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The 760s

187 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 8th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

760 CE26 entries

  • The Maya city of Dos Pilas (modern Guatemala) is abandoned, after the Tamarindito and Petexbatún centres revolt against their Dos Pilas overlord.
  • Frankish King Pepin III ("the Short") begins his expedition to Septimania and Aquitaine. He conquers the cities of Carcassonne, Toulouse, Rodez and Albi. Duke Waifer of Aquitaine confiscates the Church lands, and plunders Burgundy. Pepin invades Aquitanian-held Berry and the Auvergne, capturing the fortresses of Bourbon and Clermont. Waifer's Basque troops are defeated by the Franks, and deported into northern France with their children and wives.
  • The Kingdom of Nanzhao (Nanchao) in modern-day southern China expands into the Irrawaddy River region, first into Burma, then down into northern Laos and Thailand (approximate date).

761 CE16 entries

  • August 6 – Battle of Eildon: King Æthelwald Moll of Northumbria faces a rebellion, under a rival claimant to the throne named Oswine, brother of the murdered King Oswulf of Northumbria. Oswine is killed after a three-day battle against the forces of Æthelwald in Scotland.
  • The Japanese priest Dōkyō cures Empress Kōken by using prayers and potions. He may have become her lover and certainly becomes her court favorite, arousing the jealousy of Emperor Junnin.
  • The city of Oviedo (Northern Spain) is founded by the monks Nolan and John (approximate date).

762 CE19 entries

  • September 25 – The Alid Revolt begins: Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya raises the banner against the Abbasids at Medina, followed by his brother Ibrahim ibn Abdallah at Basra in early 763. Muhammad's rebellion is suppressed, and he is killed by Abbasid troops under Isa ibn Musa.
  • The Chinese official Li Fuguo murders Empress Zhang, wife of Emperor Su Zong. Shortly afterward Su Zong dies of a heart attack; he is succeeded by his son Dai Zong, who kills Li by sending assassins.
  • Al-Ala ibn Mugith, supporter of the Abbasid cause, is defeated by the Umayyad emir of al-Andalus, Abd al-Rahman I, at Beja (modern-day Portugal).

763 CE15 entries

  • January 21 – Battle of Bakhamra: The Abbasid army under Isa ibn Musa defeats the Alids, and puts an end to their rebellion. The power of the Abbasid dynasty is consolidated.
  • February 17 – An Lushan Rebellion: Emperor Shi Chaoyi hangs himself to avoid being captured by Tang troops sent by the renegade Li Huaixian, ending the 7-year rebellion against the Tang dynasty in China.
  • November 18 – Forces of the Tibetan Empire, under Trisong Detsen, occupy the Tang capital of Chang'an (modern Xi'an) for 15 days, and install a puppet emperor. Tibetans take over the horse pastures.

764 CE16 entries

  • October 14–21 – Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion: A short-lived revolt led by Fujiwara no Nakamaro is suppressed. Emperor Junnin is deposed after a 6-year reign, and forced into exile. Former empress Kōken reassumes the imperial throne of Japan, and takes the name Shōtoku. She appoints her close associate, the priest Dōkyō, prime minister (taishi), running the government with him. Nakamaro is captured and killed with his wife and children.
  • According to the historian Theophanes the Confessor, icebergs float past Constantinople from the Black Sea (approximate date).
  • Domenico Monegario is deposed, after Pope Paul I demanded donations from Venice. Monegario is blinded and exiled, and succeeded by Maurizio Galbaio as the 7th doge of Venice. During his reign, Venetian wealth is increased via trade.

765 CE21 entries

  • The Zenata Berber tribe of Banu Ifran rebels against the Abbasid Caliphate, and creates an independent state centered around Tlemcen (modern Algeria). Their tribal chief Abu Qurra rebuilds the city (formerly, the Roman colonia Pomaria).
  • European writings make the first known mention of a three-field system in use in medieval Europe. The crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons. Under this system, the land of an estate or village is divided into three large fields, and makes a given section of land productive 2 years out of 3, instead of every other year (approximate date).
  • King Pepin III ("the Short") restores the papal privileges (see Donation of Pepin) in Benevento and Tuscany territory (and partially in Spoleto).

766 CE19 entries

  • August 25 – Emperor Constantine V publicly humiliates 19 high-ranking officials in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, after discovering a plot against him. He executes the leaders, Constantine Podopagouros and his brother Strategios, and blinds and exiles the rest.
  • Autumn – Siege of Kamacha: Abbasid forces under al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba are defeated at the fortress city of Kamacha, in eastern Cappadocia (modern Turkey). A Byzantine relief army (12,000 men) forces the Abbasids to retreat into Armenia.
  • The Karluks defeat the Turgesh Khaganate in Central Asia. Most of Turkestan (former Onoq territory) falls under Karluk rule, except west of Lake Aral, where the loose confederation of the Oghuz Turks is about to emerge.

767 CE21 entries

  • June 28 – Pope Paul I dies at Rome after a 10-year reign, in which he has protested against Constantine V's revival of Iconoclasm at Constantinople. He gives refuge to Greek monks who were expelled from the Byzantine Empire, and moves the relics of many saints from the catacombs to Roman churches. Duke Toto of Nepi has his layman brother elected to succeed Paul, under the name Constantine II.
  • Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Constantine V invades Bulgaria across the Balkan Mountains, setting afire some settlements around the Bulgarian capital of Pliska. Constantine accepts a peace agreement with Pagan, the Bulgar ruler (khagan), whose land is in anarchy.
  • Pepin III receives a Byzantine delegation at his court in Gentilly (southern suburbs of Paris). They discuss foreign policy regarding Italy, and Byzantine Iconoclasm.

768 CE19 entries

  • August 7 – Pope Stephen III succeeds Paul I as the 94th pope of the Catholic Church. The antipope Constantine II is overthrown at Rome, through intervention by King Desiderius of the Lombards, after a brief reign (see 767).
  • September 24 – King Pepin III (the Short) dies at Saint-Denis, Neustria. The Frankish Kingdom is divided between his two sons: Charlemagne and Carloman I. According to Salic law Charlemagne receives the outer parts of the kingdom bordering on the sea, namely Neustria, western Aquitaine, and the northern parts of Austrasia; while Carloman is awarded his uncle's former share, the inner parts: southern Austrasia, Septimania, eastern Aquitaine, Burgundy, Provence, Swabia, and the lands bordering Italy.
  • The Kasuga Shrine is erected at Nara (Japan), by the Fujiwara family. The interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the stone lanterns that lead up to the Shinto shrine

769 CE15 entries

  • April 12–15 – Pope Stephen III holds a Lateran Council: the papal election procedure (abuse of which has led to the election of antipopes) is changed, and the iconoclasm of the Council of Hieria is anathematized.
  • Hersfeld Abbey (modern-day Hesse-Nassau), Germany, is founded by Lullus, archbishop of Mainz (approximate date).
  • Tallaght Monastery is founded in Ireland by Máel Ruain; it becomes a centre of learning and piety, particularly associated with the Culdees' (Céli Dé) spiritual reform movement.