By place Europe •
January 13 – Emperor
Charles III (
the Fat) dies at Neidingen, after having suffered repeat bouts of an illness that may have been
epilepsy. The
Frankish Empire is split again, and falls apart into separate kingdoms. Count
Odo, the hero of the
Siege of Paris, is elected king of the
West Frankish Kingdom, and crowned at
Compiègne by
Walter, archbishop of
Sens. Other Frankish
noblemen support the 8-year-old
Charles the Simple (the
posthumous son of the late king
Louis the Stammerer). •
October –
Alan I (
the Great), count of
Vannes, and his rival
Judicael, unite their forces to defeat the
Vikings at
Questembert (or
889). Judicael is killed, in a notable victory for the
Bretons, with 15,000 Vikings crushed, some few 400 escaping to their ships. In command of a 'united' Breton force, Alan is able to drive the Vikings back to the
Loire River. Alan becomes sole ruler of
Brittany, and over the Frankish counties of
Rennes,
Nantes,
Coutances and
Avranches. •
October –
Battle of Milazzo: The
Aghlabids score a crushing victory over a
Byzantine fleet off Sicily. • Winter – King
Arnulf of Carinthia leads an
East Frankish expedition into
Italy, after he is recognized as overlord of
France and
Burgundy. Arnulf descends with an army over the
Brenner Pass, and meets King
Berengar I at a peace conference at
Trento. Berengar grants him two counties in the
Val d'Adige (
Northern Italy), and does
homage to Arnulf as overlord. In turn, Arnulf confirms Berengar as king of
Lombardia, and returns to
Germany. • Lord
Æthelred II of the Mercians is struck down with a debilitating illness. His wife, Princess
Æthelflæd (a daughter of Alfred the Great) of
Wessex, joins him as joint ruler of
Mercia (approximate date). • The
Aghlabids issue decrees according to which Jews and Christians are to wear a patch (
ruq'a) of white fabric on their shoulder of their outer garment, with the patch for Jews depicting an ape and that for the Christians depicting a pig. •
Adarnase IV managed to unify most Georgian lands (except for Kakheti and Abkhazia) and was crowned
King of the Iberians, restoring the monarchy abolished three centuries prior.
Al-Andalus •
Al-Mundhir, Moorish
emir of
Córdoba, dies after a two-year reign (possibly murdered by his brother
Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi, who succeeds him as ruler of the
Emirate of Córdoba).
China •
April 20 – Emperor
Xi Zong (
Li Xuan) dies of illness at
Chang'an, after a 14-year reign. He is succeeded by his 21-year-old brother
Zhao Zong, as ruler of the
Tang Dynasty.
By topic Religion •
Shaftesbury Abbey is founded by King
Alfred the Great in
Dorset. He installs his daughter
Æthelgifu as first
abbess (approximate date). == Births ==