This page comprises the years 801 thru 900. It will later on be divided into decades, but not into individual years. Until then this is a century page. But even when it is divided into centuries, we will keep this age intact, for easier reading for these are years that interest many of us with the rich Viking history and beginnings of England.

The birth dates of many of these people you see here are uncertain (even the years), while the time of death is naturally more widely known. Still, there is something to behold even with the scarcity of information, and those of you who want to know more, there are always ways to do that.

It was a century when large-scale Viking attacks on Europe begin, Charlemagne reigns, China is reunited and the Medieval Warm Period begins.

800s – 810s – 820s – 830s – 840s – 850s – 860s – 870s – 880s – 890s

801-xxxx Al-Kindi* philosopher/polymath/musician - Kufa, Abbasid Caliphate (873/c.72)
801-0617 Drogo of Metz* cleric/abbot/an illegitimate son of  the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne - Aachen, Germany (855/54)

809 War between the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria begins

810-xxxx Abbas ibn Firnas* polymath/inventor/musician - Izn-Rand Onda, Andalucia (887/c.77)
810-0720 Muhammad al-Bukhari* Persian Islamic scholar - Bukhara, Abbasid Caliphate (870/60)

812-0418 Al-Wathiq* (b Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad) Abbasid caliph - Mecca, Abbasid Caliphate (847/35)

8xx Ketill Flatnose* (b Ketill Björnsson) Viking explorer/Norse King of the Isles/son of Björn Grímsson - Scandinavia (year of birth & death unknown)

814 Charlemagne dies in the city of Aachen.

815  A 30-year peace agreement is signed between the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria.

823-0613 Charles the Bald* King of the Franks - Frankfurt, Germany (877/54)
826-0122 Emperor Montoku* the 55th emperor of Japan - Heian Kyo (Kyoto), Japan (858/31)
826-1129 William of Septimania* Count of Toulouse from 844/Count of Barcelona from 848 - (850/c.24)

830 The Ghana Empire is established.

830c Rurik* founder of the Rurik Dynasty (879)

835 Guthrum* Danish Viking leader/King of East Anglia - Denmark (c.890/c. 55)

840-1025 Ya’qūb ibn al-Layth al-Saffār* Persian coppersmith/founder of the Saffarid dynasty of Sistan - Karnin, modern-day Afganistan (879/39)

In the year 841, Frankish forces are defeated in the Battle of Fontenay (June 25), Vikings sail up the River Seine and devastate the city of Rouen in Normandy. They burn the Benedictine monastery of Jumièges Abbey; 68 captives are taken, and returned on payment of a ransom, by the monks of St. Denis (summer), Dublin is founded on the east coast of Ireland by the Norwegian Vikings.

In the year 843, King Kenneth MacAlpin of the Scots also becomes king of the Picts, crowned as first monarch of the new nation of Scotland.

843 Judith of Flanders* Queen of Wessex/daughter of Charles II, King of West Francia and the great-granddaughter of Charlemagne  (after 879)

In the year 844, Vikings attempt to raid Seville (Sep 25), but are expelled by forces of the Emirate of Córdoba by November, King Æthelred II of Northumbria is expelled from his kingdom by Rædwulf who is later killed in battle against the Vikings, whereby Æthelred can return and claim his right to rule.

In the year 845, buddhism is persecuted and banned in China.

849 Ingólfr Arnarson* commonly recognized as the first permanent Norse settler of Iceland - Rivedal, Sunnfjord, Kingdom of Fjordane (c.910/c. 61)

849 Alfred the Great* King of the West Saxons/then King of the Anglo-Saxons/son of King Æthelwulf - Wantage, Berkshire, Wessex (899/c. 50)

In the year 850, King Kenneth I of Alba (Scotland) invades Northern Northumbria for some 8 years. Coffee is discovered (according to legend) by the Ethiopian goatherder Kaldi in East Africa, who notices that his goats become energetic after chewing the red berries from certain wild bushes (approximate date).

850-xxxx Harald Fairhair* first King of Norway (932/c.82)

860-xxxx Rollo* (b Hrólfr) Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy. The offspring of Rollo and his followers became known as the “Normans” - Scandinavia (930/c.70)

862-0608 Emperor Xuzong* Tang Dynasty - China (888/)

In the year 871, The Danish Vikings invade Wessex. A West Saxon force, under the command of King Æthelred I and his brother Alfred, (later Alfred the Great) is defeated by the Danes at the Battle of Reading. Their father King Æthelwulf dies, and Vikings continue their advance into Wessex (Jan 4), Alfred succeeds as king of Wessex after Æthelred’s death. He makes peace with the Danes, and pays them Danegeld, each ruling parts of England (Apr 23),

In the year 874, Ingólfr Arnarson arrives in Iceland from Norway as the first permanent Viking settler in Iceland. He founds Reykjavík, and thus the settlement of Iceland begins (appr date).

874 Edward the Elder* son of Alfred the Great - (924/c. 50)

879 Ceolwulf II, the last king of independent Mercia, dies.

In the year 880, Alfred the Great agrees to a peace treaty with Guthrum, leader of the Danish Vikings who had settled in East Anglia. In West Francia, King Louis III defeats Vikings (probably Norsemen) attacking from England in the Battle of Thimeon. King Harald Fairhair moves east along the Norwegian coast with his fleet, and defeats his rival Atle Mjove in the Battle of Fjaler.

885-xxxx Eric Bloodaxe* (b Eirik Haraldsson) King of Norway (932-934)/King of Northumbria (947-948 and 952- 954)/son of Harald Fairhair - Norway (954)

In the year 886, King _Alfred the Great _of Wessex recaptures London from the Danish Vikings, and renames it Lundenburh. He receives the formal submission of all of the citizens of England not under Viking rule, and adopts the title ‘King of the Anglo-Saxons’.

In the year 887, East Frankish magnates revolt against the inept emperor Charles III and depose him, and crown his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia the new ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom (Nov 17)

In the year of 889, Lord Æthelred II and Lady Æthelflæd (daughter of Alfred the Great) of the Mercians begin fortifying Mercian cities as defensive burghs, starting with Worcester. Meanwhile in Scotland, Kings Eochaid and Giric of Alba and Strathclyde are deposed by Viking invaders, and succeeded by Donald II who becomes king of Scotland.

In the year 890, King Alfred the Great begins to commission and undertake a series of translations into Old English, beginning with his own version of Pastoral Care by Pope Gregory the Great. Ohthere of Hålogaland, a Norse Viking seafarer, narrates the story of his travels to Alfred the Great who arranges for it to be written down.

In the year 892, a Viking fleet (250 longships) arrives at the settlement of Lympne (East Kent), and attack the small fortification (autumn), Viking raiders (80 ships) from Denmark under Hastein arrive in the Thames Estuary, and set up camp at Middleton. King Alfred the Great decides to position his army in the Wealden Forest.

In the year 893, Prince Edward, the son of King Alfred the Great, defeats the Danish Viking raiders at Farnham, and forces them to take refuge on Thorney Island. At the same time, Danes from East Anglia sail around the Cornish coast, and besiege Exeter (spring), Danish Vikings under Hastein take the city of Chester, after a rapid march from East Anglia. Alfred the Great destroys the food supplies, forcing them to move into Wales (autumn).

893-xxxx William Longsword* Count of Rouen/son of the Viking Rollo - Bayeux or Rouen, France (942/c.49)

In the year 899, King Alfred the Great (871-899) dies after a successful 28-year reign, and is succeeded by his son Edward the Elder (Oct 26), Æthelwold disputes the succession, and seizes the royal estates at Wimborne, but then flees to Northumbria (winter), Arnulf of Carinthia of the East Frankish Kingdom dies, and while his son Louis III as successor to the throne is only 6, counselor Hatto I becomes regent (Dec 8)

Updated 28.3.2023

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