The First Millenium

[Vince]

833 is a rough year to be King of the Franks.

Louis the Pious is defeated in battle against his two sons and is captured. Pepin, who started the rebellion, then alienates his brother Lothar the German, who takes sides with their father.

Nimmyo begins his seventeen-year reign as Emperor of Japan. He is famous for going through nine Empresses and a list of concubines and consorts, but little else. One of his sons later rebelled successfully enough to be made next in line to the Throne, and that son established a powerful line of Emperors.

Two warring Slavic nations are forcefully united to form Greater Moravia. Lasting for seven decades, this nation influenced Hungarian, Czech, and Slav culture before being over run by its neighbors.

China has the Sweet Dew Incident. Fearing efforts by the honest but incompetent Emperor to reign in their power, court eunuchs assassinate several government officials and keep their status.

 

[Vince]

834

Syrian Jews build “The Great Synagogue,†and parts of it are still standing. Burned, rebuilt, extended, and modified, it was devastated by a 1947 riot. It has been restored and is protected by the Syrian government, but has been abandoned by the Jews.

The Vikings place the deceased body of a very important woman and her female companion on a Viking ship, load the ship with treasure, and bury it in Norway. Almost intact, this ship is now on display in a museum, but there is no record of whom these two women are.

Ever hear of Dorestad? It was one of the most important cities in Europe, located in the Netherlands, and was a major manufacturing and shipping center. So why haven't you ever heard of it? The Vikings raided it this year and gained so much loot that they kept coming back, and back, and back...

Aud the Deep-Minded is born. A devout Christian, she was the mother of two warriors who conquered a lot of territory before being killed. Secretly building a ship, she led twenty Vikings and a variety of prisoners to Iceland, where she settled everybody and established a lasting colony.

 

[Vince]

835 is here.

About this time, Ragnar Hairy Breeches becomes a Viking leader. Wearing bear-skin pants covered with dry pitch, he ravages France and other countries, starts civil wars among the Vikings, and at various times rules parts of Denmark and Sweden. He is considered a Viking hero, but nobody else likes him.

Last year, the Vikings got so much loot when they raided Dorestad that they do it again.

November 1 is declared All Saints' Day throughout the Frankish Empire.

Once again, China attempts to curb the power of the court eunuchs. But they command loyal troop to slaughter a bunch of court officials instead, in the Ganlu Incident.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 836

For the next 74 years, the Pratihara Empire of northern India will be at its greatest height. Guarding India’s northeastern border from foreign invaders, the Pratihara Empire, during this period, is even larger that the Gupta Empire had been.

The Moslem Empire moves its capital from Baghdad to Samarra, about 78 miles away. One reason was that Turkish slaves, who had been forced into the army, were revolting, provoking riots in Baghdad.

Viking invaders from Denmark (hereafter referred to as "Danes") defeat English King Egbert of Wessex.

 

[Vince]

It's 837!

Venice, the independent city in northern Italy, elects an illiterate warrior named Pietro Tradonico as their ruler for the next 28 years .He defeats pirates, Moslems, and Slavs and forces Byzantium to re-acknowledge Venice's independence.

Egyptian Moslems invade Naples, a major port on Italy's southwestern coast. Semi-independent, Naples fights them off and becomes a fully independent state.

But if you think the Egyptians were ambitious, get a load of the Vikings. They attack Constantinople.

Haley's Comet passes 5 million kilometers from Earth, its closest ever approach.

The Jats, a large tribe of shepherds and farmers in northern India and Pakistan, revolt unsuccessfully against their Moslem rulers. An unusual part of Jat history is that they normally converted to whatever religion dominated the areas they migrated to.

 

[Vince]

838 has finally gotten here.

Emperor Nimmyo of Japan forbids all contact with China.

Wanting to restore their former national glory, Iranians revolt against their Moslem rulers. It takes twenty years for the revolt to be defeated.

This gets complicated. Byzantine Emperor Theophilos had been persecuting statue-worshipers, pointing to his military victories over the Moslems as proof that God was pleased with his actions. But this year, he personally leads an army against a smaller Moslem army in Turkey, suffers a massive defeat, and barely escapes. A second, larger Moslem army then captures and destroys Amorium, in Turkey. You never heard of Amorium? That's because eleven centuries later, it has still not recovered. But then the Moslem ruler learns of assassination plots against him, so he slaughters many of his military leaders.

In England, Egbert of Wessex is down but not out from last year's defeat. He defeats a combined army of Danes and Welsh.

Fedelmid mac Crimthainn was a warrior monk who plundered non-Catholic monasteries throughout Ireland. This year he is declared High King of Ireland, so he begins plundering Irish kingdoms that will not submit to him.

 

[Vince]

The year 839 has just arrived.

English King Egbert of Wessex dies and is succeeded by his son Aethelwulf of Wessex. "The Noble Wolf" reigned for nineteen years. A religious man who avoided war, he dealt with Viking invaders better than most other rulers. He seemed to do poorly on short-term political solutions while building long-term policies that made England into a great nation.

Launching from southern Sicily, Moslem invaders pillage Ancona, a seaport on Italy's east central coast.

In Iran, Maziar starts his own revolt, along with the one that is already going on. A devout Zoroastrian, he insists that the Moslems are Arab invaders who have conquered his country. He repulses several Moslem armies before being defeated. Despite being a Moslem nation today, Iran considers him a national hero.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 840!

Louis the Pious dies, and France and northern Italy plunge into civil war as his three oldest sons fight for the throne.

Civil war also breaks out among the Turks. The Kyrgyz win, but their foes eventually form an independent Turkish state elsewhere.

Wuzong begins his six-year reign as Emperor of China. He is most famous for his religious persecutions. He spends his first five years fighting foreign invasions and inner rebellions, and then begins a vigorous persecution of Buddhism, which he regarded as a foreign religion. Destroying thousands of Buddhist monasteries and shrines, he sought to make Taoism the only religion. Chinese Christianity never recovered from his persecutions, nor did various other religions.

 

[Vince]

We are now in the year 841.

Viking invaders settle permanently on the Irish coast, founding the city of Dublin.

As civil war rages through the Carolingian Empire, Charles the Bald and Louis the German win a decisive victory over their brother Lothar. The war isn't over, but his battle still affects European boundaries.

The Irish have had their fill of Fedelmid mac Crimthainn, their High King, abbot, bishop, and plunderer. He is defeated by a coalition of southern Irish kingdoms, and although he survives, he never recovers.

China's Tang Dynasty, struggling to survive its many problems, institutes a curfew beginning one hour and forty-five minutes before sundown. Although enforced in the capital, it is widely ignored elsewhere.

The Byzantines win a major battle over the Moslems in southwestern Turkey.

 

[Vince]

It is now 842 AD.

Cerball mac Dúnlainge (died 888) becomes king of Osraige in south-east Ireland. He is the brother of the High King's wife, and he rules his small kingdom under his brother-in-law's authority. But after beating the Vikings a few times, in 847 his kingdom becomes independent, and Cerball becomes Ireland's second most important king. His kingdom of Osraige survives today as a Catholic diocese.

Two year old Michael the Drunkard becomes Byzantine Emperor after the death of his father. With his mother and two officials ruling the kingdom, he is able to build alliances and participate in murders, until he is able to overthrow the regents when he is sixteen, exiling his mother and his sisters to monasteries. Ruling for another 11 years before being assassinated, he reforms the economy, rebuilds ruined cities, gains control over Bulgaria, deposes the Patriarch and excommunicates the Pope for re-instating him, wins more victories over the Moslems than defeats, and continues his mother's policy of restoring statue-worship.

 

[Vince]

I posted for 843 yesterday, but apparently it didn't take.

By far the most important event of the year, a continent full of Germans finally gets a Germany. The Treaty of Verdun divides the Carolingian Empire between three sons of Louis the Pious, and Germany becomes independent. To this day, many European boundaries are determined by this treaty.

Lothar gets France, and revolt immediately breaks out in Brittany on France's northwestern coast, The Brittons then invade France and remain separate for another seven centuries.

And it's a big year for Scotland. Kenneth the Conqueror doesn't conquer anybody. His father was King of the Scots, and from his mother he inherited the throne of the Picts. He unites them into the nation of Scotland, and more than one observer has noted that they're the ones who make Britain Great.

The Byzantine Empire formally restores statue worship, and the Feast of Orthodoxy is still celebrated every year on the first Sunday of Lent.

A great fire rages out of control in China's capital, destroying 4,000 buldings. But the wide streets serve as fire breaks, and the Chinese are able to confine the damage to the eastern part of the city.

 

[Vince]

844

Sergius II becomes Pope, after the Roman nobility forces him on the unwilling populace. His unsuccessful three year reign included the invasion of Rome by Saracens and the forced restoration of Frankish authority over the Pope by the Holy Roman Empire. He was accused of selling Church offices to raise money for renovation projects. But the citizens elect a deacon named John as Pope, and Sergius quickly imprisons him.

Remember Wales? Separated from the rest of Britain, Wales has divided into nine kingdoms. Roderick the Great inherits one of them from his father, another one from his uncle, and a third one from his wife. These three kingdoms make up over half of Wales. He fights off the Danes and holds back the English, but is eventually driven into exile and killed when he returns.

The Brittons (who live on the northern coast of France and are not the same as the Britains) drive deep into France and pillage the area.

The Vikings enjoyed raiding Dorestadso so much that they do it for the third time.

And for the first time, the Vikings raid the Moslem part of Spain, looting four cities before they are driven off with heavy losses.

Charles II the Bald decrees that a traveling bishop may requisition at each halt in his journey 50 loaves of bread, 50 eggs, 10 chickens, and five suckling pigs.

 

[Vince]

845 will now arrive.

China’s Emperor orders “The Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution.†Bankrupt from wars, the Emperor wanted to seize the wealth of Buddhist temples. He had become a Taoist, but he also protected Confucianism, regarding them both as native religions. The persecution virtually destroyed Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism in China. Christianity survived but never recovered.

Sallam, a Spanish Jew, arrives in China. Possibly speaking thirty languages, he seeks to establish trade routes with the Chinese.

And in Oviedo, the Catholic kingdom in northern Spain, King Ramiro I has witches, sorcerers and "not a few Jews" put to death.

Talk about gall, the Vikings sack Paris! They receive a huge payment from the French in order to leave. They also sack Malu, in north central France. But just to be fair, they sack Hamburg in Germany as well.

Reeling in defeat, Charles the Bald loses another battle to the Brittons, and he signs a peace treaty granting them independence, which lasts for seven centuries.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 846.

About this time, in Sura, Iraq, Rabbi Amram Gaon compiles his siddur (Jewish prayer book.) Designed to be used by Spanish Jews, it is quickly adopted by other European Jews. The prayer book includes a lot of commentary and over a thousand years later is still a basis for synagogue worship.

Saracens raid Rome, pillaging the cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, but are driven off.

Last year, the Brittons won their independence from France. This year, they seize Nantes and Rennes in northwestern France, while raiding even deeper into French territory.

Desperately fighting Viking raiders everywhere, the Irish make Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid the first King of all Ireland. Although some kingdoms remain semi-independent, they send troops for his army, and he wars successfully against Viking raiders and settlers all over the Emerald Isle. When he dies sixteen years later, the alliancee falls apart, and Ireland's kingdoms become independent again.

 

[Vince]

847 gets a turn.

After four failures in a row, the Catholics get a saint for a Pope. Leo IV reigns for eight years, and he gets things done. He fortifies Rome so successfully that Moslem invaders cannot re-take it. One heavily-fortified area is still called “The City of Leo.â€

But Moslems capture and hold Bari, a city on the eastern edge of Italy's "heel."

France gets a break! The Vikings invade Brittany, defeating the Britons and only leaving after receiving heavy tribute and gifts.

 

[Vince]

How are things in 848?

For 1100 years, the Chola Dynasty has ruled a valley in southern India, expanding and contracting with the centuries. But about this time they reach their greatest height, controlling much of southern India and a variety of islands in the Indian Ocean. They will continue in power for another four centuries.

Moslems destroy Lentini, a city on southeastern Sicily.

Led by their King, the Irish win a major victory over Viking invaders.

About this time, Buddhists finish the Borobudur shrine in Indonesia. A gigantic structure covered with carved illustrations and including hundreds of statues of Buddha, it is still in use. It is also the most-visited tourist attraction in Indonesia.

 

[Vince]

And now it is the year 849 AD.

It's a great year for Italy and a rough year for Moslems. Pope Leo IV learns that a Moslem fleet is assembling off the Italian coast. He rapidly organizes an Italian fleet from various city states, and the battle is on. The Italians are winning when a major storm separates the two fleets. The Italians make it back to shore, and then return to chase surviving Moslem ships. They take many prisoners, who are forced to work at building the Leonine Wall around Rome, part of which still stands. Italy hasn't been invaded by Moslems ever since.

 

[Vince]

850

About this time, Arabs discover coffee, and the Kaffa region of Ethiopia gets its name from the coffee crops being grown there.

Piast becomes King of Poland, founding a dynasty that lasts for eight centuries.

Twenty-four year old Montoku begins his uneventful reign over Japan, dying eight years later. He puts down a few minor insurrections, and generally, things in Japan are going well.

Utrecht is a major city in the center of the modern Netherlands, and a center of Dutch Catholicism. Conflicting reports state that the Vikings conquer and occupy Utrecht this year, while other reports state that the Vikings conquered a nearby trading city.

In Germany, Gunther begins archbishop of Cologne. A few years later, he helps the king unjustly divorce his wife and marry his concubine, and he is excommunicated by the Pope. He resumes his duties anyway, but is later removed.

Arab scientists invent an improved astrolabe for navigation.

 

[Vince]

851

It's a big year for the Vikings, as they plunder London and Canterbury before being driven off by the English. What had started as quick raids in isolated areas has now grown into mass invasions in which the Vikings leave after gathering their loot. But they're also settling in various areas as well.

Once again, the French are defeated by the Brittons. They give the Brittons three counties and once again acknowledge Brittany's independence.

Rome suffers a violent earthquake.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 852!

Boris 1 becomes King of Bulgaria. He later converts to Christianity and plays off the Patriarch and the Pope to form an independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church. He helps write the Slavic alphabet and defeats an attempt by his son to restore paganism.

As in most of the world, the major source of energy in Britain is firewood. But coal, which had slight usage for centuries, is mentioned in writing for the first time as it grows in importance.