Dec 30, 2009
The Umayyad caliph Abdalmalik sends Syrian troops to reinforce the army of his provincial governor al-Hajjaj, but al-Hajjaj faces a 200,000-man army under the command of Ibn al-Ashath at Dayr al-Jamajam outside Kufah in September (see 699 A.D.). The caliph's agents offer to dismiss al-Hajjaj, give al-Ashath a governorship, and pay his men as much as their Syrian counterparts, but the Iraqis reject the offer. They are defeated in battle, and another battle at Maskin, on the Shatt ad-Dujaylah, puts an end to the rebellion in October. Badly beaten, the Iraqis retreat to Sijistan and will eventually surrender to the Syrians while their leader takes refuge at Kabul.
The Japanese emperor Momu becomes sole proprietor of all the nation's land through a codification of political law.
Arab and Persian mariners visit the Spice Islands (the Moluccas) for the first time.
Bubonic plague will appear in Sicily and southern Italy in this century.
Pope Sergius I dies at Rome September 8 after a 14-year reign; a Greek-born cleric is elected to succeed him, he is consecrated at Rome October 3, and he will reign until 705 as John VI.
The Arabs in this century will lay waste the farmlands of Palestine, undoing the work of the Maccabees in the 2nd century B.C. and creating agricultural havoc that will not be repaired for 12 centuries.
Arab merchants will introduce Oriental spices into Mediterranean markets in this century.
The Byzantine emperor Tiberius III Apsimar is replaced by the former emperor Justinian II, who regains the throne that he lost in 695. He has been outfitted with a metal nose, and his second reign will continue until 711 as Justinian II Rhinotmetus.
The Umayyad Mosque is erected at Damascus.
The circular Church of Marienberg is erected near Würzburg by the duke Hetan II.
The Anglo-Saxon king Ethelred (Aethelred) of Mercia abdicates after a 30-year reign and becomes an abbot at Bardney. He has chosen his nephew Cenred (Coenred), son of the late Wulfhere, to succeed him (see 716 A.D.).
The aristocratic Arab rebel leader Ibn al-Ashath is murdered (or takes his own life) in Afghanistan after losing any chance of success in his revolt against Umayyad rule in the eastern provinces.
Arab forces gain power in Central Asia as Qutaiba ibn Muslim becomes the Umayyad governor of Khorasan (see 654 A.D.). The region has grown rich from trade with China and Eastern Europe, its merchants dealing in silk, furs, amber, honey, and walrus ivory. Qutaiba has subjugated the mercantile cities of Bukhara and Samarkand as well as the Oxus delta area of Khwarizm south of the Aral Sea, and he will suppress resistance until his own people assassinate him in 715.
The Umayyad caliph Abdalmalik dies at Damascus in October at age 58 (approximate) after a 20-year reign in which Arab armies have overrun most of North Africa; conquered Bukhara, Khwarezm, Fergana, and Tashkent; and invaded Mukran and Sind in India. Arabic has become the official state language. Arabs have replaced Persian and Greek officials, the empire's financial administration has been reorganized, Arab coins have replaced former Byzantine and Sassanian coins, and regular postal service has been established between Damascus and the provincial capitals. Abdalmalik's brother Abd al-Aziz, governor of Egypt, has died in May, and the caliph is succeeded by his own eldest son, who will reign until 715 as Walid I.
The Chinese "emperor" Wu Hou is deposed in a coup d'état organized in February by her chief ministers after a 15-year reign that was preceded by 30 years in which she exercised controlling power and began the process of transforming the nation's leadership, enlisting members of the gentry to assume positions as scholarly bureaucrats and supplanting the military and political aristocracy that held power under previous regimes. The ministers gain support from some generals to seize the palace and execute the Chang brothers, who have won the ailing Wu Hou's favor with lascivious entertainments; rebelling against her excesses, the ministers install the son whom she deposed 15 years ago, restoring the Tang dynasty under the new emperor Zhong Zong (Chung Tsung), who will reign until his abdication in 712. Wu Hou dies December 16 at age 80.
Pope John VI dies at Rome January 11 after a reign of little more than 3 years in which he has protected the Byzantine commander Theophylactus when he invaded the Italian mainland from Sicily; induced Gisulfo, the Lombard duke of Benevento, to withdraw from Roman territory; ransomed captives; and ordered the restoration of Wilfred, the deposed bishop of Jorvik (later York). He is succeeded March 1 by a devotee of the Virgin Mary who will reign until his death in 707 as John VII.
The Japanese emperor Momu dies at age 24 after a 10-year reign and is succeeded by his 46-year-old aunt, who will reign until 715 as the empress Gemmei. She is the sister of the former empress Jito and, like Jito, was also the late emperor Tenmu's niece and wife.
Pope John VII dies at Rome October 18 after a 19-month reign and will not be replaced until next year.
Tea drinking gains popularity among the Chinese, in part because a hot drink is far safer than water that may be contaminated and may produce intestinal disease if not boiled (see 317 A.D.). Tea is also valued for its alleged medicinal values (see 750 A.D.; Japan, 805 A.D.).
A cleric elected to succeed the late Pope John VII reigns briefly as Sisinnius before dying; he is succeeded in turn by a Syrian-born cleric who will reign until his death in 715 as Constantine.
Mont Saint-Michel has its beginnings in an oratory on Mont Tombe in the Bay of St. Michael on the coast of Normandy built by the bishop of Arrandes, Aubert. Additions to the oratory will make Mont Saint-Michel an architectural masterpiece.
Nara (Heijo) becomes the capital of Japan, which until now has had a new capital with each new emperor or empress (see Kyoto, 794).
Sugar is planted in Egypt (see 300 B.C.; 711 A.D.; 1279 A.D.).
Moors (Arabs and Berbers) from North Africa invade the Iberian Peninsula in April under the command of the freed slave Tariq ibn Ziyad, governor of Mauretania, who comes across the narrow strait that separates the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. The dispossessed sons of the deposed Visigoth king of Spain Witiza may have appealed to the Muslims for help in their civil war and Tariq may have responded. He initially crosses the eight miles (15 kilometers) of water at night in Visigothic ships with an exploratory force of 400 men and 100 horses (the Strait of Gibraltar will get its name from Jebel Tariq, or Mountain of Tariq), ravages Algeciras and some other towns, and returns to North Africa with his spoils. He comes across the strait again on orders from Moussa ibn Nassair, this time with an army of some 7,000 Berber infantry and 300 Arab cavalry, and he burns the ships that have brought them, telling his followers that there is no turning back. The Visigoth king Roderic (Rodrigo) has been campaigning against the Basques to the north. He gathers an army of perhaps 25,000 men (60,000 by some accounts) to resist the invaders, but Tariq has brought in reinforcements, and although his Visigoth allies Sisbert and Oppa desert him Tariq prevails July 20 in the Battle of Wadi Bekka near Rio Barbate. The heavily outnumbered Roderic is killed in the 3-day pursuit that ensues, and the Visigoth monarchy is ended. The Berber foot soldiers mount captured Visigothic horses, Tariq offers to let anybody leave Toledo who wishes and promises that all who remain will be allowed to keep their property, practice their own religion freely, and be governed by their own laws and customs. The capital city throws open its gates, and a detachment under Mugit al-Rumi takes Córdoba as Tariq moves on toward Seville, beginning a domination of Andalus (Moorish Spain) that will not end until 1492.
The Byzantine emperor Justinian II Rhinotmetus sallies forth from Constantinople to oppose insurgent troops who have revolted in the Crimea and marched on the capital under the leadership of a soldier named Bardanes. The troops defeat Justinian in northern Anatolia and put him to death in December, ending the house of Heraclius that has ruled since 610. They proclaim the incompetent Bardanes emperor, and he will reign until 713 as Philippicus.
Moors invading the Iberian Peninsula introduce rice, saffron, and sugar cane.
Seville falls to the Moors, who invaded the Iberian Peninsula last year and this year augment their forces with 10,000 to 18,000 Arabs and Syrians (see Lisbon, 716 A.D.).
A revolution in Lombardy ends a succession of weak kings; the tribal chief Liutprand makes himself king and begins a reign that will expand Lombard territory and continue until Liutprand's death in 744.
Samarkand falls to Arab forces led by the 17-year-old general Abu Qasim al-Thagafi. The Arabs will make the city a center of Islamic culture.
India suffers her first losses to Arab invaders as the Muslim general Mohammed ibn-Kasim crosses Makran (Baluchistan), moves up the Indus Valley, and conquers Sind.
China's ineffectual Tang dynasty emperor Rui Zong (Jui Tsung) abdicates after a brief reign in favor of his 27-year-old son, who ascends the imperial throne as Xuan Zong (Hsüan Tsung or Ming Huang), but Rui Zong retains the title "Supreme Emperor" at the insistence of his sister, the ambitious princess Tai-p'ing, who continues to control official appointments and fills powerful offices with her supporters (see 713 A.D.).
Nonfiction: Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) by Yasumaro Ono is the first written history of Japan (see written language, 405 A.D.). Commissioned in 682 by the emperor Tenmu, the semi-mythological account is the first work of Japanese literature (see 720 A.D.).
The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is deposed after a 2-year reign in which he has been defeated by the Arabs. He is succeeded by a conspirator who will organize a strong army and navy and reign until 715 as Anastasius II.
China's sixth Tang emperor Xuan Zong (Hsüan Tsung or Ming Huang) wins a power struggle with his sister, the princess T'ai-p'ing, who commits suicide (see 712 A.D.). His father goes into seclusion, and Xuan Zong begins a reign that will continue until 756; his court will be a center of art and learning.
Spain's Moorish invaders wage their first campaigns in the valley of the lower Ebro River (see 712 A.D.; Lisbon, 716 A.D.).
The Ummayad Iraqi viceroy Hajjaj ibn Yusuf dies at Wasit in June at age 52 (approximate) after a loyal 20-year administration in which he has ruled with an iron hand, improving agricultural production, keeping the irrigation system in working order, halting the migration from rural areas into the towns, striking Arab coins, and suppressing dissent.
The Frankish leader Pepin (Pippin) the Fat of Heristal dies at Jupile on the Meuse December 16 at age 79 (approximate); his two legitimate sons having predeceased him (one was assassinated earlier in the year), he is succeeded as mayor of the palace of Austrasia by his 26-year-old illegitimate son Charles, who has gained a reputation for his military abilities, will acquire the soubriquet Martel ("the Hammer"), and will reign until his death in 741 as mayor of Austrasia and Neustria (see Battle of Tours, 732 A.D.). Pepin's widow, Plectrude, claims the succession should go to his infant grandson Theodoald. A faction of Austrasian noblemen rally to her cause, but Charles resists (see 715 A.D.).
Neustrian noblemen rebel from Austrasia and try to establish the infant Theodoald as successor to his grandson, the late Pepin (Pippin) (see 714 A.D.). Frisians on the North Sea rebel against Frankish rule under the leadership of their pagan mayor Radbod, who sides with the Neustrians in an effort to eliminate the new mayor of Austrasia Charles (Martel). He compels the 58-year-old Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, to leave, and he destroys most of the churches, replacing them with temples and shrines as he kills many of the missionaries. Charles (Martel) suppresses the uprising, and when the Frisians rise again in 719 they will be subdued once more and remain under Frankish control until 810. Unable because of their wet climate to grow grain, the Frisians depend for their livelihood on raising sheep and exporting cloth made from the wool. Opponents of Theodoald establish a young clergyman named Daniel as king of Neustria, and he will reign until his death in 720 as Chilperic II, initially as a tool of the mayor of the palace Riginfrid (see 716 A.D.).
The Byzantine emperor Anastasius II is deposed in an army mutiny after a 6-month civil war and succeeded by an obscure and incapable tax official who is raised to the throne at Constantinople and will reign until 717 as Theodosius III. Anastasius flees the city and will become a monk next year at Thessalonica.
The Umayyad caliph Walid I dies at Damascus after a 10-year reign and is succeeded by his son, who will reign until 717 as Suleiman. The new caliph dismisses Khalid al-Qasri, who was appointed governor of Mecca by the late Walid I in 710 (but see 724 A.D.).
The Japanese empress Gemmei abdicates at age 54 after an 8-year reign in which she has built a replica of the Chinese imperial palace at Japan's new capital, Nara. She is succeeded by her daughter, 35, who will reign until 724 as the empress Gensho.
Pope Constantine dies at Rome April 9 after a 7-year reign and is succeeded by a subdeacon and Church treasurer who will reign until 731 as Gregory II.
The Anglo-Saxon prince Ethelbald (Aethelbald) ascends the throne of Mercia and gains hegemony over London, Essex, and all of the English Midlands. By 731 he will have subjugated all provinces south of the Humber.
The Frankish queen mother Plectrude imprisons the new Austrasian mayor of the palace Charles (Martel) and tries to govern in the name of her grandchildren, but Charles escapes and gathers an army that defeats Plectrude's forces in a battle at Amblève, near Liège (see 717 A.D.).
Lisbon falls to the Moors, who continue to overrun the Iberian Peninsula (see 714 A.D.; Barcelona, Narbonne, 720 A.D.).
Chinese landscape painter Li Su Xun dies at age 65.
The new king of Neustria Chilperic II authorizes delivery of a shipment of spices from Fos to the monastery of Corbie in Normandy. Included are one pound of cinnamon, two pounds of cloves, and 30 pounds of pepper.
The Austrasian mayor Charles (Martel) defeats a force fielded by the Frankish queen mother Plectrude March 21 at Vincy, near Cambrai, and pursues her as far as Paris (see 716 A.D.). He retraces his steps; proceeds to Cologne; compels Plectrude to turn over half the wealth of his late father, Pepin; and obliges her to accept his sovereignty, which by 719 will have no serious challengers. He proclaims the Merovingian Clotaire IV king of Austrasia, reserving for himself the title mayor of the palace.
A Syrian army of 80,000 men and a fleet of 1,800 ships lay siege to Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor Theodosius III is deposed after a brief reign and succeeded by a 37-year-old military leader who soundly defeats the Syrians, killing the Umayyad caliph Suleiman. The new emperor will reign until 741 as Leo III, frustrate the Arabs in their efforts to take the city, and inaugurate the Isaurian dynasty that will control the throne until 802.
A new Arab caliph takes power in the person of Omar II (Omar ibn-al-Aziz), who grants tax exemption to all true believers and makes an unsuccessful effort to reorganize the finances of the empire, which have declined since the death of Abdalmalik in 705.
Sculpture: Buddha with the Gods of the Sun and the Moon is completed in bronze by Japanese artisans at Nara.
The Austrasian mayor of the palace Charles (Martel) turns back an invasion by Saxons and lays waste their country as far as the Weser, seizing the city of Utrecht.
The Byzantine emperor Leo III destroys the Arab fleet in September, ending a 13-month siege of Constantinople and blocking further Arab expansion.
The Frisian rebel Radbod dies, and the Austrasian mayor of the palace Charles (Martel) seizes the western part of Friesland, encountering little resistance.
The death of the pagan Frisian rebel Radbod enables the apostle Willibrord to return (see 716 A.D.); helped by the 44-year-old Anglo-Saxon Benedictine missionary Wynfrith Boniface (né Wynfred), he and his followers rebuild or repair the churches destroyed by Radbod and make many conversions.
Neustria's Chilperic II dies at an early age after a 5-year reign in which he has been subordinate to the mayor of the palace Radbod; the Austrasian mayor of the palace Charles (Martel) appoints the infant son of Dagobert III to succeed Chilperic. He attacks Neustria and will subdue her forces by 724, but the boy will reign until 737 as Thierry IV until 737.
Moorish forces capture Barcelona and cross the Pyrenees to capture Narbonne (see Lisbon, 716 A.D.; Toulouse, 721 A.D.).
Muslim forces invade Sardinia.
The former Byzantine emperor Anastasius II returns from his monastery at Thessalonica and tries to regain his old throne at Constaninople (see 715 A.D.). He fails in his attempt and will be executed next year by the emperor Leo III.
The Ummayad caliph Omar II dies at Damascus after a pious 3-year reign in which he has tried to appease non-Arab Muslims (mawali) by establishing equality for all Muslims. He is succeeded by his son, who will reign until 724 as Yazid II.
Nonfiction: Nihonshoki by Shōtoku Daishi and Yasumaro Futo no Ason under the direction of Prince Toneri at Nara is a rough chronology of Japanese history based on oral accounts (see 712 A.D.). It marks the first use of the word Nihon (Nippon) to designate Japan, but since there was no mention of calendar-makers in Japan before 553 its references to precise dates, or even years, especially before 461, are highly suspect.
A mixed force of Aquitanians and Franks defeat an Arab army outside of Toulouse as the Moors try to extend their control (see 720 A.D.). Odo (or Eudes), duke of Aquitaine, has ruled since about 715 over a territory that includes southwestern Gaul from the Loire to the Pyrenees and 3 years ago helped the Neustrian king Chilperic II fight the Austrasians (see Covadonga, 722 A.D.; Battle of Tours, 732 A.D.).
The British warrior-queen Aethelburg of Ine builds a fort at Taunton to oppose invading Danes.
Visigoth forces on the Iberian peninsula under the command of their chief Pelayo defeat Arab forces in the Battle of Covadonga below the Peñas de Europa in Asturias, but the Arabs continue to spread through the peninsula.
Pope Gregory II encourages the Christianizing of Germans and Frisians by consecrating as bishops the Benedictine missionary Wynfrith Boniface and his colleague Corbinian.
The Umayyad caliph Yazid II dies after a 4-year reign and is succeeded by his brother, who will reign until 743 as Hisham. The new caliph appoints the former governor of Mecca Khalid al-Qasri governor of Iraq, and Khalid begins a 14-year administration that will be marked by efficiency, albeit ruthlessly brutal, in which tensions between the Qay and Yemenite tribal confederations will be reduced, marshes drained, and large areas of virgin land brought under cultivation.
The Japanese empress Gensho abdicates in favor of her 23-year-old nephew; a son of the late Momu by Fuhito Fujiwara's daughter Miyako, he will reign until 749 as the emperor Shomu.
The new emperor Shomu orders that houses of the Japanese nobility be roofed with green tiles, as in China, and have white walls with red roof poles.
Parsees move to Sanjan on India's Gujurat coast and receive a warm welcome from the local Hindu ruler. Followers of the teachings of the 6th century B.C. leader Zoroaster, they fled Persia's Muslim invaders in the last century and have been in India since 706.
De ratione temporum (On the Reckoning of Time) by the Northumbrian monk-historian Bede, 53, at the monastery of Jarrow uses B.C. for calendar dates prior to the year in which Jesus was supposedly born. Bede's treatise follows the reckoning of Dionysius Exiguus, who died in 556 (see 525 A.D.), but it is through this new work that the B.C./A.D. (Before Christ/Anno Domini, or Year of Our Lord) system of dating will spread throughout western Europe (see science [zero], 1000 A.D.; science [Cassini], 1740 A.D.).
Greece revolts from the Byzantine rule of Leo III, who has forbidden the worship of icons (images) in a move to check superstition, miracle-mongering, and the spread of monasticism which is draining thousands of men from active economic activity and is concentrating great wealth in the tax-exempt cloisters. A Greek fleet sets out for Constantinople with an anti-emperor but is destroyed by the Byzantine imperial fleet with an incendiary mixture called Greek fire.
Pope Gregory II at Rome attacks the Iconoclasm of the Byzantine emperor Leo III (see 730 A.D.).
The Lombard king Liutprand takes advantage of the rebellion caused by the Iconoclasm controversy in Byzantine Italy to extend his realm (see 726 A.D.; 730 A.D.).
Muslim invaders capture the walled city of Carcassonne, whose Visigoth defenders successfully resisted the Frankish king Clovis in 508 (see 752 A.D.).
Chinese eating sticks will be introduced in the next 20 years in Japan, where people heretofore have used one-piece pincers. Japanese hashi will be smaller than the Chinese sticks.
The Lombard king Liutprand contracts an alliance with the Byzantine governor (exarch) of Ravenna, invades the duchy of Spoleto, and attacks Rome, but Pope Gregory II meets with him and appeals to his conscience as a pious Catholic. The pope has sought support from the Lombard dukes of Spoleto and Benevento.
The Alamanni are joined to the Frankish Empire as a dukedom.
Pope Gregory II excommunicates the Byzantine emperor Leo III for his Iconoclasm (see 726 A.D.).
The Mayan Empire in the central Western Hemisphere begins its greatest period (see medicine, 1027 A.D.).
Pope Gregory II dies at his native Rome February 11 at age 61 after a 16-year reign in which he has fought Iconoclasm. He is succeeded by a Syrian-born cleric who denounces the Iconoclasts at a Roman council and will reign until 741 as Gregory III.
Nonfiction: Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum by the monk-historian Bede of the monastery at Jarrow marks the beginning of English literature.
The Battle of Tours (or Poitiers) October 11 ends the menace of a 90,000-man Moorish army that has invaded southern France under the Yemenite governor of Spain Abd-ar-Rahman, who has crossed the Pyrenees; captured and burned Bordeaux; defeated an army under Eudo, duke of Aquitaine; and destroyed the basilica of St. Hilary at Poitiers. The Moors march on Tours, attracted by the riches of its famous Church of St. Martin, but they are routed in battle by the Frankish leader Charles Martel ("the Hammer"), now 56, whose men kill Abd-ar-Rahman. Most of the Moors are lightly clad. Martel has avoided battle for a week to let the weather get colder. Many of his enemies have deserted to warmer areas, survivors retreat to the Pyrenees, and the Moors' advance into Europe is terminated, partly by their loss to Charles Martel and partly by a revolt of the Berbers in North Africa. White, Christian historians will call the Arab defeat a great triumph for civilization, but Muslim raids into Frankish territory will continue on a sporadic basis until the end of the century; within 2 centuries, moreover, Muslim Córdoba will be a great center of science, medicine, and education, while Christian Europe will remain an uncultured wasteland of warring tribes and nations.
The Moors continue to harry the coasts of Europe with help from the Venetians and take slaves who are sold in the markets of Venice.
Bubonic plague again strikes Constantinople as it did in 541. The plague will take as many as 200,000 lives in the next 4 years.
Pope Gregory III orders the Benedictine missionary Wynfrith Boniface, archbishop of Hesse, to forbid consumption of horseflesh by his Christian converts in order that they may be seen to differ from the surrounding Vandals, who eat horsemeat as part of their pagan rites.
Charles Martel invades Burgundy. Mayor of Austrasia and Neustria, he hears that Aquitaine's duke Odo (Eudo or Eudes) has abdicated in favor of his son Hunold, and he marches swiftly across the Loire to make his presence felt around Bordeaux. Within 4 years Charles will have subdued all the petty Burgundian chieftains while continuing to fight off Moorish advances into Gaul.
England's archbishopric of Jorvik (later York) is founded with Egbert as archbishop.
The Northumbrian monk-historian Bede dies at the Jarrow monastery May 25 at age 63, having continued to teach until the end. He will be remembered as "the venerable Bede" beginning in the next century, and his method of dating events "Anno Domini" from the (supposed) time of the Nativity at Bethlehem will come into general use.
The Merovingian king of all the Franks Theodoric IV dies after a 16-year reign. His cousin Childeric will succeed after a 6-year interregnum.
Christians from the south invade Egypt to protect the patriarch of Alexandria.
Lombard forces sack the exarchate of Ravenna and threaten Rome. Pope Gregory III asks Charles Martel to help fight the Lombards (he also requests assistance in fighting the Greeks and Arabs). The pope's appeal to the Franks begins a relationship that will continue as the Frankish empire gains power.
The bishoprics of Passau, Ratisbon, and Salzburg are founded by Wynfrith Boniface, who has been Christianizing Bavaria.
The apostle Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, dies at Echternach November 7 at age 81, having converted many Frisians to Christianity.
Byzantine forces in Anatolia defeat the Arab forces of the Umayyad caliph Hisham.
The Byzantine emperor Leo III (the Isaurian) dies at Constantinople June 18 at age 65 (approximate) after a 24-year reign that has saved the empire and delivered eastern Europe from the threat of Arab conquest. He is succeeded by his son, 22, who will reign until 775 as Constantine V (Copronymus).
Charles Martel dies in his country palace at Quierzy-sur-Oise October 22 at age 53 after dividing his realms between his elder son Carloman and 27-year-old younger son Pepin (or Pippin), although the country has had no true king since the death of Theodoric in 737. Lands to the east, including Austrasia, Alamannia, and Thuringia, have gone to Carloman along with suzerainty over Bavaria, while Pepin has received Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence.
Pope Gregory III dies in November or December after a 10-year reign and is succeeded by a Roman deacon who will reign until 752 as Zacharias.
The Byzantine emperor Constantine V defeats his brother-in-law Artavasdus, who has led a 2-year insurrection in an attempt to usurp the throne, and renews his attacks on image-worship.
The Lombard king Liutprand threatens Rome but Pope Zacharias meets with him at Terni, north of the city, and appeals to the king's religious faith. Liutprand is a pious Catholic and desists from his attack.
The last Merovingian king of the Franks begins an 8-year reign as Childeric III succeeds to the throne left vacant by Theodoric IV in 737.
The Umayyad caliph Hisham dies after a 19-year reign in which Arab advances in Europe have been stopped and the Arab empire has come under pressure from Turks in Central Asia and Berbers in North Africa. Hisham is succeeded by his son, who will reign until next year as Walid II, but dissensions and rivalries that have heretofore been suppressed now begin to show signs of erupting into full-scale revolts. Walid takes the former governor of Iraq, Khalid al-Qasri, to Kufah (where Khalid has built a church to please his Christian mother) and has him executed there in November.
Japan changes her laws to permit aristocrats and members of the clergy to cultivate land (see 645 A.D.). The new farmland will be called shoin.
Lombard rule ends in Italy as the Lombard king Liutprand dies at age 54 after a 32-year reign in which he has defeated the dukes of Spoleto and Beneventum, bringing Lombardy to the height of her power. Liutprand's policies will be continued by Aistulf, who will become king of the Lombards in 749 and reign until 756.
Swabia becomes part of the Frankish Empire of Childeric III.
The Umayyad caliph Walid II is deposed after a brief reign and succeeded by his brother, who reigns briefly as Yazid III before being deposed as tribal conflicts roil Damascus. A new caliph is installed and will reign until 750 as Marwan III.
The Byzantine emperor Constantine V invades Syria, carrying the war to the Arabs.
Wynfrith Boniface, now archbishop of Mainz, receives a gift of pepper from the Roman deacon Gemmulus.
The Byzantine emperor Constantine V destroys a great Arab fleet and retakes Cyprus.
Constantinople is struck by the worst plague since the 6th century Plague of Justinian (see 732 A.D.).
The Frankish king Pepin's brother Carloman unexpectedly abdicates, becomes a monk, retires to a monastery near Rome, and leaves Pepin, now 33, as sole master of the Frankish realm.
The Umayyad governor of Khorasan Nasr ibn Sayyar dies at age 84 (approximate) after a 10-year administration in which he has fought vigorously against dissident tribes, Turkish neighbors, and the Abbasid family. He has reduced Arab intertribal animosities, imposed poll taxes on non-Muslims, and introduced a system of land taxation for Muslims.
Ethelbert II of Kent sends a message to the Anglo-Saxon missionary Wynfrith Boniface, archbishop of Mainz, requesting two well-trained goshawks "fit to hunt cranes," the goshawks of Kent being unsuited to the purpose. Boniface has earlier made a gift of two falcons and a goshawk to Mercia's king Ethelbald (Aethelbald). Falconry is practiced not merely as a sport but also as a way to obtain food, and crane meat is considered a delicacy, although it is hard to digest unless allowed to decay for 2 or 3 days.
The Battle of the Great Zab River ends in defeat for the Umayyad caliph Marwan III, who will be the last of his dynasty in the Middle East (see 750 A.D.).
The Japanese emperor Shomu abdicates at age 48 after a weak 25-year reign that has been dominated by his wife (and aunt), Komyo, a commoner whom he married at age 16. Their daughter, 31, will reign until 758 as the empress Koken, but Komyo and her nephew Nakamaro Fujiwara control the government.
The Todai Temple founded at Nara by the empress Komyo is completed after 6 years of construction.
The Abbasid caliphate that will rule most of the Islamic empire for 350 years is inaugurated by Abu-Abbas al-Safah, a descendant of the prophet Mohammed's uncle al-Abbas, who succeeds Marwan III at Damascus and has most of the Umayyads massacred (see 754 A.D.; Spain, 756 A.D.).
The kingdom of Galicia established by Alfonso I, duke of Cantabria, conforms roughly to the Roman province of that name.
Plague follows a famine in the Iberian Peninsula, taking a heavy toll.
The Chinese passion for tea drinking will reach its height in the next 50 years, finding acceptance even among Uighur tribespeople, who are gaining power and influence in the Middle Kingdom (see 708 A.D.). Bargeloads of tea come up the Grand Canal to Luoyang from Zhe Jiang (Chekiang); the cake teas and powdered teas are often flavored with ginger and tangerine peel.
Charles Martel's son Pepin (the Short) has himself crowned at Soissons by Wynfrith Boniface, archbishop of Mainz, and becomes Pepin III in a ceremony new to the Franks but one that gives the sovereign great prestige (see 754 A.D.).
The Battle of Talas River near Tashkent in July is the first recorded encounter (and the last) between Arab and Chinese forces. The rulers of Tashkent and Ferghana are both nominal vassals of China; the Chinese have intervened on behalf of Ferghana in a conflict between the two, Arabs competing with the Tang dynasty for control of central Asia have become involved; and an Arab army from Samarkand has marched to challenge a 30,000-man Chinese army commanded by the Korean-born general Gao Xianzhi (Kao Hsien-chih). Gao has had a series of military victories in the region, but his Turkish (Qarluq) contingent defects, the Arabs triumph, and they will remain the dominant force in the Transoxiana area for the next 150 years (see An Lu-shan revolt, 755 A.D.)
The first paper mill in the Muslim world begins production at Samarkand (see 105 A.D.). Two Chinese prisoners taken at the Battle of Talas River have by some accounts revealed the technique of papermaking to their captors (although paper may have arrived from China much earlier via the Silk Route), and Muslim scholars will use paper to produce translations of ancient Greek and Roman writings (see 793 A.D.).
Pepin III (the Short) succeeds in taking Carcassonne from the Muslims, who have held the walled Languedoc city since 728.
Pope Zacharias dies at Rome in mid-March after an 11-year reign and is succeeded March 23 by Stephen II, who dies of apoplexy March 25 without having been consecrated. His successor also takes the name Stephen and will reign until 757, but since the second Stephen was not consecrated the third Stephen will be called Stephen II (or III).
Japan's 55-foot Buddha statue Rushanabutsu is completed at Nara after 9 years of work.
The Anglo-Saxon missionary Wynfrith Boniface, archbishop of Mainz, writes a letter to the English king Ethelbald (Aethelbald) of Mercia, saying, in part, "Your contempt for lawful matrimony, were it for chastity's sake, would be laudable, but since you wallow in luxury and even in adultery with nuns, it is disgraceful and damnable . . . We have heard that almost all the nobles of the Mercian kingdom, following your example, desert their lawful wives and live in guilty intercourse with adulteresses and nuns."
Pepin III is crowned at the abbey of Saint-Denis January 6 by Pope Stephen II (or III); Stephen anoints Pepin and his sons Charles and Carloman in July, consecrating them as kings of the Romans and proclaiming the new Frankish dynasty holy and its title indisputable. The pope has appealed for help from the Franks against the Lombards, and Pepin the Short invades Italy, laying siege to the Lombard king Aistulf at Pavia (see Donation of Pepin, 756 A.D.).
The Abbasid caliphate begun in 750 is firmly established by al-Mansur, 42, who succeeds his brother Abu-I-Abbas to begin a 21-year reign that will see the new caliphate recognized everywhere except in the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. A revolt by al-Mansur's uncle Abdallah, governor of Syria, is crushed, and Abdallah is murdered on orders from al-Mansur.
The Chinese Buddhist priest Jian Zhen introduces sugar to Japan, where it is used only to mask the flavors of foul-tasting medicinal herbs.
English missionary Wynfrith Boniface is killed by a band of pagans at Dokkum in Frisia June 5 at age 78 (approximate) while reading the Scriptures to Christian neophytes on Pentecost Sunday (his companions are massacred). Boniface has asked to be buried at Fulda, where he has entrusted a monastery to his Bavarian disciple Sturmi.
The synod of Hieria issues a decree condemning the use of religious images (icons).
A Tang census shows that 75 percent of Chinese live north of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) River. Chang-en has a population of 2 million and more than 25 other cities have well over 500,000.
The 52-year-old Chinese general An Lushan (An Lu-shan) leads a rebellion against China's sixth Tang dynasty emperor Xuanzong (Hsüan Tsung, or Ming Huang), now 70, who has reigned since 712 and brought the empire to the height of its power and prosperity (see Battle of Talas River, 751 A.D.). A man of Turkish and Persian origin, An Lushan was enabled to advance in rank by the policies of Xuanzong's former chief minister Li Lin-fu, who gave preference to non-Chinese officers lest Chinese generals become rivals to his own position at court. The emperor's favorite (albeit obese) concubine Yang Guifei (Yang Kuei-fei) was his daughter-in-law before he forced his son to divorce her; she has had her brother Yang Kuo-chung made first minister of the empire and brought her two sisters into the imperial harem, but An Lushan has become resentful of Yang Kuo-chung's power (see 756 A.D.).
The Lombard king Aistulf surrounds Rome in January with a view to making it his capital, but the Frankish king Pepin III (the Short) arrives with his sons Charles and Carloman, defeats Aistulf, and confers the Donation of Pepin which establishes the Papal States and begins the temporal power of the papacy (see 754 A.D.). Popes since the 4th century have been acquiring lands around Rome, Pepin III has taken lands that legally belong to the eastern Roman Empire; he gives them to Pope Stephen II (or III). The Lombard king Aistulf cedes territory in northern and central Italy under terms of the Treaty of Pavia, and the Vatican is thus endowed not only with the Roman region but also with the area around Ravenna and the Pentapolis (the Adriatic seacoast from Rimini to Ancona), over which it will have dominion until 1870. Pepin tacitly recognizes claims of the popes to be heirs to the empire in Italy.
Abd-al-Rahman I is proclaimed emir of Córdoba May 15 and makes it the capital of Moorish Spain, beginning a great period of prosperity. A Syrian prince who came to Spain only last year, he is the sole member of the Umayyad dynasty to have escaped the massacre of 750.
The Chinese capital of Luoyang falls to the 200,000-man army of the rebel general An Lushan, who defeats loyalist forces under the command of Gen. Guyo Ziyi (Kuo Tzui-i), 59, and whose success forces the emperor Xuanzong (Hsüan Tsung, or Ming Huang) and his concubine Yang Guifei (Yang Kuei-fei) to flee to the south along with the rest of the imperial court (see 755 A.D.). Xuanzong's bodyguards blame Yang Guifei for their plight; they demand her execution, the emperor permits her to be strangled by his chief eunuch in order to appease the troops (her brother is also executed), and Xuanzong abdicates after a 44-year reign following her death. Her adopted son (and reputed lover) An Lushan proclaims himself emperor (but see 757 A.D.).
The 45th Japanese emperor Shōmu Tennō dies at Nara June 21 at age 55 (approximate) after a 41-year reign in which he has broken precedent by having his commoner wife, a member of the powerful Fujiwara family, named empress. He has lavished enormous sums of money on a Buddhist governmental structure that mirrors the nation's civil bureaucracy. Shōmu is survived by his widow, who has shared his throne since 749 and will reign until 758 as the empress Koken.
The Shosoin treasure collection of the late Japanese emperor Shōmu Tennō is placed in the 8-year-old Todai Temple at Nara.
The Anglo-Saxon king Ethelbald (Aethelbald) of Mercia is murdered at Seckington by one of his bodyguards after a 40-year reign. He is succeeded by a kinsman who will reign until 796 as Offa II (see 774 A.D.; 779 A.D.).
A eunuch slave assassinates the self-proclaimed Chinese emperor An Lushan (An Lu-shan) early in the year at Luoyang, and although the revolt that An Lushan began 2 years ago will continue officially until 763 it has left millions dead, with millions more fleeing as refugees to the south (see 756 A.D.). An Lushan has become nearly blind (probably from diabetes) and grown irascible. His eldest son has connived in his murder, military leaders continue to hold power in much of the country in the absence of a strong central government, and the rebellion will have lasting social and economic consequences (see taxation, 781 A.D.).
The Arab writer Ibn al-Mukaffa, 39, is tortured at Basra on orders from the caliph al-Mansur. His limbs are severed and he is thrown, still alive, into a burning oven.
Pope Stephen II (or III) dies at his native Rome April 26 after a 5-year reign in which he has freed the papacy from Byzantium, allied it with the Franks against the Lombards, and become first temporal sovereign of the new Papal States. Stephen is succeeded by his brother, who will reign until 767 as Paul I.
Northumbria's Anglo-Saxon king Eadbert (Edbert) abdicates after a 21-year reign in which he has encouraged learning and scholarship. He becomes a cleric at the cathedral of York (Jorvik), where his brother Egbert has been archbishop since 735, and although his son Oswulf succeeds him Oswulf is assassinated within the year. A nobleman named Ethelwald (Aethelwald) assumes the Northumbrian throne.
The Japanese empress Koken abdicates after a 9-year reign and is succeeded by her father's 25-year-old cousin, a grandson of the late Shōmu Tennō, who will reign until 764 as the emperor Junin. Her mother, Komyo, and Komyo's nephew Nakamaro Fujiwara continue to hold the reins of government, but Komyo will die in 760.
Frankish forces in Gaul retake Narbonne from the Arabs, who have held it since 720; having taken Carcassonne 7 years ago, the Franks gain control of Septimania (Languedoc).
The Chinese general Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i) lays siege to the city of Ye Jing (Yehching) as he increases his efforts to end the rebellion begun by the late An Lushan (An Lu-shan) (see 763 A.D.).
Poetry: Manyoshu contains some 500 poems by Japanese poets who include the emperor, noblemen, and commoners.
The siege of the city of Ye Jing (Yehching) by the Chinese general Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i) creates such a shortage of food within its walls that rats sell at enormous prices.
The Japanese priest Dokyo "cures" the empress mother Koken by using prayers and potions; he may have become her lover and certainly becomes her court favorite, arousing the jealousy of the emperor Junin (see 764 A.D.).
A great Chinese famine in the Huai-Yangtze area late in the year drives men to cannibalism, according to some exaggerated accounts.
The Abbasid caliph al-Mansur moves the Arab seat of empire from Kufah to Baghdad and starts building a new capital in the still fertile Tigris Valley (see 766 A.D.).
Byzantine troops invade the Papal States in alliance with the Lombard king Desiderius, but the Frankish king Pepin mediates between Desiderius and Pope Paul I (see Donation of Pepin, 756 A.D.).
The Chinese rebellion begun by the late An Lushan (An Lu-shan) in 755 is finally suppressed with support from Uighurs, who have replaced the Eastern Turks as masters of the eastern steppe and allied themselves with China's Tang court. Using only some 4,000 demoralized troops, Gen. Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i), now 66, recovers the Tang capital of Chang-an from invading Turfan forces and is rewarded by the emperor Tai-tsung, who enobles the general and gives his daughter in marriage to Guo's youngest son.
The Japanese Buddhist priest Dokyu eliminates the minister Oshikatsu, who has become the favorite of the emperor Junin (see 761 A.D.). Dokyu has become the court favorite of the former empress Koken. Nakamaro Fujiwara leads a revolt against Koken and Dokyo, but the revolt is suppressed. The emperor Junin is deposed and forced into exile, and Koken reassumes the imperial throne. She takes the name Shotoku, appoints Dokyo her prime minister, and begins a reign that will continue until 770, with Dokyu running the government.
European writings make the first known mention of a three-field crop-rotation system, describing a northern system in which some spring plantings supplement the traditional winter plantings of the south. The system makes a given section of land productive 2 years out of 3, instead of every other year, as one field is sown with wheat or rye at the end of the year, a second is sown in the spring, and a third is left fallow. The second field is sown with barley, broad beans, chick-peas, lentils, oats, or peas—food with more protein value.
Baghdad nears completion as 100,000 laborers create a circular city one and a half miles in diameter with a palace at its center for the caliph al-Mansur (see 762 A.D.). The Muslim city is ringed by three lines of walls, some containing bricks that weigh 200 pounds.
Pope Paul I dies at his native Rome June 28 after a 10-year reign in which he has vehemently protested the Byzantine emperor Constantine V's revival of Iconoclasm at Constantinople, given refuge to Greek monks who were expelled from the eastern Roman empire, moved the relics of many saints from the catacombs to Roman churches, and built Rome's Church of Saints Peter and Paul. Duke Toto of Nepi has his layman brother elected to succeed Paul under the name Constantine II, but the Lombard king Desiderius sends troops to Rome; they kill Duke Toto, dethrone Constantine II, and set up a monk as a pope under the name Philip (see 768 A.D.).
Pepin the Short dies at Saint-Denis, Neustria (France) September 24 at age 54. His son Charles, now 26, inherits half of Pepin's realm and will reign until 814 as Charlemagne, while his son Carloman inherits the other half and becomes king of Austrasia. Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, stands well over six feet tall, is a superb athlete, can speak Latin and understand Greek but cannot learn to write. He has come to loathe his wife, Himeltrud, who has borne him a hunchbacked son and a daughter, and although he regards with a certain awe the Church doctrine that marriage is an inviolable sacrament he is not willing to discipline his own appetites, so while he prays forgiveness for his sins he does not let his marriage vows interfere with his fleshly pleasures (see 770 A.D.).
The antipope Philip is removed from office after a brief reign, as is the antipope Constantine; a Benedictine priest elected August 1 will reign until early 772 as Stephen III (or IV) (see 767 A.D.; 769 A.D.).
The Kasuga Shrine is erected at Nara by the Fujiwara family.
Pope Stephen III (or IV) summons a Lateran council in April to resolve problems of papal succession (see 768 A.D.). He has informed the Frankish rulers Charlemagne and Carloman of his election. Pope Constantine has been blinded by order of the Frankish party, and the legate Waldipert sent by the Lombard king Desiderius has been assassinated.
The Frankish queen mother Bertrada suggests to her son Charlemagne that he marry a Lombard princess, telling him that he can divorce his wife, Himeltrud, for reasons of state without mentioning his personal reasons for the divorce (see 768 A.D.). The Lombard king Desiderius desires a marital alliance with the Franks, but his daughter Liutberga is married to Charlemagne's cousin Tassilo, duke of Bavaria. Liutberga intends to have his son and co-ruler Adelchis marry Charlemagne's only sister, Gisla. He travels to the Lombard court at Pavia, concludes arrangements, and returns with the Lombard princess. Pope Stephen III (or IV) gets wind of the forthcoming nuptials and writes to the Frankish court, "This would not be a marriage but disgraceful concubinage . . . Would it not be the height of madness if the glorious race of the Franks . . . were to be contaminated by a union with the perfidious and stinking Lombards, who cannot even be called a nation and who have brought leprosy into the world?" Instead of having his sister marry Adelchis, Charlemagne sends her to a convent, and while he does marry the Lombard princess he will divorce her next year and send her back to Pavia.
The Japanese empress Shotoku (Koken) dies at age 52 and is succeeded by a 62-year-old grandson of the late emperor Tenji, who will reign until 781 as the emperor Konin. The accession is engineered by Nakamaro Fujiwara, who has the Buddhist priest Dokyyo banished from Kyoto, and prevents the accession of the crown prince Ochi. No other woman will be allowed to succeed as empress for nearly 1,000 years.
Horseshoes come into common use in Europe, making horses more efficient for pulling chariots on rocky roads and farm implements on stony ground (see 450 A.D.).
Pope Stephen III (or IV) accepts an alliance between the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, whereupon the leaders of the Frankish party at Rome are murdered. Carloman, king of Austrasia, sets out to avenge their murders but dies himself December 4; his widow, Gaberga, flees with her two sons to the court of the Lombard king Desiderius at Pavia, where she finds a warm welcome (Desiderius is furious at Charlemagne for having divorced his daughter).
Charlemagne becomes king of all the Franks upon the death of his brother Carloman. Having repudiated his two previous marriages, Charlemagne has taken as his new wife a 13-year-old Swabian girl, Hildigard, who will bear him nine children.
Armenians revolt against Arab rule (see 653 A.D.). Mushegh Mamikonian leads the uprising, but the Arabs will suppress it next year. The Mamikonians will lose their political power, and the Artsruni and Bagratuni families will emerge as the country's leading nobility (see 806 A.D.).
Charlemagne begins a war with the Saxons that will end in 13 years with their subjugation on the Continent.
Pope Stephen III (or IV) dies at Rome January 24 after a 3½-year reign in which he has approved the worship of icons in the Eastern Church and broadened the rights of cardinal bishops in the Western Church. He is succeeded February 1 by a Rome-born cleric who will reign until 795 as Adrian I.
Charlemagne is crowned king of Lombardy after invading the country and subduing the Lombards.
Charlemagne becomes the first Frankish king to visit Rome, and he confirms the Donation of Pepin granted in 756 while making it clear that he is sovereign even in papal lands.
Charlemagne absorbs Lombardy into his Frankish Empire and establishes his rule in Venetia, Istria, Dalmatia, and Corsica.
The Anglo-Saxon king Offa II of Mercia subdues Kent and Wessex (but see 776 A.D.).
The Byzantine emperor Constantine V Copronymus dies September 14 at age 56 while on campaign in what later will be Bulgaria. In his 34-year reign he has suppressed monasticism and image worship, restored aqueducts, revived commerce, and repopulated Constantinople. He is succeeded by his son Leo the Khazar, 25, who will reign until 780 as Leo IV, continuing Constantine's energetic campaigns against the Arabs and Bulgars. Byzantine forces defeat the Bulgars at Lithosaria.
The Abbasid caliph al-Mansur dies at age 63 after a 21-year reign in which he has made Baghdad the seat of a powerful Muslim empire. He is succeeded by his son, who will reign until 785 as al-Mahdi.
Tibet subdues her Himalayan neighbors and concludes a boundary agreement with the Chinese.
The Battle of Otford ends in a loss for the Anglo-Saxon king Offa II of Mercia, who loses sovereignty in Kent and will not regain it until 785.
The Frankish king Charlemagne gains a victory over the Saxons and invades Moorish Spain, but his advance is checked at Saragossa, where he encounters a heroic defense.
Basque forces annihilate Charlemagne's rear guard August 15 at Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees.
Byzantine forces defeat the Arabs at Germanikeia and expel them from Anatolia.
Poetry: The death of Charlemagne's paladin Roland at Roncesvalles gives rise to the epic Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland), beginning a great body of medieval French literature.
The Anglo-Saxon king Cynewulf of Wessex submits to Offa II of Mercia, who makes himself king of all England, but Offa lost control of Kent 3 years ago and will not regain it for another 6. He does not claim sovereignty north of the Humber. The Frankish king Charlemagne will write to Offa as "his dearest brother," but when Offa refuses to let one of Charlemagne's sons marry one of his daughters unless Charlemagne lets one of his daughters marry Offa's son Egfrith, Charlemagne will close his ports to English traders.
The Byzantine emperor Leo IV dies at age 30 after a 5-year reign in which he has been dominated by his beautiful Athenian wife, Irene, now 28 (he married her when she was a poor orphan of 17). Leo is succeeded by his 10-year-old son, who will reign until 797 as Constantine VI, with Irene as regent until 790.
The Byzantine queen mother Irene restores image worship.
The Frankish king Charlemagne encourages the three-field system of crop rotation in his realms (see 765 A.D.).
The Japanese emperor Konin dies at age 73 after an 11-year reign and is succeeded by his 44-year-old half-Korean son, who will reign until 806 as the emperor Kanmu.
The Chinese general Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i) dies at age 84 and will be deified in popular religion.
The Chinese statesman Yang Yan (Yang Yen) commits suicide at age 54 (approximate) after being charged by a jealous colleague of bribery and corruption. As a minister of the Tang emperor Te Tsung, Yang has introduced a new system of taxation, abolishing the various land, labor, produce, and other taxes to which the peasantry has been subject and the upper classes exempt, substituting a tax on land which is levied in the sixth and 11th months on all land, regardless of ownership (see An Lushan, 757 A.D.). The new system reduces the power of the aristocratic classes, eliminates their tax-free estates, and will remain substantially unchanged until 1949.
Nestorians in China build Christian monasteries (see 431 A.D.). They have been proselytizing among the Chinese since 645.
The bishopric of Bremen is established.
The Frankish king Charlemagne meets the 49-year-old Yorkshire-born scholar and educator Alcuin of Jorvik (York) in Italy and invites him to Aachen, where Alcuin begins teaching the king, his family, and sons of the king's friends in a center of discussion and knowledge that attracts leading Irish, English, and Italian scholars. Alcuin will remain until 796, systematizing the curriculum, encouraging the study of liberal arts to enhance understanding of spiritual doctrine, and elevating the standards of scholarship.
Charlemagne executes 4,500 Saxon hostages at Verdun and issues the "Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae," making Saxony a Frankish province after 3 years of fighting. He imposes Christianity on the Saxons (but see 783 A.D.).
The Anglo-Saxon king Offa II of Mercia builds Offa's Dyke to protect his realm against Welsh attacks.
Arab forces advance to the Bosphorus, but agents of the Byzantine child-emperor Constantine VI and his mother, Irene, will buy the Arabs off with gold from their abundant stores.
Charlemagne's wife, Hildigard, dies in childbirth April 30 after her ninth confinement in less than 13 years of marriage. His mother, Bertrada, dies in mid-July and is buried with great ceremony beside his father in the Abbey of St. Denis. Needing a mother for his many children by Hildigard and Himeltrud, Charlemagne marries Fastrada, the young daughter of an East Frankish count named Radolf, and makes her his queen at Worms, where she will interfere in affairs of state and make herself generally unpopular.
Saxons led by Widukind rebel against Charlemagne and massacre a Frankish army. Charlemagne kills his Saxon prisoners and launches a new invasion (see 782 A.D.; 785 A.D.).
The Byzantine general Staurakios wages a successful campaign against the Greek and Macedonian Slavs.
Charlemagne subjugates the Saxons once again and is reconciled with their leader, Widukind, who is baptized.
The third Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi dies after a 10-year reign and is succeeded by his son, who will reign for 1 year as al-Hadi.
The Japanese strongman Tanetsugu Fujiwara has his granddaughter married to the 11-year-old son of the emperor Kanmu in anticipation of young Heizei's ascension to the imperial throne (see 806 A.D.).
The Synod of Paderborn states that it is a deception produced by the devil to believe that a woman can voluntarily join the legions of the devil and be granted magical powers. It sets the death penalty for anyone who burns a woman on the grounds that she is a "witch," and Charlemagne confirms the ordinance. But Augustine and other founders of the Church wrote about the existence of succubi and other evil female spirits, and although the Church has discouraged the belief in witches there are occasional accusations that women possessed of evil spirits have stolen semen from sleeping men, caused waning powers, impotence, sterility, and miscarriages, inflicted the private parts with diseases and deformities, and caused nightmares and dreams of forbidden activities (see 1324 A.D.).
The fourth Abbasid caliph al-Hadi dies September 24 and is succeeded by his 22-year-old brother, who will reign until 809 as Harun al-Rashid, making Baghdad a center of Arabic culture rivaling Basra and Kufah. Harun's accession ends a decade of rivalry; he will extend the power of the eastern caliphate over all of southwestern Asia and northern Africa, establish diplomatic relations with China, and exchange gifts with Charlemagne (see 809 A.D.).
The Council of Nicaea abandons Iconoclasm and allows the veneration of icon images, a major victory for the monks, who will advance extensive claims to complete freedom for the Church in religious matters.
A Moroccan governor rebels from the caliphate that rules Islam from Baghdad to Córdoba. He sets up an empire that will last for more than 1,000 years.
Mercia's Offa II marries off his daughter Eadburgh to Beorhic, king of Wessex, who will prove no match for her intrigues. She involves herself in court matters and will soon have all her husband's favorite courtiers removed, either by denouncing them or personally poisoning them (see 802 A.D.).
The Byzantine army mutinies against the unscrupulous queen mother Irene and the monkish party. It places Constantine VI, now 19, in command of the empire (but see 792 A.D.).
Cambodia begins to break away from the Sumatra-based kingdom of Shrivijaya as a 20-year-old Cambodian prince who claims descent from the rulers of Funan is consecrated in eastern Cambodia with the title Jayavarman II. In the next 10 years he will extend his powers north into the Mekong River Valley before either being exiled to Shrivijaya or held captive there (see 802 A.D.).
Irish monks reach Iceland in hide-covered curraghs to begin settlement of that island (see 874 A.D.).
The Byzantine emperor Constantine VI recalls his mother, Irene, and makes her co-ruler of the empire (see 797 A.D.).
Vikings raid the Northumbrian coast June 8, arriving in long ships from Norway and sacking the monastery on Lindisfarne, ruthlessly slaughtering many of the monks in their first attack on what later will be called the British Isles.
Arab traders make Baghdad a great financial center at the center of the Silk Road between China and Europe. Caravans carry little or no money on their long journeys between east and west; Chinese traders have long used what they call fei qian ("flying money") to avoid robbery, and the Arabs have adopted a similar banking system known as hawala to transmit funds: a trader plunks down cash at a money exchange in a bazaar, asks that it be transferred to a recipient in another country, and gives a code word by which the recipient will make himself known. Various countries will try to make hawala illegal, but it will persist into the 21st century.
Charlemagne has a channel excavated between two rivers in Bavaria in order to open a waterway for his battle fleet through the center of Europe, but the banks of the canal between the Altmühl (a tributary of the Danube) and the Schwäbische Rezat (a tributary of the Main) collapse in a heavy rain and the project is abandoned (see 1837 A.D.).
A paper mill begins production at Baghdad as Arabs spread the techniques developed by the Chinese in 105 (date approximate) (see 751 A.D.); Baghdad is becoming a great seat of learning, with Christian and Jewish scholars as well as Muslims, while Christian Europe remains largely unlettered. Arabs will become the world's most proficient paper makers (see 883 A.D.).
Japan transfers her seat of government to Heian (Kyoto), where it will remain until 1868 (see 710 A.D.). The years between now and 1185 will be called the Heian period: a golden age of Japanese culture begins that will endure for 4 centuries under the domination of the Fujiwara, Minamoto, and Taira families (see 1190 A.D.).
Charlemagne's fourth wife, Fastrada, dies August 10 after 11 years of marriage. He consoles himself with Liutgard, a beautiful young Alamannian girl whom he marries and moves into his new palace at Aachen, where he will live for his remaining 20 years. Liutgard shares Charlemagne's interest in the liberal arts and (unlike his first four wives) has an intellect.
Scotland suffers her first Norse invasion as Viking long ships follow up on last year's attack in Northumbria.
Ireland suffers her first Norse invasion 8 years after the first recorded raid of the Danes on England. The Danes have begun to pour into Ireland.
Pope Adrian I dies at his native Rome December 25 after a 23-year reign and is succeeded December 27 by a Rome-born cleric who will reign until mid-816 as Leo III (but see 799 A.D.).
The Frankish king Charlemagne bans the export of grain from his dominions in order to avoid food shortages.
Charlemagne's forces subdue Avars on the lower Danube as they consolidate Frankish control. The Avars founded the first Mongol empire in 407, and Charlemagne relieves them of so much booty in gold and jewels that 15 wagons pulled by four oxen each are required to carry it away.
Mercia's Offa II dies July 26 after a 40-year reign that has incorporated Kent, Sussex, Essex, and East Anglia into the Mercian realm. He has built a 150-mile dike to mark his border with Wales, reformed Mercia's coinage, and 2 years ago allied himself with Northumbria by giving one of his daughters in marriage to that country's king Ethelred (Aethelred).
The scholar-educator Alcuin of Jorvik (York) leaves Charlemagne's court at Aachen to become abbot of the Abbey of St. Martin in Tours, where he will encourage his monks in their calligraphic endeavors.
The Byzantine emperor Constantine VI is seized and blinded in July on orders from his mother, Irene, who has been placed in control of the empire by a new army uprising. Observing her 27-year-old son's infatuation with her attendant Theodote, she has manipulated him into a bigamous marriage that has antagonized the public as well as the Church (from whom she has concealed her belief in image worship). Now 45, Irene deposes Constantine, has him flogged, and begins a 5-year reign as the first Byzantine empress (she calls herself "emperor").
Pope Leo III at Rome comes under attack in April from a band of aristocratic conspirators under the leadership of a public official who is a nephew of the late Pope Adrian I. Leo flees to the court of Charlemagne at Padderborne, Charlemagne sends him back with Frankish agents and restores him to his papal throne, but the agents are unable to resolve the issues (see 800 A.D.).
The Frankish king Charlemagne's fifth wife, Liutgard, takes ill in the spring and dies childless. He sends a proposal of marriage to the Byzantine empress Irene, who has not recognized his right to head the western Roman Empire and who at age 48 is still considered the most beautiful woman in Europe.
Charlemagne arrives at Rome to settle issues raised by the attack on Pope Leo III last year. He calls a meeting of Roman and Frankish dignitaries, Pope Leo clears himself of misconduct charges, and Charlemagne is crowned head of the western Roman Empire at Rome on Christmas Day.
The Arab scholar Jabir ibn Hayyan invents an improved still, but distillers are still able to do little more than separate liquids such as rosewater from solids (see brandy, 1300 A.D.).
701 A.D.–725 A.D. 726 A.D.–750 A.D. 751 A.D.–775 A.D. 776 A.D.–800 A.D.
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