Timeline 600CE-999CE
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600 Feb 16, Pope Gregory the Great declared "God bless you" to be the correct response to a sneeze. It was once thought that sneezing was an omen of death, since many dying people fell into sneezing fits.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_bless_you)
600 Li Shimin, son of Chinese General Li Yuan (the Duke of Tang), was born about this time.
(ON, 5/06, p.1)
600 Yang Di (Yangdi), a Sui emperor, extended the Grand Canal. He reportedly assumed power by poisoning his father. Ma Shu-mou, aka Mahu, was one of the canal overseers and was said to have eaten a steamed 2-year-old child each day he worked on the canal. On completion the canal extended for 1,100 miles. 5.5 million people were pressed into service to complete 1,550 mile canal.
(WSJ, 10/25/99, p.A50)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R51)
600 Quill pens, made from the outer feathers of crows and other large birds, became popular. The 1st books were printed in China.
(SFC, 7/26/04, p.F4)
600 A synagogue at Ein Gedi on the shores of the Dead Sea was destroyed about this time by fire. It had stood there from about 800BC. In 1970 archeologists digging at the site discovered a trove of scrolls. Technology in 2016 determined the scrolls to be of Leviticus, one of the first five books of the Bible, which dated to 200AD-300AD.
(Econ, 9/24/16, p.77)
c600 Small porkers came to Hawaii with the Polynesians some 1400 years ago, and big pigs arrived with the Europeans.
(WSJ, 7/25/95, p.A-6)
c600 Early settlers from the Marquesas built the Alakoko fishpond and taro fields on Kauai, Hawaii.
(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.T6)
c600 The Joya de Ceren Maya site in El Salvador was buried beneath 16 feet of ash from nearby Loma Caldera.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.D)
600 Germanic invaders, who occupied England after 600AD, saw themselves as a nation of immigrants, according to Prof. Nicholas Howe (1953-2006) of UC Berkeley, author of “Migration and Mythmaking in Anglo-Saxon England" (1989).
(SFC, 10/16/06, p.B6)
c600 "The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis" (Voyage of St. Brendan the Abbott) recounts a 7-year trip to a land across the sea by the Irish saint and a band of acolytes about this time.
(SFEM, 11/15/98, p.24)
c600-625 The burial site of the Prince of Prittlewell, an East Saxon prince or king, dated to about this time.
(www.southend.gov.uk/content.asp?content=3686)
600-700 The Tantras, Buddhist texts for generating deep religious experiences, were produced in India.
(SFEC,12/14/97, p.T5)
600-700 The silk road linking China’s merchants with Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe was revived in the 7th century after war had made it unusable for hundreds of years.
(Econ, 7/2/16, p.37)
600-700 Dongba pictographs were used as early as the 7th century, during the early Tang Dynasty. By the Song Dynasty in the 10th century, dongba was widely used by the Naxi people.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongba_symbols)(Econ., 10/10/20, p.38)
c600-700 King Songstan Gampo reigned over Tibet in the 7th century. He introduced Buddhism and started construction of the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple. He married the Chinese princess Wen Cheng.
(WSJ, 8/2/01, p.A12)
600-700 The library at Alexandria, Egypt, disappeared in the 7th century.
(WSJ, 6/1/00, p.A1)
600-700 In the seventh century the Frisians clashed with the Franks and resisted Christianity, but succumbed to Frankish rule and accepted Christianity a century later. Citizens of the Netherlands’s province of Friesland are still called Frisians and the Frisian language is still spoken there.
(HNQ, 3/5/00)
600-700 Irish monastic monks founded a monastery at Skellig Michael (Michael’s Rock) during the 7th century and for the next 600 years the island was a center of their monastic life. In 1996 UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skellig_Michael)(Econ, 9/12/09, p.94)
c600-700 St. Willibrord, an Irish missionary, spread Christianity in the region of Luxembourg.
(SFC, 9/1/96, T3)
600-700 Calinicus (Callinicus), an engineer from Heliopolis, Syria, is thought to have brought "Greek fire," (flammable petrochemicals) to Constantinople. The incendiary liquid could be fired from siphons toward enemy ships or troops. The weapon helped save the Byzantine Empire from Islamic conquest for several centuries.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.57)(NH, 10/98, p.24)
600-700 The Caracol Maya site in Belize was one of the most prosperous cities in the pre-Columbian world with some 120,000 people in a 65-square-mile metropolis. It has the 140-foot-high platform Caana, or "Sky-Place. "
(SFC, 4/26/97, p.E4)
600-700 Lady K'abel, considered the greatest ruler of the Mayan Late Classic period, ruled with her husband, K'inich Bahlam, for at least 20 years in the 7th century. She was the military governor of the Waka kingdom for her family, the imperial house of the Snake King, and she carried the title "Kaloomte" — translated as "Supreme Warrior," higher in authority than her husband, the king. In 2012 her tomb was discovered in northern Guatemala.
(AP, 10/4/12)
600-700 The martial art of "tie-kwan-doe" (kick-strike-art) was developed as part of the military training for young noblemen charged with protecting the kingdoms of what became Korea.
(WSJ, 10/3/97, p.A1)
600-700 Serbs and Croats came into Montenegro in a second wave in the 7th century.
(www, 6/3/98)
600-700 In Vietnam Hoi An was a port site of the Cham kingdoms of central Vietnam. It may date back to the 2nd century BC.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.H)
600-800 In 2003 evidence of an Indian village was found at an Illinois site some 35 miles east of St. Louis, that dated to the Late Woodland period.
(SFC, 4/21/03, p.A6)
c600-800 Irish monks began to seek solace in Iceland.
(NH, 6/96, p.53)
600-800 Polynesian seafarers 1st landed on Easter Island, 1400 miles from the coast of South America. They later carved nearly 900 colossi of compressed volcanic ash: the moai. In 1722 A Dutch explorer stopped by on Easter Sunday. It later became a possession of Chile.
(WSJ, 2/8/02, p.W11C)
c600-850 Late Classic Mayan paintings were found at a site in eastern Chiapas, Mexico, named "Bonampak," (painted walls).
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.35)
600-900 Late classic period of the Maya. The San Andres site in El Salvador flourished during the late classic. The El Tajin civilization thrived on the central coast of what became Mexico.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.BC)(SFC, 9/14/00, p.C8)
600-900 A three hundred year dynasty ruled over Palenque. In the Pyramid of Inscriptions is the tomb of Pakal, the greatest king of the dynasty.
(SFC, 5/19/96, T-9)
600-1100 The Wari ruled during this period and were the first people to unite diverse tribes into a sophisticated network across most of the Peruvian Andes. A Wari tomb was discovered in 2013.
(http://tinyurl.com/q2uwgmg)
600-1200 In Malaysia ceramic shards at Kampong Sungai Mas in the Bujang Valley date to this time. Brick foundations and a block of shale with a Buddhist mantra inscribed in Sanskrit was also found.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.F)
600-1600 (See entries under Myanmar) Pagan was the seat of Burma’s greatest dynasty and the site shows the remains of more than 7,000 temples and monuments of this period.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.F)
602-628 The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 was the final and most devastating of the series of wars fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Iran. The previous war between the two powers had ended in 591 after Emperor Maurice helped the Sasanian king Khosrow II regain his throne. In 602 Maurice was murdered by his political rival Phocas. Khosrow proceeded to declare war, ostensibly to avenge the death of Maurice. This became a decades-long conflict, the longest war in the series, and was fought throughout the Middle East: in Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Armenia, the Aegean Sea and before the walls of Constantinople itself.
(http://tinyurl.com/y2mq42dw)
604 Mar 12, Gregory I the Great (64), Pope (590-604), died. In 1997 R.A. Markus authored “Gregory the Great and His World."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_I)(WSJ, 4/12/08, p.W8)
604 In Japan a 17 article constitution was promulgated by Prince Shotoku (574-622). It was a Confucian document that focused more on ethics and virtue than on the basic laws by which the state was to be run. [see 702]
(www.theosophy.org/tlodocs/teachers/PrinceShotoku.htm)
604-617 King Saebert of Essex reigned in England. St. Mellitus converted him to Christianity.
(www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/kids/prittlewell_prince.html)
607 Mar 13, The 12th recorded passage of Halley's Comet occurred.
(HN, 3/13/98)
607 The first envoy from Japan was sent to China.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
609 May 13, Pope Boniface I turned Roman Pantheon into Catholic church.
(MC, 5/13/02)
610 Apr 6, Lailat-ul Qadar: The night that the Koran descended to Earth. Muhammad is believed by his followers to have had a vision of Gabriel. The angel told him to recite in the name of God. Other visions are supposed to have Gabriel lead Muhammad to heaven to meet God, and to Jerusalem to meet Abraham, Moses and Jesus. These visions convinced Mohammad that he was a messenger of God.
(ATC, p.59)(MC, 4/6/02)
610 Oct 5, Heraclitus' fleet took Constantinople.
(MC, 10/5/01)
610-632 A Muslim tradition has it that Mohammed one day found that his favorite wife, Aisha, had purchased some cushions decorated with birds and animals. The prophet proclaimed that only God could bestow life and that pale imitations should be avoided. Thus the hadith, or tradition of the prophet, holds that: The house which contains pictures will not be entered by the angels."
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)
610-632 During Mohammed’s ministry in Mecca and Medina the definition of jihad moved from persuasive proselytism to Muslim war against all infidels.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A10)
610-641 Heracles ruled the Byzantine Empire.
(ATC, p.69)
611 In Cambodia at Angkor Borei the earliest known Khmer inscription dates to this time.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.D)
614 Croats settled in the area between the Adriatic Sea and the rivers Sava and Drava.
(WSJ, 7/14/99, p.A23)
614 Christian Palestine was invaded by the Persians. The 5th century monastery of St. Theodosius east of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem was destroyed by the Persians. The Jews of Jerusalem allied with the Persians during the invasion and entered into the cave beneath the tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
(SFEC, 12/22/96, p.T3)(WSJ, 4/5/02, p.W12)(SFC, 10/23/06, p.A15)
615 May 8, St. Boniface IV ended his reign as Catholic Pope.
(MC, 5/8/02)
615 May 25, Boniface IV, Pope (608-15), died.
(SC, 5/25/02)
615 Nov 23, Columbanus, Irish explorer, monastery founder, poet and saint (Poenitentiale), died (aka St. Columba).
(MC, 11/23/01)
615 Yang Di (Yangdi), a Chinese Sui emperor, announced a 4th attempt to conquer Korea. In response to peasant rebellions in the north, Yangdi moved to the eastern city of Yangzhou.
(ON, 5/06, p.1)
615 Pakal (12) became the Mayan ruler of Palenque. His reign ended with his death in 683.
(SSFC, 12/7/03, p.C10)(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.D12)
617 Jun, Chinese general Li Yuan (the Duke of Tang) declared his rebellion and ordered the Tang army to prepare a march against Chang’an (later Xian), capital of China and the world’s largest city.
(ON, 5/06, p.2)(Econ, 3/15/08, p.101)
617 Dec 12, The Chinese city of Chang’an fell to the Tang army.
(ON, 5/06, p.2)
618 Apr, General Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, claimed the throne of China after receiving word that Emperor Yangdi had been assassinated in the city of Yangzhou. Yuan proclaimed himself Emperor Gaozu, the 1st monarch of the new Tang dynasty.
(ON, 5/06, p.3)
618-907 The Tang Dynasty was in China. The marble head of Eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara dates to the Tang period. Porcelain was invented during the T’ang dynasty.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(NH, 7/96, p.32)(WSJ, 2/19/98, p.A20)(WSJ, 8/28/98, p.W10)
618-907 The area of Tiananmen Square was first cleared.
(SFC, 6/25/98, p.A8)
619 Li Shimin led his armies against 2 warlords in northern China.
(ON, 5/06, p.3)
620 Aug 22, This day corresponds to the 27th day of Rajab, 1427, in the Islamic calendar. It commemorates to the night flight of Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq to the farthest mosque, usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back.
(WSJ, 8/8/06, p.A10)(www.atheists.org/Islam/mohammedanism.html)
620 In northern China Gen’l. Li Shimin (~20) attacked Luoyang, which was held by the warlord Wang Shichong.
(ON, 5/06, p.3)
620 The town of Cholula was founded in central Mexico. It was later said to be the oldest continuously occupied town in all of North America.
(SSFC, 2/26/06, p.F10)
620 Mohammad gained about a hundred converts including some wealthy Meccan families. This made other Meccans hostile. Mohammad in this year dreamed of being transported from Mecca to the Rock of Mariah in Jerusalem, from which he ascended into heaven and received instructions from God for himself and his followers.
(ATC, p.59)(ON, 7/03, p.6)
621 Mar, In China a force of 120,000 men from Xia province advanced to rescue the city of Luoyang.
(ON, 5/06, p.3)
621 May 28, In China Dou Jiande, general of the Xia army, was wounded and captured by the Tang army under Gen’l. Li Shimin at Hulao Pass. 3,000 Xia were killed and 50,000 were taken prisoners. The city of Luoyang soon surrendered. Xia province surrendered in turn.
(ON, 5/06, p.4)
622 Jul 16, Islamic Era began. Mahomet began his flight from Mecca to Medina (Hegira).
(MC, 7/16/02)
622 Sep 20, Prophet Mohammed Abu Bakr arrived in Jathrib (Medina).
(MC, 9/20/01)
622 Sep 24, In the Hegira Muhammed left Mecca for Medina (aka Yathrib) with 75 followers. This event marked the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar. The new faith was called "Islam," which means submission to Allah. Believers in Islam are called Muslims-- "Those who submit to Allah’s will." In Medina Mohammad tried to unite the Jews and Arabs and initially faced Jerusalem to pray. The Jewish leaders did not accept Mohammad as a prophet and so Mohammad expelled from the city the Jews who opposed him. From then on he commanded the Muslims to face the Kaaba in Mecca when praying.
(V.D.-H.K.p.19)(ATC, p.60)
623-658 The first state of the Slavs living on the Middle Danube was Samo's Realm, a tribal confederation existing between 623 and 658. It encompassed the territories of Moravia, Slovakia, Lower Austria, Carantania, Sorbia at the Elbe, and probably also Bohemia, which lies between Sorbia and other parts of the realm.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Moravia)
622 The Constitution of Medina was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad about this time. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Yathrib (later known as Medina), including Muslims, Jews, and pagans.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Medina)
624 Muslims engaged non-believers for the 1st time at the Battle of Badr
(www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=128)
624-628 Several Jewish clans in the Arabian peninsula joined forces with an Arab tribe, the Quraysh, to make war on a renegade Qurayshi named Mohammad, who claimed he was a prophet of God.
(Econ, 8/14/10, p.68)
c625 Raedwald, king of the East Angles and high king of the English peoples, was buried about this time.
(Arch, 7/02, p.61)
626 Aug 7, Battle at Constantinople: Slavs, Persians and Avars were defeated. Emp. Heraclius repelled the attacks. The attacks began in 625.
(PCh, 1992, p.60)(MC, 8/7/02)
626 In China Gen’l. Li Shimin foiled an assassination attempt by 2 brothers. He ambushed his older brother, Jianchen, killing him him with a bow and arrow, and became the oldest son and crown prince. Li Yuan abdicated 2 months later and Shimin became the new ruler under the name Emperor Taizong.
(ON, 5/06, p.4)
627 Byzantine Emperor Heraclius defeated the Persian army and regained Asia Minor, Syria, Jerusalem and Egypt.
(ATC, p.45)
628 Apr 3, In Persia Kavadh sued for peace with the Byzantines. He handed back Armenia, Byzantine Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt.
(HN, 4/3/99)(AP, 4/3/99)
628 Apr 3, Chosroes II, emperor of Persia (579-628), was murdered by his son.
(MC, 4/3/02)
629 A Chinese pilgrim reported seeing a 1000-foot reclining Buddha at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. By 2004 the sleeping Buddha had not been seen for several hundred years. [see 632]
(SFC, 8/31/04, p.A2)
629-645 Hsuang-Tsang, Chinese pilgrim, journeys over 5,000 miles from China to India and back to collect Buddhist teachings. He recorded fantastic tales of his adventures.
(ATC, p.13)
630 Mar 21, Heraclius restored the True Cross, which he had recaptured from the Persians.
(HN, 3/21/99)
630 Mohammad raised an army of 10,000 and took over Mecca (Makkah). He immediately set out to destroy all the idols at Kaaba. The black stone remained embedded in the corner. The area around became the first mosque, or Muslim house of worship. Mohammad returned from Medina and began the Islamic conquest of Arabia.
(ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A16)
632 Jun 8, Mohammed, the founder of Islam and unifier of Arabia, died. Iqra, which means read in Arabic, was reportedly the first word that the archangel Gabriel spoke to Mohammed. His companions compiled his words and deeds in a work called the Sunna. Here are contained the rules for Islam. The most basic are The Five Pillars of Islam. These are: 1) profession of faith 2) daily prayer 3) giving alms 4) ritual fast during Ramadan 5) Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Sunna also calls for “jihad." The term means struggle, i.e. to do one’s best to resist temptation and overcome evil. Four contenders stood out to succeed Mohammad. They were Abu Bakr, his trusted father-in-law. Umar and Uthman, long-time friends and advisers, and Ali, a cousin and blood relative. Ali was Mohammad’s son-in-law and the father of Mohammad’s grandsons. Abu Bakr was chosen as caliph i.e. successor. In 2001 Minou Reeves, Iranian-born scholar, authored “Muhammad in Europe: A Thousand Years of Western Myth-Making." In 2013 Lesley Hazleton authored “The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad."
(ATC, p.60,63)(SFC, 12/15/98, p.A7)(AP, 6/8/03)(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C5)(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A15)(SSFC, 1/27/13, p.F1)
632 Jun 16, Origin of Persian [Yazdegird] Era.
(MC, 6/16/02)
632 Hiuan-tsang, an Chinese pilgrim, visited the great Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
(WSJ, 12/20/01, p.A13)
632-661 The Rashidun Caliphate, also known as the Rightly Guided Caliphate, comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death. At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia in the east. It was the one of the largest empires in history up until that time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)
633 Muhammad’s chief clerk collected Mohammad’s revelations into one work called the Koran (Quran). Loosely translated it means "recitation." "Whoever witnesses the crescent of the month, he must fast the month." (Koran, al Baqarah 2:185) Ramadan begins the day after the crescent of the new moon is sighted and confirmed by 2 witnesses. Muslims must abstain from food and sex during daylight hours for a month to celebrate the revelation of the Koran to Mohammed. The later Sunnah holy text reported the sayings and deeds of Muhammad. The Muslim beard tradition is from the Sunnah.
(ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 1/7/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/27/01, p.A14)
633 Gen Khalid ibn al-Walid sent a letter to the Persian emperor that said: "Submit to our authority and we shall leave you and your land and go against others. If not, you will be conquered against your will by men who love death as you love life."
(WSJ, 10/19/01, p.W19)
c633 Nikbanou, a 7th century Persian Zoroastrian princess, fled to a mountain refuge at Chak to escape Arab horsemen planting the green pennants of Islam in Iranian soil.
(AP, 7/15/04)
633 The 4th Synod of Toledo took on the right to confirm elected kings. Jews were obliged to be baptized. The vernacular language, of Latin origin, prevailed over that of the Visigoths.
(www.sispain.org/english/history/visigoth.html)
634 Aug 22, Abu Bekr Abd Allah (61), [al-Siddik], successor of Mohammed, died. He was a friend, an Arabic merchant, Mohammed’s father-in-law and the first Caliph. Before his death he appointed Mohammed's adviser Omar (Umar) as his successor.
(ATC, p.66)(PC, 1992, p.61)
634 Sophronius (74), Christian monk, was elected patriarch and political ruler of Jerusalem.
(ON, 7/03, p.3)
635 The Byzantine city of Tiberius, a major center of Jewish life and scholarship for nearly five centuries, was conquered by Muslim armies.
(AP, 1/28/21)
635 Damascus was captured by the Muslims.
(ATC, p.78)
636 Summer, A Byzantine army arrived in the region of Jerusalem and was defeated by a much smaller Muslim army at the Yarmuk River. With Muslims at the gate Sophronius, head of Jerusalem, requested a meeting with Caliph Omar.
(ON, 7/03, p.5)
636 Jul 23, Arabs gained control of most of Palestine from Byzantine Empire.
(MC, 7/23/02)
636 Aug 15, At the Battle at Yarmuk, east of the Sea of Galilee, Islamic forces beat a Byzantine army and gained control of Syria.
(PC, 1992, p.61)
636 Nov 1, Nicholas Boileau-Despreaux, French poet, was born. He was also a critic and official royal historian and wrote "Lutrin. "
(HN, 11/1/99)
636 Nov, The Siege of Jerusalem began as part of a military conflict between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate. It began when the Rashidun army, under the command of Abu Ubaidah, besieged Jerusalem. After six months, Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender, on condition that he submit only to the Caliph. In April 637, Caliph Umar traveled to Jerusalem in person to receive the submission of the city. The Patriarch thus surrendered to him.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(636%E2%80%93637))
636-638 As Muslims conquered the Holy Land St. Sophronius (560-638), the patriarch of Jerusalem, sent Pope Theodore I a wooden structure believed to be part of the manger where Jesus was born.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophronius_of_Jerusalem)(SSFC, 12/1/19, p.A2)
637 Apr, Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab came to Jerusalem after the conquest of Jerusalem and toured the city with Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem .
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophronius_of_Jerusalem)
637 Ctesiphon, a center of Christianity southeast of Baghdad, was taken by Arabs, who renamed it Madain.
(SFC, 3/31/03, p.W5)
637 Muslim armies conquered Mesopotamia.
(ATC, p.78)
638 cJan, Sophronius met with Caliph Omar and obtained a set of guarantees and regulations that came to be known as "the Covenant of Omar."
(ON, 7/03, p.3)
638 Mar 11, Sophronius of Jerusalem, saint, patriarch of Jerusalem, died.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophronius_of_Jerusalem)
638 Arabs conquered the city of Hebron. They allowed the Jews to build a synagogue near Abraham’s burial site.
(SFC, 12/4/08, p.A27)
640 Muslim Arabs invaded Armenia and capture Dvin, its principal town.
(CO Enc. / Armenia)
640 The Muslim government began minting coins about this time.
(ATC, p.83)
641 Feb 11, Heraclius (~65), emperor of Byzantium (610-641), died.
(MC, 2/11/02)
641 Fustat was established as an encampment for the Muslim Arab conqueror of Egypt. The city reached its peak in the 12th century, with a population of approximately 200,000. It was the center of administrative power in Egypt, until it was ordered burned in 1168 by its own vizier, Shawar, to keep its wealth out of the hands of the invading Crusaders. The remains of the city were eventually absorbed by nearby Cairo, which had been built to the north of Fustat in 969 when the Fatimids conquered the region.
(SSFC, 7/24/11, p.F7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fustat)
642 May, Khalid bin Al-Waleed (b.585), Muslim commander prominent in leading the conquest of Iraq and Syria, died in Syria. It was under his military leadership that Arabia, for the first time in history, was united under a single political entity, the Caliphate.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_ibn_al-Walid)(SFC, 3/30/18, p.A5)
642 Sep 17, Arabs conquered Alexandria and destroyed the great library. Omar, the second caliph, successor of Mohammed, conquered Alexandria, then the capital of world scholarship.
(V.D.-H.K.p.103)(MC, 9/17/01)
642 The Arabs conquered the Sassanids.
(ATC, p.33)
642 Pope Theodore I began using the title “Patriarch of the West." In 2006 the Vatican took the unusual step of explaining its decision to renounce the title, saying the omission of "patriarch of the West," from the new edition of the Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican's 2,373-page directory of prelates, should benefit relations with the Orthodox Church, not hinder them.
(AP, 3/23/06)
644 Nov 3, Umar of Arabia, the 2nd Caliph of Islam, was stabbed by Abu Lulu while leading the morning prayers at Medina. He died 4 days later on Nov 7. On his deathbed Umar named a council to choose the next caliph. The council appointed Uthman. Uthman continued to expand the Muslim empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar)
645 Downfall of the Soga Clan in Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
645 The first Senso-Ji temple was founded, which makes it the oldest temple in Tokyo. According to legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 B.C. by two fishermen, the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari. The chief of their village, Hajino Nakamoto, recognized the sanctity of the statue and enshrined it by remodeling his own house into a small temple in Asakusa so that the villagers could worship Kannon. It was later renowned as Earth's most visited sacred site.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sens%C5%8D-ji)(Econ., 9/12/20, p.33)
649 May 14, Theodore, Greek Pope (642-49), excommunicated by Paul II, died.
(MC, 5/14/02)
649 Jul 5, St. Martin I began his reign as Pope.
(MC, 7/5/02)
650 The Khazars’ aggressive territorial expansion drove some Bulgars
westward. These Bulgars soon founded a kingdom in the southeastern Balkans that became known as Bulgaria.
(TJOK, 1999, p.16)
c650 An early Mayan classic temple in Copan was closed and covered about this time. Ritual items of flint knives and stingray spines was later discovered.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.28)
c650 The first pyramid of the Teotihuacan culture was built in Cholula. Over the next 800 years a nested series of 4 pyramids were constructed. The most important and largest city of pre-Colombian central Mexico, the Nahuatl meaning of Teotihuacan was "Where Men Become Gods" or "The City of Gods." Just north of Mexico City, Teotihuacan was planned at about the beginning of the Christian era and was sacked and burned by invading Toltecs in 650 CE.
(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.T10)(HNQ, 4/24/99)
650-700 In northern Peru archeological evidence later indicated that civil strife during this period, which followed some 30 years of drought, led to the demise of the Moche civilization.
(PBS, 10/1/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moche)
650-750 In Mexico the Teotihuacan culture began declining and was almost abandoned by the end of this period.
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C2)
c650-850 The alliterative epic poem Beowulf was composed at least 100 years before the manuscript was written. It was written in the 8th century. In 1999 Seamus Heaney wrote a new translation of the old English tale of a Scandinavian warrior who kills a trio of monsters including Grendel. In the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, the hero of the Geats people, mortally wounds the monster Grendel--who has been terrorizing the court of the king of Danes--by tearing off one of his arms with his bare hands. Based on folk tales known to the Anglo-Saxons prior to their invasion of England, the work is made up primarily of pagan myths and legends. The poem is believed to date from the late seventh or early eighth century and the only surviving text, now in the British Museum, dates from about 1000 A.D.
(WUD, 1994, p.140)(WSJ, 2/24/00, p.A16)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R53)(HNQ, 1/10/02)
651 In Persia Yazdegird III, the last Sassanian king, was murdered.
(WSJ, 2/2/00, p.A24)
652 Arabs introduced Islam to Afghanistan.
(https://www.afghan-web.com/history/chronology/)
653 Pope Martin I was charged with treason. He was stripped naked in public and exiled to Crimea.
(Econ, 2/16/13, p.61)
654 A Saxon monk founded St. Botolph’s Town in England. The name gradually changed to Boston.
(SFC, 8/12/00, p.B3)
654 The Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya (later part of northern Thailand) was founded by a holy man named Wasuthep. The town of Lamphun was originally the center of the Mon Kingdom known as Hariphunchai and believed to have been founded in the late 7th or early 8th century AD. Queen Chammathewi introduced Buddhism into the city of Hariphunchai (later known as Lamphun).
(http://tinyurl.com/ycc6pgw8)(Econ 5/20/17, p.33)
656 Jun 17, In Saudi Arabia Uthman (Othman), the 3rd caliph, was murdered. Under his rule a full, standard text of the Quran was compiled. He had appointed members of his own family as regional governors and caused bitter jealousy among other families. This caused an angry mob of 500 to murder him. This gave Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, an opportunity to claim power. Some claim that Ali plotted Uthman’s murder. Civil war broke out. Muawija, Uthman’s cousin and governor of Syria, challenged Ali’s right to rule. In 661 Ali was murdered by an angry former supporter. The followers of Ali became known as Shiites from the Arabic meaning "the party of Ali." Those who believe that the election of the first three caliphs was valid and who claim to follow the Sunna reject the Shiite idea of the Imam, and are called the Sunnis.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uthman)(ATC, p.67-68)(WSJ, 1/12/08, p.A6)
657 Jun 2, St. Eugene I ended his reign as Catholic Pope.
(SC, 6/2/02)
657 Jul 26, Mu'awiyan defeated Caliph Ali in the Battle of Siffin in Mesopotamia.
(HN, 7/26/98)
658 Hirafu Abe went to meet with the Ainu on Hokkaido after he had defeated an indigenous tribe called Emishi in the northeast region of Honshu.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 217)
661 Jan 29, Ali ibn Abu Talib, caliph of Islam (656-61), was murdered in Kufa, Iraq. Caliph Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed, was assassinated and his followers (Shiites) broke from the majority Muslim group. A member of the anarchist sect of Kharajites assassinated Ali. This sect believed that there are no verdict’s but God’s. The Imam Ali mosque in Najaf marks the grave of Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed and a central figure in Shiite Islam.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali)(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)(SFC, 4/23/98, p.A16)
661 The Umayyad regime was founded by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan (602-680, long-time governor of Syria, after the end of the First Muslim Civil War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphate)
661 Muawija became caliph. He moved the capital from Medina to Damascus. His followers were called the Umayyads. Muawija was one of the soldiers who helped capture Damascus and for 25 years he had served as governor of Syria. Muawija began the practice of appointing his own son as the next caliph, and so the Umayyads ruled for the next 90 years. Muslim forces expanded into North Africa and completely conquered Persia. The Islamic Empire continued to expand into Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the Omayyad Caliphs conquered Damascus, they build the palace at Qasr Al-Kharaneh (in Jordan) as a recreational lodge.
(ATC, p.67,78)(SFEC, 4/11/99, p.9)
662 Aug 13, Maximus Confessor (b.c580), Greek theologian, died.
(MC, 8/13/02)
662 By 2004 Simon Martin, Mayan scholar, worked out an almost day-by-day account of events from this year in the plain of Tabasco, Mexico.
(Econ, 5/22/04, p.79)
668 Jul 15, Constantine II (37), emperor of Byzantium, died.
(MC, 7/15/02)
668-1392 In Korea the Silla Kingdom united the peninsula and began the Koryo Dynasty from which Korea derived its name.
(SFC, 7/26/97, p.E3)
669 Theodore, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, arrived in England to take over the See of Canterbury under the direction of Pope Vitalian. He was well received everywhere and was the first Archbishop whose authority the whole English Church was willing to acknowledge.
(www.britannia.com/bios/abofc/theodore.html)
c670 A Japanese inventor based the first design of a folding fan on the structure of a bat’s wing.
(SFEC, 8/3/97, Z1 p.2)
671 Chinese monk I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in for 6 months during this year. Srivijaya (also written Sri Vijaya) was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srivijaya)
c672 The Venerable Bede (d.735), Beda Venerabilis, English speaking church historian, was born.
(WSJ, 10/22/03, p.D12)
676 Cairo was built by the Arabs only 1300 years ago. The name comes from the Egyptian "El Qahir," the name of the planet Mars.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.165)(SFEC, 8/17/97, Z1 p.2)
678 Jun 27, St. Agatho began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(SC, 6/27/02)
680 Oct 10, Imam Hussein, grandson of prophet Mohammed, was beheaded. He was killed by rival Muslim forces on the Karbala plain in modern day Iraq. He then became a saint to Shiite Muslims. Traditionalists and radical guerrillas alike commemorate his martyrdom as the ceremony of Ashura. The 10-day mourning period during the holy month of Muharram commemorates the deaths of Caliph Ali’s male relatives by Sunnis from Iraq. Shiites went on to believe that new leaders should be descendants of Mohammad and Ali. Sunnis went on to vest power in a body of Muslim scholars called the ulema.
(http://countrystudies.us/iraq/15.htm)(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)(SFC, 2/24/06, p.A15)
681 Bulgaria’s 1st kingdom was established.
(WPR, 3/04, p.28)
682 Aug 17, Leo II, later St. Leo, began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(SC, 8/17/02)
682-721 Ah Cacaw (Lord of Cocoa) ruled over Tikal (later Guatemala) during this period. His burial tomb was later found deep inside the 145-foot high Temple of the Great Jaguar.
(SFEM, 6/13/99, p.8)
683 Pacal, Mayan ruler of Palenque, died. His sarcophagus, found in 1952, has the intricately carved lid later suggested to represent an extra-terrestrial visitor.
(SSFC, 5/5/02, p.C5)(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.A1)
683-685 Khazars invaded Transcaucasia and inflicted much damage and stole much booty. The Khazar invaders killed the rulers of Armenia and Georgia.
(TJOK, p.159)
684 Jun 26, Benedict II (d.685) was consecrated as Pope.
(PTA, 1980, p.162)
684-702 Mayan leader Kan Balam II, son of Pakal, ruled over Palenque.
(SSFC, 12/7/03, p.C10)
685 May 8, St. Benedict II ended his reign as Catholic Pope.
(MC, 5/8/02)
685 May 21, Battle at Nechtansmere: Picts trounced the Northumbrians.
(MC, 5/21/02)
685 In China a manual on calligraphy was made. It summarized the aesthetic ideals and theories of Chinese writing.
(SFEC, 10/6/96, DB p.37)
685-705 Abd al Malik, Umayyad caliph, influenced the shaping of Islamic culture. He declared Arabic as the official language of the empire and established a common coinage system that was purely Arabic. They had no images but were inscribed with quotations from the Koran.
(ATC, p.83)
686 Aug 2, John V, 1st Greek-Syrian Pope (685-86), died.
(MC, 8/2/02)
687 Cuthbert, a former monk hermit and reluctant bishop of Lindisfarne, died. His life and “miracles" were set down by the Venerable Bede. A gospel commissioned to honor Cuthbert was placed in his coffin around 698. His remains were carried to the mainland when the monks and people of the island fled Viking invaders, and ended up in Durham. In 1104 the coffin was opened in preparation for a formal reinterment and the book was re-discovered. It was given to the Jesuits in 1769 and in 2011 they sold it to Britain for Ł9 million.
(Econ, 7/16/11, p.62)(Reuters, 5/17/12)
687-714 Pepin II united and ruled the Franks.
(ATC, p.51)
688 North Africa was conquered by the Muslims under Abd al Malik.
(ATC, p.83)
688-714 The Maya of Tonina and Palenque fought several battles over watershed areas in the region that fed the Usumacinta river, which now marks the boundary between Mexico and Guatemala.
(AP, 7/7/11)
691 Muslims built the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem. It contained inscriptions that later were held as the 1st evidence of the Koran.
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)(WSJ, 5/20/06, p.P16)
692 Oct 2, A Mayan prisoner from Copan, depicted in a well-preserved stone sculpture found in 2011, was captured on this day.
(AP, 7/8/11)
694 Nov 9, Spanish King Egica accused Jews of aiding Moslems and sentenced them to slavery.
(MC, 11/9/01)
696 Jun 27, A Mayan ballcourt at Tonina was dedicated and sculptures, found in 2011, were created to commemorate the dedication.
(AP, 7/8/11)
c696 Feng Du, a 1,300-year-old Tang dynasty city near the Yangtze River gorges, known as the city of ghosts.
(WSJ, 10/8/96, p.A20)
697 The first Arab Islamic currency was struck in Damascus by the Umayyad ruler Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (697-698 A.D.)
(http://tinyurl.com/6c6dlco)
c697 The last major earthquake occurred in the Salt Lake City region of Utah about this time. A major quake hits the region about every 1300 years.
(SFEC, 4/6/97, p.C13)
697 In Ireland an assembly was called at the hill of Tara to put an end to the participation of Irish women in battle.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.11)
699 Li Po (d.762), classical Chinese poet, was born. His poems included "Drinking Alone With the Moon."
(SFC, 10/30/03, p.A26)
699 En no Ozunu appeared in the official Japanese national log of events or the 'Shoku Nihongi.' It is in this year that En was banished from society, following the charge that he "misused his magical powers to control people." It is believed that En No Gyoja was historically known as En no Ozunu. The Japanese ascetic En-no-Gyoja founded the Shugendo religion on Mount Omine (5,640 feet). He blended aspects of tantric Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism and Japanese shamanism.
(SSFC, 10/2/05, p.E4)(http://tinyurl.com/8s4gm)
c700 Nov 1, The Celts of Ireland, Great Britain and northern France celebrated Oct. 31 to Nov 2 as their New Year from around 1000-500BC. The pagan harvest event incorporated masks to ward off evil ones, as dead relatives were believed to visit families on the first evening. The Catholic holiday of All Saints' Day, set for Nov. 1, was instituted around 700 CE to supplant the Druid holiday and Pope Gregory (731-741) made it official. Halloween was transplanted to the US in the 1840s. [see 835]
(WSJ, 10/28/99, p.A24)(WSJ, 10/29/99, p.W17)
c700 The mound building Caddo culture began flourishing in the Texas and Oklahoma area. It lasted to the mid-18th cent.
(AM, Vol. 48, No. 3)
700 The Egypttian port city of Heracleion, founded about 800BC, was swallowed by the sea about this time. Researchers later found it—150 feet beneath the surface of Egypt's Bay of Aboukir.
(http://tinyurl.com/dxhuztk)
c700 Abd al Malik issued the first pure Islamic coins.
(ATC, p.83)
c700 The Chinese gained control over Manchuria from the Koreans about this time.
(WSJ, 10/9/95, p.A-1)
c700 Trade along the coast of East Africa expanded and promoted the founding of such settlements as Kismayu, Mogadiscio, Gedi, Malindi, Mombasa, Kilwas and others.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.169)
c700 In Mexico the Zapotec city of Monte Alban was abandoned about this time.
(SFEC, 10/3/99, p.A24)
c700 The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, was constructed. It became the traditional home of the Dalai Lama.
(SSFC, 10/5/03, p.D2)
700-800 King Offa decreed that an earthen barrier be built along the border between Wales and his kingdom of Mercia. Llwybr Clawdd Offa opened as a hiking trail in 1971.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.C10)
700-800 In Bulgaria the Madara Horseman in Kaspichan was carved into a sandstone cliff.
(SFEC, 8/28/98, p.T4)
700-800 The Catholic Church changed its rules on fasting and allowed fish to be eaten on Fridays and during Lent.
(NH, 5/96, p.58)
c700-800 Dionysus Exiguus (Dennis the Short), a Catholic monk, created a chronology for Pope St. John I with a calendar that began in the year CE 1.
(SFEC,11/16/97, BR p.5)
700-800 In Bhutan the Taktsang monastery was founded by tantric master Padmasambhava, often described as "another Buddha."
(SFEC, 2/23/96, p.T5)
700-800 An earthquake during this period sent the Nile port cities of Canopus, Menouthis and Thonis-Herakleion into the Mediterranean Sea. Evidence of the submerged cities was revealed by a pilot in 1933.
(SFC, 6/8/01, p.A1)(Econ, 5/21/16, p.73)
700-800 According to Iraqis Muslim forces "liberated" Iraq from the Persians in the 8th century qadissiyah battle.
(SFC, 2/1/02, p.A18)
700-800 Escaped slaves called the Zanj took refuge from the early Islamic empire in the marshes of southern Iraq.
(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.A6)
700-800 The Tanka (short song) poetry form emerged in Japan about this time. The unrhymed verse formalized to 31 syllables arranged in a 5 line pattern of 5-7-5-7-7. In 2005 it became popular on cell phones.
(WSJ, 10/4/05, p.A1)
700-800 In Japan a priest in the 8th century discovered the mineral hot springs at Yamashiro Onsen.
(WSJ, 7/19/05, p.A1)
700-800 The village site of Galu, Kenya, produced the world’s oldest crucible steel.
(NH, 6/97, p.44)
700-800 The Bonampak site in Chiapas, Mexico, has frescoes painted on the stucco walls of Structure I from this time. They depict war, sacrifice and celebration. The name glyph for Shield Jaguar II, king of nearby Yaxchilan, was recognized.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.F)(AM, May/Jun 97 p.37)
700-800 Invading Slavs assimilated the Thracians in the area of modern Bulgaria and parts of Greece, Romania, Macedonia and Turkey.
(SFC, 8/17/05, p.A2)
700-800 Slav tribes settle into the territories of present-day Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, and assimilated the Illyrian populations of these regions. The Illyrians in the south averted assimilation.
(www, Albania, 1998)
700-800 Vikings settled the Faeroe Islands in the 8th century replacing Irish settlers. In 1948 the group of 18 islands, located between Britain and Iceland, became an autonomous region of Denmark.
(SSFC, 7/29/07, p.G8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands)
700-800 Vikings began arriving to the Orkney Islands.
(SFEC, 3/23/97, p.T3)
700-900 In Nigeria the Yoruba-speaking kingdom of Ife began to develop as a center of trade and weaving and bead manufacture.
(Econ, 9/4/10, p.92)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ife)
701 Sep 8, Sergius I, Syrian and Italian Pope (687-701), died.
(MC, 9/8/01)
702 Japan's first civil and penal code was promulgated. [see 604CE]
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
703 Dihya or Al-Kahina, a Jewish Berber queen and a religious and military leader, died about this time at the Battle of Tabarka (701 and 702 are also possible dates for this battle. She had led indigenous resistance to the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, the region then known as Numidia. She was born in the early 7th century and died around the end of the 7th century in modern-day Algeria.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihya)(Econ., 9/19/20, p.47)
705 Mar 1, John VII began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(SC, 3/1/02)
705 Oct 8, Abd al-Malik, caliph of Damascus, died.
(MC, 10/8/01)
708 Mar 25, Constantine began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(HN, 3/24/98)
708 In France Bishop Aubert of Avranches had a dream in which Archangel Michael persuaded him to build an oratory dedicated to the saint on the rock off the Normandy coast known as Mont Tombe. Over the years it grew and became known as Mont St. Michel.
(WSJ, 10/7/06, p.P18)
709 Apr 24, Wilfried (~76), bishop of York, died.
(MC, 4/24/02)
709 May 25, Aldhelmus (~69) of Ealdhelm, England, abbot, bishop, poet, saint, died.
(SC, 5/25/02)
710 The Fujiwara clan established the Kasuga Shrine in Nara, Japan.
(Hem, 9/04, p.46)
710-784 The Nara Period of Japan. Japan’s 1st permanent capital arose in the Nara basin.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(Hem, 9/04, p.41)
711 Apr 14, Childebert III (~27), king of the French, died.
(MC, 4/14/02)
711 Jul 19, The Muslim troops crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and defeated the Visigoth king Rodrigo at the battle of Guadalete. Berbers under Tarik-ibn Ziyad occupied Northern Spain. The Umayyads with the help of the Berbers in North Africa moved across the Strait of Gibraltar and began the conquest of Spain and Portugal. The word Gibraltar comes from the term Jabal-al-Tarik, which means the hill of Tarik. Gebel-al-Tarik means "Rock of Tarik."
(ATC, p.79)(SFEC, 9/29/96, Z1 p.2)(www.sispain.org/english/history/visigoth.html)
711 Dec 11, Justitianus II (~42), emperor of Byzantium, died.
(MC, 12/11/01)
712 The publication of Kojiki in Japan, the Record of Ancient Matters. The work was compiled by the court to strengthen its control over various noble lineages. Fictitious rulers were inserted to project the nation’s founding back to 660BC
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)
712 Muza ben-Nosair completed the Muslim conquest of Spain. The Visigothic period ended.
(www.sispain.org/english/history/visigoth.html)
713 In China construction began on the Great Buddha of Leshan under the direction of the monk Haitong. It was completed after 90 years. In 2002 a $30 million restoration project aimed to preserve the 233-foot statue, the largest Buddha in the world.
(Arch, 9/02, p.19)
715 Apr 9, Constantine I, Greek-Syrian Catholic Pope (708-15), died.
(HN, 4/9/98)(MC, 4/9/02)
715 May 19, St. Gregory II began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(HN, 5/19/98)
718 The Japanese inn Hoshi Ryokan was founded in Komatsu.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.104)(SFC, 4/14/06, p.D1)
720 The Nihon Shoki (the Chronicle of Japan), the oldest recorded Japanese document, was published. It was compiled by the court to strengthen its control over various noble lineages.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R46)
721-764 Kinich Ahkal Mo' Nab ruled Palenque.
(AM, Jul-Aug/99, p.16)
c722 In China a 233-foot Buddha was built in Sichuan province. In 2002 a $30 million restoration project was undertaken.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A12)
727 May 30, Hubertus (72), bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht, saint, died.
(https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Hubertus)
727 Houei-tch’ao, a Korean pilgrim, visited the great Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
(WSJ, 12/20/01, p.A13)
729 Apr 24, Egbertus (89), English bishop, St. Egbert, died in Iona.
(MC, 4/24/02)
729 Emperor Leo the Isaurian ordered the destruction of an icon of Christ set in the great Bronze Gate in Constantinople. Theodosia led a group of enraged women who killed the officer removing the image. Theodosia was killed in the forum and became a martyr-saint. Her saint’s day was May 29.
(Ot, 1993, p.3)
730 Khazar commander Barjik led Khazar troops through the Darial Pass
to invade Azerbaijan. At the Battle of Ardabil, the Khazars defeated an entire Arab army. The Battle of Ardabil lasted three days, and resulted in the death of a major Arab general named Jarrah. The Khazars then conquered Azerbaijan and Armenia and northern Iraq for a brief time.
(TJOK, pages 160-161)
731 Feb 11, Pope Gregory II (b.669), born in Rome as Gregorius Sabellus, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_II)
731-741 Gregory III served as Pope.
(WUD, 1994, p.621)
732 Oct 10, At Tours, France, Charles Martel killed Yemenite general Abd el-Rahman and halted the Muslim invasion of Europe. Islam's westward spread was stopped by the Franks at the Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of Poitiers).
(http://tinyurl.com/o1uj)(HN,10/10/98)
732 Pope Gregory III banned horseflesh from Christian tables after he learned that pagans of northern Europe ate it in their religious rites.
(SFC, 5/30/98, p.E4)
735 May 26, The Venerable Bede (~62), Beda Venerabilis, English speaking church historian, died.
(MC, 5/26/02)(WSJ, 10/22/03, p.D12)
737 Marwan, an Arab general, captured the Khazar khagan and forced him to pledge support to the Caliphate and convert to Islam.
(TJOK, pages 162-163)
738 The great Lord 18 Rabbit built a ball court at the Mayan city of Copan. In a surprise attack he was captured and decapitated by Cauac Sky from the city of Quirigia, some 60 km. to the east. In 1998 Michael D. Coe and Justin Kerr published "The Art of the Maya Scribe," a look at the progress made in decoding the Mayan writing system.
(Hem, Dec. 94, p.123)(SFEC, 7/5/98, BR p.10)
738 Butz Tiliw’ or Cauac Sky defeated his overlord, Copan’s 13th ruler, 18 Rabbit. Monuments to this event are at the Quirigua Maya site in Guatemala.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.F)
739 Nov 7, Willibrord (81), [Clemens], 1st bishop of Utrecht (695-739) and saint, died in Luxembourg.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willibrord)
740 Tah ak Chaan (Taj Chan Ank) began a 50 year rule over the city of Cancuen in what later became Guatemala.
(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A2)(AM, 7/04, p.16)
740 The Virupaksha temple in Pattadakal, an early capital of the Chalukyas of southern India, was built by Queen Lokamahadevi about this time to commemorate her husband's victory over the Pallavas.
(http://tinyurl.com/s6lck)
741 Jun 18, Leo III de Isaurier, Byzantine Emperor (717-41), died.
(MC, 6/18/02)
741 Oct 22, Charles Martel of Gaul died at Quiezy. His mayoral power was divided between his two sons, Pepin III and Carloman.
(HN, 10/22/98)
741 The Arab slave trade was one of the elements that sparked the great Berber rebellion in North Africa and Islamic Spain (http://tinyurl.com/2zrltp).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hisham_ibn_Abd_al-Malik)(Econ, 7/7/07, p.79)
742 Apr 2, Charlemagne (d.814), Charles I the Great, King of the Franks and first Holy Roman emperor (800-14), was born. His capital was at Aachen (Acquisgrana in Latin).
(V.D.-H.K.p.105)(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.46)(HN, 4/2/98)
743 Mar 1, Slave export by Christians to heathen areas was prohibited.
(SC, 3/1/02)
743-1194 In France five cathedrals were built on the site of Chartres cathedral over this period.
(Hem., 10/97, p.83)
744 Lords of the Lowland Maya city of Caracol conducted a burning ritual in the cave at Naj Tunich, in the Peten of Guatemala.
(AM, 7/97, p.51)
745 Some 200,000 Slovenians, settled in a pocket of the eastern slopes of the Alps, were threatened by the Avars and the Bavarians. For safety they adopted Christianity and accepted the protection of the Frankish emperor
(SFC, 5/26/96, T-5)
745-840 The Uighur of eastern Turkestan formed an empire in the north that was ended by an invasion of the Kyrgyz peoples.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
746 Jun 12, The estimated date for the dedication of the Mayan Temple 22 in Copan.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.31)
748 Wasil ibn Ata, Muslim theologian and jurist, died. He had left the teaching lessons of Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute regarding the issue of Al-Manzilah bayna al-Manzilatayn. He and his followers, including Amr ibn Ubayd (d.761), were labeled Mu'tazili. The adherents of the Mu'tazili school (Mutazilites) are best known for their having asserted that, because of the perfect unity and eternal nature of God, the Qur'an must therefore have been created, as it could not be co-eternal with God. Mutazilites stressed human reason.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasil_ibn_Ata)(Econ, 8/6/11, p.22)
749 Dec 4, John of Damascus (b.~676), a Christian Arab theologian, died at the Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem. He is considered "the last of the Fathers" of the Eastern Orthodox church and is best known for his strong defense of icons.
(Econ, 3/30/13, p.80)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Damascus)
749 An earthquake cause great damage in the area of the Sea of Galilee.
(SFC, 6/18/02, p.A2)
c750 The Anasazi built entire cities into cliffs around the West since at least this time. Before that they were digging pit houses and even earlier, about 350 B.C., were probably living in Colorado caves. Their present name comes from a Navajo word meaning "the ancient ones" or "the ancient enemy."
(HNQ, 7/1/01)
750 Constantinople, as the center of eastern rule used the Greek language for communication.
(V.D.-H.K.p.65)
c750 Arab immigrants settled upstream from Soba, the capital of Alwa, and developed a strong new state called Funj.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)
c750 Teotihuacan, the 1st major urban center of Mesoamerica, fell about this time. It was burned, deserted and its people scattered. It contained the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun.
(SSFC, 5/6/01, p.T8)
c750-850 The Maya city of La Milpa reached its peak with about 50,000 people.
(SFC, 6/23/96, p.A10)
750-1258 Muslim power in Persia was held by the Abbassid caliphs, who claimed lands that stretched from Central Asia to North Africa and Spain. One Abbasid general, Abdullah, invited 80 Umayyad leaders to a banquet where they were killed by Abdullah’s men. Only one Umayyad, Abd al Rahman, was able to escape. He fled all the way to Spain where he united the warring Muslin groups there and built a new Umayyad government. So now the Muslims were split in two groups. The Abbassid dynasty of the Moslem Empire ruled Arabia and the eastern empire. All of the caliphs of this era claim descended from Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed.
(AHD, 1971, p.2)(ATC, p.84)(SFC, 4/12/03, p.A14)
750-1375 The Sican culture flourished on Peru's northern desert coast. In 2006 archaeologists unearthed 22 graves containing a trove of Sican artifacts, including the first "tumi" ceremonial knives ever discovered by archaeologists rather than looted by thieves.
(AP, 11/22/06)
751 The Chinese army was beaten by the Arabs of the Abassid Caliphate at the Battle of Talas (Kyrgyzstan). Chinese prisoners soon taught Arabs the technology for making paper.
(http://tinyurl.com/lwk9h5a)(Econ, 6/7/14, p.87)
751- 987 The Frankish dynasty of Pepin the Short began the Carolingian period.
(AHD, 1971, p.205)
752 Mar 23, Pope Stephen II was elected to succeed Pope Zacharias; however, Stephen died 4 days later.
(AP, 3/23/97)(PTA, 1980, p.184)
752 Mar 26, Pope Stephen II died 4 days after his election.
(SS, 3/26/02)(PTA, 1980, p.184)
752 Abu Jafar al Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, moved the capital to Baghdad.
(ATC, p.85)
c752 Emperor Shomu built a great Buddhist temple and started a collection from the gifts that were brought to its dedication. Rulers for the next 12 centuries added to the collection.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A20)
752 The dedication of the Great Buddha of Todai Temple in Nara.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
754 Jun 5, Friezen murdered bishop Boniface [Winfrid], English saint, archbishop of Dokkum, and over 50 companions.
(MC, 6/5/02)
754 The Iconoclasts (image smashers) prevailed and religious art was banned in churches by an edict that remained in effect for a century.
(WSJ, 3/10/97, p.A16)
756 May 15, Abd-al-Rahman was proclaimed the emir of Cordoba, Spain. Abd al Rahman united the Umayyad forces in Spain and made the ancient Roman city of Cordoba his new capital.
(ATC, p.95)(HN, 5/15/98)
755 Dec 16, The An Lushan rebellion began when general An Lushan declared himself emperor in Northern China, establishing a rival Yan Dynasty. The rebellion was quashed in 763.
(Econ, 6/9/12, p.87)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Lushan_Rebellion)
757 Apr 26, Stephen II ended his reign as Catholic Pope.
(HN, 4/26/98)
757 May 29, St. Paul I (d.767) began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(PTA, 1980, p.188)(SC, 5/29/02)
760 May 22, The 14th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet occurred.
(MC, 5/22/02)
762 Jul 30, A Persian astrologer, selected by caliph al-Mansur (the Victorious), selected this day as propitious for breaking ground for the city of Baghdad. Al-Mansur was one of the founders of the Abassid dynasty.
(WSJ, 2/14/09, p.W8)
762 Li Bai (b.701), Chinese poet, died. He was acclaimed from his own day to the present as a genius and a romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Bai)
763 Feb 17, The An Lushan rebellion, begun in 755, ended. It had spanned the reigns of 3 Tang emperors before it was quashed. The rebellion and subsequent disorder resulted in a huge loss of life and large-scale destruction.
(Econ, 6/9/12, p.87)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Lushan_Rebellion)
763 Tibetan armies occupied the capital of China.
(SFEM, 1/24/99, p.6)
763 Altar Q depicts Yax Pasah (Yax Pasaj), Copan’s last dynastic ruler, receiving the symbolic baton of office from founder K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’ in this year.
(NG, 12/97, p.80)(AM, 3/04, p.43)
764-770 In Japan Empress Shotoku had a million miniature pagodas made in thanks for regaining control of the throne. Sacred text was placed in each one and distributed to the 10 most important temples.
(WSJ, 7/27/00, p.A20)
765 Dec 31, The coffin of Ho-tse Shen-hui was interred in a stupa built in China.
(MC, 12/31/01)
765-790 The Mayan palace of Cancuen, one of the largest in Guatemala, was built by King Taj Chan Ahk.
(AP, 4/23/04)
766-787 The Chinese poet Du Fu arrived in Baidi Cheng and was given the means to write poetry by the local warlord. He wrote a third of his life’s work with many poems in the regulated style called lushi.
(NH, 7/96, p.32)
768 Sep 24, Pepin the Short (54) of Gaul died. His dominions were divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman.
(PC, 1992, p.67)
768-814 Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks and emperor of the former Western Roman Empire.
(V.D.-H.K.p.105)(ATC, p.72)
770 The Syrian Orthodox Church of St. Thomas (Mar Toma) was built in Mosul (Iraq).
(SFC, 12/24/09, p.A3)
771 Dec 4, With the death of his brother Carloman, Charlemagne became sole ruler of the Frankish Empire.
(HN, 12/4/98)
771-814 Reign of Charlemagne.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
772 Mar 1, Po Tjiu-I (Bai Juyi), Chinese poet (d.846), Governor of Hang-tsjow, was born. His work included the narrative poem "Song of the Pipa," which protested the social evils of his day.
(WSJ, 3/17/00, p.W2)(SC, 3/1/02)
774-814 Charlemagne became king of the Lombards.
(V.D.-H.K.p.68)
775 According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle a red crucifix appeared in the heavens after sunset. Scientists later believed that solar radiation had stimulated auroras and generated high levels of ą⁴Carbon.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.64)
776 Al-Jahiz (d.868), Muslim theologian and scholar, was born in Basra about this time. He is credited with writing nearly two hundred works, although fewer than one hundred survive today. His most famous work is Al-Hayawan" (The Book of animals), which merges discussions of zoology with philosophy.
(Econ, 2/7/09, p.72)(www.enotes.com/classical-medieval-criticism/al-jahiz)
776-795 Chan Muan (Sky Screech Owl) reigned over the Bonampak site in what is now eastern Chiapas, Mexico. The site was abandoned at the end of his reign.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.35)
777 A wealthy trader and landowner named Totone donated Campione, an Italian enclave on the shores of Switzerland's Lake Lugano, to the monastery of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, which became part of Italy in 1797. It was later renamed Campione d'Italia, under the rule of dictator Benito Mussolini. A gaming establishment was first opened in Campione in 1917, but its main purpose was to spy on foreign diplomats during World War I, and it closed two years later. It reopened in 1933 thanks to a decree, which remains in effect, requiring the casino proceeds to cover all municipal costs. In 2020 the enclave is due to become part of the European Union customs area, raising practical questions about interactions with non-EU member Switzerland.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
778 Aug 15, At the Battle at Roncesvalles the Basques beat Charlemagne.
(PC, 1992, p.67)
778 In Japan the Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist temple was founded in Kyoto. Its main hall (Hondo) was built in 1633 without a single nail.
(SSFC, 3/16/14, p.P4)
779 King Trisong Detsen led Tibet. Under his rule the first Buddhist monastery, Samye, was built. It was built under the influence of Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche), Tibet’s greatest saint. Padmasambhava was an 8th century sorcerer and saint who converted Tibet to Buddhism. Legend has it that he dictated "sacred geography" texts to his queen consort and then hid them for future discovery. The texts were discovered by 17th century charismatic lamas.
(Hem., 4/97, p.72,75)(SFEC,12/14/97, p.T5)(WSJ, 3/11/99, p.A20)
780 A group of West Africans called the Soninke took control of Ghana and developed it into a major trading empire.
(ATC, p. 113)
781 Yakib ben Laith, a Saffarid prince from an eastern Iranian dynasty, stripped the sanctuaries of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, of their metal idols.
(WSJ, 12/20/01, p.A13)
783 Jul 12, Bertha "with the great feet", wife of French king Pippin III, died.
(MC, 7/12/02)
784 The Emir 'Abd al-Rahman I purchased the christian half of a Catholic church built by the Visigoths, which had been shared following the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711. He then destroyed the church and built the Great Mosque of Cordoba. In 1236 it was reverted to a Catholic church as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption.
(http://tinyurl.com/pk2r3cx)(Econ, 10/10/15, p.54)
785 The English Penny, originally a coin of 1.3 to 1.5 grams (0.042 to 0.048 troy ounces; 0.046 to 0.053 ounces) pure silver, was introduced about this time by King Offa of Mercia. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental deniers of the period, and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had gone before it.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(English_coin))
786 Feb 4, Harun al-Rashid (786-809) succeeded his older brother the Abbasid Caliph al-Hadi as Caliph of Baghdad.
(HN, 2/4/99)(Econ, 12/19/15, p.67)
786 Sep 24, Al-Hadi, Arabic caliph of Islam (185-86), died.
(MC, 9/24/01)
786 Abd al Rahman began construction of the Great Mosque of Cordoba. It was under construction for 200 years.
(ATC, p.95)
787 Sep 24, The 2nd Council of Nicaea (7th ecumenical council) opened in Asia Minor.
(http://www.malaspina.com/site/person_672.asp)
787 Oct 23, Byzantine Empress Irene (c. 752-803) attended the final session of the 2nd church council at Nicaea, Bithynia [now Iznik, a city in Anatolia (now part of Turkey)]. The council formally revived the adoration of icons and reunited the Eastern church with that of Rome.
(http://www.malaspina.com/site/person_672.asp)
c791 Croats established the principalities of Primortska Hrvatska on the Adriatic coast and Posavska Hrvatska in inland Croatia.
(WSJ, 7/14/99, p.A23)
791 In Morocco Idriss I (b.745), a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, was laid to rest in Moulay Driss Zerhoun. The Sufi saint founded Morocco's first Islamic dynasty.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idris_I_of_Morocco)(AFP, 8/21/18)
792 The first paper making factory in the Islamic Empire was built in Baghdad.
(ATC, p.89)
793 Jun 8, Vikings raided the Northumbrian coast in England. Corfe served as a center of West Saxon resistance to Viking invaders. Vikings plundered the monastery and St. Cuthbert convent at Lindsfarne
(HN, 6/8/98)(AM, 7/00, p.64)(PC, 1992, p.68)
794 Aug 10, Fastrada (30), 3rd wife of French king Charlemagne, died.
(MC, 8/10/02)
794 Charlemagne created a single currency for his empire.
(Econ, 6/18/11, p.30)
794 The capital of Japan was moved from Nara to Kyoto and the new Imperial Palace was built there. It remained there until 1868.
(Hem., 2/96, p.57-58)(Hem, 9/04, p.41)
794-1185 The Heian Period in Japan. The kimono originated in this period. Prof. Helen McCullough (d.1998) of UC Berkeley and her husband translated "A Tale of Flowering Fortunes," whose notes and appendixes made it an encyclopedia of Heian court life. She published 11 volumes of studies and translations of classical Japanese poetry that included: "The Tale of the Heike" and "The Great Mirror."
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(SFC, 2/7/97, p.D1)(SFC, 4/23/98, p.B4)
795 Taj Chan Ahk, the Mayan ruler of Cancuen (Guatemala), died.
(SFC, 11/17/05, p.A17)
795 Vikings first raided Ireland.
(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.T8)
795-1185 The Heian period was a time of elegant and refined rice papers.
(SFC, 5/17/97, p.A20)
796 Jul 26, Offa, king of Mercia (in central England), died.
(MC, 7/26/02)
796 Frankfurt, Germany. This 1200 year old city of 650,000 is the hub of Germany’s banking and business community.
(SFC, 5/5/96, p.T-7)
796 A 600-pound limestone altar was carved to honor a treaty in the Mayan city of Cancuen (Guatemala). It was uncovered in 2001 and soon stolen. It was retrieved in 2003.
(USAT, 10/30/03, p.12D)(SFC, 10/30/03, p.A11)
796-821 Anglo Saxon king Coenwulf of Mercia, ruled a kingdom that covered vast swathes of the English midlands and northern counties to the southeast. In 2001 a metal detector enthusiast discovered a gold coin beside the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, southern England. The 4.25 gram coin depicts Anglo Saxon king Coenwulf of Mercia.
(AFP, 2/8/06)
c797 The 1,200 year-old Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the Gospels, was made by Irish monks. It was later kept in the library of Dublin’s Trinity College. The Book of Kells is a richly decorated copy of the four gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--produced by Christian monks, possibly in the late 700s on the Scottish isle of Iona or in the Irish town of Kells. Joyce later used it as a model for Ulysses.
(SFC, 3/17/97, p.A20)(HNQ, 1/13/99)(SFEM, 5/16/99, p.7)
799 Nov 29, Pope Leo III, aided by Charlemagne, returned to Rome.
(MC, 11/29/01)
799 Imam Musa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim (55), one of the 12 principle Shiite saints, died from poisoning in Baghdad.
(www.shiachat.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t52098.html)
c799-878 St. Ignatius Nicetas. He served as the Patriarch of Constantinople from 846-858 and 867-878.
(WUD, 1994 p.708)
800 Dec 25, Pope Leo III crowned Frankish warrior-king Charlemagne as heir of the Roman emperors at the basilica of St. Peter's at Rome.
(V.D.-H.K.p.105)(Econ, 9/4/10, p.56)
800 Ohlone Indians occupied the cliffs near Mussel Rock, later Daly City, Ca., beginning from about this time.
(http://tinyurl.com/6sn59u9)
800 The Tairona peoples of Colombia made Ciudad Perdida their capital from about this time until the arrival of the conquistadors.
(SSFC, 12/4/11, p.H4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Perdida)
c800 England’s King Lear lived about this time. Shakespeare wrote his play “King Lear" in 1606.
(www.rsc.org.uk/lear/current/director.html)
c800 The inhabitants of the British Isles did not comb their hair until they were taught by the Danes about this time.
(SFC, 6/30/96, Z1 p.5)
800 About this time unidentified conquerors destroyed the Mayan palace at Cancuen (Guatemala) and killed the members of the court. Archeologists in 2005 reported that King Maax, son of Taj Chan Ahk, was found buried in full regalia.
(SFC, 11/17/05, p.A17)
c800 The height of the Mayan city of Copan. Some 20,000 people lived in the Copan pocket, a fertile section of the Copan River valley in what is now Honduras.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.29)
c800 The stone image of Fudo Myo-o, a fierce Japanese deity of fire and thunder was carved by a revered priest in Kyoto about this time. It was transferred to Narita about 940.
(Hem, 8/95, p.56)
800 The city of Jenne-jeno on the Niger (Mali) grew to a bustling trade center of about 10,000 people. By 1400 the city was abandoned.
(ATC, p.111)
c800 The first Polynesians come from somewhere in the central Pacific to New Zealand. These people are called the tangata whenua, which means "people of the land," but are more commonly called in English the moa-hunters, for hunting the large grass-eating, ostrich-like bird.
(NG, Aug., 1974, p.196)
c800-900 In England Nennius wrote a history in the early 9th century and mentioned King Arthur as a fabulous figure.
(WSJ, 3/27/98, p.W10)
c800-900 The Alawi faith was founded in the 9th century by a Muslim, who declared himself the "gateway" to the divine truth and abandoned Islam.
(WSJ, 6/12/00, p.A30)
800-900 Buran, the wife of the Caliph of Baghdad, had a lavish wedding. The groom was led to a carpet of woven gold and 1,000 pearls were poured over his head in honor of a poet who had described the surface of a glass of white wine as: "pearls scattered like pebbles on a plain of gold."
(SFC, 12/18/96, zz-1 p.8)
800-900 In northern Bangladesh the Buddhist monastic complex at Paharpur was built by the Pala dynasty.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.B)
800-900 In China the 9th cent. poet Chu Chen Pu wrote about the hedgehog.
(NH, 7/98, p.54)
c800-900 "The Diamond Sutra,’ a 9th century Chinese work, was found in 1900 in a cave in Duhuang by Sir Airel Stein, a British scholar-explorer, and handed over to the British Library.
(SFEC, 6/11/00, p.A30)
800-900 Ninth century monks called Bhutan "the hidden world."
(WSJ, 3/6/97, p.A8)
800-900 In France monks moved inland from the Loire valley to escape the depredations of the Vikings and revived the making of Chablis wine with Chardonnay grapes.
(SFC, 7/16/97, Z1 p.4)
c800-900 In Germany Archbishop Hatto of Mainz supposedly hoarded grain during a time of famine and said that starving masses were nothing more than mice. He was beleaguered by rodents and took refuge on his island in the Rhine where legend has it that mice devoured him.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T4)
800-900 The Mayan site of Xultun (Guatemala) dated to about this time. It was discovered in 1912. In 2010 paintings were discovered at the site dating to this period. Figures were captioned as "Older Brother Obsidian," or "Senior Obsidian," and "Younger Brother Obsidian," or perhaps "Junior Obsidian."
(www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18018343)
800-900 The first Khmer or king, know as Kambu, founded Kambujadesa, which means "The Sons of Kambu" or Kambuja for short. Construction of the city and temple complex known as Angkor Wat was begun.
(SFEC, 10/20/96, T5)
800-900 Muhammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi, Arab mathematician and astronomer, wrote his "ab al-jabr w’ al muqabalah" (the science of reduction and comparison). The work dealt with solving equations. It was the first time that algebra was discussed as a separate branch of mathematics. In the 12th century it was translated into Latin as "Ludus algebrae et almucgrabalaeque."
(Alg, 1990, p.87)
800-900 The Vikings brought ponies to Iceland.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A9)
800-900 A timber mosque was built at Shanga, Kenya.
(NH, 6/97, p.43)
800-900 In Poland a 9th century edict forbade Jews from baking. The law was supposedly circumvented by boiling bread and then toasting it. This process is believed to have led to the creation of the bagel.
(WSJ, 11/29/08, p.W11)
c800-900 In Southern Korea peasant uprisings led to the establishment of 2 rival states.
(SFEM, 6/20/99, p.6)
800-900 In Scandinavia Futhark evolved around the 9th century. Instead of 24 letters, the Scandinavian "Younger" Futhark had 16 letters. In England, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc started to be replaced by the Latin alphabet by the 9th century, and did not survive much more past the Norman Conquest. Futhark continued to be used in Scandinavia for centuries longer, but by 1600 CE, it had become nothing more than curiosities among scholars and antiquarians.
(www.ancientscripts.com/futhark.html)
800-900 The Uygur, a Turkic people, fled the Mongolian steppe and settled in Xinjiang.
(NG, Feb, 04, p.12)
800-900 In Thailand Sadokkokthom was a Khmer sanctuary on the Thai-Cambodian border in the Aranyaphrathet region.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.H)
800-1000 At the beginning of the ninth century, Arabian merchants frequented Lithuania to purchase fine furs, beeswax and precious amber. Brisk trading between Arabians and Lithuanians went on for about two hundred years.
(VilNews, 12/17/10)
800-1050 Ghana controlled West Africa’s rich trade, yet villagers continued to use cowry shells for money. Koumbi, Ghana’s capital, became the busiest and wealthiest marketplace in West Africa.
(ATC, p.107,115)
c800-1200 Wat Phu (mountain temple) in southern Laos was a religious complex patronized by the Khmer of Cambodia.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.E)
c800-1700 The Calusa Indian tribe, nicknamed "The Fierce Ones," dominated Florida’s Gulf coast from about 800 to 1700. They escaped from Florida to Cuba in the early 1700s after Spanish soldiers and other tribes overran their region.
(AP, 3/14/04)(AM, 11/04, p.47)
802 Oct 31, Empress Irene was driven out of Byzantium.
(MC, 10/31/01)
802 Jayavarman II proclaimed himself a "universal monarch" in a ritual that united religion and politics (Cambodia) and gave rise to the cult of the Devaraja (deified king). He declared the region’s independence from Java.
(WSJ, 7/3/97, p.A9)(SFC, 8/14/07, p.A18)
802 Vikings stage their 1st raid of Iona (Scotland).
(AM, 7/01, p.50)
803 Harun al-Rashid (d.809), the fifth Abbasid Caliph and the last to make Raqqa his capital, had his most loyal adviser cut into three pieces.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_al-Rashid)(Econ, 3/25/17, p.40)
804 Vikings returned to Iona and killed 68 of the monastic community.
(AM, 7/01, p.50)
809 Mar 24, Harun al-Rashid (44), caliph of the Abbasid empire (786-809), died.
(MC, 3/24/02)
810 Jul 8, Pepin, son of Charlemagne and King of Italy, died.
(MC, 7/8/02)
811 Jul 26, Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I, or Nicephorus I (b.750), died in the Battle of Pliska, one of the worst defeats in Byzantine history. He served as emperor from 802 to 811. Both Syriac sources such as Michael the Syrian and Arabic ones like al-Tabari and Mas'udi hold that the emperor was of a Ghassanid Arab origin. The Byzantines had plundered and burned the Bulgar capital Pliska which gave time for the Bulgarians under monarch Krum to block passes in the Balkan Mountains that served as exits out of Bulgaria.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikephoros_I)
813 Sep 25, Al-Amin, Arabic Caliph of Islam (809-813), was murdered.
(MC, 9/25/01)
c813 Pelayo to Dantiago, a Spanish hermit, was guided, according to legend, by strange lights in the sky to discover the long-forgotten tomb of the apostle St. James (San Tiago). This led others to make pilgrimages across northern Spain to the city of Santiago de Compostela. [see 1130]
(SFC, 3/11/04, p.F9)
813-833 Caliph al Ma’mun founded a school in Baghdad called the House of Wisdom. In this school scholars translated Greek philosophy classics into Arabic.
(ATC, p.89)
814 Jan 28, Charlemagne (71), German emperor, Holy Roman Emperor (800-814), died. In 1968 Jacques Boussard authored “The Civilisation of Charlemagne."
(MC, 1/28/02)(Econ, 1/3/04, p.39)
814 Abu-Nuwas al-Hasan ben Hani al-Hakami (b.756), one of the greatest of classical Arabic poets, died. He also composed in Persian on occasion. Born in the city of Ahvaz in Persia, of an Arab father and a Persian mother, he became a master of all the contemporary genres of Arabic poetry. Abu Nuwas has entered the folkloric tradition, and he appears several times in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. His witty and humorous poetry, which dealt not with the traditional desert themes, but with urban life and the joys of wine and drinking (khamriyyat - khamriyaat), and ribald humor (mujuniyyat).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Nuwas)(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)(Econ, 8/18/12, p.55)
816 Nov, Fatima, sister of the eighth Imam, was buried in a sanctuary at Qum (Qom), Iran, one of the sacred cities of the Shia faith.
(http://tinyurl.com/htuz4ky)(NG, 9/1939, p.320)
818 Imam Reza, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, died. Shiites later believed that he was fed poisonous grapes by a Sunni leader of the Muslim world. Reza was buried in Sanabad, which later became known as Mashad, “place of martyrdom." A major shrine grew at the site and by 2007 the Imam Reza Shrine Foundation was the largest (bonyad) in Iran and accounted for 7.1% of the country’s GDP.
(WSJ, 6/2/07, p.A12)
819 In northern Afghanistan most of the recently built Noh Gonbad (Nine Domes) mosque collapsed following an earthquake. It was later believed to have been built on the remains of a Buddhist monastery. Another earthquake a hundred years later hit the outer walls and most of the 15 arches.
(AP, 1/6/18)
820 Jan 20, Abu Abdallah Mibn Idris al-Sjafi'i, Islamic author of Book of Mother, died.
(MC, 1/20/02)
820 Dec 25, Leo V, the Armenian, Byzantine gen and Emperor (813-20), was murdered.
(MC, 12/25/01)
c820 The collapse of the Mayan ruling Classic period dynasty in Copan.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.25)
821-822 In Europe the Danube, Rhine and Seine rivers froze this winter thick enough to allow crossing by horse and cart.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.64)
822 In Iceland an eruption of the Katla volcano about this time led to a rupture of the Myrdalsjokull, a glacier overlying the volcano. This led to a major flood that knocked over a forest 35 km away. Temperatures plunged and the following winters in Europe turned particularly cold with hailstorms and snow that led to plague and famine.
(SFC, 12/27/17, p.64)
825 The Buddhist temple of Borobudur on the island of Java was completed about this time under the supervision of an architect named Gunadharma. The site was abandoned after 100-200 years. In 1814 British Gov. Thomas Stamford Raffles was advised of its location and dispatched an expedition to locate and excavate the legendary monument.
(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T9)(WSJ, 9/13/08, p.W18)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur)
828 Apr 5, Nicephorus (~77), patriarch of Constantinople (806-815), died.
(MC, 4/5/02)
828 The Historia Brittonum, written about this time, states that "The island of Britain derives its name from Brutus, a Roman consul" who conquered Spain. According to legend the first king of Britain was Brut, who founded the royal line that produced king Coel, (Old King Cole was a marry old soul), and Arthur of the Round Table.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_Brittonum)(SFC, 2/15/97, p.D4)
828 Venetian merchants stole the relics of Saint Mark from a Coptic church in Alexandria and brought them home in triumph.
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.125)
830 The Utrecht Psalter was produced in the Netherlands. Its 166 ink drawings illustrated passages in the psalms. In the eleventh century an English copy was made that became known as the Harley Psalter.
(Econ, 6/13/09, p.86)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht_Psalter)
833-900 Great Moravia was founded when Mojmir I unified two neighboring states by force, referred to in modern historiography as the "Principality of Nitra" and the "Principality of Moravia". The Slavic state existed in Central Europe from the 9th century to the early 10th century.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Moravia)
835-1500 Medieval British history for this period is covered by timeref.com.
(www.timeref.com/hsttime0.htm)
833 Jul 20, Ansegis (Ansegius, 63), French abbot of Fontenelle, author, died.
(MC, 7/20/02)
834 Oct 31, This evening became All Hallow’s Eve with the establishment of Nov 1 as Feast of All Saints by Pope Gregory IV.
(PTA, 1980, p.204)(SFC, 10/31/01, p.C2)
834 Nov 1, This day was declared to be All Saints’ Day by the Catholic Church. [see 835CE]
(SFC, 10/31/01, p.C2)
834 In southeastern Norway's Vestfold County a 65-foot vessel was buried in an enormous mound as the grave ship for a rich and powerful Viking woman. In 1904 the mound surrendered the Oseberg Viking longboat.
(AP, 9/11/07)
835 Nov 1, After the spread of Christianity through the west, the Roman Catholic Church in 835 A.D. made November 1 a church holiday to honor all the saints. This celebration was called All Saint's Day or All Hallows and the day before it--October 31--was called All Hallow's Eve (later Halloween). Pope Gregory extended the Feast of All Saints on Nov 1 to France and Germany. [see 834CE]
(PTA, 1980, p.204)(HNPD, 10/31/99)
836 Caliph al-Mutasim built a new capital at Samarra to replace Baghdad as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. It was abandoned by Caliph al-Mutamid in 892.
(SFC, 2/23/06, p.A15)
837 Apr 13, Best view of Halley's Comet in 2000 years.
(MC, 4/13/02)
838 Jan 7, Babak Khorramdin, formally known as "Papak" meaning "Young Father," was executed. He was one of the main revolutionary leaders of the Iranian Khorram-Dinan ("Those of the joyous religion"), which was a local freedom movement fighting the Abbasid Caliphate. During his execution, the Caliph's henchmen first cut off his legs and hands. Legend says that Babak bravely rinsed his face with the drained blood pouring out of his cuts, thus depriving the Caliph and the rest of the Abbasid army from seeing his pale face, a result of the heavy loss of blood. He was then gibbeted alive whilst sewn into a cow's skin with the horns at ear level to gradually crush his head as it dried out.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babak_Khorramdin)
839 Charles III the Fat, sometimes called Charles II of France, was born. He was the son of Louis the German and grandson of Charlemagne. Charles III the Fat was a Frankish king and emperor. His fall in 887 marked the final disintegration of the empire of Charlemagne. He was the youngest son of Louis the German and was crowned emperor by Pope John VIII in 881 and became king of all the East Franks in 882, succeeding his brother Louis the Younger. Charles III the Fat died on January 13, 888.
(HNQ, 8/30/99)
839 The Stone of Scone was first believed to be used in the coronation of a Scottish king at the village of Scone in southeast Scotland.
(SFC, 11/16/96, p.A11)
839 The first official mention of Andorra was recorded in the records of the cathedral at Seu d’Urgell in Spain.
(Hem., 3/97, p.74)
840 Mar 14, Eginhard (69), French nobleman, biographer (Vita Karoli Magni), died.
(MC, 3/14/02)
840 Jun 6, Agobard, archbishop of Lyon (anti-Semite), died.
(MC, 6/6/02)
840 Vikings settled in Ireland.
(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.T8)
841 Jun 25, Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeated Lothar at Fontenay.
(HN, 6/25/98)
842 Feb 19, The Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ended as a council in Constantinople formally reinstated the veneration of icons in the churches.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_Orthodoxy)
842 Mar 20, Alfonso II the Chaste, king of Asturia (791-842), died. Asturias was a kingdom in NW Spain.
(MC, 3/20/02)(WUD, 1994 p.92)
842 Vikings attacked the Irish monastery at Clonmacnoise from bases in Ireland.
(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.T8)
843 Apr 19, Judith, French empress, 2nd wife of Louis de Vrome, died.
(MC, 4/19/02)
843 Jun 24, Vikings destroyed Nantes.
(MC, 6/24/02)
843 Aug 10, Treaty of Verdun: Brothers Lotharius I, Louis the German and Charles the Bare divided France.
(MC, 8/10/02)
844 In Scotland the Scotti and Picts united under Cinaed (Kenneth) Mac Ailpin. The Pict language disappeared following the union.
(AM, 7/01, p.46)
846 Nov 1, Louis II, the Stutterer, King of France (877-79), was born.
(MC, 11/1/01)
849 Alfred the Great (d.899) was said to have been born near Uffington. He became King of the West Saxons in 871. He was the 5th and youngest son of King Aethelwulf and Queen Osburga of Wessex.
(AHD, 1971, p.32)(AM, 9/01, p.42)(ON, 4/08, p.4)
c850 Outsiders found coffee in the region of Ethiopia called Kaffa, hence the name.
(SFEC, 10/6/96, Z1 p.4)(http://www.koffeekorner.com/koffeehistory.htm)
850 The Chicanna temple in the Mayan city of Calakmul was built about this time.
(SSFC, 4/25/10, p.M1)
850-930 Hucbaldus Elnonensis, was a French monk and composer, who became known for writing poetry about the hairless. He wrote "Ecloga de Calvis," (In Praise of Bald Men) for Hatto, a bald archbishop. All 150 lines of the Latin verse begin with the letter c (calvus means bald in Latin).
(WSJ, 11/23/98, p.B1)
850-933 Harold the Fairhaired. Princess Gyda is said to have incited Harold to gather the whole of Norway under his scepter. The name Gyda was later corrupted to Gjře, the name of Amdunsen’s Northwest Passage sloop (1903-1905).
(Ind, 4/27/02, 5A)
c850-1100 Native Indians in Chaco Canyon [New Mexico] built multistory buildings and roads. Evidence was later discovered that they designed a vast map of the yearly sun cycle and the 19-year cycle of the moon.
(WSJ, 6/16/00, p.W2)
c853 The Baltic shoreline Curonians repulsed Danish Viking attempts at subjugation. King Olaf led Swedish Vikings in retaliation and overcame the towns of Seeburg and Apuole (Apulia).
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)(www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html#lifeans)
853 Olaf, King of Sweden, led his forces across the Baltic Sea and into western Lithuania. They attacked the castle at Apuole near the town of Skuodas on the Luba River. A truce was declared after 8 days of fighting. King Olaf took home much gold, silver and amber, 30 (Kursiu) local inhabitants and destroyed the castle.
(H of L, 1931, p.14)
855 Sep 28, The Emperor Lothar died in Gaul, and his kingdom was divided between his three sons.
(HN, 9/28/98)
855 A version of "Cinderella" came from China about this time.
(SFEC, 5/25/97, Z1 p.7)
855 Ahmad ibn Hanbal (b.780), Muslim scholar, died in Iraq. He is considered the founder of the 4th school of Sunni Islam. The four schools of Sunni Islam include: a) The Hanafi school, named after Imam Abu Hanifa, predominates in the territories formerly under the Ottoman Empire and in Muslim India and Pakistan; it relies heavily on consensus and analogical reasoning in addition to the Quran and sunna. B) The Maliki school, named after Malik ibn Anas, is dominant in upper Egypt and West Africa; developed in Medina, it emphasizes use of hadith (sayings or acts) that were current in the Prophet's city. C) The school of Muhammad ibn Idris ash Shafii, prevailing in Indonesia, stresses reasoning by analogy. D) The fourth legal school is that of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, which is the school adhered to in Saudi Arabia.
(http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/26.htm)
858 Apr 17, Benedict III, Catholic Pope, died.
(PTA, 1980, p.210)
858 Apr 24, Nicholas I succeeded Benedict III as the Catholic Pope.
(HN, 4/24/98)(MC, 4/24/02)
859 Fatima al-Fihri of Tunisia founded the Qarawiyyin mosque and madrasa in Fez, Morocco. The mosque was expanded in the 10th century to become a university containing one of the world’s oldest libraries. It was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_al-Fihri)(SFC, 4/20/16, p.A5)
860 Jun 18, Swedish Vikings attacked Constantinople.
(MC, 6/18/02)
860 Aug 1, Peace of Koblenz involved Charles the Bare, Louis the German & Lotharius II.
(MC, 8/1/02)
c860 Novgorod, Russia, was founded about this time.
(AM, 11/00, p.32)
861 The Khazar kings converted to Judaism. A Jewish dynasty of kings presided over the Khazar kingdom until the 960s. In 2008 Dmitry Vasilyev, a Russian professor at Astrakhan State University, said his nine-year excavation near the Caspian Sea has finally unearthed the foundations of a triangular fortress of flamed brick, along with modest yurt-shaped dwellings, and he believes these are part of what was once Itil, the Khazar capital.
(TJOK, chap. 6)(AP, 9/20/08)
866 Sep 19, Leo VI Sophos, Byzantine Emperor (886-912) and writer (Problematica), was born.
(MC, 9/19/01)
866 Nov, Danish Viking Ivar the Boneless first invaded the trading port of Eoforwic, the old Roman settlement of Eboracum. The Jorvic Viking settlement was discovered in 1976 when workers in York excavated for a new shopping center.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_York)(SSFC, 4/13/14, p.Q5)
867 Feb 11, Theodora, the Saint, beauty queen, Byzantine Empress, died.
(MC, 2/11/02)
867 Nov 13, Pope Nicholas I (the Great) died at age 67. He served from 858-867.
(MC, 11/13/01)
867 A last surviving older brother of Alfred, became King Aethelred I of Wessex, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in southern England.
(ON, 4/08, p.4)
867 Danes fought Saxons in the battle of Eoferwic (York).
(WSJ, 1/28/05, p.W6)
867-1057 The Byzantine Empire expanded.
(ATC, p.24)
868 A scroll of Buddhism’s “Diamond Sutra" was commissioned and dated by a man named Wang Jie as a gift to his parents. It was discovered in 1907 in one of the 450 Mogao Caves of Dunhuang in China’s northwestern Gansu Province.
(SSFC, 5/8/16, p.C143)
868 The 10th imam, Ali al-Hadi, died. His remains were placed in the Askariya shrine in Samarra (Persia-Iraq).
(AP, 2/22/06)
869 Feb 14, Cyrillus, Greek apostle of Slavs, died.
(MC, 2/14/02)
869 Jul 9, In Japan the Sanriku earthquake (Jogan quake) and associated tsunami struck the area around Sendai in the northern part of Honshu. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of at least 8.4 on the moment magnitude scale, but may have been as high as 9.0.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/869_Sanriku_earthquake)(Econ, 8/19/17, p.70)
869 Aug 8, Lotharius II, King of Middle-France (Lotharingen) (855-869), died.
(MC, 8/8/02)
870 Aug 8, The Treaty of Mersen (Meerssen) partitioned the realm of Lothair II by his uncles Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the two surviving sons of Emperor Louis I the Pious.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Meerssen)
870 Dec 31, Skirmish at Englefield. Ethelred of Wessex beat back a Danish invasion army.
(MC, 12/31/01)
870 Swede Garoar Svavarsson led the first Vikings to Iceland.
(SSFC, 8/23/15, p.N4)
871 Jan 4, Ethelred of Wessex was defeated by Danish forces at Reading.
(PCh, 1992, p.72)
871 Jan 8, Ethelred of Wessex defeated the Danish forces at Ashdown.
(PCh, 1992, p.72)
871 Mar 2, Battle at Marton (Maeretun): Ethelred van Wessex (d.871) beat the Danish invasion army. Ethelred died in April and his brother Alfred (22) took over. Alfred became Alfred the Great and ruled until 899.
(PCh, 1992, p.72)(SC, 3/2/02)
871 Apr 23, Ethelred I, king of Wessex, brother of Alfred the Great, died.
(MC, 4/23/02)
871-899 Saxon reign under Alfred the Great.
(AHD, 1971, p.32)
872 Dec 14, Adrian II (~80), Italian Pope (867-72), the last married pope, died.
(MC, 12/14/01)
872-882 Pope John VIII (b.1814). A novel by Donna Cross in 1996 is based on historical documents that indicate that he was actually female.
(WUD, 1994, p.769)(SFEC, 11/17/96, BR p.8)
874 The 11th imam, Hassan al-Askari, son of Ali al-Hadi, died. His remains were also placed in the Askariya shrine in Samarra (Persia-Iraq). Hassan al-Askari was the father of Al-Mahdi, the hidden imam. Al Mahdi, the 12th imam, disappeared in 941.
(AP, 2/22/06)(Econ, 10/29/16, p.44)
874 Vikings from Norway began to survey Iceland. The monks withdrew to Ireland. The 40,000-square-mile island situated 500 miles northwest of Scotland was first settled by Norwegians.
(NH, 6/96, p.53)(Economist, 8/25/12, p.64)
875 Aug 12, Louis II (~50), king of Italy, emperor of France, died.
(MC, 8/12/02)
c875-925 Lord Chaak ruled over the Mayan city of Uxmal in Mexico.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.H)
876 Oct 8, Charles the Bald was defeated at the Battle of Andernach. Louis the Young beat Charles the Bare.
(HN, 10/8/98)(MC, 10/8/01)
876 Charles the Bald donated a relic, the Sancta Camisia, to the city of Chartres. The relic was believed to the childbirth tunic of the Virgin Mary.
(Hem., 10/97, p.86)
877 Oct 6, Charles II the Kale, King of France and Roman emperor (875-77), died at 54.
(MC, 10/6/01)
878 Jan, Danish forces from north of Wessex launched an unexpected attack on Wessex, ruled by King Alfred. In 1911 G.K. Chesterton authored the historical novel “The Ballad of the White Horse" set in England during this time.
(SSFC, 4/22/07, p.P10)(ON, 4/08, p.4)
878 Imam Mahdi went into hiding. Shiites went on to believe that he would return, along with Jesus, to lead Muslims in a struggle for justice.
(SFC, 1/19/08, p.A7)
879 Apr 10, Louis II, the Stutterer, King of France (877-79), died and Louis III was crowned King of France.
(MC, 4/10/02)
879 Sep 17, Charles III, [The Simple], king of France (893-923), was born.
(MC, 9/17/01)
882 Aug 25, Louis III (19), King of France (879-82), died.
(MC, 8/25/02)
883 Mar 8, Albumasar [Ahmad Aboe M Gafar al-Balkhi], Arabic astronomer, died.
(MC, 3/8/02)
884 May 17, St. Adrian III began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(MC, 5/17/02)
885 Apr 6, Methodius, Greek apostle to the Slavs, archbishop of Sirmium, died.
(MC, 4/6/02)
886 Aug 29, Basilius I, the Macedonian, Byzantine emperor (867-886), died.
(MC, 8/29/01)
886 Under Muslim Arabs the Bagratid family rose to prominence in Armenia and established a line of kings from this time to the 10th century.
(CO Enc. / Armenia)
887 Ibn Firnas (b.810), a Muslim Berber, polymath, inventor, engineer, aviator, physician, Arabic poet, and Andalusian musician, died. He is said to have jumped from a height, wings attached and covered head to toe in feathers, in a failed attempt at flying, although he survived the jump.
(AFP, 11/17/10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Ibn_Firnas)
889 Bhaktapur, Nepal, was founded under the Malla dynasty.
(SSFC, 9/21/03, p.C8)
889 Ibn Qutayba (b.828), a renowned Islamic scholar from Kufa, Iraq, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Qutaybah)
889-1324 The Khmer Empire‘s dominions roughly correspond to present-day Laos and Cambodia and reached its height during the Angkor period (889-1434 CE). The kingdom flourished from the 6th to 15th centuries CE and then declined with invasions from neighboring Thailand.
(HNQ, 8/7/00)
890-1170 The Medieval Warm Period extended across Asia, Europe and North America.
(SFC, 2/10/06, p.A6)
891 Feb 6, Photius, Byzantine theologist, patriarch of Constantinople, saint, died.
(MC, 2/6/02)
891 Sep 1, Norse defeated near Louvaine, France.
(MC, 9/1/02)
891-896 Formosus served as Pope following Stephen VI.
(PTA, 1980, p.224)(WSJ, 6/27/01, p.A14)
894 Japan abolished the sending of envoys to China.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
895 The Tatev Monastery was built near the village of Tatev, Armenia. The construction on the Church of Peter and Paul was completed in 906.
(www.cilicia.com/armo5_tatev.html)
896 Feb 22, Pope Formosa was crowned king Arnulf of Carinthia, French emperor.
(MC, 2/22/02)
896 Apr 4, Pope Formosus died. His body was exhumed by his successor in the Cadaver Synod. He was then put on trial for perjury, found guilty and dumped in the Tiber River.
(PTA, 1980, p.224)(WSJ, 6/27/01, p.A14)
896 The founding date of Hungary. Seven tribes of Magyars settled in the Carpathian Basin. Kingdom of Hungary was formed under Arpad by seven Magyar and three Khazar tribes.
(WSJ, 12/26/96, p.4)(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T5)(TJOK, p. 206)(Reuters, 4/12/05)
899 Oct 26, Alfred the Great (b.849), writer and king of Wessex (871-99), died. He helped to bring about the English state, the Royal Navy and English universities. He translated Pope Gregory’s “Pastoral Care," the universal history by Orosius, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, and the “Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius. Alfred also compiled England’s first code of laws, The Doom Book.
(Econ, 5/26/07, p.18)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_Great)(ON, 4/08, p.5)
899 Dec 8, Arnulf of Carinthia, last emperor of Austria-France, died.
(MC, 12/8/01)
c900 By this time the Fatimids broke away from the Abbasids and migrated to North Africa. They were descendants of Mohammad’s daughter, Fatima.
(ATC, p.91)
c900 The east coast of Africa was impacted by trade and Arab, Persian and Indian traders mixed with the indigenous Bantu. Many of the coastal Bantu adopted Islam and the Arabic word Swahili, meaning "people of the shore," to describe themselves. By this time they had reached as far south as Sofala in Mozambique.
(ATC, p.142)(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.169)
900 The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, an Old English pagan ritual, used horns from reindeer that dated to about this time. A dozen male dancers in Staffordshire traditionally performed the dance once a year in early September.
(SFC, 9/4/10, p.A1)
c900 The Mayan city-state of Palenque [in later Mexico] was abandoned
(SFC, 5/19/96, T-10)
c900 The Mayan city-state of Copan [in later Honduras] was abandoned
(NG, 12/97, p.80)
c900 In Peru the Lambayeque people established themselves over areas previously developed by the Moche.
(NG, 7/04, p.116)
900 Benedict IV succeeded John IX as Pope.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)
c900-950 The 7-foot hanging scroll, ink-on-silk masterpiece "Riverbank" by Dong Yuan was created. It is the earliest surviving example of monumental Chinese landscape painting. The work was also thought to be a forgery by Chang Da-chien (1899-1983) through whom it passed to the New York Met.
(WSJ, 7/2/97, p.A12)(WSJ, 7/24/97, p.A16)(WSJ, 12/13/99, p.A32)
900-1000 Alsace became part of Germany in the 10th century.
(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T4)
900-1000 Weimar is believed to date back to the 10th century.
(SSFC, 8/1/04, p.D10)
900-1000 The French village of Prelenfrey dates back to the 10th Century.
(SFC, 6/23/96, p.T8)
900-1000 The Korean rice wine Makgeolli, once known as "farmer drink", dates back at least this time. Its popularity waned in the early 1960s when the government restricted the use of rice for making alcohol in order to combat rice shortages. In 2012 South Korea's Baesangmyun Brewery announced that a brewery in Chicago will open to produce the drink.
(AFP, 2/5/12)
900-1000 Viking longships entered the Douro River mouth in Portugal. Their ships are believed to be the design form from which the wine carrying boats "barcos rabelos" were designed.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.T7)
900-1000 The Tresco Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on the Isles of Sicily off the southwest coast of England.
(Hem., 7/96, p.66)
900-1000 The terminal classic period of the Maya.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.B)
c900-1000 The Japanese discovered the wasabe root growing near mountain streams and began incorporating it into their cuisine.
(SFC, 6/3/98, Z1 p.6)
900-1000 In Thailand the site of Prasat Hin Phanom Wan was an important Khmer sanctuary in the Upper Mun River Valley of northeastern Thailand.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.G)
900-1100 A Fremont culture settlement in Horse Canyon, Utah, left extensive ruins that became known as Range Creek.
(SFC, 6/30/04, p.A2)
900-1200 The Killke people occupied the region around Cuzco, Peru, from 900 to 1200 A.D., prior to the arrival of the Incas. In 2008 Archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and irrigation systems at Sacsayhuaman, a famed fortress overlooking Cuzco, that shed light on the pre-Inca cultures of Peru.
(AP, 3/15/08)
902 Aug 1, The Aghlabid rulers of Ifriqiyah (modern day Tunisia) captured Taormina, Sicily.
(HN, 8/1/98)
902-970 In China Tao Gu lived. He wrote "Qing yi lu," (An Examination of Strange Accounts). He mentioned the Chinese use of cormorants for fishing.
(NH, 10/98, p.69)
903 Benedict IV, Catholic Pope, died.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)
903 Good King Wenceslaus, saint, duke of Bohemia (928-935), was born.
(WUD, 1994 p.1622)
904 Jul 31, Arabs captured Thessalonica of the Byzantine Empire.
(HN, 7/31/98)
905 Persian astronomer Al Sufi referred to the Andromeda galaxy as the "Little Cloud."
(NH, 11/96, p.78)
907 Fall of the T’ang dynasty in China.
(V.D.-H.K.p.169)
907 Arpad (b.~845), head of the confederation of the Hungarian tribes, died about this time. Many Hungarians refer to him as the "founder of our country." His preeminent role in the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin has been emphasized by some later chronicles. The dynasty descending from Arpad ruled the Kingdom of Hungary until 1301.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rp%C3%A1d)
907-1279 "The Five Dynasties and the Song Period" by Richard M. Barnhart is the first section of Wu Hung’s 1997 "The Origins of Chinese Painting."
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.6)
910 The French abbey at Cluny was founded.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
910 Rhazes, an Arab physician, wrote the 1st account of smallpox and proposed the earliest theory of immunity.
(NW, 10/14/02, p.46)
911 Sep 2, Viking monarch Oleg of Kiev, Russia, signed a treaty with the Byzantines.
(MC, 9/2/01)
911 The Carolingian period of Frankish rule ended in Germany.
(AHD, 1971, p.205)
911 A relic donated by Charles the Bald, the Sancta Camisia, was displayed above the city walls of Chartres and seemed to repel a Viking attack. The relic was believed to be the Virgin Mary’s childbirth tunic.
(Hem., 10/97, p.86)
912 Nov 23, Otto I, the Great (d.973), German king and Holy Roman emperor (962-73), was born. Otto the Great became King of Germany in 936.
(AHD, 1971, p.931)(MC, 11/23/01)
912 Egyptian singer Nehmes Bastet died about this time. In 2012 Egyptian and Swiss archaeologists reported a roughly 1,100 year-old tomb of a female singer in the Valley of the Kings. It was the only tomb of a woman not related to the ancient royal families ever found in the Valley of the Kings. The singer's name, Nehmes Bastet, means she was believed to be protected by the feline deity Bastet. At the time of her death, Egypt was ruled by Libyan kings, but the high priests who ruled Thebes were independent.
(AP, 1/15/12)
912-961 Abd al Rahman III, Umayyad caliph in Spain, purchased Scandinavian, African and German slaves to serve in his forces. At this time Cordoba was western Europe's largest city with a population of 200,000 people.
(ATC, p.96)
917 Aug 20, A Byzantine counter-offensive was routed by Syeon at Anchialus, Bulgaria.
(HN, 8/20/98)
917 In Italy the Castle Torre d’Orlando was built between Paciano and Panicale in Umbria.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.49)
918 Mar 1, Balderik became bishop of Utrecht.
(SC, 3/1/02)
918 In Ireland there was a great flood in the region of Clonmacnoise.
(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.T8)
918-1392 During Korea's Age of Enlightenment, the period of the Goryeo Dynasty, the Buddhist aristocracy commissioned many works of art to further the Buddhist ideal.
(SFC, 10/14/03, p.D1)
919 May 12, Duke Henry of Saxon became King Henry I of Eastern Europe.
(MC, 5/12/02)
919 Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon Nat'l Monument in Northern New Mexico had its ceremonial room completed. Occupancy lasted till c1130.
(K.I.-365D, p.159)
921 Nov 7, Treaty of Bonn: East France and West France recognized each other.
(MC, 11/7/01)
921 In Turkey the Armenian Akdamar church, called the Church of Surp Khach, or Holy Cross, was inaugurated. Written records say the church was near a harbor and a palace on the island on Lake Van, but only the church survived. Turkey restored the church in 2007.
(AP, 3/25/07)
922 Mar 26, Al-Hallaj al-Mughith-al-Hsayn Mansur (64), Persian mystic, was beheaded. Mansur al-Hallaj (b.858), a Sufi mystic, was crucified in Baghdad for pronouncing in the midst of a trance that he was the truth, i.e god.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Hallaj)(SFC, 4/21/04, p.A10)
922 Jun 9, French republic chose Robert I as King of France.
(MC, 6/9/02)
922 Mansur al-Hallaj (b.858), a Sufi mystic, was crucified in Baghdad for pronouncing in the midst of a trance that he was the truth, i.e god.
(SFC, 4/21/04, p.A10)(http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismearly.html#Hallaj)
923 Feb 16, Abu Dja'far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari (83), Islamic historian, died.
(MC, 2/16/02)
924 Apr 7, Berengarius I, Emperor of Italy, was murdered.
(MC, 4/7/02)
924 Jul 17, Edward the Older, English king (899-924) and son of Alfred the Great, died. He was succeeded by his son Athelstan.
(PC, 1992, p.75)
924-940 Athelstan ruled as king of England.
(www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon8.html)
925 The Croatian kingdom was established.
(WSJ, 7/14/99, p.A23)
927 May 27, Symeon, czar of Bulgaria, died.
(MC, 5/27/02)
927 Ivan Rilski (later St. John of Rila), an Orthodox Bulgarian, chose a hermit’s life in a cave in the mountains above Sofia, Bulgaria. His students built a complex nearby that grew to become the Rila Monastery.
(SSFC, 7/16/06, p.G4)
929 Sep 28, Wenceslaus I, duke of Bohemia, was murdered.
(www.stfrancisvernon.org/stwenceslaus.htm)
929 Eadgyth (910-946), the sister of King Athelstan and the granddaughter of Alfred the Great, was given in marriage to Otto I, the king of Saxony and the Holy Roman Emperor. She had at least two children before her death in 946 at age 36. In 2010 her remains were found in Magdeburg Cathedral in northern Germany.
(AFP, 1/20/10)(AFP, 6/17/10)
930 Jun 23, Icelanders established the Althing, an open-air national parliament and the world‘s oldest surviving parliamentary body. This was later credited as the first example of representative government.
(NH, 6/96, p.53)(DrEE, 1/4/97, p.4)(SFC, 1/1/00, p.C3)(MC, 6/23/02)
930 The Aleppo Codex was written on parchment in the Holy Land town of Tiberias by the scribe Shlomo Ben Boya'a about this time. Its completion marked the end of a centuries-long process that created final text of the Hebrew Bible.
(AP, 9/27/08)
933 Mar 15, Henry the Fowler routed the raiding Magyars at Merseburg, Germany. The Wagner opera Lohengrin is about King Henry and how he united the people of Brabant with the Saxons against the Hungarian foe.
(HN, 3/15/99)(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A21)
935 In the Icelandic "Egils-saga" there is an account of how Thorolf and Egil harried in Curonia (along the eastern Baltic shore) about this time.
(DrEE, 11/23/96, p.3)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
935 In southern Korea the last Shilla king surrendered his throne.
(SFEM, 6/20/99, p.6)
936 Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (b.1874), Muslim theologian, died. He had become a pupil of the great Mutazalite teacher al-Jubba'i (d.915), and himself remained a Mutazalite until his fortieth year. Disciples of his school are known as Asharites. It held that complete comprehension of the unique nature and attributes of God is beyond the capacity of human reasoning and sense experience.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_al-Hasan_al-Ash%27ari)
936-973 Otto the Great became King of Germany and later the first Holy Roman Emp.
(AHD, 1971, p.931)
936-1531 Aachen in West Germany was the coronation city for German kings over this period.
(WUD, 1994, p.1)
937 King Athelstan unified the various Saxon and Celtic kingdoms following the battle of Brunanburgh. He was the brother of Eadgyth, wife of Holy Roman Emp. Otto I, and is generally considered to have been the first King of England.
(AFP, 1/20/10)
c938 In the late 930s Khazar baliqchi Pesakh defeated the Rus. According to an anonymous letter written by a Khazarian Jew in the 940s, the Rus prince Oleg captured the Khazar-held city Tmutorokan one night. Pesakh, a prominent Khazar baliqchi (governor), learned of Oleg’s actions and conquered several Crimean cities belonging to the Byzantines and also did away with many Rus. Oleg was badly defeated, and was forced to surrender to Governor-General Pesakh. This was a major Khazar victory over the Rus.
(TJOK, pages 191-192)
938-1002 Al-Mansur (the Conqueror), Moorish leader. He was born Abu'Amir al-Ma'asiri and rose to power by wooing the caliph's favorite concubine. He raided Christian Spain and hauled his booty back to Cordoba and built a palace called Madinat al-Zahira, the Shining City.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4,6)
940 The stone image of Fudo Myo-o, a fierce Japanese deity of fire and thunder, was carved by a revered priest in Kyoto about 800 CE and transferred to Narita about 940.
(Hem, 8/95, p.56)
941 The 12th imam, Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Mahdi (b.1869), disappeared. He is believed by Twelver Shi‘a Muslims to be the Mahdi, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imam of the Twelve Imams who will emerge with Isa (Jesus Christ) in order to fulfill their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world.
(Econ, 10/29/16, p.44)
942 May 16, Saadiah Gaon, head of Talmudic Academy of Sura, died.
(MC, 5/16/02)
945 In England monks settled along the Thames riverbank at Bablock Hythe.
(SFEC, 8/20/00, p.T9)
945 The Buyids (Buwayhids) came to power in Baghdad. They were ousted by the Seljuks in 1055 under Tughril Beg.
(www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/iraq/HISTORY.html)
946 May 25, Edmund the Older, king of Wessex, England, (939-46), died.
(SC, 5/25/02)
946 Eadgyth, the sister of King Athelstan and the granddaughter of Alfred the Great, died. She had been given in marriage to Otto I, the Holy Roman Emperor, in 929. She was initially buried at the Monastery of Mauritius in Magdeburg. In 1510 her remains were transferred to Magdeburg Cathedral in northern Germany, where her bones were found in 2008.
(AFP, 1/20/10)
946 Mount Paektu, a volcano straddling the border between North Korea and China, erupted with apocalyptic fire and fury in what scientists later considered one of the five largest volcanic events in human history. It ejected enough material to bury Greater London to a depth of 60 meters (200 feet), and caused temporary climate change in the region.
(http://tinyurl.com/y98xvulc)(AFP, 9/19/19)
950 Nov 22, Lotharius, King of Italy (947-50), died.
(MC, 11/22/01)
c950 The Anasazi first came to Keet Seel, Arizona.
(Hem., 5/97, p.75)
950 Guam’s latte period refers to the time when lattes were first introduced about this time and continued up to the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Latte stones consist of a pillar capped by a hemispherical stone capital.
(AP, 9/13/15)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latte_stone)
951 Sep 23, Otto I, the Great, became king of Italy.
(MC, 9/23/01)
953 Apr 21, Otto I, the Great, granted Utrecht fishing rights.
(MC, 4/21/02)
954 Nov 12, Lotharius became king of France.
(MC, 11/12/01)
954 The Count of Ventimiglia ceded Seborga (in northwest Italy, twenty minutes from the Mediterranean north of Bordighera) to the monks who elected their abbot as sovereign prince.
(SFEC, 3/30/97, p.T5)
955 May 16, Alberich II, (bastard?) son of Octavianus, was elected pope.
(MC, 5/16/02)
955 Aug 10, Otto organized his nobles and defeated the invading Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in Germany.
(HN, 8/10/98)
955 In England King Eadwig failed to appear at his coronation feast. Dunstan, chronicler of the event, found him cavorting with a young lady and her mother.
(WSJ, 1/29/99, p.W7)
955 Sufi saint Sidi Mahmoudou died. In 2013 his tomb in Timbuktu, Mali, was destroyed by Islamist extremists.
(AP, 1/28/13)
956 Jun 16, Hugo the Great, duke of France, died.
(MC, 6/16/02)
956-1015 Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev and the first Christian grand prince of Russia (980-1015). He married the sister of the Byzantine emperor and thus brought in Orthodox Christianity to Russia.
(WUD, 1994, p.1598)(WSJ, 3/28/97, p.A16)
c958 Harald Gormsson (d.c986), aka Harald Bluetooth or Harald Blatand, 10th-century king of Denmark, was born about this time.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetooth)(AM, 11/00, p.21)
958-1025 Basil II, Byzantine emperor. His empire held a monopoly on royal purple silk and he flourished by manufacturing and trading silk.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)
959 The Viking ruler Gorm the Old, the father of Harald Bluetooth, died.
(AM, 11/00, p.21)
960 Denmark's King Harald Bluetooth was baptized.
(Econ, 6/28/03, p.55)
960 Thorvald Asvaldsson, the father of Eric the Red (950-1003), committed a murder about this time and was banished from Norway. He took his family to Iceland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
960-1127 The period of the Northern Song Dynasty. Most artistic representations of nature during this period carried auspicious meanings, e.g. bamboo signified resilience in the face of diversity, and the cicada bespoke immortality.
(NH, 7/00, p.59)(SFC, 5/14/03, p.D3)
960-1279 The Sung (Song) dynasty ruled over China. It was from this period that the Japanese tea ceremony originated; the ritual was developed for a tranquility of mind. Since this period mountainous looking rocks have been prized as objects of contemplation. Porcelain from this period is particularly beautiful.
(Hem, Dec. 94, p.64)(SFC, 6/4/96, p.E5)(WSJ, 9/27/96, p.B14)
961 Oct 15, Abd al-Rahman III (891-961), Muslim governor of Spain, died. He was succeeded by his son Al-Hakim. Rahman III is famed for his quote: "I have now reigned above fifty years in victory and peace, beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to be wanting for my felicity. In this situation, I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: they amount to fourteen."
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Rahman_III)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/04359b.htm)
961 Ani became the capital of Armenia. At its height it had over 100,000 inhabitants. Within a century it began falling victim to waves of conquerors including Seljuk Turks, Georgians and Mongols.
(Econ, 6/17/06, p.59)
962 Feb 2, Otto I (912-973), founder of the Holy Roman Empire, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor)(AHD, 1971, p.931)
962-1030 In Afghanistan the Islamic era was established with the Ghaznavid Dynasty.
(https://www.afghan-web.com/history/chronology/)
962-1140 Under the Ghaznavid Dynasty Afghanistan became the center of Islamic power and civilization.
(https://www.afghan-web.com/history/chronology/)
963 Mar 15, Romanus II (25), Byzantine emperor (959-63), died.
(MC, 3/15/02)
964 Jun, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I forced Pope Benedict V (d.965), who had recently succeeded John XII as Catholic Pope, to resign in favor of Leo VIII.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)(Econ, 2/16/13, p.61)
964 Arab astronomers described the Great Nebula in Andromeda, our closest galaxy.
(V.D.-H.K.p.333)
965 Mar 1, Leo VIII, Italian (anti-)Pope (963-65), died.
(SC, 3/1/02)
965 Jul 4, Benedict V, Catholic Pope, died.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)
965 Part of Khazaria was conquered by the Kievan Rus prince Svyatoslav.
(TJOK, pp. 193-194)
967 Nov 20, Aboe al-Faradj al-Isfahani, Arabic author (Book of liederen), died.
(MC, 11/20/01)
969 Oct 28, After a prolonged siege, the Byzantines ended 300 years of Arab rule in Antioch.
(HN, 10/28/98)
967 Dec 7, Abu Sa'id ibn Aboa al-Chair, Persian mystic, was born.
(MC, 12/7/01)
969 Dec 10, Nicephorus II Phocas, Byzantine co-Emperor (963-69), was murdered.
(MC, 12/10/01)
969 Named El Qahira -"the victorious," Cairo gained power from its position beside the Nile.
(NG, May 1985, R. Caputo, p.603)
969CE By this time the Fatimids had conquered most of North Africa and claimed Cairo as their capital. The Shiites gained control of Egypt.
(ATC, p.91)(SSFC, 2/8/04, p.M2)
969-1000 Olaf Tryggvesson, Olav I, King of Norway from 995-1000.
(WUD, 1994, p.1002)
970 In Egypt the al-Azhar madrassa was founded and became the chief center of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world. It was founded as mosque by the Fatimid commander Jawhar at the orders of the Caliph and Ismaili Imam Al-Muizz as he founded the city for Cairo. In 1961 al-Azhar attained university status.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Azhar_University)(Econ., 2/28/15, p.53)
971-1030 Machmud of Ghazni, ruler of Afghanistan. He made annual invasions to northern India where he pillaged temples, captured slaves, and transported his goods back by elephant. His library had a large collection of erotic manuscripts and he shared his palace with 400 poets.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)
972 John I Tzimiskes, the Byzantine Emperor at Constantinople (969-976), granted a charter for the Monastic Republic of Holy Mount Athos in Greece.
(SSFC, 10/8/06, p.H1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_I_Tzimisces)
973 Jan 19, Benedict VI was consecrated as Catholic Pope. He succeeded John XIII.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)
973 May 6, Henry II, German King (1002) and Holy Roman Emperor (1014-1024), was born.
(HN, 5/6/98)(MC, 5/6/02)
973 Otto I, the Great (b.912), German king and Holy Roman emperor (962-73), died.
(AHD, 1971, p.931)(MC, 11/23/01)
974 The army of Denmark's King Harald Gormsson, aka Harald Bluetooth or Harald Blatand, lost to the Germans at the Danevirke.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetooth)(AM, 11/00, p.21)
974 Pope Benedict VI was strangled to death by a priest named Stephen under directions of anti-Pope Boniface Franco, who called himself Boniface VII.
(PTA, 1980, p.270)
975 Jul 25, Thietmar bishop of Merseburg, German chronicler, was born.
(SC, 7/25/02)
975-1038 St. Stephen of Hungary. His crown was a fusion of Greek and Latin elements.
(WSJ, 11/18/96, p.A10)
0976 Oct 1, Al-Hakam II, the caliph of Cordoba, died.
(MC, 10/1/01)
976 Nov 14, T'ai tsu, emperor of China and founder of Sung-dynasty, died.
(MC, 11/14/01)
976 The Great Mosque of Cordoba (Spain) was completed and served as a religious, social and educational center. The largest of the 70 libraries in Cordoba contained 500,000 volumes. 70,000 books a year were hand-copied to satisfy the citizen’s literary appetites.
(ATC, p.95,98)
976-1025 The reign of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer, ruler of Byzantium. [see 330CE]
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-12)
977 The shrine of Imam Ali, a gold-domed mosque, was built in Najaf, Iraq, on the burial site of Imam Ali, son-in-law of the prophet Mohammed.
(SFC, 8/30/03, p.A1)
978 Mar 18, Edward the Martyr (15), King of Anglo-Saxons (975-78), was murdered.
(MC, 3/18/02)
979 Apr 14, There was a challenge to throne of King Aethelred II, the Unrede (Unready), of England (979-1016). He attempted to buy peace with from Scandinavian invaders and called for England’s 1st general tax, the Danegeld. Some 140,000 pounds of silver was paid in tribute.
(WSJ, 5/24/01, p.A20)(MC, 4/14/02)
979 The Isle of Man parliament, the Tynwald Court, was established.
(SSFC, 8/13/06, p.G5)
980-1037 Afghan scientist Avicenna (aka Ibn Sina), a Muslim philosopher-scientist, was born in Bukhara (Balkh). He wrote "The Book of Healing," a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and "The Canon of Medicine," an encyclopedia of the medical knowledge of his time. Both works were translated to Latin and exerted great influence on Scholastics in the West.
(https://www.afghan-web.com/history/chronology/)(V.D.-H.K.p.115)
981 Adherents to the Jainist faith consecrated a 57-foot statue of their most important siant, Bahubali, in the town of Shravana Belgola, India.
(Sm, 3/06, p.23)
982 Eric the Red (950-1003), killed a neighbor and some other men about this time and was banished from Iceland for 3 years.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
982 Eric the Red, father of Leif Ericson, landed in Greenland and spent the next 3 years exploring the area.
(SFEM, 11/15/98, p.24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
983 Dec 7, Otto II the Red (~28), German king and emperor (973-83), died in Italy. Otto III [aged 3] took the throne after his father's death.
(HN, 12/7/98)(MC, 12/7/01)
983 The Lutici, a federation of tribes in northeastern Germany, were first recorded by written sources in the context of the uprising of this year, by which they annihilated the rule of the Holy Roman Empire in the Billung and Northern Marches. Hostilities continued until 997.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutici)
985 Eric Thorvaldsson, aka Eric the Red, left Iceland and returned to Greenland establishing his 1st settlement there.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
c985 Montpellier, France, was founded at the intersection of 3 trade and pilgrimage routes.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22)
985-1014 The Brihadeshwarar temple was built in southeastern India’s Tamil Nadu state.
(WSJ, 10/1/04, p.A10)
985-1200 The Chola Kingdom prospered in southern India. Arts flourished and the economy prospered under expanding trade and military conquests. Ganesha, son of Shiva, was the first god invoked at the beginning of a new enterprise.
(WSJ, 10/8/99, p.W14)(WSJ, 10/8/99, p.W14)
986 Mar 2, Lotharius (44), King of France (954-86), died.
(SC, 3/2/02)
c986 Denmark's King Harald Gormsson (b.c958), aka Harald Bluetooth or Harald Blatand, died about this time. He attributed to himself the unification of Denmark and the Christianization of the Danes. He also conquered Norway and raided Normandy. In 974 he was defeated by German emperor Otto II.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetooth)(AM, 11/00, p.21)
986 Greenland's west coast was settled by Icelanders and Norwegians, through a contingent of 14 boats led by Erik the Red.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland)
986 Bjarni Herjolfsson sailed from Norway to Iceland with cargo for his father, who had moved on to Greenland. Herjjolfsson was blown off course and reached Labrador, which he described as "worthless country."
(NG, V184, No. 4, Oct. 1993, p.4)(WSJ, 7/6/04, p.D5)
987 May 21, Louis V, last Carolingian King of France (966-987), died. The Carolingian period of Frankish rule from the dynasty of Pepin the Short ended in France with the death of Louis V (20). [see May 22]
(PCh, 1992, p.78)(AHD, 1971, p.205)(MC, 5/21/02)
987 May 22, Louis V le Faineant (20), the Lazy, king of France (986-87), was allegedly poisoned by his mother. [see May 21]
(MC, 5/22/02)
987 Jul 3, The count of Paris, Hugh Capet (49), became king of France. Paris soon emerged as the center of French political, cultural and religious life, once again becoming the capital.
(PCh, 1992, p.78)(HNQ, 4/18/02)(MC, 7/3/02)
987 Dec 30, French King Hugh Capet crowned his son Robert the Compassionate.
(MC, 12/30/01)
988 May 6, Dirk II, West Frisian count of Holland, died.
(MC, 5/6/02)
988 May 19, Dunstanus, English archbishop of Canterbury, died.
(MC, 5/19/02)
988 Prince Vladimir of Kiev, Volodymyr the Great, accepted Byzantine Orthodoxy. This is the traditional date for the beginning of Russian Christianity. The Kievan Rus ruler was baptized in the ancient Crimean Greek city of Chersonesus before bringing Christianity to the region.
(SSFC, 6/24/01, p.A14)(AP, 8/1/15)(AP, 7/28/18)
989-1020 Ani, a medieval city-site situated in the Turkish province of Kars, beside the border with Armenia, attained the peak of its power during the long reign of King Gagik I (989-1020). It was the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present day Armenia and eastern Turkey. Armenian chroniclers such as Yeghishe and Ghazar Parpetsi first mentioned Ani in the 5th century AD.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani)
990 A set of instructions on chess, the Versus de Scachis (Poem About Chess), emerged in Switzerland about this time. The game had begun in India before the 6th century.
(Arch, 1/05, p.40)(Econ, 10/29/11, p.97)
991 Aug 11, Danes under Olaf Tryggvason killed Ealdorman Brihtnoth and defeated the Saxons at Maldon.
(HN, 8/10/98)
992 Constantinople granted Venetian goods lower tariffs than other merchandise.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R50)
992 Ghana captured its chief trading rival, the Berber town of Audoghast.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.172)
993 The south Indian Cola Empire captured Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka).
(Arch, 7/02, p.34)
994 Nov 7, Muhammad ibn Hazm, historian, jurist, author of Islamic Spain, was born.
(MC, 11/7/01)
994-1035 Life of Canute, later King of England, Denmark and Norway.
(AHD,1971, p.198)
995 Guido d’Arezzo (d.~1049, Italian monk and musical theorist, was born. He is generally credited with developing current musical notation.
(WUD, 1994, p.629)(WSJ, 5/27/97, pB1)
995-1000 In Norway Olaf I was king.
(WUD, 1994, p.1002)
995-1027 Heydey of the Fujiwara Clan in Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
995-1030 Olaf Haraldsson, aka Saint Olaf, the patron saint of Norway. He was king from 1016-1029. He and a crew of Vikings attacked London and pulled down the London Bridge with ropes. This is remembered in the nursery rhyme "London Bridge is falling down..."
(WUD, 1994, p.1002)(SFC, 8/23/97, p.E3)
996 May 21, Otto III (16) was crowned the Roman Emperor by his cousin Pope Gregory V.
(HN, 5/21/98)(MC, 5/21/02)
996 Oct 24, Hugh Capet, king of France (987-96), died at 58.
(MC, 10/24/01)
c996 In Iran the Astan Ghods Ravazi religious foundation was started.
(WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A4)
997 The name "Austria" first appeared in a medieval manuscript.
(WSJ, 4/16/97, p.A16)
997 St. Adalbert was martyred. He brought Christianity to Bohemia.
(SFC, 4/26/97, p.A12)
997 The Polish city of Gdansk was founded. From 1920 to 1939 it was known as the Free City of Danzig.
(SSFC, 3/3/13, p.N4)
c998-1061 Bao Qingtian (Bao Zheng), Chinese judge of the Song Dynasty, had a reputation for sticking up for the common man.
(Econ, 4/23/05, p.43)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bao_Zheng)
999 Feb 18, Gregory V, [Bruno] 1st German Pope, died.
(MC, 2/18/02)
999 Turkish dynasties became the rulers of Transoxania, and area that covered much of what later became Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
(Econ, 7/26/03, p.46)
Go to 1000AD
Return to home
600 Feb 16, Pope Gregory the Great declared "God bless you" to be the correct response to a sneeze. It was once thought that sneezing was an omen of death, since many dying people fell into sneezing fits.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_bless_you)
600 Li Shimin, son of Chinese General Li Yuan (the Duke of Tang), was born about this time.
(ON, 5/06, p.1)
600 Yang Di (Yangdi), a Sui emperor, extended the Grand Canal. He reportedly assumed power by poisoning his father. Ma Shu-mou, aka Mahu, was one of the canal overseers and was said to have eaten a steamed 2-year-old child each day he worked on the canal. On completion the canal extended for 1,100 miles. 5.5 million people were pressed into service to complete 1,550 mile canal.
(WSJ, 10/25/99, p.A50)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R51)
600 Quill pens, made from the outer feathers of crows and other large birds, became popular. The 1st books were printed in China.
(SFC, 7/26/04, p.F4)
600 A synagogue at Ein Gedi on the shores of the Dead Sea was destroyed about this time by fire. It had stood there from about 800BC. In 1970 archeologists digging at the site discovered a trove of scrolls. Technology in 2016 determined the scrolls to be of Leviticus, one of the first five books of the Bible, which dated to 200AD-300AD.
(Econ, 9/24/16, p.77)
c600 Small porkers came to Hawaii with the Polynesians some 1400 years ago, and big pigs arrived with the Europeans.
(WSJ, 7/25/95, p.A-6)
c600 Early settlers from the Marquesas built the Alakoko fishpond and taro fields on Kauai, Hawaii.
(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.T6)
c600 The Joya de Ceren Maya site in El Salvador was buried beneath 16 feet of ash from nearby Loma Caldera.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.D)
600 Germanic invaders, who occupied England after 600AD, saw themselves as a nation of immigrants, according to Prof. Nicholas Howe (1953-2006) of UC Berkeley, author of “Migration and Mythmaking in Anglo-Saxon England" (1989).
(SFC, 10/16/06, p.B6)
c600 "The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis" (Voyage of St. Brendan the Abbott) recounts a 7-year trip to a land across the sea by the Irish saint and a band of acolytes about this time.
(SFEM, 11/15/98, p.24)
c600-625 The burial site of the Prince of Prittlewell, an East Saxon prince or king, dated to about this time.
(www.southend.gov.uk/content.asp?content=3686)
600-700 The Tantras, Buddhist texts for generating deep religious experiences, were produced in India.
(SFEC,12/14/97, p.T5)
600-700 The silk road linking China’s merchants with Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe was revived in the 7th century after war had made it unusable for hundreds of years.
(Econ, 7/2/16, p.37)
600-700 Dongba pictographs were used as early as the 7th century, during the early Tang Dynasty. By the Song Dynasty in the 10th century, dongba was widely used by the Naxi people.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongba_symbols)(Econ., 10/10/20, p.38)
c600-700 King Songstan Gampo reigned over Tibet in the 7th century. He introduced Buddhism and started construction of the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple. He married the Chinese princess Wen Cheng.
(WSJ, 8/2/01, p.A12)
600-700 The library at Alexandria, Egypt, disappeared in the 7th century.
(WSJ, 6/1/00, p.A1)
600-700 In the seventh century the Frisians clashed with the Franks and resisted Christianity, but succumbed to Frankish rule and accepted Christianity a century later. Citizens of the Netherlands’s province of Friesland are still called Frisians and the Frisian language is still spoken there.
(HNQ, 3/5/00)
600-700 Irish monastic monks founded a monastery at Skellig Michael (Michael’s Rock) during the 7th century and for the next 600 years the island was a center of their monastic life. In 1996 UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skellig_Michael)(Econ, 9/12/09, p.94)
c600-700 St. Willibrord, an Irish missionary, spread Christianity in the region of Luxembourg.
(SFC, 9/1/96, T3)
600-700 Calinicus (Callinicus), an engineer from Heliopolis, Syria, is thought to have brought "Greek fire," (flammable petrochemicals) to Constantinople. The incendiary liquid could be fired from siphons toward enemy ships or troops. The weapon helped save the Byzantine Empire from Islamic conquest for several centuries.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.57)(NH, 10/98, p.24)
600-700 The Caracol Maya site in Belize was one of the most prosperous cities in the pre-Columbian world with some 120,000 people in a 65-square-mile metropolis. It has the 140-foot-high platform Caana, or "Sky-Place. "
(SFC, 4/26/97, p.E4)
600-700 Lady K'abel, considered the greatest ruler of the Mayan Late Classic period, ruled with her husband, K'inich Bahlam, for at least 20 years in the 7th century. She was the military governor of the Waka kingdom for her family, the imperial house of the Snake King, and she carried the title "Kaloomte" — translated as "Supreme Warrior," higher in authority than her husband, the king. In 2012 her tomb was discovered in northern Guatemala.
(AP, 10/4/12)
600-700 The martial art of "tie-kwan-doe" (kick-strike-art) was developed as part of the military training for young noblemen charged with protecting the kingdoms of what became Korea.
(WSJ, 10/3/97, p.A1)
600-700 Serbs and Croats came into Montenegro in a second wave in the 7th century.
(www, 6/3/98)
600-700 In Vietnam Hoi An was a port site of the Cham kingdoms of central Vietnam. It may date back to the 2nd century BC.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.H)
600-800 In 2003 evidence of an Indian village was found at an Illinois site some 35 miles east of St. Louis, that dated to the Late Woodland period.
(SFC, 4/21/03, p.A6)
c600-800 Irish monks began to seek solace in Iceland.
(NH, 6/96, p.53)
600-800 Polynesian seafarers 1st landed on Easter Island, 1400 miles from the coast of South America. They later carved nearly 900 colossi of compressed volcanic ash: the moai. In 1722 A Dutch explorer stopped by on Easter Sunday. It later became a possession of Chile.
(WSJ, 2/8/02, p.W11C)
c600-850 Late Classic Mayan paintings were found at a site in eastern Chiapas, Mexico, named "Bonampak," (painted walls).
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.35)
600-900 Late classic period of the Maya. The San Andres site in El Salvador flourished during the late classic. The El Tajin civilization thrived on the central coast of what became Mexico.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.BC)(SFC, 9/14/00, p.C8)
600-900 A three hundred year dynasty ruled over Palenque. In the Pyramid of Inscriptions is the tomb of Pakal, the greatest king of the dynasty.
(SFC, 5/19/96, T-9)
600-1100 The Wari ruled during this period and were the first people to unite diverse tribes into a sophisticated network across most of the Peruvian Andes. A Wari tomb was discovered in 2013.
(http://tinyurl.com/q2uwgmg)
600-1200 In Malaysia ceramic shards at Kampong Sungai Mas in the Bujang Valley date to this time. Brick foundations and a block of shale with a Buddhist mantra inscribed in Sanskrit was also found.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.F)
600-1600 (See entries under Myanmar) Pagan was the seat of Burma’s greatest dynasty and the site shows the remains of more than 7,000 temples and monuments of this period.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.F)
602-628 The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 was the final and most devastating of the series of wars fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Iran. The previous war between the two powers had ended in 591 after Emperor Maurice helped the Sasanian king Khosrow II regain his throne. In 602 Maurice was murdered by his political rival Phocas. Khosrow proceeded to declare war, ostensibly to avenge the death of Maurice. This became a decades-long conflict, the longest war in the series, and was fought throughout the Middle East: in Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Armenia, the Aegean Sea and before the walls of Constantinople itself.
(http://tinyurl.com/y2mq42dw)
604 Mar 12, Gregory I the Great (64), Pope (590-604), died. In 1997 R.A. Markus authored “Gregory the Great and His World."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_I)(WSJ, 4/12/08, p.W8)
604 In Japan a 17 article constitution was promulgated by Prince Shotoku (574-622). It was a Confucian document that focused more on ethics and virtue than on the basic laws by which the state was to be run. [see 702]
(www.theosophy.org/tlodocs/teachers/PrinceShotoku.htm)
604-617 King Saebert of Essex reigned in England. St. Mellitus converted him to Christianity.
(www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/kids/prittlewell_prince.html)
607 Mar 13, The 12th recorded passage of Halley's Comet occurred.
(HN, 3/13/98)
607 The first envoy from Japan was sent to China.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
609 May 13, Pope Boniface I turned Roman Pantheon into Catholic church.
(MC, 5/13/02)
610 Apr 6, Lailat-ul Qadar: The night that the Koran descended to Earth. Muhammad is believed by his followers to have had a vision of Gabriel. The angel told him to recite in the name of God. Other visions are supposed to have Gabriel lead Muhammad to heaven to meet God, and to Jerusalem to meet Abraham, Moses and Jesus. These visions convinced Mohammad that he was a messenger of God.
(ATC, p.59)(MC, 4/6/02)
610 Oct 5, Heraclitus' fleet took Constantinople.
(MC, 10/5/01)
610-632 A Muslim tradition has it that Mohammed one day found that his favorite wife, Aisha, had purchased some cushions decorated with birds and animals. The prophet proclaimed that only God could bestow life and that pale imitations should be avoided. Thus the hadith, or tradition of the prophet, holds that: The house which contains pictures will not be entered by the angels."
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)
610-632 During Mohammed’s ministry in Mecca and Medina the definition of jihad moved from persuasive proselytism to Muslim war against all infidels.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A10)
610-641 Heracles ruled the Byzantine Empire.
(ATC, p.69)
611 In Cambodia at Angkor Borei the earliest known Khmer inscription dates to this time.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.D)
614 Croats settled in the area between the Adriatic Sea and the rivers Sava and Drava.
(WSJ, 7/14/99, p.A23)
614 Christian Palestine was invaded by the Persians. The 5th century monastery of St. Theodosius east of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem was destroyed by the Persians. The Jews of Jerusalem allied with the Persians during the invasion and entered into the cave beneath the tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
(SFEC, 12/22/96, p.T3)(WSJ, 4/5/02, p.W12)(SFC, 10/23/06, p.A15)
615 May 8, St. Boniface IV ended his reign as Catholic Pope.
(MC, 5/8/02)
615 May 25, Boniface IV, Pope (608-15), died.
(SC, 5/25/02)
615 Nov 23, Columbanus, Irish explorer, monastery founder, poet and saint (Poenitentiale), died (aka St. Columba).
(MC, 11/23/01)
615 Yang Di (Yangdi), a Chinese Sui emperor, announced a 4th attempt to conquer Korea. In response to peasant rebellions in the north, Yangdi moved to the eastern city of Yangzhou.
(ON, 5/06, p.1)
615 Pakal (12) became the Mayan ruler of Palenque. His reign ended with his death in 683.
(SSFC, 12/7/03, p.C10)(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.D12)
617 Jun, Chinese general Li Yuan (the Duke of Tang) declared his rebellion and ordered the Tang army to prepare a march against Chang’an (later Xian), capital of China and the world’s largest city.
(ON, 5/06, p.2)(Econ, 3/15/08, p.101)
617 Dec 12, The Chinese city of Chang’an fell to the Tang army.
(ON, 5/06, p.2)
618 Apr, General Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, claimed the throne of China after receiving word that Emperor Yangdi had been assassinated in the city of Yangzhou. Yuan proclaimed himself Emperor Gaozu, the 1st monarch of the new Tang dynasty.
(ON, 5/06, p.3)
618-907 The Tang Dynasty was in China. The marble head of Eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara dates to the Tang period. Porcelain was invented during the T’ang dynasty.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(NH, 7/96, p.32)(WSJ, 2/19/98, p.A20)(WSJ, 8/28/98, p.W10)
618-907 The area of Tiananmen Square was first cleared.
(SFC, 6/25/98, p.A8)
619 Li Shimin led his armies against 2 warlords in northern China.
(ON, 5/06, p.3)
620 Aug 22, This day corresponds to the 27th day of Rajab, 1427, in the Islamic calendar. It commemorates to the night flight of Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq to the farthest mosque, usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back.
(WSJ, 8/8/06, p.A10)(www.atheists.org/Islam/mohammedanism.html)
620 In northern China Gen’l. Li Shimin (~20) attacked Luoyang, which was held by the warlord Wang Shichong.
(ON, 5/06, p.3)
620 The town of Cholula was founded in central Mexico. It was later said to be the oldest continuously occupied town in all of North America.
(SSFC, 2/26/06, p.F10)
620 Mohammad gained about a hundred converts including some wealthy Meccan families. This made other Meccans hostile. Mohammad in this year dreamed of being transported from Mecca to the Rock of Mariah in Jerusalem, from which he ascended into heaven and received instructions from God for himself and his followers.
(ATC, p.59)(ON, 7/03, p.6)
621 Mar, In China a force of 120,000 men from Xia province advanced to rescue the city of Luoyang.
(ON, 5/06, p.3)
621 May 28, In China Dou Jiande, general of the Xia army, was wounded and captured by the Tang army under Gen’l. Li Shimin at Hulao Pass. 3,000 Xia were killed and 50,000 were taken prisoners. The city of Luoyang soon surrendered. Xia province surrendered in turn.
(ON, 5/06, p.4)
622 Jul 16, Islamic Era began. Mahomet began his flight from Mecca to Medina (Hegira).
(MC, 7/16/02)
622 Sep 20, Prophet Mohammed Abu Bakr arrived in Jathrib (Medina).
(MC, 9/20/01)
622 Sep 24, In the Hegira Muhammed left Mecca for Medina (aka Yathrib) with 75 followers. This event marked the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar. The new faith was called "Islam," which means submission to Allah. Believers in Islam are called Muslims-- "Those who submit to Allah’s will." In Medina Mohammad tried to unite the Jews and Arabs and initially faced Jerusalem to pray. The Jewish leaders did not accept Mohammad as a prophet and so Mohammad expelled from the city the Jews who opposed him. From then on he commanded the Muslims to face the Kaaba in Mecca when praying.
(V.D.-H.K.p.19)(ATC, p.60)
623-658 The first state of the Slavs living on the Middle Danube was Samo's Realm, a tribal confederation existing between 623 and 658. It encompassed the territories of Moravia, Slovakia, Lower Austria, Carantania, Sorbia at the Elbe, and probably also Bohemia, which lies between Sorbia and other parts of the realm.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Moravia)
622 The Constitution of Medina was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad about this time. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Yathrib (later known as Medina), including Muslims, Jews, and pagans.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Medina)
624 Muslims engaged non-believers for the 1st time at the Battle of Badr
(www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=128)
624-628 Several Jewish clans in the Arabian peninsula joined forces with an Arab tribe, the Quraysh, to make war on a renegade Qurayshi named Mohammad, who claimed he was a prophet of God.
(Econ, 8/14/10, p.68)
c625 Raedwald, king of the East Angles and high king of the English peoples, was buried about this time.
(Arch, 7/02, p.61)
626 Aug 7, Battle at Constantinople: Slavs, Persians and Avars were defeated. Emp. Heraclius repelled the attacks. The attacks began in 625.
(PCh, 1992, p.60)(MC, 8/7/02)
626 In China Gen’l. Li Shimin foiled an assassination attempt by 2 brothers. He ambushed his older brother, Jianchen, killing him him with a bow and arrow, and became the oldest son and crown prince. Li Yuan abdicated 2 months later and Shimin became the new ruler under the name Emperor Taizong.
(ON, 5/06, p.4)
627 Byzantine Emperor Heraclius defeated the Persian army and regained Asia Minor, Syria, Jerusalem and Egypt.
(ATC, p.45)
628 Apr 3, In Persia Kavadh sued for peace with the Byzantines. He handed back Armenia, Byzantine Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt.
(HN, 4/3/99)(AP, 4/3/99)
628 Apr 3, Chosroes II, emperor of Persia (579-628), was murdered by his son.
(MC, 4/3/02)
629 A Chinese pilgrim reported seeing a 1000-foot reclining Buddha at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. By 2004 the sleeping Buddha had not been seen for several hundred years. [see 632]
(SFC, 8/31/04, p.A2)
629-645 Hsuang-Tsang, Chinese pilgrim, journeys over 5,000 miles from China to India and back to collect Buddhist teachings. He recorded fantastic tales of his adventures.
(ATC, p.13)
630 Mar 21, Heraclius restored the True Cross, which he had recaptured from the Persians.
(HN, 3/21/99)
630 Mohammad raised an army of 10,000 and took over Mecca (Makkah). He immediately set out to destroy all the idols at Kaaba. The black stone remained embedded in the corner. The area around became the first mosque, or Muslim house of worship. Mohammad returned from Medina and began the Islamic conquest of Arabia.
(ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A16)
632 Jun 8, Mohammed, the founder of Islam and unifier of Arabia, died. Iqra, which means read in Arabic, was reportedly the first word that the archangel Gabriel spoke to Mohammed. His companions compiled his words and deeds in a work called the Sunna. Here are contained the rules for Islam. The most basic are The Five Pillars of Islam. These are: 1) profession of faith 2) daily prayer 3) giving alms 4) ritual fast during Ramadan 5) Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Sunna also calls for “jihad." The term means struggle, i.e. to do one’s best to resist temptation and overcome evil. Four contenders stood out to succeed Mohammad. They were Abu Bakr, his trusted father-in-law. Umar and Uthman, long-time friends and advisers, and Ali, a cousin and blood relative. Ali was Mohammad’s son-in-law and the father of Mohammad’s grandsons. Abu Bakr was chosen as caliph i.e. successor. In 2001 Minou Reeves, Iranian-born scholar, authored “Muhammad in Europe: A Thousand Years of Western Myth-Making." In 2013 Lesley Hazleton authored “The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad."
(ATC, p.60,63)(SFC, 12/15/98, p.A7)(AP, 6/8/03)(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C5)(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A15)(SSFC, 1/27/13, p.F1)
632 Jun 16, Origin of Persian [Yazdegird] Era.
(MC, 6/16/02)
632 Hiuan-tsang, an Chinese pilgrim, visited the great Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
(WSJ, 12/20/01, p.A13)
632-661 The Rashidun Caliphate, also known as the Rightly Guided Caliphate, comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death. At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia in the east. It was the one of the largest empires in history up until that time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)
633 Muhammad’s chief clerk collected Mohammad’s revelations into one work called the Koran (Quran). Loosely translated it means "recitation." "Whoever witnesses the crescent of the month, he must fast the month." (Koran, al Baqarah 2:185) Ramadan begins the day after the crescent of the new moon is sighted and confirmed by 2 witnesses. Muslims must abstain from food and sex during daylight hours for a month to celebrate the revelation of the Koran to Mohammed. The later Sunnah holy text reported the sayings and deeds of Muhammad. The Muslim beard tradition is from the Sunnah.
(ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 1/7/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/27/01, p.A14)
633 Gen Khalid ibn al-Walid sent a letter to the Persian emperor that said: "Submit to our authority and we shall leave you and your land and go against others. If not, you will be conquered against your will by men who love death as you love life."
(WSJ, 10/19/01, p.W19)
c633 Nikbanou, a 7th century Persian Zoroastrian princess, fled to a mountain refuge at Chak to escape Arab horsemen planting the green pennants of Islam in Iranian soil.
(AP, 7/15/04)
633 The 4th Synod of Toledo took on the right to confirm elected kings. Jews were obliged to be baptized. The vernacular language, of Latin origin, prevailed over that of the Visigoths.
(www.sispain.org/english/history/visigoth.html)
634 Aug 22, Abu Bekr Abd Allah (61), [al-Siddik], successor of Mohammed, died. He was a friend, an Arabic merchant, Mohammed’s father-in-law and the first Caliph. Before his death he appointed Mohammed's adviser Omar (Umar) as his successor.
(ATC, p.66)(PC, 1992, p.61)
634 Sophronius (74), Christian monk, was elected patriarch and political ruler of Jerusalem.
(ON, 7/03, p.3)
635 The Byzantine city of Tiberius, a major center of Jewish life and scholarship for nearly five centuries, was conquered by Muslim armies.
(AP, 1/28/21)
635 Damascus was captured by the Muslims.
(ATC, p.78)
636 Summer, A Byzantine army arrived in the region of Jerusalem and was defeated by a much smaller Muslim army at the Yarmuk River. With Muslims at the gate Sophronius, head of Jerusalem, requested a meeting with Caliph Omar.
(ON, 7/03, p.5)
636 Jul 23, Arabs gained control of most of Palestine from Byzantine Empire.
(MC, 7/23/02)
636 Aug 15, At the Battle at Yarmuk, east of the Sea of Galilee, Islamic forces beat a Byzantine army and gained control of Syria.
(PC, 1992, p.61)
636 Nov 1, Nicholas Boileau-Despreaux, French poet, was born. He was also a critic and official royal historian and wrote "Lutrin. "
(HN, 11/1/99)
636 Nov, The Siege of Jerusalem began as part of a military conflict between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate. It began when the Rashidun army, under the command of Abu Ubaidah, besieged Jerusalem. After six months, Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender, on condition that he submit only to the Caliph. In April 637, Caliph Umar traveled to Jerusalem in person to receive the submission of the city. The Patriarch thus surrendered to him.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(636%E2%80%93637))
636-638 As Muslims conquered the Holy Land St. Sophronius (560-638), the patriarch of Jerusalem, sent Pope Theodore I a wooden structure believed to be part of the manger where Jesus was born.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophronius_of_Jerusalem)(SSFC, 12/1/19, p.A2)
637 Apr, Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab came to Jerusalem after the conquest of Jerusalem and toured the city with Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem .
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophronius_of_Jerusalem)
637 Ctesiphon, a center of Christianity southeast of Baghdad, was taken by Arabs, who renamed it Madain.
(SFC, 3/31/03, p.W5)
637 Muslim armies conquered Mesopotamia.
(ATC, p.78)
638 cJan, Sophronius met with Caliph Omar and obtained a set of guarantees and regulations that came to be known as "the Covenant of Omar."
(ON, 7/03, p.3)
638 Mar 11, Sophronius of Jerusalem, saint, patriarch of Jerusalem, died.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophronius_of_Jerusalem)
638 Arabs conquered the city of Hebron. They allowed the Jews to build a synagogue near Abraham’s burial site.
(SFC, 12/4/08, p.A27)
640 Muslim Arabs invaded Armenia and capture Dvin, its principal town.
(CO Enc. / Armenia)
640 The Muslim government began minting coins about this time.
(ATC, p.83)
641 Feb 11, Heraclius (~65), emperor of Byzantium (610-641), died.
(MC, 2/11/02)
641 Fustat was established as an encampment for the Muslim Arab conqueror of Egypt. The city reached its peak in the 12th century, with a population of approximately 200,000. It was the center of administrative power in Egypt, until it was ordered burned in 1168 by its own vizier, Shawar, to keep its wealth out of the hands of the invading Crusaders. The remains of the city were eventually absorbed by nearby Cairo, which had been built to the north of Fustat in 969 when the Fatimids conquered the region.
(SSFC, 7/24/11, p.F7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fustat)
642 May, Khalid bin Al-Waleed (b.585), Muslim commander prominent in leading the conquest of Iraq and Syria, died in Syria. It was under his military leadership that Arabia, for the first time in history, was united under a single political entity, the Caliphate.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_ibn_al-Walid)(SFC, 3/30/18, p.A5)
642 Sep 17, Arabs conquered Alexandria and destroyed the great library. Omar, the second caliph, successor of Mohammed, conquered Alexandria, then the capital of world scholarship.
(V.D.-H.K.p.103)(MC, 9/17/01)
642 The Arabs conquered the Sassanids.
(ATC, p.33)
642 Pope Theodore I began using the title “Patriarch of the West." In 2006 the Vatican took the unusual step of explaining its decision to renounce the title, saying the omission of "patriarch of the West," from the new edition of the Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican's 2,373-page directory of prelates, should benefit relations with the Orthodox Church, not hinder them.
(AP, 3/23/06)
644 Nov 3, Umar of Arabia, the 2nd Caliph of Islam, was stabbed by Abu Lulu while leading the morning prayers at Medina. He died 4 days later on Nov 7. On his deathbed Umar named a council to choose the next caliph. The council appointed Uthman. Uthman continued to expand the Muslim empire.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar)
645 Downfall of the Soga Clan in Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
645 The first Senso-Ji temple was founded, which makes it the oldest temple in Tokyo. According to legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 B.C. by two fishermen, the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari. The chief of their village, Hajino Nakamoto, recognized the sanctity of the statue and enshrined it by remodeling his own house into a small temple in Asakusa so that the villagers could worship Kannon. It was later renowned as Earth's most visited sacred site.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sens%C5%8D-ji)(Econ., 9/12/20, p.33)
649 May 14, Theodore, Greek Pope (642-49), excommunicated by Paul II, died.
(MC, 5/14/02)
649 Jul 5, St. Martin I began his reign as Pope.
(MC, 7/5/02)
650 The Khazars’ aggressive territorial expansion drove some Bulgars
westward. These Bulgars soon founded a kingdom in the southeastern Balkans that became known as Bulgaria.
(TJOK, 1999, p.16)
c650 An early Mayan classic temple in Copan was closed and covered about this time. Ritual items of flint knives and stingray spines was later discovered.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.28)
c650 The first pyramid of the Teotihuacan culture was built in Cholula. Over the next 800 years a nested series of 4 pyramids were constructed. The most important and largest city of pre-Colombian central Mexico, the Nahuatl meaning of Teotihuacan was "Where Men Become Gods" or "The City of Gods." Just north of Mexico City, Teotihuacan was planned at about the beginning of the Christian era and was sacked and burned by invading Toltecs in 650 CE.
(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.T10)(HNQ, 4/24/99)
650-700 In northern Peru archeological evidence later indicated that civil strife during this period, which followed some 30 years of drought, led to the demise of the Moche civilization.
(PBS, 10/1/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moche)
650-750 In Mexico the Teotihuacan culture began declining and was almost abandoned by the end of this period.
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C2)
c650-850 The alliterative epic poem Beowulf was composed at least 100 years before the manuscript was written. It was written in the 8th century. In 1999 Seamus Heaney wrote a new translation of the old English tale of a Scandinavian warrior who kills a trio of monsters including Grendel. In the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, the hero of the Geats people, mortally wounds the monster Grendel--who has been terrorizing the court of the king of Danes--by tearing off one of his arms with his bare hands. Based on folk tales known to the Anglo-Saxons prior to their invasion of England, the work is made up primarily of pagan myths and legends. The poem is believed to date from the late seventh or early eighth century and the only surviving text, now in the British Museum, dates from about 1000 A.D.
(WUD, 1994, p.140)(WSJ, 2/24/00, p.A16)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R53)(HNQ, 1/10/02)
651 In Persia Yazdegird III, the last Sassanian king, was murdered.
(WSJ, 2/2/00, p.A24)
652 Arabs introduced Islam to Afghanistan.
(https://www.afghan-web.com/history/chronology/)
653 Pope Martin I was charged with treason. He was stripped naked in public and exiled to Crimea.
(Econ, 2/16/13, p.61)
654 A Saxon monk founded St. Botolph’s Town in England. The name gradually changed to Boston.
(SFC, 8/12/00, p.B3)
654 The Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya (later part of northern Thailand) was founded by a holy man named Wasuthep. The town of Lamphun was originally the center of the Mon Kingdom known as Hariphunchai and believed to have been founded in the late 7th or early 8th century AD. Queen Chammathewi introduced Buddhism into the city of Hariphunchai (later known as Lamphun).
(http://tinyurl.com/ycc6pgw8)(Econ 5/20/17, p.33)
656 Jun 17, In Saudi Arabia Uthman (Othman), the 3rd caliph, was murdered. Under his rule a full, standard text of the Quran was compiled. He had appointed members of his own family as regional governors and caused bitter jealousy among other families. This caused an angry mob of 500 to murder him. This gave Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, an opportunity to claim power. Some claim that Ali plotted Uthman’s murder. Civil war broke out. Muawija, Uthman’s cousin and governor of Syria, challenged Ali’s right to rule. In 661 Ali was murdered by an angry former supporter. The followers of Ali became known as Shiites from the Arabic meaning "the party of Ali." Those who believe that the election of the first three caliphs was valid and who claim to follow the Sunna reject the Shiite idea of the Imam, and are called the Sunnis.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uthman)(ATC, p.67-68)(WSJ, 1/12/08, p.A6)
657 Jun 2, St. Eugene I ended his reign as Catholic Pope.
(SC, 6/2/02)
657 Jul 26, Mu'awiyan defeated Caliph Ali in the Battle of Siffin in Mesopotamia.
(HN, 7/26/98)
658 Hirafu Abe went to meet with the Ainu on Hokkaido after he had defeated an indigenous tribe called Emishi in the northeast region of Honshu.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 217)
661 Jan 29, Ali ibn Abu Talib, caliph of Islam (656-61), was murdered in Kufa, Iraq. Caliph Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed, was assassinated and his followers (Shiites) broke from the majority Muslim group. A member of the anarchist sect of Kharajites assassinated Ali. This sect believed that there are no verdict’s but God’s. The Imam Ali mosque in Najaf marks the grave of Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed and a central figure in Shiite Islam.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali)(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)(SFC, 4/23/98, p.A16)
661 The Umayyad regime was founded by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan (602-680, long-time governor of Syria, after the end of the First Muslim Civil War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphate)
661 Muawija became caliph. He moved the capital from Medina to Damascus. His followers were called the Umayyads. Muawija was one of the soldiers who helped capture Damascus and for 25 years he had served as governor of Syria. Muawija began the practice of appointing his own son as the next caliph, and so the Umayyads ruled for the next 90 years. Muslim forces expanded into North Africa and completely conquered Persia. The Islamic Empire continued to expand into Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the Omayyad Caliphs conquered Damascus, they build the palace at Qasr Al-Kharaneh (in Jordan) as a recreational lodge.
(ATC, p.67,78)(SFEC, 4/11/99, p.9)
662 Aug 13, Maximus Confessor (b.c580), Greek theologian, died.
(MC, 8/13/02)
662 By 2004 Simon Martin, Mayan scholar, worked out an almost day-by-day account of events from this year in the plain of Tabasco, Mexico.
(Econ, 5/22/04, p.79)
668 Jul 15, Constantine II (37), emperor of Byzantium, died.
(MC, 7/15/02)
668-1392 In Korea the Silla Kingdom united the peninsula and began the Koryo Dynasty from which Korea derived its name.
(SFC, 7/26/97, p.E3)
669 Theodore, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, arrived in England to take over the See of Canterbury under the direction of Pope Vitalian. He was well received everywhere and was the first Archbishop whose authority the whole English Church was willing to acknowledge.
(www.britannia.com/bios/abofc/theodore.html)
c670 A Japanese inventor based the first design of a folding fan on the structure of a bat’s wing.
(SFEC, 8/3/97, Z1 p.2)
671 Chinese monk I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in for 6 months during this year. Srivijaya (also written Sri Vijaya) was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srivijaya)
c672 The Venerable Bede (d.735), Beda Venerabilis, English speaking church historian, was born.
(WSJ, 10/22/03, p.D12)
676 Cairo was built by the Arabs only 1300 years ago. The name comes from the Egyptian "El Qahir," the name of the planet Mars.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.165)(SFEC, 8/17/97, Z1 p.2)
678 Jun 27, St. Agatho began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(SC, 6/27/02)
680 Oct 10, Imam Hussein, grandson of prophet Mohammed, was beheaded. He was killed by rival Muslim forces on the Karbala plain in modern day Iraq. He then became a saint to Shiite Muslims. Traditionalists and radical guerrillas alike commemorate his martyrdom as the ceremony of Ashura. The 10-day mourning period during the holy month of Muharram commemorates the deaths of Caliph Ali’s male relatives by Sunnis from Iraq. Shiites went on to believe that new leaders should be descendants of Mohammad and Ali. Sunnis went on to vest power in a body of Muslim scholars called the ulema.
(http://countrystudies.us/iraq/15.htm)(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)(SFC, 2/24/06, p.A15)
681 Bulgaria’s 1st kingdom was established.
(WPR, 3/04, p.28)
682 Aug 17, Leo II, later St. Leo, began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(SC, 8/17/02)
682-721 Ah Cacaw (Lord of Cocoa) ruled over Tikal (later Guatemala) during this period. His burial tomb was later found deep inside the 145-foot high Temple of the Great Jaguar.
(SFEM, 6/13/99, p.8)
683 Pacal, Mayan ruler of Palenque, died. His sarcophagus, found in 1952, has the intricately carved lid later suggested to represent an extra-terrestrial visitor.
(SSFC, 5/5/02, p.C5)(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.A1)
683-685 Khazars invaded Transcaucasia and inflicted much damage and stole much booty. The Khazar invaders killed the rulers of Armenia and Georgia.
(TJOK, p.159)
684 Jun 26, Benedict II (d.685) was consecrated as Pope.
(PTA, 1980, p.162)
684-702 Mayan leader Kan Balam II, son of Pakal, ruled over Palenque.
(SSFC, 12/7/03, p.C10)
685 May 8, St. Benedict II ended his reign as Catholic Pope.
(MC, 5/8/02)
685 May 21, Battle at Nechtansmere: Picts trounced the Northumbrians.
(MC, 5/21/02)
685 In China a manual on calligraphy was made. It summarized the aesthetic ideals and theories of Chinese writing.
(SFEC, 10/6/96, DB p.37)
685-705 Abd al Malik, Umayyad caliph, influenced the shaping of Islamic culture. He declared Arabic as the official language of the empire and established a common coinage system that was purely Arabic. They had no images but were inscribed with quotations from the Koran.
(ATC, p.83)
686 Aug 2, John V, 1st Greek-Syrian Pope (685-86), died.
(MC, 8/2/02)
687 Cuthbert, a former monk hermit and reluctant bishop of Lindisfarne, died. His life and “miracles" were set down by the Venerable Bede. A gospel commissioned to honor Cuthbert was placed in his coffin around 698. His remains were carried to the mainland when the monks and people of the island fled Viking invaders, and ended up in Durham. In 1104 the coffin was opened in preparation for a formal reinterment and the book was re-discovered. It was given to the Jesuits in 1769 and in 2011 they sold it to Britain for Ł9 million.
(Econ, 7/16/11, p.62)(Reuters, 5/17/12)
687-714 Pepin II united and ruled the Franks.
(ATC, p.51)
688 North Africa was conquered by the Muslims under Abd al Malik.
(ATC, p.83)
688-714 The Maya of Tonina and Palenque fought several battles over watershed areas in the region that fed the Usumacinta river, which now marks the boundary between Mexico and Guatemala.
(AP, 7/7/11)
691 Muslims built the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem. It contained inscriptions that later were held as the 1st evidence of the Koran.
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)(WSJ, 5/20/06, p.P16)
692 Oct 2, A Mayan prisoner from Copan, depicted in a well-preserved stone sculpture found in 2011, was captured on this day.
(AP, 7/8/11)
694 Nov 9, Spanish King Egica accused Jews of aiding Moslems and sentenced them to slavery.
(MC, 11/9/01)
696 Jun 27, A Mayan ballcourt at Tonina was dedicated and sculptures, found in 2011, were created to commemorate the dedication.
(AP, 7/8/11)
c696 Feng Du, a 1,300-year-old Tang dynasty city near the Yangtze River gorges, known as the city of ghosts.
(WSJ, 10/8/96, p.A20)
697 The first Arab Islamic currency was struck in Damascus by the Umayyad ruler Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (697-698 A.D.)
(http://tinyurl.com/6c6dlco)
c697 The last major earthquake occurred in the Salt Lake City region of Utah about this time. A major quake hits the region about every 1300 years.
(SFEC, 4/6/97, p.C13)
697 In Ireland an assembly was called at the hill of Tara to put an end to the participation of Irish women in battle.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.11)
699 Li Po (d.762), classical Chinese poet, was born. His poems included "Drinking Alone With the Moon."
(SFC, 10/30/03, p.A26)
699 En no Ozunu appeared in the official Japanese national log of events or the 'Shoku Nihongi.' It is in this year that En was banished from society, following the charge that he "misused his magical powers to control people." It is believed that En No Gyoja was historically known as En no Ozunu. The Japanese ascetic En-no-Gyoja founded the Shugendo religion on Mount Omine (5,640 feet). He blended aspects of tantric Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism and Japanese shamanism.
(SSFC, 10/2/05, p.E4)(http://tinyurl.com/8s4gm)
c700 Nov 1, The Celts of Ireland, Great Britain and northern France celebrated Oct. 31 to Nov 2 as their New Year from around 1000-500BC. The pagan harvest event incorporated masks to ward off evil ones, as dead relatives were believed to visit families on the first evening. The Catholic holiday of All Saints' Day, set for Nov. 1, was instituted around 700 CE to supplant the Druid holiday and Pope Gregory (731-741) made it official. Halloween was transplanted to the US in the 1840s. [see 835]
(WSJ, 10/28/99, p.A24)(WSJ, 10/29/99, p.W17)
c700 The mound building Caddo culture began flourishing in the Texas and Oklahoma area. It lasted to the mid-18th cent.
(AM, Vol. 48, No. 3)
700 The Egypttian port city of Heracleion, founded about 800BC, was swallowed by the sea about this time. Researchers later found it—150 feet beneath the surface of Egypt's Bay of Aboukir.
(http://tinyurl.com/dxhuztk)
c700 Abd al Malik issued the first pure Islamic coins.
(ATC, p.83)
c700 The Chinese gained control over Manchuria from the Koreans about this time.
(WSJ, 10/9/95, p.A-1)
c700 Trade along the coast of East Africa expanded and promoted the founding of such settlements as Kismayu, Mogadiscio, Gedi, Malindi, Mombasa, Kilwas and others.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.169)
c700 In Mexico the Zapotec city of Monte Alban was abandoned about this time.
(SFEC, 10/3/99, p.A24)
c700 The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, was constructed. It became the traditional home of the Dalai Lama.
(SSFC, 10/5/03, p.D2)
700-800 King Offa decreed that an earthen barrier be built along the border between Wales and his kingdom of Mercia. Llwybr Clawdd Offa opened as a hiking trail in 1971.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.C10)
700-800 In Bulgaria the Madara Horseman in Kaspichan was carved into a sandstone cliff.
(SFEC, 8/28/98, p.T4)
700-800 The Catholic Church changed its rules on fasting and allowed fish to be eaten on Fridays and during Lent.
(NH, 5/96, p.58)
c700-800 Dionysus Exiguus (Dennis the Short), a Catholic monk, created a chronology for Pope St. John I with a calendar that began in the year CE 1.
(SFEC,11/16/97, BR p.5)
700-800 In Bhutan the Taktsang monastery was founded by tantric master Padmasambhava, often described as "another Buddha."
(SFEC, 2/23/96, p.T5)
700-800 An earthquake during this period sent the Nile port cities of Canopus, Menouthis and Thonis-Herakleion into the Mediterranean Sea. Evidence of the submerged cities was revealed by a pilot in 1933.
(SFC, 6/8/01, p.A1)(Econ, 5/21/16, p.73)
700-800 According to Iraqis Muslim forces "liberated" Iraq from the Persians in the 8th century qadissiyah battle.
(SFC, 2/1/02, p.A18)
700-800 Escaped slaves called the Zanj took refuge from the early Islamic empire in the marshes of southern Iraq.
(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.A6)
700-800 The Tanka (short song) poetry form emerged in Japan about this time. The unrhymed verse formalized to 31 syllables arranged in a 5 line pattern of 5-7-5-7-7. In 2005 it became popular on cell phones.
(WSJ, 10/4/05, p.A1)
700-800 In Japan a priest in the 8th century discovered the mineral hot springs at Yamashiro Onsen.
(WSJ, 7/19/05, p.A1)
700-800 The village site of Galu, Kenya, produced the world’s oldest crucible steel.
(NH, 6/97, p.44)
700-800 The Bonampak site in Chiapas, Mexico, has frescoes painted on the stucco walls of Structure I from this time. They depict war, sacrifice and celebration. The name glyph for Shield Jaguar II, king of nearby Yaxchilan, was recognized.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.F)(AM, May/Jun 97 p.37)
700-800 Invading Slavs assimilated the Thracians in the area of modern Bulgaria and parts of Greece, Romania, Macedonia and Turkey.
(SFC, 8/17/05, p.A2)
700-800 Slav tribes settle into the territories of present-day Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, and assimilated the Illyrian populations of these regions. The Illyrians in the south averted assimilation.
(www, Albania, 1998)
700-800 Vikings settled the Faeroe Islands in the 8th century replacing Irish settlers. In 1948 the group of 18 islands, located between Britain and Iceland, became an autonomous region of Denmark.
(SSFC, 7/29/07, p.G8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands)
700-800 Vikings began arriving to the Orkney Islands.
(SFEC, 3/23/97, p.T3)
700-900 In Nigeria the Yoruba-speaking kingdom of Ife began to develop as a center of trade and weaving and bead manufacture.
(Econ, 9/4/10, p.92)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ife)
701 Sep 8, Sergius I, Syrian and Italian Pope (687-701), died.
(MC, 9/8/01)
702 Japan's first civil and penal code was promulgated. [see 604CE]
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
703 Dihya or Al-Kahina, a Jewish Berber queen and a religious and military leader, died about this time at the Battle of Tabarka (701 and 702 are also possible dates for this battle. She had led indigenous resistance to the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, the region then known as Numidia. She was born in the early 7th century and died around the end of the 7th century in modern-day Algeria.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihya)(Econ., 9/19/20, p.47)
705 Mar 1, John VII began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(SC, 3/1/02)
705 Oct 8, Abd al-Malik, caliph of Damascus, died.
(MC, 10/8/01)
708 Mar 25, Constantine began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(HN, 3/24/98)
708 In France Bishop Aubert of Avranches had a dream in which Archangel Michael persuaded him to build an oratory dedicated to the saint on the rock off the Normandy coast known as Mont Tombe. Over the years it grew and became known as Mont St. Michel.
(WSJ, 10/7/06, p.P18)
709 Apr 24, Wilfried (~76), bishop of York, died.
(MC, 4/24/02)
709 May 25, Aldhelmus (~69) of Ealdhelm, England, abbot, bishop, poet, saint, died.
(SC, 5/25/02)
710 The Fujiwara clan established the Kasuga Shrine in Nara, Japan.
(Hem, 9/04, p.46)
710-784 The Nara Period of Japan. Japan’s 1st permanent capital arose in the Nara basin.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(Hem, 9/04, p.41)
711 Apr 14, Childebert III (~27), king of the French, died.
(MC, 4/14/02)
711 Jul 19, The Muslim troops crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and defeated the Visigoth king Rodrigo at the battle of Guadalete. Berbers under Tarik-ibn Ziyad occupied Northern Spain. The Umayyads with the help of the Berbers in North Africa moved across the Strait of Gibraltar and began the conquest of Spain and Portugal. The word Gibraltar comes from the term Jabal-al-Tarik, which means the hill of Tarik. Gebel-al-Tarik means "Rock of Tarik."
(ATC, p.79)(SFEC, 9/29/96, Z1 p.2)(www.sispain.org/english/history/visigoth.html)
711 Dec 11, Justitianus II (~42), emperor of Byzantium, died.
(MC, 12/11/01)
712 The publication of Kojiki in Japan, the Record of Ancient Matters. The work was compiled by the court to strengthen its control over various noble lineages. Fictitious rulers were inserted to project the nation’s founding back to 660BC
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)
712 Muza ben-Nosair completed the Muslim conquest of Spain. The Visigothic period ended.
(www.sispain.org/english/history/visigoth.html)
713 In China construction began on the Great Buddha of Leshan under the direction of the monk Haitong. It was completed after 90 years. In 2002 a $30 million restoration project aimed to preserve the 233-foot statue, the largest Buddha in the world.
(Arch, 9/02, p.19)
715 Apr 9, Constantine I, Greek-Syrian Catholic Pope (708-15), died.
(HN, 4/9/98)(MC, 4/9/02)
715 May 19, St. Gregory II began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(HN, 5/19/98)
718 The Japanese inn Hoshi Ryokan was founded in Komatsu.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.104)(SFC, 4/14/06, p.D1)
720 The Nihon Shoki (the Chronicle of Japan), the oldest recorded Japanese document, was published. It was compiled by the court to strengthen its control over various noble lineages.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.34)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R46)
721-764 Kinich Ahkal Mo' Nab ruled Palenque.
(AM, Jul-Aug/99, p.16)
c722 In China a 233-foot Buddha was built in Sichuan province. In 2002 a $30 million restoration project was undertaken.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A12)
727 May 30, Hubertus (72), bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht, saint, died.
(https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Hubertus)
727 Houei-tch’ao, a Korean pilgrim, visited the great Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
(WSJ, 12/20/01, p.A13)
729 Apr 24, Egbertus (89), English bishop, St. Egbert, died in Iona.
(MC, 4/24/02)
729 Emperor Leo the Isaurian ordered the destruction of an icon of Christ set in the great Bronze Gate in Constantinople. Theodosia led a group of enraged women who killed the officer removing the image. Theodosia was killed in the forum and became a martyr-saint. Her saint’s day was May 29.
(Ot, 1993, p.3)
730 Khazar commander Barjik led Khazar troops through the Darial Pass
to invade Azerbaijan. At the Battle of Ardabil, the Khazars defeated an entire Arab army. The Battle of Ardabil lasted three days, and resulted in the death of a major Arab general named Jarrah. The Khazars then conquered Azerbaijan and Armenia and northern Iraq for a brief time.
(TJOK, pages 160-161)
731 Feb 11, Pope Gregory II (b.669), born in Rome as Gregorius Sabellus, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_II)
731-741 Gregory III served as Pope.
(WUD, 1994, p.621)
732 Oct 10, At Tours, France, Charles Martel killed Yemenite general Abd el-Rahman and halted the Muslim invasion of Europe. Islam's westward spread was stopped by the Franks at the Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of Poitiers).
(http://tinyurl.com/o1uj)(HN,10/10/98)
732 Pope Gregory III banned horseflesh from Christian tables after he learned that pagans of northern Europe ate it in their religious rites.
(SFC, 5/30/98, p.E4)
735 May 26, The Venerable Bede (~62), Beda Venerabilis, English speaking church historian, died.
(MC, 5/26/02)(WSJ, 10/22/03, p.D12)
737 Marwan, an Arab general, captured the Khazar khagan and forced him to pledge support to the Caliphate and convert to Islam.
(TJOK, pages 162-163)
738 The great Lord 18 Rabbit built a ball court at the Mayan city of Copan. In a surprise attack he was captured and decapitated by Cauac Sky from the city of Quirigia, some 60 km. to the east. In 1998 Michael D. Coe and Justin Kerr published "The Art of the Maya Scribe," a look at the progress made in decoding the Mayan writing system.
(Hem, Dec. 94, p.123)(SFEC, 7/5/98, BR p.10)
738 Butz Tiliw’ or Cauac Sky defeated his overlord, Copan’s 13th ruler, 18 Rabbit. Monuments to this event are at the Quirigua Maya site in Guatemala.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.F)
739 Nov 7, Willibrord (81), [Clemens], 1st bishop of Utrecht (695-739) and saint, died in Luxembourg.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willibrord)
740 Tah ak Chaan (Taj Chan Ank) began a 50 year rule over the city of Cancuen in what later became Guatemala.
(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A2)(AM, 7/04, p.16)
740 The Virupaksha temple in Pattadakal, an early capital of the Chalukyas of southern India, was built by Queen Lokamahadevi about this time to commemorate her husband's victory over the Pallavas.
(http://tinyurl.com/s6lck)
741 Jun 18, Leo III de Isaurier, Byzantine Emperor (717-41), died.
(MC, 6/18/02)
741 Oct 22, Charles Martel of Gaul died at Quiezy. His mayoral power was divided between his two sons, Pepin III and Carloman.
(HN, 10/22/98)
741 The Arab slave trade was one of the elements that sparked the great Berber rebellion in North Africa and Islamic Spain (http://tinyurl.com/2zrltp).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hisham_ibn_Abd_al-Malik)(Econ, 7/7/07, p.79)
742 Apr 2, Charlemagne (d.814), Charles I the Great, King of the Franks and first Holy Roman emperor (800-14), was born. His capital was at Aachen (Acquisgrana in Latin).
(V.D.-H.K.p.105)(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.46)(HN, 4/2/98)
743 Mar 1, Slave export by Christians to heathen areas was prohibited.
(SC, 3/1/02)
743-1194 In France five cathedrals were built on the site of Chartres cathedral over this period.
(Hem., 10/97, p.83)
744 Lords of the Lowland Maya city of Caracol conducted a burning ritual in the cave at Naj Tunich, in the Peten of Guatemala.
(AM, 7/97, p.51)
745 Some 200,000 Slovenians, settled in a pocket of the eastern slopes of the Alps, were threatened by the Avars and the Bavarians. For safety they adopted Christianity and accepted the protection of the Frankish emperor
(SFC, 5/26/96, T-5)
745-840 The Uighur of eastern Turkestan formed an empire in the north that was ended by an invasion of the Kyrgyz peoples.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
746 Jun 12, The estimated date for the dedication of the Mayan Temple 22 in Copan.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.31)
748 Wasil ibn Ata, Muslim theologian and jurist, died. He had left the teaching lessons of Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute regarding the issue of Al-Manzilah bayna al-Manzilatayn. He and his followers, including Amr ibn Ubayd (d.761), were labeled Mu'tazili. The adherents of the Mu'tazili school (Mutazilites) are best known for their having asserted that, because of the perfect unity and eternal nature of God, the Qur'an must therefore have been created, as it could not be co-eternal with God. Mutazilites stressed human reason.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasil_ibn_Ata)(Econ, 8/6/11, p.22)
749 Dec 4, John of Damascus (b.~676), a Christian Arab theologian, died at the Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem. He is considered "the last of the Fathers" of the Eastern Orthodox church and is best known for his strong defense of icons.
(Econ, 3/30/13, p.80)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Damascus)
749 An earthquake cause great damage in the area of the Sea of Galilee.
(SFC, 6/18/02, p.A2)
c750 The Anasazi built entire cities into cliffs around the West since at least this time. Before that they were digging pit houses and even earlier, about 350 B.C., were probably living in Colorado caves. Their present name comes from a Navajo word meaning "the ancient ones" or "the ancient enemy."
(HNQ, 7/1/01)
750 Constantinople, as the center of eastern rule used the Greek language for communication.
(V.D.-H.K.p.65)
c750 Arab immigrants settled upstream from Soba, the capital of Alwa, and developed a strong new state called Funj.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)
c750 Teotihuacan, the 1st major urban center of Mesoamerica, fell about this time. It was burned, deserted and its people scattered. It contained the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun.
(SSFC, 5/6/01, p.T8)
c750-850 The Maya city of La Milpa reached its peak with about 50,000 people.
(SFC, 6/23/96, p.A10)
750-1258 Muslim power in Persia was held by the Abbassid caliphs, who claimed lands that stretched from Central Asia to North Africa and Spain. One Abbasid general, Abdullah, invited 80 Umayyad leaders to a banquet where they were killed by Abdullah’s men. Only one Umayyad, Abd al Rahman, was able to escape. He fled all the way to Spain where he united the warring Muslin groups there and built a new Umayyad government. So now the Muslims were split in two groups. The Abbassid dynasty of the Moslem Empire ruled Arabia and the eastern empire. All of the caliphs of this era claim descended from Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed.
(AHD, 1971, p.2)(ATC, p.84)(SFC, 4/12/03, p.A14)
750-1375 The Sican culture flourished on Peru's northern desert coast. In 2006 archaeologists unearthed 22 graves containing a trove of Sican artifacts, including the first "tumi" ceremonial knives ever discovered by archaeologists rather than looted by thieves.
(AP, 11/22/06)
751 The Chinese army was beaten by the Arabs of the Abassid Caliphate at the Battle of Talas (Kyrgyzstan). Chinese prisoners soon taught Arabs the technology for making paper.
(http://tinyurl.com/lwk9h5a)(Econ, 6/7/14, p.87)
751- 987 The Frankish dynasty of Pepin the Short began the Carolingian period.
(AHD, 1971, p.205)
752 Mar 23, Pope Stephen II was elected to succeed Pope Zacharias; however, Stephen died 4 days later.
(AP, 3/23/97)(PTA, 1980, p.184)
752 Mar 26, Pope Stephen II died 4 days after his election.
(SS, 3/26/02)(PTA, 1980, p.184)
752 Abu Jafar al Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, moved the capital to Baghdad.
(ATC, p.85)
c752 Emperor Shomu built a great Buddhist temple and started a collection from the gifts that were brought to its dedication. Rulers for the next 12 centuries added to the collection.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A20)
752 The dedication of the Great Buddha of Todai Temple in Nara.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
754 Jun 5, Friezen murdered bishop Boniface [Winfrid], English saint, archbishop of Dokkum, and over 50 companions.
(MC, 6/5/02)
754 The Iconoclasts (image smashers) prevailed and religious art was banned in churches by an edict that remained in effect for a century.
(WSJ, 3/10/97, p.A16)
756 May 15, Abd-al-Rahman was proclaimed the emir of Cordoba, Spain. Abd al Rahman united the Umayyad forces in Spain and made the ancient Roman city of Cordoba his new capital.
(ATC, p.95)(HN, 5/15/98)
755 Dec 16, The An Lushan rebellion began when general An Lushan declared himself emperor in Northern China, establishing a rival Yan Dynasty. The rebellion was quashed in 763.
(Econ, 6/9/12, p.87)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Lushan_Rebellion)
757 Apr 26, Stephen II ended his reign as Catholic Pope.
(HN, 4/26/98)
757 May 29, St. Paul I (d.767) began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(PTA, 1980, p.188)(SC, 5/29/02)
760 May 22, The 14th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet occurred.
(MC, 5/22/02)
762 Jul 30, A Persian astrologer, selected by caliph al-Mansur (the Victorious), selected this day as propitious for breaking ground for the city of Baghdad. Al-Mansur was one of the founders of the Abassid dynasty.
(WSJ, 2/14/09, p.W8)
762 Li Bai (b.701), Chinese poet, died. He was acclaimed from his own day to the present as a genius and a romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Bai)
763 Feb 17, The An Lushan rebellion, begun in 755, ended. It had spanned the reigns of 3 Tang emperors before it was quashed. The rebellion and subsequent disorder resulted in a huge loss of life and large-scale destruction.
(Econ, 6/9/12, p.87)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Lushan_Rebellion)
763 Tibetan armies occupied the capital of China.
(SFEM, 1/24/99, p.6)
763 Altar Q depicts Yax Pasah (Yax Pasaj), Copan’s last dynastic ruler, receiving the symbolic baton of office from founder K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’ in this year.
(NG, 12/97, p.80)(AM, 3/04, p.43)
764-770 In Japan Empress Shotoku had a million miniature pagodas made in thanks for regaining control of the throne. Sacred text was placed in each one and distributed to the 10 most important temples.
(WSJ, 7/27/00, p.A20)
765 Dec 31, The coffin of Ho-tse Shen-hui was interred in a stupa built in China.
(MC, 12/31/01)
765-790 The Mayan palace of Cancuen, one of the largest in Guatemala, was built by King Taj Chan Ahk.
(AP, 4/23/04)
766-787 The Chinese poet Du Fu arrived in Baidi Cheng and was given the means to write poetry by the local warlord. He wrote a third of his life’s work with many poems in the regulated style called lushi.
(NH, 7/96, p.32)
768 Sep 24, Pepin the Short (54) of Gaul died. His dominions were divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman.
(PC, 1992, p.67)
768-814 Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks and emperor of the former Western Roman Empire.
(V.D.-H.K.p.105)(ATC, p.72)
770 The Syrian Orthodox Church of St. Thomas (Mar Toma) was built in Mosul (Iraq).
(SFC, 12/24/09, p.A3)
771 Dec 4, With the death of his brother Carloman, Charlemagne became sole ruler of the Frankish Empire.
(HN, 12/4/98)
771-814 Reign of Charlemagne.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
772 Mar 1, Po Tjiu-I (Bai Juyi), Chinese poet (d.846), Governor of Hang-tsjow, was born. His work included the narrative poem "Song of the Pipa," which protested the social evils of his day.
(WSJ, 3/17/00, p.W2)(SC, 3/1/02)
774-814 Charlemagne became king of the Lombards.
(V.D.-H.K.p.68)
775 According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle a red crucifix appeared in the heavens after sunset. Scientists later believed that solar radiation had stimulated auroras and generated high levels of ą⁴Carbon.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.64)
776 Al-Jahiz (d.868), Muslim theologian and scholar, was born in Basra about this time. He is credited with writing nearly two hundred works, although fewer than one hundred survive today. His most famous work is Al-Hayawan" (The Book of animals), which merges discussions of zoology with philosophy.
(Econ, 2/7/09, p.72)(www.enotes.com/classical-medieval-criticism/al-jahiz)
776-795 Chan Muan (Sky Screech Owl) reigned over the Bonampak site in what is now eastern Chiapas, Mexico. The site was abandoned at the end of his reign.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.35)
777 A wealthy trader and landowner named Totone donated Campione, an Italian enclave on the shores of Switzerland's Lake Lugano, to the monastery of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, which became part of Italy in 1797. It was later renamed Campione d'Italia, under the rule of dictator Benito Mussolini. A gaming establishment was first opened in Campione in 1917, but its main purpose was to spy on foreign diplomats during World War I, and it closed two years later. It reopened in 1933 thanks to a decree, which remains in effect, requiring the casino proceeds to cover all municipal costs. In 2020 the enclave is due to become part of the European Union customs area, raising practical questions about interactions with non-EU member Switzerland.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
778 Aug 15, At the Battle at Roncesvalles the Basques beat Charlemagne.
(PC, 1992, p.67)
778 In Japan the Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist temple was founded in Kyoto. Its main hall (Hondo) was built in 1633 without a single nail.
(SSFC, 3/16/14, p.P4)
779 King Trisong Detsen led Tibet. Under his rule the first Buddhist monastery, Samye, was built. It was built under the influence of Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche), Tibet’s greatest saint. Padmasambhava was an 8th century sorcerer and saint who converted Tibet to Buddhism. Legend has it that he dictated "sacred geography" texts to his queen consort and then hid them for future discovery. The texts were discovered by 17th century charismatic lamas.
(Hem., 4/97, p.72,75)(SFEC,12/14/97, p.T5)(WSJ, 3/11/99, p.A20)
780 A group of West Africans called the Soninke took control of Ghana and developed it into a major trading empire.
(ATC, p. 113)
781 Yakib ben Laith, a Saffarid prince from an eastern Iranian dynasty, stripped the sanctuaries of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, of their metal idols.
(WSJ, 12/20/01, p.A13)
783 Jul 12, Bertha "with the great feet", wife of French king Pippin III, died.
(MC, 7/12/02)
784 The Emir 'Abd al-Rahman I purchased the christian half of a Catholic church built by the Visigoths, which had been shared following the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711. He then destroyed the church and built the Great Mosque of Cordoba. In 1236 it was reverted to a Catholic church as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption.
(http://tinyurl.com/pk2r3cx)(Econ, 10/10/15, p.54)
785 The English Penny, originally a coin of 1.3 to 1.5 grams (0.042 to 0.048 troy ounces; 0.046 to 0.053 ounces) pure silver, was introduced about this time by King Offa of Mercia. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental deniers of the period, and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had gone before it.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(English_coin))
786 Feb 4, Harun al-Rashid (786-809) succeeded his older brother the Abbasid Caliph al-Hadi as Caliph of Baghdad.
(HN, 2/4/99)(Econ, 12/19/15, p.67)
786 Sep 24, Al-Hadi, Arabic caliph of Islam (185-86), died.
(MC, 9/24/01)
786 Abd al Rahman began construction of the Great Mosque of Cordoba. It was under construction for 200 years.
(ATC, p.95)
787 Sep 24, The 2nd Council of Nicaea (7th ecumenical council) opened in Asia Minor.
(http://www.malaspina.com/site/person_672.asp)
787 Oct 23, Byzantine Empress Irene (c. 752-803) attended the final session of the 2nd church council at Nicaea, Bithynia [now Iznik, a city in Anatolia (now part of Turkey)]. The council formally revived the adoration of icons and reunited the Eastern church with that of Rome.
(http://www.malaspina.com/site/person_672.asp)
c791 Croats established the principalities of Primortska Hrvatska on the Adriatic coast and Posavska Hrvatska in inland Croatia.
(WSJ, 7/14/99, p.A23)
791 In Morocco Idriss I (b.745), a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, was laid to rest in Moulay Driss Zerhoun. The Sufi saint founded Morocco's first Islamic dynasty.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idris_I_of_Morocco)(AFP, 8/21/18)
792 The first paper making factory in the Islamic Empire was built in Baghdad.
(ATC, p.89)
793 Jun 8, Vikings raided the Northumbrian coast in England. Corfe served as a center of West Saxon resistance to Viking invaders. Vikings plundered the monastery and St. Cuthbert convent at Lindsfarne
(HN, 6/8/98)(AM, 7/00, p.64)(PC, 1992, p.68)
794 Aug 10, Fastrada (30), 3rd wife of French king Charlemagne, died.
(MC, 8/10/02)
794 Charlemagne created a single currency for his empire.
(Econ, 6/18/11, p.30)
794 The capital of Japan was moved from Nara to Kyoto and the new Imperial Palace was built there. It remained there until 1868.
(Hem., 2/96, p.57-58)(Hem, 9/04, p.41)
794-1185 The Heian Period in Japan. The kimono originated in this period. Prof. Helen McCullough (d.1998) of UC Berkeley and her husband translated "A Tale of Flowering Fortunes," whose notes and appendixes made it an encyclopedia of Heian court life. She published 11 volumes of studies and translations of classical Japanese poetry that included: "The Tale of the Heike" and "The Great Mirror."
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(SFC, 2/7/97, p.D1)(SFC, 4/23/98, p.B4)
795 Taj Chan Ahk, the Mayan ruler of Cancuen (Guatemala), died.
(SFC, 11/17/05, p.A17)
795 Vikings first raided Ireland.
(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.T8)
795-1185 The Heian period was a time of elegant and refined rice papers.
(SFC, 5/17/97, p.A20)
796 Jul 26, Offa, king of Mercia (in central England), died.
(MC, 7/26/02)
796 Frankfurt, Germany. This 1200 year old city of 650,000 is the hub of Germany’s banking and business community.
(SFC, 5/5/96, p.T-7)
796 A 600-pound limestone altar was carved to honor a treaty in the Mayan city of Cancuen (Guatemala). It was uncovered in 2001 and soon stolen. It was retrieved in 2003.
(USAT, 10/30/03, p.12D)(SFC, 10/30/03, p.A11)
796-821 Anglo Saxon king Coenwulf of Mercia, ruled a kingdom that covered vast swathes of the English midlands and northern counties to the southeast. In 2001 a metal detector enthusiast discovered a gold coin beside the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, southern England. The 4.25 gram coin depicts Anglo Saxon king Coenwulf of Mercia.
(AFP, 2/8/06)
c797 The 1,200 year-old Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the Gospels, was made by Irish monks. It was later kept in the library of Dublin’s Trinity College. The Book of Kells is a richly decorated copy of the four gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--produced by Christian monks, possibly in the late 700s on the Scottish isle of Iona or in the Irish town of Kells. Joyce later used it as a model for Ulysses.
(SFC, 3/17/97, p.A20)(HNQ, 1/13/99)(SFEM, 5/16/99, p.7)
799 Nov 29, Pope Leo III, aided by Charlemagne, returned to Rome.
(MC, 11/29/01)
799 Imam Musa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim (55), one of the 12 principle Shiite saints, died from poisoning in Baghdad.
(www.shiachat.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t52098.html)
c799-878 St. Ignatius Nicetas. He served as the Patriarch of Constantinople from 846-858 and 867-878.
(WUD, 1994 p.708)
800 Dec 25, Pope Leo III crowned Frankish warrior-king Charlemagne as heir of the Roman emperors at the basilica of St. Peter's at Rome.
(V.D.-H.K.p.105)(Econ, 9/4/10, p.56)
800 Ohlone Indians occupied the cliffs near Mussel Rock, later Daly City, Ca., beginning from about this time.
(http://tinyurl.com/6sn59u9)
800 The Tairona peoples of Colombia made Ciudad Perdida their capital from about this time until the arrival of the conquistadors.
(SSFC, 12/4/11, p.H4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Perdida)
c800 England’s King Lear lived about this time. Shakespeare wrote his play “King Lear" in 1606.
(www.rsc.org.uk/lear/current/director.html)
c800 The inhabitants of the British Isles did not comb their hair until they were taught by the Danes about this time.
(SFC, 6/30/96, Z1 p.5)
800 About this time unidentified conquerors destroyed the Mayan palace at Cancuen (Guatemala) and killed the members of the court. Archeologists in 2005 reported that King Maax, son of Taj Chan Ahk, was found buried in full regalia.
(SFC, 11/17/05, p.A17)
c800 The height of the Mayan city of Copan. Some 20,000 people lived in the Copan pocket, a fertile section of the Copan River valley in what is now Honduras.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.29)
c800 The stone image of Fudo Myo-o, a fierce Japanese deity of fire and thunder was carved by a revered priest in Kyoto about this time. It was transferred to Narita about 940.
(Hem, 8/95, p.56)
800 The city of Jenne-jeno on the Niger (Mali) grew to a bustling trade center of about 10,000 people. By 1400 the city was abandoned.
(ATC, p.111)
c800 The first Polynesians come from somewhere in the central Pacific to New Zealand. These people are called the tangata whenua, which means "people of the land," but are more commonly called in English the moa-hunters, for hunting the large grass-eating, ostrich-like bird.
(NG, Aug., 1974, p.196)
c800-900 In England Nennius wrote a history in the early 9th century and mentioned King Arthur as a fabulous figure.
(WSJ, 3/27/98, p.W10)
c800-900 The Alawi faith was founded in the 9th century by a Muslim, who declared himself the "gateway" to the divine truth and abandoned Islam.
(WSJ, 6/12/00, p.A30)
800-900 Buran, the wife of the Caliph of Baghdad, had a lavish wedding. The groom was led to a carpet of woven gold and 1,000 pearls were poured over his head in honor of a poet who had described the surface of a glass of white wine as: "pearls scattered like pebbles on a plain of gold."
(SFC, 12/18/96, zz-1 p.8)
800-900 In northern Bangladesh the Buddhist monastic complex at Paharpur was built by the Pala dynasty.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.B)
800-900 In China the 9th cent. poet Chu Chen Pu wrote about the hedgehog.
(NH, 7/98, p.54)
c800-900 "The Diamond Sutra,’ a 9th century Chinese work, was found in 1900 in a cave in Duhuang by Sir Airel Stein, a British scholar-explorer, and handed over to the British Library.
(SFEC, 6/11/00, p.A30)
800-900 Ninth century monks called Bhutan "the hidden world."
(WSJ, 3/6/97, p.A8)
800-900 In France monks moved inland from the Loire valley to escape the depredations of the Vikings and revived the making of Chablis wine with Chardonnay grapes.
(SFC, 7/16/97, Z1 p.4)
c800-900 In Germany Archbishop Hatto of Mainz supposedly hoarded grain during a time of famine and said that starving masses were nothing more than mice. He was beleaguered by rodents and took refuge on his island in the Rhine where legend has it that mice devoured him.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T4)
800-900 The Mayan site of Xultun (Guatemala) dated to about this time. It was discovered in 1912. In 2010 paintings were discovered at the site dating to this period. Figures were captioned as "Older Brother Obsidian," or "Senior Obsidian," and "Younger Brother Obsidian," or perhaps "Junior Obsidian."
(www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18018343)
800-900 The first Khmer or king, know as Kambu, founded Kambujadesa, which means "The Sons of Kambu" or Kambuja for short. Construction of the city and temple complex known as Angkor Wat was begun.
(SFEC, 10/20/96, T5)
800-900 Muhammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi, Arab mathematician and astronomer, wrote his "ab al-jabr w’ al muqabalah" (the science of reduction and comparison). The work dealt with solving equations. It was the first time that algebra was discussed as a separate branch of mathematics. In the 12th century it was translated into Latin as "Ludus algebrae et almucgrabalaeque."
(Alg, 1990, p.87)
800-900 The Vikings brought ponies to Iceland.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A9)
800-900 A timber mosque was built at Shanga, Kenya.
(NH, 6/97, p.43)
800-900 In Poland a 9th century edict forbade Jews from baking. The law was supposedly circumvented by boiling bread and then toasting it. This process is believed to have led to the creation of the bagel.
(WSJ, 11/29/08, p.W11)
c800-900 In Southern Korea peasant uprisings led to the establishment of 2 rival states.
(SFEM, 6/20/99, p.6)
800-900 In Scandinavia Futhark evolved around the 9th century. Instead of 24 letters, the Scandinavian "Younger" Futhark had 16 letters. In England, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc started to be replaced by the Latin alphabet by the 9th century, and did not survive much more past the Norman Conquest. Futhark continued to be used in Scandinavia for centuries longer, but by 1600 CE, it had become nothing more than curiosities among scholars and antiquarians.
(www.ancientscripts.com/futhark.html)
800-900 The Uygur, a Turkic people, fled the Mongolian steppe and settled in Xinjiang.
(NG, Feb, 04, p.12)
800-900 In Thailand Sadokkokthom was a Khmer sanctuary on the Thai-Cambodian border in the Aranyaphrathet region.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.H)
800-1000 At the beginning of the ninth century, Arabian merchants frequented Lithuania to purchase fine furs, beeswax and precious amber. Brisk trading between Arabians and Lithuanians went on for about two hundred years.
(VilNews, 12/17/10)
800-1050 Ghana controlled West Africa’s rich trade, yet villagers continued to use cowry shells for money. Koumbi, Ghana’s capital, became the busiest and wealthiest marketplace in West Africa.
(ATC, p.107,115)
c800-1200 Wat Phu (mountain temple) in southern Laos was a religious complex patronized by the Khmer of Cambodia.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.E)
c800-1700 The Calusa Indian tribe, nicknamed "The Fierce Ones," dominated Florida’s Gulf coast from about 800 to 1700. They escaped from Florida to Cuba in the early 1700s after Spanish soldiers and other tribes overran their region.
(AP, 3/14/04)(AM, 11/04, p.47)
802 Oct 31, Empress Irene was driven out of Byzantium.
(MC, 10/31/01)
802 Jayavarman II proclaimed himself a "universal monarch" in a ritual that united religion and politics (Cambodia) and gave rise to the cult of the Devaraja (deified king). He declared the region’s independence from Java.
(WSJ, 7/3/97, p.A9)(SFC, 8/14/07, p.A18)
802 Vikings stage their 1st raid of Iona (Scotland).
(AM, 7/01, p.50)
803 Harun al-Rashid (d.809), the fifth Abbasid Caliph and the last to make Raqqa his capital, had his most loyal adviser cut into three pieces.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_al-Rashid)(Econ, 3/25/17, p.40)
804 Vikings returned to Iona and killed 68 of the monastic community.
(AM, 7/01, p.50)
809 Mar 24, Harun al-Rashid (44), caliph of the Abbasid empire (786-809), died.
(MC, 3/24/02)
810 Jul 8, Pepin, son of Charlemagne and King of Italy, died.
(MC, 7/8/02)
811 Jul 26, Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I, or Nicephorus I (b.750), died in the Battle of Pliska, one of the worst defeats in Byzantine history. He served as emperor from 802 to 811. Both Syriac sources such as Michael the Syrian and Arabic ones like al-Tabari and Mas'udi hold that the emperor was of a Ghassanid Arab origin. The Byzantines had plundered and burned the Bulgar capital Pliska which gave time for the Bulgarians under monarch Krum to block passes in the Balkan Mountains that served as exits out of Bulgaria.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikephoros_I)
813 Sep 25, Al-Amin, Arabic Caliph of Islam (809-813), was murdered.
(MC, 9/25/01)
c813 Pelayo to Dantiago, a Spanish hermit, was guided, according to legend, by strange lights in the sky to discover the long-forgotten tomb of the apostle St. James (San Tiago). This led others to make pilgrimages across northern Spain to the city of Santiago de Compostela. [see 1130]
(SFC, 3/11/04, p.F9)
813-833 Caliph al Ma’mun founded a school in Baghdad called the House of Wisdom. In this school scholars translated Greek philosophy classics into Arabic.
(ATC, p.89)
814 Jan 28, Charlemagne (71), German emperor, Holy Roman Emperor (800-814), died. In 1968 Jacques Boussard authored “The Civilisation of Charlemagne."
(MC, 1/28/02)(Econ, 1/3/04, p.39)
814 Abu-Nuwas al-Hasan ben Hani al-Hakami (b.756), one of the greatest of classical Arabic poets, died. He also composed in Persian on occasion. Born in the city of Ahvaz in Persia, of an Arab father and a Persian mother, he became a master of all the contemporary genres of Arabic poetry. Abu Nuwas has entered the folkloric tradition, and he appears several times in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. His witty and humorous poetry, which dealt not with the traditional desert themes, but with urban life and the joys of wine and drinking (khamriyyat - khamriyaat), and ribald humor (mujuniyyat).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Nuwas)(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)(Econ, 8/18/12, p.55)
816 Nov, Fatima, sister of the eighth Imam, was buried in a sanctuary at Qum (Qom), Iran, one of the sacred cities of the Shia faith.
(http://tinyurl.com/htuz4ky)(NG, 9/1939, p.320)
818 Imam Reza, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, died. Shiites later believed that he was fed poisonous grapes by a Sunni leader of the Muslim world. Reza was buried in Sanabad, which later became known as Mashad, “place of martyrdom." A major shrine grew at the site and by 2007 the Imam Reza Shrine Foundation was the largest (bonyad) in Iran and accounted for 7.1% of the country’s GDP.
(WSJ, 6/2/07, p.A12)
819 In northern Afghanistan most of the recently built Noh Gonbad (Nine Domes) mosque collapsed following an earthquake. It was later believed to have been built on the remains of a Buddhist monastery. Another earthquake a hundred years later hit the outer walls and most of the 15 arches.
(AP, 1/6/18)
820 Jan 20, Abu Abdallah Mibn Idris al-Sjafi'i, Islamic author of Book of Mother, died.
(MC, 1/20/02)
820 Dec 25, Leo V, the Armenian, Byzantine gen and Emperor (813-20), was murdered.
(MC, 12/25/01)
c820 The collapse of the Mayan ruling Classic period dynasty in Copan.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.25)
821-822 In Europe the Danube, Rhine and Seine rivers froze this winter thick enough to allow crossing by horse and cart.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.64)
822 In Iceland an eruption of the Katla volcano about this time led to a rupture of the Myrdalsjokull, a glacier overlying the volcano. This led to a major flood that knocked over a forest 35 km away. Temperatures plunged and the following winters in Europe turned particularly cold with hailstorms and snow that led to plague and famine.
(SFC, 12/27/17, p.64)
825 The Buddhist temple of Borobudur on the island of Java was completed about this time under the supervision of an architect named Gunadharma. The site was abandoned after 100-200 years. In 1814 British Gov. Thomas Stamford Raffles was advised of its location and dispatched an expedition to locate and excavate the legendary monument.
(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T9)(WSJ, 9/13/08, p.W18)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur)
828 Apr 5, Nicephorus (~77), patriarch of Constantinople (806-815), died.
(MC, 4/5/02)
828 The Historia Brittonum, written about this time, states that "The island of Britain derives its name from Brutus, a Roman consul" who conquered Spain. According to legend the first king of Britain was Brut, who founded the royal line that produced king Coel, (Old King Cole was a marry old soul), and Arthur of the Round Table.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_Brittonum)(SFC, 2/15/97, p.D4)
828 Venetian merchants stole the relics of Saint Mark from a Coptic church in Alexandria and brought them home in triumph.
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.125)
830 The Utrecht Psalter was produced in the Netherlands. Its 166 ink drawings illustrated passages in the psalms. In the eleventh century an English copy was made that became known as the Harley Psalter.
(Econ, 6/13/09, p.86)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht_Psalter)
833-900 Great Moravia was founded when Mojmir I unified two neighboring states by force, referred to in modern historiography as the "Principality of Nitra" and the "Principality of Moravia". The Slavic state existed in Central Europe from the 9th century to the early 10th century.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Moravia)
835-1500 Medieval British history for this period is covered by timeref.com.
(www.timeref.com/hsttime0.htm)
833 Jul 20, Ansegis (Ansegius, 63), French abbot of Fontenelle, author, died.
(MC, 7/20/02)
834 Oct 31, This evening became All Hallow’s Eve with the establishment of Nov 1 as Feast of All Saints by Pope Gregory IV.
(PTA, 1980, p.204)(SFC, 10/31/01, p.C2)
834 Nov 1, This day was declared to be All Saints’ Day by the Catholic Church. [see 835CE]
(SFC, 10/31/01, p.C2)
834 In southeastern Norway's Vestfold County a 65-foot vessel was buried in an enormous mound as the grave ship for a rich and powerful Viking woman. In 1904 the mound surrendered the Oseberg Viking longboat.
(AP, 9/11/07)
835 Nov 1, After the spread of Christianity through the west, the Roman Catholic Church in 835 A.D. made November 1 a church holiday to honor all the saints. This celebration was called All Saint's Day or All Hallows and the day before it--October 31--was called All Hallow's Eve (later Halloween). Pope Gregory extended the Feast of All Saints on Nov 1 to France and Germany. [see 834CE]
(PTA, 1980, p.204)(HNPD, 10/31/99)
836 Caliph al-Mutasim built a new capital at Samarra to replace Baghdad as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. It was abandoned by Caliph al-Mutamid in 892.
(SFC, 2/23/06, p.A15)
837 Apr 13, Best view of Halley's Comet in 2000 years.
(MC, 4/13/02)
838 Jan 7, Babak Khorramdin, formally known as "Papak" meaning "Young Father," was executed. He was one of the main revolutionary leaders of the Iranian Khorram-Dinan ("Those of the joyous religion"), which was a local freedom movement fighting the Abbasid Caliphate. During his execution, the Caliph's henchmen first cut off his legs and hands. Legend says that Babak bravely rinsed his face with the drained blood pouring out of his cuts, thus depriving the Caliph and the rest of the Abbasid army from seeing his pale face, a result of the heavy loss of blood. He was then gibbeted alive whilst sewn into a cow's skin with the horns at ear level to gradually crush his head as it dried out.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babak_Khorramdin)
839 Charles III the Fat, sometimes called Charles II of France, was born. He was the son of Louis the German and grandson of Charlemagne. Charles III the Fat was a Frankish king and emperor. His fall in 887 marked the final disintegration of the empire of Charlemagne. He was the youngest son of Louis the German and was crowned emperor by Pope John VIII in 881 and became king of all the East Franks in 882, succeeding his brother Louis the Younger. Charles III the Fat died on January 13, 888.
(HNQ, 8/30/99)
839 The Stone of Scone was first believed to be used in the coronation of a Scottish king at the village of Scone in southeast Scotland.
(SFC, 11/16/96, p.A11)
839 The first official mention of Andorra was recorded in the records of the cathedral at Seu d’Urgell in Spain.
(Hem., 3/97, p.74)
840 Mar 14, Eginhard (69), French nobleman, biographer (Vita Karoli Magni), died.
(MC, 3/14/02)
840 Jun 6, Agobard, archbishop of Lyon (anti-Semite), died.
(MC, 6/6/02)
840 Vikings settled in Ireland.
(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.T8)
841 Jun 25, Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeated Lothar at Fontenay.
(HN, 6/25/98)
842 Feb 19, The Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ended as a council in Constantinople formally reinstated the veneration of icons in the churches.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_Orthodoxy)
842 Mar 20, Alfonso II the Chaste, king of Asturia (791-842), died. Asturias was a kingdom in NW Spain.
(MC, 3/20/02)(WUD, 1994 p.92)
842 Vikings attacked the Irish monastery at Clonmacnoise from bases in Ireland.
(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.T8)
843 Apr 19, Judith, French empress, 2nd wife of Louis de Vrome, died.
(MC, 4/19/02)
843 Jun 24, Vikings destroyed Nantes.
(MC, 6/24/02)
843 Aug 10, Treaty of Verdun: Brothers Lotharius I, Louis the German and Charles the Bare divided France.
(MC, 8/10/02)
844 In Scotland the Scotti and Picts united under Cinaed (Kenneth) Mac Ailpin. The Pict language disappeared following the union.
(AM, 7/01, p.46)
846 Nov 1, Louis II, the Stutterer, King of France (877-79), was born.
(MC, 11/1/01)
849 Alfred the Great (d.899) was said to have been born near Uffington. He became King of the West Saxons in 871. He was the 5th and youngest son of King Aethelwulf and Queen Osburga of Wessex.
(AHD, 1971, p.32)(AM, 9/01, p.42)(ON, 4/08, p.4)
c850 Outsiders found coffee in the region of Ethiopia called Kaffa, hence the name.
(SFEC, 10/6/96, Z1 p.4)(http://www.koffeekorner.com/koffeehistory.htm)
850 The Chicanna temple in the Mayan city of Calakmul was built about this time.
(SSFC, 4/25/10, p.M1)
850-930 Hucbaldus Elnonensis, was a French monk and composer, who became known for writing poetry about the hairless. He wrote "Ecloga de Calvis," (In Praise of Bald Men) for Hatto, a bald archbishop. All 150 lines of the Latin verse begin with the letter c (calvus means bald in Latin).
(WSJ, 11/23/98, p.B1)
850-933 Harold the Fairhaired. Princess Gyda is said to have incited Harold to gather the whole of Norway under his scepter. The name Gyda was later corrupted to Gjře, the name of Amdunsen’s Northwest Passage sloop (1903-1905).
(Ind, 4/27/02, 5A)
c850-1100 Native Indians in Chaco Canyon [New Mexico] built multistory buildings and roads. Evidence was later discovered that they designed a vast map of the yearly sun cycle and the 19-year cycle of the moon.
(WSJ, 6/16/00, p.W2)
c853 The Baltic shoreline Curonians repulsed Danish Viking attempts at subjugation. King Olaf led Swedish Vikings in retaliation and overcame the towns of Seeburg and Apuole (Apulia).
(TB-Com, 10/11/00)(www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html#lifeans)
853 Olaf, King of Sweden, led his forces across the Baltic Sea and into western Lithuania. They attacked the castle at Apuole near the town of Skuodas on the Luba River. A truce was declared after 8 days of fighting. King Olaf took home much gold, silver and amber, 30 (Kursiu) local inhabitants and destroyed the castle.
(H of L, 1931, p.14)
855 Sep 28, The Emperor Lothar died in Gaul, and his kingdom was divided between his three sons.
(HN, 9/28/98)
855 A version of "Cinderella" came from China about this time.
(SFEC, 5/25/97, Z1 p.7)
855 Ahmad ibn Hanbal (b.780), Muslim scholar, died in Iraq. He is considered the founder of the 4th school of Sunni Islam. The four schools of Sunni Islam include: a) The Hanafi school, named after Imam Abu Hanifa, predominates in the territories formerly under the Ottoman Empire and in Muslim India and Pakistan; it relies heavily on consensus and analogical reasoning in addition to the Quran and sunna. B) The Maliki school, named after Malik ibn Anas, is dominant in upper Egypt and West Africa; developed in Medina, it emphasizes use of hadith (sayings or acts) that were current in the Prophet's city. C) The school of Muhammad ibn Idris ash Shafii, prevailing in Indonesia, stresses reasoning by analogy. D) The fourth legal school is that of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, which is the school adhered to in Saudi Arabia.
(http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/26.htm)
858 Apr 17, Benedict III, Catholic Pope, died.
(PTA, 1980, p.210)
858 Apr 24, Nicholas I succeeded Benedict III as the Catholic Pope.
(HN, 4/24/98)(MC, 4/24/02)
859 Fatima al-Fihri of Tunisia founded the Qarawiyyin mosque and madrasa in Fez, Morocco. The mosque was expanded in the 10th century to become a university containing one of the world’s oldest libraries. It was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_al-Fihri)(SFC, 4/20/16, p.A5)
860 Jun 18, Swedish Vikings attacked Constantinople.
(MC, 6/18/02)
860 Aug 1, Peace of Koblenz involved Charles the Bare, Louis the German & Lotharius II.
(MC, 8/1/02)
c860 Novgorod, Russia, was founded about this time.
(AM, 11/00, p.32)
861 The Khazar kings converted to Judaism. A Jewish dynasty of kings presided over the Khazar kingdom until the 960s. In 2008 Dmitry Vasilyev, a Russian professor at Astrakhan State University, said his nine-year excavation near the Caspian Sea has finally unearthed the foundations of a triangular fortress of flamed brick, along with modest yurt-shaped dwellings, and he believes these are part of what was once Itil, the Khazar capital.
(TJOK, chap. 6)(AP, 9/20/08)
866 Sep 19, Leo VI Sophos, Byzantine Emperor (886-912) and writer (Problematica), was born.
(MC, 9/19/01)
866 Nov, Danish Viking Ivar the Boneless first invaded the trading port of Eoforwic, the old Roman settlement of Eboracum. The Jorvic Viking settlement was discovered in 1976 when workers in York excavated for a new shopping center.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_York)(SSFC, 4/13/14, p.Q5)
867 Feb 11, Theodora, the Saint, beauty queen, Byzantine Empress, died.
(MC, 2/11/02)
867 Nov 13, Pope Nicholas I (the Great) died at age 67. He served from 858-867.
(MC, 11/13/01)
867 A last surviving older brother of Alfred, became King Aethelred I of Wessex, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in southern England.
(ON, 4/08, p.4)
867 Danes fought Saxons in the battle of Eoferwic (York).
(WSJ, 1/28/05, p.W6)
867-1057 The Byzantine Empire expanded.
(ATC, p.24)
868 A scroll of Buddhism’s “Diamond Sutra" was commissioned and dated by a man named Wang Jie as a gift to his parents. It was discovered in 1907 in one of the 450 Mogao Caves of Dunhuang in China’s northwestern Gansu Province.
(SSFC, 5/8/16, p.C143)
868 The 10th imam, Ali al-Hadi, died. His remains were placed in the Askariya shrine in Samarra (Persia-Iraq).
(AP, 2/22/06)
869 Feb 14, Cyrillus, Greek apostle of Slavs, died.
(MC, 2/14/02)
869 Jul 9, In Japan the Sanriku earthquake (Jogan quake) and associated tsunami struck the area around Sendai in the northern part of Honshu. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of at least 8.4 on the moment magnitude scale, but may have been as high as 9.0.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/869_Sanriku_earthquake)(Econ, 8/19/17, p.70)
869 Aug 8, Lotharius II, King of Middle-France (Lotharingen) (855-869), died.
(MC, 8/8/02)
870 Aug 8, The Treaty of Mersen (Meerssen) partitioned the realm of Lothair II by his uncles Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the two surviving sons of Emperor Louis I the Pious.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Meerssen)
870 Dec 31, Skirmish at Englefield. Ethelred of Wessex beat back a Danish invasion army.
(MC, 12/31/01)
870 Swede Garoar Svavarsson led the first Vikings to Iceland.
(SSFC, 8/23/15, p.N4)
871 Jan 4, Ethelred of Wessex was defeated by Danish forces at Reading.
(PCh, 1992, p.72)
871 Jan 8, Ethelred of Wessex defeated the Danish forces at Ashdown.
(PCh, 1992, p.72)
871 Mar 2, Battle at Marton (Maeretun): Ethelred van Wessex (d.871) beat the Danish invasion army. Ethelred died in April and his brother Alfred (22) took over. Alfred became Alfred the Great and ruled until 899.
(PCh, 1992, p.72)(SC, 3/2/02)
871 Apr 23, Ethelred I, king of Wessex, brother of Alfred the Great, died.
(MC, 4/23/02)
871-899 Saxon reign under Alfred the Great.
(AHD, 1971, p.32)
872 Dec 14, Adrian II (~80), Italian Pope (867-72), the last married pope, died.
(MC, 12/14/01)
872-882 Pope John VIII (b.1814). A novel by Donna Cross in 1996 is based on historical documents that indicate that he was actually female.
(WUD, 1994, p.769)(SFEC, 11/17/96, BR p.8)
874 The 11th imam, Hassan al-Askari, son of Ali al-Hadi, died. His remains were also placed in the Askariya shrine in Samarra (Persia-Iraq). Hassan al-Askari was the father of Al-Mahdi, the hidden imam. Al Mahdi, the 12th imam, disappeared in 941.
(AP, 2/22/06)(Econ, 10/29/16, p.44)
874 Vikings from Norway began to survey Iceland. The monks withdrew to Ireland. The 40,000-square-mile island situated 500 miles northwest of Scotland was first settled by Norwegians.
(NH, 6/96, p.53)(Economist, 8/25/12, p.64)
875 Aug 12, Louis II (~50), king of Italy, emperor of France, died.
(MC, 8/12/02)
c875-925 Lord Chaak ruled over the Mayan city of Uxmal in Mexico.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.H)
876 Oct 8, Charles the Bald was defeated at the Battle of Andernach. Louis the Young beat Charles the Bare.
(HN, 10/8/98)(MC, 10/8/01)
876 Charles the Bald donated a relic, the Sancta Camisia, to the city of Chartres. The relic was believed to the childbirth tunic of the Virgin Mary.
(Hem., 10/97, p.86)
877 Oct 6, Charles II the Kale, King of France and Roman emperor (875-77), died at 54.
(MC, 10/6/01)
878 Jan, Danish forces from north of Wessex launched an unexpected attack on Wessex, ruled by King Alfred. In 1911 G.K. Chesterton authored the historical novel “The Ballad of the White Horse" set in England during this time.
(SSFC, 4/22/07, p.P10)(ON, 4/08, p.4)
878 Imam Mahdi went into hiding. Shiites went on to believe that he would return, along with Jesus, to lead Muslims in a struggle for justice.
(SFC, 1/19/08, p.A7)
879 Apr 10, Louis II, the Stutterer, King of France (877-79), died and Louis III was crowned King of France.
(MC, 4/10/02)
879 Sep 17, Charles III, [The Simple], king of France (893-923), was born.
(MC, 9/17/01)
882 Aug 25, Louis III (19), King of France (879-82), died.
(MC, 8/25/02)
883 Mar 8, Albumasar [Ahmad Aboe M Gafar al-Balkhi], Arabic astronomer, died.
(MC, 3/8/02)
884 May 17, St. Adrian III began his reign as Catholic Pope.
(MC, 5/17/02)
885 Apr 6, Methodius, Greek apostle to the Slavs, archbishop of Sirmium, died.
(MC, 4/6/02)
886 Aug 29, Basilius I, the Macedonian, Byzantine emperor (867-886), died.
(MC, 8/29/01)
886 Under Muslim Arabs the Bagratid family rose to prominence in Armenia and established a line of kings from this time to the 10th century.
(CO Enc. / Armenia)
887 Ibn Firnas (b.810), a Muslim Berber, polymath, inventor, engineer, aviator, physician, Arabic poet, and Andalusian musician, died. He is said to have jumped from a height, wings attached and covered head to toe in feathers, in a failed attempt at flying, although he survived the jump.
(AFP, 11/17/10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Ibn_Firnas)
889 Bhaktapur, Nepal, was founded under the Malla dynasty.
(SSFC, 9/21/03, p.C8)
889 Ibn Qutayba (b.828), a renowned Islamic scholar from Kufa, Iraq, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Qutaybah)
889-1324 The Khmer Empire‘s dominions roughly correspond to present-day Laos and Cambodia and reached its height during the Angkor period (889-1434 CE). The kingdom flourished from the 6th to 15th centuries CE and then declined with invasions from neighboring Thailand.
(HNQ, 8/7/00)
890-1170 The Medieval Warm Period extended across Asia, Europe and North America.
(SFC, 2/10/06, p.A6)
891 Feb 6, Photius, Byzantine theologist, patriarch of Constantinople, saint, died.
(MC, 2/6/02)
891 Sep 1, Norse defeated near Louvaine, France.
(MC, 9/1/02)
891-896 Formosus served as Pope following Stephen VI.
(PTA, 1980, p.224)(WSJ, 6/27/01, p.A14)
894 Japan abolished the sending of envoys to China.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
895 The Tatev Monastery was built near the village of Tatev, Armenia. The construction on the Church of Peter and Paul was completed in 906.
(www.cilicia.com/armo5_tatev.html)
896 Feb 22, Pope Formosa was crowned king Arnulf of Carinthia, French emperor.
(MC, 2/22/02)
896 Apr 4, Pope Formosus died. His body was exhumed by his successor in the Cadaver Synod. He was then put on trial for perjury, found guilty and dumped in the Tiber River.
(PTA, 1980, p.224)(WSJ, 6/27/01, p.A14)
896 The founding date of Hungary. Seven tribes of Magyars settled in the Carpathian Basin. Kingdom of Hungary was formed under Arpad by seven Magyar and three Khazar tribes.
(WSJ, 12/26/96, p.4)(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T5)(TJOK, p. 206)(Reuters, 4/12/05)
899 Oct 26, Alfred the Great (b.849), writer and king of Wessex (871-99), died. He helped to bring about the English state, the Royal Navy and English universities. He translated Pope Gregory’s “Pastoral Care," the universal history by Orosius, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, and the “Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius. Alfred also compiled England’s first code of laws, The Doom Book.
(Econ, 5/26/07, p.18)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_Great)(ON, 4/08, p.5)
899 Dec 8, Arnulf of Carinthia, last emperor of Austria-France, died.
(MC, 12/8/01)
c900 By this time the Fatimids broke away from the Abbasids and migrated to North Africa. They were descendants of Mohammad’s daughter, Fatima.
(ATC, p.91)
c900 The east coast of Africa was impacted by trade and Arab, Persian and Indian traders mixed with the indigenous Bantu. Many of the coastal Bantu adopted Islam and the Arabic word Swahili, meaning "people of the shore," to describe themselves. By this time they had reached as far south as Sofala in Mozambique.
(ATC, p.142)(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.169)
900 The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, an Old English pagan ritual, used horns from reindeer that dated to about this time. A dozen male dancers in Staffordshire traditionally performed the dance once a year in early September.
(SFC, 9/4/10, p.A1)
c900 The Mayan city-state of Palenque [in later Mexico] was abandoned
(SFC, 5/19/96, T-10)
c900 The Mayan city-state of Copan [in later Honduras] was abandoned
(NG, 12/97, p.80)
c900 In Peru the Lambayeque people established themselves over areas previously developed by the Moche.
(NG, 7/04, p.116)
900 Benedict IV succeeded John IX as Pope.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)
c900-950 The 7-foot hanging scroll, ink-on-silk masterpiece "Riverbank" by Dong Yuan was created. It is the earliest surviving example of monumental Chinese landscape painting. The work was also thought to be a forgery by Chang Da-chien (1899-1983) through whom it passed to the New York Met.
(WSJ, 7/2/97, p.A12)(WSJ, 7/24/97, p.A16)(WSJ, 12/13/99, p.A32)
900-1000 Alsace became part of Germany in the 10th century.
(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T4)
900-1000 Weimar is believed to date back to the 10th century.
(SSFC, 8/1/04, p.D10)
900-1000 The French village of Prelenfrey dates back to the 10th Century.
(SFC, 6/23/96, p.T8)
900-1000 The Korean rice wine Makgeolli, once known as "farmer drink", dates back at least this time. Its popularity waned in the early 1960s when the government restricted the use of rice for making alcohol in order to combat rice shortages. In 2012 South Korea's Baesangmyun Brewery announced that a brewery in Chicago will open to produce the drink.
(AFP, 2/5/12)
900-1000 Viking longships entered the Douro River mouth in Portugal. Their ships are believed to be the design form from which the wine carrying boats "barcos rabelos" were designed.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.T7)
900-1000 The Tresco Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on the Isles of Sicily off the southwest coast of England.
(Hem., 7/96, p.66)
900-1000 The terminal classic period of the Maya.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.B)
c900-1000 The Japanese discovered the wasabe root growing near mountain streams and began incorporating it into their cuisine.
(SFC, 6/3/98, Z1 p.6)
900-1000 In Thailand the site of Prasat Hin Phanom Wan was an important Khmer sanctuary in the Upper Mun River Valley of northeastern Thailand.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.G)
900-1100 A Fremont culture settlement in Horse Canyon, Utah, left extensive ruins that became known as Range Creek.
(SFC, 6/30/04, p.A2)
900-1200 The Killke people occupied the region around Cuzco, Peru, from 900 to 1200 A.D., prior to the arrival of the Incas. In 2008 Archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and irrigation systems at Sacsayhuaman, a famed fortress overlooking Cuzco, that shed light on the pre-Inca cultures of Peru.
(AP, 3/15/08)
902 Aug 1, The Aghlabid rulers of Ifriqiyah (modern day Tunisia) captured Taormina, Sicily.
(HN, 8/1/98)
902-970 In China Tao Gu lived. He wrote "Qing yi lu," (An Examination of Strange Accounts). He mentioned the Chinese use of cormorants for fishing.
(NH, 10/98, p.69)
903 Benedict IV, Catholic Pope, died.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)
903 Good King Wenceslaus, saint, duke of Bohemia (928-935), was born.
(WUD, 1994 p.1622)
904 Jul 31, Arabs captured Thessalonica of the Byzantine Empire.
(HN, 7/31/98)
905 Persian astronomer Al Sufi referred to the Andromeda galaxy as the "Little Cloud."
(NH, 11/96, p.78)
907 Fall of the T’ang dynasty in China.
(V.D.-H.K.p.169)
907 Arpad (b.~845), head of the confederation of the Hungarian tribes, died about this time. Many Hungarians refer to him as the "founder of our country." His preeminent role in the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin has been emphasized by some later chronicles. The dynasty descending from Arpad ruled the Kingdom of Hungary until 1301.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rp%C3%A1d)
907-1279 "The Five Dynasties and the Song Period" by Richard M. Barnhart is the first section of Wu Hung’s 1997 "The Origins of Chinese Painting."
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.6)
910 The French abbey at Cluny was founded.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
910 Rhazes, an Arab physician, wrote the 1st account of smallpox and proposed the earliest theory of immunity.
(NW, 10/14/02, p.46)
911 Sep 2, Viking monarch Oleg of Kiev, Russia, signed a treaty with the Byzantines.
(MC, 9/2/01)
911 The Carolingian period of Frankish rule ended in Germany.
(AHD, 1971, p.205)
911 A relic donated by Charles the Bald, the Sancta Camisia, was displayed above the city walls of Chartres and seemed to repel a Viking attack. The relic was believed to be the Virgin Mary’s childbirth tunic.
(Hem., 10/97, p.86)
912 Nov 23, Otto I, the Great (d.973), German king and Holy Roman emperor (962-73), was born. Otto the Great became King of Germany in 936.
(AHD, 1971, p.931)(MC, 11/23/01)
912 Egyptian singer Nehmes Bastet died about this time. In 2012 Egyptian and Swiss archaeologists reported a roughly 1,100 year-old tomb of a female singer in the Valley of the Kings. It was the only tomb of a woman not related to the ancient royal families ever found in the Valley of the Kings. The singer's name, Nehmes Bastet, means she was believed to be protected by the feline deity Bastet. At the time of her death, Egypt was ruled by Libyan kings, but the high priests who ruled Thebes were independent.
(AP, 1/15/12)
912-961 Abd al Rahman III, Umayyad caliph in Spain, purchased Scandinavian, African and German slaves to serve in his forces. At this time Cordoba was western Europe's largest city with a population of 200,000 people.
(ATC, p.96)
917 Aug 20, A Byzantine counter-offensive was routed by Syeon at Anchialus, Bulgaria.
(HN, 8/20/98)
917 In Italy the Castle Torre d’Orlando was built between Paciano and Panicale in Umbria.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.49)
918 Mar 1, Balderik became bishop of Utrecht.
(SC, 3/1/02)
918 In Ireland there was a great flood in the region of Clonmacnoise.
(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.T8)
918-1392 During Korea's Age of Enlightenment, the period of the Goryeo Dynasty, the Buddhist aristocracy commissioned many works of art to further the Buddhist ideal.
(SFC, 10/14/03, p.D1)
919 May 12, Duke Henry of Saxon became King Henry I of Eastern Europe.
(MC, 5/12/02)
919 Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon Nat'l Monument in Northern New Mexico had its ceremonial room completed. Occupancy lasted till c1130.
(K.I.-365D, p.159)
921 Nov 7, Treaty of Bonn: East France and West France recognized each other.
(MC, 11/7/01)
921 In Turkey the Armenian Akdamar church, called the Church of Surp Khach, or Holy Cross, was inaugurated. Written records say the church was near a harbor and a palace on the island on Lake Van, but only the church survived. Turkey restored the church in 2007.
(AP, 3/25/07)
922 Mar 26, Al-Hallaj al-Mughith-al-Hsayn Mansur (64), Persian mystic, was beheaded. Mansur al-Hallaj (b.858), a Sufi mystic, was crucified in Baghdad for pronouncing in the midst of a trance that he was the truth, i.e god.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Hallaj)(SFC, 4/21/04, p.A10)
922 Jun 9, French republic chose Robert I as King of France.
(MC, 6/9/02)
922 Mansur al-Hallaj (b.858), a Sufi mystic, was crucified in Baghdad for pronouncing in the midst of a trance that he was the truth, i.e god.
(SFC, 4/21/04, p.A10)(http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismearly.html#Hallaj)
923 Feb 16, Abu Dja'far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari (83), Islamic historian, died.
(MC, 2/16/02)
924 Apr 7, Berengarius I, Emperor of Italy, was murdered.
(MC, 4/7/02)
924 Jul 17, Edward the Older, English king (899-924) and son of Alfred the Great, died. He was succeeded by his son Athelstan.
(PC, 1992, p.75)
924-940 Athelstan ruled as king of England.
(www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon8.html)
925 The Croatian kingdom was established.
(WSJ, 7/14/99, p.A23)
927 May 27, Symeon, czar of Bulgaria, died.
(MC, 5/27/02)
927 Ivan Rilski (later St. John of Rila), an Orthodox Bulgarian, chose a hermit’s life in a cave in the mountains above Sofia, Bulgaria. His students built a complex nearby that grew to become the Rila Monastery.
(SSFC, 7/16/06, p.G4)
929 Sep 28, Wenceslaus I, duke of Bohemia, was murdered.
(www.stfrancisvernon.org/stwenceslaus.htm)
929 Eadgyth (910-946), the sister of King Athelstan and the granddaughter of Alfred the Great, was given in marriage to Otto I, the king of Saxony and the Holy Roman Emperor. She had at least two children before her death in 946 at age 36. In 2010 her remains were found in Magdeburg Cathedral in northern Germany.
(AFP, 1/20/10)(AFP, 6/17/10)
930 Jun 23, Icelanders established the Althing, an open-air national parliament and the world‘s oldest surviving parliamentary body. This was later credited as the first example of representative government.
(NH, 6/96, p.53)(DrEE, 1/4/97, p.4)(SFC, 1/1/00, p.C3)(MC, 6/23/02)
930 The Aleppo Codex was written on parchment in the Holy Land town of Tiberias by the scribe Shlomo Ben Boya'a about this time. Its completion marked the end of a centuries-long process that created final text of the Hebrew Bible.
(AP, 9/27/08)
933 Mar 15, Henry the Fowler routed the raiding Magyars at Merseburg, Germany. The Wagner opera Lohengrin is about King Henry and how he united the people of Brabant with the Saxons against the Hungarian foe.
(HN, 3/15/99)(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A21)
935 In the Icelandic "Egils-saga" there is an account of how Thorolf and Egil harried in Curonia (along the eastern Baltic shore) about this time.
(DrEE, 11/23/96, p.3)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
935 In southern Korea the last Shilla king surrendered his throne.
(SFEM, 6/20/99, p.6)
936 Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (b.1874), Muslim theologian, died. He had become a pupil of the great Mutazalite teacher al-Jubba'i (d.915), and himself remained a Mutazalite until his fortieth year. Disciples of his school are known as Asharites. It held that complete comprehension of the unique nature and attributes of God is beyond the capacity of human reasoning and sense experience.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_al-Hasan_al-Ash%27ari)
936-973 Otto the Great became King of Germany and later the first Holy Roman Emp.
(AHD, 1971, p.931)
936-1531 Aachen in West Germany was the coronation city for German kings over this period.
(WUD, 1994, p.1)
937 King Athelstan unified the various Saxon and Celtic kingdoms following the battle of Brunanburgh. He was the brother of Eadgyth, wife of Holy Roman Emp. Otto I, and is generally considered to have been the first King of England.
(AFP, 1/20/10)
c938 In the late 930s Khazar baliqchi Pesakh defeated the Rus. According to an anonymous letter written by a Khazarian Jew in the 940s, the Rus prince Oleg captured the Khazar-held city Tmutorokan one night. Pesakh, a prominent Khazar baliqchi (governor), learned of Oleg’s actions and conquered several Crimean cities belonging to the Byzantines and also did away with many Rus. Oleg was badly defeated, and was forced to surrender to Governor-General Pesakh. This was a major Khazar victory over the Rus.
(TJOK, pages 191-192)
938-1002 Al-Mansur (the Conqueror), Moorish leader. He was born Abu'Amir al-Ma'asiri and rose to power by wooing the caliph's favorite concubine. He raided Christian Spain and hauled his booty back to Cordoba and built a palace called Madinat al-Zahira, the Shining City.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4,6)
940 The stone image of Fudo Myo-o, a fierce Japanese deity of fire and thunder, was carved by a revered priest in Kyoto about 800 CE and transferred to Narita about 940.
(Hem, 8/95, p.56)
941 The 12th imam, Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Mahdi (b.1869), disappeared. He is believed by Twelver Shi‘a Muslims to be the Mahdi, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imam of the Twelve Imams who will emerge with Isa (Jesus Christ) in order to fulfill their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world.
(Econ, 10/29/16, p.44)
942 May 16, Saadiah Gaon, head of Talmudic Academy of Sura, died.
(MC, 5/16/02)
945 In England monks settled along the Thames riverbank at Bablock Hythe.
(SFEC, 8/20/00, p.T9)
945 The Buyids (Buwayhids) came to power in Baghdad. They were ousted by the Seljuks in 1055 under Tughril Beg.
(www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/iraq/HISTORY.html)
946 May 25, Edmund the Older, king of Wessex, England, (939-46), died.
(SC, 5/25/02)
946 Eadgyth, the sister of King Athelstan and the granddaughter of Alfred the Great, died. She had been given in marriage to Otto I, the Holy Roman Emperor, in 929. She was initially buried at the Monastery of Mauritius in Magdeburg. In 1510 her remains were transferred to Magdeburg Cathedral in northern Germany, where her bones were found in 2008.
(AFP, 1/20/10)
946 Mount Paektu, a volcano straddling the border between North Korea and China, erupted with apocalyptic fire and fury in what scientists later considered one of the five largest volcanic events in human history. It ejected enough material to bury Greater London to a depth of 60 meters (200 feet), and caused temporary climate change in the region.
(http://tinyurl.com/y98xvulc)(AFP, 9/19/19)
950 Nov 22, Lotharius, King of Italy (947-50), died.
(MC, 11/22/01)
c950 The Anasazi first came to Keet Seel, Arizona.
(Hem., 5/97, p.75)
950 Guam’s latte period refers to the time when lattes were first introduced about this time and continued up to the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Latte stones consist of a pillar capped by a hemispherical stone capital.
(AP, 9/13/15)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latte_stone)
951 Sep 23, Otto I, the Great, became king of Italy.
(MC, 9/23/01)
953 Apr 21, Otto I, the Great, granted Utrecht fishing rights.
(MC, 4/21/02)
954 Nov 12, Lotharius became king of France.
(MC, 11/12/01)
954 The Count of Ventimiglia ceded Seborga (in northwest Italy, twenty minutes from the Mediterranean north of Bordighera) to the monks who elected their abbot as sovereign prince.
(SFEC, 3/30/97, p.T5)
955 May 16, Alberich II, (bastard?) son of Octavianus, was elected pope.
(MC, 5/16/02)
955 Aug 10, Otto organized his nobles and defeated the invading Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in Germany.
(HN, 8/10/98)
955 In England King Eadwig failed to appear at his coronation feast. Dunstan, chronicler of the event, found him cavorting with a young lady and her mother.
(WSJ, 1/29/99, p.W7)
955 Sufi saint Sidi Mahmoudou died. In 2013 his tomb in Timbuktu, Mali, was destroyed by Islamist extremists.
(AP, 1/28/13)
956 Jun 16, Hugo the Great, duke of France, died.
(MC, 6/16/02)
956-1015 Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev and the first Christian grand prince of Russia (980-1015). He married the sister of the Byzantine emperor and thus brought in Orthodox Christianity to Russia.
(WUD, 1994, p.1598)(WSJ, 3/28/97, p.A16)
c958 Harald Gormsson (d.c986), aka Harald Bluetooth or Harald Blatand, 10th-century king of Denmark, was born about this time.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetooth)(AM, 11/00, p.21)
958-1025 Basil II, Byzantine emperor. His empire held a monopoly on royal purple silk and he flourished by manufacturing and trading silk.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)
959 The Viking ruler Gorm the Old, the father of Harald Bluetooth, died.
(AM, 11/00, p.21)
960 Denmark's King Harald Bluetooth was baptized.
(Econ, 6/28/03, p.55)
960 Thorvald Asvaldsson, the father of Eric the Red (950-1003), committed a murder about this time and was banished from Norway. He took his family to Iceland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
960-1127 The period of the Northern Song Dynasty. Most artistic representations of nature during this period carried auspicious meanings, e.g. bamboo signified resilience in the face of diversity, and the cicada bespoke immortality.
(NH, 7/00, p.59)(SFC, 5/14/03, p.D3)
960-1279 The Sung (Song) dynasty ruled over China. It was from this period that the Japanese tea ceremony originated; the ritual was developed for a tranquility of mind. Since this period mountainous looking rocks have been prized as objects of contemplation. Porcelain from this period is particularly beautiful.
(Hem, Dec. 94, p.64)(SFC, 6/4/96, p.E5)(WSJ, 9/27/96, p.B14)
961 Oct 15, Abd al-Rahman III (891-961), Muslim governor of Spain, died. He was succeeded by his son Al-Hakim. Rahman III is famed for his quote: "I have now reigned above fifty years in victory and peace, beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to be wanting for my felicity. In this situation, I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: they amount to fourteen."
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Rahman_III)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/04359b.htm)
961 Ani became the capital of Armenia. At its height it had over 100,000 inhabitants. Within a century it began falling victim to waves of conquerors including Seljuk Turks, Georgians and Mongols.
(Econ, 6/17/06, p.59)
962 Feb 2, Otto I (912-973), founder of the Holy Roman Empire, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor)(AHD, 1971, p.931)
962-1030 In Afghanistan the Islamic era was established with the Ghaznavid Dynasty.
(https://www.afghan-web.com/history/chronology/)
962-1140 Under the Ghaznavid Dynasty Afghanistan became the center of Islamic power and civilization.
(https://www.afghan-web.com/history/chronology/)
963 Mar 15, Romanus II (25), Byzantine emperor (959-63), died.
(MC, 3/15/02)
964 Jun, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I forced Pope Benedict V (d.965), who had recently succeeded John XII as Catholic Pope, to resign in favor of Leo VIII.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)(Econ, 2/16/13, p.61)
964 Arab astronomers described the Great Nebula in Andromeda, our closest galaxy.
(V.D.-H.K.p.333)
965 Mar 1, Leo VIII, Italian (anti-)Pope (963-65), died.
(SC, 3/1/02)
965 Jul 4, Benedict V, Catholic Pope, died.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)
965 Part of Khazaria was conquered by the Kievan Rus prince Svyatoslav.
(TJOK, pp. 193-194)
967 Nov 20, Aboe al-Faradj al-Isfahani, Arabic author (Book of liederen), died.
(MC, 11/20/01)
969 Oct 28, After a prolonged siege, the Byzantines ended 300 years of Arab rule in Antioch.
(HN, 10/28/98)
967 Dec 7, Abu Sa'id ibn Aboa al-Chair, Persian mystic, was born.
(MC, 12/7/01)
969 Dec 10, Nicephorus II Phocas, Byzantine co-Emperor (963-69), was murdered.
(MC, 12/10/01)
969 Named El Qahira -"the victorious," Cairo gained power from its position beside the Nile.
(NG, May 1985, R. Caputo, p.603)
969CE By this time the Fatimids had conquered most of North Africa and claimed Cairo as their capital. The Shiites gained control of Egypt.
(ATC, p.91)(SSFC, 2/8/04, p.M2)
969-1000 Olaf Tryggvesson, Olav I, King of Norway from 995-1000.
(WUD, 1994, p.1002)
970 In Egypt the al-Azhar madrassa was founded and became the chief center of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world. It was founded as mosque by the Fatimid commander Jawhar at the orders of the Caliph and Ismaili Imam Al-Muizz as he founded the city for Cairo. In 1961 al-Azhar attained university status.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Azhar_University)(Econ., 2/28/15, p.53)
971-1030 Machmud of Ghazni, ruler of Afghanistan. He made annual invasions to northern India where he pillaged temples, captured slaves, and transported his goods back by elephant. His library had a large collection of erotic manuscripts and he shared his palace with 400 poets.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)
972 John I Tzimiskes, the Byzantine Emperor at Constantinople (969-976), granted a charter for the Monastic Republic of Holy Mount Athos in Greece.
(SSFC, 10/8/06, p.H1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_I_Tzimisces)
973 Jan 19, Benedict VI was consecrated as Catholic Pope. He succeeded John XIII.
(PTA, 1980, p.236)
973 May 6, Henry II, German King (1002) and Holy Roman Emperor (1014-1024), was born.
(HN, 5/6/98)(MC, 5/6/02)
973 Otto I, the Great (b.912), German king and Holy Roman emperor (962-73), died.
(AHD, 1971, p.931)(MC, 11/23/01)
974 The army of Denmark's King Harald Gormsson, aka Harald Bluetooth or Harald Blatand, lost to the Germans at the Danevirke.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetooth)(AM, 11/00, p.21)
974 Pope Benedict VI was strangled to death by a priest named Stephen under directions of anti-Pope Boniface Franco, who called himself Boniface VII.
(PTA, 1980, p.270)
975 Jul 25, Thietmar bishop of Merseburg, German chronicler, was born.
(SC, 7/25/02)
975-1038 St. Stephen of Hungary. His crown was a fusion of Greek and Latin elements.
(WSJ, 11/18/96, p.A10)
0976 Oct 1, Al-Hakam II, the caliph of Cordoba, died.
(MC, 10/1/01)
976 Nov 14, T'ai tsu, emperor of China and founder of Sung-dynasty, died.
(MC, 11/14/01)
976 The Great Mosque of Cordoba (Spain) was completed and served as a religious, social and educational center. The largest of the 70 libraries in Cordoba contained 500,000 volumes. 70,000 books a year were hand-copied to satisfy the citizen’s literary appetites.
(ATC, p.95,98)
976-1025 The reign of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer, ruler of Byzantium. [see 330CE]
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-12)
977 The shrine of Imam Ali, a gold-domed mosque, was built in Najaf, Iraq, on the burial site of Imam Ali, son-in-law of the prophet Mohammed.
(SFC, 8/30/03, p.A1)
978 Mar 18, Edward the Martyr (15), King of Anglo-Saxons (975-78), was murdered.
(MC, 3/18/02)
979 Apr 14, There was a challenge to throne of King Aethelred II, the Unrede (Unready), of England (979-1016). He attempted to buy peace with from Scandinavian invaders and called for England’s 1st general tax, the Danegeld. Some 140,000 pounds of silver was paid in tribute.
(WSJ, 5/24/01, p.A20)(MC, 4/14/02)
979 The Isle of Man parliament, the Tynwald Court, was established.
(SSFC, 8/13/06, p.G5)
980-1037 Afghan scientist Avicenna (aka Ibn Sina), a Muslim philosopher-scientist, was born in Bukhara (Balkh). He wrote "The Book of Healing," a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and "The Canon of Medicine," an encyclopedia of the medical knowledge of his time. Both works were translated to Latin and exerted great influence on Scholastics in the West.
(https://www.afghan-web.com/history/chronology/)(V.D.-H.K.p.115)
981 Adherents to the Jainist faith consecrated a 57-foot statue of their most important siant, Bahubali, in the town of Shravana Belgola, India.
(Sm, 3/06, p.23)
982 Eric the Red (950-1003), killed a neighbor and some other men about this time and was banished from Iceland for 3 years.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
982 Eric the Red, father of Leif Ericson, landed in Greenland and spent the next 3 years exploring the area.
(SFEM, 11/15/98, p.24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
983 Dec 7, Otto II the Red (~28), German king and emperor (973-83), died in Italy. Otto III [aged 3] took the throne after his father's death.
(HN, 12/7/98)(MC, 12/7/01)
983 The Lutici, a federation of tribes in northeastern Germany, were first recorded by written sources in the context of the uprising of this year, by which they annihilated the rule of the Holy Roman Empire in the Billung and Northern Marches. Hostilities continued until 997.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutici)
985 Eric Thorvaldsson, aka Eric the Red, left Iceland and returned to Greenland establishing his 1st settlement there.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
c985 Montpellier, France, was founded at the intersection of 3 trade and pilgrimage routes.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22)
985-1014 The Brihadeshwarar temple was built in southeastern India’s Tamil Nadu state.
(WSJ, 10/1/04, p.A10)
985-1200 The Chola Kingdom prospered in southern India. Arts flourished and the economy prospered under expanding trade and military conquests. Ganesha, son of Shiva, was the first god invoked at the beginning of a new enterprise.
(WSJ, 10/8/99, p.W14)(WSJ, 10/8/99, p.W14)
986 Mar 2, Lotharius (44), King of France (954-86), died.
(SC, 3/2/02)
c986 Denmark's King Harald Gormsson (b.c958), aka Harald Bluetooth or Harald Blatand, died about this time. He attributed to himself the unification of Denmark and the Christianization of the Danes. He also conquered Norway and raided Normandy. In 974 he was defeated by German emperor Otto II.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetooth)(AM, 11/00, p.21)
986 Greenland's west coast was settled by Icelanders and Norwegians, through a contingent of 14 boats led by Erik the Red.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland)
986 Bjarni Herjolfsson sailed from Norway to Iceland with cargo for his father, who had moved on to Greenland. Herjjolfsson was blown off course and reached Labrador, which he described as "worthless country."
(NG, V184, No. 4, Oct. 1993, p.4)(WSJ, 7/6/04, p.D5)
987 May 21, Louis V, last Carolingian King of France (966-987), died. The Carolingian period of Frankish rule from the dynasty of Pepin the Short ended in France with the death of Louis V (20). [see May 22]
(PCh, 1992, p.78)(AHD, 1971, p.205)(MC, 5/21/02)
987 May 22, Louis V le Faineant (20), the Lazy, king of France (986-87), was allegedly poisoned by his mother. [see May 21]
(MC, 5/22/02)
987 Jul 3, The count of Paris, Hugh Capet (49), became king of France. Paris soon emerged as the center of French political, cultural and religious life, once again becoming the capital.
(PCh, 1992, p.78)(HNQ, 4/18/02)(MC, 7/3/02)
987 Dec 30, French King Hugh Capet crowned his son Robert the Compassionate.
(MC, 12/30/01)
988 May 6, Dirk II, West Frisian count of Holland, died.
(MC, 5/6/02)
988 May 19, Dunstanus, English archbishop of Canterbury, died.
(MC, 5/19/02)
988 Prince Vladimir of Kiev, Volodymyr the Great, accepted Byzantine Orthodoxy. This is the traditional date for the beginning of Russian Christianity. The Kievan Rus ruler was baptized in the ancient Crimean Greek city of Chersonesus before bringing Christianity to the region.
(SSFC, 6/24/01, p.A14)(AP, 8/1/15)(AP, 7/28/18)
989-1020 Ani, a medieval city-site situated in the Turkish province of Kars, beside the border with Armenia, attained the peak of its power during the long reign of King Gagik I (989-1020). It was the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present day Armenia and eastern Turkey. Armenian chroniclers such as Yeghishe and Ghazar Parpetsi first mentioned Ani in the 5th century AD.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani)
990 A set of instructions on chess, the Versus de Scachis (Poem About Chess), emerged in Switzerland about this time. The game had begun in India before the 6th century.
(Arch, 1/05, p.40)(Econ, 10/29/11, p.97)
991 Aug 11, Danes under Olaf Tryggvason killed Ealdorman Brihtnoth and defeated the Saxons at Maldon.
(HN, 8/10/98)
992 Constantinople granted Venetian goods lower tariffs than other merchandise.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R50)
992 Ghana captured its chief trading rival, the Berber town of Audoghast.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.172)
993 The south Indian Cola Empire captured Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka).
(Arch, 7/02, p.34)
994 Nov 7, Muhammad ibn Hazm, historian, jurist, author of Islamic Spain, was born.
(MC, 11/7/01)
994-1035 Life of Canute, later King of England, Denmark and Norway.
(AHD,1971, p.198)
995 Guido d’Arezzo (d.~1049, Italian monk and musical theorist, was born. He is generally credited with developing current musical notation.
(WUD, 1994, p.629)(WSJ, 5/27/97, pB1)
995-1000 In Norway Olaf I was king.
(WUD, 1994, p.1002)
995-1027 Heydey of the Fujiwara Clan in Japan.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
995-1030 Olaf Haraldsson, aka Saint Olaf, the patron saint of Norway. He was king from 1016-1029. He and a crew of Vikings attacked London and pulled down the London Bridge with ropes. This is remembered in the nursery rhyme "London Bridge is falling down..."
(WUD, 1994, p.1002)(SFC, 8/23/97, p.E3)
996 May 21, Otto III (16) was crowned the Roman Emperor by his cousin Pope Gregory V.
(HN, 5/21/98)(MC, 5/21/02)
996 Oct 24, Hugh Capet, king of France (987-96), died at 58.
(MC, 10/24/01)
c996 In Iran the Astan Ghods Ravazi religious foundation was started.
(WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A4)
997 The name "Austria" first appeared in a medieval manuscript.
(WSJ, 4/16/97, p.A16)
997 St. Adalbert was martyred. He brought Christianity to Bohemia.
(SFC, 4/26/97, p.A12)
997 The Polish city of Gdansk was founded. From 1920 to 1939 it was known as the Free City of Danzig.
(SSFC, 3/3/13, p.N4)
c998-1061 Bao Qingtian (Bao Zheng), Chinese judge of the Song Dynasty, had a reputation for sticking up for the common man.
(Econ, 4/23/05, p.43)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bao_Zheng)
999 Feb 18, Gregory V, [Bruno] 1st German Pope, died.
(MC, 2/18/02)
999 Turkish dynasties became the rulers of Transoxania, and area that covered much of what later became Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
(Econ, 7/26/03, p.46)
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