690s

This is a list of events occurring in the 690s, ordered by year.

690

By place

Britain

• King Oswine of Kent is toppled by Wihtred, brother of the late king Eadric of Kent, after a 2-year reign. He takes his lands north of the River Thames in revenge against the East Saxons (approximate date).

Asia

• October 16 – Wu Zetian ascends to the throne of the Tang Dynasty and proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire as "Holy and Divine Emperor". She becomes the first and only female "emperor" in 5000 years of Chinese history. Wu Zetian changes dynasty's name to the Zhou Dynasty, and begins to murder throne pretendants and ministers who try to oppose her. During her reign she elevates the status of Buddhism to be above Taoism.

By topic

Entertainment

• The approximate date of the earliest known blindfold chess, played by Sa'id ibn Jubayr^[1]

Religion

• Willibrord, Anglo-Saxon missionary, travels from York with 12 Benedictine monks to Westkapelle (modern Netherlands) to Christianize the pagan Frisians.
• September 19 – Theodore of Tarsus, age 88, dies at Canterbury. He is succeeded by Berhtwald as the 9th Archbishop of Canterbury (approximate date).

691

By place

Europe

• King Theuderic III dies and is succeeded by his son Clovis IV, age 9, as sole ruler of the Franks. He becomes a puppet—a roi fainéant—of his uncle Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia.

Arabian Empire

• Battle of Maskin: A Umayyad army under caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan defeat the rebel forces in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). He reconquers the Arabian Peninsula, taking the holy city of Medina.

By topic

Architecture

• The Dome of the Rock is completed in Jerusalem during the Second Fitna, becoming the first work of Islamic architecture.^[2]

Religion

• Wilfrid, abbot of Ripon, tries to make himself bishop of all Northumbria. King Aldfrith seizes many of his Ripon Abbey estates and proposes to create a bishopric there. Wifrid is banished and flees to Mercia where king Æthelred makes him bishop of Leicester.

692

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Battle of Sebastopolis: The Byzantine army under Leontios is defeated at Sebastopolis (modern Turkey) by Arab forces led by Muhammad ibn Marwan. During the battle a "special military corps" (some 20,000 Slavs) under Neboulos desert the Byzantine lines and went over to the Muslim Arabs.
• Arab–Byzantine War: Muslim conquest of Armenia, Iberia and Colchis, last remaining Byzantine holdings east of the Taurus Mountains. Emperor Justinian II is forced to agree to joint Byzantine-Arab control of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (approximate date).

Britain

• King Ine of Wessex installs his kinsman, Nothelm, as ruler of Sussex. According to Bede, Sussex is subjected to Ine for a number of years.^[3]

Asia

• Empress Wu Zetian regains control of the Kingdom of Khotan in the Tarim Basin (Northwest China).

Mesoamerica

• The Temple of the Cross at Palenque (Mexico) is constructed to commemorate the rise of king K'inich Kan B'alam II to the throne (approximate date).

By topic

Religion

• The Quinisext Council is held in Constantinople, it lays the foundation for the Orthodox canon law. Justinian II suppresses non-Orthodox religious practices, he orders the arrest of pope Sergius I; the militias of Rome and the Exarchate of Ravenna refuse, and take the pope's side.^[4]

693

By place

Europe

• Sisebert, archbishop of Toledo, leads a rebellion against king Ergica of the Visigoths. He plans to assassinate Ergica and his wife Liuvigoto but fails, and is defrocked and excommunicated.
• April 25 – Sixteenth Council of Toledo: Ergica calls for a council of the church to deal with the security of the kingship. The rebels are anathematised and the Forum ludicum is modified.

Britain

• King Oshere of Hwicce (sub-kingdom of Mercia) dies after a 13-year reign. He is succeeded by his four sons as apparent joint-kings: Æthelberht, Æthelheard, Æthelweard and Æthelric.
• King Ine of Wessex establishes his West Saxon "Law of Codes" to regain authority in his kingdom.^[5] He consolidates Wessex's territory in the western peninsula (approximate date).

By topic

Religion

• Earconwald, bishop of London, dies and is succeeded by Waldhere. He is buried at St. Paul's Cathedral and later revered as a saint.^[6]
• Wulfram of Sens attends the assembly of bishops at Valenciennes (Northern France).
• Callinicus I becomes the 71st patriarch of Constantinople after the death of Paul II.

694

By place

Byzantine Empire

• The Mardaites raid Muslim-held territories from their chief stronghold Hagioupolis in northern Syria (approximate date).

Europe

• November 9 – King Ergica of the Visigoths accuses the Jews of aiding the Muslims, and sentences all Jews to slavery.

Britain

• King Ine of Wessex attacks Kent and extorts 30,000 pence from its people in recompense for the murder of king Mul.
• King Sæbbi of Essex abdicates the throne, and is succeeded by his sons Sigeheard and Swæfred (approximate date).

Asia

• Asuka, imperial capital of Japan, is abandoned by empress Jitō. She moves her court to Fujiwara-kyō (Nara Prefecture).
• Qapaghan Khan (694–716) succeeds his brother Illterish Khan as ruler of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate (Central Asia)

695

By place

Byzantine Empire

• The population of Byzantium revolt under Leontios, the strategos (military governor) of the Anatolic Theme, and proclaim him emperor.^[7] Justinian II is deposed and his nose is cut off (leading to his subsequent nickname of "the Slit-nosed"). He is exiled to Cherson (Crimea) and begins to plot an attempt to retake the throne.^[8]

Europe

• Childebert III succeeds Clovis IV as sole king of the Franks. He is the son of Theuderic III and becomes a puppet—a roi fainéant—of Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia.
• Pepin institutes his son Drogo as mayor of the palace of Burgundy. His younger son Grimoald II becomes mayor of the palace of Neustria.
• The Saxons defeat the Bructeri between the Lippe and the Ruhr, and occupy Westphalia in Germany (approximate date).

Britain

• September 6 – King Wihtred of Kent who maintains Kentish independence against the growing expansion of Mercia, issues one of the earliest known law codes of Britain.^[9]
• King Aldfrith of Northumbria marries princess Cuthburh, sister of king Ine of Wessex (approximate date).

Mesoamerica

• Tikal defeats Calakmul (modern Guatemala), ending a centuries long rivalry, but ushering in another century of warfare that ultimately led to both cities abandomenet in the 9th century.
• Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil ("Eighteen Rabbit") becomes ruler (ajaw) of the Mayan city-state Copán (Honduras).

By topic

Religion

• November 21 – Willibrord, Northumbrian missionary, becomes the first bishop of Utrecht (Netherlands). He returns to Frisia to preach and built numerous churches (approximate date).
• Willibrord establishes a Benedictine training centre for priests and young noblemen. This seminary becomes later the Utrecht University.
• Suitbert, Anglo-Saxon missionary, founds a monastery at Kaiserswerth (near Düsseldorf) in Germany (approximate date).

696

By topic

Religion

• St. Peter's Abbey is founded by Rupert, bishop of Worms, at Salzburg (modern Austria).

697

By place

Europe

• Paolo Lucio Anafesto is elected the first Doge of Venice and begins its rise as a major power in the Mediterranean Sea. Built up from fishing villages settled by fugitives from the Huns (see 452), the city of Venice occupies some 60 marshy islands (Venetian Lagoon).
• Radbod, king of the Frisians, retreats to the island of Heligoland in the North Sea (approximate date).

Britain

• Queen Osthryth of Mercia is murdered by her own noblemen. She is buried at Bardney Abbey (Lincolnshire) and later revered as a saint.

Arabian Empire

• Syrian forces under Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, governor of Iraq, defeat the Persian Kharijites who have captured the city of Mosul and occupy large parts of Mesopotamia (approximate date).

Asia

• Empress Jitō abdicates the throne in favor of the 14-year-old Monmu (grandson of late emperor Tenmu). During her 11-year reign she has established the foundations of law in Japan.

By topic

Religion

• Council of Birr: The northern part of Ireland accepts the Roman calculations for celebrating Easter. At this synod Adomnán, abbot of Iona (Scotland), promulgates his Cáin Adomnáin ("Law of the Innocents").
• A festival for the opening of the eyes of Buddhist images is held in Yakushi-ji Temple in Japan (approximate date).

698

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Spring–summer – Arab forces under Hasan ibn al-Nu'man capture Carthage, ending Byzantine rule in North Africa. The defeated Byzantine fleet revolts and proclaims Tiberios III, who deposes Leontios after a brief siege of Constantinople and becomes Byzantine Emperor.^[10][11]
• Autumn–winter – The Byzantine general Heraclius, brother of Tiberios III, crosses with an army the mountain passes of the Taurus Mountains into Cilicia. He launches a campaign in Syria, defeats an Arab force from Antioch and raids as far as Samosata (modern Turkey).^[12][13]

Europe

• Wittiza, son of king Ergica, becomes co-ruler of the Visigoth Kingdom in Hispania (approximate date).

Britain

• Berhtred, Anglo-Saxon noblemen, is killed leading a Northumbrian army against the Picts. The kingdom of Cait (or Cat) in northern Scotland is absorbed (approximate date).
• Fiannamail ua Dúnchado becomes king of Dál Riata (Scotland) until his death around 700 (approximate date).

Arabian Empire

• Berber forces led by queen Kahina ("The Diviner") are crushed by Arab invaders at Aures (Algeria). She has rallied the Berbers since the collapse of Byzantine power (see 647).

Asia

• Dae Jo-young establishes the kingdom of Balhae in Manchuria (approximate date).
• Khun Lo, a Thai prince, conquers Muang Sua, an early Laotian kingdom.
• Qapaghan Qaghan conquers parts of Transoxiana (Central Asia).
• The festival of first-fruits (Daijo-sai) is held in Japan.

By topic

Religion

• Council of Aquileia: The bishops of the diocese of Aquileia decide to end the Schism of the Three Chapters and return to communion with Rome.
• Willibrord, Anglo-Saxon missionary, establishes an abbey at Echternach (Luxembourg). Presented to him by Irmina, daughter of king Dagobert II.
• Probable date of Cuthbert's burial behind the altar at Lindisfarne (approximate date).
• Princess Taki is sent to Saikū as a Saiō of the Ise Shrine (Japan).

699

By place

Arabian Empire

• Umayyad troops invade Armenia and secure submission of prince Smbat VI Bagratuni. The South Caucasus becomes a viceroyalty called al-Arminiya and is divided into four regions: Caucasian Albania, Caucasian Iberia, area around the Aras River and Taron (modern Turkey).^[14][15]
• Winter – Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath leads an Arab army in revolt against Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, overall governor of the eastern Muslim territories. Marching to Iraq, Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath occupies Basra, and then moves against Kufa where he enters the city in triumph.^[16]

Asia

• June 26 – En no Ozunu, Japanese ascetic, is banished to Izu Ōshima (a volcanic island in the Izu Islands) and accused of confusing the mind of the people with magic. He will be later regarded as the founder of a folk religion called Shugendō.

Significant people

Births

Deaths

References