Franks

historical Germanic ethnic group

157 dated entries naming Franks, drawn from 145 separate years between 240 CE and 851 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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3rd century

240The Roman Empire is threatened on several fronts at the same time. Africa revolts and tribes in northwest Germania, under the name of the Franks, are raiding the Rhine frontier.source
250A group of Franks penetrate as far as Tarragona in Spain (approximate date).source
251The prosperity of Roman Britain declines during this period, as the Germanic tribes of the Franks and Saxons, whose homelands are in Friesland and the Low Countries, make raids around the southeast coast.source
256The Franks cross the Rhine; the Alemanni reach Mediolanum (Milan) (disputed date).source
259The Franks, who invaded the Roman Empire near Cologne in 257, reach Tarraco in Hispania.source
260The Franks take control over the Scheldt estuary (approximate date).source
278Emperor Probus defeats the Alamanni, advancing through the Neckar Valley. He expels the Franks from Gaul, and reorganizes the Roman defenses on the Rhine.source
280Roman territory is under constant threat of raids from Franks. The cities in Gaul are reinforced with defensive walls.source
285Carausius, naval commander at Bononia (modern-day Boulogne), is given the task of clearing the English Channel of Frankish and Saxon pirates.source
286Summer: Carausius, commander of the Classis Britannica, is accused of piracy by Maximian and is sentenced to death. He responds by declaring himself emperor of Britain and Northwestern Gaul. His forces consist of the newly built Roman fleet and three legions in Britain. The Carausian Revolt is supported by Gaulish merchant ships and Frankish mercenaries.source
288Around this time, an army loyal to Maximian, probably led by the future emperor Constantius, defeats the usurper Carausius or his Frankish allies in northern Gaul. In this or the following year, Carausius withdraws his military forces and administrative presence from Gaul, confining himself to Roman Britain.source
293In this or the following year, Constantius defeats the Franks in Batavia (Netherlands).source
296Having supervised the Rhine frontier during Constantius' invasion of Britain, Maximian then marches into Spain, where he fights Frankish pirates. He then crosses into North Africa to contend with the rebellion of the Quinquegentiani.source
300Caesar Constantius I wins a victory over the Franks (approximate date).source

4th century

306Winter: Constantine fights with success against the Franks.source
310Maximian, retired emperor, rebels against Constantine I in Arles while the latter is campaigning against the Franks.source
320Crispus, eldest son of Constantine I, leads a victorious campaign against the Franks, assuring twenty years of peace along the Rhine frontier. He establishes his residence in Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier), capital of Germania.source
341Constans I begins a successful campaign against the Franks.source
352The Alamanni and the Franks cross the Rhine and defeat the depleted Roman units left at the frontier. The Germans take control of around 40 towns and cities between the Moselle and the Rhine.source
354As a result of the armies of the West having been largely withdrawn by the usurper Magnus Magnentius, to fight Constantius II, hordes of barbarians (Franks and Alemanni) cross the upper Rhine into Gaul and invade the lands of the Helvetians.source
355The Franks besiege Colonia Agrippinensium for ten months.source
367Winter – Valentinian I mobilises a massive army for his campaign against the Alamanni and the Franks. He summons the Italian and Illyrian legions for a spring offensive.source
388Frankish invasion of 388: Rebellious Franks led by Marcomer, Sunno and Genobaud invade the Roman Empire with plunder and threaten Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne). A part of the invaders are destroyed by the Romans in the charcoal forest (present-day Belgium). The Roman general Quintines pursues the invaders on Frankish soil and is ambushed. His army is surrounded and defeated by the Franks.source
392May 15 – Emperor Valentinian II, age 21, dies while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. He is found hanging in his residence at Vienne under unknown circumstances.source
394September 6 – Battle of the Frigidus: Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills the usurper Eugenius. The forces of Theodosius are bolstered by numerous auxiliaries, including 20,000 Visigoth federates under Alaric. The Frankish general Arbogast (magister militum) escapes into the Alps and commits suicide.source
395April 27 – Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto (without the knowledge or consent of Rufinus, Praetorian prefect of the East). His seven-year-old half-sister, Galla Placidia, is sent to Rome, where she spends her childhood in the household of Stilicho and his wife Serena.source
396Stilicho, Roman general (magister militum), controls the young emperor Honorius as his regent, and becomes the de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire. He enlists the Alemanni and the Franks, to defend the Rhine frontier.source

5th century

406Vandal-Frankish war: The Vandals, led by Godigisel, are intercepted and defeated by the Franks under Marcomir. Godigisel is killed in battle and succeeded by his son Gunderic.source
420The Franks cross the Rhine and invade Northern Gaul. In Italia an army is prepared to campaign with Castinus as chief.source
421The Franks conquer new territories in their kingdom and sack the old Roman capital Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier).source
422The Roman army invades Gaul; they capture and execute the Frankish king Theudemeres with his family.source
422Theudemeres, king of the Franks (approximate date)source
428Flavius Aetius gains appointment as master of both services (magister militum praesentalis), after gaining victories in Gaul over Visigoth and Frankish forces.source
453Vedast, Frankish bishop (approximate date)source
454September 21 – Emperor Valentinian III stabs his commander-in-chief Flavius Aetius to death, during a meeting of the imperial council at Ravenna. He has accused Aetius of plotting against him to seize power. After his assassination, the Western Roman Empire has no effective defender against its hostile barbarian neighbors (Alans, Franks, Ostrogoths, Vandals and Visigoths).source
456October 5 – The Visigoths under King Theodoric II, acting on orders of Avitus, invade Spain with an army of Burgundians, Franks and Goths, led by their kings Chilperic I and Gondioc. They defeat the Suebi under King Rechiar on the Urbicus River, near Astorga (Gallaecia); this shatters the power of the Suebi.source
459The Franks conquer the city of Trier. The Frankish Kingdom becomes a military power and gets involved in Roman politics.source
463In the Gothic war against Aegidius, Childeric I, king of the Salian Franks, allies with the Roman general Aegidius. This war is ended by the battle near Orléans, where the Visigoths under King Theodoric II are defeated by the Franks, while crossing the Loire River.source
486Franco-Roman War of 486 – Battle of Soissons (Gaul): Frankish forces under King Clovis I defeat the Roman army of Syagrius. Roman rule under Syagrius ends. The land between the Somme and the Loire becomes a part of the Frankish Empire. Syagrius flees to the Visigoths (under King Alaric II), but Clovis threatens war, and he is handed over for execution.source
493Theodoric the Great allies with the Franks and marries Audofleda, sister of Clovis I. He also marries his own female relatives to princes or kings of the Burgundians, Vandals and Visigoths, establishing a political alliance with the Germanic kingdoms in the West.source
495King Chlodomer of the Franks (d. 524)source
496Childebert I, king of the Franks (d. 558)source
499Ingund, queen of the Franks (approximate date)source
500Burgundian Civil War: Battle of Dijon: A coalition of Franks and Burgundians crush the forces under Gundobad. King Clovis I pursues him to Avignon, where he surrenders and promises to pay a yearly tribute.source
500Aregund, queen of the Franks (approximate date)source

6th century

507Battle of Vouillé: A Frankish army under command of Clovis I invades the Visigothic Kingdom, and defeats King Alaric II near Poitiers. The Visigoths refuse to be enslaved, and retreat to Septimania (Southern Gaul). Clovis annexes Aquitania, and captures Toulouse.source
508King Theodoric the Great sends an Ostrogoth army, led by his sword-bearer Theudis, drives the Franks out of Provence, and recovers Septimania (Languedoc) from the Visigoths.source
509Clovis I (Chlodowech) becomes the first Catholic king of the Franks, uniting all the Frankish tribes under his rule. He controls an immense territory in Gaul (modern France), and delivers a major blow for the Church against the Arian heresy.source
510King Theodoric the Great raises the Frankish siege at Arles; the city is heroically defended by its inhabitants, assisted by the Ostrogothic general Theudis. The Ostrogoths overrun Provence (Southern Gaul), and consolidate their gains in the region.source
511November 27 – Clovis I, king of the Frankssource
512The Ostrogoths conquer the Frankish province Rouergue (Southern Gaul).source
516Hygelac, king of the Geats (Sweden), raids the Lower Rhine, and is defeated by a Frankish force led by Theudebert (according to the "History of the Franks").source
517Charibert I, king of the Franks (approximate date)source
520Radegund, Frankish princess (approx.)source
523King Sigismund of Burgundy is defeated by the invading Franks under Chlodomer, Childebert I and Chlothar I. He is captured and taken as prisoner to Aurelianum (modern Orléans).source
524June 25 – Battle of Vézeronce: The Franks under Chlodomer, Childebert I and Chlothar I are defeated by the Burgundians and allied Ostrogoths near Isère (France), averting the Frankish advance into Burgundy. During the fighting Chlodomer is killed. Later Childebert annexes the cities of Chartres and Orléans.source
524June 25 – Chlodomer, king of the Frankssource
525Frankish tribesmen, under the command of King Chlothar I, plunder Burgundy.source
531The Franks under King Chlothar I march against the Thuringi with Chlothar's nephew Theudebert I. The Kingdom of Thuringia comes under Frankish domination.source
532Battle of Autun - The Franks, under command of King Childebert I and his brother Chlothar I, invade the Kingdom of Burgundy. They defeat the Burgundians under King Godomar near Autun (modern France).source
534The Frankish kings Childebert I and Chlothar I overthrow Godomar, king of the Burgundians, and end the Kingdom of Burgundy.source
536March – Ostrogothic King Theodahad cedes Provence and upper Alamannia to the Franks, gaining their support in the war. He sends a large Gothic army into Dalmatia. They defeat the Byzantines, Mundus is killed during the fighting at Salona, and the Byzantine army withdraws.source
538Summer – King Theudebert I sends a small Frankish force across the Alps, and defeats the Goths and Byzantines at the River Po. Belisarius retreats to Tuscany.source
539Belisarius, still besieging Ravenna, negotiates a treaty with Theodebert I (whose forces are suffering from dysentery), and the Franks retreat to Gaul. The Byzantine fleet controls the Adriatic Sea and blockades the port of the capital from supplies.source
542King Childebert I and his brother Chlothar I invade Visigothic Spain. They capture Pamplona, but Zaragoza withstands a siege and the Franks retreat to Gaul. From this expedition Childebert brings back to Paris a relic, the tunic of Saint Vincent.source
551Gothic War: Narses arrives in Venetia and discovers that a powerful Gothic-Frank army (50,000 men), under joint command of the kings Totila and Theudebald, has blocked the principal route to the Po Valley. Not wishing to engage such a formidable force and confident that the Franks would avoid a direct confrontation, Narses skirts the lagoons along the Adriatic shore, by using vessels to leapfrog his army from point to point along the coast. In this way he arrives at the capital Ravenna without encountering any opposition. He attacks and crushes a small Gothic force at Ariminum (modern Rimini).source
553The Ostrogothic Kingdom ends after 60 years of rule in Italy. The Goths are allowed to return to their homes in peace and (re)settle in modern-day Austria. Some 7,000 people retreat to Campsas (Southern Gaul), and resist with minimal help from the Franks against the Byzantines until 554.source
555King Chlothar I annexes the Frankish territories of Metz and Reims, after the death of his great-nephew Theudebald.source
557King Chlothar I of the Franks founds the Abbey of St. Medard at Soissons (Northern France).source
558December 13 – King Chlothar I reunites the Frankish Kingdom after his brother Childebert I dies, becoming sole ruler of the Franks.source
558December 13 – Childebert I, king of the Frankssource
561November 29 – Chlothar I, king of the Frankssource
567Charibert I, king of the Frankssource
569Emperor Justin II and his wife Sophia send a relic of the "True Cross" to the Frankish princess Radegund, who has founded a monastery at Poitiers.source
573The Lombards again raid Southern Gaul, but are defeated by the Franks under Mummolus, patricius and son of the Gallo-Roman count of Auxerre, and are driven out.source
575The Franks under Sigibert I pursue his half brother Chilperic I, and conquer the cities Poitiers and Tournai. While he is proclaimed new king of Neustria by the nobles, Sigibert is assassinated at Vitry-en-Artois (Northern Gaul) by hirelings of Fredegund.source
580Gregory of Tours is brought before a council of bishops, on charges of slandering the Frankish queen Fredegund (approximate date).source
584The Lombards re-establish a unified monarchy after a 10-year interregnum (Rule of the Dukes). Threatened by a Frankish invasion that the dukes have provoked, they elect Authari (son of Cleph) as their king and give him the capital of Pavia (Northern Italy).source
584Chlothar II, king of the Franks (d. 629)source
585King Childebert II, age 15, takes up his sole rule of Austrasia. A Frankish army under King Guntram marches to Comminges (Pyrenees), and besieges the citadel of Saint-Bertrand.source
587King Guntram sends envoys to Brittany, to stop the raiding on Frankish territory. He compels obedience from Waroch II and demands 1,000 solidus for looting Nantes.source
587August 13 – Radegund, Frankish princesssource
588The Franks and Burgundians under King Guntram and his nephew Childebert II invade Northern Italy, but suffer a disastrous defeat against the Lombards.source
589Claudius, duke (dux) of Lusitania, defeats the Franks and Burgundians at Carcassonne (Languedoc) on the Aude River.source
590The Franks and Burgundians under King Guntram invade Italy. They capture the cities Milan and Verona, but are forced to leave by a plague outbreak in the Po Valley.source
592Gregory, bishop of Tours, completes his Historia Francorum ("History of the Franks").source
595June – Pope Gregory I the Great sends a group of Benedictine monks under Augustine of Canterbury on a mission to Britain, to Christianize King Æthelberht, and convert the Kingdom of Kent from native Anglo-Saxon paganism. He carries letters of commendation to bishops, and is accompanied by Frankish interpreters.source
596Gregorian Mission: Augustine of Canterbury lands with a group of missionaries on the Isle of Thanet (South East England). He is welcomed by King Æthelberht of Kent, who accepts baptism along with the rest of his court at the behest of his Christian Frankish wife, Bertha. Æthelbert assigns Augustine and his 40 monks a residence at Canterbury (Kent), where they found a Benedictine monastery that will make the town a centre of Christianity (or 597).source
597Autumn – Balkan Campaign: The Avars, strengthened by the tribute of the Franks, resume their campaign along the Danube River, and besiege the Byzantine fortress city of Tomis (modern Romania) on the Black Sea coast.source
600Dorestad, lying in a fork between two branches of the Rhine, is established by the Franks as a trade center.source

7th century

601The Franks, Merovingians and Carolingians successively control most of Europe, while strong feudal lords rise in power to gain the allegiance of the people.source
603Dagobert I, king of the Franks (d. 639)source
604December 25 – Battle of Ėtampes: Theuderic II, with the aid of Berthoald, defeats the Frankish forces under King Chlothar II of Neustria, at Étampes (near Paris).source
606Queen Brunhilda pressures her grandson Theuderic II to go to war against his brother, Theudebert II of Austrasia. She puts Protadius, Mayor of the Palace, in charge of the Burgundian army. At the palace of Quierzy (Picardy), Theuderic assembles his army. The soldiers under Uncelen, Duke of Alemannia, refuse to fight against their countrymen, and declare that the king orders Protadius' death. He is killed by the Frankish warriors, and Theuderic is forced to sign a peace treaty.source
613Chlothar II reunites the Frankish Kingdom by ordering the murder of Sigebert II. He accuses Brunhilda, age 70, of killing ten kings of the Franks (according to the Liber Historiae Francorum). She is dragged to death behind a wild horse at Abbeville.source
614October 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.source
623Samo, reputedly a Frankish merchant, is elected king of the Slavs in Moravia, Slovakia and Lower Austria. A string of victories over the Avars proves his utilitas (usefulness) to his subjects, and he secures the throne to establish his own kingdom, which stretches from the upper Elbe to the Danube.source
626Balthild, queen of the Franks (approximate date)source
629Chlothar II, king of the Frankssource
636Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Heraclius assembles a large army consisting of contingents of Byzantines, Slavs, Franks, Georgians, Armenians, and Christian Arabs. He establishes a base at Yaqusah (near Gadara), close to the edge of the Golan Heights, protecting the vital main road from Egypt to Damascus. The base is protected by deep valleys and precipitous cliffs, well supplied with water and grazing.source
639January 19 – Dagobert I, king of the Franks (b. c. 603)source
639January 19 – Dagobert I dies after a 10-year reign as king of all the Franks, in which his realm has prospered. He is succeeded by Sigebert III (age 9), independent ruler of Austrasia, and his half-brother Clovis II (age 2), who becomes king of Neustria and Burgundy. Under the supervision of Pepin of Landen, Mayor of the Palace, the royal treasury is distributed between the two brothers and widowed queen Nanthild (regent on Clovis' behalf).source
640February 27 – Pepin the Elder, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, dies and is succeeded by his son Grimoald. He becomes the head of the Frankish household, and the most powerful man in the Frankish Kingdom (approximate date).source
642Radulf, a Frankish aristocrat, revolts against King Sigebert III of Austrasia and defeats his army, taking the title of rex or king of Thuringia.source
653Childeric II, king of the Franks (approximate date)source
654Theuderic III, king of the Franks (d. 691)source
660Felix, patrician of Toulouse, assumes the titles of Duke of Vasconia and Aquitaine. He is formally a vassal of the Franks, but rules "de facto" independently.source
661Approximate date – In Gaul all Roman bishops are replaced with Frankish bishops. They become increasingly common, as Frankish leaders control the episcopate.source
662The Franks take advantage of the Lombard civil war and invade Northern Italy, but are defeated by Grimoald I. King Chlothar III gives Austrasia to his youngest brother Childeric II. He is raised on the shield of his warriors and proclaimed king of Austrasia.source
663Emperor Constans II launches an assault against the Duchy of Benevento (Southern Italy). Taking advantage of the fact that Lombard king Grimoald I is engaged against Frankish forces from Neustria, Constans disembarks at Taranto, and besieges Lucera and Benevento.source
668Ebroin, mayor of the palace, becomes de facto ruler of Neustria and (in theory) "of the Franks". According to Bede, he runs the nation's foreign policy and internal security.source
670Childebert III, king of the Franks (approximate date)source
672Chilperic II, king of the Franks (approximate date)source
675Childeric II, king of the Frankssource
677Warinus, Frankish nobleman, is stoned to death near Arras, because of a feud between his brother, Leodegar (bishop of Autun), and Ebroin, the Mayor of the Palace of Neustria.source
680January 30 – Balthild, queen of the Frankssource
689Battle of Dorestad: The Frisians under King Radbod are defeated by the Frankish mayor of the palace, Pippin of Herstal. The Rhine delta and Dorestad (modern Netherlands) become Frankish again, as well as the castles of Utrecht and Fechten (approximate date).source
691Theuderic III, king of the Franks (b. 654)source

8th century

711April 23 – Childebert III, king of the Frankssource
714Civil War within the Pepinid clan: A revolt erupts between the Neustrian Franks and Frisians. King Radbod forces bishop Willibrord and his Benedictine monks to flee, and advances as far as Cologne (Germany). Frisia (modern-day Netherlands) once again becomes independent.source
721February 13 – Chilperic II, king of the Frankssource
721February 13 – King Chilperic II dies at Attigny (Ardennes), after a five-year reign. He is succeeded by Theuderic IV, infant son of Dagobert III, as Merovingian ruler of the Franks, under the control of the mayor of the palace, Charles Martel.source
731Charles Martel leads two raids across the Loire River into the Berry region. The Franks seize and plunder Bourges (central France), but the city is immediately recaptured by Eudes of Aquitaine.source
734Bilihildis, Frankish noblewoman and abbesssource
736Battle of Nîmes: The Franks under Charles Martel fail to capture Narbonne but devastate most of the other settlements, including Nîmes, Agde, Béziers and Maguelonne, which Martel views as potential strongholds of the Umayyads.source
737Battle of Avignon: Frankish forces under Charles Martel, Merovingian Mayor of the Palace, retake Avignon from the Muslim forces, and destroy the Umayyad stronghold. Charles sends his brother Childebrand I, duke of Burgundy, to besiege the city. After his arrival, Charles leads the Frankish troops by using rope ladders and battering rams to attack the fortified walls, which are burned to the ground following its capture.source
737Theuderic IV, king of the Frankssource
739The Lombards under King Liutprand sack the Exarchate of Ravenna, and threaten Rome. Pope Gregory III asks Charles Martel, Merovingian mayor of the palace, to help fight the Lombards (he also requests assistance in fighting the Byzantines and the Arabs). Liutprand signs a peace accord, and pulls back his forces to Pavia. After the pope's appeal to the Franks, a relationship begins that will continue as the Frankish Kingdom gains power.source
743The Concilium Germanicum: First major Church synod held in the eastern parts of the Frankish Kingdom. Organized by Carloman, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, and presided over by Saint Boniface, who is solidified in his position as leader of the Frankish church.source
744Synod of Soissons. Called at the instigation of Pepin the Short and Boniface, archbishop and metropolitan, it secures the condemnation of the Frankish bishop Adalbert.source
747Charlemagne, king and emperor of the Franks (or 748)source
751June 28 – Carloman I, king of the Franks (d. 771)source
754Summer – The Franks under Pepin III invade Italy, and defeat the Lombards under King Aistulf, in the Susa Valley (Piedmont). He enforces the terms, including cession of the Exarchate of Ravenna to Rome.source
759Siege of Narbonne: The Franks under King Pepin III ("the Short") retake Narbonne from the Muslims, after a 7-year siege. He pushes them back across the Pyrenees, and the Muslims retreat to the Andalusian heartland after 40 years of occupation. The government of the city is assigned to the Visigothic count Miló.source
771Charlemagne repudiates his Lombard wife Desiderata, daughter of Desiderius, after one year of marriage. He marries the 13-year-old Swabian girl Hildegard, who will bear him nine children. Desiderius, furious at Charlemagne, plans a punitive campaign against the Franks and Rome.source
771December 4 – Carloman I, king of the Franks (b. 751)source
772Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne leads a Frankish expedition from the Middle Rhine into disputed territory lost by the Franks in 695. He starts a campaign against the Saxons and seizes Eresburg, destroying the Irminsul (Saxon sacred tree) near Paderborn. Charlemagne devastates several major Saxon strongholds, and forces them to retreat beyond the Weser River. After negotiating with some Saxon nobles and obtaining hostages, he installs a number of garrisons.source
773Summer – King Charlemagne and his uncle Bernard, son of Charles Martel, cross the Alps with a Frankish expeditionary force at the request of Pope Adrian I. At the foot of the mountains in the Susa Valley (Northern Italy), the Franks are hindered by Lombard fortifications. After scouting, Charlemagne attacks the defenders from the flank, and forces the Lombards to flee to the fortified capital Pavia.source
774June – King Desiderius surrenders the independence of the Lombards to the Franks, and is exiled to Corbie Abbey (Picardy). Charlemagne annexes northern Italy as a sub-kingdom, and takes the title of Rex Langobardorum. Some Lombards flee south to Benevento, which remains independent; Duke Arechis II retitles himself "Prince of Benevento".source
782Battle of Süntel: The Franks under Charlemagne are defeated by Saxon rebels, led by Widukind. He succeeds in wiping out more than half of the occupying Frankish forces and again raises the banner of revolt.source
785Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne summons a major assembly of Saxon and Frankish lords at Paderborn, then leads his army across Saxony as far as the Lower Elbe, without significant resistance. Duke Widukind retreats with his 'rebel' forces beyond the Elbe, but then negotiates and exchanges hostages. Charlemagne returns to his palace at Attigny (Ardennes), followed by Widukind; here the Saxon leaders are baptized as Christians on Christmas Day. Widukind and the Saxon nobility swear fealty to Charlemagne.source
785The Frankish Kingdom conquers Girona and Urgell (modern Spain) from the Moors. The Franks divide Catalonia into 14 countships. Charlemagne suppresses a rebellion by count Hardrad of Thuringia.source
788The Avars, who are allied with Tassilo III, invade East Francia (modern Germany). This begins the Frankish-Avar conflict.source
788Byzantine troops led by Adalgis, son of former Lombard king Desiderius, invade southern Italy. His attempts are thwarted by the Franks, who attack territories in Benevento, obtaining notably the annexion of Chieti (Spoleto).source
789King Charlemagne crosses the Elbe River with a Frankish-Saxon army into Obotrite territory. He subdues the Wiltzes, and reaches the Baltic.source
793Emir Hisham I of Córdoba calls for a jihad ("Holy War") against the Christian Franks. He assembles an army of 70,000 men, half of which attacks the Kingdom of Asturias, destroying its capital, Oviedo, while the other half invades Languedoc, penetrating as far as Narbonne. After capturing the city, the contingent moves towards Carcassonne and conquers it too. Both armies return to Córdoba enriched with the spoils of war.source
794King Charlemagne abandons his channel project (see 793), and attacks the Saxon rebels from the north, supported by a second Frankish army under his son Charles the Younger, which crosses the Rhine at Cologne from the west; threatened from two directions, the Saxons surrender near Paderborn (Westphalia).source
795Saxon War: The Slav Obodrites, under their ruler Witzan, attack the northern Saxons in Liuni. He is killed in an ambush and succeeded by his son Drożko (Thrasco), who becomes a Carolingian dux. King Charlemagne leads a Frankish expeditionary force north from Mainz, and marches to the Elbe, where eastern Saxon rebels again surrender.source
797King Charlemagne issues the Capitulare Saxonicum, making Westphalian, Angrian and Eastphalian Saxons equal to other peoples in the Frankish Kingdom. The Nordalbian Saxons revolt; a Frankish fleet is sent to the North Sea coast of Germany. It lands in Hadeln, a marshy coastal region between the Weser and Elbe estuaries, near modern-day Cuxhaven. Charlemagne invades northern Saxony, and again accepts the submission of the Saxons.source
799Autumn – Siege of Trsat: Višeslav, prince or duke of Dalmatian Croatia, decisively defeats an invading Frankish army under Eric of Friuli, during the siege at the fortress city of Trsat (Rijeka).source

9th century

805Siege of Canburg: The Franks under Charles the Younger, son of emperor Charlemagne, unsuccessfully besiege Bohemians near the modern-day town of Kadaň.source
812Emperor Michael I re-opens peace negotiations with the Franks, and recognizes Charlemagne as emperor (basileus) of the Frankish Empire. In exchange for this recognition, Venice is returned to the Byzantine Empire.source
813September 11 — Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine (and only surviving legitimate son), is crowned co-emperor of the Franks, with his father Charlemagne.source
816Winter – The Basques, supported by the Moors, cross the Garonne River and revolt against the Franks in Gascony (north of the Pyrenees).source
819Spring – Emperor Louis I marries Judith of Bavaria in Aachen. She becomes his second wife and Empress of the Franks. Like many of the royal marriages of the time, Judith is selected through a bridal show.source
843May 24 – Battle of Blain: Breton forces under Erispoe, count of Vannes, defeat the Franks led by Renaud d'Herbauges, near the town of Messac, at the River Vilaine. This battle marks a Breton war between Charles the Bald and Nominoe, duke of Brittany.source
851August 22 – Battle of Jengland: Duke Erispoe takes command of the Breton forces after his father Nominoe, king of Brittany, dies. He continues an offensive against the Franks in alliance with Lambert II of Nantes. In Ille-et-Vilaine near Grand-Fougeray (Brittany), Erispoe defeats a Frankish-Saxon army (4,000 men) led by King Charles the Bald.source