660s

The 660s decade ran from January 1, 660, to December 31, 669.

660

This section is transcluded from AD 660. (edit | history)

By place

Byzantine Empire

• 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).

Europe

• The March of the Slavs, centred north of modern Klagenfurt, preserves independence and is first mentioned in historical sources, known as Carantania (Austria).
• Felix, patrician^[1] of Toulouse, assumes the titles of Duke of Vasconia and Aquitaine. He is formally a vassal of the Franks, but rules "de facto" independently.^[2][3]

Britain

• King Cenwalh of Wessex becomes dissatisfied with his local bishop, Agilbert of Dorchester, as he does not speak West-Saxon. Cenwalh splits the episcopal see of Wessex in two. Wine becomes the first bishop of Winchester, by the Saxons called Wintancestir.^[4] Agilbert resigns in protest and travels north to Northumbria.
• 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).
• King Conall Crandomna of Dál Riata (modern Scotland) dies, and is succeeded by his nephew Domangart mac Domnaill.

Korea

• July 9 – Battle of Hwangsanbeol: Sillan forces (50,000 men) led by general Kim Yu-shin defeat the army of Baekje at Nonsan. During the fighting general Gyebaek dies at the hand of the Sillan invaders.
• Baekje in southwestern Korea is conquered by an alliance of the Tang dynasty and Silla, led by general Su Dingfang and King Munmu of Silla. The Japanese envoys detained in Chang'an are paroled.
• Emperor Gao Zong suffers from an illness (possibly slow-poisoning). His wife Wu Zetian starts to rule the Chinese Empire.

Japan

• Prince Naka no Ōe no Ōji of Japan makes a Japanese clock for the first time at Asuka, by which he causes the people to know the hours.
• After the fall of Sabi to the forces of Silla, the Yamato government sends envoys directly to the Chinese court for the first time
• The Baekje–Tang War begins, involving Yamato forces in support of the kingdoms of Baekje and Goguryeo
• Japanese forces, under command of Abe no Hirafu, massacre the Mishihase people in Hokkaido
• The capital of Japan moves from Asuka, Yamato (Okamoto Palace or Nochi no Asuka-Okamoto-no-miya) to Asakura, Fukuoka^[5][6]

Significant people

Births

Transcluding articles: 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, AD 666, 667, 668, and 669

660

• Acca, bishop of Hexham (approximate date)
• Genmei, empress of Japan (d. 721)
• John of Dailam, Syrian monk (d. 738)
• Leudwinus, Frankish bishop (approximate date)
• Rupert, bishop of Salzburg (approximate date)
• Yamanoue no Okura, Japanese poet (d. 733)

661

• February 12 – Ōku, Japanese princess (d. 702)
• Early June – Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, Arab governor (d. 714)
• Approximate date – Ælfwine, Northumbrian king of Deira (k. 679)
• Chen Zi'ang, Chinese poet and official (d. 702)
• Liu Zhiji, Chinese historian (d. 721)

662

• June 22 – Rui Zong, emperor of the Tang dynasty (d. 716)
• Ali al-Akbar ibn Husayn, Muslim martyr (d. 680)
• Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Japanese poet (approximate date)
• Kusakabe, Japanese crown prince (d. 689)
• Odile of Alsace, Frankish abbess (approximate date)
• Rumwold of Buckingham, Anglo-Saxon prince and saint

663

• Nasr ibn Sayyar, Arab general (d. 748)
• Ōtsu, Japanese prince and poet (d. 686)
• Song Jing, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (d. 737)
• Yamanobe, Japanese princess (approximate date)
• Zhang Yue, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (d. 730)

664

• Constantine I, Syrian-born pope of the Catholic Church (d. 715)
• Muawiya II, Muslim caliph (d. 684)
• Shangguan Wan'er, Chinese poet (d. 710)

665

• Ōtomo no Tabito, Japanese poet (d. 729)
• Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Muslim scholar (d. 714)

666

• Zhang Jiazhen, Chinese official

667

• Hisham ibn Urwah, prominent narrator of hadith and scholar
• Qasim ibn Hasan, son of Hassan ibn Ali

668

• Al-Walid I, Muslim caliph (d. 715)
• Gyōki, Japanese Buddhist priest (d. 749)
• Justinian II, Eastern Roman Emperor (d. 711)

669

• Gregory II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 731)
• Justinian II, Byzantine emperor (approximate date)
• Qutayba ibn Muslim, Arab general (approximate date)

Deaths

Transcluding articles: 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, AD 666, 667, 668, and 669

660

Saint Eligius

• December 1 – Eligius, bishop and saint
• Boggis, Duke of Aquitaine (approximate date)
• Conall Crandomna, king of Dál Riata (Scotland)
• Gyebaek, general of Baekje (Korea)
• Magnus, bishop and governor of Avignon
• Sigebert III, king of Austrasia (or 656)
• Sigeberht II, king of Essex (approximate date)
• Xin Maojiang, chancellor of the Tang dynasty

661

• January 3 – Benjamin, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria (b. c.590)
• January 29 – Ali, first Shia Imam and Fourth Rashidun Caliph (b. 601) (martyred)
• February 17 – Finan of Lindisfarne, Irish-born bishop
• July 24 – Kōgyoku (also Saimei), twice empress of Japan (b. 594)
• Aripert I, king of the Lombards
• Cenberht, West Saxon king in Wessex^[27]
• Cuthred, West Saxon prince in Wessex^[27]
• Approximate date – Landry, bishop of Paris
• Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, companion of the Muhammad

662

• August 13 – Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine theologian
• Godepert, king of the Lombards
• Rumwold of Buckingham, Anglo-Saxon prince and saint
• Lai Ji, official of the Tang dynasty (b. 610)
• Qais Abdur Rashid from whom all Pashtuns descend according to local Pashto folklore^[28]

663

• Ago, duke of Friuli (approximate date)
• Cunibert, bishop of Cologne (approximate date)
• Gartnait IV, king of the Picts (approximate date)
• Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin, king of Connacht (Ireland)
• Gwisil Boksin, Korean general of Baekje (Korea)

664

• January 6 – 'Amr ibn al-'As, Arab general
• July 14 – Eorcenberht, king of Kent
• October 26 – Cedd, bishop of London
• Æthelwald, king of East Anglia (approximate date)
• Alhfrith, king of Deira (approximate date)
• Cadafael Cadomedd, king of Gwynedd (Wales)
• Deusdedit of Canterbury, archbishop of Canterbury
• Swithelm, king of Essex (approximate date)
• Tuda, bishop of Lindisfarne
• Xuanzang, Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler

665

• April 16 – Fructuosus of Braga, French archbishop
• Féchín of Fore, Irish monk and saint
• Hafsa bint Umar, wife of Muhammad
• Kubrat, ruler (khagan) of Great Bulgaria
• Li Zhong, prince of the Tang dynasty (b. 643)
• Yu Zhining, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (b. 588)

666

• Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, first child of first Rashidun caliph, Abu Bakr
• Arnefrit, duke of Friuli (Northern Italy)
• Liu Xiangdao, official of the Tang dynasty (b. 596)
• Li Yifu, chancellor of the Tang dynasty
• Dou Dexuan, official of the Tang dynasty
• Liu Xiangdao, Chancellor of the Tang dynasty
• Linghu Defen, official of the Tang dynasty
• Yeon Gaesomun, military dictator of Goguryeo
• Umm Habiba, a wife of Muhammad

667

• January 23 – Ildefonsus, bishop of Toledo
• Daoxuan, Chinese Buddhist monk (b. 596)
• Severus Sebokht, Syrian scholar and bishop
• Su Dingfang, general of the Tang dynasty (b. 591)
• Wighard, archbishop of Canterbury (approximate date)

668

• September 15 – Constans II, Byzantine emperor (b. 630)
• Brahmagupta, Indian mathematician and astronomer (b. ca. 598)
• Judoc, Breton noble and Catholic saint (b. 600)
• Saborios, Byzantine general (approximate date)
• Wandregisel, Frankish monk and abbot
• Zhiyan, Chinese (Buddhist) patriarch (b. 602)

669

• November 14 – Fujiwara no Kamatari, founder of the Fujiwara clan^[29] (b. 614)
• December 31 – Li Shiji, general and chancellor of the Tang dynasty (b. 594)
• Jaruman, bishop of Mercia (approximate date)
• Mezezius, Byzantine usurper (approximate date)

References

1. Lewis 1976, p. 388 n. 31.
2. Nicolle 2008, p. 16.
3. James 1977, p. 14.
4. Bede Book III, Chapter VII.
5. Asuka Historical Museum, Palaces of the Asuka Period," 1995; retrieved 2011-11-25.
6. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1915). The Imperial Family of Japan, p. 24.
7. Roberts 1994.
8. "List of Rulers of Korea". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
9. Patrick J. Geary, "Before France & Germany, the Creation & Transformation of the Merovingian World". (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. 180
10. Cain, Fraser (2009-06-02). "Mount Fuji". Universe Today. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
11. Fryde et al. 1996, p. 223.
12. NASA, 2015, Total Solar Eclipse of 664 May 01 (access: 10 November 2016).
13. Josiah Cox Russell, 1976, "The earlier medieval plague in the British Isles", Viator vol. 7, pp. 65–78.
14. Yorke 2002, p. 63.
15. Mayr-Harting 1991, pp. 129–147.
16. Mayr-Harting 1991, p. 117.
17. Glick, Thomas F.; Livesey, Steven; Wallis, Faith, eds. (2014). Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 464. ISBN 978-1-135-45939-0.
18. John "Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England" pp. 34-35
19. Kirby "Earliest English Kings" p. 83
20. Yorke "Adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon Royal Courts" Cross Goes North pp. 250-251
21. Treadgold 1997, pp. 318–324.
22. Hindley 2006, p. 47.
23. Bury 1889, p. 306.
24. Bury 1889, p. 307.
25. Kashiwahara Y., Sonoda K. "Shapers of Japanese Buddhism", Kosei (1994)
26. Walsh 2007, p. 127.
27. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
28. Kriti M. Shah, "The Pashtuns, the Taliban, and America’s Longest War", Asian Survey, Vol. 57, Number 6 (2017) pp. 981–1007
29. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1962). "Sovereign and Subject", pp. 216–220

Sources

• Bede. "Book III". Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Internet History Sourcebooks Project.
• 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. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
• Hindley, Geoffrey (2006). A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The Beginnings of the English Nation. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0-7867-1738-5.
• James, Edward (1977). The Merovingian Archaeology of South-West Gaul, Volume 1. BAR Supplementary Series. Vol. 25. British Archaeological Reports.
• Lewis, Archibald R. (1976). "The Dukes in the Regnum Francorum, A.D. 550–751". Speculum. 51 (3): 381–410. doi:10.2307/2851704. JSTOR 2851704. S2CID 162248053.
• Mayr-Harting, Henry (1991). The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-00769-9.
• Nicolle, David (2008). Poitiers AD 732: Charles Martel Turns the Islamic Tide. Campaign Series. Vol. 190. Osprey Publishing.
• Roberts, J.M. (1994). History of the World. Penguin.
• Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
• Walsh, Michael (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. London: Burns & Oats. ISBN 978-0-86012-438-2.
• Yorke, Barbara (2002). Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London and New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203447307. ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3. S2CID 160791603.