The First Millenium

[Vince]

Things are fun in 741!

Zachary becomes Pope. A shrewd and hard-working diplomat, he gets involved in Lombard, German, and French politics, strengthening the Papacy as a result. He is later made a saint.

The Berbers in northern Africa and Spain rebel over the Moslem slave trade.

Charles Martel dies. Following the foolish custom of the Franks, he divides the kingdom between his three sons, virtually guaranteeing civil war.

Constantine V becomes Emperor of Byzantium and is almost immediately overthrown by his brother. A competent general, Constantine not only regains his throne, but he starts a series of successful wars against the Moslems and the Bulgarians.

The Moslems are having a rough time as rebels in northern Africa defeat their rulers again and seize a major city.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 742!

On April 2, Charlemagne is born. One of history's greatest rulers, he will expand the Frankish Empire to include most of central and western Europe, as well as Italy.

Having regained his Byzantine throne from his brother, Constantine V resumes his efforts to end statue worship.

According to a census conducted by the Tang Dynasty, China's population has now reached 50 million people. About 1% of them are in the army. About 4% of them live in the capital.

Still expanding, Lombardy annexes two independent areas of Italy. They advance on Rome, but the Pope meets with their king (a devout Catholic) and persuades him to turn back.

Arab Moslems manage to defeat the rebellion in northern Africa.

 

[Vince]

743 is a good year for German Catholics.

The great Catholic missionary, Boniface, conducts the "German Council," the first major Church synod in the Frankish Empire (which includes much of modern Germany). Remember that the Franks are Germans, and other German groups were also settled in their empire. Boniface complains to Pope Zachary about the greed and immorality of the German clergy, and he does a good job of bringing in reforms.

The leader of the mighty Umayyad Empire dies. His rapid expansions had been stopped, and revolts were breaking out in the Moslem world. His son takes over and is soon beset by civil wars.

Does anybody remember the Huns? They had conquered much of Europe before being forced back to northeastern Europe and northwestern Asia. From there, they had waged enough war against India that the mighty Gupta Empire collapsed. Whatever happened to the Huns after that? Settling down with their stolen riches, they built a prosperous nation that attracted so many immigrants that the Huns blended in and disappeared. Then their kingdom steadily broke up. A large group of Bulgars migrated to southeastern Europe, and founded Bulgaria, and that is what's left of the Hun Empire.

 

[Vince]

744 has arrived!

In January, Hildeprand the Useless becomes King of the Lombards. He leads an unsuccessful siege against Ravenna, is deposed by a Lombard Council and dies in August.

The new ruler of the Moslem Umayyad Empire is deposed and replaced by his brother, who is soon deposed. Civil war breaks out.

Located north of India and China and not including any part of modern Turkey, the Turkish Empire collapses as four civil wars break out.

In Germany, Boniface gets the Pope's permission to depose a Frankish bishop for claiming to be a prophet, and an Irish missionary who taught universal salvation. The bishop was imprisoned in a monastery, and the missionary is now a Catholic saint.

In northern Africa, the King of the Berbers declares himself a prophet superior to Mohammed and leads a revolt against their Moslem conquerors. The revolt fails, but his new religion survives for four centuries.

 

[Vince]

What does 745 have for us?

Some 200,000 Slovenians, settled in a pocket of the eastern slopes of the Alps, are threatened by the Avars and the Bavarians. For safety they adopt Christianity and accept the protection of the Frankish emperor.

From the wreckage of the Turkish Empire, the Uyghur Empire emerges. Surviving for about a century, it includes a variety of ethnic groups.

A fresh outbreak of the Black Plague spreads rapidly from Constantinople to Europe.

Byzantine Emperor Constantine V has had enough of the Moslems invading Byzantium. He invades Syria, putting the Moslems on the defensive.

 

[Vince]

It's 746, and Emperor Constantine V is still on the move. He sends a fleet into the Mediterranean and destroys a major Moslem fleet. Then the Byzantines invade the island of Cyprus and take it back from the Moslems.

Remember the Alamanni? They were a confederation of German tribes in northern Germany who used to give the Romans problems. They had become an independent nation, and the Franks invited their leaders to a conference. There the Franks executed all the leaders and annexed Alamanni.

The Chavda Kingdom comes into power in northern India, and it survives until 1947, when India becomes independent.

 

[Vince]

747

Extending from Spain, through northern Africa, and into western Asia, the Abbasid Caliphate unites against the once-powerful Umayyad Caliphate that had forcibly spread Islam.

China abolishes the death penalty.

The Black Plague epidemic reaches southern Italy and Sicily.

To the surprise of everyone, the brother of Pippin the Short abdicates peacefully and retires to a monastery, leaving Pippin as sole ruler of the Franks.

 

[Vince]

It's not too late for 748!

A massive earthquake in the Middle East destroys many Byzantine structures, including many that had been captured by Moslems.

Abassid Moslems continue their major revolt against the Umayyad Caliphate, seizing three cities.

China already had the first newspaper in the world, but now they begin publishing the first printed newspaper in history.

 

[Vince]

Look! It's 749!

Victorious Abbasid rebels move into Iraq after the once mighty Umayyad Caliphate suffers another major military defeat.

One of the greatest earthquakes in history strikes Palestine, followed by tidal waves in the Mediterranean and several days of aftershocks. The death toll is believed to be in the tens of thousands.

Japan's Emperor abdicates, and his aunt, who had been Empress before him, re-takes the throne.

In Persia, a prophet claiming to be a precursor to the Messiah joins the rebellion against the collapsing Umayyad Caliphate. The Jewish sect he founded lasts for another two centuries.

About this time, a Jewish scholar writes a treatise on mathematics that includes geometric equations.

 

[Vince]

It's 750 AD, and we're three/fourths of the way through this thread!

In central India, Gopala is democratically elected as ruler. Over the next twenty years, he extends his new Gala Empire to include most of north and central India. Boundaries change, but the Gala Empire will last for four centuries.

The Abbasid Caliphate completes its conquest of the Umayyad Caliphate, and it now rules the Moslem world.

About this time, the Ghana Empire begins in the central part of western Africa. It does not have a seacoast, and it does not include any part of the modern nation of Ghana. But it steadily grows into a powerful and prosperous empire that controls the western African trade routes.

In China, tea is becoming so popular that entire barge loads of it are being shipped through the canal system.

 

[Vince]

Here it is, 751 already.

You might remember that the Romans had made Ravenna, rather than Rome, their capital, because it was easier to defend. Later, the Roman Emperor had made Ravenna independent of the Pope and it was later put under the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople. When the Byzantines recaptured Italy, they had made Ravenna the Italian nation's capital. But this year, Lombardy captures Ravenna and ends the exarchate permanently.

It's the only time in history that the Arabs and Chinese fight, and the Arabs win. The central Asian allies of the Chinese are now under control of Moslems. Two Chinese prisoners show the Moslems how to build a paper mill, and Moslem writings and scholarship improve as a result.

Someone in Korea prints a Buddhist scripture, and it is the oldest surviving printed work.

 

[Vince]

See what's new in 752.

In England, the kingdom of Wessex defeats their Mercian overlords, regaining their independence.

Historians are having a rough time with Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Located west of Italy, it had been part of the Byzantine Empire and then disappeared from the records. This year the Moslems invade Sardinia, but we don't know if they won. Eventually, however, the Moslems seized the island, holding it until 1005. Today it is part of Italy.

In Mexico, Bird Jaguar IV becomes king of Yaxchilan. He has to struggle to maintain his throne, because he is the son of his father's second wife, who was not of royal blood. During his seventeen year reign he puts up a few buildings, but after his death new construction in Yaxchilan almost ceases.

Pope Zachary dies, and the Catholic Church is left with a statistical problem. Stephen II is elected Pope, but he dies suddenly four days later, before he is consecrated. Earlier Catholic writers decided that he was not a Pope, but later ones decided that he was.

The same year, Stephen III is elected as Pope. Serving for five years, he realized that the Byzantine Empire could not protect Rome from the Lombards, who had captured Ravenna and were menacing Rome. He personally enlisted Pepin, king of the Franks, to be the Papal protector. Pepin later invaded Italy, pushing back the Lombards and delivering Ravenna to the Pope (It had been under the control of the Patriarch of Constantinople.) Thus, the Byzantine Papacy (in which the Byzantine Emperor either appointed or approved new popes) was replaced by the Frankish Papacy.

 

[Vince]

Let's see what's happening in 753.

In Asia, Moslems capture Samarkand, a major city on the center of the Silk Road between China and the West. Over a period of centuries, the city becomes a center of Moslem scholarship.

 

[Vince]

Look at 754 AD.

Pope Stephen III crowns Pepin King of the Franks, and also King of the Romans. This does not, of course, sit well with the Byzantine Emperor, who is too busy fighting the Moslems to do anything about it. Over a two-year period, Pepin defeats the Lombards and hands much of their territory to the Pope, creating “The Papal States.â€

Jun 5, bandits murder bishop Boniface [Winfrid], English saint and “Apostle to the Germansâ€, and over 50 companions. Winfrid is later declared the patron saint of Germany.

"The Headless Council," attended by 338 bishops, but without permission from either the Pope or the Patriarch, forbids statue worship. It is interesting to note how many bishops did not regard themselves as being under the authority of either leader.

 

[Vince]

755 is a year of changes.

With the Moslem world unified under one ruler, a revolt breaks out in Spain.

The powerful Tang Dynasty has brought China to its greatest height of power and prosperity. But in December, a general revolts. China is devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion. Taking eight years to defeat, the rebellion forces China to withdraw forces from the frontiers, causing the eventual loss of much territory.

Trisong Detsen becomes King of Tibet, but he can't stop his nation's decline and loss of territory.

As a Lombard army heads towards Rome, the Franks invade Italy to help the Pope.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 756.

The Lombard Kingdom is collapsing, as Pepin the Short defeats them in northern Italy and gives much of their territory to the Pope. Desiderius, a Lombard officer, becomes the last Lombard king and strives to make peace with the Pope and with the Franks.

Iberia, in the southern part of modern Spain and Portugal, successfully rebels and becomes an independent Moslem kingdom.

Vinekh seizes the throne of Bulgaria after they had been defeated by the Byzantines. He later successfully repels the Byzantines but he and his family are massacred for not following up their victory.

Rebels capture China's capital; the Emperor flees, abdicating to his son. The Chinese then counter-attack, regaining the momentum in the war.

After a 41 year reign, the Emperor of Japan dies. His wife rules as Empress for the next nine years.

 

[Vince]

Welcme to 757.

Pope Stephen III dies, and his brother becomes Pope Paul I. For ten years Paul struggles with the political problems of the Lombards, Franks, and Byzantium. He manages to keep the Franks’ loyalty, improves relations with the Lombards, and sees a farther decline in the power of Byzantium over the Papacy. He is later made a saint.

A major earthquake strikes Palestine and Syria.

An Yushin, who had begun the rebellion that would eventually cause the collapse of the powerful Tang dynasty, is assassinated by his son. As the new leader of the rebellion, his son launches a devastating siege on Suiyang, losing 60,000 men to the 10,000 defenders before the rebels win. The siege delays the rebels for so long that the Tang forces are able to strengthen themselves elsewhere in China.

In England, Offa becomes King of Mercia. He begins building Offa's Dyke, a giant trench that still forms much of the boundary between England and Wales.

 

[Vince]

There's a lot of hate, in 7-5-8.

Arab and Persian pirates sail around southern India and attack Canton. A large Pacific seaport in southeast China, Canton is looted and burned, and the Chinese virtually shut the seaport down for fifty years as they re-route shipping to other ports.

China figures out a brilliant way to collect taxes. The government seizes control of the entire salt industry, selling salt only to merchants at high prices. Needing salt to preserve food, the peasants are forced to pay the merchants’ high prices. Forty years later, half of China’s government income is from salt.

Arab and Turkish diplomats arrive in China's capital to offer tribute.

Despite their massive defeats last year, the Lombards capture two major Italian cities.

In Iran, a minor Moslem sect massacres another minor Moslem sect.

In England, the King of Northumbria abdicates to his son, who is soon assassinated and replaced by a nobleman.

 

[Vince]

It's 759!

The Franks capture the Mediterranean port of Narbonne from the Moslems, driving the last of them out of France. But geography has changed the coastline, and today the city is over nine miles inland.

Bulgaria defeats a large Byzantine invasion.

Beginning on October 1, frost covers much of England for the next five months.

The "Manyoshu" is completed. This collection of Japanese poetry contains over 500 works.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to the yer 760 AD!

About this time, Yu Lu, a former circus clown, writes “The Tea Classic.†The oldest known treatise on tea, this beautiful poem describes its mystic origins, good taste, and benefits.

And about this time, the Karaites split from Rabbinical Judaism. The Karaites believe that only the written Law given to Moses is from God, and they reject the entire oral Law. At one time a major Jewish group, there are only 50,000 today, 40,000 of whom have emigrated to Israel.

The 14th passage of Halley’s Comet is recorded. People still do not realize that this is the same orbiting comet returning on a regular schedule.

The city of "Two Wells" is abandoned by the Mayans in Guatemala. A predator state that had ruthlessly conquered and mistreated the entire area for a century and a half, Two Wells finds itself with simultaneous rebellions and an army advancing on the city. The royal family flees to a more defensible city ten kilometers away, and the city is captured and destroyed. Refugees return and build some defensive works, occupying the city for another two centuries before it is completely abandoned.

Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty is arrested by the army, which declares his son Suzong the new Emperor. Although the weakened Tang Dynasty is winning its war against the rebels, the new Emperor must devote most of China's waning strength to the war.

India begins carving the Kailash Temple out of solid rock. Extending over two kilometers and taking centuries to complete, this magnificent temple is full of architectural masterpieces carved from the rock.