597 deaths

Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.

Fredegund or Fredegunda (Latin: Fredegundis; French: Frédégonde; – 8 December 597) was the queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Neustria. Fredegund served as regent during the minority of her son Chlothar II from 584 until 597.

Zhiyi (; 538–597 CE) also called Tiantai Dashi () and Zhizhe (, "Wise One"), was a Chinese Buddhist monk, philosopher, meditation teacher, and exegete. He is considered to be the founder of the Tiantai Buddhist tradition, as well as its fourth patriarch. Śramaṇa Zhiyi is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the development of East Asian Buddhist thought and practice. As the first major Chinese Buddhist thinker to construct a comprehensive religious system based primarily on Chinese interpretations, Zhiyi played a crucial role in synthesizing various strands of Mahayana Bud

King of Wessex

Saint Cetteus (or Ceteus, also known as Peregrinus, Pelligrinus, Pellegrino) (d. June 13, 597) () is the patron saint of Pescara. He was a bishop of the 6th century, elected to the see of Amiternum in Sabina (today the city of San Vittorino) in 590, during the pontificate of Gregory the Great.