865 CE

Autumn – King Æthelberht of Wessex dies after a 5-year reign, and is buried at Sherborne Abbey (Dorset). He is succeeded by his brother Æthelred I, as ruler of Wessex. Kassia, a Byzantine abbess and hymnographer, dies. She is one of the first Early Medieval composers of many hymns. Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok is captured by the Northumbrians in battle, and killed by being thrown into a pit filled with venomous snakes, on the orders of King Ælla of Northumbria.

In the 860s, the 9th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • King Louis the German divides the East Frankish Kingdom among his three sons. Carloman receives Bavaria (with more lands along the Inn River). He gives Saxony to Louis the Younger (with Franconia, and Thuringia) and Swabia (with Raetia) to Charles the Fat. Louis arranges marriages into the local aristocracy, for his sons to hold important territories along the frontiers.source

Conflict & Security

  • The Great Heathen Army (probably no more than 1,000 men) of Vikings, led by Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan Ragnarsson, invades East Anglia. King Edmund of East Anglia buys peace with a supply of horses.source
  • Boris I, ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire, suppresses a revolt, and orders the execution of 52 leading boyars, along with their whole families.source

Religion & Belief

  • Caliphal Civil War: An armed conflict starts between the rival Muslim caliphs al-Musta'in and al-Mu'tazz. They fight to determine who takes control over the Abbasid Caliphate (until 866).source
  • King Lothair II, threatened with excommunication, takes back his first wife, Teutberga. She expresses her desire for an annulment, but this is refused by Pope Nicholas I.source

Crime & Justice

  • Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok is captured by the Northumbrians in battle, and killed by being thrown into a pit filled with venomous snakes, on the orders of King Ælla of Northumbria.source

Births

  • Al-Nayrizi, Persian mathematician (died 922)source
  • Louis III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 863)source
  • Jinseong, queen of Silla (approximate date)source
  • Baldwin II, Frankish margrave (approximate date)source
  • Lady Ren Neiming, Chinese noblewoman (died 918)source
  • Simeon I, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire (or 864)source

Deaths

  • February 3 – Ansgar, Frankish monk and archbishop (born 801)source
  • March 8 – Rudolf of Fulda, German theologiansource
  • November 11 – Petronas, Byzantine generalsource
  • December 26 – Zheng, empress of the Tang dynastysource
  • Pepin II, king of Aquitaine (approximate date)source
  • Liu Gongquan, Chinese calligrapher (born 778)source
  • Antony the Younger, Byzantine governor and saint (born 785)source
  • Autumn – King Æthelberht of Wessex dies after a 5-year reign, and is buried at Sherborne Abbey (Dorset). He is succeeded by his brother Æthelred I, as ruler of Wessex.source
  • Kassia, a Byzantine abbess and hymnographer, dies. She is one of the first Early Medieval composers of many hymns.source
  • Gao Qu, chancellor of the Tang dynastysource
  • Ragnar Lodbrok, king of Denmark and Swedensource
  • Tigernach mac Fócartai, king of Lagore (Ireland)source
  • Yahya ibn Umar, Muslim imam (or 864)source
  • Kassia, Byzantine abbess and hymnographersource