By place Byzantine Empire • Emperor
Constans II marries
Fausta.
Europe •
April 30 –
Chindasuinth, a
Gothic warlord (already 79 years old), commences a rebellion and deposes King
Tulga in
Toledo, Spain. He is proclaimed king by the
Visigothic nobility and anointed by the
bishops. Tulga is
tonsured and sent out to live his days in a
monastery. •
Radulf, a
Frankish aristocrat, revolts against King
Sigebert III of
Austrasia and defeats his army, taking the title of
rex or king of
Thuringia.
Britain •
August 5 –
Battle of Maserfield: King
Penda of Mercia defeats and kills King
Oswald of Northumbria, age 38, at
Oswestry (
West Midlands). He commands a united
British and
Mercian force, which includes the Welsh army of Kings
Cadafael Cadomedd of Gwynedd and
Cynddylan of Pengwern. The Mercians become dominant in the
English Midlands. •
Oswiu succeeds his half-brother Oswald as king of
Bernicia. He strengthens his position by marrying
Eanflæd, daughter of King
Edwin of Northumbria, then in exile in the
Kingdom of Kent. This marriage takes place between 642 and
644.
Persia •
Battle of Nahāvand: The
Rashidun army (30,000 men) under
Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas defeats the Persians at
Nahāvand (modern
Iran). The Persian cavalry, full of confidence, mounts an ill-prepared attack. The
Arabs retreat to a safe area, where they outmanoeuvre and destroy the Persians in a narrow mountain valley.
Africa •
Battle of Dongola:
'Amr ibn al-'As sends an Arab expedition of 20,000 horsemen, under his cousin
Uqba ibn Nafi, to
Makuria (Southern
Egypt). The Nubians strike hard against the
Muslims near
Dongola with
hit-and-run attacks. The Arab incursions into
Nubia are temporarily halted.
Asia • Emperor
Taizong of the
Tang dynasty issues a
decree throughout China, that increases the punishment for men who deliberately inflict injuries upon themselves (most commonly breaking their own legs) in order to avoid military
conscription. This decree is an effort to eradicate this practice that has grown as a trend since the time of the rebellion against the
Sui dynasty. • Taizong
supports a revolt by Turkic tribes against the rebellious
Tu-lu Qaghan of the
Western Turkic Khaganate. • Empress
Kōgyoku ascends to the throne of Japan, after her husband (and uncle) Emperor
Jomei's death in
641. • Winter –
Yŏn Kaesomun seizes power over
Goguryeo (
Korea), and places King
Bojang on the throne.
By topic Arts and sciences • The earliest surviving dated Arabic-language
papyrus (
PERF 558), found in
Heracleopolis (Egypt), and the earliest known Arabic text with
diacritical marks is written.
Architecture • Arabs begin construction of the
Mosque of Amr at
Cairo, the first
mosque built in Egypt and in all of Africa.
Religion •
October 12 –
Pope John IV dies after a 2-year reign. He is succeeded by a
Jerusalem-born
cleric of Greek descent,
Theodore I, as the 73rd
pope of Rome. • A
monastic settlement is founded in
Hampshire (England) which later becomes
Winchester Cathedral. == Births ==