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The 830s

219 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 9th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

830 CE30 entries

  • June 5 – Emperor Theophilos, 16, marries the Armenian noblewoman Theodora, in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople. He chooses her during a representation of a bride-show; she becomes empress (Augusta) of the Byzantine Empire.
  • Byzantine–Arab War: Muslim reinforcements from Ifriqiya and Al-Andalus (modern Spain) defeat Byzantine forces under Theodotus in Sicily, but a plague once again compels them to retreat to Mazara del Vallo, and evacuate to North Africa.
  • Ansgar, a Frankish missionary, visits the trade city Birka, located at Lake Mälaren in Sweden (approximate date).

831 CE15 entries

  • Emperor Louis the Pious is reinstated as sole ruler of the Frankish Empire. He promises his sons Pepin I and Louis the German a greater share of the inheritance. His eldest son Lothair I is pardoned, but disgraced and banished to Italy.
  • Summer – Ansgar, Frankish missionary, founds the first church at Birka (modern Sweden).
  • Byzantine–Arab War: Emperor Theophilos invades the Abbasid dominions, and reaches the Euphrates River in north-eastern Syria. He captures and sacks the city of Tarsus, but is defeated in Cappadocia.

832 CE16 entries

  • The Flag of Scotland: According to legend, King Óengus II of Fortriu leads an army of Picts and Scots, against the invading Angles from Northumbria, near Athelstaneford.
  • The town of Clondalkin (modern Ireland) is sacked by Vikings from Denmark, and the monastery is burnt to the ground.
  • Byzantine–Arab War: The Byzantine fortress of Loulon (modern Turkey) is captured by the Abbasids. Its garrison surrenders to Caliph Al-Ma'mun, after a lengthy siege.

833 CE23 entries

  • June – Lothair I, eldest son of Emperor Louis the Pious, joins the rebellion of his brothers Pepin I and Louis the German, with the assistance of Archbishop Ebbo. Louis is forced to abdicate, on the plains of Rothfield (near Colmar).
  • August 7 – Caliph Al-Ma'mun dies after a 20-year reign. He is succeeded two days later by his half-brother al-Mu'tasim, as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.
  • Ibn Hisham, Muslim historian, collects oral traditions that form the basis for the biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

834 CE20 entries

  • July 20 – Ansegisus, Frankish abbot and advisor of former emperor Charlemagne, dies at Fontenelle Abbey in Normandy (or 833).
  • Danish Vikings raid the trading settlement of Dorestad (present-day Wijk bij Duurstede), located in the southeast of the province of Utrecht (modern Netherlands).
  • Summer – The Viking ship of Oseberg near Tønsberg (modern Norway) is buried in a mound, during the Viking Age (approximate date).

835 CE26 entries

  • November 1 – Pope Gregory IV promotes the celebration of the feast of All Saints on this day throughout the Frankish Empire.
  • December 14 – Sweet Dew Incident: Emperor Wenzong of Tang plots to free the court from the influence of his palace eunuchs. In the northeast sector of the capital, Chang'an, after the failure of the emperor's chancellor Li Zhongyan to subdue the eunuchs' influence, troops under the eunuchs' command slaughter many officials and other associates.
  • The Isle of Sheppey (off the northern coast of Kent) is attacked by Vikings.

836 CE27 entries

  • July 4 – Pactum Sicardi: Prince Sicard of Benevento signs a 5-year armistice with the duchies of Sorrento, Naples and Amalfi. He recognizes the trade of merchants among the three cities in Southern Italy.
  • Driven by tensions between his favoured Turkish guard and the populace of Baghdad, Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim moves his residence to the new city of Samarra, 130 km north of Baghdad. With brief interruptions, the city will remain the seat of the Abbasid caliphs until 892.
  • Battle of Carhampton: Danish Vikings arrive in the Wessex areas of Somerset and North Devon. Ecgberht, King of Wessex fights them but is forced to withdraw.

837 CE15 entries

  • April 10 – Halley's Comet passes approximately 5 million km from Earth, its closest ever approach.
  • The Slavs in the vicinity of Thessaloniki revolt against the Byzantine Empire. Theophilos undertakes an evacuation of some Byzantine captives, who are settled in trans-Danubian Bulgaria.
  • Byzantine–Arab War: Emperor Theophilos leads a massive Byzantine expeditionary force into Mesopotamia. He sacks the cities Arsamosata and Sozopetra — which some sources claim as the birthplace of Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tasim — and forces Melitene to pay tribute.

838 CE24 entries

  • January – Babak Khorramdin, an Iranian military leader, is brutally executed by order of al-Mu'tasim.
  • Battle of Hingston Down: Ecgberht, King of Wessex, leads his men to defeat a combined force of Cornish and Danish Vikings at Hingston Down in Cornwall.
  • Approximate date – The Stone of Destiny, an oblong block of red sandstone, is placed at Scone Palace for the coronation of the first monarchs of Scotland.

839 CE23 entries

  • May 20 — Thirteen months before his death, Louis the Pious, successor to his father Charlemagne, consents to the division of Charlemagne's empire among his sons in a declaration at Worms. Upon Louis I's death in 840, Lothair (age 45) is devised Middle Francia that includes Switzerland and northern Italy; Louis the German (Louis II), age 36, receives Eastern Francia that includes much of Germany; and Charles the Bald (17) gets West Francia that incorporates most of France.
  • The first official mention of Andorra is recorded, in the manuscripts of the cathedral at La Seu d'Urgell (modern Spain).
  • Battle of 839: Eóganan mac Óengusa, King of the Picts, his brother Bran, Áed mac Boanta, King of Dál Riata, "and others almost innumerable" are killed in a battle fought by the men of Fortriu in Scotland against Vikings. Alpín mac Echdach (Alpín II) apparently succeeds Áed.