Puneet Varma (Editor)

655

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
655

Year 655 (DCLV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 655 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.

Contents

Byzantine Empire

  • Battle of the Masts: Emperor Constans II personally commands the Byzantine fleet (500 ships), and sets off to challenge the Arab navy. He sails to the province of Lycia (Turkey) in the southern region of Asia Minor. The two forces meet off the coast of Mount Phoenix, near the harbour of Phoenix (modern Finike). The Arabs under Abdullah ibn Sa'ad are victorious in battle, although losses are heavy for both sides. Constans barely escapes to Constantinople.

    • Britain

  • November 15 – Battle of the Winwaed: King Oswiu of Bernicia defeats his rival, King Penda of Mercia at Cock Beck, near what later will be Leeds (Yorkshire). Kings Cadafael Cadomedd of Gwynedd and Œthelwald of Deira, allies of Mercia, withdraw their forces before the battle begins. It marks the defeat of the last credible pagan force in England. It also sows the seeds which will lead to Anglo-Saxon acceptance of the Catholic Church (approximate date).
  • Oswiu becomes overlord (bretwalda) over much of Great Britain. He establishes himself as king of Mercia, setting up his son-in-law, Penda's son Peada, as a subject king over Middle Anglia.

    • Asia

  • Empress Empress Kōgyoku re-ascends to the throne of Japan, beginning a new reign as Saimei-tennō.
  • Arab armies conquer Khurasan (Iran), and the Silk Road along Transoxiana (Central Asia).
  • King Vikramaditya I of Chalukya (India) re-unites the kingdom, after defeating his brothers.

    • Religion

  • May 15 – Pope Martin I is banished to Chersonesos Taurica (Ukraine). He dies later in the Crimean Peninsula after a 6-year reign, leaving Eugene I as the uncontested pope (see 654).
  • Peada founds Peterborough Cathedral (Province of Canterbury). It become one of the first centres of Christianity in England. Deusdedit is consecrated to archbishop of Canterbury.

    • Births

  • John VI, pope of Rome (d. 705)

    • Deaths

  • November 15 – Æthelhere, king of East Anglia
  • Cadafael Cadomedd, king of Gwynedd
  • Didier of Cahors, Frankish bishop
  • Foillan, Irish missionary (approximate date)
  • Loingsech mac Colmáin, king of Connacht (Ireland)
  • November 15 – Penda, king of Mercia
  • September 16 – Pope Martin I
  • Theodore Rshtuni, Armenian general
  • Wang, empress of the Tang dynasty
  • Xiao, concubine of Gao Zong

    • References

    655 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


    Similar Topics