Directory

610 CE

Heraclian revolt: Heraclius arrives with a fleet from Africa at Constantinople. Assisted by an uprising in the capital, he overthrows and personally beheads Emperor Phocas. Heraclius gains the throne with help from his father Heraclius the Elder. His first major act is to change the official language of the Byzantine Empire from Latin to Greek (already the language of the vast majority of the population). Columbanus and Gallus begin their missionary work in Bregenz, near Lake Constance (Switzerland). The Volga Bulgaria arises on the territory of modern Russia, being the first civilization in the region to arise from the Early Slavs (approximate date).

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Selyf ap Cynan succeeds his father Cynan Garwyn as king of Powys (Wales).source

Conflict & Security

  • October 3 – Heraclian revolt: Heraclius arrives with a fleet from Africa at Constantinople. Assisted by an uprising in the capital, he overthrows and personally beheads Emperor Phocas. Heraclius gains the throne with help from his father Heraclius the Elder. His first major act is to change the official language of the Byzantine Empire from Latin to Greek (already the language of the vast majority of the population).source
  • King Witteric is assassinated during a banquet at Toledo, by a faction of Catholic nobles. He is succeeded by Gundemar, duke of Narbonne, who becomes king of the Visigoths in Hispania.source
  • King Theuderic II loses Alsace, Champagne and Thurgau to his elder brother Theudebert II of Austrasia. His Burgundian army is defeated east of the Jura Mountains against the Alemanni.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Columbanus and Gallus begin their missionary work in Bregenz, near Lake Constance (Switzerland).source
  • The Volga Bulgaria arises on the territory of modern Russia, being the first civilization in the region to arise from the Early Slavs (approximate date).source

Religion & Belief

  • John V (the Merciful) becomes patriarch of Alexandria (approximate date).source
  • Pope Boniface IV presides over a Council of Rome for the restoration of monastic discipline. Attendees include Mellitus, first bishop of London.source
  • Muhammad, Islamic prophet, begins at 40 years old to preach a religion which will be called Islam. According to Islamic teachings, the angel Gabriel appears to him in a cave on Mount Hira near Mecca (Saudi Arabia) and calls him: "The Prophet of Allah". Muhammad gathers followers, reciting to them the first verses of Qur'an(Iqra), thus beginning the revelation of the Qur'an.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • Paper technology is imported into Japan from China by the Korean Buddhist priest, Dam Jing (approximate date).source

Births

  • Nanthild, Frankish queen (approximate date)source
  • Barbatus, bishop of Benevento (approximate date)source
  • Ergica, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)source
  • Lai Ji, official of the Tang dynasty (d. 662)source
  • Grimoald, King of the Lombards (approximate date)source
  • Safiyya bint Huyayy, wife of Muhammad (approximate date)source
  • Anania Shirakatsi, Armenian astronomer (d. 685)source

Deaths

  • October 5 – Phocas, Byzantine emperorsource
  • The Avars invade the Duchy of Friuli, an important buffer between the Kingdom of the Lombards in Italy and the Slavs. During the fighting Gisulf II dies and his duchy is overrun (approximate date).source
  • Tassilo I, King of Bavaria (b. 560)source
  • Gisulf II, Lombard duke of Friuli (approximate date)source
  • Witteric, king of the Visigothssource
  • Heraclius the Elder, Byzantine generalsource
  • Waraka ibn Nawfal, the paternal first cousin of Khadija, the first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.source