Ostrogothic Kingdom

State · 500–560 CE · at its largest around 534 CE

A Gothic kingdom in Italy founded by Theodoric the Great, ruled from Ravenna. Justinian's generals destroyed it in the long Gothic War.

On its lands while it lasted

Theodoric the Great (454 CE – 526 CE): Ostrogothic king who ruled Italy from Ravenna, preserving Roman administration and culture.
Benedict of Nursia (c. 480 CE – 547 CE): Italian monk whose Rule for monasteries became the foundation of Western monasticism; he founded the abbey of Monte Cassino.
Pavia (c. 500 CE): Capital of Ostrogothic Kingdom (500–553).
Pope Gregory I (c. 540 CE – 604 CE): Pope who strengthened papal authority, reorganised church administration and sent missionaries to convert the Anglo-Saxons.
Ravenna mosaics (547 CE): In the apse of San Vitale in Ravenna the emperor Justinian and the empress Theodora stand with their courts in glittering glass and gold. They are the finest surviving mosaics of the early Byzantine age.
Basilica of San Vitale (547 CE): Church in Ravenna consecrated in 547, famous for its Byzantine mosaics of Justinian and Theodora.