Year 666 ( DCLXVI) was a

common year starting on Thursday A common year starting on Thursday is any non-leap year (i.e. a year with 365 days) that begins on Thursday, 1 January, and ends on Thursday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is D. The most recent year of such kind was 2015 and the next one ...

(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 666 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

* Emperor

Constans II Constans II ( grc-gre, Κώνστας, Kōnstas; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), nicknamed "the Bearded" ( la, Pogonatus; grc-gre, ὁ Πωγωνᾶτος, ho Pōgōnãtos), was the Eastern Roman emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last ...

grants the request of Bishop Maurus of Ravenna, allowing the city to consecrate its bishop without approval from Rome (approximate date).

Europe

* Duke

Lupus of Friuli Lupus was the Duke of Friuli from between 660 and 663 to his death around 666. Immediately after he succeeded to Friuli, Lupus invaded Grado with a body of cavalry and plundered the city, then proceeding to Aquileia, where he stole the treasures o ...

revolts against King Grimoald I, with allied Avars. Grimoald takes and devastates Friuli, tracks down Lupus's son

Arnefrit Arnefrit, Arnefrid, Amefrit, or Amefrith was the son of Lupus of Friuli who claimed the Duchy of Friuli after his father's death in 666. Lupus had been killed by the Avars, who had taken Cividale, seat of the duchy. Thus, King Grimoald had come ...

(allied with the

Slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

), and beats him and kills him in battle at the castle of Nimis. Grimoald appoints Wechtar as the new duke of Friuli.

Asia

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Buddhist monks Zhi Yu and Zhi Yuo craft more south-pointing chariot vehicles (a non-magnetic, mechanical-driven directional- compass vehicle that incorporates the use of a Differential.

Religion

* Wilfrid returns to Great Britain, but is

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

ed in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. When he finally reaches Northumbria, he finds he has been deposed and is forced to retire to Ripon.John "Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England" pp. 34-35 *

Earconwald __NOTOC__ Earconwald or Erkenwald (died 693) was Bishop of London between 675 and 693. Life Earconwald was born at Lindsey in Lincolnshire,Walsh ''A New Dictionary of Saints'' p. 182 and was supposedly of royal ancestry. In 666, he established tw ...

, Anglo-Saxon abbot, establishes the Benedictine abbeys, Chertsey Abbey (

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

) for men Kirby "Earliest English Kings" p. 83 and Barking Abbey (now in east London) for women.Yorke "Adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon Royal Courts" ''Cross Goes North'' pp. 250-251

Births

* Zhang Jiazhen, Chinese official

Deaths

* Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, first child of first

Rashidun , image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png , caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs , birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia , known_for = Companions of t ...

caliph,

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honorif ...

, duke of Friuli (

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

) *

Liu Xiangdao Liu Xiangdao (劉祥道) (596–666), courtesy name Tongshou (同壽), formally Duke Xuan of Guangping (廣平宣公), was a Chinese politicians of the medieval Chinese Tang Dynasty who served briefly as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozo ...

, official of the Tang Dynasty (b.

596 __NOTOC__ Year 596 ( DXCVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 596 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era bec ...

) * Ramla bint Abi Sufyan, a wife of Muhammad

References

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