The Umayyad cavalry (which was superior to the Frankish) failed to break through Martel's heavily armored infantry phalanx, and the governor of Al-Ándalus was killed. This halted the Umayyad advance into Europe, although they continued to hold a good part of southern France. Although technically not a king or even a duke, Charles Martel became the effective ruler of Francia until his death in 741.

The death of Ali's son Husayn (Muhammad's grandson) at the hands of Umayyad soldiers at the Battle of Karbala became a rallying point, with Persian communities adopting Shia mourning rituals.

Muhammad and the Muslims had lived by caravan trading, and they continued this during their exile in Medina, gaining converts throughout Arabia. They fought their enemies in several battles during the 620s, and returned to Mecca in 630 when their opponents decided that resistance was futile.

In Asia, nearly four centuries of division following the end of the Han Dynasty ended with reunification under the Sui in 581. A general named Yang Jian deposed a child emperor of the Northern Zhou, killed his rivals, and declared himself Emperor Wen.

The Plague of Justinian was long believed to have been an outbreak of Yersinia pestis, the same bacterium that caused the Black Death in the later Middle Ages. This suspicion has been validated recently by genetic analysis of remains buried in plague pits.

One of the ways historians have understood the survival of Christianity in Rome was by describing it as an early "Universalizing" religion.