853 CE

A Byzantine fleet (85 ships and 5,000 men) sacks and destroys the port city of Damietta, located on the Nile Delta in Egypt. A large quantity of weapons and supplies intended for the Emirate of Crete are captured. Danish Vikings attempt to subjugate the Curonians on the shoreline of the Baltic Sea, but they are repulsed. King Olof leads Swedish Vikings in retaliation, and attacks the towns of Seeburg and Apuolė (modern Courland). Burgred (who inherited his crown last year) marries Æthelwulf's daughter Æthelswith, during a ceremony at the royal estate at Chippenham.

In the 850s, the 9th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • King Charles the Bald bribes Boris I, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, to form an alliance against his brother Louis the German, with Rastislav of Moravia.source

Conflict & Security

  • May 22 – A Byzantine fleet (85 ships and 5,000 men) sacks and destroys the port city of Damietta, located on the Nile Delta in Egypt. A large quantity of weapons and supplies intended for the Emirate of Crete are captured.source
  • Danish Vikings attempt to subjugate the Curonians on the shoreline of the Baltic Sea, but they are repulsed. King Olof leads Swedish Vikings in retaliation, and attacks the towns of Seeburg and Apuolė (modern Courland).source
  • King Burgred of Mercia appeals to Æthelwulf, king of the West Saxons, for help against the rebellious Welsh king Rhodri the Great. Æthelwulf agrees to send help, and Wales is subdued as far north as Anglesey.source

Religion & Belief

  • The Fraumünster Church in Zürich (modern Switzerland) is founded by Louis the German.source
  • Viking marauders in Gaul sail eastward from Nantes without opposition, and reach Tours. The monasteries at Saint-Florent-le-Vieil and Marmoutier are ravaged.source

Culture & Society

  • Tuan Ch'eng-Shih, Chinese author and scholar during the Tang Dynasty, publishes Miscellaneous Offerings from Yu-yang.source
  • Burgred (who inherited his crown last year) marries Æthelwulf's daughter Æthelswith, during a ceremony at the royal estate at Chippenham.source

Births

  • Ma Yin, Chinese warlord and king (approximate date)source
  • Adelaide, queen of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 850)source
  • Abu Jafar al-Tahawi, Muslim scholar (died 933)source
  • Abu Mansur al-Maturidi, Muslim theologian (died 944)source

Deaths

  • March 27 – Haymo, bishop of Halberstadtsource
  • Áilgenán mac Donngaile, king of Munster (Ireland)source
  • Virasena, Indian mathematician (born 792)source
  • Theodrada, Frankish abbess, daughter of Charlemagne (or 844)source
  • Konstanti Kakhi, Georgian nobleman (born 768)source
  • Ishaq ibn Isma'il, emir of Tbilisi (Georgia)source
  • Columba, Spanish nun and martyrsource
  • Gauzbert, count of Maine (approximate date)source
  • Gauzbert, count of Maine, is killed during an ambush by citizens of Nantes, in revenge for the death of Lambert II.source
  • Ono no Takamura, Japanese scholar (born 802)source
  • Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, Muslim imam (or 852)source