Year 744 (DCCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 744 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.
Switzerland
In 741 and 744, documents in the archives of St. Gallen Abbey describe the village of Kempraten as Centoprato, another document in 863 as Centiprata, inspired by the Latin name Centum Prata.
A nunnery given by the Alamannic noblewoman Beata on Lützelau Island is first mentioned, and is in this year sold to Einsiedeln Abbey.
Ufenau island in Switzerland is first mentioned in 741 as "Hupinauia", and in 744 as "Ubinauvia" — island of Huppan of Huphan.
April 17 – Caliph Al-Walid II is besieged in his castle outside the city of Damascus. He is defeated and killed by Arab forces under Sulayman ibn Hisham. Al-Walid is succeeded by his cousin Yazid III, who dies shortly after of a brain tumor.
December – Marwan ibn Muhammad rebels against Yazid's designated successor Ibrahim ibn al-Walid, defeats the Umayyad forces under Sulayman ibn Hisham, and becomes caliph.
Turkish subjects like Uyghur, Karluk and Basmyl, who are not the members of the Ashina clan, stage a coup. This ends the Turkish Empire and Ashina clan (except in Khazaria).
Autumn – Li Bai (also Li Po), Chinese poet and skilled calligrapher, meets Du Fu for the first time.
Tikal takes over Naranjo, destroying Calakmul's once powerful and extensive network of allies vassal states and trade networks, and ending the Third (and final) Tikal-Calakmul War.
Synod of Soissons Called at the instigation of Pepin the Short and Boniface, archbishop and metropolitan, it secures the condemnation of the Frankish bishop Adalbert.
Sturm, disciple of Boniface, establishes the Benedictine Abbey of Fulda (Hesse), as part of Boniface's mission to bring Christianity to the pagan tribes in Germany (or 742).
June – Pope Zachary gives his approval by sending Abel, Grimo and Hartbert their pallium for the metropolitan sees of Reims, Rouen and Sens.
Salih ibn Tarif proclaims himself a prophet among the Barghawata, a confederation of Berber tribes in modern-day western Morocco.
Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Mahdi, Muslim caliph (or 745)
April 17 – Al-Walid II, Muslim caliph (b. 706)
He Zhizhang, Chinese poet
Hildeprand, king of the Lombards
Huoching, Alamannic nobleman
Kül-chor, ruler (khagan) of the Turgesh
Liutprand, king of the Lombards
Özmiş Qaghan, ruler of the Turkic Khaganate
Stephen IV, patriarch of Antioch
September 25 – Yazid III, Muslim caliph (b. 701)
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