/year

The 610s

205 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 7th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

610 CE24 entries

  • October 3 – Heraclian revolt: Heraclius arrives with a fleet from Africa at Constantinople. Assisted by an uprising in the capital, he overthrows and personally beheads Emperor Phocas. Heraclius gains the throne with help from his father Heraclius the Elder. His first major act is to change the official language of the Byzantine Empire from Latin to Greek (already the language of the vast majority of the population).
  • The Volga Bulgaria arises on the territory of modern Russia, being the first civilization in the region to arise from the Early Slavs (approximate date).
  • Muhammad, Islamic prophet, begins at 40 years old to preach a religion which will be called Islam. According to Islamic teachings, the angel Gabriel appears to him in a cave on Mount Hira near Mecca (Saudi Arabia) and calls him: "The Prophet of Allah". Muhammad gathers followers, reciting to them the first verses of Qur'an(Iqra), thus beginning the revelation of the Qur'an.

611 CE9 entries

  • The Four Gates Pagoda, located in central Shandong Province (East China), is completed.
  • Byzantine–Persian War: The Persian army under Shahrbaraz captures Antioch, and most of the remaining Byzantine fortresses in Syria and Mesopotamia. King Khosrau II is re-establishing a neo-Persian Empire, and intensifies his war effort. The Byzantine army, ruined by defeat and corruption, offers only half-hearted opposition.
  • Cynegils becomes king of the West Saxons, or Wessex, after the death of his uncle Ceolwulf (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle). He rules from 611 to 643 and shares power to some extent with his eldest son, Cwichelm, who may have been given Upper Wessex (approximate date).

612 CE20 entries

  • August 13 – Empress Eudokia, wife of Heraclius, dies of epilepsy. She leaves two children, and is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.
  • October 22 – Sak Kʼukʼ succeeds her father Ajen Yohl Mat, as queen of the Maya state of Palenque (modern Mexico).
  • Columbanus moves to Italy and establishes the monastery of Bobbio (approximate date).

613 CE18 entries

  • January 22 – Constantine is crowned co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius and shortly after betrothed to his cousin, Gregoria, daughter of Nicetas. Only 8 months old, Constantine has no real power and his dynastic title is purely ceremonial.
  • Isanapura becomes the capital of the Cambodian kingdom of Chenla (approximate date).
  • Battle of Antioch: Heraclius mobilises a Byzantine expeditionary force to Antioch (Syria), but is completely defeated outside the city by the Persians. Shahin Vahmanzadegan makes further inroads into Central and Western Anatolia. In Syria, Shahrbaraz captures the cities of Damascus, Apamea and Emesa.

614 CE16 entries

  • October 18 – King Chlothar II promulgates the Edict of Paris (Edictum Chlotacharii), a sort of Frankish Magna Carta that defends the rights of the Frankish nobles and the church, and regulates the appointment of counts (secular officials in charge of law courts, collecting taxes, and assembling contingents for the army), while it excludes Jews from all civil employment in the Frankish Kingdom.
  • Battle of Bampton: King Cynegils of Wessex defeats the invading Britons in Dumnonia (modern Devon). They use the Roman road eastward from Exeter to Dorchester, and are intercepted by the West Saxons marching south.
  • Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem: A Persian–Judaean army (26,000 men) commanded by Shahrbaraz captures and sacks Jerusalem, after a 20-day siege against the Byzantine Empire. Somewhere between 57,000 and 66,500 citizens are slain; another 35,000 are enslaved, including the Patriarch Zacharias. Many churches in the city (including the "Church of the Resurrection" or Holy Sepulchre) are burned, and numerous relics, including the True Cross, the Holy Lance, and the Holy Sponge, are carried off to the Persian capital Ctesiphon.

615 CE23 entries

  • May 25 – Pope Boniface IV dies after a 7-year reign, in which he has converted the Pantheon into the Church of "Santa Maria Rotonda". He is succeeded by Adeodatus I (also known as Deusdedit) as the 68th pope of Rome.
  • July 29 – Queen Sak Kʼukʼ is succeeded by her son Pacal the Great, as ruler of the Maya city state Palenque (Mexico). He begins a building program at his capital, that produces some of Maya civilization's finest art and architecture.
  • Edwin of Northumbria takes refuge in East Anglia; he marries Cwenburga, daughter of king Cearl of Mercia (according to the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum).

616 CE27 entries

  • February 24 – Æthelberht, the first Christian Anglo-Saxon king, dies in Kent after a 26-year reign. He is succeeded by his pagan son, Eadbald, who promptly marries his stepmother Emma, in accordance with pre-Christian custom.
  • Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628: The Jews of Jerusalem gain complete control over the city; much of Judea and Galilee becomes an autonomous Jewish province of the Persian Empire. The Jewish Temple is rebuilt by Nehemiah ben Hushiel (exilarch of Jerusalem), who establishes a High Priesthood.
  • The Quraish clans begins to boycott Muhammad and Banu Hashem, in order to put pressure on his Muslim followers and his Islamic preachings.

617 CE18 entries

  • September 8 – Battle of Huoyi: Rebel forces under Li Yuān defeat the Sui troops near the Fen River, and capture the Chinese capital, Chang'an. Li has gained support from Shibi, ruler (khagan) of the Eastern Turks, who secures his northern frontier and supplies him with 2,000 horses.
  • Heathens revolt in Kent under King Eadbald. During the uprising Justus, bishop of Rochester, flees to Gaul.
  • Battle of Bu'ath: A pre-Islamic Arabian conflict between the Aws and Khazraj, two major Arabian tribes of Medina.

618 CE22 entries

  • June 18 – The Sui dynasty ends: Rebel leader Li Yuan captures Luoyang, and has Emperor Yángdi murdered. He proclaims himself emperor Gao Zu and establishes the Tang dynasty, one of the most notable dynasties in Chinese history, which will last for almost 300 years.
  • October 6 – Battle of Yanshi: Wang Shichong decisively defeats Li Mi, during the transition from Sui to Tang civil war.
  • November 29 – Battle of Qianshuiyuan: The Tang dynasty scores a decisive victory over their rival Xue Rengao.

619 CE28 entries

  • November 2 – Tang campaigns against the Western Turks: A khagan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals, with the approval of Emperor Gaozu of Tang.
  • December 23 – Pope Boniface V succeeds Adeodatus I as the 69th pope of Rome.
  • Muhammad's wife, Khadija, dies after 24 years of marriage in the Year of Sorrow.