Directory

900 CE

Edward the Elder (son of Alfred the Great) is crowned king of England at Kingston upon Thames. Zwentibold, king of Lotharingia, is killed in battle on the Meuse River, while fighting against his rebellious subjects; subsequently they recognize Louis IV as their rightful suzerain - Lotharingia is then converted from a kingdom to a duchy. Following Magyars raids in Lombardy, king Louis III ("the Blind") is called to Italy by the grandees. He takes Pavia, forcing king Berengar I to flee, and replaces him as King of Italy.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • April 21 – Namwaran and his children, Lady Angkatan and Bukah, are granted pardon by the Lakan (ruler) of Tondo, as represented by Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pila, which released them of all their debts as inscribed in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (Philippines).source
  • December 1 – Emperor Zhao Zong is deposed and forced by a group of Tang eunuchs led by Liu Jishu to abdicate the throne to his son, Crown Prince Li Yu (until 901).source

Conflict & Security

  • June 29 – The Venetians repel the Magyar raiders at Rialto.source
  • August 13 – Zwentibold, king of Lotharingia, is killed in battle on the Meuse River, while fighting against his rebellious subjects; subsequently they recognize Louis IV as their rightful suzerain - Lotharingia is then converted from a kingdom to a duchy.source
  • August – Abdallah, son of the Aghlabid emir Ibrahim II, represses a revolt of his Muslim subjects, and then initiates a campaign against the last Byzantine strongholds in Sicily.source
  • October 12 – Following Magyars raids in Lombardy, king Louis III ("the Blind") is called to Italy by the grandees. He takes Pavia, forcing king Berengar I to flee, and replaces him as King of Italy.source
  • Arab–Byzantine wars: Emperor Leo VI ("the Wise") begins an offensive against the Abbasid army in Cilicia, Upper Mesopotamia and Armenia. He also continues the war against the Muslims in Sicily and southern Italy.source
  • Docibilis I of Gaeta and his Saracen mercenaries attack Capua, in vain.source
  • Maravarman Rajasimha II, king of Pandya, begins to rule. He is constantly at war with Chola (his overlord) and becomes the last ruler of the first Pandyan Empire (India).source
  • After the rejection of their alliance proposal by the Bavarians, the Hungarians attack this country, occupying Pannonia and parts of Ostmark, which become part of the Hungarian state.source
  • Spring – Atenulf I, Lombard prince of Capua, conquers the Duchy of Benevento. He deposes Duke Radelchis II and unites the two southern Lombard duchies in Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy). The Byzantines offer a strategic alliance to Atenulf who directs a campaign against the Saracens. They establish themselves on the banks of the Garigliano River. From here, Arab warbands launch frequent raids in Campania.source
  • The Qarmatians of al-Bahrayn, under Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi, score a major victory over the Abbasid army led by al-Abbas ibn Amr al-Ghanawi.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Greenland is discovered by the Norseman Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, sailing from Norway to Iceland: he is blown off course by a storm and comes in sight of some islands off the coast (approximate date).source
  • The east coast of Africa is impacted by trade and Arab, Persian and Indian traders mix with the indigenous Bantu. Many of the coastal Bantu adopt Islam, reaching as far south as Sofala (Mozambique).source
  • c. 900 –1230 – Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, is built by the Ancestral Pueblo people.source
  • In Peru the Lambayeque people establish themselves over areas previously developed by the Moche (approximate date).source

Religion & Belief

  • February 4 – The 7-year-old Louis IV ("the Child") is proclaimed king of the East Frankish Kingdom at an assembly at Forchheim (Bavaria). Because of his young age, the reins of government are entirely in the hands of others – the Frankish nobles and bishops. The most influential of Louis' councillors are Hatto I, archbishop of Mainz, and Solomon III, bishop of Constance.source
  • June 17 – Baldwin II, Count of Flanders has Fulk the Venerable, bishop of Reims, assassinated.source
  • Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are victorious at Balkh (Northern Afghanistan) over Amr ibn al-Layth; the latter is captured and sent to Caliph Al-Mu'tadid in Baghdad. The Samanid Dynasty rules over Khorasan, as well as Transoxiana. A few months later, the Samanids conquer the Zaydid emirate of Tabaristan. This victory marks the beginning of the dispersion of the local Shi'ites by the new Sunni power.source
  • The future founder of the Fatimid Caliphate, Abdallah al-Mahdi and his family migrate to North Africa. They claim to be descendants of Fatimah, the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.source
  • King Donald II is killed after an 11-year reign. He is succeeded by his cousin Constantine II as king of Scotland; he will reign for more than 40 years.source

Health & Medicine

  • The Persian scientist Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi distinguishes smallpox from measles in the course of his writings. Holding against any sort of orthodoxy, particularly Aristotle's physics, he maintains the conception of an 'absolute' time, regarded by him as "a never-ending flow".source

Culture & Society

  • June 8 – Edward the Elder (son of Alfred the Great) is crowned king of England at Kingston upon Thames.source

Births

  • Ramiro II, king of León (approximate date)source
  • Conrad, bishop of Constance (approximate date)source
  • Mord Fiddle, Icelandic farmer and law expert (d. 968)source
  • Adaldag, archbishop of Bremen (approximate date)source
  • Gero, archbishop of Cologne (approximate date)source
  • Yang Pu, emperor of Wu (d. 939)source
  • Rasso, Frankish military leader (approximate date)source
  • Ramwold, Frankish abbot (approximate date)source
  • John of Gorze, Frankish abbot and diplomat (d. 974)source
  • Gero, Frankish nobleman (approximate date)source
  • Berthold, duke of Bavaria (approximate date)source
  • Nicodemus of Mammola, Italian monk (d. 990)source
  • Abū Ja'far al-Khāzin, Persian astronomer (d. 971)source
  • Fujiwara no Saneyori, Japanese statesman (d. 970)source

Deaths

  • January – Pope John IX dies after a two year reign. He is succeeded by Benedict IV as the 117th pope of the Catholic Church.source
  • June 17 – Fulk, archbishop of Reimssource
  • July 8 – Qatr al-Nada, wife of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tadidsource
  • August 13 – Zwentibold, king of Lotharingia (b. 870)source
  • Tadg mac Conchobair, king of Connacht (Ireland)source
  • Wulfhere, archbishop of York (approximate date)source
  • Muhammad ibn Zayd, emir of Tabaristan (Iran)source
  • Merfyn ap Rhodri, king of Powys (approximate date)source
  • Liu Chongwang, chancellor of the Tang Dynastysource
  • Ono no Komachi, Japanese poet (approximate date)source
  • Ibn Abi Asim, Muslim Sunni scholar (b. 822)source
  • Summer – After the death of his wife Zoe Zaoutzaina, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI marries Eudokia Baïana.source
  • John IX, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • Donald II, king of the Picts (Scotland)source