The Vikings Emperor Charlemagne of France (742-814) Charlemagne (742-814) Crowns Louis I the Pious (778-840), 813 Muhammad al-Khwarizmi (780-850) Egbert of Wessex (771-839) Byzantine Emperor Leo V the Armenian (775-820) Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus I (760-811) Krum the Terrible of Bulgaria (-814) Byzantine Emperor Theophilus (813-42)
Pope St. Paschal I (-824) Byzantine Emperor Michael I Rhangabe (770-844) HRE Louis I the Pious (778-840) Omurtag the Builder of Bulgaria (-831) Rurik (830-79) Louis II the Stammerer of France (846-79) Grand Prince Arpad (845-907) Alfred the Great of England (849-99) Charles III the Simple of France (879-929)

T.L. Winslow's Ninth (9th) Century Historyscope 800-899 C.E.

© Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved.

Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise (866-912) apologizing to Christ for marrying too many women, 886 Byzantine Emperor Alexander III (870-913) Charles III the Simple of France (879-929) Simeon I of Bulgaria (864-927) Constantine II of the Picts (-877) Margrave Baldwin I Iron Arm of Flanders (830-79) St. Cyril (826-69) and Methodius (815-85) Book of Kells, 800 Machu Picchu, 800

800 810 820 830 840 850 860 870 880 890

The Ninth (9th) Century C.E. (800-899)



We like pillaging this time of year - what's in your wallet? The Upside-Down 6 Anarchists' Delight Century? The Viking and Muslim Pirate Century in the West, the Bulgar Century in the Balkans, the Golden Age of Learning in Islam, and the Rotten First Reich in Charlemagne's backward Holy Roman Catholic Empire, which starts out triumphantly kicking pagan butt, then runs up against a barrier when they can't figure out how to create a Pope Caesar or a Caesar Pope with cool clothes and bling, and ends up in anarchy in 843, the word challenge makes it sound hard? At least the Saxons finally get around to taking over Angleland, er, England?

After Charlemagne dies in 814 and his empire fractures, the pissed-off pagan Nordic blondes decide to have more fun, with the Norwegians raiding west (Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, North America), the Danes going south and west (British Isles, Low Countries, France, Germany), and the Swedish Rus rowing east across the Slavic lands headed for Mickelgard AKA Constantinople, do I look like I need to watch my weight? Despite the flickering dream of a new Roman Empire, the need to circle the wagons causes the self-sufficient sovereign states of France, Germany, England, Scotland, Russia, Bulgaria, and Hungary to be born while the Roman Catholic papacy goes on a downhill slide, including a female pope? Meanwhile the infidel Muslims decide to keep the unread ancient pagan manuscripts in looted Byzantine cities, then translate them into sweet Arabic, reviving ancient Greek and Roman learning and restarting the cold engine of Science despite being hamstrung with yet another perfect revelation that limits how far they can go, with all lab experiments needing to be interrupted five times a day so they can kowtow to the Big Black Cube in Mecca?


Country Leader From To
Frankish Empire Charlemagne (742-814)) 768 Jan. 28, 814 Charlemagne (768-814)
Eastern Roman Empire Empress Irene (752-803) 780 802 Empress Irene (752-803)
Papacy St. Leo III (750-816) 795 816 Pope St. Leo III (-816)



800 - The century starts out good for the West, with law-and-order Fascism being born along with Europe's First Reich in Europe complete with a hero's welcome for pagan-killing giant Charlemagne in good ole Holy Rome?

Emperor Charlemagne of France (742-814) Map of Charlemagne's Empire Pope Leo III (-816) Crowning Charlemagne, Dec. 25, 800 Book of Kells, 800 Codex Aureus of Lorsch, 780-820 Machu Picchu, 800

800 A cent.-long drought begins in the Yucatan Empire, causing the disintegration of the Mayan civilization. By this time at least half of W Europe is either dense forest or swampland, and cultivation is via the German heavy-wheeled plow, which creates a single long narrow strip in a day's work; most farmers are organized in villages of free peasants, with only a minority living as serfs serving a manorial lord, esp. in France W of the Rhine River, and in the midlands of England. After the exodus of the Germanic Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, Franks, and Lombards, depopulated Germany is filled by the pagan mixed Slavic Wends, who move W from the Baltic states, making the Elbe River the boundary between the Slavic and Western worlds, with German assimilation taking place W of the Oder River; the remaining German tribes incl. the Saxons (NC Germany), East Franks (Lower Rhine), Thuringians (between the Saxons and East Franks), and Bavarians (formerly the Marcomanni) (along the Middle Danube, E Jura, and N Alps) are united by Charlemagne only until his death, after which they return to tribal rivalries. Break out a new roll of calendars and let the races begin? By this time Europe is all about one man, Charles the Great Big Main Man, Emperor of the pope-propelled Holy Roman Empire, a Frankenkingdom controlling France and Germany: Neustria (the Wild West side) around Paris, Austrasia (the Norsed-up North side) around Mainz and Worms, Aquitaine (the Sunny Muslim-facing S side), Brittany (the peninsula W of Neustria) (conquered 799-800), Burgundy (between Neustria and Aquitaine), Gascony (SW France), the Spanish March in the Pyrenees (from Pamplona in the W to Gerona and Barcelona in the E) (777-801), Alamannia in the Black Forest S of Worms, Bavaria (SE of Austrasia) (555-788), Saxony (Sachsen) (N of Austrasia) (777-97), Lombardy (N Italy N of Rome S to the duchy of Benevento) (774 by patrimony), Carinthia (788), Corsica, the Balearic Islands; tributaries incl. the Wiltzes and Sudetes between the Oder and Elbe Rivers, the Bohemians and Moravians between the Oder and Danube Rivers, and the Pannonian (Hungarian) March; Charlemagne has single-handedly shifted the nexus of European power from the Mediterranean to the Rhine; the Kingdom of Asturias controls the NC-NW region of Spain, with the rest controlled by the Caliphate of Cordova (Umayyads, Ommayads, or Ommiads); the Abassid Caliphate (known for its black flag, which is later combined with the green Fatimid flag in the Pan-Arab flag) controls N Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Kurdistan, and Armenia; the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire controls Greece, Macedonia, Anatolia (Asia Minor), Sardinia, Sicily, Cyprus and Crete, and the toe, instep, and heel of Italy's boot (not the arch); the Bulgarians control Moesia below the Danube (N of Macedonia); the Slavs control the SE shore of the Adriatic Sea (Croatia, Albania) as well as the lands N and E of the Carpathians and the Oder River, incl. the Vistula and Pripet River regions down to the Caucasus Mts.; the Estonians control the S shore of the Baltic Sea between the Vistula and Dwina Rivers; the Avars control the region E of the Pannonia March N of the Danube and W of the Carpathians; the Magyars control the N shore of the Black Sea; the Danish Kingdom (Anglians or Angles) controls Denmark (Jutland) and SW Sweden; Britain is divided between Wales (W), Mercia (N), East Anglia (E) and Wessex (S), with Wales divided into the kingdoms of Seisyllwg (W), Gwynedd (N), Powys (E), Carmarthenshire (S), and Pembrokshire (SW) (divided by the Teifi River); about this time the kingdoms of Builth and Gwerthrynion are absorbed by Seisyllwg, giving it the Bay of Cardigan and the Gower Peninsula. The Lion Trinity is born in Rome? On Dec. 23. after being sent back to Rome by Charlemagne and kept in protective custody, Pope Leo III clears himself of Roman accusations of moral turpitude and is reinstated; on Dec. 25 (Christmas Day) Frankish king (since 768) Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus) (Karl der Grosse) (Charles the Great) (742-814) is crowned emperor of Rome by surprise as he is kneeling in prayer in the 4th cent. Church of St. Peter in Rome before St. Peter's tomb, and triple-threat Leo III pops up from the shadows and places a crown on his head, hailing him as Caesar and Augustus, with the rehearsed clergy and people shouting "Charles Augustus, crowned great and peace-loving emperor of the Romans, life and victory", causing Charlemagne to allegedly utter the soundbyte that he would never have entered the church that day if he had known the pope's intentions (he wanted to be crowned emperor in France sans the pope so he wouldn't owe him?); the First Reich begins (ends 1806), with capital at Aachen, which is likened to the New Jerusalem, complete with a throne modeled after King Solomon's; the term "Holy Empire" is used in 1157, and "Holy Roman Empire" in 1254; after trying to mollify the outraged Byzantines for stealing their imperial title by satisfying himself with "emperor, king of the Franks and Lombards", Charlemagne tries to erase the lost years since 476 C.E. and refound the Western Roman Empire (ends 1806), while his master the pope tries to make himself the supreme bishop of Christendom, reserving the title of Pope (Papa), and introducing azymes (unleavened bread) into the Eucharist; too bad, Leo III becomes the only pope in history to bow before an earthly king, but he later backtracks and asserts the right of popes to crown all emperors, who must bow before them, and later artists redraw the scene to make it PC; "... the only authentic nobility is the nobility of Visigothic/Merogingian origin. The Carolingians, then all others, are but usurpers. In effect, they were the functionaries of the king, charged with administering lands - who, after transmitting by heredity their right to govern these lands, then purely and simply seized power for themselves. In consecrating Charlemagne in the year 800, the Church perjured itself, for it had concluded, at the baptism of Clovis, an alliance with the Merovingians which had made France the eldest daughter of the Church" (Mathieu Paoli); too bad, after stirring up the Norse Vikings, the resurrected Western Empire lasts less than 30 years after Charlemagne's 814 death (until 843); at first the game is to challenge the Byzantine emperor's claim of universal temporal sovereignty and not get their butts kicked, and of course he refuses to recognize the elevation of an illiterate barbarian to the imperial purple, but Big Charles starts out to change their minds the tried and tested way with negotiations to marry Empress Irene and unite the two empires (by the power of Dick Almighty, oh those Slim Tips?); meanwhile he requires all males above age 12 to renew their oath of allegiance to both the empire and Christianity, making it a capital offense to refuse baptism, and tries to improve the admin. by dividing the empire into districts ruled by counts who defend the frontiers, while new missi dominici (imperial messengers) are hired to create a comm network; like any good emperor wanting to promote culture, he imports architects from Ravenna to Worms and Cologne to develop Romanesque Architecture (characterized by semi-circular arches, massive thick walls and symmetrical plan, sturdy pillars, groin vaults, large towers, and decorative arcading), and has poems sung to music at his court, which becomes a mecca for learned men from the empire, building up libraries of Greek and Roman mss., while Charlemagne sets an example by learning Latin and Greek (as well as German) and writing a grammar of his own language; his court has twelve peers called Paladins (from "palatine") (palace officers) (great knights) (douzepers) (actually a later fiction mixing up the old Roman Emperor and his Palatine Hill with King Arthur of Britain and his Knights of the Round Table); he also establishes a fleet to guard against Viking attacks in the Channel, causing them to invade Germany instead, discovering the Faroe (Sheep) Islands.; Charlemagne exchanges gifts with Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, and the patriarch of Jerusalem sends Charlemagne the keys of the Anastasis along with some relics; Harun al-Rashid allows him to build a hospice in Jerusalem opposite the Anastasis, along with a church and splendid library; Charles goes on to erect a hostel in the Kidron Valley for pilgrims with 12 rooms and fields, vineyards, and market garden; after his death Latin chronicles claim that the caliph put Charles in er, charge of the Christians of Jerusalem, and wanted to give him the entire Holy Land although he could only make him owner of the Anastasis. A Christian force led by Charlemagne's son Louis I the Pious of Aquitaine, Duke Sancho I of Gascony, Count Leibulf of Provence, and Count Bera of Barcelona marches over the Pyrenees and sieges Muslim-held Barcelona (until 801). The Franks invade Bohemia. In this cent. the Basques, beaten back by Charles Martel, settle in Pamplona, Spain. Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab (756-812), Abbasid gov. of the province of Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia, W Libya, and NE Algeria) (member of the Arab Bani Tamim tribe) founds the Sunni Aghlabid Dynasty (ends 909), which breaks off from the Abbasids while claiming to recognize their overlordship, and becomes known for ungodly luxurious living and discrimination against Muslim Berbers. In this cent. the Arab Muslims launch the African slave trade, which goes on to transport 4M slaves via the Red Sea, 4M through the Swahili ports of the Indian Ocean, 9M along the trans-Saharan caravan route, and 11M-20M across the Atlantic Ocean before petering out in the 19th cent. In this cent. Viking traders begin bringing slaves into Ireland, lasting until the 1000s. In this cent. Vikings found the town of Arklow ("meadow of Arnkell") in County Wicklow at the mouth of the Avoca (Avonmore) River under Arklow Hill on the E coast of Ireland near Dublin (modern-day pop. 14K/13k); the Nineteen Arches Bridge linking the S and N parts (Ferrybank) of town becomes the longest handmade stone bridge in Ireland. About this time Vikings found the town of Wexford ("Veisafjordr" = inlet of the mud flats) on the S side of Wexford Harbor, estuary of the Slaney River near the SE corner of Ireland (modern-day pop. 20K). is founded by the Vikings The village of Erlangen in Bavaria (11 mi. NW of Nuremberg) at the junction of the Schwabach and Regnitz Rivers is founded about this time. Slav tribes migrate to the Oder, Havel and Spree Rivers, and to the Ore Mts. In this cent. the Sican (Sicán) Civilization is founded in N Peru (ends 1375), becoming known for thousands of gold and silver artifacts placed into the tombs of their rulers. In this cent. the Bogomils religious sect is founded in Bulgaria, spreading among the Slavs; God's first born son Satanael goes bad and creates the material world and human beings, who are kept going by the Father with life spirit until God's second son Logos (Christ) comes down from heaven, assumes a phantom body, and breaks his power, reducing his name to Satan; they accept the New Testament but reject the Old Testament except for the Psalms and Prophets, which are interpreted allegorically; they practice severe ascetism, are iconoclasts, and reject the sacraments - where do I sign up? In this cent. ascet monks begin colonizing Meteora (Gr. "middle of the sky") in C Thessaly, Greece. In this cent. the Jewish Qaraites begin interpreting the Torah symbolically, causing the orthodox Rabbanite (Rabbinical) sect to schism, taking every word literally incl. calculating the exact measurements of Jehovah's body and beard. The Norseman settle the Isle of Man, remaining until about 1250, during which time the Manx Tynwald parliament (world's oldest continuous nat. parliament) is founded. In this cent. the city of Machu (Quechuan "old") Picchu (pr. PIK-chu) in SC Peru is founded (rediscovered in 1911). In this cent. the Macedonian city of Beroea (visited by St. Paul) is destroyed by an earthquake. In this cent. the hereditary rank of earl/countess is created in England. About this time Charlemagne standardizes 12 pennies to the shilling and 20 shillings to the pound. In this cent. the Saxons begin ruling England, changing from short hair to long hair parted at the front, and either tied up in back or hanging down; meanwhile the Franks, who like Celts wore it long and tied up in back switch to short hair after Charlemagne does it. In this cent. Irish Catholics begin using the rosary. In this cent. the Medical School of Salerno (Schola Medica Salernitana) in SW Italy is founded in a monastery, making use of Arabic medical texts and reaching its zenith in the 10th-13th cents. In this cent. paper made of linen rags is introduced into Europe from Asia. By this year Spain becomes a leader in soapmaking. By this cent. beer brewing in Germany becomes a privilege of the monasteries, with a peak of 500 monastery breweries incl. 300 in Bavaria by the 11th cent; too bad, the wealth and decadent lifestyle of the monasteries spawns a reaction, starting with the Benedictine abbey of Cluny in Burgundy in 910, followed by the Carthusian abbey of Chartreuse in the French Alps in 1084, and the Cistercian abbey in Citeax in Dijon in 1098, who bring back the ascetic monastic lifestyle by the 12th cent. in 1.5K+ monasteries, although the Cistercians later take up brewing. In this cent. a number of Latin Christian writings are translated into Irish (Gaelic). In this cent. French first appears as a lit. medium; Charlemagne's scholars develop the amazing feat of miniscule handwriting in this decade. Early in this cent. Swedish poet Bragi Boddason the Old, the earliest known Norse poet flourishes; not to be confused with Bragi the Norse god of poetry. The Hildebrandsleid, an Old High German poem is written in this cent. The earliest Persian poetry and lit. appears in this cent. In this cent. Sunni Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid fosters learning in enlightened mind-controlled Islam, while the ignorant mind-controlled Christians grovel in illiteracy; in 799 he begins a genial correspondence with Charlemagne, sending an embassy to his court bearing an elephant, a water clock (which Big C thinks is possessed by the Devil because of the sounds it makes), a splendid tent, and the keys of the Holy Sepulchre as gifts - wait till you see how the kinky do it? In this cent. the Bantu peoples begin to arrive in South Africa. About this time the Kingdom of Takrur (Tekrur) (Tekrour) on the lower Senegal River in W Africa (ends 1285) is founded by Fulani (Fula) (Fulbe) and Serer (Serere) (Sereer) (Seex) (Sine-Sine) people, trading gold, salt, and grain and becoming the rival of the Ghana Empire; about 1030 king War Jabi (Jaabi) converts to Islam, introducing Sharia in 1035 and forcing his subjects to convert, expanding his kingdom to the S, and eventually gaining independence from the Ghana Empire. In this cent. Euro Jews adopt the Jewish Calendar (anno mundi), with Creation set at -3761. In the 9th-10th cents. C.E. communion wafer irons (Fer a Hosties) are invented in Europe, along with Moule a Oublies (wafer irons), which evolve into Waffle Irons after Crusaders of the 11th cent. bring Muslim culinary ingredients back to Europe with them, incl. orange blossom water; the Oublieurs Guild is formed in 1270. Architecture: On Sept. 6 after being built by Bishop Gerfrid (774-800), the Carolingian Cathedral of Laon is consecrated in the presence of Charlemagne; it is rebuilt under bishop Elinand (1052-95), and inaugurated with the 2nd coronation of Philip I. Charlemagne founds the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle. Nonfiction: About this time the Book of Kells (Columba) (named after the Abbey of Kells in County Meath, 40 mi. NW of Dublin) is created, consisting of the Latin Gospels written in Irish majuscule script with fantastic artwork; compiled at Iona?; it orginally has a cover of gold studded with precious stones. About this time (778-820) the Codex Aureus of Lorsch (Gospels) is written in Lorsch Abbey (near Worms), Germany. About this time the Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee and the Irish Litany of Pilgrim Saints are written. In this cent. Hail Brigit is composed, later becoming part of the Book of Leinster (1150); "Sit thou safely enthroned, triumphant Brigit, upon the side of Liffey far as the strand of the ebbing sea". In the 9th-10th cents. C.E. the Toledot Jeshu (Book of the Life of Jesus) is written, calling Jesus Christ a bastard (result of rape of Mary by Roman soldier Joseph Pandera), and accusing him of magic, witchcraft, and a shameful death, becoming a big piece of ammo for anti-Semites incl. Martin Luther; in 1681 Johann Christian Wagenseil pub. a Hebrew version with a Latin trans. titled "Satan's Flaming Arrow" (Tela Ignea Satanae). Art: Li Chen, Five Portraits of Chinese Saints. The wooden Sitting Buddha of Katsuyama statue is sculpted in Katsuyama, Japan, becoming the largest in Japan. Poetry: Anon., Widsith; a poem of 143 lines in Old English is written about this time, about a wandering minstrel who travels across much of Europe meeting kings and princes. Births: Brittany duke #1 (846-51) Nominoe (Nomenoe) (d. 851); 2nd son of Count Erispoe I of Poher (775-812), king of the Browaroch; younger brother of Count Riwallon (Rivallon) III of Poher (-857). Frankish "De Rerum Naturis" Benedictine monk ("Praeceptor Germaniae" = the Teacher of Germany) (St.) Hrabanus (Rabanus) (Rhabanus) Maurus Magnentius (d. 856) in Mainz; feast day: Feb. 4. English bishop of Winchester (852-63) (St.) Swithin (Swithun) (OE "strong bear cub") (d. 863) in Hampshire; tutor to Egbert's son Ethelwulf; feast day: July 15 - on the Ides of July we're all swithin like pigs?



801 - The Catalonia Year?

801 Charlemagne's forces conquer NE Spain as far as the Ebro River, and capture Barcelona after a 2-year siege, creating the county of Catalonia in NE Spain, with Barcelona as capital of the Spanish March, controlled by the Christian heirs of Charlemagne (until 987), which never becomes part of Muslim al-Andalus and thus doesn't get Muslimized or Arabized in its language or architecture. Charlemagne outlaws prostitution. Births: Frankish archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen ("Apostle of the North") (St.) Ansgar (Anskar) (Anschar) (Oscar) (d. 865) on Sept. 8 in Corbie (near Amiens); teacher of St. Rimbert (830-88); feast day: feb. 3. Arab House of Wisdom scholar and mathematician (Muslim) ("the first philosopher of the Arabs") Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Sabbah al-Kindi (Alkindus) (d. 873) in Kufa, Iraq; educated in Basra and Baghdad; one of the first Arab students of the Greek philosophers, incl. Plato and Aristotle, introducing Indian numerals, which get called Arabic numerals by Euros - Greek meets Sheik and kindles a relationship? Deaths: Iraqi mystic Sufi saint Rabia al-Adawiyya (b. 713) near Basra.



802 - Ovos New? The Christian line of English kings starts with a good egg?

Egbert of Wessex (771-839) Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus I (760-811) Krum the Terrible of Bulgaria (-814)

802 In Jan. after Beorhtric is accidentally poisoned by his wife Eadburh, Egbert (Ecgberht) (Ecgbriht) (771-839) returns from exile in France under Charlemagne's protection to become the 17th (who cares anymore?) king of Wessex (until 839), and its first Christian king, the first good egg, later counted as the first monarch of England, proceeding to deal with pretty-woman-walking-down-the-street pagan Mercia to the N; Eadburh flees to France, muffs a chance to marry Charlemagne, and becomes abbess of a convent, but is caught hooking up with an Englishman and expelled, becoming a beggar in Pavia; King Alfred's ancestors are so pissed-off at her that they refuse to call their wives queen, preferring Lady of the English (hlaefdige). We'll lick your problems? In Oct. as negotiations are underway to marry Charlemagne and reunite the empires, the patricians under iconoclast finance minister Nicephorus (Nikephoros) I (760-811) revolt and depose Empress/Emperor (since 797) Irene, then exile her to the isle of Lesbos; he is crowned as Roman Byzantine emperor #126 (until July 26, 811), reviving the Iconoclast War and founding the Nikephorian Dynasty (ends 813). The Vikings sack and burn the monastery of Iona, and begin dominating Scotland. Kardam dies, and after kicking Avar butt and earning his laurels, Prince Krum the Terrible (Fearsome) (-814) of the Pannonian branch of the Dulo tribe becomes ruler (khan) of the pagan Bulgarians (until 814), going on to become one the biggest crumbly cheeses in Bulgarian history. The Angkor Kingdom is established in Cambodia; the city of Mahendraparvata in Cambodia is built. Charlemagne orders Germanic tribal laws codified. Architecture: Munster Monastery in Germany is begun (finished 809), with St. Ludger as bishop. The Olviedo Chapel in Olviedo, Spain is built. Deaths: Christian bishop St. Paulinus II (b. 730) in Aquileia.

803 On Oct. 12 after King Coenwulf of Mercia writes the pope in 798 begging him to do it, the Fifth Council of Clovesho sees the abolition of the 787 archbishopric of Lichfield confirmed, and the Mercian sees restored to the province of Canterbury by the authority of Pope Leo III; Canterbury is restored as metropolian see - can't mess with Canterbury? Charlemagne's forces, led by Guillaume d'Orange ("Fierabrace") avenge the 793 Battle of Villedaigne by invading Spain, freeing Andorra from the Saracens, and capturing Barcelona, causing him to become a principal hero in French Chansons de Geste (OF "songs of heroic deeds or lineages"), incl. Chanson de Fierabras ("brave arm") (about a Saracen knight who is the son of king Balan of Spain, and who fights Roland and the Twelve Peers, converts to Christianity, and fights for Charlemagne), and Chanson de Aliscans (a fictional battle in Alescans, France between the pagans and Christians). The Bulgarians under Krum the Terrible free themselves from Tartar dominance - krummy tartar spoils one's gregariousness? The Byzantines recognize the independence of Venice. Caliph Harun al-Rashid kills or imprisons the Barmakid administators after they become too powerful, ending the reign of the Barmakid family in Baghdad (begun 786) - the original Yahya sisterhood? Art: The Mosaics in the Church of St. Germain-des-Pres are created. Deaths: Byzantine empress (780-802) Irene (b. 752) on Aug. 9 on Lesbos - a Lesbian to the end?

804 A great storm in Ireland erodes the coast of County Clare, Ireland, and splits Mutton Island into three parts, killing 1,010. "Sword and Cross" Charlemagne wins the last war against the sad sack pagan Saxons, extending his domain into the Elbe River Valley, and awarding Holstein (incl. Hamburg) to his allies the Slavic Obotrites for their help; his brutual subjugation of Germany causes the Norse to see their chance, encouraging raids?; "The subjugation of Germany withdrew the veil which had so long concealed the continent or islands of Scandinavia from the knowledge of Europe, and awakened the torpid courage of their barbarous natives" - Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Ch. 49. Births: Persian Sufi mystic Bayazid (Abu Yazid) al-Bistami (d. 874) in Bistam, Qumis; founder of the Drunken (Sukr) School of Sufism, which claims personal union with the divine. Deaths: Chinese writer Lu Yu (b. 733). English ecclesiastical scholar Alcuin (b. 735) on May 19 in St. Martin of Tours; leaves approx. 300 letters.

Chinese Emperor Tang Xian Zong (778-820)

805 On May 12 Canterbury archbishop (since 793) Aethelhard dies, and Wulfred (-832) becomes archbishop of Canterbury (until Mar. 24, 832). On Sept. 5 Tang Sun Zong dies, and Tang Xian Zong (778-820) becomes Tang emperor #11 of China (until Feb. 14, 820), allowing the eunuchs to seize control. The Muwallads of Cordoba revolt against the Umayyads under Hakim I, and are put down, but not severely enough to keep them from plotting a repeat (814). Nagabhata II (-833) becomes king #4 of the Gurjara-Pratihara Dynasty (until 833), going on to defeat the rulers of Andhra, Vidarbha, Kalinga, Matsyas, Vatsas, Saomdjava, W Saurashtra, and Chakrayudh at Kannauj, also the Turks; too bad, he is defeated by Rashtrakuta emperor Govinda III, losing Malwa and Gujarat, then recovers Malwa and conquers Kannauj and the Ganges Plain as far as Bihar from the Palas while checking Muslim attacks in the W, making Kannauj (Kanauj) (Kanyakubja) (Mahodaya) (Cannodge) in N India ("perfume capital of India") his capital for nearly 3 cents., ending the Tripartite Struggle in N India between the Pala Empire, the Pratihara Empire, and the Rashtrakuta Empire. Tea is introduced from China into Japan by Buddhist saint Dengyo Daishi. Births: German theologian-poet Gottschalk (Godescalc) (Gotteschalchus) of Orbais (d. 870) (AKA Fulgentius); advocate of the doctrine of 2-fold predestination.

806 On June 4 there is a lunar eclipse in Britain, followed by a solar ring eclipse on Aug. 30; meanwhile there is a plague in Ireland. The Columban Monastery of Iona is sacked and burned yet again by the Vikings after killing 63 monks on the beach; the 7th cent. Book of Kells (ornamented vellum copy of the Gospels created in the monastery) is taken back to Ireland. The Partition of Thionville assigns Charlemagne's son Charles II the territory of frizzled Frisia; too bad he dies early in 811; the Lex Frisionum (Law Code of the Frisians) is instituted for the pork-fried Frisians, featuring the soundbyte "If anyone breaks into a shrine and steals sacred items, he shall be taken to the sea, and on the sand, which will be covered by the water, his ears will be cleft, and he will be castrated and sacrificed to the god whose temple he dishonored" - keep your free catheter sample pack? Pamplona is conquered by the Franks. Emperor (since 781) Kammu (b. 737) dies, and his son Heizei (774-824) becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #51 (until 809). Architecture: The oratory at Germigny-des-Pres (Germigny-des-Prés) in Germaniacus is built by Bishop Theodulf of Orleans as part of his Gallo-Roman villa, featuring a mosaic of the Ark of the Covenant, which survives to modern times. Births: German Bavarian king (817-76) and Eastern Frankish king (843-76) Louis (Ludwig) II (the German) (Bavarian) (d. 876); 3rd son of Louis I the Pious (778-840) and 1st wife Ermengarde (Irmengarde) of Hesbaye (778-818); brother of Lothair I (795-855) and Pepin I (797-838); half-brother of Charles II the Bald (823-77); father of Carloman (830-80), Louis III the Younger (835-82), and Charles the Fat (839-88). Deaths: Japanese Yamato emperor #50 (781-806) Kammu (b. 737).

807 The Vikings raid Ireland again; meanwhile a solar eclipse is recorded in Britain. Constantine I Mac Fergus of the Scots defeats and kills Conall Mac Tadc in Kintyre, and begins ruling both Scotland and Pictland, leading a migration of Viking-fleeing Scots E into Pictland while trying to prevent any Pictish clans from gaining power and trying to establish ties with the monastery of St. Andrews in order to make himself the Constantine the Great of Scotland? The Franks and Byzantines go to war. An imperial fleet puts down an uprising in Venice against Emperor Nicephorus I. Charlemagne sends more emissaries to Baghdad in an attempt to negotiate better Christian access to holy sites in Jerusalem. Caliph Harun al-Rashid orders some Nestorian Christian churches to be torn down. In 807 there are riots in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem between Greek Eastern Orthodox and Latin Catholics. Nonfiction: Ferdomnach, The Book of Armagh.



808 - The Hamburg Year?

808 An earthquake in Jerusalem severely damages the Dome of the Rock. Charlemagne founds the fortress of Hammaburg (finished 830) in the area of ancient Treva to defend against Slavic incursion, later growing into the town of Hamburg (Old Saxon "ham" = banks) (modern-day pop. 1.8M/5.1M) on the N branch of the Elbe River at its confluence with the Alster River about 75 mi. from the North Sea, and the county of Brandenburg. By this year Fez, founded by Idris II becomes the capital of Morocco. Births: German scholar (Alemannic Benedictine abbot of Reichenau Island) Walafrid (Walafried) (Walahfrid) Strabo (Strabus) ("the Squinter") (d. 849) in Swabia.

Caliph Al-Amin of Baghdad (-813) Count Aznar Galindez I of Aragon (-839) Japanese Emperor Saga (785-842) Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758-811)

809 A lunar eclipse is recorded in Britain. On Mar. 24 Caliph Harun al-Rashid (b. 763), hero of the "Arabian Nights" dies in Tus, Persia on his way to stop unrest in Khorasan, and his son Al-Amin (Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid) (787-813) succeeds as Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, but his brother Al-Ma'mun (Abu Ja'far Abdullah al-Ma'mun ibn Harun) (786-833) vies for the throne. The Bulgarians under Khan Krum begin a 4-year war with the Byzantines (until 813), and start by conquering Sardica (modern-day Sofia), renaming it Sredetz; the Greeks retaliate, sacking the Bulgarian capital of Pliska. Aznar (Asnar) Galindez I (-839) is created count of Aragon and Conflent in Spain by Pepin I of Aquitaine (until 839). Emperor (since 806) Heizei (b. 774) abdicates after falling ill in favor of his younger brother Saga (785-842), who becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #52 (until 823), and makes news by becoming the first emperor to drink tea, and spawning burnin' hunk of love grandson Minamoto no Toru (822-95), the inspiration for Hikaru Genji in "The Tale of Genji"; too bad, Saga also falls ill, while Heizei recovers and starts a rebellion in Nara, but gen. Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758-811) defeats him after constructing huge lanterns on tops of the hills that attract Heizei's forces into a trap, after which annual celebrations are held in Aomori Prefecture featuring giant illuminated paper floats. Charlemagne, who can read but not write, and "wanted to add a word or two to the creed, just as the Emperor William II wanted to write operas and paint pictures" (H.G. Wells) proposes at the Synod of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) to adopt the filioque (the words "filio que" added to the Nicene Creed), so that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son instead of the Father alone, but Pope Leo III rejects it, after which it is deliberately reinstated to force a break with the Greek Church? Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I signs a humiliating treaty with Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid of Baghdad. Agnello Participazio (Badoer) (-827) becomes dodge of Venice (until 827), going on to defend Venice against the Franks so well that his descendants succeed him until 942. Architecture: The Cairo Hospital is built, also housing mental patients. Munster Monastery (begun 802) is finished - by Herman Munster? Births: Chinese Tang emperor #13 (824-27) Jing Zong (Jingzong) (Li Zhan) (d. 827) on July 22; eldest son of Mu Zong (794-824); elder brother of Wen Zong (809-40). Chinese Tang emperor #14 (827-40) Wen Zong (Wenzong) (Li Ang) (Li Ne) (d. 840) on Nov. 20; 2nd son of Mu Zong (794-824); younger brother of Jing Zong (809-27). Arab physician-scientist-mathematician (Nestorian Christian) (#1 House of Wisdom translator) ("Sheikh of the Translators") Hunayn ibn Ishaq (Abu Zayd Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Ibadi) (d. 873) in Al-Hira. Deaths: Abbasid caliph #5 (786-809) Harun al-Rashid (b. 763) on Mar. 24 in Tun.



810 - The Fits-Giving Nennius Year?

Muhammad al-Khwarizmi (780-850)

810 A lunar eclipse followed by cattle deaths is recorded in Britain. On July 8 after sieging Venice for 6 mo., suffering from diseases caused by the local swamps and withdrawing, Charlemagne's 3rd son Pepin of Italy (b. 773) dies, and his illegitimate son Bernard (797-818) becomes king of Italy (until 818). Viking chief Gottfrid (Godfred) of Denmark invades Frisia with 200 ships, and breaks the defenses organized by Charlemagne, extorting a tribute of 100 pounds of silver from the local lords before dying. The Moors conquer Corsica (until 930). Architecture: The Mosque of Mulai Idris in Fez, Morocco is built, becoming one of its first. Births: Japanese Yamato emperor #54 (833-50) Ninmyo (Masara) (d. 850); 2nd son of Saga (786-842). Scottish king #1 (843-58) Kenneth (Cinaed) MacAlpin (Mac Alpin) (Kenneth I) (d. 858) in Iona. Persian Islamic Sunni scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari (d. 870) on July 20 in Bukhara (Uzbekistan). Chinese Tang emperor (846-59) Xuan Zong (Li Yi) (Li Chen) (d. 859) on July 27; 13th son of Xian Zong; uncle of Jing Zong, Wen Zong, and Wu Zong. Deaths: Frankish king of Italy (781-810) Pepin of Italy (b. 773) on July 8.

Byzantine Emperor Staurakios (-812) Byzantine Emperor Michael I Rhangabe (770-844)

811 On July 26 after Byzantine emperor (since 802) Nicephorus I launches a spring campaign against the Bulgars and sacks Pliska again, he is ambushed and KIA in Varbitsa Pass, becoming the first Roman emperor KIA in battle since Valens; he is succeeded on July 26 by his son Staurakios (Stauracius) (-812) as Roman Byzantine emperor #127, who is severely wounded in the same battle and is forced into retirement by his brother-in-law Michael I Rhangabe (770-844), who on Oct. 2 becomes Roman Byzantine emperor #127 (until June 22, 813), elevating his son Theophylactus (Theophylaktos) (793-) to co-emperor on Dec. 25 (until July 11, 813), going on to junk Nicephorus I's high tax program, reduce imperial income, and generously distribute money to the bureaucracy, army, and orthodox party in the Church, persecuting iconoclasts; Nicephorus' skull is made into a drinking cup for Khan Krum? - is that considered a sacred image? Charlemagne extends his pagan conversion campaign around Hammaburg and founds a Christian church near it, which grows into the center of Christian civilization in N Europe, inviting frequent attacks by the holdouts and backsliders. Births: Arab Shiite imam #9 Muhammad al-Taqi (al-Jawad) (d. 835) on Apr. 8 in Medina; father of Ali al-Hadi (827-68). Roman Byzantine emperor #132 (867-86) Basil I (the Macedonian) (d. 886); husband of Eudokia Ingerina; father of Leo IV the Wise (866-912) and Alexander (872-913). Deaths: Arab lyric court poet Abu Nuwas (al-Hasan ibn Hani) (b. 750); "Come, Suleiman, sing to me,/ And the wine, quick, bring to me./ While the flask goes twinkling round,/ Pour me a cup that leaves me drowned/ With oblivion, ne'er so night/ Let the shrill muezzin cry"; "Accumulate as many sins as thou canst:/ The Lord is ready to relax His ire./ When the Day comes, forgiveness thou wilt find/ Before a mighty King and gracious Sire;/ And gnaw thy fingers, all that joy regretting/ Which thou didst leave through terror of hell-fire." Japanese shogun Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (b. 758). Deaths: Frankish prince Pepin the Hunchback (b. 767) in Prum.



812 - The Limerick Year?

Kukai (774-835)

812 On Jan. 11 Byzantine emperor (since 811) Staurakios dies of wounds incurred at the Battle of Pliska. Thrace and Macedonia are overrun by the Bulgars, who take the key Byzantine fortress of Mesembria in Thrace, and now control a great part of the Balkan Peninsula; now that they are beaten and might need their help, Byzantine envoys from Michael I Rhangabe formally recognize Charlemagne as Latin emperor and augustus - are you comfortable with that sort of public embarrassment? Pamplona revolts, and is conquered again by the Franks. Frankish Holy Roman Emperor (HRE) #1 (800-14) Charlemagne (Charles the Great) (742-814) pub. Capitulare de villis vel curtis imperii, detailed regulations for crown lands, incl. breweries; "We wish that the intendant on duty bring before our person samples of beer. We also wish that they bring along their brewmaster so that they can brew for us good beer in our presence" (para. 61); "The administrators have to make sure that workers who use their hands in the preparation of beer, keep themselves especially clean" (para. 34); "We also wish that our intendants compose an annual inventory ledger at Christmas time. We also want a list of the beers they brew so that we know which quantities of the different products are available" (para. 62); these regs. later form the basis of most commercial brewing in France, Germany, and C Europe. Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab (b. 756) dies, and his son Abdallah I (-817) becomes emir #2 of the Aghlabid Dynasty in Ifriqya (until 817). The fortress of Deganwy in Gwynedd, Wales is struck by lightning and burns down. The Vikings found the city of Limerick (Luimneach) (Loch Luimnigh) (modern-day pop. 94K/162K) in midwest Ireland (Munster) as a walled city on King's Island in the Shannon River. Kukai (774-835), head of the Todai-ji Temple in Nara since 810 becomes the #1 Buddhist monk of Japan, going on to codify their aims and practices in The Admonishments of Konin (Konin no Goyuikai) (813), and begins to move his HQ to Mount Koya S of Osaka in 819.



813 - The Diet of Aix-la-Chapelle Year?

Byzantine Emperor Leo V the Armenian (775-820) Charlemagne (742-814) Crowns Louis I the Pious (778-840), 813 Caliph Al-Ma'mun (786-833)

813 On June 22 Khan Krum's striving, winning Bulgarians move S into Thrace and win another V against a 10-times-bigger Byzantine army at the Battle of Versinikia, causing the remnants to flee to Constantinople, after which emperor (since Oct. 2, 811) Michael I Rhangabe is deposed and exiled, and Armenian gen. Leo V the Armenian (775-820) (who deserted him at Versinicia to set him up?) becomes Roman Byzantine emperor #128 (until Dec. 25, 820), starting the Second Iconoclasm (ends 842); when the Bulgars arrive they find the city walls impregnable, spending some time taunting the pop. by sacrificing (burning) Byzantine captives and animals to their god Tantra while they watch, after which Krumball is offered a parley on the shore of the Golden Horn, which turns out to be an assassination trap, pissing him off and causing him to decimate the city's suburbs, incl. churches and monasteries, followed by Selymbria, Heraclea, Doanin, Rhaedestus, Aprus, and Adrianople, whose pop. he takes into slavery; meanwhile Leo V ambushes him at the Battle of Leo's Hill near Mesembria, sending part of his army out on the plains while he and the rest hide behind a hill, then springing into the battle, mowing down every Bulgar they can, incl. children. In Sept. his other legitimate sons having died (Pepin in 810, Charles in 811), Charlemagne has his 3rd and last remaining lucky son Louis I the Pious (b. 778) (king of Aquitaine) crowned co-emperor of the Holy Roman Empire at the Diet of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) Cathedral (a Frankish tribal council, becoming the first use of the term "diet"); Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) becomes the HRE coronation city (until 1531); retired Jewish prince of Septimania (St.) Guillaume (William) (Guillem) (the Hook-Nosed) de Gellone (of Orange) (755-814), duke of Narbonne and Toulouse (790-806) (a Peer of Charlemagne) places the crown on his head, with Louis I uttering the soundbyte: "Lord William... it is your lineage that has raised up mine" - I can get anybody for nothing, take a walk? On Dec. 25 Leo V the Armenian crowns his son Symbatios as co-emperor Constantine (until 820). The Synod of Mainz decrees four days of public Christmas celebrations. Despite the 10-year truck of 805, the Arab Muslims begin a cent.-long attempt to invade and conquer Italy, starting with a surprise attack on Centumcellae (Civitavecchia) 80km WNW of Rome, also attacking Sardinia, Corsica, and Lampedusa; Sicily signs a 10-year truce with them. Al-Mamun (al-Ma'mun) (Arab. "trustworthy") (786-833) wins the power struggle, murders his brother Al-Amin (Arab. "honest"), and becomes Abbasid caliph (until 833), going on to have a dream about meeting Aristotle and sending scholars to Constantinople to retrieve ancient Greek mss. on science for trans., founding his own House of Wisdom in Baghdad in 830 at a cost of 200K dinars, complete with a library, observatory, and staff of translators. The title of duke of Gascony becomes hereditary. Births: Roman Byzantine emperor #130 (829-42)Theophilos (Theophilus) (d. 842); son of Michael II (770-829) and Thekla (-823).



814 - The Age of Charlemagne ends, and his successor Louis I the Pious immediately starts frittering it all away?

HRE Louis I the Pious (778-840) Omurtag the Builder of Bulgaria (-831)

814 On Jan. 28 Charlemagne (b. 742) dies of hachenkoffen in Aachen, and his fair debonaire Palace School-educated son Louis (Ludwig) I (the Pious) (the Fair) (the Debonaire) (778-840) hears the good, er, bad news in Doue-la-Fontaine, Anjou, and rushes to Aachen, where he is proclaimed by the nobles with shouts of "Vivat imperator Ludovicus", becoming king of the West Franks, going on to become dominated by monks and neglect his kingdom's defenses in favor of religious reform, led by Augustinian Benedictine monk and ideologue ("the second Benedict") (St.) Benedict of Aniane (Witiza) (747-821), gaining him the new appellation "the Pious" - somehow that doesn't go with the Debonaire? On Apr. 13 after beginning a winter campaign with a first assault of 30K men penetrating S to Arcadiopolis and taking 50K slaves, followed by a 2nd assault in the spring headed straight for Constantinople, Khan Krum (canned crumbs?) dies, and his son Omurtag (Omortag) (the Builder) (-831) becomes khan of the First Bulgarian Empire (until 831), carrying on his daddy's war with the Byzantine Greeks, and getting his butt kicked, concluding a 30-year peace with them, then returning to Adrianople and the fortress of Mesembria; preferring lap dances to pillaging and rape, Omurtag begins building palaces in Pliska, and founds the new capital city of Preslav (Presthlava) (until 971), known for stone inscriptions in Greek. The Muwallads of Cordoba revolt again, and are put down mercilessly, with 9.5K expelled, of which 8: go to Fez and 1.5K to Alexandria. Christian Saxon King Egbert of Wessex conquers Kernow (Cornwall), but cannot subjugate it until next year. The Iconoclastic Controversy breaks out with renewed violence in the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Leo V the Armenian - remember I have diplomatic immunity in 46 countries, including Puerto Rico? Govinda III dies, and in 815 his son Amoghavarsha I (Amoghavarsha Nrupathunga I) (-878) becomes the emperor #6 of the Rashakutra Empire in India (until 878), moving the capital from Mayurkhandi to Manyakheta in modern-day Karnataka, dedicated to Indra, permitting Muslims to build mosques and earning the title "Ashoka of the South", becoming the greatest Rashakutra emperor. Architecture: Speaking of making every day Christmas, the alleged tomb of St. James the Greater, brother of St. John the Evangelist is discovered by a shepherd at Santiago de Compostela (Compostella) (Sp. "St. James of the Field of the Star") in NW Spain when a star miraculously exposes it in the campus stella (field of the star); the first pilgrim is king Alfonso II of Asturias; the first money-making church is erected by 899, after which the town becomes the center of a Spanish nat. cult, and one of the great centers of pilgrimage in W Europe, raking in the bling and encouraging the Reconquista; St. James the Greater never preached in Spain, and the first mention of his mission there is in the 7th cent. After moving his seat from Malamocco Island to Rialto in 810, the first Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale or Palaaso Dogal) in Venice is begun by Doge Angelo Partecipazio; it burns in 976. Births: Chinese Tang emperor #15 (840-6) Wu Zong (Wuzong) (Li Chan) (Li Yan) (d. 846) on July 2; 5th son of Li heng. Deaths: Frankish king (768-814) and HRE #1 (800-14) Charlemagne (b. 747) on Jan. 28 (9:00 a.m.) in Aachen (pleurisy). French count of Toulouse (790-806) St. William of Gellone (b. 755) on May 28 in Gellone.

Jabir (Geber) (-815)

815 Egbert of Wessex finishes subjugating the Britons of Cornwall, giving one-tenth of the land to the Roman Catholic Church - Druid King Arthur rolls over in his grave? HRE Louis I the Pious sends his sons Lothair I and Pepin I to govern Bavaria and Aquitaine respectively, although without royal titles. Byzantine emperor Constantine (Symbatios) presides over a church council in Constantinople which reinstates the ban on veneration of icons. Japanese Emperor Saga samples tea at a monastery and likes it so much that he has it cultivated in provinces near the capital, and by the end of the cent. Japan doesn't need to import it from China - how to do the clothes, how to do the hair? Births: Irish Scholastic pantheist theologian-philosopher (in France) Johannes Scotus (Gael. "Gaelic") Erigena (Eriugena) (Ierugena) (Lat. "Irish-born") (Scottigena") ("Scot-born") (d. 880) in Ireland; Scottish parents; moves to France at age 30; not to be confused with John Duns Scotus (266-1308). Arab Muslim scientist-historian Abu Hanifah Ahmad ibn Daud al-Dinawari (d. 895). Byzantine patriarch of Constantinople (857-67) Photius (d. 897); nephew of patriarch Tarasius. Deaths: Arab chemist Gebir (b. 721) in Kufa, Iraq; dies after allegedly discovering methods for preparing sulfuric acid, nitric acid, aqua regia, and silver nitrate; by the 10th cent. 100+ anon. works are written using his name, after which Euro alchemists of the 12th and 13th cents. escape the Inquisition by doing ditto. Jewish scholar Mashallah (b. ?); leaves De Scientia Motus Orbis (later tr. from Arabic to Latin by Gerard of Cremona), and De Mercibus (On Prices), oldest known scientific work in the Arabic language.

Pope Stephen V (-817)

816 On June 12 Pope (since 795) Leo III (b. 750) dies, and on June 22 Pope (#99) Stephen V (IV) (-817) is elected, travelling to Rheims to crown Louis I the Pious as HRE in Rheims, strengthening the papacy by making his presence at imperial coronations seem like a requirement; not satisfied with that, he makes a play, and even though Louis I's daddy Charlemagne schooled his son to take the crown from the altar and crown himself, he whimps out when the pope objects and lets him do it; not being called the Pious for nothing, Louis I gets rid of his father's mistresses, banishes his loose unmarried sisters to nunneries to stop the dirty business of marrying them off for political reasons, reforms the Church, and gives aid to the poor, all of which is too Christlike to keep his daddy's empire up to its old Roman glory, and it begins to decline in importance. Cynan Dindaethwy dies, and his brother Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog (-825) becomes king of Gwynedd in Wales (until 825). Heretic Khurramiyya movement founder Babak Khorrami (Khorram-Din) (-838) (a sect claiming that Abu Muslim is the Mahdi and denies his death) begins a revolt in Azerbaijan (ends 838), espousing the doctrines of Mazdak (d. 528) with regard to shared property and women, and advocating the doctrine of tanasukh (transmigration of souls), which kind of sucks to Muslims and rubs them the wrong way? The Second Synod of Chelsea is called by Cenwulf of Mercia to limit the power of Canterbury archbishop Wulfred; it rules on baptism, church property, and relics. Architecture: Abbot Gosbert founds the St. Gallen Library. Deaths: Italian pope (795-816) Leo III (b. 750) on June 12.



817 - The Fat Cow Frankish Partition 100th Pope St. Paschal I Year?

Pope St. Paschal I (-824) Louis II the German (806-76)

817 On Jan. 24 Pope (since 816) Stephen V dies, and on Jan. 25 Pope (#100) (St.) Paschal I (-824) is elected, and Louis I the Pious gives him the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, with the Pactum Hludovicianum confirming papal territory; Paschal likes to dig up the catacombs, eventually "translating" some 2.3K martyrs. In Mar. Caliph al-Ma'mun appoints Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (765-818), the 8th Shiite imam (20 years older) as his heir to placate the Shiites, knowing he's on his last legs? It's not how you're covered it's how you're treated? On our way to Best in Show? The Partition of 817 begins the mitosis of W Europe into France and Germany? On Apr. ? (Maundy Thur.) Louis I the Pious is piously crossing a wooden gallery from the cathedral to the palace in Aix-la-Chapelle when it collapses, almost killing him and making him think about plans for his succession, and 3 mo. later in July he issues the Ordinatio Imperii at the Assembly of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aaachen), partitioning the Frankish Empire while confirming the existence of the Papal States; his eldest son Lothair (Lothar) (Lothaire) I (795-855) is made co-emperor, sharing Francia, both German and Gallic, plus most of Burgundy with his father; his 2nd son Pepin (Pippin) I (797-838) receives Aquitaine and Gascony, incl. the march around Toulouse, and parts of Burgundy and Septimania (Carcassonne, Autun, Avallon, Nevers) as subking; his 3rd son Louis (Ludwig) II the German (Bavarian) (806-76) receives Bavaria and the marches to the E as subking, undivided, although he does not begin governing his lands until 825. St. Benedict of Aniane writes the Monastic Constitutions for the Carolingian monasteries of Louis the Pious, recognizing that monks no longer support themselves solely with physical labor but perform educational, political, and educational functions. Wikiwiki wahine, bring the kau kau for the lu'au, mahalo? A group of 58 Bora-Borans led by King Tamatoa ("warrior") VI (784-837), his wife Natabu (786-855), and his brother Teroro ("brain") (790-860), preferring their gods Tane (Earth) and Ta'aroa (Sea) flee the Havaiki priesthood and their human sacrifice god Red Oro, and strike out in the canoe Wait-for-the-West-Wind, miss the intended destination of Nuku Hiva, and discover Havaiki-of-the-North, AKA James Michener's Hawaii (1959), bringing chickens, pigs, dogs, breadfruit, taro, bananas, coconuts, pandanus (screw pine), sugar cane, sweet potatoes, palms, and rats (and later flowers and the god Pele) with them to this food-poor volcanic paradise? Nonfiction: Kukai (774-835), Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence; The Meaning of Sound, Word, and Reality; Meanings of the Word Hum.



818 - The Louis I the Pious Red Hot Stiletto Year?

Imam Reza Shrine

818 On Apr. 17 after king (since 810) Bernard of Italy (b. 797) gets pissed off at being made a vassal of his cousin Lothair I by his uncle Louis I the Pious and plots against him, he is found out and blinded in Milan with a red hot stilleto, which kills him two days later; after some dirty laundry is taken care of (jailings, tonsuring, and confinement in monasteries, etc.), the kingdom of Italy is reabsorbed into the Frankish Empire, and given to Louis I's eldest son Lothair I; meanwhile since Louis is so pious, his guilt over killing Bernard catches up with him, and he does public penance in Attigny in 822. The Croats unsuccessfully revolt against the Franks. Caliph Al-Ma'mun puts down an attempted coup in Baghdad. Umayaad, Jewish, and other refugees from Muslim Spain settle in Morocco. Deaths: Arab Shiite imam #8 Ali al-Rida (al-Reza) (b. 765) on June 6 in Tus, Persia (martyred); poisoned with poison grapes by Al-Ma'mum; buried beside the grave of Harun in Mashhad, Persia (Arab. "place of martyrdom", "shrine") in Khorasan in NE Persia (modern-day pop. 3.0M/3.3M) where the Imam al-Reza (al-Rida) Shrine is later built, visited by up to 20M pilgrims a year in modern times. Frankish Italian king (810-8) Bernard (b. 797) on Apr. 19 in Milan (murdered with a red hot stiletto).

819 The Abbasid capital is moved back to Baghdad. Louis I the Pious marries Judith (Iudit) of Bavaria (805-43), daughter of Count Welf I and Duchess Hedwig of Bavaria (780-826). Deaths: Chinese essayist-poet Liu Tsung Yuan (b. 773).



820 - The Michael II the Stammerer Year?

Byzantine Emperor Michael II the Stammerer (770-829) Shankara (788-820) Dupplin Cross

820 On Feb. 14 Tang Xian Zong is murdered by eunuchs, who on Feb. 20 install Tang Mu Zong (Li Heng) (Li You) (795-824) as Tang emperor #12 of China (until Feb. 25, 824); after Li Zhongwen is demoted, a rebellion begins. On Dec. 25 (a.m.) iconoclast emperor (since 813) Leo V the Armenian (b. 775) is hacked down while listening to Christmas hymns at the palace Chapel of St. Stephen by a gang of assassins disguised as monks working for his jailed (for conspiracy) military cmdr. Michael II (the Amorian) (the Stammerer) (770-829), although they mistakenly attack the officiating priest first, giving him time to grab a heavy cross from the altar and put up a fight first; after being rescued from the dungeons with his leg irons still on, Michael II is crowned as Roman Byzantine emperor #129 (until Oct. 2, 829), going on to exile Leo's mother and wife Theodosia to monasteries on the Princes' Islands, castrate and tonsure his four sons (incl. co-emperor Symbatios) and exile them to Prote as monks, and crown Theophilus as co-emperor; the 1-emperor Syrian Dynasty ends, and the Amorian (Phyrgian) Dynasty begins (ends 867). Constantine I Mac Fergus dies, and his brother Angus (Oengus) II Mac Fergus (-834) becomes king of the Scots, also ruling the Picts, and going on to found the Dunkeld Monastery (to which the relics of St. Columba are brought after Iona is abandoned to the pesky Vikings) and a new palace at Forteviot in Strathearn S of Perth, modeled after the Carolingian palaces at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) and Maastrict; he also builds the Dupplin Cross. Cork and Clonfert Abbey abbot Fedelmid mac Crimthainn (-847) of the Cenel Fingin sept of the Eoganacht Chaisil becomes king of Munster in Ireland, later being considered a saint. Aznar Galindez I (d. 839) allies with the Basques to fight the Banu Qasi of the Ebro Valley, causing his son-in-law Garcia Galindez the Bad (-833) to depose him and become count of Aragon and Conflent (until 833); meanwhile Borrell dies, and Ausona is given to count Rampo of Barcelona, while the counties of Urgell and Cerdanya (Cerdagne) are granted to Galindez by way of compensation. In this decade Pavia in N Italy becomes a center of science and lit. - when do they get over their ADHD? A Carolingian Christian mission is welcomed by pagan king Bjorn of Sweden - what are my arms for, use your imagination? Architecture: The Benedictine Abbey of Montauriol is founded in Montis Albani, Toulouse. Nonfiction: Euclid's Elements becomes the first ancient mathematics tr. from Greek into Arabic by the House of Wisdom in Baghdad; meanwhile about this year Persian Muslim House of Wisdom mathematician Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (780-850) pub. Al-kitab al-mukhtasar fi hisab al-gabr wa'l-muqabala (The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing), which is tr. into Latin in 1145 by Robert of Chester under the title Liber algebrae et almucabola, coining the terms "algebra" (Arab. "reuniting", "restoration"), "algorithm, and "x" for the uknown quantity, along with "sine" after mistranslating the Arabic word "jb" as bay or inlet, which becomes sinus in Latin. The 6K-line Heliand (Savior) vernacular Old Saxon epic of Christ's life is written in this decade, commissioned by Louis I the Pious, becoming the largest work in Old Saxon to survive to modern times. Births: French count of Poitiers (835-) and duke of Aquitaine (852-) Ranulf I (d. 866); 32x great-grandfather of Elizabeth II of England; father of Ranulf II (850-90). French margrave of Neustria (861-6) Robert (Rupert) IV (the Strong) (d. 866); son of Robert of Worms (800-22); father of Odo I (860-98) and Robert I (866-923); great-grandfather of Hugh Capet. Welsh king (844-70) Rhodri ap Merfyn (the Great) (d. 878) Hungarian Magyar grand prince #1 (855-95) Almos (Almus) (d. 895); son of Ugyek (or Elod son of Ugyek) and Emese; son of Attila the Hun?; father of Arpad (845-907). Persian Muslim geographer Abu'l Qasim Ubaid'Allah ibn Khordadbeh (d. 912) in N Iran. Deaths: Islamic law scholar Muhammad al-Shafi'i (b. 767) in al-Fustat, Egypt. Byzantine emperor (813-20) Leo V the Armenian (b. 775) on Dec. 25. Indian philosopher-theologian Adi Shankara (b. 788) in Kedarnath (modern-day Uttarakhand); dies after consolidating the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta (Sansk. "not two") (originally Purusavada), the idea that the true self (Atman) is the same as the highest metaphysical reality (Brahman).

821 Cenwulf dies, and Ceowulf I (774-823) becomes king of Mercia (until 823), presiding over the end of Mercian supremacy in England. Thomas the Slav leads a revolt against Byzantine Emperor Michael II, and is defeated and killed - Thomas No-Win Slav? The Saracens begin the capture of Crete from the Byzantines (finished 823). The Vikings sack Rhe Island in S Brittany. Persian gen. Tahir ibn al-Husayn (-822) founds the semi-independent Shiite Tahirid Dynasty in Khurasan (with capital at Nishapur) after being rewarded with governorship of the province for services to Caliph Al-Ma'mun (ends 873). Births: Spanish king of Asturias (850-66) Ordono (Ordoño) I (d. 866) in Oviedo; son of Ramiro I (790-850); grows up in Lugo; father of Alfonso III (848-910). Deaths: French Roman Catholic monk St. Benedict of Aniane (b. 747) on Feb. 11. French bishop of Orleans (798-818) Theodulf of Orleans (b. 750) on Dec. 18 in Orleans; buried in Angers.

Abd ar-Rahman II (792-852)

822 On May 21 Abd ar-Rhaman II (792-852), son of Al-Hakam I becomes Umayyad emir of Cordoba (until 852), beginning a 20-year struggle (ends 842) to stop Alfonso II of Asturias' fledgling Christian kingdom in Aragon from pushing S, while driving the Franks back in Catalonia; meanwhile he conducts a public building program in Cordoba incl. additions to the Mosque of Cordoba, and becomes known as a patron of the arts. Hops are first mentioned in connection with beer brewing by Abbot Adalhard of the Benedictine monastery of Corbie in Picardy, France; until hops are adopted, the herbal medley called Gruit (Grut) (Gruyt) is used; it takes five cents. for hops to completely take over; Germany doesn't adopt them until the 12th cent. Architecture: The Michaelskirche, a clone of the Holy Sepulchre is built by the Benedictine abbey of Fulda under Mainz-born abbot Hrabanus (Rabanus) (Rhabanus) Maurus Magnentius (780-856). Births: Arab Abbasid caliph #10 (847-61) (Sunni Muslim) Al-Mutawakkil (Arab. "he who relies on Allah") (Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Mu'tasim) (d. 861) in Mar.; brother of Al-Wathiq (816-47). Japanese statesman-poet Minamoto no Toru (d. 895); grandson of emperor Saga (786-842); inspiration for "Tales of Genji". Deaths: Arab Muslim historian Muhammad al-Waqidi (b. 748); leaves Kitab al-Maghazi, an early account of the holy conquests of Muhammad.

Beornwulf of Mercia (-825)

823 The Viking conquest of Ireland begins (ends 834). Early in the year Katla Volcano in Iceland erupts prior to the arrival of permanent settlers. On Apr. 5 King Lothair I is crowned co-emperor by Pope Paschal I. Beornwulf (-826) deposes and kills Ceowulf I and becomes king of merciless Mercia (until 826), soon getting his butt kicked by the more merciless Saxons of Wessex. Crete falls to the Saracens (until 960). Emperor (since 809) Saga abdicates in favor of his younger brother (3rd son of Kammu) Junna (784-840) (personal name Otomo), who becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #53 (until 833). Births: Frankish king of Aquitaine (838-52) Pepin II the Younger (d. 865); eldest son of Pepin I and Ingeltrude; grandson of HRE Louis I the Pious; brother of Archbishop Charles of Mainz (825-63). Frankish Carolingian West Frankish king (840-77) and HRE (875-7) Charles II the Bald (Chauve) (d. 877) on June 13 in Frankfurt; youngest son of HRE Louis I the Pious (778-840) and 2nd wife Judith; half-brother of Lothair I (795-855), Pepin I (797-838), and Louis II the German (806-76).



824 - Pope #100 comes and goes, and nobody notices or saves a pic?

Pope Eugene II (-827) Íñigo Iñiguez Arista I of Pamplona (781-852) Hu Yu (768-824)

824 On Feb. 25 Tang Mu Zong dies, and on Feb. 29 Tang Jin (Jing) Zong (Li Zhan) (809-27) becomes lucky Tang emperor #13 of eunuch-dominated China (until Jan. 9, 827), living in decadence while the eunuchs wield the real power. On Feb. 11 Pope (since 817) Paschal I dies, and on May 11 (June 6?) Pope (#101) Eugene (Eugenius) II (-827) is elected, going on to found seminaries, along with the Roman Curia. Egbert of Wessex subdues and unites the English petty states, receiving homage from all the English kinglets and exercising a vague suzerainty over Northumbria by 839. Frankish counts Aeblus (Ebalus) (Ebles) and Aznar Sanchez of Gascony (-836) lead a large force over the Pyrenees to establish control of Pamplona (Navarre), but are defeated by a Basque army on the way at the Second Battle of Roncesvalles (Roncevaux Pass) and taken captive, after which Aznar is released but Aeblus dies in captivity; Basque noble Inigo I Iniguez (Íñigo I Íñiguez) (Arista) (Aritza) (Aiza) (Basque "the oak", "resilient") (Basque "Eneko" = my little love) (781-852) is elected as Christian king #1 of Pamplona (Navarre) on the S slopes of the W Pyrenees (until 852) in Spain, allying with the Muslims inside his kingdom against outside enemies; his descendents are referred to as demons in the 11th-12th cent. Song of Roland, which calls Charlemagne's horse Tencendur (Tencendor) (Lat. "strife"). The 9-article Constitutio Romana confirms imperial control of Rome. Deaths: Chinese essayist-poet Han Yu (b. 768) on Dec. 25 in Chang'an. Japanese Yamato emperor #51 (806-9) Heizei (b. 774). Chinese Confucian (anti-Buddhist) essayist-poet Han Yu (b. 768).



825 - One little Indian, two little Indians, zero little Indians?

825 A great plague and famine rock Ireland. In Sept. Egbert of Wessex defeats Beornwulf of Mercia at the Battle of Ellandun (Ellendun) (Ellandum) (Wroughton) (S of Swindon, Wiltshire) N of Winchester, taking control of Kent, Essex, Surrey, and Sussex, ending Mercian domination of S England in favor of West Saxon domination. Louis II the German finally begins governing his new lands in Bavaria after getting involved in wars with the Wends and Sorbs on his E frontier. Egbert of Wessex defeats the Cornish at the Battle of Gafulford (Gafulforda) (Gafolforda) (Gavelford). Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog dies without an heir, ending the line of Cunedda founded in the 440s, and Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad (Gael. "the Freckled") (Camwri) (Gael. "the oppressor") (-844), from the cadet branch of Manaw Gododdin becomes king of Gwynedd in Wales, allying with Powys by marriage, and going on to foster scholars incl. Nennius, giving Irish visitors a cryptogram testing their ability to transpose letters from Latin to Greek. Alfonso II of Asturias takes Naron and Anceo in Galicia (NW Spain) from the Muslims, helping him repopulate parts of Galicia, Leon, and Castile with Christians. The Arabs attack Crete. The Vikings attack the Picts - live like you're dying? Murcia (Arab. Mursiyah) in SE Spain is founded by emir Abd ar-Rahman II of Cordoba, becoming known as "Europe's orchard". Inventions: Chinese canals begin using lock-gates. Art: Japan imports T'ang era Buddhist paintings from China. Architecture: The Benedictine Abbey of St. Hilaire in Poitiers, Aude is first mentioned as the tomb of Saint Hilaire, first bishop of Carcassonne. Nonfiction: Muhammad al-Khwarizmi (780-850), On Calculation with Hindu Numerals; causes the diffusion of Arabic Numerals (nine figures and a zero) in the West. Births: Frankish archbishop of Mainz (856-63) Charles of Aquitaine (d. 866); 2nd son of Pepin I and Engelberga; brother of Pepin II. German Carolongian Italian king (844-75) and HRE (855-75) Louis (Ludovico) II the Younger (d. 875); eldest son of HRE Lothair I (795-855) and Ermengarde of Tours (-851); brother of Lothair II (835-69) and Charles II (845-63). Deaths: Arab Muslim religious scholar Abu Obaida (b. 728) in Basra; his support of the Shu'ubiya Movement that denies the superiority of the Arab race causes his funeral to be boycotted. Syrian Melchite bishop-theologian Theodore Abu Qurrah (b. 750); one of the first Christians to write in Arabic; leaves The Book of Master and Disciple.

Smbat VIII of Armenia (-855)

826 Beornwulf is KIA while trying to put down a revolt against Mercian overlordship in East Anglia, and is succeeded in a much smaller kingdom by Ludeca (-827). The Arabs conquer Crete, and plunder the Greek islands. Ashot IV dies, and Smbat VIII (-855) becomes king of Armenia. King Harold of Denmark is baptized in Mainz and returns with Frankish missionary monk (St.) Ansgar (Anskar) (Anschar) (Oscar) (801-65), who spreads Christianity up north, becoming known as "the Apostle of the North", becoming archbishop of Bremen in 831. Frankish Duke Bernard (Bernat) of Septimania (795-844), son of William of Gellone becomes count of Barcelona (until 832, and 835-44); in 837 he becomes count of Carcassonne, becoming one of the main counselors of HRE Louis the Pious, fighting the Moors and the local Visigothic nobility. Pope Eugene II holds a council in Rome, which decrees that ignorant bishops and priests are to be suspended until they acquire sufficient learning. Births: Greek Byzantine Christian missionary (St.) Cyril (Constantine) (d. 869); brother of St. Methodius (815-85); inventor of Slavic Cyrillic alphabet; feast day: July 7 - ask the parrot?



827 - The Pope is a Funky Valentine, while the Muslims gnaw at Italy's funky big toe? The Funky Eunuch Year in China?

Pope Valentine (-827) Pope Gregory IV (-844)

827 On Jan. 9 17-y.-o. Tang Jin Zong (b. 809) is murdered by eunuchs, after which most emperors are installed by eunuchs, starting on Jan. 13 with his younger brother Tang Wen Zong (Li Ang) (Li Han) (809-40), who becomes Tang emperor #14 of China (until Feb. 10, 840) - my emotions are something I just can't tame? The 50-year Muslim invasion of Sicily (until 878) begins with a betrayal? After traitor Byzantine adm. Euphemius (-828) is accused of abducting a young nun from a convent to marry her, and has his nose cut off as punishment, he organizes an uprising against emperor Michael II, kills gov. Constantine, conquers Syracuse, and proclaims himself emperor of Sicily; after troops faithful to Byzantium led by Armenian Gen. Palata regain control, Euphemius flees to Africa, then proposes to the Sunni Aghlabid emir of Ifriqiya (817-38) Ziyadat Allah I (-838) to conquer Sicily and to make it a tributary province (until 1091), with himself as gov.; on June 17 Harran, Mesopotamian-born Gen. Asad ibn al-Furat (759-828) (who was picked by emir Ziyadat Allah to get rid of him for criticizing his luxurious impious lifstyle) with an army of 10K infantry and 700 cavalry disembark from a fleet of 100 corsairs at Mazara del Vallo, and on July 15 they defeat local Byzantine troops under Gen. Theodorus near at the Battle of Mazara del Vallo, then siege Syracuse (until 828). On Aug. 27 Pope (since 824) Eugene II dies, and on Sept. 1 Pope (#102) Valentine (-827) is elected, living less than 1 mo. (rules for 40 days?) before dying on Sept. 16; on Sept. 20 Pope (#103) Gregory IV (-844) is elected. Ludeca of Mercia is KIA in East Anglia while trying to avenge Beornwulf, and is succeeded by Wiglaf (-839) (until 829). Egbert of Wessex proclaims himself the first king of all England? Bulgarian Khan Omurtag gets tired of peace, and begins raids into Croatia and Pannonia (until 829). Births: Japanese Yamato emperor #55 (850-8) Montoku (Michiyasu) (d. 858); eldest son of Ninmyo (810-50). Arab Shiite imam #10 Ali al-Hadi (an-Naqi) (d. 868) in Medina; father of Hasan al-Askari (846-74). Arab Shiite Muslim rationalist scholar Ibn al-Rawandi (Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Ishaq al-Rawandi) (d. 911) (b. 815?) in Merv-rudh, Khorasan (NW Afghanistan) (Basra?).; starts out as a Mu'tazilite scholar and ends up a freethinker. Deaths: Chinese Tang emperor (824-7) Jing Zong (b. 809) on Jan. 9 (assassinated).

828 Egbert of Wessex is recognized as the overlord of the Seven Kingdoms of the Heptarchy. Achaius dies, and Congallus II (-833) becomes king of the Gabrain clan of the Scots. Idris II of Morocco dies, and Morocco is divided into principalities governed by family members. The Muslim force sieging Syracuse attempts a mutiny, then defeats a large Byzantine army from Palermo backed by a Venetian fleet led by Dodge (825-9) Giustiniano Participazio (-829), then suffers a plague that kills Asad ibn al-Furat (b. 759), causing them to retreat to the castle of Mineo, regroup, stage a failed attack on Castrogiovanni (modern-day Enna), where Euphemius is killed, then retreat to Mazara. Gascony revolts again. After an earthquake, the Arabs move the capital of Crete from Gortyn to Chandax (Heraklion). Kukai founds a school for students of all social rank, which teaches Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and provides free meals; it ends up closing in 845. Venetian merchants steal the alleged relics of St. Mark from a church in Alexandria, and Venice makes him its patron saint. Nonfiction: The Astronomical System of 2nd cent. astronomer Ptolemy is trans. into Arabic under the title The Almagest. Births: Arab scholar-historian Ibn Koteiba (d. 889). Deaths: Arab Muslim scholar Al-Asmai (b. 740).

Byzantine Emperor Theophilus (813-42)

829 On Oct. 2 emperor (since Dec. 25, 820) Michael II (b. 770) dies of a kidney ailment (the first Byzantine emperor in half a cent. to die peacefully in his bed), and his Armenian descent son Theophilos (Theophilus) (813-42) (Gr. "lover of God") becomes Roman Byzantine emperor #130 (until Jan. 20, 842), 2nd of the Phyrgian Dynasty, and last of the iconoclastic smashmouth emperors, going on to restore the U. of Constantinople under new rector Leo the Mathematician, and foster the new miniscule hand over the larger uncial while increasing the number of copyists' workshops (scriptoria). King Egbert conquers Mercia and its chief town of London, driving Wiglaf from the throne, then marches N and secures the nominal submission of Northumbria without a battle, obtaining recognition as overlord. Emperor Louis I drops Lothar's imperial title and sends him off to Italy. Louis the German invests his 6-y.-o. son Charles II the Bald (b. 823) with the dukedom of Swabia, consisting of descendants of the ancient Suevi. The Arabs destroy Centumcellae. Nonfiction: The Annales Regni Francorum (Royal Frankish Annals), the official French chronology of the years 741-829 is concluded. Historia Brittonum is written in Gwynedd (N Wales). Deaths: Byzantine emperor (820-9) Michael II the Stammerer (b. 1770) on Oct. 2.

830 In July-Aug. after being reinforced with 30K African and Andalusian troops, the Muslim troops in Mazara, Sicily defeat the Byzantines under Gen. Teodotus, but suffer another plague, which forces them back to Africa, where they regroup and send a Berber force to siege Palermo (until 831). Wiglaf recovers the throne of Mercia (until 839). Egbert leads an army through Mercia into NE Wales to subdue the Powys rebel Cyngen Ap Cadell ("battle") (-855). When Emperor Louis I the Pious tries to give his 4th son a parcel of land to rule like he had done his other sons, the latter, Lothair I, Pepin I of Aquitaine and Louis of Bavaria unite to attack their father, forcing him to abdicate, and imprisoning him in a monastery for a year; Lothair I gets back his imperial title and becomes virtual sole ruler of the empire, but the other sons soon get jealous. The Bashmurian Revolt of Christian Copts in N Egypt is crushed by Caliph Al-Ma'mun with the killing of large numbers of Cops and their families, after which a major persecution begins. Bagarat II (-852) becomes ruler of Armenia. In this decade viking raids in Ireland grow more intense. In this decade the Uighur Empire is overthrown by the Khirghiz and Karluk, leading to migration of many tribes from the Orkhom to the Tarim Basin by 846, where they set up a 2nd Turkish-speaking Uighur Empire. Louis the Pious destroys the collection of German epics begun by his daddy Charlemagne. Architecture: Wilfrid rebuilds Hereford Cathedral in stone. St. Mark's Church (San Marco) ("Chiesa d'Oro") in Venice is founded as a small wooden bldg. housing the relics of St. Mark brought from Alexandria (burns 976), becoming the Doge's private chapel; each Easter at sunrise the Doge heads the "Long March", a procession back and forth from it (a remnant of a Phoenician ritual to Moon goddess Car?). Science: Caliph Ma'mun founds the Academy of Translations (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad; the main body of scholars are Christian Nestorians? Nonfiction: Kukai (774-835), The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind; his magnum opus?; The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury; summary of his magnum opus. About this year Welsh monk Nennius (Nynniaw) (Nemnius) (Nemnivus) (769-) writes Historia Britonum (History of the Britons), which claims that Britain was founded by Brutus of Et Tu, Brute fame, and that the Cam River near the village of Queen Camel is the location of Camlann, King Arthur's last battle, where he spears his son Sir Mordred, and is in turn cut down by his son's sword, saying, "Ah, now I have my death"; the fortified hill near the village (Cadbury Castle in Somerset) is called Camelat or Camelot by the locals. Poetry: About this time Geraint Filius Erbin is written. Births: Frankish margrave #1 of Flanders (862-79) Baldwin I (Iron Arm) (Bras de Fer) (d. 879); husband of Princess Judith, daughter of Charles II the Bald. Russian Varangian ruler (862-79) Rurik (Riurik) (ON "famous ruler") (d. 879). German Bavarian king (876-80) and Italian king (879-80) Carloman (Karlmann) of Bavaria (d. 880); eldest son of Louis II the German (806-76) and Emma (Hemma) of Altdorf (808-76) (daughter of Count Welf of Altdorf); brother of Louis III the Younger (835-882) and Charles the Fat (839-88). Japanese Yamato emperor #58 (884-7) Koko (Tokiyasu) (d. 887); 3rd son of Ninmyo (810-50). German archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg (865-88) (St.) Rimbert (Rembert) (d. 888) in Flanders; student and successor of St. Ansgar (801-65); feast day: Feb. 4.



831 - The Nominoe of Brittany Year?

Malamir of Bulgaria (-852) Einhard (775-840)

831 A lunar eclipse is recorded in Britain. In May after the gen. rebellion in the Carolingian Empire is put down, a gen. assembly is held in Ingelheim; with popular support, Louis I the Pious regains his power, sends Lothair I back to Italy, drops him from his will, and replaces him with his youngest son Charles II the Bald; Pepin I of Aquitaine then revolts; Louis I the Pious appoints Nominoe (Nomenoe) (-851) to rule Brittany as its first duke, and he becomes known as the father of his country. On Sept. 11 after a year siege, Palermo falls to the Sunni Aghlabid Muslims of Tunisia, and Sicily becomes a Muslim emirate (until 1072), with Palermo as the capital under the name al-Madinah; the Byzantines hold on for the next cent., losing Taormina in 902 and the whole island in 965; meanwhile the Muslims conquer the 5-island group of Malta, named after its tasty honey (where St. Paul once was shipwrecked on the way to Rome in chains to face the Roman emperor for his preaching activities), introducing the Arabic language, which evolves into the modern Maltese language even after the Normans reconquer it along with Sicily in 1091. Byzantine emperor (since 829) Theophilos personally leads his armies in war against the Arabs in Cilicia, capturing Tarsus, then returning to Constantinople before being defeated in the fall in Cappadocia. Omurtag dies, and his son Malamir (-852) becomes khan of the First Bulgarian Empire (until 836), beginning a gradual expansion into Serbia and upper Macedonia (by 839). The Bishopric of Hamburg is founded by Ansgar (raised to an archbishopric next year), becoming the center for missionary work among the Northmen. The Venetian Order of Chivalry St. Mark is founded. Chinese Buddhist Tang emperor Wen Zong bans the slaughter of cattle (until 833). Nonfiction: Einhard (775-840), Vita Caroli Magni; bio. of Charlemagne; first bio. of a European king?; imitates the style of Suetonius's bio. of Augustus.

832 On Mar. 24 Wulfred dies, and on June 9 Feologild (Feologeld) becomes archbishop #16 of Canterbury; on Aug. 30 he dies, and Colnoth (-870) becomes archbishop #17 of Canterbury (until Feb. 4, 870). Pepin I of Aquitaine is joined in his revolt by his brother Louis II the German of Bavaria, who leads an army of Slavs into Alamannia (Alemannia) and subjugates it; meanwhile HRE Louis I finally finds a place for his late-life son Charles II the Bald (b. 823), giving him a subkingdom consisting of Alamannia plus Aquitaine (the land between the Meuse River and Pyrenees). Caliph Al-Ma'mun orders the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt breached to search for knowledge and treasure, digging a tunnel near the traditional original entrance that is later called the Robbers' Tunnel. The Byzantines are again defeated in Cappadocia, causing emperor Theophilos to sue for peace, offering 100K gold dinars and 7K POWs, which is accepted after Al-Ma'mun's death next year; meanwhile the Byzantines again persecute the icon worshipers. Abbasid calph al-Ma'mun issues the first coins using the name al-Quds (Arab. "the Holy") for Jerualem; earlier Islamic coins bore the names Ilya and Filastin. Nonfiction: The richly illustrated Utrecht Psalter is created at Rheims. Births: Egyptian physician-philosopher (Jewish) ("Father of Medieval Jewish Neoplatonism" ) Isaac Israeli ben Solomon (Judaeus) (the Elder) (d. 932); writes in Arabic; teacher of al-Jazzar, and Dunash ibn Tamim.



833 - The Muslims try the slave army thang, creating their own new masters?

Insert Muhammad Cartoon Here?

833 On Aug. 9 after caliph (since 813) Al-Ma'mun begins the Mihna (Muslim Inquisition) (ends 848), requiring all the intelligentsia to take an oath as a test of political and religious loyalty to his Mu'tazila school of theology, which denies that the Quran was uncreated and coeternal with Allah, and asserts that good and evil are determined by reason and hence above Allah, but is opposed by the ulama, who know that Allah is above even reason, and prove it by braving torture, imprisonment, and death, he dies near Tarsus after eating some bad dates, and after his son Al-Ma'mun is passed over, he is succeeded by his half-brother Al-Mu'tasim (Al-Mu'tasim) (Arab. "refraining from sin") (796-842) (son of Harun al-Rashid) as Abbasid caliph #8 (until Jan. 5, 842), going on to create an army of ghulams (mamluks) (slaves) consisting of C Asian Turks to bolster his regime, believing that if they are recruited as youths and brainwashed to be loyal to him it will like be a lifetime warranty with cash back, but this eventually backfires as they get ideas like in the Planet of the Apes?; meanwhile the work of the House of Wisdom continues - I'll just say you're broke and needed the money? Eastern Orthodox Prince Moimir (Mojmir) I (-846) founds the first-ever predominantly Slavonic Great Moravian Empire in C Europe on the N Morava River along the modern-day Czech-Slovakia border, defending it from the pushy East Franks and their hated Roman Catholicism. After the rebellion of his three sons Lothair I, Pepin I, and Louis II the German against HRE Louis I is backed by Pope Gregory IV, causing his troops to defect at the Battle of the Field of Lies, Louis I is defeated at the Battle of Colmar, then deposed, imprisoned, forced to do public penance at the Church of Notre-Dame in Compiegne, and recognize Lothair I as HRE. Byzantine emperor Theophilos gives asylum to a group of refugees from the east, incl. a Persian named Nasr (Nasir) (Nusayr), who is baptized as Theophobos (Theophobus) (-842), marrying Theophilos' aunt Irene and becoming a gen. Congallus dies, and Dongallus (-839) becomes king of the Gabrain clan of the Pictish-dominated Scots. Garcia the Bad dies, and his son Galindo Garces (-844) becomes count of Aragon (until 844). Emperor (since 823) Junna (b. 784) abdicates in favor of his (blind?) nephew (2nd son of Saga) Ninmyo (810-50) (personal name Masara), who becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #54 (until 850). Births: Chinese Tang emperor (859-73) Yi Zong (Yizong) (Li Wen) (Li Cui) (d. 873) on Dec. 28; eldest son of Xuan Zong (810-59). Deaths: Abbasid caliph #7 (813-33) Al-Ma'mum (b. 786) on Aug. 9 near Tarsus (poisoned dates). Egyptian Muslim Sunni scholar Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Malik bin Hisham (Ibn Hisham) (b. ?) on May 7; leaves a recension of Muhammad ibn Ishaq's (d. 768) "Life of Prophet Muhammad".



834 - There was a young Dane who rowed, into the green island of toad? The Dublin Year?

834 On Mar. 1 HRE Louis I is released from prison and restored to the imperial throne by his mutually jealous and distrustful sons. The pagan Danish Vikings are successful in Ireland, overrunning the N and taking Dorestad (934-7), along with Dublin (Gael. "Diblinn" = black pool) (a dark tidal pool where the Poddle River enters the Liffey River at the site of the Castle Gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle?) (Gael. Baile Atha Cliath, "town of the ford of the hurdles", from the wattled frames spanning the Liffey River) in EC Ireland (Leinster) at the mouth of the Liffey River on Dublin Bay (inlet of the Irish Sea) (modern-day pop. 550K/1.9M), and ruling a unified Ireland until 841; originally the Viking settlement of Dyflin near the Christian Gaelic settlement of Ath Cliah ("ford of hurdles"), where all the main highways of Ireland meet; 40-ft.-high. 80-ft.-diam. Thingmote Hill is used as an assembly location (destroyed 1685); no main place names in Ireland (except Waterford) end up getting named by the Norse, unlike in Scotland, although Ulster, Munster, and Leinster are indicative of an earlier Norse-Gaelic pidgin?; the Vikings begin their attacks on England and the continent, approaching the mouth of the Thames River just as King Egbert of Wessex thinks he has England sewn up for Christ, starting small with hit-and-run raids, alternating with raids on the continent, then working up to a serious invasion in 865. Angus II Mac Fergus dies, with his Scottish-Pictish kingdom #1 in N Britain, and his Pictish-named younger son Drest Mac Angus succeeds, while the older Scottish-named son Eoganan waits in the wings. Sunifred I (-848), son (in law?) of Count Bello of Carcassonne is appointed count of Urgell and Cerdanya by HRE Louis the Pious, causing him to conquer Cerdanya from Banu Qasi ally Aznar Galindez I next year, followed by Urgell in 838. becomes count of Barcelona. Kenneth Mac Alpin (810-58) becomes king of Kintyre? Hamburg becomes an archbishopric. The Viking Oseberg Ship is buried in Slagen, Vestfold, Norway; it is discovered in 1903.



835 - The Shiite Imam #9 Year?

835 HRE Louis I is recrowned. The Muslims take Pantelleria. After 40 years of relative calm, Danish Vikings attack the Isle of Sheppey off the coast of Kent in E England at the mouth of the Thames River; for the rest of the cent. the Vikings attack England almost yearly, beginning the process of absorption of Danish Old Norse words into Old English, incl. freckle, leg, skin, root, and want. Caliph Al-Mu'tasim founds the new Abbasid capital of Samarra 78 mi. N of Baghdad to house his new Turkish slave guard. Mohammed ibn Ali al-Taqi al-Jawad (b. 811), #9 of 12 imams revered by the Shiite branch of Islam dies in Baghdad after being poisoned by the caliph, and is buried in Al Kadhimiya Mosque in Kadhimayn, Iraq by the side of his grandfather, imam #7 Musa al-Kadhim (d. 799), which makes the site even more holy, and each year around Sept. 1 the faithful dress in black and walk in groups to the shrine while flogging themselves with iron chains and slicing their foreheads with swords - if you don't have any infidels to slay or slay you to be saved, this half measure might work? Births: Turkish Tulunid Dynasty founder (868-) Ahmad ibn Tulun (d. 884) on Sept. 20 in Baghdad. German Saxon king (876-82) and Bavarian king (880-2) Louis III the Younger (d. 882) (b. 830?); 2nd son of Louis II the German (806-76) and Emma of Altdorf (808-76); brother of Carloman (830-80), Louis III the Younger (835-882), and Charles the Fat (839-88). Deaths: Japanese Buddhist monk Kukai (b. 774); the zonked monks believe he's not dead but just mediating, and feed him every day and change his clothes until ?. Arab Shiite imam #9 Mohammed ibn Ali al-Taqi al-Jawad (b. 811) on Nov. 24 in Baghdad (poisoned by the caliph); buried with his grandfather Musa al-Kadhim (imam #7) in Al Kadhimiya Mosque in Kadhimayn, Iraq.



836 - The Saltire Cross of Northumbria Askariya Shrine of Iraq Year?

Flag of St. Andrew (Saltire), 836 Askariya Shrine, 836

836 The first known inland Viking raid in Ireland takes place. The Lombards of the dukedom of Benevento lay siege to the Byzantine city of Naples, causing the Neapolitans to ask Aghlabid emir Ziyadat Allah I of Ifriqiya (Tunisia) for help, and he sends a fleet that interrupts the siege. A 25-ship Viking force raids Carhampton (Charmouth) in Devon at the mouth of the Char River, and defeat Egbert of Wessex; they also raid Kildare. A Northumbrian army led by Athelstan pursues a mixed army of Picts and Scots, who make their stand at the Battle of Athelstaneford in East Lothian near Haddington (wo mi. E of Edinbugh), whereupon a white cross appears in the blue summer sky in the shape of an X like the cross on which St. Andrew was crucified, and after they defeat the Northumbrians and kill Athelstan while attempting to cross the ford, they adopt the symbol as their nat. flag, AKA the St. Andew's Cross (Saltire), a white X on a blue background. Duke Aznar Sanchez is killed trying to put down another revolt in Gascony, and is succeeded by his brother Sancho II Sanchez (-864) as duke of Gascony (Vasconia Citerior) despite the objections of Pepin I of Aquitaine (d. 838). The Saracens sack and destroy the port of Brindisi (Brundisium) in S Italy, and unsuccessfully attack Venice. Caliph Al-Mu'tasim leaves Baghdad and settles in Samarra, making it his capital (until 892), and leaving Baghdad to Turkish rule; he builds the Askariya Shrine, one of the Shiites' holiest shrines in Iraq, which later houses the tombs of the 10th and 11th imams Ali al-Hadi (827-868) and his son Hasan al-Askari (846-74), and is given a golden dome in 1905 by Muzaffar al-Din Shah, until it is blown up in 2006 by Sunnis. Births: English (Wessex) king (860-5) Aethelberht (Ethelbert) (d. 865).



837 - The John VII Grammatikos Year?

837 On Jan. 21 learned debate-loving icon-smashing Armenian John VII Grammatikos (Grammaticus) (the Grammarian) is installed as ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople (until Mar. 4, 843), and the icon-smashing goes on. The Muslim fleet at Naples decides to capture it for Allah, and attacks it. Wessex wars with the Danes - I thank the Lord for the nighttime? Christians and Jews revolt against the Muslims in Toledo, and are crushed by Abd ar-Rahman II of Cordoba; meanwhile more Christian fanatics are active in Cordoba. A 70K-man Byzantine army under emperor Theophilus goes to Mesopotamia and takes Melitene, Samosata (Arsamosata), and Zapetra (Sozopetra), birthplace of Abbasid caliph Al-Mutasim, pissing him off and causing him to plan a campaign to return the favor - the foxtrot is making a comeback? The Frankish empire is divided anew by HRE Louis I the Pious at the Diet of Cremieux (near Lyon), and his youngest son Charles II the Bald is proclaimed as his heir, pissing-off the other sons, who refuse to do homage to the diaper stuffer and begin their last revolt.



838 - The Count the Cornish Out 42 Martyrs of Amorion Year?

838 On July 22 the Abbasid Muslim Arabs under Caliph Al-Mutasim defeat the Byzantines under Emperor Theophilus at the bloody Battle of Dazimon (Anzen) in modern-day Dazman, Turkey; Armenian gen. Manuel is killed, and the Byzantine army retreats to Amaseia; on Sept. 23 after 55 days the Siege of Amorion (Amorium) in Asia Minor (largest Byzantine city in Asia Minor, and home of Theophilus' line) ends in the city being betrayed by an escaped Muslim slave who told them about a weak spot in the wall, and it is razed and the pop. slaughtered, incl. the 42 Martyrs of Amorion (Amorium), Byzantine officers and notables who are executed after refusing to convert to Islam, shocking the Byzantine pop. into singing mourning songs for cents.; the remainder are auctioned off as slaves in batches of five and ten. The Division of 817 is modified by the Division of 838, creating the first look at France? On Dec. 13 HRE Louis I's son Pepin I (b. 797) dies, and, despite most of counts of Aquitaine electing his son Pepin II the Younger (823-65) as king, Louis sticks to his youngest son Charles II the Bald (who is also given Neustria, which is joined to Aquitaine, giving him a no-name holding which happens to approximate medieval France and is mainly Romance in speech) for the throne of Italy, while the nobles put Pepin II on that throne too, causing a deadlock. King Egbert of Wessex wins a resounding V over the Norsemen and Cornish at the Battle of Hingston Down near Callington in Cornwall (the last Cornish battle against the Saxons), but loses Mercia. Muslims sack Marseille and gain a foothold in S Italy. Japanese monk Ennin (794-864) travels to China for 9.5 years (until 847), and finds 250 Koreans living at a temple in Shangdong, becoming ne of eight Japanese Buddhists studying in China and leaving an important diary. Births: Persian Muslim historian Abi Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 923) in Amol, Tapuria. Deaths: Frankish king (of Aquitaine) Pepin I (b. 797) on Dec. 13. Aghlabid emir Ziyadat Allah I of Ifriqiya.



839 - In what year did Scotland really start, and who always claimed to own the mortgage? Count the Picts and their heretic brand of Christianity out, and handsome Kenneth Mac Alpin in?

Kenneth I Mac Alpine of Scotland (-858) Ethelwulf of England (Wessex) (795-858)

839 In July king (since 802) Egbert of Wessex (b. 771) dies, and his son Ethelwulf (Athelwulf) (OE "noble wolf")( 795-858) becomes Christian England's 2nd monarch (until Jan. 13, 858), maintaining West Saxon supremacy over the pesky Mercians. Dongallus dies, and Alpin (Alpine) (Alpini) (Gael. "fair one") (-839) becomes king of of the Gabrain clan of the Dalriada (Dal Riada) Scots, founding the House of Alpin (ends 1034); the Picts and Scots fight yet again, and the Vikings, in the hopes of a glorious death join the Picts; King Alpin is slain in the Glen of Dunaskin, and his son (by a Pictish mother) Kenneth (Kinadius) (Cinaed) (Gael. "handsome") I (the Hearty) Mac ("son of") Alpin (810-58) succeeds him as king of the Gabrain clan of the Dalriada Scots, who are on the verge of winking out and being absorbed; (erin go bragh?) the Scots then get lucky as the Vikings turn on the arrogant, schmucky Picts at the Battle of Fortriu (Forteviot) in Strathern, N Scotland, and Eoghann (Ulven) Mac Angus (Gael. "only choice") II (son of Angus II Mac Fergus) is KIA along with his brother Bran and Aed, son of Boanta, exterminating the Mac Fergus line of Pictish kings (who are really Gaelic-speaking Scots tracing back to Constantine I Mac Fergus and already ruling and keeping down the remaining Pictish clans) in a single battle; of course the Arian Picts deserve it: "God deigned to make them alien from and void of their heritage by reason of their wickedness, because they not only spurned the Lord's Mass and precept, but also refused to be held equal to others in the law of justice" (The Scottish Chronicle); Kenneth Mac Alpin (810-58) steps out of the mass, er, mess, and imposes his overlordship over Pictland by next year, and over Dalriada by 842, forcing the remaining Picts to become good Roman Catholic shamrock-plucking Trinitarians, and in 843 becoming the first king of a united Trinitarian kingdom of Scotland, which he calls Alba; a challenge is made by a line of Pictish kings descended from the female side of the Mac Fergus line who rule over a rump territory in E Perthshire and Angus, but they all end up dead by 848. The Muslims pillage Ancona in Italy. Aznar Galindez I dies, and Galindo Aznarez I becomes count of Urgell and Cerdanya (until 867). Births: German Swabian king (876-8), Italian king (879-88), East Frankish king (882-8), West Frankish king (884-8), and HRE (881-8) (epileptic) Charles III (the Fat) (d. 888); youngest son of Louis I the German (806-76) and Emma; grandson of Charlemagne; is found foaming at the mouth as a boy, which they interpret as demonic possession - do I look fat in this? Persian polymath scientist-physician (Sunni Muslim) Ali Ibn Rabban Al-Tabari (Abu Tabari) (d. 923) in Amol, Tabaristan; teacher of al-Razi. Deaths: English (Wessex) Christian king #1 (802-39) Egbert (b. 7671 in July; buried in Winchester, starting a trend.



840 - The Lothair I Bye Bye Blackbird Doctrine of Transubstantiation Year? Only 25 years after Charlemagne's corpse grows cold, his downline is splitting up his Big Frankish Empire into mini-franks?

Lothair I of France (795-855) Charles II the Bald of France (823-77) Chinese Emperor Tang Wu Zong (814-46)

840 On Feb. 10 Tang Wen Zong dies, and on Feb. 20 the eunuchs install Taoist (Daoist) Tang Wu Zong (814-46) as Tang emperor #15 of China (until Apr. 22, 846), who begins persecuting Buddhists, Manicheans, Mazdeans, and Nestorians. On May 5 as Charlemagne's son HRE Louis I the Pious (b. 778) is returning from battle he sees an eclipse, frightening the superstitious dude to death, and he falls ill on an island in the Rhine near Ingelheim and dies on June 20; he is succeeded by his eldest son (by Ermengarde of Hesbaye) Lothair (Lothar) (Lothaire) I (795-855), whose brothers Pepin II (797-838) of Aquitaine and Louis II the German (806-75) of East Francia, and half-brother (by Judith of Bavaria) Charles II the Bald (Chauve) (823-77) of West Francia start a civil war over succession that lasts until 843 and ends up splitting Charlemagne's Frankish kingdom into three smaller franks (the future France, Germany, and Low Countries, with Burgundy acting as a sauce?); in the first inning, Charles II the Bald and Louis II the German ally against him. The Vikings invade Gascony and settle in Biarritz in SW France. Aethelwulf of Wessex fights a 35-ship Viking raiding party at Carhampton. Lombard duke Radelchi of Benevento asks the Arabs to help him fight his rival Siconolfo, and the Arabs take advantage of this to attack Bari in S Italy (until 847), destroying the monastery of Subiaco. Moimir I forms a confederation of Slavs in Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Transylvania. The Vikins begin setting up forts, ramping up their attacks to the point of conquering Ireland, causing Irish kings and abbots to mount defenses and counterattacks and hold their ground; Dublin becomes the center of Viking trade with the Continent after Turgesius (Turgeis) (Thorgest) (-845) arrives and declares himself "king of all the foreigners in Erin", and a longship port is constructed at a ford on the Liffey River; Dublin becomes the seat of Viking power in Ireland; meanwhile the continual wars between petty Irish kings draw Vikings into on-again off-again alliances, the Vikings eventually becoming allies of the kings of Leinster. The Christian kingdom of Pamplona in N Spain is attacked by Zaragoza under Abd Allah ibn Kulayb, who gets Inigo I Arista's half-brother Musa ibn Musa ibn Fortun (790-862) of the Banu Qasi to join him. About this time Kenneth MacAlpin brings the 366 lb. Stone of Scone (pr. "SKOON") to Perthshire from the Holy Land. (St.) Paschasius Radbertus (786-860), abbot of New Corvey in Westphalia originates the Doctrine of Transubstantiation - so that's what that taste is? Blackbird, a famous singer and musician born in Baghdad opens the world's first beauty institute in S Spain. Sergius I (-865) becomes duke of Naples (until 685), making the succession to the duchy hereditary and Naples de facto independent. A rabbi from Babylonia brings the Qabala to Italy, spreading to Germany, Provence, and Spain. The Sudarium is stored in the Camara Santa of the Cathedral of San Salvador in Oveido, Spain, built by order of Alfonso II of Austurias; in 1998 blood tests on it and the Shroud of Christ indicate AB blood type, common in the Middle East. The city of Bruges (Old Dutch "brugga" = bridge) (modern-day pop. 118K) is first mentioned, going on to become the largest city of the province of West Flanders in NW Belgium, with the nickname "the Venice of the North". Births: Byzantine emperor #131 (842-67) Michael III (the Drunkard) (d. 867) on Jan. 19; youngest child of Theophilos and Theodora. Swiss Benedictine monk-poet-hymn writer Notker (I) (the Poet) of St. Gall (Balbulus) (the Stammerer) (d. 912) in Jonschwil or Heligau, St. Gall Canton. Bulgarian scholar (St.) Clement of Ohrid (Kliment of Okhrid) (Ochrid) (Achrida) (d. 916) (b. 830?). Deaths: Frankish diplomat-scholar Einhard (b. 770). Frankish king and HRE (814-40) Louis I the Pious (b. 778) on June 20 near Ingelheim. French Roman Catholic archbishop (of Lyons) St. Agobard (b. 779); dies after fighting against superstition, image worship, magical explanation of storms, and prosecutions for witchcraft, and condemning trial by ordeal and duel; "the clearest head of his time" (I. Sarton). Chinese Tang emperor (827-40) Wen Zong (b. 809) on Feb. 10.

841 On June 25 HRE Lothair I, aided by his nephew Pepin II of Aquitaine battles his brothers Louis II the German and Charles II the Bald at the indecisive Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, in which Pepin II defeats Charles the Bald's troops while Louis II routs Lothair I's troops; meanwhile their catfight allows the Vikings to sail up the Seine River (through future Normandy), plunder Rouen, and advance towards Paris; the old days of Vikings thinking twice about messing with puisaye Carolingian Franks are kaput? Byzantine emperor Theophilus exploits a split in the Arab camp to obtain the help of Spanish Moors and capture Melitene on the Armenian border, then forces al-Mutassem to sign a truce. The Moors invade Barcelona and march through Cerdanya toward Narbonne, until they are stopped by Sunifred I, causing Charles II the Bald to appoint him count of Barcelona, Ausona, Besalu, Girona, Narbonne, Agde, Beziers, Lodeve and Nimes - he's registered at Big Balls and Beyond? The Vikings begin to permanently settle Dublin and Limerick, wintering over until 842. Halfdan the Black (Svarte) (-860) subjugates the Norwegian nobles, and founds a patchwork monarchy (until 860). Tri Ralpachen, the last great emperor of Tibet dies, and his older brother Lang Dharma (-846) succeeds. Births: French count of Auvergne (872-86) and margrave of Aquitaine (885-6) Bernard Plantevelue (Plantapilosa) (Lat. "hairy feet") (d. 886) (Plantard?) on Mar. 22 in Uzes. French king of Lower Burgundy and Provence Boso I (Duke Boso V of Arles/Provence) (d. 887); son of Bivin of Gorze, count of Lotharingia and Richildis of ARles, daughter of Boso the Elder and Engeltrude; maternal nephew of Teutberga, wife of Lothair II; nephew of Count Boso of Valois; nephew of Abbot Hucbert of St. Maurice's Abbey; father of HRE Louis III the Blind (880-928).



842 - The Ramiro I of Asturias Oaths of Strasbourg Year?

Byzantine Emperor Michael III the Drunkard (840-67) Ramiro I of Asturias (790-850) Borobodur, 842

842 Early in the year the Vikings complete their first "over-winter" in Dublin; the Irish and Vikings form an alliance for the first time; after the thaw, the Vikings sack London and Rochester (former Roman town of Durobrivae) in Kent. On Jan. 20 after having his Persian-born gen. Theophobos executed to secure the succession, emperor (since Oct. 2, 829) Theophilus dies of dysentery contracted on the Arab campaign, and his infant son Michael III (the Drunkard) (840-67) becomes Byzantine emperor #131 (until Sept. 24, 867) under the regency of Theophilus' widow Theodora, who restores the veneration of images once and for all with a synod decision on Feb. 19, ending the Iconoclast War (begun 726); pro-icon man Methodius succeeds iconoclast Grammatikos as ecumenical patriarch (until 847), after which the Orthodox celebrate the first Sun. of Lent as "Kuriaki tis Orthodoxias"; Empress Theodora begins persecuting the Paulician Christians - ugly is the new pretty? King (since 783) Alfonso II (b. 760) dies without an heir, and while designated successor Ramiro I (son of Bermudo I) is away in Vardulius marrying his 2nd wife Paterna, the impatient nobles elect his son-in-law Visigothic count Nepocian (Nepotian) of Asturias as king, pissing-off Ramiro I and causing him to raise an army in Galicia and defeat him at the Battle of the Bridge of Cornellana by the Narcea River, chasing down the fleeing whimp and blinding and putting him in a monastery, after which Ramiro I (790-850) becomes king of Asturias (until 850), eliminating the system of election of a king by nobles that caused the problem, giving up the S push against Cordoba and spending his reign dealing with pesky Moors and Vikings. Inigo I Arista becomes paralyzed after a battle with Musa ibn Musa, and his Cordoba-educated son Garcia I Iniguez (-882) and brother Fortun Iniguez ("premier knight of the realm") (half-brother of Musa ibn Musa) as regents. Kenneth Mac Alpin establishes control of Dalriada, and invites Gofraid Mac Fergus (Fergusa) (half-Norse and half-Gael?) to come from Airghialla in Ireland and settle in Argyll to secure it against the Vikings so he can move E and finish subduing the remaining pesky Picts, starting with Pictish king Uurad Mac Bargoit, who dies (killed?), leaving sons Bridei (-842), Kenneth (Kineth) (-843), and Drest (-848), who follow in succession and are knocked down - oh yes I'm a guy, I admit I've been fed quiche? Louis II the German and Charles II the Bald confirm their alliance against Lothair, and they and their armies each swear in their own vernacular (Romance and Teutonic) to the bilingual Oaths of Strasbourg, the earliest known example of the French written language; Lothair is supported by the clergy in the interests of the lost cause of unity - muy bien gracias? Al-Mu'tasim dies, and Al-Wathiq (Wathik) (-847) succeeds him as Abbasid caliph, who sends Salim the Interpreter to search for Alexander's mythical wall; Turkish mercenaries join the Arab army. The Muslims capture Messina in Sicily from the Byzantines (until 1061), and prepare to attack Rome. in Armenia, killing up to 100K by 860. Architecture: The Buddhist Borobudur Temple in Java (begun around 750) is completed; after being covered by volcanic ash from Mt. Merapi, it is rediscovered in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles. Nonfiction: Walafrid Strabo (808-49), Glossa Ordinaria (to the Bible). Deaths: Spanish king of Asturias (791-842) Alfonso II the Chaste (b. 759) on Mar. 20 in Oviedo. Japanese Yamato emperor #52 (809-23) Saga (b. 785). Byzantine emperor #130 (813-42) Theophilus (b. 813) on Jan. 20.



843 - The Go Heavy Go Sexy Love Treaty of Verdun Year? Modern France begins with a bald Charles, and modern Germany with a Louis?

Charles III the Fat of France (839-88)

843 In Aug. HRE Lothair I's brothers Louis II the German and Charles II the Bald force a very done deal family compact on him, the Treaty of Verdun (40 mi. W of Metz, where the Meuse River divides into five branches), which causes him to accept the division of the Carolingian Empire (and all hopes of a resurrected supersized Roman Empire), and lays the foundation for the modern regular-size states of France, Germany, and the Netherlands, creating three Carolingian dynasties that rule Italy (until 875), Germany (until 911), and France (until 987); Lothair keeps the empty title of HRE, remains king of Italy (excluding Benevento) and an amorphous "middle kingdom" of Lorraine (Lotharingia) (Lothringen) bounded by the Scheldt, Upper Meuse, Saone, and Rhone Rivers on the W, and the Rhine River and Frisia on the E, with Aix-la-Chapelle given to him as his capital; Alsace and Friesland are incl. until 870; Louis II the German remains king of the German-speaking East Franks, and receives Saxony, Franconia, and all territory (except Frisia) E from the Rhine; Charles II the Bald remains king of the West Franks, and receives Carolingia, a Romance-speaking territory made up of West Francia and Aquitaine, Gascony, Septimania, etc., approximating medieval France (bounded by the Meuse, Saone and Rhone Rivers, plus the Spanish March as far as the Ebro River); meanwhile Frisia (the Low Countries) comes under Viking control, and the Vikings enter the Mediterranean. Garcia I Iniguez and Fortun Iniguez of Pamplona join Musa ibn Musa of the Banu Qasi in a revolt against Abd-ar-Rahman II of Cordoba, and are defeated, and Fortun is KIA, while Musa escapes on foot, and several Basque nobles, incl. Velasco Garces defect to Abd-ar-Rahman, followed next year by Inigo I's son Galindo Iniguez (-870) and Musa's son Lubb ibn Musa, after which Musa submits; Galindo Iniguez becomes father of Musa ibn Galindo, Muslim ruler of Huesca. Danish Vikings under chieftain Hastein (Hasteinn) (Haesten) Hasting) (Ansting) (son of Ragnar Lodbrok?) occupy Noirmoutier Island off the W coast of France - I'll be baack?



844 - The William of Septimania Fredelon the Freeloader Year?

Pope Sergius II (-847) HRE Louis II the Younger (825-75)

844 On Jan. 11 Pope (since 827) Gregory IV dies, and archdeacon John is proclaimed pope by popular acclamation, but in Jan. Roman noble Sergius is elected Pope (#104) Sergius II (-847) by the nobles, intervening to save John's life, after which Sergius is consecrated by the nobles without seeking ratification by the Frankish court. On June 15 Pope Sergius II crowns Louis II the Younger (825-75), son of HRE Lothair I as king of Lombardy (Italy); his claim to the rights of an emperor is decisively rejected, causing him to regroup (until 850). In June the Battle of Angoumois in Aquitaine is a V for Pepin II, who creates William of Septimania (826-50) (whose father was executed in May) as the count of Toulouse (until 850), while Pepin II's rival Charles II the Bald creates Fredelon (Freddon) (Fredol) (-852) of the Rouergue Dynasty as the count of Toulouse (until 852). On Oct. 2 Michael I Rhangabe (Rangabe) (770-844) becomes Byzantine emperor (until June 22, 813). The Battle of Clavijo sees the vastly outnumbered Christian army of Asturias under Ramiro I defeat an invasion by Moors led by emir Abd ar-Rahman II of Cordoba after St. James the Greater allegedly appears from the sky on a white horse and turns the tide, causing the saint to become known as "the Moor-Slayer". The first Viking raid on Spain at Seville is repulsed by Abd ar-Rahman II of Cordoba, who has a fleet and naval arsenal constructed at Seville to repel future raids. Pepin II of Aquitaine makes a big boo-boo by asking Viking adventurer Jarl Oscar for aid against Charles II the Bald, and guides his Viking force up the Garonne River to Toulouse, which only gives them ideas. Galindo Garces dies without heirs, and his uncle count Galindo Aznarez I of Urgell becomes count of Aragon (until 867). Merfyn Frych dies (in battle?), and his son Rhodri (Roderick) Mawr (the Great) (820-78) becomes king of Gwynedd in Wales, going on to becoming the first to rule most of Wales, being acknowledged as king of the Britons by the Annals of Ulster. Architecture: A monastery is built in Middelburg on Walcheren Island in the Netherlands. Nonfiction: Anon., Vitae Gildae; Breton work. Wrmonoc, Vitae Paul Aurelian. Births: Arab Abbasid caliph #15 (870-92) Al-Mu'tamid (d. 892); eldest surviving son of Al-Mutawakkil (822-61). Deaths: Byzantine emperor (811-13) Michael I Rhangabe (b. 770) on Jan. 1 in Prote Island. Frankdish count of Barcelona (826-32, 835-44) Bernard of Septimania (b. 795) (executed).



845 - The Hairy Breeches Up the Seine Johannes Scotus Erigena Year?

Ragnar Lodbrok of Denmark (-856) Johannes Scotus Erigena (815-80)

845 The Danish Vikings stage a simultaneous attack on all three Frankish Carolingian kingdoms: Danish king Ragnar Lodbrok (Norse "hairy breeches") (-856) leads a fleet up the Seine River and sieges Paris; other Vikings invade Aquitaine and ravage as far as Limoges; other Vikings destroy Hamburg and begin a gen. attack on the Carolingian lands in Germany. The Arabs take possession of Capo Miseno in the Gulf of Naples, along with Ponza to use as bases for an attack on Rome. A campaign by Cordoba against Pamplona results in a peace. After he attacks Clonmacnoise and Clonfert, future Irish high king #1 of all Ireland (846) Mael Sechnaill mac Maele Ruanaid (Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid) (-862) captures and drowns Viking leader Turgeis (Turgéis) (Turgesius) (Thorgest) in Lough Owel; meanwhile Irish-born Johannes Scotus Erigena (Eriugena) (815-80) is summoned to France by Charles II the Bald and appointed head of the palace school, and commissioned to translate the Neoplatonic works of Dionysius the Areopagite into Latin. The use of paper money in China leads to printing press inflation and state bankruptcy; Tang Wu Zong issues an imperial edict ordering the destruction of all Buddhist temples in China, exiling all monks and nuns, incl. Japanese monk Ennin (794-864); Nestorians are also persecuted. About this time the yummy town of Essen is founded in the Ruhr Valley (modern-day pop. 582K). Novels: Abu Tammam, Hamasa; collection of Arabian legends and proverbs. Births: Hungarian Magyar grand prince #2 (895-907) Arpad (d. 907); son of Almos (820-95). Italian HRE (915-24) and king (888-924), and margrave (marquis) of Friuli (NE France) (874-96) Berengar (Berengarius) I (d. 924). Deaths: Muslim Sunni scholar Muhammad ibn Sa'd (b. 784); leaves Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Book of the Major Classes), a collection of 4K biographies of Muslims, incl. 600 women.



846 - The Raid the Fridge Year for the Muslims, who finally get to sack the Roman Golden Goose?

Tang Xuan Zong (810-49)

846 On Apr. 22 emperor (since Feb. 20, 840) Tang Wu Zong (b. 814) dies, and on Apr. 25 his uncleTang Xuan Zong (Hsuan-tsung) (810-59) becomes Tang emperor #16 of China (until Sept. 7, 859), becoming the last capable one, forbidding Christians to preach in China. In the summer Breton forces under Nominoe (Nomenoe) (800-51) occupy the Frankish cities of Nantes and Rennes, raiding Anjou and threatening Bayeux, causing Frankish king Charles the Bald to recognize him as duke #1 of Brittany (until Mar. 7, 851), becoming known as "Tad ar Vro" (Father of the Country). In mid-Aug. Frankish king Louis the German invades Moravia and deposes king (since 82?) Moimir (Moijmir) (Moymir) I (b. ?), who dies after setting up his nephew Rostislav (Rastislav) (-870) in his place as client ruler of Moravia. On Aug. 28 after Radelchis I of Benevento and Siconulf of Salerno go to war with each other and stupidly hire Arab Saracen mercenaries, who learn of the treasures of Rome and sack Brindisi on Italy's heel, and conquer Taranto (until 880), sending word back to North Africa, another force of 11K men and 500 horses from Sicily sails up the Tiber River, lands in Ostia, and attacks Rome, then sacks it and strips its treasures, incl. Old St. Peter's Church and St. Paul's Outside the Walls, which they desecrate, until the Lombard army of Duke Guy (Guido) I of Spoleto (-860) arrives and chases them to Gaeta, where naval reinforcements from Naples led by Duke (since 840) Sergius I of Naples arrive just in time, defeating them in the naval Battle of Licosa Point off Paestum; the Muslims destroy a Venetian fleet, but in Nov. a storm damages their fleet, and their great invasion of the pope's home base fizzles after Pope Leo IV surveys the damage, and Pope Leo IV orders a new ring of defenses built to protect St. Peter's, while the Muslims found the city of Saracinesco 25 mi. NE of Rome, unsuccessfully attacking Ostia when its defenses hold. Frankish king Louis the German creates Prince Pribina (800-61) a vassal, granting him lands in Lower Pannonia near Lake Balaton in modern-day Hungary; he goes on to establish his capital 6 mi. SW of the lake in Blatnohrad (modern-day Zalavar). Aethelred II of Northumbria sends a military force to assist the Picts in their fight against invading Scots. The Bulgarians violate their 815 peace treaty and invade Macedonia along the Struma River, devastating the cities of Philippi and Serres. After Christian Mozarabs try to repopulate Leon in Spain, Muslim Arabs recapture it, causing its pop. to flee (until 856). The Kurds in Mosul revolt against Caliph al-Mo'tasam, who sends an army under Gen. Aitakh that crushes them. Lang Dharma is assassinated, and Tibet collapses into a group of petty principalities for the next three cents. The capital of Ceylon is moved S to Polonnaruwa to escape Tamil invasions. Nonfiction: The First Bible of Charles the Bald (Vivien Bible) (Vivian Bible), commissioned by Count Vivien, lay abbot of St. Martin of Tours is presented to Charles II the Bald on a visit. Births: French king (877-9) Louis II the Stammerer (Le Begue) (d. 879) on Nov. 1; eldest son of Charles II the Bald and Ermentrude of Orleans. Arab Shiite imam #11 Hasan al-Askari (Arab. "military") (d. 874) on Dec. 1 in Medina; father of Muhammad al-Mahdi (869-). Norwegian Viking Norman duke #1 (911-27) Rollo (Hrolf) (Rolf) Ragnvaldsson (the Ganger) (the Walker) (Wend-a-Foot) (d. 930) (b. 846?) in More, Norway. Deaths: Chinese Tang emperor (840-6) Wu Zong (b. 814) on Apr. 22.



847 - The Pope Leo IV Year?

Pope St. Leo IV (-855) Patriarch St. Ignatius of Constantinople (797-877) Caliph Al-Mutawakkil (-861) St. Hrabanus Maurus (780-856)

847 On Jan. 27 Pope (since 844) Sergius II dies, and on Apr. 10 the son of Radoald is elected Pope (#105) (St.) Leo IV (-855) (four straight sainted Leos), building the 1-mi. Leonine Wall W from the Castle of Sant'Angelo (N of St. Peter's Church on the Vatican Hill) (finished 855) in case the pesky Muslims return, and refurbishing and embellishing St. Peter's. On July 4 (St.) Ignatius (797-877), a son of Emperor Michael I Rhangabe and Prokopia (originally named Niketas, then castrated to keep him from becoming emperor, and tonsured after his father was deposed in 813) becomes patriarch of Constantinople (until 857). The Vikings siege Bordeaux, and William of Septimania comes to help but is captured, and is not released until 848 after Pepin II ransoms him. The art of maniacal micromanagement is the thing to do? Al-Wathiq dies, and Al-Mutawakkil (Motawakkil) (-861) (mother wants me to kill?), famous for his book Mahbubah succeeds him as Abbasid caliph, going on to end the Mihna (Muslim Inquisition), begin persecuting Shiites, and resurrect laws requiring special clothing and other tokens of social inequality for Jews and Christians; he appoints Arab Nestorian Christian scholar-scientist Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809-73) (#1 translator of Greek medical-scientific treatises to Syriac) to the post of chief court physician, and orders the felling of the Zoroastrian holy cypress at Kashmar, causing many Persian Zoroastrians to migrate to India; too bad, after the caliph gets suspicious that his physician might poison him, he orders him to prepare him a poison, and when big brain refuses, saying that the physician's oath requires him to never harm patients, he is imprisoned for a year anyway. The Capitulary of Mersen requires every freeman in the West Frank kingdom to choose a lord, whom he cannot quit and must follow in battle - frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn? Alcohol-swigging Pepin II of Aquitaine gives Viking leader Jarl Oscar control of Bordeaux, the largest city in his realm, causing support among his nobles to erode to merde. The archbishopric of sacked Hamburg is transferred to Bremen; meanwhile Bremen withstands continuing attacks and slowly rises from the ashes, although it isn't much to look at for three cents.? Frankish Benedictine monk-scholar ("Praeceptor Germaniae" = the Teacher of Germany) Hrabanus (Rabanus) (Rhabanus0) Marus Magnentius (780-856) becomes archbishop of Mainz, Germany (until Feb. 4, 856). The town of Bari in S Italy is captured by Saracen invaders led by emir Kahfun, and turned into a Muslim emirate (until 870). Births: French king of Aquitaine (855-66) Charles III l'Enfant (the Child) (d. 866) in Frankfurt am Main; 2nd son of Charles the Bald (823-77); brother of Louis II the Stammerer (846-79). English (Wessex) king (865-71) Ethelred (Aethelred) (OE "noble counsel") I (d. 871); 4th son of Aethelwulf (795-858); brother of Aethelstan, Aethelswith, Aethelbald, Aethelbert, and Alfred the Great. Irish high king of Tara (877-916) Flann Sinna (Flann of the Shannon) (d. 916). Deaths: Muslim counting and arithmetic teacher Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (b. 780) in Baghdad.



848 - Stick to the home team? Scotland's first great hero Kenneth Mac Alpin fights for his free-ee-dom and brings justice to all in a Mel Gibson movie that's still in the works?

848 Christian prophetess Thiota predicts the end of the world for this year. The Muslims sack Ancona. After the nobles get fed up with Pepin II, he is deposed. Sunifred I dies, and Solomon (Salomo) I (-869) becomes count of Urgell and Cerdanya, while recently-released William of Septimania (already count of Toulouse) waltzes into Barcelona and talks his way into becoming its count by using his credit with Pepin II (until 850). Kenneth Mac Alpin kills Drest, absolutely last king of the Picts, and goes on found the Kingdom of Alba in N Britain, and found the line that leads to the modern-day British monarchy, becoming the longest-lived royal family in Britain; his kingdom comprises all of the territory N of the Firth of Forth and Firth of Clyde, minus some Northumbrian possessions in Caledonia and Strathclyde; over the next 10 years he invades Northumbria 6x, fights the Strathclyde Britons and the Vikings (who penetrate as far as Dunkeld), and arranges good marriages for his daughter, Maelmuire going to Irish king Aed Findliath, another going to Dublin king Olaf Hvitr (bless it with your thunder hammer, Thor?), and a 3rd going to Rhun, son of Strathlyde king Arthgal; he occasionally asks for the help of the Angles against the Vikings, which is later used by the rulers of England as an excuse to claim overlordship of Scotland. The Mihna (Muslim Inquisition) begun by Caliph al-Ma'mun ends with the triumph of the ulama, who become the sole interpreters of the Muslim faith and no longer brook interference by cavalier caliphs. Architecture: Pope Leo IV begins building the Civitas Leonina (Leonine City) on the right bank of the Tiber River around the Vatican Hill to protect it from attack (finished 852). Births: Spanish king of Asturias, Leon, and Galicia (866-910) Alfonso III (the Great) (d. 910); son of Ordono I (821-66); father of Garcia I (871-914), Ordono II (873-924), and Fruela II (875-925).



849 - The Charles of Aquitaine Burmese Empire Year?

Mount Popa

849 In Mar. Pepin II's younger brother Charles of Aquitaine (825-63) sets out with some followers to claim Aquitaine, but he is captured by Count Vivian of Maine on the Loire River and sent to Charles II the Bald (until 854), who attacks Aquitaine himself in the summer, and is welcomed in Toulouse by Fredelon (-852), who is confirmed as count of Toulouse (which becomes the seat of one of the most beautiful courts of Europe), causing Pepin II to flee, after which Charles II marches to Narbonne, handing out counties to his followers, leaving William of Septimania up the creek, forcing him to ally with Abd ar-Rahman II of Cordoba. A Saracen fleet headed for Rome from Sardinia is sunk off the coast of Ostia by a naval league headed by Gen. Cesarius; the Muslim POWs are made to rebuild Rome - that's when they planted the time bombs and bugs? Kenneth Mac Alpin transports the relics of St. Columba to the casino, er, Monastery of Dunkeld, symbolizing transfer of Dalriada power from Argyll to the new kingdom of Alba. The Burmese Empire centered around Pagan is founded on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, with Mount Popa as the center of worship. Caliph al-Mutawakkil deposes the Nestorian patriarch and begins persecuting Christians. Nonfiction: The Kerala (Tharisapalli) Copper Plates, giving details of Syrian Christians in India are inscribed. Births: English king #6 (871-99) (first to call himself "king of the English") Alfred (Aelfred) (OE "elf or wise counsellor") (the Great) (d. 899) in Wantage, Berkshire (modern-day Oxfordshire); 5th (youngest) son of Ethelwulf (795-858) and 1st wife Osburga (Osburgh); of the royal house of the Jutes of Wight; husband of Ealhswith (852-905) (daughter of Ethelred Mucil). Deaths: German scholar-abbot Walafrid Strabo (b. 808) on Aug. 18 in Reichenau Island; leaves De exordiis et incrementis quarundam in observationibus ecclesiasticis rerum; Vita Sancti Galli (The Life of St. Gall); Liber de cultura hortorum, about his little beer garden in Reichenau Island on Lake Constance and its herbs, ranking them from best to worst as sage, rue, melons, fennel, lillies, poppies, and the rose ("the flower of flowers"), mentioning that beer is brewed in England and Flanders; De Imagine Tetrici, inspired by a nude equestrian statue of Theodoric the Great in front of Charlemagne's palace in Aachen.



850 - The Yellow Star of Yiddish-Speaking David Year for Jews and Muslims, and the Mood Year of Music for Christians?

Ordoño I of Asturias (821-66) Church of Santa Maria del Naranco, 848 Church of San Miguel de Lillo, 848 Acropolis of Zimbabwe, 850 Conical Tower of Zimbabwe, 850

850 In this half-cent. the Roman Catholic Church fragments, and the pope becomes a puppet for the next two cents., right when the big one-oh-oh-oh is nearing, like a speeding train with no one driving and blonde devils breathing down their necks?; meanwhile "Almost all Ireland comes flocking to our shores with a troop of philosophers", according to a Frank. This winter (850/1) Danish Viking raiders overwinter in England (on the Isle of Thanet in Kent) for the first time ever, beginning a transition to colonizing; meanwhile the Norwegian and Danish contingents of Vikings begin warring between themselves for power in Ireland, causing a 40-year lull in Viking raiding activity there? There is a famine in Germany, and Fulda abbot Hrabanus Maurus allegedly feeds 300+ a day - with seven loaves, or five? On Feb. 1 king (since 842) Ramiro I (b. 790) dies after leaving a court of great splendor with its own unique Asturian architecture that prefigures Romanesque architecture, along with the Church of Santa Maria del Naranco on the S side of Mount Naranco 2 mi. from Oviedo, and the nearby Church of San Miguel de Lillo, and his son Ordono (Ordoño) I (821-66) becomes king of Asturias in NW Spain (until May 27, 866), becoming the first to ascend hereditarily without an election by the nobles; he starts out by quashing a rebellion of the Basques, who are supported by Muslim gov. (banu qasi) Musa ibn Musa of Zaragoza, then stops an intended Moorish assault on Vardulas on the Ebro River. In Feb. Charles II the Bald invades Aquitaine, causing the nobles to switch allegiance to Pepin II; Sancho II Sanchez of Gascony takes control of Bordeaux, while William of Septimania (b. 826) allies with Abd al-Karim ben Mugith, and sieges Gerona until reinforcements sent by Charles II defeat them in battle, and William flees to Barcelona, where he is killed by royal partisans. HRE Lothair I designates his son Louis II the Younger as co-emperor of the West in Rome, and he is crowned in Rome by Pope Leo IV. The Banu Qasi under Musa ibn Musa, allied with Pamplona revolt against Cordoba, sending envoys to the Frankish court. Mutimir Vlastimirovic (-892) becomes grand zupan of Serbia (until 892), ruling from Rascia and converting the Serbs to Christianity. Christian priest Perfectus tells a group of Muslims in Spain that Islam is not positive, and is arrested and executed. Japanese Yamato emperor (since 850) Ninmyo (b. 827) dies, and his eldest son Montoku (827-58) (personal name Michiyasu) becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #55 (until 858). Jews begin settling in the SW of Louis II the German's Germany, developing their own mixed Hebrew-German Yiddish ("Jewish") language, later adding Slavic words as they move E - everybody else is doing it? About this time a hailstorm kills a group of pilgrims in Skeleton Lake in Roopkund India; rediscovered in 1942. About this time intensive cultivation of bananas begins in E Africa in the Pare Mts., introduced by Indonesian traders. The Kingdom of Chimu (Chimor) (ends 1470) is founded in the Moche Valley in the vacuum left by the collapse of the Moche, with capital at Chan Chan at the mouth of the Chicama River, where aristocratic rulers live in adobe compounds, and take all their possessions with them when they die, requiring their successors to acquire new land, subjects, and possessions by expanding the empire. Caliph Al-Mutawakkil issues a decree requiring all Christians and Jews in Muslim lands, incl. Jerusalem and Caesarea to wear a yellow (honey-colored) hood and belt to distinguish them, a practice the Christians and Nazis later adopt against Jews. Yanus, great-grandson of Barghawata Berber prophet Salih founds a new Islamic Khariji Berber state S of Casablanca with a Quran written in Berber; it collapses by the end of the cent. - Salunka, sweeheart, I'm not a magician, give me time? The Pillar of Eliseg (Elise) in Denbighshire, E Wales is erected by Cyngen ap Cadell (-855) of Powys in honor of his great-grandfather Elisedd ap Gwylog (-755). In this half-cent. hawking is introduced to England from the Continent. Salerno U. in Italy is founded, going on to develop a prestigious school of medicine, where "emperors, kings, popes and the richest barons all had their own doctor". Architecture: The Acropolis of Zimbabwe ("House of Stone") in Rhodesia (just S of modern-day Masvingo, Zimbabwe, which is S of Harare) begins construction by the Shona people (finished 1300); built on 1.8K acres, some with 36-ft.-high granite walls without mortar; a 35-ft.-tall 20-ft.-diam. Conical Tower is a harare giant phallus?; the city is abandoned by 1500. Inventions: The Crossbow is used for the first time in France in this decade. In this decade the Arabs perfect the Astrolabe for measuring the altitudes of celestial bodies, consisting of a sight hole, degree scale, calendar scale, and rotating alidade. In this decade Church Modes are invented, the precursor of major and minor scales: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian (I don't punch like Muhammad Ali lately?); the way to play them is either by spending 10-15 min. on each mode to prevent them from collapsing into the tonality of the underlying major scale, or to follow the mood ring from bright to dark by cycling through the chord progressions while playing the scales? Nonfiction: The Banu Musa Brothers (three Islamic scholars and mathematicians) in Baghdad write Kitab al-Hiyal (Book of Ingenious Devices), an illustrated manual on mechanics for Caliph Al-Ma'mun, based on the Alexandrian school of engineering founded by Hero and Philo, but more sophisticated in its designs, incl. a flute-playing automata. A copy of the Lesser Roman Martyrology is discovered in Ravenna by Archbishop Ado of Vienne, taking its place with St. Jerome's Hieronymian Martyrology - the calendar is never empty? Canu Llywarch Hen and Canu Heledd are written in Britain. Births: Japanese Yamato emperor #56 (858-76) Seiwa (Korehito) (Mizunoo-no-Mikado) (d. 880); 4th son of Montoku (827-58). French duke of Aquitaine (887-90) Ranulf II (d. 890); son of Ranulf I (820-66) and Bilchild of Maine; husband of Ermengard (-935); father of Ranulf III and Ebalus; styles himself king of Aquitaine in 888. East Frankish king (887-99) and HRE (896-9) Arnulf of Carinthia (d. 899); illegitimate son of Carloman of Bavaria and Liutswind of Carinthia; grandson of Louis I the German. Armenian Bagratuni king #2 (899-914) Smbat I (d. 914); father of Ashot II and Abas I. French duke of Lorraine (910-15) Reginar I Longneck (d. 915); son of Count Gilbert of Maasgau and a daughter of Lothair I. French monk composer-poet-artist-architect (St.) Tuotilo (Tutilo) of St. Gall (d. 915) in Germany; friend of Notker of St. Gall; feast day: Mar. 28. French abbot #1 of Cluny (910-25) (St.) Berno of Baume (Cluny) (d. 927) in Burgundy; born of a noble family; feast day; Jan. 13. Norwegian king #1 (872-930) Harald I Fairhair (d. 933) (b. 840?); son of Halfdan the Black and Ragnhild; father of Eric I Bloodaxe (895-954). Persian Muslim polymath physician-scientist Abu Zayd Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi (d. 934) in Balkh, Khorasan; disciple of Al-Kindi. Deaths: Spanish king of Asturias (842-50) Ramiro I (b. 790) on Feb. 1 in Oviedo. Brittany duke #1 (846-51) Nominoe (b. 800) on Mar. 7; furied in Redon Abbey. Japanese Yamato emperor #54 (833-50) Ninmyo (b. 810) on Mar. 21. Chinese Zen Buddhist master Huang Po (Huangbo) Xiyun (b. ?).



851 - The Cordoba Martyrs Year?

851 There is an earthquake in Rome. On Mar. 7 Nominoe (b. ?) dies after deposing five Breton bishops, and Charles II the Bald sees his chance, crossing over the Vilaine River with an army to seize Brittany; too bad, on Aug. 22 the Battle of Jengland (Jengland-Besle) (Juvardeil) (Grand Fougeray) in Grand-Fougeray (Ille-et-Vilaine) in Brittany is a V for Nominoe's son Duke Erispoe (Herispoius) (Respogius) (794-857), over Charles II the Bald, who grants him the counties of Rennes and Nantes, plus the Pays de Retz in Poitou as far as the Mayenne River. in Sept. the Treaty of Angers secures Breton independence and grants them the counties of Rennes and Nantes and the Pays de Retz in Poitou as far as the Mayenne River; Erispoe's daughter is betrothed to Charles' son Louis II the Stammerer. On Oct. 5 new co-HRE Louis II the Younger marries Engelberga (Angilberga) (-901) (daughter of Adelchis I of Parma, of the Frankish noble family of Supponids) and begins independent govt. of Italy, marching to S Italy and forcing the rival dukes of Benevento, Radelchis (Radalgis) I (-851) and Siconulf to make peace, splitting the duchy and giving Radelchis the capital of Benevento and Siconulf the capital of Salerno, after which Radelchi abandons his Saracen mercenaries to Louis, who happily massacres them. Ethelwulf of Wessex and his eldest son Ethelbald defeat an armada of 350 Danish ships at the Battle of Oakley (Ockley) (Aclea) in Surrey near Canterbury with "the greatest slaughter of heathen host ever made" (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle), but they sack Canterbury Cathedral (rebuilt c. 950), then destroy the fortifications of London. The Cordoba Martyrs, 48 downtrodden Mozarabs (Arabic-speaking Christians) who are mad as Hell and just can't take it anymore and begin blaspheming Islam in order to protest their ninth-rate status begin being martyred under true-blue Muslim warrior and patron of the arts Abd ar-Rahman II of Cordoba (ends 859). Nonfiction: Anon., The Travels of Suleiman al-Tajir (the Merchant); a Muslim merchant travels to China in 840. Johannes Scotus Erigena (815-80), De Divina Praedestinatione; defends the belief of Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims that man's free will helps determine his salvation, and goes on to claim that there is no damnation, only grace and happiness awaiting man.



852 - The Cornwall Year?

Boris I of Bulgaria (820-907) Duke St. Salomon of Britanny (-874) St. Swithin (800-863) Flag of Cournouaille (Cornwall, Brittany) Flag of Brittany Flag of Cornwall

852 On June 27 the Civitas Leonina (Leonine City) in Rome is completed. Malamir (Pressian) dies, and Boris (Russ. "battle glory") (Boris-Michael) I (820-907) becomes khan of the proudly pagan polygamist First Bulgarian Empire (until 889), continuing the campaigns in the W against Serbia and Croatia. Fredelo dies, and his brother Raymond I (-865) (OG "mighty ruler" or "counselor ruler"), count of Limoges (since 841), Rouergue and Quercy (since 849) becomes count of Toulouse and Albi. Pepin II of Aquitaine is captured by Sans II Sancion and handed over to his enemy Charles II the Bald, who imprisons him in the Monastery of Saint-Medard in Soissons (until 854); Louis II the German sees his chance, and sends his son Louis III the Younger to rule Aquitaine. (St.) Salomon (Salaun) (-874) swears loyalty to Charles II the Bald and is granted a third of Brittany, incl. the counties of Rennes, Nantes and Retz, becoming count of Rennes and Nantes, followed by duke of Britanny in 857, using the title king of Britanny after being granted the counties of Avranches and Coutances in 867. Abd ar-Rhaman II (b. 788) dies, and Muhammad I (823-86) becomes Umayyad emir of Cordoba in Al-Andalus (until 886). Inigo I Iniguez Arista (b. 781) dies, and his son Garcia Iniguez I becomes king of Pamplona (Navarre) (until 882), after which former ally Musa ibn Musa decides to go with Cordoban emir Muhammad I, causing him to look to Asturias as a new ally. (St.) Swithin (Swithun) (800-863) becomes bishop of Winchester, England (until 863), becoming active in building churches and bridges. Bishop Anaweten of Saint-Corentin takes over "Cornugallensis", becoming the first mention of Cornwall (Cornouaille) in Brittany, which becomes known as La Bretagne (in distinction from La Grande Bretagne, i.e., Great Britain), and develops a cool Flag of La Bretagne, based on the association with Capricorn; the Flag of Brittany, AKA Gwenn-ha-du is white and black, as is the Flag of Cornwall (St. Piran). Births: Chinese Later Liang Emperor #1 (907-12) Tai Zu (Zhu Wen) (Zhu Quanzhong) (Zhu Huang) (Zhu San) (d. 912) on Dec. 5. Greek patriarch of Constantinople (901-7, 912-25) Nicholas I Mysticus (Mystikos) (d. 925) in Italy; friend of Patriarch Photios; feast day: May 16. Deaths: Spanish Christian king of Pamplona (824-52) Inigo I Iniguez Arista (b. 781). Spanish Muslim emir of Cordoba (788-852) Abd ar-Rahman II (b. 792). Bagarat II of Armenia (b. ?).

853 Charles II the Bald and Louis II the German go to war over Aquitaine. The Vikings found Waterford (Norse "wether" + "fjord" = ram + fjord) in Munster, SE Ireland at the outlet of the Suir (Siur) River (modern-day pop. 53K/83K); in 902 it is vacated along with all other longship ports after the native Irish drive them out; in 914 the Vikings return and build it into Ireland's first city, becoming the oldest city in Ireland to survive to modern times. Architecture: Gandersheim Abbey is founded by Duke Ludolf of Saxony. Essen Minster in Germany is founded. Deaths: Japanese painter (the first important one?) Kudara Kuwanari (Kudara-no-Asami).

854 Pepin II and his brother escape from Charles II the Bald, and recruit another army to fight for the throne of Aquitaine, and regain some of the lands after an army led by Louis II the Younger (who was talked into it by his cousin Archbishop Charles of Mainz) turns back at Limoges; too bad, after getting his butt kicked, Charles II baldly flees to the court of Louis II the German; meanwhile the Vikings ravage the Loire Valley at will, incl. Poitiers, Angouleme, Perigueux, Limoges, Clermont, and Bourges. After the Muwalladun of Toledo revolts, aided by its large Mozarab and Muladi (mixed parentage) pop, and obtains the aid of Ordono I of Asturias, the Battle of Guadacelete is a V over the Moors, after which Ordono decides to repopulate the "Duero Desert" between Asturias and the Duero River, along with towns in Leon, Astorga, Tui, and Amaya. The Viking Danes under Gorm (Horm) ravage Anglesey Island in Wales, causing Rhodri the Great to regroup. Births: Arab Abbasid calip #16 (892-902) (Sunni Muslim) Al-Mu'tadid (Arab "seeking support in Allah") (Abul Abbas Ahmad ibn Talka al-Muwaffaq) (d. 902) (b. 861?). Persian #1 Muslim physician and philosopher ("the Islamic Socrates and Hippocrates") Rhazes (Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi) (d. 925) in Rayy (near Tehran); first to use mercurial oinment, animal gut for sutures, and plaster of Paris for casts.



855 - The Lothair II Year?

Pope Benedict III (-858)

855 On July 17 Pope (since 847) Leo IV dies, and in Aug. Bibliothecarius is elected Pope Anastasius, but he is invalidated in Sept., and on Sept. 29 Pope (#106) Benedict III (-858) is elected. On Sept. 29 HRE (since 817) Lothair I (b. 795) dies, and his empire is divided among his three sons: his eldest son Louis II the Younger (825-75) receives Italy along with the imperial crown (HRE) (until 875); his 2nd son Lothair II (835-69) receives the "middle kingdom" from Frisia to the Alps and from the Rhine River to the Scheldt River, which begins to be called Lotharii Regnum (Lotharingia) (Lorraine); his 3rd son Charles of Provence (845-63) receives the newly formed kingdom of Provence (centered around Arles) and S Burgundy. Almos (Almus) (820-95) becomes grand prince #1 of the Magyars (until 895), initially accepting the suzerainty of the Khazar khagan, then going almost independent about 860. King Ethelwulf raises Peter's pence and goes on a pilgrimage to Rome with his son Alfred, leaving Albion (Gael. "mountain") (England) (allegedly once run by a race of giants ruled by the god Albion) in charge of his eldest son Ethelbald - welcome, Las Vegas? Cyngen ap Cadell dies on a pilgrimage to Rome, and his nephew Rhodri the Great of Gwynedd inherits the kingdom of Powys. The Byzantines capture 27K Zott (Romani), and take them NW into Syria. Smbat VIII of Armenia dies. The Council of Valence condemns Johannes Scotus Erigena's "De Divina Praedestinatione" as "pultes Scotorum" (Irishman's porridge). The Magnaura School of Philosophy in Constantinople is founded in the old Senate bldg. E of the Augustaion near the Hagia Sophia and next to the Chalke Gate of the Great Palace, becoming the home of Leo the Mathematician/Philosopher (790-870), who started out as iconoclast archbishop of Thessalonica and begins teaching Aristotelian logic, helping launch the Macedonian Renaissance and becoming the "cleverest man in Byzantium in the 9th century". The head of the great statue of Buddha in the Todai-ji of Japan falls off, causing the emperor to order donations to be taken from the pious to make a new one. Art: The fresco Ascension of Christ is painted in the lower Church of St. Clement in Rome. Music: Polyphonic music is first attempted by ?. Births: Jewish physician Isaac Israeli (d. 955); Aghlabid court physician in Qairwan, Egypt. Chinese monochrome landscape painter Ching (Qing) (Jing) Hao (d. 915); teacher of Guan Tong. Deaths: Muslim anti-mihna religious scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (b. 780); leaves the Musnad, containing over 30K musnad hadiths, saying from Muhammad via a sahaba (personal companion) plus a chain of shaykhs. German HRE (817-55) Lothair I (b. 795) on Sept. 29 in Prum.



856 - The Ivar the Boneless Year?

Ivar the Boneless (794-872)

856 In 855-6 the Vikings winter on the Isle of Sheppy in England. On Mar. 8 Louis II the German makes Pepin II of Aquitaine's brother Charles (d. 863) the archbishop of Mainz and archchancellor. Ethelbald rebels against his Rome-ing father Ethelwulf; meanwhile the full tide of the first Viking assault of Britain begins (until 875), with Wessex spearheading the resistance. The Arabs destroy Canosa in Puglia. The Christians under king Ordono I of Asturias recapture Leon from the Moors. Danish king Ragnar Lodbrok is killed by King Aella of Northumbria, who allegedly casts him into a snake pit after capturing him in battle (although Aella comes to power in 866 and it was probably a Norse king in Ireland who killed him); Ragnar's son Ivar (Ivarr) the Boneless (794-872) succeeds to the throne of Denmark - the nickname was given to him by his wife? Rhodri the Great of Gwynedd defeats the pesky Danes and kills Gorm, annexing Powyd, causing Sedulius Scotus to write two poems about it at the court of Charles II the Bald. Theodora retires as Byzantine regent (PM), and her brother-in-law Caesar Bardas (-867) succeeds (until 867). Ashtot I (-890) is crowned king of Armenia. Lombard rule of Tarento ends. Ahmad ibn Muhammad (-863) becomes emir of the Aghlabid Dynasty of Ifriqiya, bringing it to its peak of wealth and power as a focal point of slave trading between the Islamic world, the Byzantine empire, and Italy, expanding the Roman irrigation system, and turning Kairuan into a learning center. Deaths: Frankish Benedictine archbishop of Mainz (847-56) St. Hrabanus Maurus (b. 780) on Feb. 4 in Winkel; leaves De Rerum Naturis (On the Nature of Things), an encyclopedia of medieval misknowledge.



857 - The Pope Joan Year of the Holy Mamas and Papas?

Patriarch Photius (815-97) Popess Joan (-857) Popess Joan (-857) Popess Joan (-857)

857 The first known ergotism epidemics occur in W Europe, caused by eating grain infected with ergot fungus. On Nov. 23 after refusing holy communion on Epiphany to PM Caesar Bardas (-867) for divorcing his wife to live in incest with his daughter-in-law Eudocia, Ignatius is deposed and banished by emperor Michael III, and super-learned civil servant Photius (815-97) is rushed through the church ranks in less than a week, becoming patriarch of Constantinople (until 867), using his super knowledge of Greek lit. to spawn an intellectual revival propelled by the development of cursive or miniscule script and the separation of words on the page; too bad, the pop. don't cotton to a dude who's on friendly terms with the Muslim emir of Crete, and the clergy turn against him for his sudden promotion over their heads. Salomon gets Alamarchus to assassinate his cousin Erispoe, and seizes the throne of Brittany. Well I'm not dumb but I can't understand whey she walked like a woman and talked like a man? Eggs Benedict jokes here? Alleged date of the death of Popess (Pope) Joan (Johanna) (John Anglicus) (1099?), a covered-up real or legendary female pope in drag, who studied in Fulda, became a top scholar, then went with her lover to Athens in drag to study science, then to Rome, becoming secy. to the Roman Curia, then a cardinal, before being elevated in 855 to pope, and after 2.5 years in office unexpectedly gave birth to a child (by papal librarian Anastasius, who briefly was antipope?) in the middle of the street while walking (atempting to mount a horse) on the narrow Via Sacra near the Colosseum (which later becomes Vicus Pulchisa or Shunned Street) en route to the Vatican from the Lateran, causing the enraged mob to tie her by the feet to a horse's tail and drag and stone her for half a league, and future popes to detour to the right to avoid the street, and a special porphyry marble chair to be constructed with an open crotch seat so that the pope's testicles can be verified during coronation ("testiculos habet"); a bust of her is later relabelled Pope Zacharias? - the 007 of popes? Architecture: The wooden Ko Fuang Temple in Shansi, China is built.



858 - The Pope Nicholas I the Great Year?

Ethelbald of Wessex (834-60) Donald I of Scotland (-862) Pope St. Nicholas I the Great (-867) Sueno's Stone

858 On Jan. 13 Ethelwulf of Wessex (b. 795) dies, and by his request his four sons Ethelbald (Aethelbald) (OE "noble people") (-860) (r. 858-860), Ethelbert (Aethelberht) (836-65) (r. 860-865), Ethelred (Aethelred) (OE "noble counsel") I (847-71) (r. 865-871), and Alfred (Aelfred) (OE "elf or wise counsellor") the Great (849-99) (r. 871-899) succeed to the kingship in turn; his oldest son Ethelbald is already ruling Wessex, and he now becomes English monarch #3 (until 860), and marries his father's widow; the remaining SE kingdoms pass to Ethelwulf's 2nd son Ethelbert - a good way to cement the kingly right? On Feb. 13 Kenneth I Mac Alpin (b. 810) dies and is buried in Iona, and his younger brother Donald (Dunaldus) (Domnall) I (812-62) becomes king #2 of Alba, going on to impose Gabrain clan rule over the mainland of Pictland N of the Cairngorms, commemorated on the 20-ft.-tall Sueno's Stone at Forres in Moray; he also introduces a law code attributed to Dalriada king Aed Find, finalizing the takeover. On Apr. 17 Pope (since 855) Benedict III dies, and on Apr. 24 Pope (#107) (St.) Nicholas (Gk. "people of victory") I (the Great) (-867) is elected with the influence of HRE Louis II, who just happens to be in the neighborhood of Rome, and later leads the pope's horse for some distance in his camp; he becomes one of the only "great" popes between Gregory I and Gregory VII, originating the policy that no bishop may be elected or deposed without papal approval - hang your stockings with care? The Frankish nobles of Neustria, incl. Salomon of Brittany revolt against Charles II the Bald, causing Louis I the German to invade to support him; in the spring the Bretons chase Louis out of Le Mans, causing him to march as far as Orleans in Sept., where a Breton delegation from Salomon meets him and takes oaths of loyalty on Salomon's behalf, causing him to turn back. Louis III the Younger fights the pagan Slavic Obotrites in N Germany. The Muslims capture Cefalu in Palermo, Sicily, renaming it Gafludi, becoming part of the emirate of Sicily for the next two cents. The Vikings sack Algeciras in S Spain, and are expelled by the Arabs. The Muwallads led by Ibn Marwan revolt in Merida, and are subdued, but the center of revolt moves to Badajoz. Emperor (since 850) Montoku abdicates in favor of his 8-y.-o. 4th son Seiwa (Mizunoo-no-Mikado) (850-88) (personal name Korehito), who becomes Japanese Yamato emper #56 (until 876), with real power wielded by his regent grandfather Yoshifusa, the first member of the Fujiwara family to hold the honor. The Duchy of Saxony N of Franconia and Thuringia between the Elbe and Saale Rivers on the E and Rhine River on the West (with the four divs. of Westphalia, Angria, Eastphalia and Holstein) is created in favor of Otho, son of Ludolph, and becomes powerful as Germany decentralizes (until 1180). Pope Nicholas I forces Lothair II of Lorraine to back his divorced 1st wife Theutberga (Teutberga) (-875) (loose as a goose?), then deposes the archbishops of Trier and Cologne for endorsing the divorce; he also affirms the right of bishops to appeal over their metropolitan's head to him, using the case of Archbishop Hincmar of Reims. Nonfiction: Johannes Scotus Erigena (815-80) (tr.), Dionysius the Areopagite; Latin trans.; too bad, he fails to submit his work for censorship, pissing-off Pope Nicholas I, but Charles II the Bald backs him until his death. Births: Persian Muslim Sufi mystic poet Al-Husayn bin Mansur al-Hallaj (d. 922) in Fars. Arab Muslim astronomer Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Sinan al-Raqqi al-Harrani-as-Sabi al-Battani (Albatenius) (d. 929) in Harran (near Urfa). Deaths: English (Wessex) king #2 (839-56) Ethelwulf (b. 795) on Jan. 13 in Stamridge, Wessex; buried in Steyning then moved to Winchester. Scottish king #1 Kenneth Mac Alpin (b. 810) on Feb. 13. Japanese Yamato emperor #55 (850-8) Montoku (b. 827).

859 On Sept. 7 Tang Xuan Zong dies, and on Sept. 13 devout Buddhist Tang Yi Zong (Li Wen) (Li Cui) (833-73) becomes Tang emperor #17 of China (until Aug. 15, 873), going on to live in decadence and squander the treasury while levying heavy taxes, resulting in famines that lead to cannibalism and agrarian rebellions. The winter weather is so cold that the Adriatic Sea freezes, and Italy is covered with snow for 100 days. A synod in Savonnieres near Toul orders Salomon of Brittany to honor his 852 oath and resume paying tribute, which he refuses to do. Danish Vikings under brothers Hastein and Bjorn Ironside leave the Loire River in France with 62 longships, cross the Strait of Gibraltar and sack the Mediterranean coast up to Asia Minor (until 862), plundering Lisbon and Cadiz then rowing up the Guadalquivir (Arab. "Wad el Kebir" = great river) and sacking Seville not once but twice; they suffer Ds in Asturia and in Niebla (Cordoba), being driven off with the loss of many ships, but score a V at Algeciras, sacking it and burning the mosque, then score more Vs at Mazimma in N Africa, Orihuela in Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and Rousillon before wintering at Camargue Island at the mouth of the Rhone River; meanwhile a raiding party of Vikings invade Pamplona and capture Garcia Iniguez I, releasing him for a ransom of 70K gold dinars. The Muslims under emir Abbas Ibn Fahdi capture Enna, the navel of Sicily, and pillage and burn Nice. The Battle of Monte Laturce (Albelda), Ordono I of Asturias and his ally Garcia Iniguez I defeat Zaragoza gov. Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi and raze his new fortified city of Albaida (Albelda). The Council of Langres condemns Johannes Scotus Erigena's anti-predestination beliefs again. Did the man who college invented go to college? The U. of (al-Qarawiyyin) (al-Karouine) (Karueein) Al Quaraouiyine is founded in Fez, Morocco by wealthy Kairouan, modern-day Tunisia-born widow Fatima al-Fihri al-Qurashiyya (800-80) as a madrasa, becoming the oldest univ. to survive to modern times, and the first to award degrees. Architecture: Iwashimizu Shrine (dedicated to Shinto war god Hachiman) near Heian is begun. Deaths: Chinese Tang emperor Xuan Zong (b. 810) on Sept. 7.



860 - The Bad News Bears Decade for Europe, as the pagan Vikings come close to taking it over? "The number of ships grows. The endless stream of Vikings never ceases to increase. Everywhere the Christians are victims of massacres, burnings, and plunderings." (H.G. Wells)

Ethelbert of England (836-65) Harald I Fairhair of Norway (850-933)

860 Halfdan the Black dies by accidental drowning while his mother's brother Guthorm holds his enemies at bay, and his son Harald I Fairhair (850-933) becomes king of several small scattered Norse kingdoms based in SE Norway, beginning a campaign in 866 to unite it while taking a vow not to cut or comb his fair hair until he is done, gaining the nickname Shockhead/Tanglehair (until 872). Vikings Hastein and Bjorn sack Narbonne, Nimes and Arles, then ravage as far N as Valence before moving to Italy and sacking Pisa and Lucca; at Luna Hastein plays sick and pretends to wish to convert to Christianity, getting the guards to take him to the church, where he jumps out of his stretcher and leads his card-carrying pagans in attacking the town (made-up but should be true?); after raiding Byzantine sites in the E Mediterranean they turn back, stopping in N Africa to buy some "blue men" (African slaves), which they later sell in Ireland; a Moorish fleet defeats them at the Straits of Gibraltar, but they manage to ravage Pamplona and return to the Loire River with 20 longships. King Ethelbald of Wessex (b. 834) dies, and his brother Ethelbert (Aethelberht) (836-65) reunites Wessex with Kent and the adjoining kingdoms of Albion (England), becoming English monarch #4 (until 865). Gorm (Grom) (the Old) (the Elder) (the Languid) Hardeknudsson (840-958) unites Jutland and the Danish Isles, becoming the king #1 of Denmark (until 958). The Bulgarians under Khan Boris I are severely defeated by the Serbs. Count Guy I dies, and his son Guy (Guido) (Wido) III (-894) becomes duke of Spoleto in Italy - and like a spoiled child covets it all? The first recorded appearance of the Viking Rus (Russians) (Varangians) at Constantinople - getting their piece of the Viking pie? The city of Leiden (Leithon) (Ger. ""leitha" = canal) in South Holland at the confluence of the Oude Rijn and Nieuwe Rijn (Old and New Rhine) is first mentioned, built on the artificial hill Burcht van Leiden; on Feb. 8 1575 it becomes a univ. city with the founding of Leiden U. (oldest univ. in the Netherlands), becoming known for as a center for science, gaining the nickname "City of Discoveries", with alumni and faculty incl. Jacobus van't Hoff, Johannes Diderik van der Waals, and Kamerlingh Onnes. Nonfiction: Abu'l-Farghani, Manual of Astronomy; used in W Asia and Europe for the next seven cents. Births: Western Frankish king (888-98) Odo (Eudes), Duke of France, Count of Paris (d. 898); son of Robert IV the Strong (d. 866). Spanish king of Pamplona (905-25) Sancho Garces (Garcés) I (d. 925); son of Garcia Jimenez; brother of Jimeno II Garces (-931); father of Garcia Sanches I (919-70). Danish king (936-58) Gorm (Grom) (the Old) (the Elder) Hardeknudsson (d. 958); son of Harthacnut I; husband of Thyra; father of Harald Bluetooth (910-87). Deaths: Italian king Guy (Guido) I of Spoleto (b. ?); father of Guy II (-894).

861 In May exiled patriarch Ignatius having refused to resign, a synod is held in St. Sophia Church in Constantinople, and after heavy bribes Photius' case is recommended to Pope Nicholas I. On Dec. 11 Abbasid caliph (since 847) Al-Mutawakkil (822) is murdered in Samarra by his Turkish guards, who launch the Anarchy at Samarra (ends 870); his son Al-Montasir (837-62) succeeds him as Abbasid caliph #11 (until 862), becoming their virtual captive, having to dish out the baksheesh to them or else, along with his successors (until 870) - you're pretty, been waiting long? Duke Salomon of Brittany hires some Vikings to fight his enemy Robert IV the Strong, who hires his own Vikings; meanwhile other Vikings loot Paris, Toulouse, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Worms, and build a settlement on an island in the Seine, but are driven away by the Vikings hired by the French lords, after which Robert is reconciled with Charles II the Bald, who creates the two Marches of Neustria in W France; the Breton March, called the Duchy of Maine, with capital at Le Mans is led by Robert IV the Strong (d. 866), with a mission to stop the advance of the Celtic Bretons between the Seine and Loire Rivers; the Norman March is created to stop the Norse, run by wardens (margraves); meanwhile Salomon lends Robert's enemy Louis II the Stammerer some troops. Cordoba takes Pampeluna. Carloman revolts against his father Louis II the German. Islamized (Sunni) Turkic nomads under Yakub bin Lais (-879) conquer the Hindu kingdom of Kabul after "treachery and deception such as no one had ever committed", and set up the Persian Saffarid Dynasty in Greater Iran , with capital at Zaranj in modern-day SW Afghanistan (ends 1003). The Vikings discover Iceland when a storm drives a ship to it. Deaths: Arab Abassid caliph #10 (847-61) Al-Mutawakkil (b. 822) on Dec. 11 in Samarra (assassinated).



862 - Now that you're able to dress in new labels, maybe you're getting somewhere? The Russian Shoe-Banger Empire rows in from Scandinavia?

Constantine II of the Picts (-877) Margrave Baldwin I Iron Arm of Flanders (830-79) Rurik (830-79) Great Mosque of Qayrawan, 862-3

862 On Apr. 13 Donald I dies, and his nephew Constantine (Constantius) (Castantin) II Mac Kenneth (Cinaeda) (Cinadi) (-877), son of Kenneth (Cinadi) I becomes king of the Scots, establishing the Scottish pattern of passing the kingship to brothers, cousins, or nephews as required to insure a capable adult ruler ruling in his own right instead of a puppet infant. Malesechnaill dies, and Aed Findliath ("fair-grey") mac Neil (-879), son of Niel becomes king of Ireland. Charles II the Bald begins marching on Brittany, but stops at Entramnes and negotiates a peace with Salomon, recognizing W anjou as part of Brittany, and granting him the lay abbacy of Saint-Aubin in Angers in return for returning to paying tribute; meanwhile Charles makes his son-in-law Baldwin I (Bras de Fer) (Iron Arm) (830-79), the first count of Flanders to give him a frontier buffer against the pesky Norse, and Baldwin proceeds to build a fortress in Ghent. Louis III the Younger fights the Slavic Obotrites again. Russia's next top model is? Novgorod ("new town") (modern-day pop. 218K) (in modern times one of Russia's oldest towns) is founded on the Volkhov River by the Rus (from Finnish "ruoysi", meaning "those who rowed") Viking Ulrich; Scandinavian Varangian Viking prince Rurik (Riurik) (ON "famous ruler") (830-79) is allegedly invited by the people of Novgorod to rule their city, founding the Russian Tsar (named after Caesar) Dynasty, and reopening the Norse trade to the E that had been cut off by the Huns and Avars in the 5th and 6th cents., beginning trade with Constantinople and the Khazars along the Russian waterways of the Dvina, Dnieper, and Don Rivers; "Our country is large and has an abundance of everything, but there is no order or justice amongst us. Come and take possession of the land and govern us." (Ancient Chronicle of Kiev); Vikings Askold and Dir leave Rurik's Novgorod and sail S down the Dnieper River, founding the town of Kiev (modern-day pop. 2.9M/3.4M) and becoming its rulers; the E Slav town of Polotsk (modern-day pop. 82K) on the Polota and Dvina Rivers is first mentioned, becoming the most heavily fortified city in Kievan Rus. Al-Montasir dies (murdered by the ghulams?), and Al-Mosta'in (Al-Must'in) (836-66) succeeds him as Abbasid caliph in Samarra (until Oct. 17, 866). Moravian prince Rotislav makes an alliance with Byzantine emperor Michael III to counteract the alliance between the Bulgarians and East Franks, and asks him to send missionaries to Moravia. Ignatius states his case in a direct letter to the pope, and Pope Nicholas I decides in his favor. Architecture: The Great Mosque of Qayrawan in Ifriqiya (Tunisia) (originally founded 670) begins reconstruction (finished 863). Deaths: French scholar Servatus Lupus, abbot of Ferrieres.



863 - They got seventeen kids, man, spend the day with them, man? The First Great Schism between the bishoprics of Rome and Constantinople makes big pricks of them all?

St. Cyril (826-69) and Methodius (815-85)

863 A synod held in the Lateran sides with Ignatius and condemns Photius, and when Byzantine emperor Michael II refuses to reinstate Ignatius, Pope Nicholas I excommunicates Photius, who refuses to step down, after which Michael II threatens the pope with military action to depose him, beginning the Photian (First Great) Schism of the Catholic Church; the pope sends a reply pointing out that the emperor had submitted to the invading Slavs and Saracens, with the soundbyte "Yet while these pagans with impunity conquer, burn, and lay waste [your territories], we, Catholic Christians, are menaced with the vain terror of your arms. Ye release Barabbas, and kill Christ" - the wizard wars begin? Count Raymond I is KIA by deposed (since Aug. 19, 862) Humfrid (-876), who becomes ruler of Toulouse. Robert IV the Strong of Neustria becomes count of Anjou. Carloman revolts against his father Louis II the German again. Greek brother missionaries ("the apostles of the Slavs") (monks from Salonika) (St.) Cyril (Constantine) (826-69) and (St.) Methodius (815-85) are sent by Pope Nicholas I to Moravia, and begin making converts. Count Solomon of Urgell-Cerdanya makes a trip to Cordoba to request the return of the relics of St. Vincent, which are in the possession of the wali of Zaragoza. Deaths: English bishop of Winchester (852-63) St. Swithin of Winchester (b. 800) on July 2; on July 15, 971 his remains are reburied in the churchyard, after which a great storm arrives, causing the legend that the weather on July 15 determines the weather for the next 40 days. Frankish archbishp of Mainz (856-63) Charles of Aquitaine (b. 825) on June 24 in Mainz; buried in St. Alban's.

Basilica of the Madeleine, 1096-1104

864 On June 25 Charles II the Bald issues the Capitulary Against Private Castles, claiming that they foster crime. Pepin II of Aquitaine joins the Vikings and allegedly converts to the worship of Oden, taking part in an attack on Toulouse before being captured, then deposed by the July 25 Edict of Pistres (Edictum Pistense), and imprisoned in Senlis for life. Bernard I dies, and his son Bernard II the Calf (d. 877) becomes count of Toulouse (until 872) (865-77?). Ziyadat Allah II dies, and his nephew Muhammad II (-875) becomes emir #8 of the Aghlabid Dynasty in Ifriqiya (until 875). Architecture: The Benedictine Vezelay (Vézelay) Abbey near modern-day Yonne, France is built, later containing the Basilica of the Madeleine (built in 1096-1104), allegedly containing the relics of Mary Magdalene. Births: West Frankish king (879-82) Louis III (d. 882); 2nd son of Louis II the Stammerer (846-79) and Ansgarde; brother of Carloman II (866-84). Bulgarian tsar (893-927) Simeon (Symeon) I (the Great) (d. 927); son of Boris I (-907) and Maria; brother of Vladimir Restate; father of Peter I (-970). Deaths: Japanese monk Ennin (b. 794); leaves 100+ books incl. Ennin's Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law (4 vols.).



865 - Big year for schismed Christianity as both sides woo the pagan Bulgarians and they join the worst team?

865 The Vikings winter on the Isle of Thanet again (864-5). On June 1 a solar eclipse is recorded in Britain, followed by a lunar eclipse later in June. In fall king (since 860) Ethelbert (b. 836) dies, and is succeeded by his brother (4th son of Ethelwulf) Ethelred (Aethelred) I (847-71) as king of Wessex and Kent (British monarch #5) (until Apr. 23, 871); Danish Vikings Halfdan, Ivar the Boneless, and Ubbi (Hubbi), sons of king Ragnar Lodbrok ("hairy breeches") invade East Anglia with a large force from the Continent intent on colonizing, and Ethelred and his brother Alfred fight them, but within five years they subdue Northumbria and East Anglia, and ravage the E half of Mercia, establishing Danelaw (Danelagh) in N and E England (ends next cent.). Humfrid dies, and Bernard I (-872) becomes ruler of Toulouse (until 872). Brothers Carloman, Charles III the Fat, and Louis III the Younger rebel against their old fart daddy Louis II the German, but reconcile after he makes a division of the remainder of his territories between them, with Carloman (who had been given Bavaria last year) promised Bavaria and the Ostmark (East Mark), Charles III the Fat promised Swabia (Alamannia) and Rhaetia, and Louis III the Younger promised Saxony, Thuringia and Franconia; too bad he takes over 10 years to kick off, allowing Fatty to start a war for the "middle kingdom" (Lotharingia) (modern-day Lorraine). The Vikings allied with the Bretons ravage the vicinity of Le Mans. Swedish Rus Vikings row down the Dnieper River and across the Black Sea, sieging Mickelgard (Constantinople), which is saved by a storm which the inhabitants attribute to the Virgin? - did you say Valhalla? After the Byzantines put him under pressure to counter a possible German-Roman conversion attempt, pagan Bulgarian Khan Boris I first entertains Muslim envoys and contemplates conversion to polygamy-friendly Islam, but is finally converted to Greek Orthodox Christianity after being pussy-whipped by a Byzantine princess (whom he marries), and makes it the official religion of the Bulgarians by 870, forcing his subjects to get baptized and reinvent themselves, starting with family relationships, giving up polygamy (with a max. of 3 divorces), and then reforming the govt. along Byzantine lines - Natasha, Rocky and Bullwinkle too? Ayyarun (vigilante) leader Ya'qub al-Saffar takes over Sistan in E Iran, founding the Persian Shiite Saffarid Dynasty (ends 1003), which claims descent from the Sassanian royal family and eventually takes W Iran and parts of N India before dissolving in the next cent. Births: Persian Muslim House of Wisdom scholar Abu'l Abbas al-Fadl ibn Hatim Al-Nayrizi (al-Nairizi) (d. 922) in Nayriz, Fars Province. Deaths: Frankish archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen St. Ansgar (b. 801) on Feb. 3 in Bremen. Frankish king of Aquitaine (838-52) Pepin II the Younger (b. 823) in Senlis. English king (860-5) Aethelberht (b. 836) in fall in Sherborne Abbey.



866 - The Alfonso III the Great of Asturias Year?

Alfonso III of Asturias (848-910)

866 On May 27 Ordono I (b. 831) dies, and his son Alfonso III (the Great) (848-910) becomes king of Asturias (until 910), going on to consolidate his kingdom at the expense of the weakening Muslim Umayyad princedom of Cordoba in al-Andalus, and ordering three chronicles written that claim that his kingdom is the rightful successor to the old Visigoth kingdom of Spain; his kingdom begins to be called Galicia or Oviedo instead of Asturias. Duke Salomon of Brittany and Danish chieftain Hastein ally and invade Anjou, Maine, and Touraine, and sack Le Mans, causing Robert IV the Strong to assemble a large army, incl. Duke Ranulf I of Aquitaine and Gauzfrid and Herve of Maine and take them on; on Sept. 15 t he Battle of Brissarthe near Chateauneuf-sur-Sarth in in Neustria sees superman Robert IV the Strong trap the fleeing Danes in a church before they can get back in their longships in the Loire River, then take off his cape, er, armor and go to work sieging it, only to be caught in a surprise night escape and killed, along with Ranulf I, after which Robert IV is called "the second Maccabaeus" by the Annales Fuldenses; the news causes Pope Nicholas I to write letters to Salomon urging him to resume his tribute payments to Charles II the Bald. You've come a long way, baby, since Eboracum in 71? In Nov.after spending a year looting and gathering reinforcements in East Anglia to create the Great Heathen Army, Danish Vikings under Ivar Ragnarsson the Boneless (-873) siege and capture Jorvik, later called York (the old Roman fort of Eburacum) in Mercia, and begin destroying the Northumbrians, forever ending N England's dominance in British affairs - boneless pork? Aella (Aelle) (-867) becomes king of Northumbria. The Vikings of Dublin led by Olaf Hvitr ravage Scotland, causing the Scots to sign a treaty with them sealed by the marriage of Constantine II's sister (Kenneth Mac Alpin's daughter) to him. Al-Mosta'in dies (murdered?), and is succeeded by Al-Mo'tazz (d. 869) as Abbasid caliph. The Shiite Banu Ukhaidhir tribe establishes a kingdom in Al-Yamamah in C Arabia (ends 1050), moving the capital from Harj (modern-day Riyadh) to Al Kharj, causing Harj to fall into decline until the 1500s. Births: Roman Byzantine emperor #133 (886-912) Leo VI (the Wise) (d. 912) on Sept. 19 in Constantinople; 2nd son of Basil I (811-86) and Eudokia Ingerina; brother of Alexander III (870-913). Western Frankish Carolingian king (879-84) Carloman II (d. 884); youngest son of Louis II the Stammerer (846-79) and Ansgarde; brother of Louis III (863-82). Western Frankish king (922-3) Robert I (d. 923); younger son of Robert the Strong; brother of Odo; first wife is Aelis, a descendant of Charlemagne, through whom he fathers Emma of France (894-934) and Hildebranda (895-931); his 2nd wife is Beatrice of Vermandois, through whom he fathers Hugh the Great (898-956). Deaths: French duke of Aquitaine (852-67) Ranulf I (b. 820) (KIA). French margrave Robert IV the Strong (b. 820) on Sept. 15 near Chateauneuf-sur-Sarth (KIA). Spanish king of Asturias (850-66) Ordono I (b. 821) on May 27 in Oviedo. French king of Aquitaine (855-66) Charles III l'Enfant (b. 847) on Sept. 29 in Buzancais, Indres; accidentally hit in the head with a sword in 864 by French knight Aubouin, causing him to become a moron and die childless.



867 - Prepare to be amazed, as the popes of the East and West send each other to Hell with Basiled Balls of Fury?

Byzantine Emperor Basil I (811-86) Pope Adrian II (-872)

867 After ex-patriarch Ignatius enlists the support of Pope Nicholas I, getting him to declare that his deposition was wrongful, patriarch (since 857) Photius of Constantinople excommunicates Pope Nicholas I, who returns the favor, and the Photian Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and Greek Orthodox Church begins, with the reversal of iconoclast emperor Leo III's removal of the Roman province of Illyria (now Bulgaria) from papal jurisdiction the pope's condition for recognition of Photius; on Nov. 13 Pope (since 858) St. Nicholas I dies, and on Dec. 14 75-y.-o. Cardinal Adrian is elected Pope (#108) Adrian (Hadrian) II (792-872). On Sept. 23/24 Byzantine emperor (since 842) Michael III (b. 840) is murdered in a drunken stupor in his bedchamber by orders of Basil I the Macedonian (811-86), who also murders PM Caesar Bardas, and becomes Byzantine emperor #132 (until Aug. 2, 886), ending the Isaurian Dynasty (founded 717) and founding the Macedonian Dynasty (ends 1081); he goes on to compile the Basilian Code (Rule), and resume Leo III the Isaurian's campaign to force conversion of Jews; on Nov. 23 after refusing him the sacraments and denouncing him as a murderer, Basil I calls a church council that deposes, insults, and banishes Photius, then restores Ignatius as patriarch of Constantinople (until 877) - don't get mad get even? Hastein ravages Bourges. Patriarch Photius of Constantinople announces to other Orthodox patriarchs that the Rus have taken to Christianity with particular enthusiasm; that doesn't stop the pagananism of the majority. Alfonso III of Asturias defeats a Basque rebellion. Galindo Aznarez I dies, and his son Aznar Galindez II (-893) becomes count of Aragon (until 893). Charles II the Bald marches on Brittany, but Salomon sends his son-in-law Pascweten to meet him in Compiegne in Aug., and after negotiating a peace Charles recognizes Salomon as king of Brittany, conceding the Contentin and Avranchin to him, sending him a jewelled gold crown and purple robes next year, and later acting as godfather to Salomon's infant son Wigo, which doesn't stop Danish chieftain Hastein from continuing to ravage the Loire Valley, starting with Bourges this year; meanwhile Salomon vainly tries to get Pope Nicholas I to send the pallium to the bishop of Dol to create a Breton archdiocese, as they refuse to recognize the archbishop of Tours. Galindo Aznarez I dies, and his son Aznar Galindez II (-893) becomes count of Aragon (until 893), while count Sunifred I takes over Ugell and Cerdanya (until 848). The Macedonian Renaissance in the Byzantine Empire, a revival of interest in classical scholarship begins (ends 1056). Nonfiction: Johannes Scotus Erigena (815-80), De Divisione Naturae (Preipphyseon); a curiously avant-garde pantheistic work rejecting the creation of the Universe by God out of nothing, claiming that it is really a galactic computer in the mind of God, with God himself as the ultimate consummation of all spacetime development; also, that reason does not need the sanction of authority, but is its own authority; in 1225 Pope Honorius III orders the work burned. Births: Japanese Yamato emperor #59 (887-97) Uda (Sadami) (d. 931) on May 5; 3rd son of Koko (830-87). Deaths: Roman Byzantine emperor #131 (842-67) Michael III the Drunkard (b. 840) on Sept. 23/24 in Constantinople; assassinated by John of Chalda by orders of courtier Basiliskianos as he lays in a drunken stupor in his bedchamber, cutting off both hands and stabbing him in the heart.



868 - The Danes move into England and make themselves comfy?

Muhammad II ibn Ahmad of Ifriqiya (-875) Diamond Sutra, 868 Aurel Stein (1862-1943)

868 The Aghlabid Muslims of Ifriqiya (Tunisia) under emir #8 (864-75) Abu il-Gharaniq Muhammad II ibn Ahmad (-875) capture Malta (until 909). Hastein and his pesky Danes attack Orleans, and don't do any more ransacking until 872. The Danes overrun Northumbria and E Mercia, and capture and ritually execute Northumbrian king Aella with the blood-eagle torture (where his ribs are chopped away from the spine and his lungs pulled out, pulsing on his back like red wings until he croaks); they levy the first Danegeld (Dane Yield) in England - protection money to not ransack them? Alfonso III the Great of Asturias conquers Oporto. The Tulunid Dyasty in Egypt and Syria (ends 905) is founded by Baghdad-born Ahmad ibn Tulun (-884) (son of a Turkish ghulam) after he uses his position as deputy-gov. of Egypt to build up an army of Turkish cavalry and African infantry and revolts. Inventions: On May 11 the 16-ft.-long scroll Diamond Sutra, the world's first dated printed book is pub. in Tang China by Wang Jie; opening: "Thus I have heard"; ending: "Thus shall you think of this fleeing world: A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream, a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a flickering lamp, a phantom, a dream"; discovered in the Magao Caves of the Thousand Buddhas near Dunhuang in NW China by Hungarian-born British archeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943), who purchases it from a monk guarding the caves - automatically makes the bestseller list? Nonfiction: Otfrid von Weissenburg, Diatessaron; a harmony of the Gospels. Deaths: Arab Shiite imam #10 Ali al-Hadi (b. 827) in Jan.-July (poisoned by the caliph).



869 - The Last Catholic Ecumenical Council Zanj Rebellion Year?

Wilfred the Hairy (-897)

869 On Oct. 5 the (last) Eighth Ecumenical Council (Fourth Council of Constantinople) (Ignatian Council), called by emperor Basil I over the Photian Schism opens at St. Sophia Church (ends 870); Photius is tried, condemned, and excommunicated (until 877). Carloman captures and blinds Prince Rostislav of Moravia. Ivar the Boneless leads part of his mrn back to East Anglia to finish off Edmund. Alfonso III of Asturias forms an aliance with king Garcia Iniguez of Pamplona, marrying his daughter Jimena while giving his sister Leodegundia to a Pamplonan prince. Al-Mu'tazz's cousin Al-Muhtadi (Arab. "guided by Allah") (-870), son of Al-Wahiq by a Greek slave girl, who cleans up the court of musicians, singing girls, wine, and games and fights the growing power of the Turks until they assassinate him next June 21. to become Abassid caliph #14. Solomon dies, and Wilfred (Wifred) the Hairy (-897) (a noble of Gothic descent from Carcassonne) becomes count of Urgell and Cerdanya in N Spain (until 897). The Zanj Rebellion (ends 883) of black slaves from East Africa in lower Iraq that had been employed in reclaiming salinated farmlands begins, sacking Basra and establishing a city in the marshlands (ends 883). Births: English king #7 (899-924) Edward the Elder (d. 924) (OE "prosperous protection") in Wessex; eldest son of Alfred the Great (849-99) and Ealhswith (OE "temple strength") (852-905); brother of Queen Ethelfleda of Mercia (872-918), Ethelgifu, Ethelweard, and Countess Aelfthryth (Elfrida) of Flanders (-929); father of Athelstan (895-939), Edmund I (922-46), and Eadred (923-55). Arab Muslim Shiite imam #12 (last) (874-) Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi (d. ?) on July 29 in Samarra, Iraq; son of 11th imam Hasan al-Askari (846-74) and Narjis (Melika), a Byzantine princess or Nubian slave; supposedly never dies, and is in a miraculous state of concealment, according to the Imami or Ithna Ashari (Twelvers) sect of Shiites. Deaths: Greek missionary (St.) Cyril (b. 827). Arab Muslim writer Al-Jahiz (b. 776) in Basra; leaves The Book of Misers, The Book of Animals (proposing that life climbed "from mineral to plant, from plant to animal, from animal to man", and man might climb to angel and even God), and Elegance of Expression and Clarity of Exposition - the original Botox?



870 - The Treaty of Mersen Year?

Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram, 870

870 On Feb. 4 Ceolnoth dies, and Wiltshire bishop Aethelred (Ethelred) (-888) becomes archbishop #18 of Canterbury (until June 30, 888). Sviatopluk I (-894) becomes prince of Moravia (until 894), going on to unite Moravia, Bohemia, and Slovakia. Leo VI becomes Basil I's co-emperor. An army of Danish Vikings under Ivar the Boneless invade England and capture East Anglian king (the last) Edmund, then ritually sacrifice him with the good ole blood-eagle, and destroy Peterborough Monastery; Ivar heads to Ireland, where he conquers Dublin, leaving his brother Halfdan in charge; at the end of the year the Viking hordes turn their attention to Wessex, which is all that stands between them and complete subjugation of the island, coming from East Anglia and invading the Kingdom of Wessex, disembarking from their longboats by the ferry crossing at Maidenhead ("Maiden Hythe" = new wharf) on the Thames River in modern-day Berkshire, then fight their way to Reading in modern-day Berkshire at the confluence of the Thames and Kennet Rivers 37 mi. W of London and 24 mi. S of Oxford, making it their regional power base - like we couldn't guess, just then a "he-ruh" arises to help the Anglo-Saxons fight for their "free-ee-ee-dom" and save Christian England from the Antichrist Vikings? Vikings from Ireland siege Dumbarton Rock in Dumbarton in Scotland on the N bank of the Clyde River at its confluence with the Leven River, and capture it after 4 mo. when the defenders run out of water, returning to Ireland next year with a great booty of plunder and slaves, forcing the Britons to move their capital to the vicinity of Partick and Govan, transforming the Kingdom of Alt Club into the Kingdom of Strathclyde. The Byzantines reconquer Bari, Apulia, Italy from the Muslims, and set up the admin. unit (thema) of Langobardia Minor, with strategoi headquartered in Bari and Calabria. The Treaty of Mersen divides Lotharingia (Lorraine) (N part of the W empire) between Charles II the Bald and Louis II the German, giving Louis II a strip of land W of the Rhine (Alsace and Friesland); the counties of Anjou and Champagne are carved from Neustria. After a pagan revolt and the execution of 52 leaders and their families, Bulgarian Khan Boris I finally decides for Eastern rather than Western Catholicism after the pope fails to meet his demand for the appointment of an archbishop for Bulgaria and he balks at foreign control of his nat. church, then finishes the Christian conversion of his subjects, getting the disciples of Cyril and Methodius to introduce Slavonic church language and liturgy, and getting (St.) Clement of Ohrid (Kliment of Okhrid) (Ochrid) (Achrida) (840-916) to invent the Cyrillic (Glagolitic) Alphabet (860?) based on Greek characters and Bulgarian runes. About this time Norse explorer Ottar explores the N Norwegian coast, and discovers the White Sea. Paul Siculus goes to Tephrice to ransom captives from the Bulgarians, and learns of efforts by the Paulicians to convert them, causing him to later address his Historia Manichaeorum to the new Catholic archbishop of Bulgaria. Al-Mutawakkil's eldest surving son Al-Mu'tamid (844-92) becomes Abbasid caliph #15 (until Oct. 15, 892), ruling in name only as his brother Al-Muwaffaq becomes de facto caliph, falling ill and transferring power to his son Al-Mu'tadid, who was popular in Baghdad, causing Al-Mu'tamid to be forced to remove his son Al-Mufawwad from the succession in favor of him in 875, causing him to become an alcoholic to forget it all. Inventions: Calibrated candles are used in England to measure time. Nonfiction: Ibn Khordadbeh (820-912), The Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Kitab al Masalik w'al Mamalik); description of the Abbasisd Caliphate, incl. highways, posting stations, and the Jewish Radhanites merchant co. About this time the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram (a set of Gospels) is written at St. Emmermam in Ratisbon for Charles the Bald. Music: Anon., Musica Enchiriadis; a musical ms. using Latin letters for musical notation. Births: Lotharingian king (895-900) Zwentibold (d. 900); illegitimate son of Arnulf of Carinthia (850-99); named after his godfather Sviatopluk I of Moravia. Roman Byzantine emperor #134 (912-3) Alexander III (d. 913); son of Basil I (811-86) and Eukokia Ingerina; brother of Leo VI the Wise (866-912). Indian zero mathematician Sridhara (d. 930) in Bhurishresti, South Radha (modern-day Hughli), West Bengal. French duke of Aquitaine (928-35) and count of Poitou (890-92, 902-35) Ebalus (Ebles) Manzer (Manser) (d. 935); illegitimate son of Ranulf II of Aquitaine (850-90). French count #1 of Anjou (908-42) Fulk I (d. 942); son of Ingelger of Anjou (-888) and Adelais of Ambois; father of Fulk II (905-60). Roman Byzantine emperor #135 (920-44) Romanos I Lecapenus (Lekapenos) (d. 948); son of Armenian-born guardsman Theophylaktos "the Unbreakable" Romanos from Lakape. Arab Muslim scholar-philosopher ("the Second Teacher" after Aristotle) Abu Nasr Mohammad Ibn al-Farabi (Alpharabius) (d. 950) in Farab (Faryab, Khorasan). Deaths: Greek philosopher Leo the Mathematician/Philosopher (b. 790). German theologian Gottschalk (b. 805). Islamic Sunni scholar Muhammad al-Bukhari (b. 810); leaves the Al-Bukhari Hadith Compilation (words and deeds of Muhammad), one of six canonical Sunni collections.



871 - Alfred's Famous Year of Battles, Or, The reason that the English speak English instead of Danish, Or, Shouldn't your baby be a Gerber baby?

Alfred the Great of England (849-99) Alfred the Great of England (849-99)

871 On Jan. 8 after eight seesaw battles Wessex Prince Alfred (who fights alongside his older brother Ethelred I) finally vanquishes (or at least poops-out) the Danish invasion force, led by Danish king Halfdan and six other Viking cmdrs. at the Battle of Ashdown (the 8th battle), killing a king and five jarls and culminating his "year of battles"; on Apr. 23 king (since 865) Ethelred (b. 847) dies in Dorset, and Alfred (Aelfred) the Great (849-99) becomes king of England (Wessex) (English monarch #6) (until Oct. 26, 899), uniting the English people and founding the English navy along with the King's Court (Curia Regis); too bad, the Vikings rally and score Bs at Basing (Jan. 22), Meretun, and Reading, after which their "summer army", led by Guthrum, Oskytel, and Anwend arrives from the Continent. Carolingian emperor Louis II the Younger frees Bari in S Italy from the Muslims. Gwgon of Seisyllwg accidentally drowns, and Rhodri the Great of Gwynedd obtains the kingdom of Seisyllwg by virtue of Gwgon's wife Angharad, his sister, giving him control of most of Wales except the S. Births: Spanish king of Leon (910-14) Garcia I (d. 914); eldest son of Alfonso III the Great (848-910) and Jimena of Pamplona; brother of Ordono II of Leon (873-924) and Fruela II of Asturias (875-925). Deaths: English (Wessex) king (865-71) Aethelred (b. 847) on Apr. 23 in Wimborne Minster, Dorset.



The Harald I Fairhair of Norway Year?

Pope John VIII (-882)

872 In Jan. after she fails to bear her hubby HRE Louis II the Younger any sons, the nobles try to have empress Engelberga (who became abbess of San Salvatore in Brescia in 868) removed, but Louis II the Younger makes Louis II the German of East Francia his heir to shut them up. In the spring Hastein's Viking fleet sails up the Maine River and occupies Angers, causing Charles II the Bald to arrive and siege them (until 873). On Dec. 13 Pope (since 867) Adrian II dies, and on Dec. 14 Pope (#109) John VIII (-882) is elected. Ivar the Boneless dies of natural causes in Dublin (873?). Harald I of Norway (840-933) wins the decisive naval Battle of Hafrsfjord (Stravanger), gaining control of all of W Norway as king #1 (until 933), cutting his hair and dropping the name Shockhead for Fairhair. The Danes under Hastein attack Angers in France, causing Charles II the Bald to appeal to King Salomon of Brittany for help. After another Viking V at the Battle of Wilton, Alfred the Great buys peace from the Danes, who pull back from Wessex without penetrating it very far, and then invade Mercia, intent on occupying London. Dublin king Olaf Hvitr kills captive Strathclyde king Artgal of Alt Clut after his brother-in-law Constantine II of Scotland counsels him to do it. Alfred the Great allegedly founds Oxford U. in Oxfordshire, England; too bad, the first definite mention is in 1096. Births: English Mercian female monarch (911-18) Aethelflaed (Ethelfleda) (d. 918); son of Alfred the Great (849-99) and Ealhswith; sister of Edward the Elder (869-924).



873 - The Przemysl Year?

873 On Aug. 15 Tang Yi Zong dies, and on Aug. 16 Tang She Zong (Xi Zong) (Li Yyan) (Li Xuan) (862-88) becomes Tang emperor #18 of China (until Apr. 20, 888). In Oct. Charles II the Bald and Hastein agree to a peace, and Hastein remains in the Loire country (until 882). The Danes occupy and settle all of Mercia, and set up a puppet king in Northumbria. Humble Czech ploughman Premysl (Przemysl) the Ploughman (pr. "SHEH-mih-shuhl") of the peasant village of Stadice marries princess Libuse (Libussa) (Lubossa), daughter of Bohemian ruler Krok, becoming a prince and founding the Przemysl (Premysl) Dynasty in Bohemia (ends 1306); Libuse goes on to found the city of Prague (modern pop. 1.28M/2.1M) on the Vltava River in NW Bohemia on seven hills like Rome, going on to become known as "the Mother of Cities". The Saffarids of E Iran take Khurasan, ending the Tahirid Dynasty (begun 821). Archbishop Wilhelm of Cologne confers the right to brew beer to the convent in Gerresheim near Dusseldorf (Düsseldorf), North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which receives a city charter in 1288, going on to become a rival of Cologne in all aspects incl. beer; in 1541 Dusseldorf has 35 brewers, who are put under a law by Duke Wilhelm III to only serve quality low-priced beer, while beer from outside the city is heavily taxed; the city goes on to become famous for top-fermented Altbier (Ger. "old beer"), which is copied by Venlo, Netherlands 30 mi. away in 1753. Architecture: The first church is built on the future site of Cologne Cathedral. Births: Spanish king of Galicia (910-24) and Leon (914-24) Ordono (Ordoño) II (d 924); 2nd son of Alfonso II the Great of Asturias (848-910) and Jimena of Pamplona; father of Sancho Ordonez of Galicia (895-929), Alfonso IV the Monk of Leon (890-933), and Ramiro II of Leon (900-51). Deaths: Arab scholar Ya'qub al-Kindi (b. 801) in Baghdad; leaves 260+ works, incl. On First Philosophy (attempting to reconcile Aristotle and Neo-Platonism with Islam), and Treatise on Musical Theory; his works get trans. into Latin and influence European scholars, but after Avicenna in the 11th cent. his influence wanes in Arabic-speaking lands. Arab physician Hunayn ibn Ishaq (b. 809) in Baghdad; leaves a ton of Arabic translations of Greek medical-scientific texts incl. Dioscorides' "De Materia Medica", 129 of Galen's works, plus original works incl. How to Grasp Religion, and Ten Treatises on Opthalmology, the first systematic treatment. Chinese Tang emperor (859-73) Yi Zong (b. 833) on Aug. 15.



874 - The Reykjavik Year?

Jamkaran Mosque

874 In the winter of 873/4 the Scandinavian Vikings of the Great Heaten Artmy overwinter in Repton, Derbyshire, England, leaving mass graves. Saxon king Burgred is desposed by the Vikings and flees to Rome, where he dies; Ceowulf II (-879) is appointed puppet king of half of Mercia by the Danes. King Salomon of Brittany is assassinated by a conspiracy led by Count Pascweten (Pasquitan) (Paskwezhen) (-876) of Vannes, Wrhwant (Gurwant) (-876), and Wigo (son of Count Riwallon of Cournouaille), who fall out and begin a civil war. Norse Vikings under Ingolfur (Ingolfr) Arnarson of Norway discover and settle Iceland (AKA Island or Lydveldid Island) at Reykjavik (Norse "bay of smoke") (named by Arnarson) (modern-day pop. 123K/217K) at the mouth of the Faxafloi River on the S shore of Faxa Bay close to the Arctic Circle (world's northernmost capital), and drive the Irish hermits out, creating a New Norway with a high culture, with the city's volcanic springs giving abundant boiling hot water; the city is not officially founded until 1786 as an official trading town - blonde babes and hot tubs, who needs civilization? The Aghlabid Dynasty of Ifriqiya is devastated by a plague. The Persian Sunni Samanid Dynasty obtains the admin. of Transoxiana (capital Bukhara) from the caliph. Births: Arab Muslim Sunni scholar Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Ismail al-Ash'ari (al-Ashari) (d. 936) in Basra, Iraq; descendant of Abu Musa al-Ashari, companion of Muhammad; founder of the rationalist Sunni theological Kalam (Ash'ari) School, which breaks off from the Mu'tazila school and begins applying Greek philosophy and dialectic to Islam, declaring that Allah isn't necessarily rational, and freewill is an illusion, leading to modern Muslim terrorists incl. Osama bin Laden? Births: Scottish king (900-43) Constantine II mac Aed (d. 952); father of Indulf (-962). Deaths: Persian Sufi mystic Bayazid Bastami (b. 804). Arab imam #11 Hasan al-Askari (b. 846) on Jan. 1 in Samarra, Iraq; his mysterious 4-y.-o. son (imam #12) Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi (869-?) disappears, leading Shiites to believe he will be the Mahdi (Arab. "guided one") (also Mehdi = "one of the Moon") after reappearing from the Jamkaran Well at the Jamkaran Mosque of Qum, where tens of thousands now show up every Tues. evening to pray and drop him a note. French duke of Britanny (857-74) St. Salomon (b. ?); assassinated by a conspircy of Pascweten, Wrhwant, and Wigo, son of Riwallon, count of Cornouaille; posth. canonized and declared a martyr.



875 - The Charles II the Bald Year?

875 By this year the Vikings have surrounded Europe and threaten to conquer the entire continent - you were awesome? On Aug. 12 HRE (since 855) Louis II the Younger (b. 825) dies without an heir, and in order to sideline empress Engelberga the nobility scraps the deal with East Frankish king Louis II the German, and elects West Frankish king (since 840) Charles II the Bald (823-77) (half-brother of his father), who is crowned king of Italy in Pavia, followed on Dec. 29 by HRE (until 877) by Pope John VIII, while Charles II's clown, er, man Boso V of Arles kidnaps Engelberga and her daughter Ermengard and forces the latter to marry him in June 876, becoming Charles' gov. of Italy with the title of duke; meanwhile pissed-off Louis II the German invades Charles' dominions in West Francia, causing him to hurry back. Alfred the Great pays Danegeld to stop a Danish invasion until he can organize his army and navy. Olafr Hvit of Dublin dies, and his successor ditches the deal with Scotland and begins raiding it; the Battle of Dollar in Scotland is a V for Danish Vikings under Thorstem over Constantine II of the Picts, after which they occupy Caithness, Sutherlandshire, Ross, and Moray; too bad, it becomes a pyrrhic victory as their control of Alba is kaput. Muhammad II dies, and his brother Ibraham II ibn Ahmad (-902) becomes emir of the Sunni Aghlabid Dynasty of Ifriqiya, presiding over its decline and fall to the Shiite Fatimids. After the govt. fails to help victims of droughts and floods while increasing taxes and wallowing in luxury, the Huang Chao Rebellion in Heian begins (ends 884), becoming the biggest revolt against the Chinese Tang Dynasty, seriously weakening it and setting it up for dissolution within a few decades - there are time deadlines to file your claim? Architecture: After the Vikings destroy the royal residence Ruiel on the Seine River W of Paris in 846, the area is given by Charles II the Bald to the Abbey of St. Denis (until 1633), and later (1799) becomes the site of Empress Josephine's Chateau de Malmaison. Nonfiction: Anon., Navigato Brendani (Life of St. Brendan the Navigator); written by an anon. German monk. Births: French count of Auvergne (886-918) and duke of Aquitaine (893-918) William I (the Pious) (d. 918)); son of Bernard II of Auvergne and Ermengard; husband of Engelberga, daughter of Boso of Provence and Ermengard. Deaths: German Italian king (844-75) and HRE (855-75) Louis II the Younger (b. 825) on Aug. 12 in Ghedi, Brescia.



876 - The Carloman Jorvik Bari Year?

876 Forty Years Rest begin in Ireland (until 916), seeing Viking raids die down. On Aug. 28 Louis III the German (b. 806) dies while invading West Francia, and according to the plan of 865 his son Carloman (d. 880) becomes king of Bavaria, followed by king of Italy next year; his son Louis III the Younger (d. 882) becomes king of Saxony, Franconia, and Thuringia (causing him to be called king of Saxony, although he lives in East Francia and never visits it); his son Charles III the Fat (d. 888) becomes king of Swabia (Alamannia) (Alemannia); fat or bald notwithstanding, with the death of Louis II the popes no longer have protectors outside Italy like they had since Charlemagne in 774, causing them to become dominated by the Roman and Italian aristocrats, and permitting bishops outside Italy, supported by local feudal lords to prop themselves up against the papacy, which begins a decline until the 2nd half of the 11th cent.; about this time the False (Pseudo-Isidorian) Decretals begin to be circulated, a shameless forgery to promote papal supremacy and political autonomy, while bolstering the rights of diocesan bishops against their metropolitans; exposed in 1628 by Calvinist preacher David Blondel. On Oct. 8 after Charles II the Bald of West Francia tries to annex E Lotharingia against the will of Louis III the Younger, the Battle of Andernach on the Rhine River is a V for Louis' smaller army of East Franks after he dresses them in white so that they look like dead spirits, after which the three brothers (incl. Carloman) meet in Nov. in Nordlington to discuss the division of their father's kingdom and swear mutual allegiance; Charles II then heeds Pope John VIII's request to cross the Alps back into Italy to fight the Saracen menace. The Muslim Arabs attack Rome again, and are defeated by Pope John VIII at the naval Battle of Circeo, but continue to ravage Latium; Subiaco is destroyed for the 2nd time; Saracinesco Castle near Tivoli, and Ciciliano Castle in Sabina are built; Narni, Nepi, Orte, the countries of the Tiburtino, the Valley of the Sacco, the lands of Tuscia, and the Argentario Mts. fall into the hands of the Muslims, but the town of Bari is retaken by the Byzantines, who establish the admin. unit of Langobardia. The Danes violate their treaty and attack Wessex from the W, fortifying themselves at Wareham, but Alfred organizes an army and sieges them, making them leave Wessex and agree not to return - yah like that means anything to a Viking? Danish King Halfdan "White Shirt" Ragnarsson of Dublin, 2nd son of Ragnar Lodgrok takes control of the E half of Mercia, and settles Danes in Northumbria; Jorvik (York) on the Swale River N of the Humber River becomes a Viking town. A Viking fleet is caught in a sea storm off Swanage, England, destroying 120 ships, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Emperor (since 858) Seiwa (b. 850) abdicates in favor of his eldest son Yozei (Sadakira) (869-949), who becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #57 (until 884), going on to found the Yozei branch of the Minamoto (Genji) clan. Births: East Frankish king (919-36) and duke of Saxony (912-36) Henry the Fowler (d. 936). Bulgarian monk #1 (St.) Ivan Rilski (John of Rila) (d. 946); feast day: Aug. 18. Deaths: German Bavarian king (817-43) and East Frankish king (843-76) Louis II the German (b. 806) on Aug. 28.



877 - The No Canfu Fake Silk Year?

Louis II the Stammerer of France (846-79)

877 On June 14 the Capitulary of Kiersy (Quierzy) of Charles II the Bald (b. 823) proclaims a series of measures for safeguarding the admin. of his realm during his 2nd Italian expedition, making honors hereditary while still granting lands only for life; after arriving in Italy and finding that the nobles (even his regent Boso V) refuse to join him, Charles falls ill, causing him to beat a hasty retreat back to Gaul, dying on Oct. 6 while crossing Mont Cenis Pass at Brides-le-Bain; meanwhile Carloman enters N Italy and is crowned king of Italy in Rome; on Dec. 8 Charles II the Bald's sickly eldest son Louis II (the Stammerer) (le Begue) (846-79) is crowned Carolingian king of the West Franks (until 879) by Archbishop Hincmar at Rheims; an insurrection led by Prince Ursus (Merovingian prince Sigisbert VI?) along with Bernard d'Auvergne and the marquis of Gothie begins (ends 881), and anarchy reigns in the Carolingian Empire until 881, with the popes failing to settle an imperial title on Louis, who is crowned king for a 2nd time next Sept. by Pope John VIII in Troyes, but turns down the imperial crown, after which Carloman, who wants it bad suffers a stroke in 879 just when Louis dies. On Oct. 23 Patriarch Ignatius (b. 797) dies, and Photius regains his position as patriarch of Constantinople, this time with the approval of Pope John VIII, and participates in Ignatius' sanctification. Mercia is partitioned between the English and the Danes, with the line going through London, Bedford, and Chester; Mercia and Northumbria now have certified Viking Danish kings; Halfdan follows in the footsteps of his brother Ivar and sails to Ireland to secure the throne of Dublin, but is defeated and killed by Norwegian Vikings in the Battle of Strangford Lough; Guthrum is promoted to CIC of the Danish army based in Cambridge. Constantine II is KIA in battle with the Vikings of Dublin, and his younger brother Edus (Aed) mac Neill (Findliath) (the Fair Warrir) (-879) becomes king of the Scots after Donald Mac Alpin's son Giric mac Dungall (Mac Rath) (Son of Fortune) (832-90) is passed over, pissing him off. Rhodri the Great of Gwynedd is defeated by the Norse in the Battle of Anglesey Island, and flees to Ireland. Flann Sinna (847-916) becomes king of Mide, followed on Nov. 20 by high king of Tara in Ireland (until May 25, 916) after the death of his stepfather (1st cousin) Aed Findlath. Egypt annexes Damascus. Rebel chief Biachu captures Canfu, center of the Chinese silk trade, and destroys it, stopping foreign commerce in silk for 60 years; the West has already learned to make silk and doesn't need to throw a pity party? A great drought in Japan is stopped by sacrifices made at the Temple of Hachiman the Shinto war god in Ise Province; meanwhile ambassadors from Baekje in Korea arrive in Izumo Province and are turned back. Births: Bohemian duchess consort (915-21) (pagan) Drahomira of Stodor (the Arrogant) (d. 937) in Havelland, Brandenburg; wife (906-) of Vratislav I (888-921); mother of Wenceslaus I (907-35) and Boleslaus the Cruel (915-67). Deaths: Greek patriarch of Constantinople (847-57, 867-77) St. Ignatius (b. 797) on Oct. 23. Frankish king (840-77) Charles II the Bald (b. 823) on Oct. 6 in Brides-le-Bain; his body stinks so bad that he is hastily buried in the Abbey of Nantua in Burgundy, then reburied later in the Basilique Saint-Denis, after which a memorial brass is melted down during the French Rev.



878 - The F---off Burnt Cakes Year? The Danes in England are reborn as Christians?

878 Early in the year (midwinter) a large Danish force from Gloucester under Guthrum breaks the agreement with Wessex, invades it and seizes the royal vill of Chippenham in Wilthshire E of the Bristol Channel by surprise; "The host went secretly... and rode over Wessex and occupied it, and drove a great part of its inhabitants overseas, and reduced the greater part of the rest to submission, except Alfred the king, who with a small company moved under difficulties through woods and inaccessible places in marshes" (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle); Alfred the Grunt flees to the isle of Athelney in Somerset (located in a swamp), where he dines on burnt cakes, and encounters St. Cuthbert disguised as a pilgrim; he calls his well-trained army from their winter homes in Somerset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire and returns in the spring, defeating the Danish army in May at the Battle of Edington (Ethandun) in Wilshire SSW of Chippenham, and capturing Guthrum, but instead of whacking him, cagey Alfred baptizes him and enters into a peace treaty with him, the Treaty of Wedmore (Chippenham); the Christianized Vikings are obliged to hand over hostages and leave Wessex, but allowed to settle in England in a broad strip of land covering almost one-third of England N of the Thames-Lea line, incl. the Humber River and The Wash; the Danes are also given a Danelagen in Mercia and East Anglia; Danish pressure forces Scotland (between the Solway Firth, Firth of Clyde, and Firth of Forth) to begin unifying; the rest of the Celts are also bunched up on the W side of the island, hiding behind the Cambrian Mts. in Wales, and to the W of the Tamar River in Cornwall; Alfred begins walling and garrisoning London with burghers, setting up earthen forts (burhs) of Viking style, and reorganizing the fyrd (foot soldier army), along with thanes (thegns) (mounted infantry), which all citizens of a certain wealth are required to join; in the 880s he builds Athelney Abbey (destroyed in 1539 by Henry VIII). On Apr. 16 Pope John VIII writes a letter to Bulgarian prince Boris I mentioning the town of Belgrade (Beograd) ("white fortress), which had been built on the ruins of the former key Roman city of Singidunum at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers, and begins to achieve strategic significance again. In Apr. Wilfred the Hairy defeats rebel count of Barcelona (since 865) Bernard (Bernat) II of Gothia (-880) (who is backed by Bishop Sigebuto of Narbonne and a bunch of rebel priests), and on Sept. 11 Louis II the Stammerer dispossesses Bernard and gives the counties of Barcelona, Gerona, and Besalu to Wilfred, who goes on to repopulate the new Christian-Muslim border county of Ausona with settlers from the Pyrenees (Urgell, Pallars, Cerdanya), and become the last count of the Hispanic March appointed by the ever-weakening Carolingian kings, and the first to pass his title and lands to his sons by inheritance, beginning a trend. In May Pope John VIII takes refuge from the Saracens in Arles, where he is sheltered by Boso V and Ermengard. On Oct. 15 thereafter a great wind, lightning, and "rain of blood", there is a lunar eclipse in Britain; on Oct. 29 there is a total solar eclipse in S Scotland and London. Giric leads a revolt against Aed with help from Strathclyde, defeating and slaying him, and becomes king of Scotland, sharing power with his 1st cousin Eochaid (Eodochius), son of King Rhun (Run) of Strathclyde (grandson of Kenneth Mac Alpin) (until 889); meanwhile Aed's young children plan on revenge when they grow up; Giric is the king who changes the name of the kingdom from Pictland to Scotland (Alba) (Albanion) and completes the makeover to Scottish culture? Rhodri the Great of Wales and his son Gwriad are KIA in a battle with the Mercians, and his son Anarawd ap Rhodri (-916) becomes king of Gwynedd and Powys, while his son Cadell ap Rhodri (854-909) becomes king of Seisyllwg (until 909). Alfonso III the Great of Asturias conquers Coimbra. Cornish king Dumgarth is drowned. The Sunni Tulinids annex Palestine incl. Jerusalem to Egypt (until 939). The Muslims under Aghlabid emir Ibrahim II (-902) conquer Syracuse, massacre the pop., then finish conquering Sicily, making Palermo their capital, holding it for over 200 years, reducing trade between Alexandria and Constantinople to a trickle. Amoghavarsha I dies, and his son Krishna II (Kannara) (-914) becomes emperor #7 of the Rashtrakuta Empire (until 914); his queen is Chedi Haihaya princess Mahadevi. The last written reference to Christians in China before the Mongol era. Science: Arab astronomer Muhammad al-Battani (858-929) begins his observations of the sky. Deaths: Welsh king (844-78) Rhodri the Great (b. 820).



879 - The Bozo, er, Boso Year?

Burgundian King Boso of Arles

879 On Apr. 10 Charles II the Bald's son Louis II the Stammerer (b. 846) dies from illness after beginning a campaign against the Vikings, and the anarchic West Frankish kingdom is partitioned, with brothers Carloman II (866-84) and Louis III (863-82) splitting the hot dog yet again next Mar., with Carloman II becoming king of the S (Burgundy, Aquitaine), and Louis III becoming king of the N (Neustria, Austrasia, Lorraine); meawwhile Duke Boso V of Arles (Provence), who had fought to make Louis III the sole heir in vain renounces allegiance to them both, and on Oct. 15 is elected by the bishops and nobles of the Rhone and Saone River regions as Louis II's successor Boso I (-887) at the Synod of Mantaille in SW Provence, becoming the first "free election" among the Franks, and the first non-Carolingian king in W Europe in over a cent.; Boso I (why do I enjoy saying that?) founds the Kingdom of Burgundy (Arelate) (Cisjuran Burgundy), consisting of Provence, Dauphine, and part of Languedoc, incl. the archbishoprics of Arles, Aix, Vienne, Lyon without Langres) (and Besancon?), and the dioceses of Tarentaise, Uzes, and Viviers. In Nov. Patriarch Photius reconvokes the Eighth Ecumenical Council at St. Sophia Church, which undoes everything done by the council of 869; Pope John VIII excommunicates him, the patriarch returns the favor, and the Roman-Greek church schism is back on (until ?); the two churches first begin to be known as Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic; from now on all ecumenical ("empire-wide") councils are called by the Roman popes not the Byzantine emperors (first in 1123) - just eat your oatmeal? Rurik (b. 830) dies, and his brother-in-law Prince Oleg (Russ. "Holy") (-912) becomes prince of Novgorod until his small son Prince Igor can come of age (until 912), gathering a large force of Finns, Varangians, and Slavs, and sailing down the Dnieper River to Smolensk, holding up little Igor at each town and telling the people "This is the prince of all the Russians, Rurik's son"; Prince Oleg lures Askold and Dir out of Kiev and kills them, then moves in, declaring "This shall be the mother of all Russian cities"; he unites the E Slavs, stops paying taxes to the Khazars, and establishes Russia from Kiev N to Lake Ladoga, moving the capital from Novgorod to Kiev and laying the foundation of Kievan Rus (882-1240). Nepal gains independence from Tibet. The Huang Chao rebels attack Guangzhou and murder thousands of Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Manicheans. Kabul is retaken by the Hindu Shahi dynasty, making it the capital of the kingdom of Kabulistan (Waihind) (Ohind) (ends 987), which incl. most of the Kabul River Valley and the province of Gandhara (modern-day Kashmir and N Pakistan). Architecture: The Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun, the oldest mosque in Cairo is built; the 144K hard white limestone casing stones of the Great Pyramid of Gaza are stripped for this mosque, and other mosques and palaces. Births: West Frankish Carolingian king (898-923) Charles III (the Simple) (the Straighforward) (d. 929) on Sept. 17; posth. son of Louis II the Stammerer (846-79) and 3rd wife Adelaide of Paris (Friuli) (850-901); called simple by his nobles for making concessions to Norse invaders and letting them spoil the neighborhood? Deaths: Frankish margrave #1 of Flanders (862-79) Baldwin I Iron Arm (b. 830); buried in the Abbey of St.-Bertin near Saint-Omer. Russian ruler (862-79) Rurik (b. 830) in Novgorod. French king (877-9) Louis II the Stammerer (b. 846) on Apr. 10.

880 In Feb. the Treaty of Ribemont (near St. Quentin) is signed, and Charles III the Fat cedes W Lorraine to Louis II, fixing the boundary until the 14th cent. In Mar. after officially dividing their father's realm, Carloman II and Louis III go after Boso I, taking Macon and N Burgundy, then joining up with Charles III the Fat and unsuccessfully sieging Vienne in Aug.-Nov. The Saracens burn Nice again (first time 859); Byzantine emperor Basil I frees Taranto from the Arabs. The English army goes to Ghent (on the confluence of the Scheldt and Lys Rivers, 30 mi. NW of Brussels). After defeating and killing Varagunavarman II, Aparajita Varman (-897) becomes the last king of the Pallava Dynasty (until 897). About this time a group of Karaites (Jews who cling to the Torah and reject the Talmud) led by Daniel al-Qumusi (al-Kumisi) (-946) migrate from Khurasan to Jerusalem, after which he discovers documents belonging to the Qumran sect unearthed by a Bedouin's dog, claiming they prove that the Jewish Diaspora is about to end if Jews resettle Jerusalem in large enough numbers, calling on each Diaspora community to send at least five settlers, causing enough to arrive that Ibn Tulun permits them to establish their own quarter outside the city walls on the E slope of the Ophel to be safe from Rabbanates who adore the Talmud, going on to build a synagogue and organize the Mourners of Zion who stage continous prayer shifts at the city gates, dressed in sackcloth, bewailing the "desolation" of the Jewish Holy City and pub. Epistle to the Diaspora, which calls Jews who refuse to immigrate "fools who draw the Lord's wrath", pissing-off the Rabbanates, who fear that their messianism will bring tragedy, forbidding all Diaspora Jews make an aliyah to Jerusalem; being vegetarians the Karaites build a cheese factory on the Mount of Olives. Architecture: The Benedictine Monserrat Monastery in Catalonia is founded. Nonfiction: About this time Patriarch Photius of Constantinople compiles the Nomocanon, a relatively small set of homogeneous ancient church regulations, which are pretty much all the Eastern Orthodox Church gets, while the Western Roman Catholic Church just can't pass enough laws and ends up with a wall full? Births: Frankish HRE (901-5), king #2 of Provence (887-928), and king of Italy (900-28) Louis III the Blind (d. 928); son of Boso I (-887) and Ermengard (daughter of HRE Louis II) - which makes him half Bosonid and half Carolingian? Births: German HRE (901-5) king #2 of Provence (887-928), and Italian king (900-28) Louis III the Blind (d. 928); last of the Carolingians; son of King Boso of Arles and Ermengard (daughter of HRE Louis II). French West Frankish king (923-36) Raoul (Rudolph) (Rudolf) (Rodolphe) (Radulf) (Ralph) II (d. 936). Italian king (924-47) Hugh of Arles (Provence) (Vienne) (d. 947); son of Theobald of Arles and Bertha (-925) (illegitimate daughter of Lothair II). Deaths: Irish theologian-scholar Johannes Scotus Erigena (b. 815); leaves a work denying the actual presence of Christ in the Eucharist, which is destroyed? Bavarian king (876-80) and Italian king (877-80) Carloman (b. 830) on Sept. 29.



881 - The Louis III the Younger Battle of Saucourt Ludwigslied Year?

881 On Aug. 3 Louis III the Younger routs an invasion of the pagan Vikings at the Battle of Saucourt (Saucourt-en-Vimeu), later celebrated in the German poem Ludwigslied, the first German ballad; too bad, they destroy Charlemagne's palace in Aix-la-Chapelle (rebuilt 983). In Aug. Boso V of Arles is sieged in Vienne by his relative Count Richard the Justiciar (868-921), 1st duke of Burgundy (count of Autun since 880), who takes it in Sept., and pins him down until his 887 death. Prince Ursus is defeated at Poitiers, and the Plantard family of S France is stripped of its possessions except the titles of duke of Rhedae and count of Razes; Prince Ursus dies in Brittany after allying his line by marriage with the ducal house of Brittany. Charles III the Fat goes to Italy and is crowned HRE by Pope John VIII (until 888). Arabs in Campania, and no Liquid Plumber? Bishop Athanasius of Naples welcomes the Arabs as his allies against Rome and against Byzantium, and they establish forts (Burgos, etc.) at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius and at Agropoli near Paestum; papal enemy Duke Docibile of Gaeta permits the Arabs to settle near Itri, and on the right bank of the Garigliano River near Minturno, and the Arabs build a castle from which they stage raids, setting the monasteries of Monte Cassino and St. Vincenzo on fire in 883. Constantine II is defeated and killed by the Danes, and Eocha (-889) becomes king of Scotland. Earl Aethelred of Mercia invades Gwynedd, and is defeated by Anarawd ap Rhodri, who calls it "God's vengeance" for his daddy Rhodri the Great, after which Anarawd allies with the Danish king of York against the Mercians, then when it falls through allies with Alfred the Great, making the mistake of recognizing his supremacy, which is later used by the English monarchs to demand homage. The Huang Chao rebels occupy the Tang capital of Chang'an, forcing the royal court to flee to Sichuan and to seek the help of the Turks. Architecture: St. Cacilien Church in Cologne, Germany is founded. Births: Chinese Confucian minister ("the Gutenberg of the West") Feng Tao (d. 954) in Ying-chou (Hopeh Province).



882 - The Carloman II Year?

Pope Marinus I (-884)

882 If you don't stop heartburn before it starts, then what? On Jan. 20 Louis III the Younger (b. 835) dies, and his brother Carloman II (866-84) becomes king of the fractured West Franks; too bad, he suffers a debilitating stroke, and divides his kingdom like his daddy did, giving Bavaria to Louis III the Younger, and Italy to youngest brother Charles III the Fat; his other brother Charles II the Bald becomes king of the East Franks; meanwhile Charles III the Fat negotiates with the Northmen, who are permanently established in Flandres, while Charles II the Bald finally expels Hastein and his pesky Danes from the Loire Valley, causing them to move N to the Seine River. On Dec. 16 Pope (since 872) John VIII dies, and the same day Pope (#110) Marinus I (-884) is elected. The English continue to invade France as far as the Maese River, and fight a sea battle with the Danes. Fulk the Venerable (-900), brother of Margrave Anscar I of Ivrea becomes archbishop of Reims (Rheims) (until June 17, 900). Varangian prince Oleg of Novgorod becomes supreme ruler of the Rus; the monks of Kiev begin the Ancient Kievan Chronicle, covering from 850-1110, telling how the Slavs have great respect for the Vikings and their dragon-prowed longships and cool Viking weapons. Deaths: German Saxon king (876-82) and Bavarian king (880-2) Louis III the Younger (b. 835) on Jan. 20. West Frankish king (879-82) Louis III (b. 863) on Aug. 5 in Saint-Denis.

Notker Balbulus (840-912)

883 The Normans conquer Duisburg at the confluence of the Rhine and Rhur Rivers, and overwinter there. The Zanj Rebellion in Iraq (begun 877) is crushed; the Muslims never again use large numbers of black agricultural slaves - only Euro whites are that smart, or that stupid? Hingmar dies, and Fulk the Venerable (-900) is elected archbishop of Reims (until 900). 14-y.-o. Japanese Yamato emperor Yozei reaches puberty, turning into a mischievous meanie that likes to feed live frogs to snakes and make dogs and monkeys fight; he progresses to enjoying the execution of criminals and then tries to personally slay people with his sword for imagined slights, causing his deposition to be plotted. Architecture: The Roman-built church of St. Martin at Bingen on the Rhine, dating back before Christ is destroyed. The Saracens sack and burn the Abbey of Monte Cassino (founded in the 6th cent. by St. Benedict of Benedictine Rule fame), and kill its abbot St. Bertarius, causing the surviving monks to flee to Teano then Capua; it is not rebuilt until the mid 11th cent. Poetry: Notker Balbulus (Notker of St. Gall) (840-912), Gesta Karoli Magni; epic poem about Charlemagne. Births: Spanish Muslim philosopher Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Masarra (d. 931).



884 - The Charles III the Fat Year?

Pope St. Adrian III (-885) Japanese Emperor Koko (830-87)

884 On May 15 Pope (since 882) Marinus I dies (poisoned?), and on May 17 Pope (#111) (St.) Adrian (Hadrian) III (-885) is elected. On Dec. 12 Carloman II (b. 866) dies on a hunting expedition; after refusing to crown 5-y.-o. Charles III the Simple (b. 879) for fear of the Vikings, the Assembly of Ponthion chooses Carloman II's epileptic cousin (son of Louis II the German) Charles III the Fat (839-88) (king of Swabia since 879, Italy since 879, HRE since 881, and East Francia since 882) as king of the West Franks, making him the first person since Louis I the Pious (d. 840) to reign over Charlemagne's entire realm, and the last. A new group of Danes cross the Channel and land in Kent, and hook up with the Danes in East Anglia under Guthrum, but are driven out by Alfred the Great; Alfred's dream of becoming king of the English becomes a reality when the Danish pressure causes the kingdoms of Mercia and Bernicia to become mere lordships. Huang Chao is killed, and his rebellion (begun 875) quashed by the Tang aided by Turkish armies. After Yozei orders some men to climb into trees then orders other men to poke at them with lances until they fall to their deaths, then really goes over the line by personally murdering a retainer and polluting his divine personage, regent Fujiwara no Mototsune lures him out of the palace on the pretext of attending a horse race, then has his carriage surrounded and tells him that he is being deposed, at which he cries like a baby, and later gets even worse, garroting women with musical instrument strings and throwing their bodies into a lake, running over people on his horse, and spending a lot of time chasing wild boars and Sika deer?; he is succeeded by his father's uncle (3rd son of Ninmyo) Koko (830-87) (AKA the emperor of Komatsu) (personal name Tokiyasu), who becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #58 (until 887), going on to revive the hawking excursion to Serikawa. The town of Burgos in NC Spain on the Arlanzon River 130 mi. N of Madrid is founded with a citadel by Count Diego Rodriguez Porcelos of Castile. Births: Japanese poet Ki no Tsurayuki (d. 946). Deaths: Turkish Tulunid Dynasty founder Ahmad ibn Tulun (b. 835) on May 10 in al-Qatai. Western Frankish king (879-84) Carloman II (b. 866) on Dec. 12.



885 - The Vikings almost do the jig in Paris?

Pope Stephen VI (-891)

885 On June 16 there is a solar eclipse in Britain. In Sept. Pope (since 882) St. Adrian III dies in San Cesario on a trip to visit Charles the Fat in France, and in Sept. Pope (#112) Stephen VI (V) (-891) is elected. Bari in S Italy becoms the residence of the Byzantine catapan (gov.). Hundreds of Viking ships row up the Seine with 40K men and siege Paris for more than a year, defended by Count Odo (Eudes) of Paris; "The town trembles, and horns resound; the walls are bathed in floods of tears; the whole region laments; from the river are heard the horn blasts." Alfred the Great retaliates against the East Anglian Danes for helping the Danish invaders of the previous year, captures London and forces Guthram to sign a treaty relinquishing territory; the new boundary of Danelaw (known for its Five Burghs or fortified towns) runs from NW of London to Bedford, then along the old Roman road of Watling St. NW through Bedford and S of Leicester to Chester; Alfred now controls the SW half of the island, all nicely united under common fear of them *!?!* pesky Danes. Ashtot I of Armenia assumes the title of king, and Armenia is recognized by Abbasid Caliph Ahmad. Bernard Plantavelue (Plantapilosa) (841-86) (Plantard?), count (since 1872) of Auvergne becomes the first margrave of Aquitaine. Ch'oe Ch'i-won (857-?) returns to the Korean kingdom of Silla after 21 years of study in China, calling for a Chinese-style civil service system like he had shined in, but he is rejected - silly wabbit joke here? The town of Dortmund on the Ems River 70 mi. NE of Cologne, Germany (in the heart of the Ruhr iron-coal region) is first mentioned under the name Throtmannia. Nonfiction: King Alfred the Great translates Gregory's Cura Pastoralis into English. Births: Byzantine empress (906-12) Zoe (Gr. "life") Karbonopsina (Carbonopsina) ("coal-black eyes") (d. 920). Japanese Yamato emperor #60 (897-930) Daigo (Atsuhito) (d. 930) on Jan. 18; eldest son of Uda (867-931).



886 - The England for the English 24 Hours a Day Year?

Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise (866-912) apologizing to Christ for marrying too many women, 886 Byzantine Emperor Alexander III (870-913)

886 On Aug. 29 Byzantine emperor (since 867) Basil I (b. 811) dies after a wild boar hunting accident, and his 2nd son (by Eudokia Ingerina) Leo VI (Sophos) (the Wise) (866-912) becomes Roman Byzantine emperor #133 (until May 11, 912, with his younger brother (3rd son of Basil I and Eudokia Ingerina) Alexander III (870-913) continuing as co-emperor (since 879); Photius is again deposed and banished, and Basil I's younger brother Stephen I (867-93) becomes patriarch of Constantinople (until 893), but Rome refuses to recognize him; Leo VI becomes known for his erudition, earning his appellation. Alfred the Great recaptures London from the Danes, then divides England with the Danes under Guthrum with the Danelaw Pact of 886 (Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum), establishing the Danelaw (Danelagh), an area of Danish occupation incl. East Anglia and the Five Boroughs (Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford); Alfred gives London and English Mercia to his son-in-law Ethelred; the London Stone in the sovereign city of London (AKA the Stone of Brutus in accordance with the legend that London was founded by Aeneas' grandson Brutus) is used as the focus for grid lines of new city streets, ending up in the center of the financial district in modern times; meanwhile another Viking "Great Army" of 500-1K men arrives in England, winters at Fulham, then decides England is too tough and lands in France, and invades Paris, causing Emperor Charles III the Fat to ransom it and let them ravage Burgundy. Bernard II dies, and Count (since 872) Odo (832-919) becomes ruler of Toulouse. Caliph Mahomet (Muhammad) I of Cordoba dies after putting down a Christian uprising and carrying on extensive operations against the Christian states of Leon, Galicia, and Navarre. Science: Alfred the Great institutes the 24-hour-day measurement system. Deaths: Roman Byzantine #132 emperor (867-86) Basil I (b. 811) on Aug. 29. French margrave #1 of Aquitaine (since 885) Bernard Plantapilosa (b. 841).



887 - The original Ahnuld of California Arnulf of Carinthia Year? Or, to the manor born?

Arnulf of Carinthia (-899)

887 On Jan. 7 Atenulf I the Great (-910) conquers Capua in Italy, calling himself "prince of the Lombard people", becoming count #1 (until 910). In Jan. people's choice Boso I dies, and his son (by Ermengard, daughter of HRE Louis II) Louis III the Blind (880-928) becomes king #2 of Provence (until 928), with Ermengard as regent, backed by his uncle Richard the Justiciar (868-921), 1st duke of Burgundy (count of Autun since 880); in May he and his mommy visit HRE Charles III the Fat, who recognizes him. On Aug. 26,emperor (since 884) Koko (b. 830) dies, and on Sept. 17 Uda (Sadami) (-931) becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #59 (until Aug. 4, 897). Pietro Tribuno (-912), son of Domenico Tribuno and Agnella Candiano (niece of Pietro I Candiano) becomes doge of Venice (until 912), negotiating a treaty with Arnulf of Carinthia securing Venitian jurisdiction over Venitian merchants engaging in trade with the Carolingian Empire, helping the growth of the Venetian iron industry. The Norsemen (Normans) continue to give the decaying Carolingian Empire big fits, but Count Odo (Eudes) of Paris, marquis of Neutria (son of Count Robert the Strong) drives them back to Burgundy; i n Nov. in Frankfurt the East Frankish (Franconian, Saxon, Bavarian, Thuringian, and Swabian) magnates revolt, and depose incompetent emperor Charles III the Fat at Tribur; his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia (850-99) (illegitimate son of Carloman, and grandson of Louis the German) is elected king of the East Franks, and Charles yields without a struggle; the Western Franks, Burgundy, and Italy refuse to recognize Arnulf, and decide to elect new kings from their own nobility, electing Odo, while another faction chooses Charles III (the Simple), son of Carolingian Louis II; the Carolingian empire continues to disintegrate, and the final separation of Germany and France is complete; Feudalism and Manorialism develop as each defensible farming unit circles the wagons, and great lords and counts arise on the backs of the peasants, doing all the fighting and partying while the latter sink into serfdom and become owned by the manors? - either that or we throw you to the Vikings? Aethelflaed (Ethelfleda) (872-918) daughter of Alfred the Great is betrothed to Aethelred (Ethelred) of Mercia in order to coverup the conquest of Mercia by Wessex, and while travelling to Mercia for her wedding her party is ambushed by the Danes to sabotage the alliance, but she shows she has leather balls by using an old trench as a fort and fighting them off while losing half of her party. Deaths: Japanese Yamato emperor #58 (884-7) Koko (b. 830) on Aug. 26. Frankish king #1 of Provence (879-87) Boso I (b. 841) on Dec. 19.



888 - The Count Odo of Paris Berengar I of Italy Year?

Count Odo (Eudes) of Paris (860-98) HRE Berengar I of Italy (845-924) Canterbury Archbishop Plegmund (-914)

888 He's so fat he's got triabetes? On Jan. 13 HRE Charles III the Fat (b. 839) dies a few weeks after being deposed in East Francia and Lotharingia (Italy too?); Duke Guy of Spoleto fails in his bid for the West Frankish throne despite the support of Archbishop Fulk of Reims, who then sides with Charles II, son of Louis II the Stammerer against non-Carolingian Count Odo (Eudes) of Paris (860-98) for the throne, but Odo is crowned king of the West Franks in Feb. (until Jan. 1, 898). On Apr. 20 Tang She Zong (Xi Zoang) dies, and his younger brother Tang Zhao Zong (Li Jie) (Li Min) (Li Ye) (867-904) becomes Tang emperor #19 (penultimate) of China (until Dec. 1, 900, then 901-4). On June 30 Aethelred dies, and in 890 Mercian-descent Plegmund (-914) becomes archbishop #19 of Canterbury (until 914) (923?), going on to reorganize the diocese of Wincester. The Arabs occupy La Garde-Freinet in SW France on the coast of Provence (until 975). The Italians go for tutti-fruiti? Margrave (since 874) Berengar of Friuli in NE France is crowned king Berengar (Berengarius) I (845-924) of Italy in Pavia (until 924), becoming the last of the "phantom emperors", who can't stop invasions but must leave it to feudal defenders, beginning the "incastellamento" (encastlement) of Italy; he never wins a pitched battle in 40 years on the throne? Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi (844-912) becomes Umayyad emir #7 of Cordoba (until Oct. 15, 912). Welf Rudolf I of Burgundy proclaims the Kingdom of Transjurane Burgundy in Saint-Maurice, Switzerland, comprising Besancon (Besançon), Basel, Lausanne, Geneva et al. After King Harold defeats a rebellious group of northern clans led by Earl Sigurd, they flee to the Orkney and Shetland Islands, where they are allowed to settle in return for a payment 20K shillings. Births: Bohemian Premyslid duke (915-21) Vratislaus (Vratislav) (Wratislaus) I (d. 921); son of Borivoj I and Ludmila; younger brother of Sytihnev I; husband (906-) of Drahomira. French Angevin Dynasty founder Count Fulk I the Red (d. 938) of Anjou. German duke of Lotharingia (903-10) Gebhard of Lahngau (d. 910); count of Wetterau (909-10); count of Rheingau (897-906). Deaths: German king Charles the Fat (b. 839) on Jan. 13 in Neidingen. French Anjou County founder Ingelger (Ingelgarius) (b. ?); father of Fulk I the Red (870-942).



889 - The HRE Guy of Spoleto Year?

889 Duke Guy of Spoleto defeats King Berengar I of Italy in the Battle of Trebbia, and is elected king of Italy in Pavia; meanwhile the Saracens raid into Lombardy, and establish a stronghold and pirate base in Fraxinet (near modern-day St. Tropez) in Provence, controlling the passes of the Alps. Carloman bequeaths territory in S Austria to his son Arnulf, which becomes the March of Carinthia. Aed's son Donald (Doniualdus) (Domnall) (Gael. "world ruler", "brown stranger") II Mac Constantine (Castantin) (the Madman) (-900) defeats and deposes Giric and Eochaid, neither of whom have any heirs to worry about, and becomes king of Scotland; the succession is now restricted to descendants of Kenneth Mac Alpin's sons Constantine and Aed. Khan Boris I voluntarily abdicates and retires to a monastery, and his son Vladimir (Russ. "renowned prince") Rasate becomes khan of the First Bulgarian Empire (until 893), working to abolish Christianity and restore paganism - only one wife at a time and three divorces, bah? Yasovarman I (-910) becomes king of Angkor (modern-day Cambodia) (until 910), building monasteries for monks of Siva, Vishnu, and Buddha. Carinthia in S Austria and N Slovenia becomes a march under the duke of Bavaria (until 976). The Korean govt. institutes a tax levy on the countryside, which is already under subjection by powerful castle lords, causing further turmoils. Nonfiction: Abbot Regino of Prum (-915), De Harmonica Institutione; treatise on church music. Births: Spanish Umayyad Muslim caliph #8 of Cordoba (912-61) Abd-ar-Rahman (Abd al-Rahman) III (d. 961) on Jan. 11 in Cordoba; son of Prince Muhammad. Deaths: Arab scholar-historian Ibn Koteiba (b. 828).



891 - The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Year?

890 Late in the cent. the pop. of the Korean capital of Kyongju is given as 178,936 households and 35 immense aristocratic mansions filled with poor commoners turned into slaves. The Arabs siege Farfa Abbey in Sabina, C Italy; the abbot Peter resists for 6 mo. before yielding, after which the Arabs make Farfa their base. Harold I Fairhair wins the naval Battle of Hafrsfjord, uniting Norway into one kingdom. Ashtot I dies, and Smbat I the Martyr (850-912) becomes king of Armenia (until 912). A council in Valence elects Louis III the Blind as king of Arles, Provence, and Cisjurane Burgundy, and does homage to Arnulf of Carinthia. Alfred the Great establishes a regular militia and navy, extends the power of the king's courts, institutes fairs and markets, and orders the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to be compiled, beginning with next year, and it is maintained and added to by anon. scribes until 1154, and extended backwards to the 1st cent. C.E. Hamdan ibn Hamdun is appointed gov. of Mardin in SE Anatolia by the Abbasid caliph, and founds the Hamdanid Dynasty of Twelver Shiites descended from the Arab tribe of Taghlib in N Iraq and Syria (ends 1004). The first written record of whaling in Norway. Art: Kose Kanaoka becomes the court painter of Heian in Japan, adopting the styles of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, making the first tonal gradation and the first Buddha in crayonnage style, founding the Kose School of Art (ends 15th cent.), known for the Yamatoe painting style. About this time the Carolingian jewelled Reliquary of the Tooth of St. John the Baptist is constructed. Nonfiction: Ahmad al-Yaqubi (-898), Book of the Countries; writer from Armenia and Khurasan describes Muslim provinces et al. Poetry: Cantilene de Ste-Eulalie, the earliest known French poem is written. About this time Norwegian poet Thjodolf writes Ynglinga-Tal, giving the kings of the House of Ynglings. About this time Norwegian poet Thorbjorn writes Haralds-mal. Novels: About this time Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori Monogatari), the earliest known Japanese narrative work is written, about mysterious girl Kaguya-Hime from Tsuki-no-Miyako (capital of the Moon), who is discovered inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant, and has hair that shines like gold. Births: Roman papal mistress (of Sergius III) Marozia (Mariozza) (Mariuccia) (Maria) (d. 937); daughter of Count Theophylact of Tusculum (863-925) and Theodora. Russian Kievan princess (St.) Olga of Kiev (d. 969) in Vybuty; daughter of Gostomisle (7 mi. S of Pskov); wife (903-) of Prince Igor of Kiev. Deaths: French duke of Aquitaine (887-90) Ranulf II (b. 850) on Aug. 5. French hymnodist Ratbert (Ratpert) of St. Gallen (b. ?) on Oct. 25 in St. Gallen.



891 - The Pope Formosus Shiite Sandwich Year?

Pope Formosus (816-96) Shiite Sandwich

891 On Sept. 14 Pope (since 885) Stephen VI dies, and on Oct. 6 Pope (#113) Formosus (816-96) is elected. In Sept. Arnulf of Carinthia defeats the Viking Great Army at the Battle of Louvain (Leuven) on the Dyle River N of Brussels, ending their raids up the Rhine River. The strict vegetarian Qarmatian (Qarmati) (Qaramita) (Karmathi) (Karamita) (Caramathians) (Arab. "those who wrote in small letters") sect of Ismaili (Isma'ili) (Sevener) Shiites, led by Hamdan Qarmat begins a revolt against the Abbasids in Kufa, spreading to Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, and E Arabia; they believe that the 7th imam Isma'il (d. 760) was the last, and that therefore the Ismaili Fatimid regime founded by a later imam is bogus; for much of the 10th cent. they are the cock of the walk on the Persian Gulf - call it the Shiite Sandwich Century in Islam? After peasants boycott taxes, the first of a series of rebellions breaks out in Korea (Silla).



892 - The To the Victor Belong the Spoletos Year?

892 A 220-year drought begins in Calif. (ends 1112), followed by a 140-year one in 1209 to 1350, causing water levels to drop 50+ ft. On Apr. 30 Italian king Guy of Spoleto forces Pope Formosus to crown him HRE in Rome, and crown his son and co-king Lambert (Lombard) of Spoleto (880-98) as co-HRE; pissed-off Formosus asks Arnulf of Carinthia for help against the spoiled dudes. On Oct. 15 caliph (since 870) Al-Mu'tamid (b. 844) drinks himself to death during a night festival, and Al-Mu'tadid (854-902), son of the regent al-Muwaffaq succeeds him as Abbasid caliph #16 (until Apr. 5, 902), reunifying the military and moving the capital from scorching Samarra back to balmy Baghdad. On Nov. 11 a great wind (hurricane?) hits Ireland, destroying forests and wooden bldgs.; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records a comet with a long tail this year. The Norman Vikings pillage Evreux (Évreux) (ancient Celtic town of Eburovices) ("dwellers on the river") 55 mi. WNW of Paris. A great Viking army bent on colonization, an armada of 250 Danish longships plus a smaller 80-ship army led by Hastein (bringing horses with them from Boulogne) attacks Britain, landing in the SE, with Hastein's group taking the royal village of Milton in Kent, and the larger group lands at Appledore; veteran Viking-fighter Alfred the Great positions his West Saxon army between them to keep them from uniting, and talks Hastein into terms, incl. baptizing his two sons, causing him to leave for Essex - you'd think that as fellow Germans they could give them green cards or work permits? Deaths: Arab Abbasid caliph #15 (870-92) Al-Mu'tamid (b. 844) on Oct. 15 (drinks himself to death during a night festival).



893 - The Charles III the Simple of France Simeon I the Great of Bulgaria Antony and Cleopatra: The Sequel Year?

Charles III the Simple of France (879-929) Simeon I of Bulgaria (864-927) Duke William I the Pious of Aquitaine (875-918)

893 In late spring after raiding Hampshire and Berkshire, the Viking armada leaves and tries to reunite with Hastein, but are defeated at the Battle of Farnham in Essex by an Anglo-Saxon army under Alfred the Great's eldest son Prince Edward the Elder (b. 869), who recovers their booty; after a combined West Saxon-Mercian army fails to dislodge them from their fort at Thorney, the survivors finally hook up with Hastein at Mersea Island, who sets up a fort (burh) at Benfleet in Essex, and sets out to raid Mercia, allowing the militia of E Wessex to sneak into the fort and capture it, along with the ships, booty, women and children (incl. Hastein's); Hastein them sets up a new fort in Shoebury farther N in Essex, and receives reinforcements from the Danish kingdom of East Anglia and the Scandinavian kingdom of York, and gets Alfred to return his two sons, then sets out on a revenge tour up the Thames River Valley, followed by the Severn River, pursued by Aethelred of Mercia and a combo West Saxon-Mercian army reinforced by some Welsh soldiers, who finally trap them on Buttingham Island on the Severn River near Welshpool for several weeks, until they fight their way out with heavy losses and return to Shoebury; in late summer they strike again with reinforcements after moving their booty, women, and ships to East Anglia, occuping the ruined Roman fortress in Chester, intending to use it as a base to raid N Mercia, only to find out that the Mercians had denuded the surrounding countryside; in the fall they leave Chester and march to S Wales, devastating the Welsh kingdoms of Brycheiniog, Gwent, and Glywysing. The nobles who oppose King Odo of Paris crown Louis II the Stammerer's 14-y.-o. son Charles III (the Simple) (879-929) in Reims Cathedral as king of France, ruling from Laon as the last Carolingian king with any authority in France - the Simple Simon who gives away Normandy? 73-y.-o. Khan Boris I (d. 907) emerges from retirement to put down the pagan revolt, deposes, blinds and imprisons his son Vladimir Restate, makes the Slavonic liturgy official for the Bulgarian Empire, then makes his PC Constantinople-educated monk and younger son Simeon (Symeon) I the Great (864-927) the first Bulgarian tsar, moving the capital to Preslav (until 972) then returning to the monastery; the new tsar gives up his Greek culture to embrace his daddy's Slavic language and Cyrillic alphabet, getting many books translated, and setting up Bulgaria as a center for spreading the Eastern Orthodox religion to E European peoples incl. the Serbs and E Slavs - I'm selling necklaces today for five pieces of eight? Arnulf, aided by the Magyars fights invading Slavic (Moravian) forces. William I the Pious (875-918) conquers Poitou and Aquitaine on behalf of Ebalus Manser, keeping Aquitaine as duke, with territory extending from Austrasia to Toulouse, incl. the Autunois and Maconnais. Aznar Galindez II dies, and his son Galindo Aznarez II (-922) becomes count of Aragon (-922), going on to plot to overthrow the Inigues Dynasty in favor of his brother-in-law Sancho I and the Jimena Dynasty in 905. (St.) Antony II Kauleas becomes Greek Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople (until Feb. 12, 901); next year a Roman synod confirms him and restores unity with Constantinople. After being invited to mediate between quarreling tribes, Hasanid imam Husayn al-Rassi founds a Zaydi (Fiver) Shiite State in N Yemen (until 1962), where the Zaydi religious center remains until ?. Nonfiction: Bishop Asser of Sherborne, Life of Alfred the Great. Births: East Frankish Carolingian king (899-911) (last) Louis III/IV the Child (d. 911) in Sept.-Oct. in Altotting, Bavaria; son of Arnulf and Ota; brother of Ratold; illegitimate brother of Zwentibold. Norman duke #2 (927-42) William I Longsword (d. 942); son of Rollo and Poppa of Bayeux; father of Richard I (933-96). Arab Musli geographer-astronomer-grammarian-historian Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani (d. 945); member of the Banu Hamadan tribe in W yemen. Iraqi Syriac Jacobite Christian philosopher Yahya ibn 'Adi (d. 974) in Tikrit; grows up in Baghdad.



894 - The HRE Lambert of Spoleto Year?

894 In the summer after being repelled in Gwynedd in N Wales by Anarawd ap Rhodri, the Vikings return from S Wales to their fort in Mersea Island via Northumbria, the Danish-held Five Burghs, and East Anglia, and in the fall they tow their longships up the Thames River to a new fort on the Lea River; meanwhile Anarawd, aided by English troops supplied by his ally Alfred the Great invades Ystrad Tywi and Ceredigion in Wales, and lays them waste in order to regain the lands once held by his daddy Rhodri Mawr. After failing to defeat them, the East Franks under Arnulf of Carinthia negotiate a peace with the Moravians, then invade Italy (his 2nd expedition) as far as Piacenza at the request of Pope Formosus, who asks for aid against HRE Guy of Spoleto; on Dec. 12 after Arnulf withdraws from Italy, Guy dies, leaving his son Lambert (Lombard) of Spoleto (880-98) as HRE (until 898), causing Pope Formosus to invite Arnulf to return and finish him off; meanwhile Sviatopluk I of Moravia dies after uniting Moravia, Bohemia, and Slovakia, but the Catholic clergy of Germany win Moravia and Bohemia for the Latin church despite the proselytizing efforts of St. Cyril and St. Methodius with the W Slavs. The Bulgarians under Simeon I start a war with the Byzantines over trade rights, and defeat a Byzantine army, causing the emperor to call on the Magyars on the Pruth River to attack them. Births: French queen Emma (d. 934); daughter or Robert I and Beatrice of Vermandois. Deaths: Moravian prince (870-94). Sviatopluk I (b. ?). Polish Prince Borivoy (Borivoj) I (b. ?); first ruler of the Premsyl Dynasty.



895 - The Arpad Fujiwara Year?

Grand Prince Arpad (845-907)

895 Early in the year Hungarian grand prince (since 855) Almos (b. 820) almost, er, is assassinated in Transylvania, and his son Arpad (845-907) becomes grand prince #2 of the Magyars, uniting the seven tribes; in the spring, induced by the Byzantine emperor, they attack the Bulgarians in Bessarabia, but not-so-simple Bulgarian tsar Simeon I tricks them into withdrawing, then allies with the Pechenegs and kicks the Magyars' butts in the Battle of the Southern Buh (Boh) (Bug) River in Ukraine, then doubles back and kicks the Greeks' butts in the summer at the Battle of Bulgarophygon near Babaeski, Turkey; meanwhile the Pechenegs attack and pillage Magyar territories around Etelkoz, driving them from Russia, after which they settle in the Carpathian Basin (Hungary) around the Upper Tisza River, where Arpad becomes their first duke, founding the Arpad Dynasty, which rules the kingdom of Hungary until 1301. In the summer the Vikings on the Lea River in England are attacked by Alfred the Great, who dams the river and builds a fort on each side, defeating and capturing their fleet, causing them to march overland to Bridgenorth on the Severn River under close pursuit; another Danish raid on S Wales is repelled by Anarawd ap Rhodri with the help of English troops. In Oct. the East Franks under Arnulf of Carinthia capture Rome; he grants the toothpaste-tube kingdom of Lotharingia (Lorraine) ("Lothair's Realm") (squeezed between the kingdoms of the West and East Franks, plus N Italy), incl. the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Lorraine, and Alsace to his illegitimate son Zwentibold (870-900). The Fujiwaras become the ruling family in Japan (until 1192), and Japan and China begin drifting apart politically and culturally. Births: Spanish king of Galicia (926-9) Sancho Ordonez (Ordóñez) (d. 929); eldest son of Ordono II of Leon and Galicia (873-924); brother of Alfonso IV the Monk of Leon (890-933) and Ramiro II of Leon (900-51). English king #1 (924-39) Athelstan (Ethelstan) (d. 939) (OE "noble stone"); grandson of Alfred the Great; first king of all England. Norwegian king #2 (933-54) Eric (Erik) I Bloodaxe (Bloody Axe) (d. 954); youngest (oldest?) son of Harald I Fairhair (840-933). Deaths: Arab Muslim scientist-historian Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari (b. 815); leaves Book of Plants (based on Discorides, with new plants added), and The Long Narratives (history of Persia). Magyar grand prince #1 (855-95) Almos (b. 820) in Transylvania (assassinated). Japanese statesman-poet Minamoto no Toru (b. 822).



896 - The Cadaver Synod Year? Alfred the Great insures that Shakespeare is just around the corner in England?

Pope Stephen VII (-897)

896 A bread failure in Ireland is caused by "vermin like moles with two teeth" which fall from the air and eat the crops up, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; meanwhile plague and murrain ravage Britain. On Feb. 22 Arnulf of Carinthia is crowned HRE in Rome by Pope Formosus, and marches on Spoleto to siege rival HRE Lambert of Spoleto and his wife Ageltrude, but suffers a stroke (poisoned by Ageltrude?) and returns to Germany, leaving Lambert in power (until 898). In the spring the pesky Danish Viking army disperses into East Anglia, Northumbria, and the Seine River in just five ships (300-400 men), becoming their last invasion of fyrd-tress England; Hastein is never heard from again?; meanwhile the Vikings of East Anglia and Northumbria continue to harass Wessex by land and sea, but they free Alfred enough to kick back and issue a set of laws and then ring the school bells and kick-start learning, which had almost been wiped-out by the hooky-playing Danes, who loved to ransack wealthy monasteries and use the books for ass-wipe?; "But so clean fallen away was learning now in the Angle race, that there were very few on this side of the Humber who would know how to render their service-book into English, or to read off an epistle out of Latin into English" (Alfred); he gathers together the last four learned Englishmen, plus several foreign scholars, incl. Welsh monk Asser (-909) (his mommy calls him my little Ass?), who becomes his biographer, then founds a court school for sons of nobles, and helps trans. several books on morals and history from Latin that he considers "most needful for every man to know". On Apr. 4 Pope (since 891) Formosus dies, and in Apr. Pope (#114) Boniface VI is elected, serving only 15 days; in May Pope (#115) Stephen VII (VI) (-897) is elected; furious with his choice of Ahnuld, er, Arnulf of Carinthia for HRE, he convenes the Cadaver Synod, which orders the body of Pope Formosus to be exhumed, dressed in pontifical vestments, placed on the papal throne in the Lateran, and put on trial (a teenie deacon hides behind him and acts as his voice?); after he is condemned, his appointments are invalidated, his blessing fingers (first three on right hand) hacked off, and his body stripped to a hair shirt and thrown into the Tiber River - no broomstick up his ass? Louis III the Blind fights the pesky Saracens based since 889 in Fraxinet in S France. The Magyars arrive in the Caparthian Basin, led by the Seven chieftains of the Magyars. The Byzantines and Bulgarians make peace, with the Byzantine emperor paying tribute; meanwhile the Magyars are driven W by the Patzinaks, taking Transylvania and Pannonia from the ugly Buggers, er, Bulgars, accompanied by a dissident Khazar tribe known as the Kabars, known for gold and silversmithing. Births: Arab Shiite Muslim historian and geographer ("the Herodotosu of the Arabs") Al-Masudi (d. 956) in Baghdad.



897 - Bad Year to Be Elected Pope?

Pope Romanus (-897) Pope Theodore II (-897)

897 On Feb. 6 Photius (b. 815) dies in exile. On Aug. 4 emperor (since 887) Uda (-931) steps down in favor of his eldest son Daigo (Atsuhito) (885-930), who becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #60 (until Oct. 16, 930). On Aug. 11 Count Wilfred the Hairy of Barcelona (b. ?) dies after creating the County of Osona (Ausona) and repopulating and restoring the bishopric in the depopulated Muslim-Christian borderland of Vic, which becomes the capital; he directs his sons Count Wifred (Guifre) II (Borrel I) (-911) of Barcelona, Count Miro II (878-927) of Cerdanya, and Count Sunifred (Sunyer) II (870-950) of Urgell to govern his counties of Barcelona, Urgell, and Cerdanya jointly, with eldest Wifred supposedly the first among equals; too bad, they soon split ranks, and Wifred takes Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona, Sunifred takes Urgell, and Miro takes Cerdanya, Conflent, and Berga; Sunifred II ends up going on the offensive against the pesky Moors to the S. In Aug. Pope (since 896) Stephen VII is deposed by an insurrection, dressed in a monk's habit, thrown into a dungeon, and strangled, and in Aug. Pope (#116) Romanus (-897) is elected, and dies in Nov.; in Nov. Pope (#117) Theodore II (-897) is elected, and dies 20 days later. Germany is invaded by the Moravians and Hungarians. The Bulgarians and Saracens go to war. Aparajita Varman is KIA in a battle against Chola king (since 870) Aditya I (-907), ending the Pallava Dynasty based in Tondaimandalam (founded 275). Births: Iranian Arab Quraysh Islamic poet Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Isfahani (Abul-Faraj) (d. 967) in Isfahan; descendant of Umayyad caliph Marwan II; grows up in Baghdad. Deaths: Byzantine patriarch of Constantinople (867-97) Photius (b. 815) on Feb. 6; dies in exile; leaves Bibliotheca (Myriobiblion), notes on 280 secular Greek works, half of which have been lost, leaving his guide as the only source of info. on them.

Pope John IX (-900)

898 On Jan. 1 Eudes (Odo) (b. 860) dies, and Charles III (later called the Simple) becomes sole king of Viking-menaced France (until 929). In Jan. John of Tivoli is elected Pope (#118) John IX (-900). The Magyars raid into Lombardy, overrunng it by next year. Births: Frankish Robertian duke Hugo the Great the White, Count of Paris (d. 956) in Paris; son of Robert I and Beatrice of Verndois (daughter of Count Herbert I of Vermandois); father of Hugh Capet (941-96). Persian emir (935-76) (Shiite Muslim) Hasan Rukn al-Dawla (Arab. "preserver of the dynasty") (d. 976) in Daylam; brother of Mui'izz al-Dawla (915-67); born Zoroastrian, converting to Islam along with his father and brother; father of Adud al-Dawla (936-83) and Fakhr al-Dawla (-997). Deaths: French king Eudes (Odo) (b. 860) on Jan. 1. Muslim Shiite geographer-historian (first Muslim world historian?) Ahmad Al-Yaqubi (Ahmad ibn Abu Ya'qub ibn Ja'far ibn Wahb ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi) (b. ?) in Egypt; great-grandson of Wadih, freedman of Caliph Mansur.



899 - The HRE Louis III Year?

Edward I the Elder of England (869-924)

899 On Oct. 26 Alfred the Great (b. 849) dies an agonizing death (from autoimmune Crohn's Disease?), and his son Edward I the Elder (869-924) becomes king of the Angles and Saxons (Wessex) (monarch #7 of England) (until July 17, 924), beginning the mopping-up of the Danish menace (by 954), who meanwhile are busy giving place names "thorpe" (village), "thwaite" (meadow), and "by" (farmstead) endings. On Dec. 8 HRE Arnulf (b. 850) dies, having lost his influence in France and Italy, and Boso I's son by Ermengard (daughter of HRE Louis II) Louis III the Blind (880-928), king of Provence since 887 becomes the last German king and Carolingian emperor of the East Franks, starting a power struggle with Italian king Berengar I. The Magyars sack Padua, and it takes many years to recover; meanwhile they capture Cittanova, Fine, Equilo, and Altino, advancing past Chioggia and Pellestrina towards Malamocco, meeting a huge Venetian host under Doge Pietro Tribuno at Albiola and getting their butts kicked after their small coracles prove no match for Venetian galleys, becoming the first great Venetian V since the defeat of Pepin of Italy almost a cent. earlier. Atenulf I of Capua conquers Benevento; meanwhile the Byzantine strategos of Bari is raised to the title of catapan (patrician) of Italy. The Shiite Qarmati establish the utopian Qarmati Repub. in E Arabia (ends 950). Births: Arab Abbasid caliph #19 (9232-4) (Sunni Muslim) Abu Mansur Muhammad al-Qahir (d. 950); son of Al-Mu'tadid (854-902). Deaths: English king (871-99) Alfred the Great (b. 849) on Oct. 26 (Crohn's Disease?); the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says he died in 901; buried in Winchester, moved to Hyde Abbey in 1110, reburied in the churchyard during the reign of Henry VIII, and the bones scattered in 1788 while a new prison is being built. East Frankish king (887-99) and HRE (896-9) Arnulf of Carinthia (b. 850) on Dec. 8 in Germany.



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