# 550

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Calendar year

This article is about the year 550.     For other uses, see [550 (disambiguation)](/source/550_(disambiguation)).

Calendar year

Years Millennium 1st millennium Centuries 5th century 6th century 7th century Decades 530s 540s 550s 560s 570s Years 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 v t e

550 by topic Leaders Political entities State leaders Religious leaders Categories Births Deaths Establishments Disestablishments v t e

550 in various calendars Gregorian calendar 550 DL Ab urbe condita 1303 Assyrian calendar 5300 Balinese saka calendar 471–472 Bengali calendar −44 – −43 Berber calendar 1500 Buddhist calendar 1094 Burmese calendar −88 Byzantine calendar 6058–6059 Chinese calendar 己巳年 (Earth Snake) 3247 or 3040 — to — 庚午年 (Metal Horse) 3248 or 3041 Coptic calendar 266–267 Discordian calendar 1716 Ethiopian calendar 542–543 Hebrew calendar 4310–4311 Hindu calendars - Vikram Samvat 606–607 - Shaka Samvat 471–472 - Kali Yuga 3650–3651 Holocene calendar 10550 Iranian calendar 72 BP – 71 BP Islamic calendar 74 BH – 73 BH Javanese calendar 438–439 Julian calendar 550 DL Korean calendar 2883 Minguo calendar 1362 before ROC 民前1362年 Nanakshahi calendar −918 Seleucid era 861/862 AG Thai solar calendar 1092–1093 Tibetan calendar ས་མོ་སྦྲུལ་ལོ་ (female Earth-Snake) 676 or 295 or −477 — to — ལྕགས་ཕོ་རྟ་ལོ་ (male Iron-Horse) 677 or 296 or −476

The [Silk Roads](/source/Silk_Road) between 500 BC and 500 AD

Year **550** (**[DL](/source/Roman_numerals)**) was a [common year starting on Saturday](/source/Common_year_starting_on_Saturday) of the [Julian calendar](/source/Julian_calendar). The denomination 550 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the [Anno Domini](/source/Anno_Domini) [calendar era](/source/Calendar_era) became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

## Events

### By place

#### Byzantine Empire

- Emperor [Justinian I](/source/Justinian_I) appoints [Bessas](/source/Bessas_(magister_militum)) commander (*[magister militum](/source/Magister_militum)*) of [Armenia](/source/Armenia), and entrusts him with the war in [Lazica](/source/Lazica) ([Georgia](/source/Georgia_(country))). - [Siege of Petra (550–551)](/source/Siege_of_Petra_(550%E2%80%93551))

- [January 16](/source/January_16) – [Gothic War](/source/Gothic_War_(535%E2%80%93554)): The [Ostrogoths](/source/Ostrogoths) under king [Totila](/source/Totila) recapture [Rome](/source/Rome) after a long [siege](/source/Siege_of_Rome_(549%E2%80%93550)), by bribing the [Isaurian](/source/Isauria) garrison.

- Summer – Totila plunders [Sicily](/source/Sicily), after he subdues [Corsica](/source/Corsica) and [Sardinia](/source/Sardinia). He sends a [Gothic](/source/Goths) fleet to raid the coasts of [Greece](/source/Greece).

- Justinian I sends two [Nestorian](/source/Nestorian_Church) monks on a [mission](/source/Christian_mission) to [Central Asia](/source/Central_Asia), to spread [Christianity](/source/Christianity) in the East (approximate date).

#### Europe

- The [Vendel era](/source/Vendel_era) begins; the name is given to a region in [Uppland](/source/Uppland) (an important area of the [sagas](/source/Saga)' account of a [Swedish kingdom](/source/History_of_Sweden)).

#### Persia

- The [Sassanid Empire](/source/Sassanid_Empire), under the reign of King [Khosrow I](/source/Khosrow_I), controls the trade of [silk](/source/History_of_Silk) destined for [Europe](/source/Europe) and the [Byzantine Empire](/source/Byzantine_Empire).

#### Asia

- The [Eastern Wei Dynasty](/source/Eastern_Wei) ends, and [Wen Xuan Di](/source/Emperor_Wenxuan_of_Northern_Qi) becomes emperor of [Northern Qi](/source/Northern_Qi). He forces [Xiao Jing Di](/source/Emperor_Xiaojing_of_Eastern_Wei) to yield the [throne](/source/Throne).

- Wen Xuan Di adopts a defensive policy towards the hostile northern tribes; he builds over 1,000 miles of [walls](/source/Defensive_wall) on the border.[1]

- The [Gupta Empire](/source/Gupta_Empire) falls; [India](/source/India) is again ruled by regional kingdoms (approximate date).

#### Americas

- Construction of [Quiriguá](/source/Quirigu%C3%A1) ([Guatemala](/source/Guatemala)) begins (approximate date).

- The last known [eruption](/source/Types_of_volcanic_eruptions) of [Chimborazo](/source/Chimborazo_(volcano)) (modern [Ecuador](/source/Ecuador)) occurs.

### By topic

#### Arts and sciences

- [Hindu](/source/Hindu) [mathematicians](/source/Mathematician) give [zero](/source/0_(number)) a numeral representation in a [positional notation system](/source/Numeral_system).

- [Procopius](/source/Procopius) writes the *[Secret History](/source/Procopius#Secret_History)* (approximate date).

#### Religion

- The churches of [Lazica](/source/Lazica) ([Georgia](/source/Georgia_(country))) and [Armenia](/source/Armenia) split. While the [Armenian Church](/source/Armenian_Apostolic_Church) remains independent, the Georgian church unites with the [Byzantine Empire](/source/Byzantine_Empire). This [ecclesiastical](/source/Ecclesiology) union deepens political and cultural contact between the two states. As a sign of Lazica's status vis-à-vis Byzantium, Lazic princes are vested with [honorific](/source/Honorific) titles of the Byzantine court, including *[kouropalates](/source/Kouropalates)*, or "minister of the imperial palace" (approximate date).

- The main redaction of the [Babylonian Talmud](/source/Talmud) is completed under Rabbis [Ravina](/source/Ravina_II) and [Ashi](/source/Rav_Ashi) (approximate date).

- [Chararic](/source/Chararic_(Suevic_king)), king of the [Suevi](/source/Suebi), converts to [Catholicism](/source/Catholicism).

- In [Ireland](/source/Ireland), the [Diocese of Tuam](/source/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Tuam) is erected.

## Births

- *probable* - [Pope Boniface IV](/source/Pope_Boniface_IV) (approximate date) - [Finbarr of Cork](/source/Finbarr_of_Cork), Irish [bishop](/source/Bishop) (approximate date) - [Gallus](/source/Saint_Gall), Irish [missionary](/source/Missionary) (approximate date) - [Gaugericus](/source/Gaugericus), [bishop of Cambrai](/source/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Cambrai) (approximate date) - [John Moschus](/source/John_Moschus), Byzantine [monk](/source/Monk) (approximate date) - [Peter III of Callinicum](/source/Peter_III_of_Callinicum), Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch (approximate date)[2]

## Deaths

- [May 8](/source/May_8) – [Desideratus](/source/Desideratus), French saint[3]

- *exact date unknown* - [Aryabhata](/source/Aryabhata), Indian mathematician-astronomer (b. [476](/source/476))[4] - [Buddhapālita](/source/Buddhap%C4%81lita), Indian [Madhyamaka](/source/Madhyamaka) scholar (b. [470](/source/470)) - [Drest V](/source/Drest_V_of_the_Picts), king of the [Picts](/source/Picts) - [Germanus](/source/Germanus_(cousin_of_Justinian_I)), Byzantine general (*[magister militum](/source/Magister_militum)*)

- *probable* - [Dubricius](/source/Dubricius), British bishop and saint - [Eustathius of Mtskheta](/source/Eustathius_of_Mtskheta), [Orthodox Christian](/source/Eastern_Orthodox_Church) saint

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Imperial Chinese Armies (p. 23). C.J. Peers, 1995. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-85532-514-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-85532-514-2)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Wickham, Lionel R. (2011). ["Peter of Kallinikos"](https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Peter-of-Kallinikos). In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; [George A. Kiraz](/source/George_A._Kiraz); Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). *Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition*. Retrieved June 19, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Alban Butler (1956). [*April, May, June*](https://books.google.com/books?id=jm3NAAAAMAAJ). Burns & Oates.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Bhau Daji](/source/Bhau_Daji) (1865). "Brief Notes on the Age and Authenticity of the Works of Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Brahmagupta, Bhattotpala, and Bhaskaracharya". [*Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland*](https://books.google.com/books?id=fAsFAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA392). pp. 392–406. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160914162945/https://books.google.com/books?id=fAsFAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA392&dq=aryabhata&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=onepage&q=kusumapura&f=false) from the original on 14 September 2016.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [550](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/550) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/550?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.