By place Europe • King
Charlemagne orders a 3 kilometre long
channel dug from
Treuchtlingen to
Weißenburg (the
Rhine and
Danube river basins), to improve the transportation of goods between the
Rhineland and
Bavaria. Charlemagne's son,
Pepin of Italy, campaigns against the
Lombards in
Benevento (
Southern Italy). •
Frisian–Frankish War: Count
Theoderic is sent to
Frisia, to muster troops for another offensive against the
Avar Khaganate. He is attacked and probably killed by
Saxon rebels, near the mouth of the
Weser River. The
Frisians revolt, and Charlemagne
deports Saxon families from north of the river
Elbe.
Britain •
June 8 –
Viking raiders attack the
Northumbrian coast, arriving in
longships from either
Denmark or
Norway, and sacking the
monastery of
Lindisfarne. Many of the
monks are killed or enslaved. It is the first Viking attack on a monastery in the British Isles, although it is not the first known Viking attack in the British Isles. The first attack came in 789, when Vikings raided the settlement of Portland in Dorset.
Arabian Empire • Emir
Hisham I of
Córdoba calls for a
jihad ("Holy War") against the Christian
Franks. He assembles an army of 70,000 men, half of which attacks the
Kingdom of Asturias, destroying its capital, Oviedo, while the other half invades
Languedoc, penetrating as far as
Narbonne. After capturing the city, the contingent moves towards Carcassonne and conquers it too. Both armies return to Córdoba enriched with the spoils of war.
By topic Commerce • Arab
traders make
Baghdad a financial center of the
Silk Road between
China and
Europe. Caravans carry little or no
money on their long journeys; Chinese
traders use what they call
fei qian (
zh) ("flying money") to avoid
robbery. The
Arabs have adopted a similar
banking system known as
hawala to transmit funds (approximate date).
Religion •
August 17 –
Quriaqos of Tagrit is consecrated
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch at
Harran. • King
Offa of Mercia founds an
abbey at
St Albans. == Births ==