Muslim troops leaving Narbonne to Pepin le Bref in 759

__NOTOC__ Year 759 ( DCCLIX) was a

common year starting on Monday A common year starting on Monday is any non-leap year (i.e., a year with 365 days) that begins on Monday, 1 January, and ends on Monday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is G. The most recent year of such kind was 2018, and the next one ...

of the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

. The denomination 759 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian and Julian calendar, Julian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "o ...

calendar era A calendar era is the period of time elapsed since one '' epoch'' of a calendar and, if it exists, before the next one. For example, the current year is numbered in the Gregorian calendar, which numbers its years in the Western Christian era ...

became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

Battle of the Rishki Pass The Battle of the Rishki Pass () or Battle of Veregava took place in the Rish Pass, pass of the same name, in Stara Planina, Bulgaria in 759. It was fought between the First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire. The result was ...

: Emperor

Constantine V Constantine V (; July 718 – 14 September 775) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able military leader, Constantine took advantage of Third Fitna, civil war ...

invades

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

again, but his forces are

ambush An ambush is a surprise attack carried out by people lying in wait in a concealed position. The concealed position itself or the concealed person(s) may also be called an "". Ambushes as a basic military tactics, fighting tactic of soldi ...

ed and defeated while crossing the Rishki Pass, near

Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs for about , first ...

(modern

). The Bulgarian ruler (''

khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

'')

Vinekh Vineh (also spelled Vinekh; ) was ruler of Bulgaria in the mid-8th century. According to the Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans, Vineh reigned for seven years and was a member of the Vokil clan. Vineh ascended the throne after the defeat of his pre ...

does not exploit his success, and begins peace negotiations.

Europe

* Siege of Narbonne: The

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

under King

Pepin III the Short (; ; ; – 24 September 768), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king. was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude. Pepin's upbringing was dist ...

("the Short") retake

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

from the

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s, after a 7-year

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

. He pushes them back across the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, and the Muslims retreat to the Andalusian heartland after 40 years of occupation. The government of the city is assigned to the

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

count Miló.

Britain

July 24 Events Pre-1600 * 1132 – Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily. * 1148 – Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade. * 1304 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of S ...

– King

Oswulf of Northumbria Oswulf IUsually known as Oswulf I. was king of Northumbria from 758 to 759. He succeeded his father Eadberht, who had abdicated and joined the monastery at York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Rom ...

is murdered by members of his own

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

(his

servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...

s or

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

s), at

Market Weighton Market Weighton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is one of the main towns in the East Yorkshire Wolds and lies midway between Kingston upon Hull, Hull and York, about from e ...

. The

Deira Deira ( ; Old Welsh/ or ; or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom. Etymology The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic , meaning 'oak' ( in modern Welsh), in which case ...

n ''patrician'', Æthelwald Moll, who probably conspired in the

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

, is crowned

king of Northumbria Northumbria, a kingdom of Angles (tribe), Angles, in what is now northern England and Lothian, south-east Scotland, was initially divided into two kingdoms: Bernicia and Deira. The two were first united by King Æthelfrith around the year 604, an ...

. He may have been a descendant of the late king

Oswine of Deira Oswine, Oswin or Osuine (died 20 August 651) was a King of Deira in northern England. Life Oswine succeeded King Oswald of Northumbria, probably around the year 644, after Oswald's death at the Battle of Maserfield. Oswine was the son of Os ...

. * Exceptional

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Frost begins

October 1 Events Pre-1600 * 331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. * 366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated. * 959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to E ...

, and ends

February 26 Events Pre-1600 * 747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events. * 320 – Chandragupta ...

, 760.

Abbasid Caliphate

* Caliph

al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ‎; 714 – 6 October 775) usually known simply as by his laqab al-Manṣūr () was the second Abbasid caliph, reigning from 754 to 775 succeeding his brother al-Saffah (). He is known ...

of the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

launches the conquest of

Tabaristan Tabaristan or Tabarestan (; ; from , ), was a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. It corresponded to the present-day province of Mazandaran, which became the predominant name of the area from the 11th-century onward ...

(on the southern coast of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

). Its ruler, Khurshid II, flees into the mountainous region of

Daylam Daylam (), also known in the plural form Daylaman () (and variants such as Dailam, Deylam, and Deilam), was the name of a mountainous region of inland Gilan, Iran. It was so named for its inhabitants, known as the Daylamites. The Church of the Ea ...

Asia

An Lushan Rebellion The An Lushan rebellion was a civil war in China that lasted from 755 to 763, at the approximate midpoint of the Tang dynasty (618–907). It began as a commandery rebellion attempting to overthrow and replace the Tang government with the rogue ...

: Tang forces under

Guo Ziyi Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i; Traditional Chinese: 郭子儀, Simplified Chinese: 郭子仪, Hanyu Pinyin: Guō Zǐyí, Wade-Giles: Kuo1 Tzu3-i2) (697 – July 9, 781), posthumously Prince Zhōngwǔ of Fényáng (), was a Chinese military general and p ...

lay siege to the city of

Yanjing Ji or Jicheng was an ancient city in northern China, which has become the longest continuously inhabited section of modern Beijing. Historical mention of Ji dates to the founding of the Zhou dynasty in about 1045BC. Archaeological finds in sout ...

(Northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) as they increase their efforts to end the rebellion. The fighting creates such a shortage of

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

within its walls that

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

s sell at enormous prices. *

Otomo no Yakamochi Otomo or Ōtomo is a Japanese surname. People with the surname include: * Ōtomo Chikaie (1561–1641), daimyō * Ōtomo Chikasada (died 1570), samurai * Ōtomo no Kuronushi (9th century), poet * Ōtomo no Otomaro (731–809), samurai * Ōtomo no ...

, Japanese general, compiles the first

Japanese poetry Japanese poetry is poetry typical of Japan, or written, spoken, or chanted in the Japanese language, which includes Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, and Modern Japanese, as well as poetry in Japan which was written in th ...

anthology, ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

''. It contains some 500 poems by Japanese

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

s who include the emperor,

noblemen Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...

and commoners. *

December 24 Events Pre-1600 * 502 – Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate. * 640 – Pope John IV is elected, several months after his predecessor's death. * 759 – Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengd ...

–

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

poet

Du Fu Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. Together with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, Du is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets of his time. His greatest ambition was to serve ...

departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet

Pei Di Pei Di () was a Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty, approximate year of birth 714, with twenty preserved poems in the '' Wangchuan ji'' poetry collection and one work included in the popular ''Three Hundred Tang Poems''. Pei Di was a contemporary o ...

By topic

Religion

* The

Tōshōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple of the Risshū sect in the city of Nara, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. The Classic Golden Hall, also known as the '' kondō'', has a single story, hipped tiled roof with a seven bay wide facade. It is considered the archetyp ...

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Temple is founded in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Births

* Alfonso II, king of

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

(d.

842 __NOTOC__ Year 842 ( DCCCXLII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 842nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 842nd year of the 1st millennium, the 42nd year of the 9th century, and t ...

) *

Asad ibn al-Furat Asad Ibn Al-Furat (; c.759 – c.828) was a Muslim jurist and theologian in Ifriqiya, who played an important role in the Arab conquest of Sicily. Biography His family, originally from Harran in Upper Mesopotamia, emigrated with him to Ifriqiya ...

, Muslim

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

(d.

828 __NOTOC__ Year 828 ( DCCCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Siege of Syracuse: The Muslims under Asad ibn al-Furat defeat a Byzantine relief army sent from Paler ...

) *

Gregory of Khandzta Gregory of Khandzta ( ka, გრიგოლ ხანძთელი, ''Grigol Khandzteli''; 759 – 5 October 861) was a Georgian ecclesiastic figure and a founder and leader of numerous monastic communities in Tao-Klarjeti, a historical regi ...

, Georgian

archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

(d.

861 __NOTOC__ Year 861 ( DCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March – Robert the Strong is appointed margrave of Neustria by King Charles the Bald. He re-establishes the ...

) *

Quan Deyu Quan Deyu (; 759 – September 30, 818), courtesy name Zaizhi (), formally Duke Wen of Fufeng (), was an official of the History of China, Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xi ...

chancellor of the Tang dynasty The Grand chancellor (China), chancellor () was a semi-formally designated office position for a number of high-level officials at one time during the Tang dynasty of China. This list also includes List of chancellors of Wu Zetian, chancellors ...

(d.

818 __NOTOC__ Year 818 ( DCCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Vikings known as Rus' (Norsemen) plunder the north coast of Anatolia (modern Turkey), marking the first re ...

) *

Theodore the Studite Theodore the Studite (; 759–826), also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantin ...

, Byzantine

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

(d.

826 Year 826 ( DCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 826th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 826th year of the 1st millennium, the 26th year of the 9th century, and the 7th y ...

) *

Wang Shizhen Wang Shizhen is the name of: * Wang Shizhen (Tang dynasty) (759–809), Tang dynasty warlord, de facto ruler of Chengde * Wang Shizhen (Ming dynasty) (1526–1590), Ming dynasty poet, writer, artist and litterateur. * Wang Shizhen (Beiyang governm ...

, general of the Tang dynasty (d.

809 __NOTOC__ Year 809 ( DCCCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 809th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 809th year of the 1st millennium, the 9th year of the 9th century, and the ...

) *

Wu Yantong Wu Yantong (, known in Vietnam as Vô Ngôn Thông, 759?-826 C.E.) was a Chinese Buddhist monk influential in the propagation of Buddhism in Vietnam. Biography Born into a wealthy family, upon coming of age he renounced that lifestyle for a mo ...

, Chinese

monk (approximate date)

Deaths

– Oswulf, king of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

* Edburga, Anglo-Saxon

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

Dúngal mac Amalgado Dúngal mac Amalgado (or Dúngal Cnogba) (died 759) was a King of Brega from the Uí Chonaing sept of Cnogba (Knowth) of the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Ui Neill. He was the son of Amalgaid mac Congalaig (died 718) and brother of ...

, king of

Brega Brega , also known as ''Mersa Brega'' or ''Marsa al-Brega'' ( , i.e. "Brega Seaport"), is a complex of several smaller towns, industry installations and education establishments situated in Libya on the Gulf of Sidra, the most southerly point of ...

(

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

) *

Othmar Othmar, also spelled Otmar or Ottmar, is a masculine German given name, derived from the Germanic name ''Audamar'', from the elements ''aud'' "wealth, prosperity" and ''mar'' "fame". Notable people with the name include: * Saint Othmar, medieval ...

, Swiss abbot (approximate date) * Wang Wei, Chinese

(b.

699 __NOTOC__ Year 699 ( DCXCIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 699 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Euro ...

)

References

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