By place Byzantine Empire •
Byzantine–Arab War: A
prisoner exchange occurs between the
Byzantine Empire and the
Abbasid Caliphate, at the
River Lamos in
Cilicia (modern
Turkey). The exchanges last for 10 days, and the Byzantines recover 4,600 prisoners.
Europe •
March 28 or
29 (Easter) –
Siege of Paris:
Viking forces under the
Norse chieftain
Ragnar Lodbrok enter the
River Seine, with a fleet of 120
longships (5,000 men). They pass through the city of
Rouen and plunder the countryside. King
Charles the Bald assembles an army and sends it to protect Paris, the capital of the
West Frankish Kingdom. Ragnar routs the enemy forces, and hangs 111 of their prisoners in honour of
Odin. Charles — to keep them from
plundering his kingdom — pays a large
tribute of 7,000
livres (pounds) of silver or gold, in exchange for their leaving. The Vikings also sack the cities of
Hamburg and
Melun. •
November 22 –
Battle of Ballon: Frankish forces (3,000 men) led by Charles the Bald are defeated by
Nominoe, count of
Vannes, near
Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine. After the battle,
Brittany becomes a
regnum 'kingdom' within the
Frankish Empire. • Viking forces destroy
Hamburg.
Asia •
Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution: Emperor
Wu Zong begins the persecution of
Buddhists and other foreign religions in
China, such as
Zoroastrianism,
Nestorian Christianity and
Manichaeism. More than 4,600
monasteries, 40,000
temples and numerous
shrines are destroyed. More than 260,000 Buddhist
monks and nuns are forced to return to secular life. •
March 6 –
42 captured Byzantine officials from
Amorium are executed at
Samarra, then the capital of the
Abbasid Caliphate, after they repeatedly refuse attempts to convert them to
Islam.
By topic Religion •
John Scotus Eriugena, Irish
theologian, travels to France and takes over the Palatine Academy in Paris, at the invitation of
Charles the Bald (approximate date). == Births ==