Apulia]], [[Lucania]] and [[Calabria|Bruttium]].
* [[Siege of Naples (542–543)|Siege of Naples]]: Totila [[Siege|besiege]]s the city of [[Naples]] in [[Campania]]. A Byzantine relief force from [[Sicily]] is intercepted and almost destroyed by Gothic [[warship]]s.
* King [[Childebert I]] and his brother [[Chlothar I]] invade [[Visigoth Kingdom|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 [[Vincent of Saragossa|Saint Vincent]].

=== By topic ===
==== Religion ====
* [[Brendan the Navigator|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).
</onlyinclude>

== Births ==
* [[Su Wei (politician)|Su Wei]], high official of the [[Sui dynasty]] (d. [[623]])
* [[Emperor Xiaomin of Northern Zhou|Xiao Min Di]], emperor of [[Northern Zhou]] (d. [[557]])
* [[Xiao Kui|Xiao Ming Di]], emperor of the [[Liang dynasty]] (d. [[585]])

== Deaths ==
* [[August 27]] &ndash; [[Caesarius of Arles|Caesarius]], [[bishop]] of [[Arles]]
* [[Eógan Bél]], king of [[Connacht]] ([[Ireland]])

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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