Emperor Wen organizes the construction of the Grand Canal, builds ships for transportation, and locates grain stores at strategic points.

Apa Khagan once again escapes west and settles in the Paykend near Bukhara.

However, in his new territory, the former alliance breaks up and he loses the support of Tardush because of the disagreement over control of the Silk Road.

The Slavs push south in the Balkan Peninsula—partly in conjunction with the Avars under their ruler (khagan) Bayan I—ravaging the cities of Athens and …

…Corinth.

Liuvigild’s Visigoth forces capture the city of Seville after a siege of nearly two years.

His rebellious son Hermenegild seeks refuge in a church at Córdoba, but is arrested and banished to Tarragona.

His wife, Inguld, flees with her son to Africa.

The late Emperor Tiberius II had begun to negotiate an alliance with the Franks.

The Lombards, fearful of a pincer movement, elect another king in 584: Duke Authari, the son of King Cleph.

They cede to him as a demesne not only the capital of Pavia, but half of their ducal domains.

The Exarchate of Ravenna, created by Maurice in 584, is organized into a group of duchies, mainly coastal cities on the Italian Peninsula.

The civil and military head of these imperial territories, is the exarch (governor) in Ravenna.

With the creation of the Exarchate, …

…the isolated communities of Venice, literally islands of Veneto-Greek civilization, become part of it.

The monastery of Monte Cassino had been constructed on an older pagan site, a temple of Apollo that crowned the hill, according to Gregory the Great's biography of Benedict, Life of Saint Benedict of Nursia.

The biography records that the area was still largely pagan at the time and Benedict's first act was to smash the sculpture of Apollo and destroy the altar.

He then reused the temple, dedicating it to Saint Martin, and built another chapel on the site of the altar dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.

Once established at Monte Cassino, Benedict never left.

Here he wrote the Benedictine Rule that had become the founding principle for western monasticism, here he had received a visit from Totila, king of the Ostrogoths, perhaps in 543 (the only remotely secure historical date for Benedict), and here he died.

Monte Cassino had become a model for future developments.

Unfortunately its prominent site has always made it an object of strategic importance, and it will be sacked or destroyed a number of times.

The Lombards sack the abbey in 584, during the abbacy of Bonitus, and the surviving monks flee to Rome, where they will remain or more than a century.

During this time the body of St. Benedict is transferred to Fleury, the modern Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire near Orleans, France.

The Assassination of Chilperic I and the Rise of Fredegund as Regent (584 CE)

After twenty-three years of rule, Chilperic I, King of Neustria, is stabbed to death while returning from a hunt near Chelles in 584 CE. His assassination plunges Neustria into political turmoil, but his widow, Fredegund, seizes power, ensuring that her infant son, Chlothar II, is recognized as the rightful heir.

1. Chilperic’s Rule and the Expansion of Neustria

• Chilperic’s realm stretches from Aquitaine to the northern seacoast, making him one of the most powerful Merovingian rulers.
• He had ruthlessly pursued power, engaging in bitter wars with his half-brother Sigebert I of Austrasia and later with Guntram of Burgundy.
• His reign was marked by oppressive taxation, Church conflicts, and dynastic bloodshed, earning him the hatred of both his subjects and his rivals.

2. Chilperic’s Assassination Near Chelles (584 CE)

• While returning from a hunt, Chilperic is stabbed to death under mysterious circumstances.
• Fredegund, his wife, is widely believed to have financed the assassination, likely to secure power for herself and their young son, Chlothar II.
• The assassination is one of the many violent power struggles within the Merovingian dynasty, further deepening the civil wars that plagued Frankish Gaul.