By place Byzantine Empire • The Byzantine outpost of
Cherson (
Crimea) rebels (with
Khazar assistance) against Emperor
Justinian II. He sends a fleet under the
patrikios Stephen, which retakes the city and restores Byzantine control. The fleet, however, is struck by a
storm on its way back and loses many ships, while the Chersonites, again with the aid of the Khazars, rebel anew. • The Byzantine general
Leo (future emperor Leo III) recovers the
Abkhazia (
Caucasus) for the
Byzantine Empire, from the Arabs.
Europe •
Roderick becomes king of the
Visigoths, but the Visigothic
nobles in
Septimania rebel, and proclaim the previous ruler's son
Akhila king. The
Visigothic Kingdom is divided into two sub-kingdoms, suffering the first
Muslim raid expedition against the southern
Iberian Peninsula. • An
Arab army is invited into
Ceuta by its governor,
Julian, who is an opponent of Roderick. He encourages them to invade the Iberian Peninsula.
Tariq ibn Ziyad is appointed governor of
Tangier (
Morocco), and establishes a
Moorish garrison of 1,700 men. •
Lupus I, duke of
Gascony, is assassinated in his attempt to seize
Limoges (
France). Eudes becomes ruler over both Gascony and
Aquitaine. • The
Madara Rider, an
early medieval rock relief, is carved on the
Madara Plateau east of
Shumen in
Bulgaria (approximate date).
Britain • Kings
Ine of Wessex and
Nothhelm of Sussex fight against King
Geraint of Dumnonia, who dies in battle. Ine's advance brings him control of what is now
Devon; he establishes a fortress at
Taunton. • Beorhtfrith fights against the
Picts between Haefe and Caere (assumed to be between the rivers
Avon and
Carron, which flow into the
Firth of Forth in
Scotland).
Africa •
Salih I ibn Mansur founds the Muslim
Kingdom of Nekor (Morocco). He converts the local
Berber tribes to
Islam.
Asia •
April 5 – Emperor
Zhong Zong of the
Tang dynasty has his chief ministers of court, sons-in-law, and high-ranking military officers engage (during the
Cold Food Festival) in the festive game of
tug of war, within a palace of
Chang'an. •
July 3 – Zhong Zong is assassinated, allegedly
poisoned by Empress
Wei, who fails to install her daughter
Li Guo'er as heir to the
throne.
Princess Taiping and her nephew
Li Longji launch a coup, and restore
Rui Zong as emperor. • The
Asuka period, the second and last part of the
Yamato period, ends, and the
Nara period begins;
Heijō-kyō (
Nara) becomes the capital of
Japan.
By topic Religion •
October 5 –
Pope Constantine departs for a year-long visit to
Constantinople. He will be the last
pontiff to visit the capital for more than a thousand years. • The first (wooden)
Al-Aqsa Mosque is finished. == Births ==