796

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A coin depicting Offa of Mercia (757–796)

Year 796 (DCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 796 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Europe

• King Charlemagne and his son Pepin of Italy launch a successful two-pronged invasion of the Avar Khaganate (modern Hungary). They seize the Avar "ring" (the nomadic tent capital), destroying Avar power before returning with so much booty in gold and jewels that 15 wagons, each drawn by four oxen, are needed to bring it back to Frankish territory.^[1] Charlemagne wins a major victory (in which the Pannonian Croatian duke Vojnomir aids him) and the Franks make themselves overlords over the Croatians of northern Dalmatia, Slavonia, and Pannonia. Frankish missionaries are sent to the area to convert the pagan population to Christianity.^[2]

Britain

• April 18 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered, probably at Corbridge, by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. Another rival, Torhtmund slays Ealdred in revenge. Northumbria is plunged into confusion. The patrician Osbald is placed on the throne, but is deserted by his supporters after only 27 days. He flees from Lindisfarne to Pictland. Another faction, brings back Æthelred I's old back-from-the-dead rival, Eardwulf, as new king. He dismisses his wife and publicly take a concubine. Eardwulf is alienated from archbishop Eanbald of York.
• King Offa of Mercia and Charlemagne seal a trading agreement and a marriage alliance is proposed. However, Offa dies after a 39-year reign that has incorporated Kent, Essex, Sussex, and East Anglia into Mercian realm. Offa is buried at Bedford and succeeded for a short time by his son Ecgfrith, and then a distant cousin, Coenwulf.
• Prince Eadberht Præn leaves the Church, returns to Kent and claims his throne. One Eadwald proclaims himself king of East Anglia, but is later ousted by Coenwulf. Direct rule from Mercia is re-established.

By topic

Religion

• Alcuin, Anglo-Saxon monk and scholar, is appointed as abbot by Charlemagne and puts him in care of leading Marmoutier Abbey in Tours.
• Tō-ji, a Buddhist temple of the Shingon sect, is established in Kyoto, Japan.

Births

• Al-Mu'tasim, Muslim caliph (d. 842)
• Dhul-Nun al-Misri, Egyptian scholar and Sufi (d. 859)
• Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub al-Juzajani, Muslim hadith scholar
• Liu Zhuan, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 858)
• Lü Dongbin, Chinese scholar and poet
• Xiao Fang, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 875)

Deaths

• April 18 – Æthelred I, king of Northumbria
• Colla mac Fergusso, king of Connacht (Ireland)
• August 10 – Eanbald, archbishop of York
• Ecgfrith, king of Mercia
• Fujiwara no Tsuginawa, Japanese statesman (b. 727)
• June 12 – Hisham I, Muslim emir (b. 757)
• Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari, Muslim philosopher (or 806)
• July 29 – Offa, king of Mercia (b. 730)
• Sibawayh, Persian linguist and grammarian (b. 760)
• Tassilo III, duke of Bavaria (approximate date)

References