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Births
Deaths
By country
By topic
Establishments
Disestablishments |
Arabian Empire
Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are victorious at Balkh (Northern Afghanistan) over Amr ibn al-Layth; the latter is captured and sent to Caliph Al-Mu'tadid in Baghdad. The Samanid Dynasty rules over Khorasan, as well as Transoxiana. A few months later, the Samanids conquer the Zaydid emirate of Tabaristan. This victory marks the beginning of the dispersion of the local Shi'ites, by the new Sunni power.
Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Leo VI (the Wise) begins an offensive against the Abbasid army in Cilicia, Mesopotamia and Armenia. He also continues the war against the Muslims in Sicily and southern Italy.
The Fatmids break away from the Abbasid Caliphate and migrate to North Africa. They claim to be descendants from Fatima bint Muhammad, the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
The Qarmatians of Al-Bahrayn, under Abū-Saʿīd Jannābī, score a major victory over the Abbasid army led by Al-'Abbas ibn 'Amr al-Ghanawi.
Europe
Spring – Atenulf I, Lombard prince of Capua, conquers the Duchy of Benevento. He deposes Duke Radelchis II and unites the two southern Lombard duchies in Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy). The Byzantines offer a strategic alliance to Atenulf who directs an campaign against the Saracens. They have establish themselves on the banks of the Garigliano River, from where Arab warbands launch frequent raids in Campania.
February 4 – The 7-year-old Louis IV (the Child) is at an assembly at Forchheim (Bavaria) proclaimed king of the East Frankish Kingdom. Because of his young age, the reins of government is entirely in the hands of others – the Frankish nobles and bishops. The most influential of Louis's councillors are Hatto I, archbishop of Mainz, and Solomon III, bishop of Constance.
June 8 – Edward the Elder (son of Alfred the Great) is crowned king of England at Kingston upon Thames.
June 17 – Baldwin II, Count of Flanders has Fulk the Venerable, bishop of Reims, assassinated.
June 29 – The Venetians repel the Magyar raiders at Rialto.
Summer – After the death of his wife Zoe Zaoutzaina, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI marries Eudokia Baïana.
August – Abdallah, son of the Aghlabid emir Ibrahim II, represses a revolt of his Muslim subjects, and then initiates a campaign against the last Byzantine strongholds in Sicily.
August 13 – Zwentibold, king of Lotharingia, is killed in battle on the Meuse River, while fighting against his rebellious subjects; subsequently they recognize Louis IV as their rightful suzerain.
October 12 – Following Magyars raids in Lombardy, king Louis III (the Blind) is called to Italy by the grandees. He takes Pavia, forcing king Berengar I to flee, and replaces him as King of Italy.
King Donald II is killed after a 11-year reign. He is succeeded by his cousin Constantine II as king of Scotland; he will reign for more than 40 years.
Docibilis I of Gaeta and his Saracen mercenaries attack Capua, in vain.
After the rejection of their alliance proposal by the Bavarians, the Hungarians attack this country, occupying Pannonia and parts of Ostmark, which become part of the Hungarian state until today.
Asia
April 21 – Namwaran and his children, Lady Angkatan and Bukah, are granted pardon by the Lakan (ruler) of Tondo, as represented by Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pila, which released them of all their debts as inscribed in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (Philippines).
Maravarman Rajasimha II, king of Pandya, begins to rule. He is constantly in war with Chola (his overlord) and becomes the last ruler of the first Pandyan Empire (India).
December 1 – Emperor Zhao Zong is deposed and forced by a group of Tang eunuchs led by Liu Jishu to abdicate the throne to his son, Crown Prince Li Yu (until 901).
Mesoamerica
The Postclassic Period: The Maya civilization that has flourished for about 650 years in upland areas of what later will be called Central America comes an end as a result either of depleted agricultural resources or warfare between some 40 rival city-states. The great stone pyramids, ball courts and other structures at cities such as Tikal, Copán, and Palenque are abandoned and overgrown with jungle, as will the sculpture and relief carvings of the Maya, who have developed a calendar based on almost perfect astronomic measurements. Cities such as Chichen Itza, Mayapan and Uxmal in the highlands of the Yucatán Peninsula will continue to flourish.
In Peru the Lambayeque people establish themselves over areas previously developed by the Moche (approximate date).
Art
c. 900 –1230 – Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, is built by the Ancestral Pueblo people.
Religion
January – Pope John IX dies after a 2-year reign. He is succeeded by Benedict IV as the 117th pope of the Catholic Church.
Commerce
The east coast of Africa is impacted by trade and Arab, Persian and Indian traders mixed with the indigenous Bantu. Many of the coastal Bantu adopt Islam, they have reached as far south as Sofala (Mozambique).
Exploration
Greenland is discovered by the Norseman Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, sailing from Norway to Iceland, he is blown off course by a storm and comes in sight of some islands off the coast (approximate date).
Medicine
The Persian scientist Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi distinguishes smallpox from measles in the course of his writings. Holding against any sort of orthodoxy, particularly Aristotle's physics, he maintains "the conception of an 'absolute' time, regarded by him as a never-ending flow".
Europe
February – King Louis III (the Blind) is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Benedict IV at Rome. His rival Berengar I seeks refuge in Bavaria at the court of King Louis IV (the Child).
March – Abu Abbas Abdallah resumes his Aghlabid campaign against the Byzantine enclaves of Sicily. He dispatches his fleet towards Messina, while bombarding the town walls of Damona.
June 10 – Abu Abbas Abdallah crosses the Strait of Messina and proceeds to Reggio Calabria. Appearing before its walls, the Byzantine garrison flees, surrendering the city to the Aghlabids.
Summer – Abu Abbas Abdallah defeats a relief Byzantine navy dispatched from Constantinople at Messina. He dismantles the fortifications of Messina and tranfers his booty to Palermo.
July 10 – In Al-Andalus, Ibn al-Qitt and Abū Naṣr ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Alī al-Sarrāj call for a small jihad, but are defeated by King Alfonso III at the battle of Zamora.
Britain
Fall – Æthelwold (a son of Æthelred I) rebels against his cousin, King Edward the Elder. He comes with a fleet to Essex, and encourages the Danish Vikings of East Anglia to rise up.
Edward the Elder takes the title "King of the Anglo-Saxons". His mother, Dowager-Queen Ealhswith, founds the Nunnaminster at Winchester and retires into a religious life there.
The first written mention is made of Shrewsbury (West Midlands).
Arabian Empire
February 18 – Thābit ibn Qurra dies at Baghdad, having served as court astronomer to the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutadid. He has spent his life translating and teaching the works of Greek mathematicians, and of his own.
Abu 'Abdullah al-Shi'i leads the rebellion of the Kutama Berbers (a movement of the Shite Fatimids), against the Aghlabid emirate in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia).
Asia
January 24 – Emperor Zhao Zong of the Tang Dynasty (after he is briefly deposed by general Liu Jishu) is restored to the Chinese throne. Liu, with four eunuch family members are killed.
January 25 – Sugawara no Michizane, a Japanese poet, is demoted from his aristocratic rank and is exiled to a minor official post at Dazaifu (Chikuzen Province).
The Kingdom of Hu Goguryeo is established by the rebel leader Gung Ye. He subjugates the local lords in the Korean Peninsula and proclaims himself king.
In China, Fuzhou City (Fujian Province) is expanded, with the construction of a new city wall ("Luo City").
Abaoji is elected chieftain of the Yila tribe and becomes commander of all Khitan military forces.
Mesoamerica
The Mesoamerican ballgame court is dedicated by the Maya ruler Chan Chak K'ak'nal Ajaw (also known as Lord Chac) at Uxmal (modern Mexico).
The Toltecs establish themselves at Tula. The city becomes the capital and rises to prominence after the fall of Teotihuacan (approximate date).
Religion
January – Arethas of Caesarea speaks on the occasion of the Epiphany. He becomes the official rhetor at the Byzantine court of Emperor Leo VI (the Wise) at Constantinople, and is nominated as archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.
March 1 – Nicholas Mystikos, a layman close to Photios, becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.
Europe
Spring – Adalbert II, margarve of Tuscany, revolts against Emperor Louis III (the Blind). He helps the deposed King Berengar I to recover the Kingdom of Italy. Louis III is forced to abdicate the Lombard throne and flees to Provence, compelled to promise never to return to Italy.
February–March – Abu Abbas Abdallah, conqueror of Reggio Calabria, returns from Sicily and succeeds his father Ibrahim II as Aghlabid emir of Ifriqiya.
June – Ibrahim II lands with an Aghlabid expeditionary force in Trapani and proceeds to Palermo. He crushes the reinforced Byzantine army at Giardini.
August 1 – Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabid army. After nearly 75 years, all of Sicily is in Aghlabid hands.
September – Ibrahim II crosses the Strait of Messina into Calabria. He begin his march to conquer the rest of Italy and lays siege at Cosenza.
October 23 – Ibrahim II dies of dysentery in a chapel near Cosenza. His grandson, Ziyadat Allah, takes over the army, but lifts the siege.
Winter – The Balearic Islands are conquered by the Emirate of Córdoba. The Moors improve agriculture with irrigation on the islands.
Britain
December 13 – Battle of the Holme: The Anglo-Saxon army is defeated by the Danish Vikings under Æthelwold (a son of Æthelred I) at Holme. Æthelwold is killed, ending his revolt against King Edward the Elder.
Winter – The Norsemen are expelled from Dublin. After a brief foray into Seisyllwg (Wales), a group, under the Viking lord Ingimundr, settle in the Wirral with the agreement of Lady Æthelflæd of the Mercians.
Arabian Empire
April 5 – Caliph Al-Mu'tadid dies in Baghdad after a 10-year reign. He has been possibly poisoned in a palace intrigue, and is succeeded by his eldest son Al-Muktafi as ruler of the in Abbasid Caliphate.
The Kutama tribe under Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i revolt against the Aghlabids. He begins an campaign and dispatches an invitation to the Fatimid spiritual leader, Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah to support him.
Moorish Andalusian merchants set up a trade settlement (so-called emporium) in Oran (modern Algeria).
Asia
Spring – Emperor Zhao Zong appoints Yang Xingmi as the overall commander of the Eastern circuits in China. He receives the title of Prince Wuzhong of Wu.
The Kingdom of Nanzhao in East Asia is overthrown, followed by three dynasties in quick succession, before the establishment of the Kingdom of Dali in 937.
Europe
King Berengar I of Italy proceeds to issue concessions and privileges to the Lombard nobility and monasteries. He grants concessions to Bobbio Abbey in Emilia-Romagna (Northeast Italy).
King Louis IV (the Child) promulgates the Raffelstetten customs regulations, a legal document for a toll-bridge on the Danube River in Asten (modern Austria).
Britain
The Danish Vikings invade Anglesey after being driven out of Dublin (see 902). They fail to gain a foodhold in Wales, and sail on to Chester.
A party of Danes under the Viking warlord Ingimundr attack the Welsh in a pitched battle at Maes Ros Meilon, perhaps near Llanfaes.
Arabian Empire
November 29 – Battle of Hama: Abbasid forces under Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib defeat the Qarmatians near Hama, on the banks of the Orontes River (modern Syria). The Qarmatian army is scattered and pursued by Abbasid troops; Al-Husayn ibn Zikrawayh and other Qarmatian leaders are captured.
Religion
July – Pope Benedict IV dies after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by Leo V as the 118th pope of the Catholic Church. Leo is imprisoned and tortured by Antipope Christopher after a reign of just 1 month. Christopher makes himself the new pope of Rome.
Byzantine Empire
July 29 – Sack of Thessalonica: A Muslim fleet, led by the Greek renegade Leo of Tripoli, appears of Thessalonica and begins their attack after a short and silent inspection of the fortification of the city. After attacks from the sea for two days, the Saracens are able to storm the city walls, overcome the Thessalonian's resistance and capture the city. The sacking continue for a full week, before the raiders depart for their base in the Levant. Having freed 4,000 Muslim prisoners and capturing 60 ships, and gaining a large loot and carries off 22,000 men and woman as slaves.
Arab–Byzantine War: The Byzantines under Andronikos Doukas, along with Eustathios Argyros, campaign against the Abbasids and defeat the Muslim garrisons of Mopsuestia and Tarsos, near Marash (modern Turkey).
Emperor Leo VI (the Wise) is forced to sign a peace treaty with Simeon I, ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire. All Slavic-inhabited lands of Macedonia and southern Albania are ceded to the Bulgarians.
Europe
Summer – King Louis IV (the Child) invites Kurszán, an Hungarian leader (gyula) of the Magyar tribal confederation, and his entourage to negotiate at the Fischa River, but are killed in an ambush.
In Portugal, for the third time in less than 30 years, the Christians take control of Coimbra, this time for almost a century.
Britain
Prince Hywel ap Cadell of Seisyllwg (Wales) marries Princess Elen of Dyfed. Death of the latter's father, King Llywarch ap Hyfaidd. The throne of Dyfed is claimed by Llywarch's brother, Rhodri ap Hyfaidd, but he is probably forced to flee from Hywel's armies.
Arabian Empire
Winter – Shayban ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun succeeds his nephew Harun ibn Khumarawayh as emir of the Tulunid Dynasty, who is killed in a mutiny during the invasion of Egypt by the Abbasid Caliphate.
China
September 22 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhao Zong, along with his family and many ministers, after seizing control of the imperial government. Zhu places Zhao Zong's 13-year-old son Ai (Li Zhou) on the imperial throne as a puppet ruler of the Tang Dynasty.
Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty and the largest city in the ancient world, is destroyed.
Religion
January 29 – Pope Sergius III succeeds Leo V and the deposed Antipope Christopher (both of whom are murdered or exiled) as the 119th pope of the Catholic Church. The ascension of Sergius marks the beginning of the Pornocracy ('rule of the whores'), which will last for 150 years. During this time, the clergy will be sidelined and rule over Rome is dominated by the Roman nobility.
Sergius III allies himself with Theophylact I, count of Tusculum, who becomes ruler of Rome and the papal administration. Sergius rewards him (for his support and rise of power) with the position of sacri palatii vestararius and essentially becomes his puppet.
Europe
Spring – King Berengar I of Italy arranges a truce with the Hungarians on payment of a tribute. Grand Prince Árpád withdraws from Italy and begins raiding in Bavaria.
King Louis III (the Blind) launches another attempt to invade Italy. An Frankish expeditionary force led by Adalbert I captures Pavia, and Berengar I retires to Verona.
July 21 – Berengar I and a hired Hungarian army defeats the Frankish force at Verona. They take Louis III as prisoner and Berengar blinds him for breaking his oath.
Louis III returns to Provence, unable to govern properly, he relinquishes the government of Lower Burgundy to his cousin Hugh, Count of Arles.
Sancho I succeeds Fortún I as King of Pamplona, and creates a Basque kingdom centered in Navarre (modern Spain).
Britain
Cadell ap Rhodri, king of Seisyllwg (Wales), makes his 25-year-old son Hywel ap Cadell ruler of Dyfed, having conquered that territory. Rhodri ap Hyfaidd, nominally king of Dyfed, is caught and executed, at Arwystli.
Norse settlers under the Viking warlord Ingimundr, revolt against the Mercians and try to capture the city of Chester. They are beaten off.
Arabian Empire
Summer – Caliph Al-Muktafi sends an Abbasid army (10,000 men) led by Muhammad ibn Sulayman to re-establish control over Syria and Egypt. The campaign is supported from the sea by a fleet from the frontier districts of Cilicia under Damian of Tarsus. He leads his ships up the Nile River, raids the coast, and prevents the supplies for the Tulunids.
Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh, an Abbasid military officer, is appointed governor of the provinces of Damascus and Jordan. He is send to confront a pro-Tulunid rebellion under Muhammad ibn Ali al-Khalanji. The latter manages to capture Fustat and proclaims the restoration of the Tulunids, while the local Abbasid commander withdraws to Alexandria.
Asia
China loses control over Annam (modern Vietnam). The village notable Khuc Thua Du leads a rebellion against the Tang Dynasty. The Chinese garrison at Tong Binh (present-day Hanoi) is destroyed. Khuc Thua Du declares Annam autonomous.
Abaoji, an Khitan tribal leader, leads 70,000 cavalry into Shanxi (Northern China) to create a 'brotherhood' with Li Keyong, a Shatuo governor (jiedushi) of the Tang Dynasty.
Emperor Daigo of Japan orders to select four court poets, led by Ki no Tsurayuki, to compile the Kokin Wakashū, an early anthology of Waka poetry.
Religion
Naum of Preslav, a Bulgarian missionary, founds a monastery on the shores of Lake Ohrid (modern-day Macedonia), which later receives his name.
Asia
Zhu Quanzhong puts Empress Dowager He to death and has her defamed and posthumously demoted to commoner rank.
Abbasid commander Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh leads a raid into Byzantine Asia Minor, reaching the Halys River and taking 4,000–5,000 captives.
Europe
Battle of Fritzlar: The Conradines defeat the Babenberg counts, to establish themselves as dukes of Franconia. Conrad the Elder is killed in the battle. His son, Conrad the Younger, is elected King Conrad I of the East Franconian Empire, in 911.
June – Saxony is plundered by two Hungarian armies.
Religion
Synod at Scone: Scottish Christian pastors unite for gospel reformation, without the interference or authority of Pope Sergius III in Rome.
Asia
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period begins in China.
February 27 – Yelü Abaoji, Great Khan of the Khitan people, is enthroned as Emperor Taizu of Liao, establishing the Liao dynasty in northern China.
May 12 – The short-lived Qi kingdom is founded by Li Maozhen, in northwest China.
June 1
The Tang dynasty ends with an abdication to Later Liang, founded by Zhu Wen in northern China, first of the Five Dynasties.
The Former Shu kingdom is founded by Wang Jian in Chengdu, first of the Ten Kingdoms.
The Wuyue kingdom is founded by Qian Liu in Hangzhou.
Oleg of Novgorod leads the Kievan Rus' in a campaign against Constantinople, in the Rus'–Byzantine War, concluded by the Rus'–Byzantine Treaty (in which the city of Chernihiv in the Ukraine is first mentioned).
Europe
July 4–7 – Battle of Pressburg: At "Brezalauspurc" (probably modern-day Bratislava in Slovakia), the advancing East Francian army is annihilated by the Hungarians. Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria and Dietmar I, Archbishop of Salzburg are killed, together with 19 dukes, 2 bishops and 3 abbots; thus East Francia loses control of the March of Pannonia.
February 1 – Nicholas Mystikos is deposed as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, (having fallen out with the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI), and is replaced by Euthymius Syncellus.
Asia
March 26 – Zhu Wen has Li Zhu, the last Tang dynasty emperor, poisoned.
June 9 – Powerful generals Zhang Hao and Xu Wen assassinate Yang Wo Prince of Hongnong and claim that he died of sudden illness. Yang Wo's eldest (also full) younger brother Yang Longyan is chosen to succeed him.
June 18 – Xu Wen murders Zhang Hao and effectively holds the power of Hongnong.
December 17 – Husayn ibn Hamdan leads an attempt to depose the newly-appointed Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, al-Muqtadir, and install his uncle Ibn al-Mu'tazz. The plotters kill vizier al-Abbas ibn al-Hasan al-Jarjara'i, but fail to capture al-Muqtadir, leading to the coup's collapse.
Byzantine Empire
May 15 – Patriarch Euthymius I of Constantinople crowns the infant Constantine VII as co-emperor.
Europe
The Battle of Belach Mugna is fought in Ireland.
August 2 – Battle of Eisenach: An invading Hungarian army defeats the Thuringian army of Margrave Burchard, killing him, together with Count Egino and Rudolf, bishop of Würzburg.
Middle East
Snow falls in the city of Baghdad.
Africa
The Aghlabid dynasty in North Africa is overthrown by the Fatimids.
The Berber Kutama tribesmen, allied to the Fatimid, take and destroy the capital city of the Rustamid imamate, Tihert. The remaining Ibadi are forced into the desert.
America
The last Long Count date is inscribed on a monument at the Mayan site of Toniná (modern day Chiapas, Mexico), marking the end of the classic Maya period.
Asia
The Min Kingdom is established in today's Fujian Province, with Fuzhou (then known as Changle) as its capital, by Wang Shenzhi.
900s (decade) Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
