870s

The 870s decade ran from January 1, 870, to December 31, 879.

870

This section is transcluded from AD 870. (edit | history)

By place

Europe

• August 8 – Treaty of Meerssen: King Louis the German forces his half-brother Charles the Bald to accept a peace treaty, which partitions the Middle Frankish Kingdom into two larger east and west divisions. Louis receives most of Austrasia (which evolves into the Kingdom of Germany), and Charles receives territory in Lower Burgundy (which evolves into the Kingdom of France). However, large parts of the Frisian coast are under Viking control.
• Charles the Bald marries Richilde of Provence, after the death of his first wife, Ermentrude of Orleans. He intends to secure his rule in Lotharingia through the powerful Bosonid family and the connection to Teutberga, widow-queen of Lothair II.^[1]
• Rastislav, ruler (knyaz) of Great Moravia, dies in prison after he is condemned to death for treason, by Louis the German. He is succeeded by his nephew Svatopluk I, who becomes a vassal of the East Frankish Kingdom.
• Bořivoj I, duke of Bohemia, makes Levý Hradec (modern Czech Republic) his residence. Around this time Prague Castle is founded (approximate date).
• Wilfred the Hairy, a Frankish nobleman, becomes count of Urgell and Cerdanya (modern-day Catalonia).

Britain

• Autumn – The Great Heathen Army, led by Ivar the Boneless and Ubba, invades East Anglia and plunders Peterborough. King Edmund the Martyr is captured, tortured, beaten and used for archery practice (or 869).
• The Danes, led by Ivar the Boneless and King Olaf of the Dublin Vikings, besiege Dumbarton in Scotland, the capital of King Artgal of Stratchlyde. After a siege of four months, the citadel is captured and destroyed.^[2]
• The Danes, led by Halfdan Ragnarsson and Bagsecg, invade Wessex and take the royal estate at Reading (Berkshire), which Halfdan makes his headquarters. A naval Viking contingent sails up the Thames River.^[3]
• December 31 – Battle of Englefield: The Vikings clash with ealdorman Æthelwulf of Berkshire. The invaders are driven back to Reading; many of the Danes (including one of the earls named Sidrac) are killed.

Abbasid Caliphate

• January 29 – Anarchy at Samarra: The rebel Salih ibn Wasif is hunted down and killed in Abbasid Samarra by troops of Musa ibn Bugha al-Kabir.
• June 21 – Caliph Al-Muhtadi is deposed and killed by the Turks, after a brief reign. He is succeeded by Al-Mu'tamid (son of the late Al-Mutawakkil) as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate, who moves his court to Baghdad. End of the Anarchy at Samarra.
• Byzantine–Arab War: A Muslim expeditionary force, led by Halaf al-Hadim, Arab governor of Sicily, conquers Malta. He is welcomed by the local Christian inhabitants as liberator of the agonizing Byzantine yoke. The Muslims sign a treaty with the Christians to live in peace after liberating the island from the Byzantines.
• The Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa) capture the Abbasid seaport of Al-Ubdullah at the Persian Gulf, and cut off communications with Basra (modern Iraq).

By topic

Religion

• February 28 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople ends. The Bulgarians are granted an autocephalous archbishopric. with its seat in the capital of Pliska.

Significant people

• Alfred the Great
• Al-Mu'tamid
• Al-Muwaffaq
• Harald I of Norway
• Rhodri Mawr (the Great)
• Charles the Bald
• Rurik

Births

Transcluding articles: 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877, 878, and 879

870

• Æthelflæd, lady ruler of Mercia (d. 918)^[40]
• Alexander III, Byzantine emperor (d. 913)
• Bernard, illegitimate son of Charles the Fat (d. 891)
• Ebalus, duke of Aquitaine (approximate date)
• Ermengol, Frankish nobleman (d. 937)
• Fulk I, Frankish nobleman (approximate date)
• Lde-dpal-hkhor-btsan, Indian ruler (approximate date)
• Pavle, prince of Serbia (approximate date)
• Petar, prince of Serbia (approximate date)
• Romanos I, Byzantine emperor (d. 948)
• Sunifred II, count of Urgell (approximate date)
• Sunyer, count of Barcelona (approximate date)
• Theodora, Roman politician (approximate date)
• Wang Dingbao, Chinese chancellor (d. 941)
• Zhu Yanshou, Chinese governor (d. 903)
• Zwentibold, king of Lotharingia (d. 900)

871

• Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Madhara'i, Tulunid vizier (d. 957)
• Fujiwara no Tokihira, Japanese statesman (d. 909)
• García I, king of León (approximate date)
• Li Qi, chancellor of Later Liang (d. 930)
• Wang Jianli, Chinese general (d. 940)

872

• Abaoji, ruler (khagan) of the Khitan Empire (d. 926)
• Al-Farabi, Muslim philosopher (approximate date)
• Huo Yanwei, Chinese general (d. 928)
• Ibn Durustawayh, Persian grammarian, lexicographer and student of the Quran and hadith (d. 958)
• Ki no Tsurayuki, Japanese writer and poet (d. 945)
• Pietro II Candiano, doge of Venice (approximate date)

873

• Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, was the founder of the Isma'ili Fatimid Empire, the only major Shi'a caliphate in the 10th century history, and the eleventh Imam of the Isma'ili faith (d. 934)
• Abu Yazid, Kharijite Berber leader (d. 947)
• Ahmad al-Muhajir, Muslim imam (d. 956)
• Al-Tabarani, Muslim hadith scholar (d. 970)
• Fujiwara no Sadakata, Japanese poet (d. 932)
• Ordoño II, king of Galicia and León (d. 924)

874

• May 10 – Meng Zhixiang, general of Later Tang (d. 934)
• Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, Muslim scholar (d. 936)
• Edward the Elder, king of Wessex (approximate date)
• Constantine II, king of Scotland (approximate date)
• Liu Yin, governor (jiedushi) of Southern Han (d. 911)
• Lothar II, Frankish nobleman (d. 929)
• Ota, Frankish queen and Holy Roman Empress (approximate date)
• Wang Shifan, Chinese warlord (d. 908)

875

• March 22 – William I, duke of Aquitaine (d. 918)
• Adalbert II, Frankish margrave (approximate date)
• Ermentrude, Frankish princess, daughter of Louis the Stammerer (or 878)
• Fruela II, king of Asturias and León (approximate date)
• Fujiwara no Nakahira, Japanese statesman (d. 945)
• Gerhard I, Frankish nobleman (approximate date)
• Lady Ise, Japanese poet (approximate date)
• Mary the Younger, Byzantine saint (d. 902)
• Sale Ngahkwe, king of Burma (approximate date)
• Spytihněv I, duke of Bohemia (approximate date)
• Sueiro Belfaguer, Portuguese nobleman (d. 925)

876

• Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria (d. 940)
• Henry the Fowler, king of Germany (d. 936)
• John of Rila, Bulgarian hermit (approximate date)
• Lu Wenji, Chinese chancellor (d. 951)
• Toda, queen of Pamplona (d. 958)

877

• January 31 – Wang Kon, founder of Goryeo (d. 943)
• September 10 – Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria (d. 940)
• Ælfthryth, English princess and countess of Flanders (d. 929)
• Fujiwara no Kanesuke, Japanese nobleman (d. 933)
• Liu, Chinese empress of Qi (d. 943)
• Luo Shaowei, Chinese warlord (d. 910)
• Pi Guangye, Chinese chancellor (d. 943)
• Rudesind I, bishop of Mondoñedo (d. 907)
• Wang Rong, Chinese warlord (d. 921)

878

• Bardas Phokas the Elder, Byzantine general (d. 968)
• Ermentrude of France, daughter of Louis the Stammerer (or 875)
• Krishna II, king of Rashtrakuta (India) (d. 914)
• Miró II of Cerdanya, Frankish nobleman (approximate date)
• Odo of Cluny, Frankish abbot (approximate date)

879

• September 17 – Charles the Simple, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (d. 929)
• October 19 – Yingtian, empress of the Khitan Liao Dynasty (d. 953)

Deaths

Transcluding articles: 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877, 878, and 879

870

• January 29 – Salih ibn Wasif, Muslim general
• February 4 – Ceolnoth, archbishop of Canterbury
• April 2 – Æbbe the Younger, Frankish abbess
• June 21 – Al-Muhtadi, Muslim caliph
• September 1 – Muhammad al-Bukhari, Persian scholar (b. 810)
• November 20 – Edmund the Martyr, king of East Anglia (or 869)
• December 4 – Suairlech ind Eidnén mac Ciaráin, Irish bishop
• December 27 – Aeneas of Paris, Frankish bishop
• Adarnase II, Georgian Bagratid prince (approximate date)
• Al-Harith ibn Sima al-Sharabi, Muslim governor
• Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar, Muslim historian (b. 788)
• Caesar of Naples ("the Brave"), Italian admiral
• Gregory III, co-regent and duke of Naples
• He Quanhao, general of the Tang Dynasty (b. 839)
• Neot, English monk and saint (approximate date)
• Rastislav, ruler (knyaz) of Great Moravia
• Ratramnus, Frankish monk and abbot (approximate date)
• Wen Tingyun, Chinese poet and lyricist (b. 812)

871

• January 4 – Æthelwulf, Saxon ealdorman
• January 8 – Bagsecg, Viking king
• April 23 – Æthelred I, king of Wessex
• June 10 – Odo I, Frankish nobleman
• Ailill mac Dúnlainge, king of Leinster
• Cathalán mac Indrechtaig, king of Ulaid
• Dae Geonhwang, king of Balhae
• Engelschalk I, Frankish margrave
• Fadl Ashsha'ira, Abbasid female poet
• Heahmund, bishop of Salisbury
• Hunfrid, bishop of Thérouanne
• Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam, Muslim historian (b. 803)
• Solomon I, bishop of Constance
• Uathmharan mac Brocan, king of Aidhne (Ireland)
• William II, Frankish margrave
• Yahya ibn Mu'adh al-Razi, Muslim Sufi (b. 830)

872

• April 2 – Muflih al-Turki, Abbasid general
• December 14 – Adrian II, pope of Rome (b. 792)
• Artgal, king of Strathclyde (Scotland)
• Athanasius I, bishop of Naples (b. 830)
• Cenn Fáelad hua Mugthigirn, king of Munster (Ireland)
• Chrysocheir, leader of the Paulicians (or 878)
• Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, Japanese regent (b. 804)
• Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub al-Juzajani, Muslim hadith scholar
• Ivar the Boneless, Viking chief (approximate date)
• Sargis, patriarch of the Church of the East
• Zhang Yichao, general of the Tang Dynasty (b. 785)

873

• July 8 – Gunther, archbishop of Cologne
• August 1 – Thachulf, duke of Thuringia
• August 15 – Yi Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 833)

Death of Al-Kindi. He was an Arab Muslim philosopher, polymath, mathematician, physician and musician. Al-Kindi was the first of the Islamic peripatetic philosophers, and is hailed as the "father of Arab philosophy

• Al-Kindi, Muslim philosopher and polymath
• Du Cong, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 794)
• Ecgberht I, king of Northumbria
• Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Muslim scholar and physician (b. 809)
• Ivar the Boneless, Viking leader (approximate date)
• John III, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch
• Kang Chengxun, general of the Tang Dynasty
• Lethlobar mac Loingsig, king of Ulaid (Ireland)
• Malik ibn Tawk, Muslim governor
• Muhammad ibn Ali al-Armani, Muslim general
• Rodrigo, Asturian nobleman
• Rodulf Haraldsson, Viking leader
• Shinshō, Japanese Buddhist monk (b. 797)
• Vímara Peres, Asturian nobleman
• Wei Baoheng, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty

874

• January 4 – Hasan al-Askari, 11th Shia Imam (b. 846)
• August 15 – Altfrid, bishop of Hildesheim
• December 16 – Ado, archbishop of Vienne
• Amlaíb Conung, Viking leader (approximate date)
• Bayazid Bastami, Persian Sufi (approximate date)
• Han Yunzhong, general of the Tang dynasty (b. 814)
• Liu Zhan, chancellor of the Tang dynasty
• Lu Yan, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (b. 829)
• Pei Tan, chancellor of the Tang dynasty
• Salomon, duke ('king') of Brittany
• Unruoch III, margrave of Friuli

875

• August 12 – Louis II, king of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor (b. 825)
• October 28 – Remigius of Lyon, Frankish archbishop
• November 11 – Teutberga, queen of Lotharingia
• 'Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Yazdad al-Marwazi, Persian official
• Amram Gaon, Jewish liturgist (approximate date)
• Donyarth, king of Cornwall (approximate date)
• Gyeongmun, king of Silla (Korea) (b. 841)
• Eystein Olafsson, Norse–Gael king of Dublin
• Martianus Hiberniensis, Irish monk and calligrapher (b. 819)
• Muhammad II, emir of the Aghlabids
• Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, Persian scholar
• Xiao Fang, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 796)

876

• January 31 – Hemma of Altdorf, Frankish queen
• August 28 – Louis the German, king of the East Frankish Kingdom
• Bagrat I, prince of Iberia (Georgia)
• Bodo, Frankish deacon
• Conrad I, Frankish nobleman
• Conrad II, Frankish nobleman
• Domagoj, duke (knyaz) of Croatia
• Donatus of Fiesole, Irish bishop
• Gurvand, duke ('king') of Brittany
• Heiric of Auxerre, Frankish theologian and writer (b. 841)
• Hessel Hermana, Frisian governor (approximate date)
• Pascweten, duke ('king') of Brittany
• Pyinbya, king of Burma (b. 817)
• Raganar, Frankish nobleman
• Wulfad, Frankish archbishop

877

• August 5 – Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan, Abbasid vizier
• October 6 – Charles the Bald, Holy Roman emperor (b. 823)^[41]
• October 23 – Ignatius, patriarch of Constantinople
• Andrew the Scot, Irish archdeacon (approximate date)
• Bernard II, Frankish nobleman (approximate date)
• Carloman, Frankish abbot (approximate date)
• Constantine I, king of Alba (Scotland)
• Engelram, Frankish chamberlain
• Gérard II, Frankish nobleman (or 879)
• Halfdan Ragnarsson, Viking leader and 'king' of Northumbria
• Jayavarman III, king of the Khmer Empire (Cambodia)
• Johannes Scotus Eriugena, Irish theologian (approximate date)
• Musa ibn Bugha al-Kabir, Abbasid general
• Ōe no Otondo, Japanese scholar (b. 811)
• Savaric I, bishop of Mondoñedo (b. 866)
• Wang Ying, Chinese rebel leader

878

Emperor Seiwa

• Abu Zur'a al-Razi, Muslim scholar
• Áed mac Cináeda, king of Alba (Scotland)^[42]
• Adelchis, prince of Benevento
• Amoghavarsha I, king of Rashtrakuta (b. 800)
• Anastasius Bibliothecarius, antipope of Rome (approximate date)
• Gauzfrid, Count of Maine, Frankish nobleman
• Iljko, duke (knyaz) of Croatia
• Rhodri the Great, king of Wales
• Run of Alt Clut, king of Strathclyde (approximate date)
• Ubba Ragnarsson, Viking chieftain
• Wang Xianzhi, Chinese rebel leader

879

• April 10 – Louis the Stammerer, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (b. 846)
• April 18 – Seishi, empress of Japan (b. 810)
• June 5 – Ya'qub ibn al-Layth, founder of the Saffarid Dynasty (b. 840)
• Abi'l-Saj Devdad, Sogdian prince
• Áed Findliath, high king of Ireland
• Ahmad ibn al-Khasib al-Jarjara'i, Muslim vizier
• Ansegisus, archbishop of Sens (or 883)
• Baldwin I, margrave of Flanders
• Ceolwulf II, king of Mercia (approximate date)
• Cormac mac Ciaran, Irish abbot
• Gebhard, Frankish nobleman
• Gérard II, Frankish nobleman (or 877)
• Hincmar, Frankish bishop
• Landulf II, bishop and count of Capua
• Li Wei, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
• Rurik, prince of Novgorod
• Sulayman ibn Abdallah, Muslim governor
• Suppo II, duke of Spoleto (approximate date)
• Zdeslav, duke (knyaz) of Croatia

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