istoryworld
Events relating to europe
The king of Northumbria summons a synod at Whitby to hear the arguments of Roman and Celtic Christians, then opts for Rome
A Muslim fleet attacking Constantinople is deterred by the first known use of the Byzantine secret recipe for 'Greek fire'
With a victory at Tertry, Pepin II wins effective control over all three Frankish kingdoms
Willibrord, recently arrived from England to convert the Frisians, is consecrated archbishop of a new see in Utrecht
The Lindisfarne Gospels are written and illuminated by Celtic monks on the Scottish island of Lindisfarne
Many Anglo-Saxon kingdoms have by now amalgated, until there are just the seven of the Heptarchy
Muslim Arabs cross from north Africa into Spain and drive the Visigoths from Toledo
The death of the Frankish 'mayor of the palace' Pepin II is followed by civil war between members of his family
Retreating from the Arab onslaught, the Visigoths establish a kingdom of last resort in the extreme north of Spain, in Asturias
The civil war among the Franks ends with complete victory for Charles Martel, an illegitimate grandson of Pepin II
The Frankish ruler Charles Martel, granting tracts of land to his nobles, lays the foundation for European feudalism
The emperor Leo III launches the iconoclastic controversy, sending soldiers to smash the great image of Christ over the gateway to his palace
The Venetians for the first time elect their own doge, acting independently of the Byzantine governor in Ravenna
The Venerable Bede, in his monastery at Jarrow, completes his history of the English church and people
The Muslim advance into France is halted when Charles Martel defeats the Arabs between Poitiers and Tours
Charles Martel dies and leaves the Frankish kingdoms to his two sons, Carloman and Pepin III
The elder son of Charles Martel retires to a monastery, leaving Pepin III in control of the entire Frankish empire
With papal support Pepin III is elected king of the Franks, beginning the Carolingian dynasty (named from his father, Charles Martel)
Pope Stephen II anoints Pepin III and his two sons (one of them Charlemagne) in the abbey church of St Denis
Abd-ar-Rahman, escaping from the massacre of his family in Syria, establishes a new Umayyad dynasty at Cordoba
Pepin III, after recovering Byzantine territories in Italy from the Lombards, hands control of the region to the pope in Rome
On the death of Pepin III, the empire of the Franks is divided between his two sons - Charlemagne and his younger brother, Carloman
On the death of his brother, Charlemagne inherits the entire kingdom of the Franks
After two campaigns in Lombardy, Charlemagne establishes himself as king of the Lombards in northern Italy
An attack on Charlemagne's army, traditionally at the pass of Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees, is later the basis for the Chanson de Roland
