6th century

The collapse of the Western Roman Empire late in the previous century left Europe fractured into many small Germanic kingdoms competing fiercely for land and wealth.

From the upheaval the Franks rose to prominence and carved out a sizeable domain covering much of modern France and Germany.

Owing in part to the collapse of the Roman Empire along with its literature and civilization, the sixth century is generally considered to be the least known about in the Dark Ages.

[a] In its second golden age, the Sassanid Empire reached the peak of its power under Khosrau I in the 6th century.

[3] The classical Gupta Empire of Northern India, largely overrun by the Huna, ended in the mid-6th century.

Byzantine Iconography, representative of the reign of Emperor Justinian.
Eastern Hemisphere at the beginning of the 6th century
Uxmal is founded in the early 6th century.
This Buddhist stela from China , Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century.
The Suebi Kingdom would eventually be conquered by the Visigoths in the 6th century