859

Year 859 (DCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

Events

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By place

Europe

• January 15 &ndash; Battle of St. Quentin: Frankish forces, led by Humfrid, defeat King Louis the German at Saint-Quentin (Northern France). Humfrid is enfeoffed with the County of Autun, and appointed Margrave of Burgundy, by King Charles the Bald.
• Summer &ndash; The Viking chieftains Hastein and Björn Ironside (a son of Ragnar Lodbrok) begin an expedition, and sail from the Loire River with a fleet of 62 ships, to raid cities and monasteries in the Mediterranean Sea.
• Viking raiders invade the Kingdom of Pamplona (Western Pyrenees), and capture King García Íñiguez I, somewhere in the Andalusian heartland. They extort a ransom, rising to around 70,000 gold dinars.
• The Russian city of Novgorod is first mentioned in the Sofia Chronicles.
• Winter – The weather is so severe that the Adriatic Sea freezes, and Italy is covered in snow for 100 days.

Iberian Peninsula

• Battle of Albelda: King Ordoño I of Asturias, and his ally García Íñiguez I, defeat the Muslims under Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi at Albelda.
• Viking raiders burn the mosques of Seville and Algeciras in al-Andalus (modern Spain).

Africa

• The University of Al Karaouine is founded in Fes (modern Morocco), by Fatima al-Fihri (recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest still-operating university in the world).

China

• September 7 &ndash; Emperor Xuān Zong (Li Yi) dies after a 13-year reign. He is succeeded by his eldest son Yi Zong, as ruler of the Tang dynasty.

Syria

• 859 Syrian coast earthquake. It affected the Mediterranean coast of Syria It caused almost the complete destruction of Latakia and Jableh, major damage at Antioch and led to many deaths.

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Births

• Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, first Zaydi Imam of Yemen (d. 911)
• Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah, vizier of the Abbasid Caliphate (d. 946)
• Odo I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 860)
• Rudolph I, king of Burgundy (d. 912)
• Tannet of Pagan, king of Burma (d. 904)

Deaths

• September 7 &ndash; Xuān Zong, emperor of the Tang dynasty (b. 810)
• December 13 &ndash; Angilbert II, archbishop of Milan
• Dhul-Nun al-Misri, Egyptian scholar and Sufi (b. 796)
• Immo, bishop of Noyon (approximate date)
• Lu Shang, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (b. 789)
• Máel Gualae, king of Munster (Ireland)

References

Sources