Directory

802 CE

Lachan Kʼawiil Ajaw Bot (born June 25, 760) becomes the ruler of the Mayan city state near Itzan in Guatemala. Empress Irene is deposed after a 5-year reign, and banished to Lesbos. High-ranking patricians place Nikephoros, the minister of finance (logothetes tou genikou), on the throne. He is crowned in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople, by Patriarch Tarasios, as emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Pagan Danes invade Obodrite-ruled Schleswig, to take over territory almost emptied by the forcible deportations of the Saxons by emperor Charlemagne.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • May 1 – Lachan Kʼawiil Ajaw Bot (born June 25, 760) becomes the ruler of the Mayan city state near Itzan in Guatemala.source
  • Prince Jayavarman declares the Khmer Empire (modern-day Cambodia) independent, and establishes the kingdom of Angkor. He is reconsecrated as a world ruler (chakravartin), or god-king (devaraja), under Hindu rites.source
  • Krum becomes ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire (until 814). During his reign Bulgarian territory doubles in size, from the Danube to the Dniester.source

Conflict & Security

  • Pagan Danes invade Obodrite-ruled Schleswig, to take over territory almost emptied by the forcible deportations of the Saxons by emperor Charlemagne.source
  • Al-Andalus: Saragossa rises against the Emirate of Córdoba. Emir Al-Hakam I sends a Muslim army under General Amrus ibn Yusuf, and retakes the city.source
  • Battle of Kempsford: Æthelmund, ealdorman of Hwicce, is killed during the battle by his rival Weohstan, who levies West Saxon Wiltshire.source

Religion & Belief

  • October 31 – Empress Irene is deposed after a 5-year reign, and banished to Lesbos. High-ranking patricians place Nikephoros, the minister of finance (logothetes tou genikou), on the throne. He is crowned in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople, by Patriarch Tarasios, as emperor of the Byzantine Empire.source
  • The Mecca Protocol: Caliph Harun al-Rashid and the leading officials of the Abbasid Caliphate perform the hajj to Mecca, where the line of succession is finalized. Harun's eldest son al-Amin is named heir, but his second son al-Ma'mun is named as al-Amin's heir, and ruler of a broadly autonomous Khurasan. A third son, al-Qasim, is added as third heir, and receives responsibility over the frontier areas with the Byzantine Empire.source
  • The Haeinsa Temple of the Jogye Order is built in Korea.source
  • The Vikings plunder the treasures of Iona Abbey, on the west coast of Scotland (approximate date).source

Births

  • Fujiwara no Nagara, Japanese statesman (d. 856)source
  • Ono no Takamura, Japanese scholar and poet (d. 853)source
  • Hugh, illegitimate son of Charlemagne (d. 844)source
  • Bi Xian, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 864)source
  • Ralpacan, emperor of Tibet (d. 836)source

Deaths

  • January 11 – Paulinus II, patriarch of Aquileia (or 804)source
  • King Beorhtric of Wessex dies after drinking a chalice of poison intended for his wife, Eadburh. She flees to the court of Charlemagne, who accepts a portion of her wealth and makes her abbess. Prince Egbert returns to Wessex, and is accepted as the new king.source
  • Theoctista, politically influential Byzantine woman (b. 740)source
  • Domitian, duke of Carantania (approximate date)source
  • Kardam, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire (or 803)source
  • Višeslav, duke of Croatia (or 810)source
  • Rashid, Muslim regent of Idris IIsource
  • Bahlul ibn Marzuq, Muslim generalsource
  • Wulfstan, Anglo-Saxon ealdormansource
  • Æthelmund, Anglo-Saxon noblemansource