Emperor
Constans II is paranoid about the ambitions of his younger brother, Theodosius, and has him murdered. Having attracted the hatred of the citizens of
Constantinople, Constans decides to leave the
Byzantine capital and moves to
Syracuse (
Sicily).
King
Sigeberht II of
Essex is murdered by his brothers,
Swithelm and Swithfrith, and other kinsmen for being "too ready to pardon his enemies"; that is to say, the
Christians. Swithelm becomes king of Essex, with Swithfrith as joint-monarch for a period (approximate date).
Perctarit and
Godepert become co-rulers of the
Lombards, following the death of their father
Aripert I. They split the kingdom, and establish their capitals in
Milan and
Pavia (northern Italy).
Wulfhere appoints
Æthelwealh as king of
Sussex, and Æthelwealh is
baptized in
Mercia. He receives the recently-conquered territories in modern-day
Hampshire.
Approximate date –
Muawiya I imprisons patriarch
Giwargis I, after his refusal to pay
tribute. Christians are persecuted and their churches are destroyed.
c. May – Empress Saimei builds the palace of Asakura in Kyūshū, from trees cut down from the
shrines. Two months later she dies. People say it is because the gods are angry with her for destroying the shrines.
July 24 –
Emperor Tenji ascends to the throne of Japan after his mother Empress Saimei’s death. He sends an expeditionary force under
Abe no Hirafu to Korea, to help the allied kingdom of
Baekje.
Korea
King
Munmu becomes the 30th ruler of the Korean kingdom of
Silla.[8]
By topic
Religion
Maximus the Confessor, Christian monk, is recalled from
exile in
Thrace. He is tried, and sentenced to mutilation. His tongue and his right hand are cut off to prevent his further opposition to the
Monothelites.
Approximate date – In
Gaul all Roman bishops are replaced with Frankish bishops. They become increasingly common, as
Frankish leaders control the
episcopate.
Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan, Muslim general and a member of the Umayyad
clan, is appointed governor of
Iraq (
Basra) and the former Persian provinces (approximate date).
Constans II visits
Rome for 12 days (the only emperor to set foot in Rome for two centuries), and is received with great honor by
Pope Vitalian. Constans gives the order to strip buildings, including the
Pantheon, of their
ornaments, which will be carried back to
Constantinople.
According to
Bede, a Northumbrian
monk and historian, the plague begins shortly after the eclipse of
1 May.[13]
Adomnan of Iona, a contemporary Irish abbot and saint, writes that the epidemic affects all of Ireland and Great Britain, except for
Dál Riata and
Pictland.[13]
The epidemic significantly depopulates southern coastal areas of
England.
King
Ealdwulf succeeds
Æthelwald as king of
East Anglia. He becomes the last ruler recorded known to Bede.[14] During Ealdwulf's reign the plague sweeps across the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
July 14 – The plague claims King
Eorcenberht of Kent, who dies after a 24-year reign, and is succeeded by his son
Ecgberht. Queen
Seaxburh becomes regent, ruling
Kent until Ecgberht comes of age.
King
Swithelm of Essex dies after a four-year reign. He is succeeded by his cousins
Sighere and
Sæbbi (approximate date).
Emperor
Constans II grants the request of Bishop
Maurus of
Ravenna, allowing the city to consecrate its
bishop without approval from
Rome (approximate date).
Mezezius, Byzantine general and patrikios ("first patrician"), is proclaimed emperor by the army in Syracuse. Constantine IV organizes an expedition to suppress the military revolt in
Sicily.
Caliph
Muawiyah I receives an invitation from
Saborios, Byzantine commander of the troops in
Armenia, to help overthrow Constantine IV in Constantinople.[23] He sends a Muslim army under his son
Yazid, against the
Byzantine Empire.
Chinese troops sent by the
Tang dynasty emperor
Gao Zong complete their expedition in the
Korean Peninsula. Leaders of the expedition have been selected by the emperor's powerful concubine
Wu Zetian. The kingdom of
Goguryeo is overthrown; the
Unified Silla period starts.
Emperor
Tenji of
Japan officially accedes to the throne, and hunts on the Moor of Ōmi-Gamōno. The letters exchanged between prince
Ōama and
princess Nukata are recorded in
Man'yōshū.
November 14 –
Kamatari, Japanese statesman and reformer, receives the surname
Fujiwara from Emperor
Tenji as a reward for his services, but dies in Yamato prefecture (modern-day
Sakurai City).
Significant people
This section is empty. You can help by
adding to it. (March 2016)
^Patrick J. Geary, "Before France & Germany, the Creation & Transformation of the Merovingian World". (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. 180
^Glick, Thomas F.; Livesey, Steven; Wallis, Faith, eds. (2014). Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 464.
ISBN978-1-135-45939-0.
Bury, John Bagnall (1889). A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene. Vol. II. London: Macmillan.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge University Press.
ISBN0-521-56350-X.
Hindley, Geoffrey (2006). A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The Beginnings of the English Nation. New York: Carroll & Graf.
ISBN978-0-7867-1738-5.
James, Edward (1977). The Merovingian Archaeology of South-West Gaul, Volume 1. BAR Supplementary Series. Vol. 25. British Archaeological Reports.
Emperor
Constans II is paranoid about the ambitions of his younger brother, Theodosius, and has him murdered. Having attracted the hatred of the citizens of
Constantinople, Constans decides to leave the
Byzantine capital and moves to
Syracuse (
Sicily).
King
Sigeberht II of
Essex is murdered by his brothers,
Swithelm and Swithfrith, and other kinsmen for being "too ready to pardon his enemies"; that is to say, the
Christians. Swithelm becomes king of Essex, with Swithfrith as joint-monarch for a period (approximate date).
Perctarit and
Godepert become co-rulers of the
Lombards, following the death of their father
Aripert I. They split the kingdom, and establish their capitals in
Milan and
Pavia (northern Italy).
Wulfhere appoints
Æthelwealh as king of
Sussex, and Æthelwealh is
baptized in
Mercia. He receives the recently-conquered territories in modern-day
Hampshire.
Approximate date –
Muawiya I imprisons patriarch
Giwargis I, after his refusal to pay
tribute. Christians are persecuted and their churches are destroyed.
c. May – Empress Saimei builds the palace of Asakura in Kyūshū, from trees cut down from the
shrines. Two months later she dies. People say it is because the gods are angry with her for destroying the shrines.
July 24 –
Emperor Tenji ascends to the throne of Japan after his mother Empress Saimei’s death. He sends an expeditionary force under
Abe no Hirafu to Korea, to help the allied kingdom of
Baekje.
Korea
King
Munmu becomes the 30th ruler of the Korean kingdom of
Silla.[8]
By topic
Religion
Maximus the Confessor, Christian monk, is recalled from
exile in
Thrace. He is tried, and sentenced to mutilation. His tongue and his right hand are cut off to prevent his further opposition to the
Monothelites.
Approximate date – In
Gaul all Roman bishops are replaced with Frankish bishops. They become increasingly common, as
Frankish leaders control the
episcopate.
Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan, Muslim general and a member of the Umayyad
clan, is appointed governor of
Iraq (
Basra) and the former Persian provinces (approximate date).
Constans II visits
Rome for 12 days (the only emperor to set foot in Rome for two centuries), and is received with great honor by
Pope Vitalian. Constans gives the order to strip buildings, including the
Pantheon, of their
ornaments, which will be carried back to
Constantinople.
According to
Bede, a Northumbrian
monk and historian, the plague begins shortly after the eclipse of
1 May.[13]
Adomnan of Iona, a contemporary Irish abbot and saint, writes that the epidemic affects all of Ireland and Great Britain, except for
Dál Riata and
Pictland.[13]
The epidemic significantly depopulates southern coastal areas of
England.
King
Ealdwulf succeeds
Æthelwald as king of
East Anglia. He becomes the last ruler recorded known to Bede.[14] During Ealdwulf's reign the plague sweeps across the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
July 14 – The plague claims King
Eorcenberht of Kent, who dies after a 24-year reign, and is succeeded by his son
Ecgberht. Queen
Seaxburh becomes regent, ruling
Kent until Ecgberht comes of age.
King
Swithelm of Essex dies after a four-year reign. He is succeeded by his cousins
Sighere and
Sæbbi (approximate date).
Emperor
Constans II grants the request of Bishop
Maurus of
Ravenna, allowing the city to consecrate its
bishop without approval from
Rome (approximate date).
Mezezius, Byzantine general and patrikios ("first patrician"), is proclaimed emperor by the army in Syracuse. Constantine IV organizes an expedition to suppress the military revolt in
Sicily.
Caliph
Muawiyah I receives an invitation from
Saborios, Byzantine commander of the troops in
Armenia, to help overthrow Constantine IV in Constantinople.[23] He sends a Muslim army under his son
Yazid, against the
Byzantine Empire.
Chinese troops sent by the
Tang dynasty emperor
Gao Zong complete their expedition in the
Korean Peninsula. Leaders of the expedition have been selected by the emperor's powerful concubine
Wu Zetian. The kingdom of
Goguryeo is overthrown; the
Unified Silla period starts.
Emperor
Tenji of
Japan officially accedes to the throne, and hunts on the Moor of Ōmi-Gamōno. The letters exchanged between prince
Ōama and
princess Nukata are recorded in
Man'yōshū.
November 14 –
Kamatari, Japanese statesman and reformer, receives the surname
Fujiwara from Emperor
Tenji as a reward for his services, but dies in Yamato prefecture (modern-day
Sakurai City).
Significant people
This section is empty. You can help by
adding to it. (March 2016)
^Patrick J. Geary, "Before France & Germany, the Creation & Transformation of the Merovingian World". (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. 180
^Glick, Thomas F.; Livesey, Steven; Wallis, Faith, eds. (2014). Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 464.
ISBN978-1-135-45939-0.
Bury, John Bagnall (1889). A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene. Vol. II. London: Macmillan.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge University Press.
ISBN0-521-56350-X.
Hindley, Geoffrey (2006). A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The Beginnings of the English Nation. New York: Carroll & Graf.
ISBN978-0-7867-1738-5.
James, Edward (1977). The Merovingian Archaeology of South-West Gaul, Volume 1. BAR Supplementary Series. Vol. 25. British Archaeological Reports.