Crime & Justice in the 8th century

28 sourced entries, 706 CE to 796 CE, oldest first. Also see Crime & Justice across every century or everything else in the 8th century.

• 706Duke Corvulus of Friuli is arrested by King Aripert II of the Lombards, and has his eyes gouged out. He is replaced by Pemmo, who begins a war against the Slavs of Carinthia (modern Austria).source
• 711December – Upon hearing the news of Justinian's death, Anastasia, Justinian's mother, escapes with Justinian's 6-year-old son Tiberius to the sanctuary at the St. Mary's Church (Constantinople). She is pursued by Philippicus' henchmen, who drag the child from the altar and murder him outside the church. It is unknown what became of Justinian's wife, Theodora.source
• 717Fall – Basil Onomagoulos, Byzantine official, declares himself rival emperor in Sicily after the news arrives that Constantinople has fallen to an Arab siege. Leo III dispatches a chartoularios named Paul, with imperial instructions for the Byzantine army on the island. Basil is arrested and executed; his head is sent to Leo, while the other rebels are mutilated and exiled.source
• 720Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, former governor of Iraq, revolts and is defeated at Basra, by Umayyad forces under Al-Abbas ibn al-Walid and Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik. He is arrested and later executed.source
• 734Bilge Qaghan, khagan of the Second Turkic Khaganate, is poisoned and killed by Buyruk Chor, an emissary once sent to Tang Emperor Xuanzong. He is succeeded by his son Yollıg.source
• 737Orso Ipato is murdered at the instigation of Eutychius, exarch of Ravenna. He is succeeded by Domenico Leoni, who is elected magister militum of Venice.source
• 739Duke Pemmo of Friuli is deposed by Liutprand, and succeeded by his son Ratchis. He flees with his followers, but Ratchis secures his father's pardon.source
• 740King Eadberht of Northumbria marches his army north to attack the Picts. King Æthelbald of Mercia takes advantage of his absence, and ravages the city of York. Internal struggles re-emerge in Northumbria with the murder of Eardwine, probably the son of the late usurping king Eadwulf I.source
• 747Emperor Xuan Zong abolishes the death penalty in China, during the Tang dynasty (approximate date).source
• 748The city of Baalbek (modern Lebanon) is sacked with great slaughter.source
• 750The "Western Paradise" of Amitābha Buddha, detail of a wall painting in Cave 217, Dunhuang (China), is made during the Tang Dynasty (approximate date).source
• 751The Japanese poetry anthology Kaifūsō is assembled.source
• 756Galla Gaulo is deposed, blinded and exiled. He is succeeded by Domenico Monegario as the sixth doge of Venice. During his reign Venetian maritime traders become increasingly active.source
• 757January 29 – An Lushan, leader of a revolt and emperor of Yan, is murdered by his own son An Qingxu at Luoyang. He succeeds his father, and appoints Shi Siming as his deputy. The military leaders of the Tang Dynasty are able to retake both of the capitals at Chang'an and at Luoyang. The rebel army is forced to retreat east.source
• 757King Sigeberht of Wessex acts unjustly and is removed from power by a council of nobles, in favor of Cynewulf. Sigeberht is given control of Hampshire, probably as ealdorman, but he murders one of his own men and is driven out.source
• 757King Æthelbald of Mercia is murdered by his own household in a palace coup. He is succeeded briefly by Beornred, but he is, in turn, ousted by Æthelbald's distant cousin, Offa. In the meantime, Mercian supremacy over Southern England is lost.source
• 759July 24 – King Oswulf of Northumbria is murdered by members of his own household (his servants or bodyguards), at Market Weighton. The Deiran patrician, Æthelwald Moll, who probably conspired in the regicide, is crowned king of Northumbria. He may have been a descendant of the late king Oswine of Deira.source
• 760Former emperor Xuanzong is placed under house arrest by the eunuch official Li Fuguo, with the support of Xuanzong's son, Suzong. Li Fuguo is appointed commander of the Imperial Guards, possessing nearly absolute power during Suzong's reign.source
• 761Khurshid II, the last ruler (spāhbed) of Tabaristan, poisons himself when he learns that his family has been captured by the Abbasids.source
• 768Fruela I (the Cruel), the King of Asturias, is assassinated in Cangas, his capital, after he murders his brother Vimerano. Fruela is succeeded by his cousin Aurelius, who is chosen by the nobility.source
• 781Yang Yan, Chinese statesman, commits suicide after being accused of bribery and corruption. He is credited with reforming the tax system for peasants, reducing the power of the aristocratic classes, and eliminating their tax-free estates.source
• 785Fujiwara no Tanetsugu, Japanese nobleman (chūnagon), has his daughter Azumako married to the 12-year-old crown prince Heizei (son of Emperor Kanmu). While supervising construction of the buildings in the capital of Nagaoka, he is killed by an arrow.source
• 788King Ælfwald I of Northumbria is murdered, probably at Chesters, by the patricius (ealdorman) Sicga. He is succeeded by his cousin Osred II.source
• 792September – King Æthelred I of Northumbria marries Princess Ælfflæd, daughter of King Offa of Mercia, at Catterick. Unrest in Northumbria tempts the exiled king Osred II back to his kingdom from the Isle of Man. His supporters desert him, and Osred II is killed by Æthelred's men at Aynburg. He is buried at Tynemouth Priory.source
• 793Frisian–Frankish War: Count Theoderic is sent to Frisia, to muster troops for another offensive against the Avar Khaganate. He is attacked and probably killed by Saxon rebels, near the mouth of the Weser River. The Frisians revolt, and Charlemagne deports Saxon families from north of the river Elbe.source
• 793Arab traders make Baghdad a financial center of the Silk Road between China and Europe. Caravans carry little or no money on their long journeys; Chinese traders use what they call fei qian (zh) ("flying money") to avoid robbery. The Arabs have adopted a similar banking system known as hawala to transmit funds (approximate date).source
• 794May 20 – King Æthelberht II of East Anglia visits the royal Mercian court at Sutton Walls (Herefordshire), with a view to marrying Princess Ælfthryth. He is taken captive and beheaded, on the orders of King Offa.source
• 796April 18 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered, probably at Corbridge, by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. Another rival, Torhtmund, slays Ealdred in revenge. Northumbria is plunged into chaos. The patrician Osbald is placed on the throne, but is deserted by his supporters after only 27 days. He flees from Lindisfarne to Pictland. Another faction brings back Æthelred I's old back-from-the-dead rival, Eardwulf, as the new king. He dismisses his wife and publicly takes a concubine. Eardwulf is alienated from Archbishop Eanbald of York.source