Directory

880 CE

Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath. The Saxons are routed in a snowstorm; many drown in the river or are captured during the retreat. The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, by Patriarch Photius I, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. Treaty of Ribemont: Louis the Younger and the kings of the West Frankish Kingdom sign a treaty. The young Frankish monarch, Louis III, is reduced to merely Neustria.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • December – Treaty of Ribemont: Louis the Younger and the kings of the West Frankish Kingdom sign a treaty. The young Frankish monarch, Louis III, is reduced to merely Neustria.source
  • Fujiwara no Mototsune, Japanese statesman, creates the position of regent (kampaku) for himself. The Fujiwara clan will be able to dominate the government for more than 3 centuries.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 2 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath. The Saxons are routed in a snowstorm; many drown in the river or are captured during the retreat.source
  • December 22 – Luoyang, eastern Chinese capital of the Tang dynasty, is captured by rebel leader Huang Chao, during the reign of emperor Xizong.source
  • Battle of Cephalonia: A Byzantine fleet, under Admiral Nasar, is sent by Emperor Basil I to the Ionian Islands. Nasar defeats the Aghlabids in a night battle near Cephalonia (modern Greece).source
  • Battle of Fjaler: King Harald Fairhair moves east along the Norwegian coast with his fleet. He defeats his rival Atle Mjove at Fjaler in Sunnfjord, and lands with his longships at Tønsberg.source
  • Battle of Thimeon: King Louis III ("the Younger") defeats Vikings (probably Norsemen) from England, near Charleroi, north of the River Sambre. During the battle 5,000 Vikings are killed.source

Religion & Belief

  • May 1 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, by Patriarch Photius I, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.source
  • Pope John VIII issues the bull Industriae Tuae, creating an independent ecclesiastical province in Great Moravia, with archbishop Methodius as its head. Old Church Slavonic is recognized as the fourth liturgical language, besides Latin, Greek and Hebrew.source
  • The first known Christian bishopric in Slovakia is established in the city of Nitra, with Wiching as bishop.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The oldest known mention is made of the city of Dortmund (approximate date).source

Births

  • Sinan ibn Thabit, Muslim physician (d. 943)source
  • Lambert II, co-ruler and king of Italy (approximate date)source
  • Bernard the Dane, Viking nobleman (earl) (approximate date)source
  • Hywel ap Cadell, king of Deheubarth (Wales) (approximate date)source
  • Béatrice of Vermandois, Frankish queen (approximate date)source
  • Abu Bakr ibn Yahya al-Suli, Muslim poet and scholar (d. 946)source
  • Louis the Blind, Frankish king and Holy Roman Emperor (d. 928)source
  • Æthelweard, son of Alfred the Great (approximate date)source
  • Hugh of Arles, king of Italy and Lower Burgundy (or 881)source
  • Rudolph II, Burgundian king and Holy Roman Emperor (d. 937)source
  • Fujiwara no Tadahira, Japanese statesman and regent (d. 949)source
  • Gagik I of Vaspurakan, Armenian king (approximate date)source

Deaths

  • February 2 – Bruno, duke of Saxonysource
  • March 22 – Carloman of Bavaria, Frankish kingsource
  • Lambert I, duke of Spoleto (approximate date)source
  • Guaifer of Salerno, Lombard princesource
  • Hugh of Saxony, illegitimate son of Louis the Youngersource
  • Lothar I, Frankish nobleman (b. 840)source
  • Ariwara no Narihira, Japanese waka poet (b. 825)source
  • Ansgarde of Burgundy, Frankish queen (or 882)source
  • Lambert I, duke of Spoleto, dies while besieging the city of Capua. He is succeeded by his son Guy II.source
  • Sugawara no Koreyoshi, Japanese nobleman (b. 812)source
  • Fatima al-Fihri, Arab university foundersource