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720s

For the McLaren automobile, see McLaren 720S.
Millennium: 1st millennium
Centuries:
Decades:
Years:
  • 720
  • 721
  • 722
  • 723
  • 724
  • 725
  • 726
  • 727
  • 728
  • 729
Categories:

The 720s decade ran from January 1, 720, to December 31, 729.

Events

720

By place

Byzantine Empire
  • Summer – Emperor Leo III secures the Byzantine frontier, by inviting Slavic settlers into the depopulated districts of the Thracesian Theme (western Asia Minor). He undertakes a set of civil reforms, and reorganizes the theme structure in the Aegean region. Leo's 2-year-old son Constantine V is associated on the throne, and married to Tzitzak, daughter of the Khazar ruler (khagan) Bihar.
Europe
Britain
Arabian Empire
  • Umayyad conquest of Transoxiana: The first Turgesh attack on Muslim-Arabs in Transoxiana leads to the siege and relief of the Umayyad garrison at the fortress of Qasr al-Bahili, near Samarkand (or 721).
  • Yazid 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.
  • February 10 – Caliph Umar II is poisoned by a servant, and dies in Aleppo (Syria) after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by his cousin Yazid II.
  • The Umayyad Caliphate reaches its greatest extent in Spain, controlling all of it except a small region in the north controlled by the Kingdom of Asturias.
Asia
  • In the Chinese capital of Chang'an, the walls of a gated city ward collapse during the night, which unexpectedly forms a large pool out in the open. This is most likely caused by a sinkhole created when ground water eroded the limestone bedrock beneath. As a consequence of this, more than 500 homes are destroyed (approximate date).
Americas
  • The Third Tikal-Calakmul War begins.

By topic

Literature
  • The Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), one of the oldest history books in Japan, is completed under the editorial supervision of Prince Toneri, and with the assistance of Ō no Yasumaro.[2]
Religion
  • Contact between the Welsh Church and Yvi of Brittany is the last known link between two Celtic countries. After this, each nation goes its own separate way (approximate date).
Astronomy
  • A second series of gravitational interactions with Saturn, the second since 1664 BC, once again force the Centaur_(minor_planet) Chiron into a new orbit, shifting it from orbiting in the edges of the Solar System to orbiting near the inner regions.

721

By place

Europe
Britain
China
  • Rains and heavy storms around the southern seaport of Yangzhou destroy over 1,000 ships and boats in the Grand Canal, during the Tang Dynasty (approximate date).

By topic

Religion

722

By place

Europe
Britain
Mesoamerica

By topic

Religion

723

By place

Asia

By topic

Religion

724

By place

Europe
Arabian Empire
Japan
  • March 3 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne, in favor of her 23-year-old nephew Shōmu. He is the son of the late emperor Monmu, and becomes the 45th monarch of Japan.[12]
Mesoamerica

By topic

Architecture
  • Shōmu orders that houses of the Japanese nobility be roofed with green tiles, as in China, and have white walls with red roof poles (approximate date).
Religion

725

By place

Europe
Britain
China

By topic

Literature
Religion

726

By place

Byzantine Empire
  • Emperor Leo III issues a series of edicts banning the veneration of images (726–729), and launching the iconoclastic controversies.[17] Most of the clergy – particularly in Italy and Greece – are opposed to these edicts with uncompromising hostility, and in the western parts of the Byzantine Empire the people refuse to obey his religious reforms.
  • Arab–Byzantine War: Muslim forces under Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik resume their expedition against Anatolia (modern Turkey). In a large-scale raid they plunder the fortress city of Caesarea.[18]
Europe
  • Umayyad conquest of Gaul: Muslim raiders under Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi, current governor of Septimania, devastate Avignon, Viviers, Valence, Vienne and Lyon (approximate date).
  • Marcello Tegalliano dies after a 9-year reign. Uprising in Venice against Byzantium. The cause of mass unrest was the iconoclastic decrees of Emperor Leo III. A few days later, political demands were put forward for wide autonomy within the Byzantine Empire and the right to appoint the ruler of the region - Doge. The rebels elect Orso Ipato the Doge of Venice. Desiring to preserve the proceeds of the treasury from the second most important port of the Byzantine Empire and not having the resources to cope with a well-fortified and armed region, Byzantium agrees with all the requirements put forward. Orso Ipato recognised by Leo III, who gives him the title hypatos. The Venetian fleet, led by Orso Ipato, frees Ravenna from the Lombards and restores the power of the Byzantine governor there.
  • Seismic activity in the Mediterranean Sea: The volcanic island of Thera erupts, while the city of Jerash (in present-day Jordan) suffers a major earthquake.
Britain
Asia
  • The first annual Sumo tournament in Japan is held by Emperor Shōmu (approximate date).

By topic

Religion

727

By place

Byzantine Empire
  • A revolt breaks out in Greece against the religious policies of Emperor Leo III (see 726). A rebel fleet under Agallianos Kontoskeles sets out for Constantinople with Kosmas, an anti-emperor, but is destroyed by the Byzantine fleet through the use of Greek fire.[20]
  • Siege of Nicaea: Muslim forces under Mu'awiya ibn Hisham (son of Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik) penetrate deep into Asia Minor, and sack the fortress city of Gangra, but unsuccessfully lay siege to Nicaea (northwestern Anatolia).[21][22]
Europe
  • A revolt breaks out in Italy against Leo's Iconoclasm; this results in the independence of the Exarchate of Ravenna, after part of a Byzantine invasion force is lost in a storm in the Adriatic Sea, and the remainder of Byzantine troops are repulsed.
  • King Liutprand takes advantage of the anti-imperial turmoil. He conquers Bologna and other cities beyond the Po River (Northern Italy). The Lombards take "Classis", the strategic seaport of Ravenna, and overrun the Pentapolis.[23]
Asia
  • Arab–Khazar War: The Khazars drive back the Muslim invasion, led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, into Mesopotamia. Reinforced with Syrian troops, Maslama counterattacks and takes Georgia, establishing the northern frontier on the Caucasus.

By topic

Religion

728

By place

Europe

729

By place

Europe
  • Battle of Ravenna: Byzantine troops under Eutychius, exarch of Ravenna, are defeated by an Italian force, raised by Gregory II, in opposition to iconoclasm.
  • An alliance between Duke Eudes of Aquitaine and Munuza, the Moorish governor of Cerdanya, is cemented by marriage to Eudes' illegitimate daughter Lampégia.[24]
  • In Denmark, construction of the Kanhave Canal across the island of Samsø is completed. Although the canal is only about 10 kilometres long, it is one of the largest engineering projects undertaken in Denmark during the Early Middle Ages.[25]
Britain
Asia
  • Battle of Baykand: The Umayyad Arabs narrowly escape disaster when cut off from water by the Turgesh, and push through to reach Bukhara in Transoxiana.
  • Siege of Kamarja: A small Arab garrison defends the fortress of Kamarja against the Turgesh for 58 days, ending with a negotiated withdrawal to Samarkand.

By topic

Food and drink
  • Chinese eating sticks are introduced in the next 20 years in Japan, where people heretofore have used one-piece pincers. The Japanese call them hashi.

Births

720

721

722

723

  • Arbeo, bishop of Freising (approximate date)
  • Isonokami no Yakatsugu, Japanese nobleman (d. 781)

724

725

726

727

728

729

  • Du Huangchang, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (or 728)
  • Li Huaiguang, general of the Tang Dynasty (d. 785)

Deaths

720

721

722

723

  • October 3 – Elias I of Antioch, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.[27]
  • Adalbert, duke of Alsace
  • Fachtna mac Folachtan, Irish abbot
  • Ō no Yasumaro, Japanese nobleman

724

725

726

727

728

729


References

  1. ^ David Nicolle (2008). Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide (p. 17). ISBN 978-184603-230-1
  2. ^ Aston, William George (July 2005) [1972], "Introduction", Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD 697 (Tra ed.), Tuttle Publishing, p. xv, ISBN 978-0-8048-3674-6, from the original Chinese and Japanese
  3. ^ David Nicolle (2008). Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide (p. 18). ISBN 978-184603-230-1
  4. ^ David Nicolle (2008). Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide (p. 41). ISBN 978-184603-230-1
  5. ^ David Nicolle (2008). Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide (p. 17). ISBN 978-184603-230-1
  6. ^ Bush, Robin (1994). Somerset: The Complete Guide. Dovecote Press, pp. 202–206. ISBN 1-874336-26-1
  7. ^ The Cycles of the Kings - Cath Almaine "The Battle of Allen" Archived September 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica
  9. ^ David Nicolle (2008). Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide (p. 18). ISBN 978-184603-230-1
  10. ^ Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, FA 178
  11. ^ David Nicolle (2008). Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide (p. 41). ISBN 978-184603-230-1
  12. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 57
  13. ^ Old, Hughes Oliphant (1998). The reading and preaching of the scriptures in the worship of the Christian church. Wm. Eerdmans, pp. 137–40. ISBN 978-0-8028-4619-8
  14. ^ Collins, R. (1989), p. 213
  15. ^ David Nicolle (2008). Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide (p. 41). ISBN 978-184603-230-1
  16. ^ David Nicolle (2008). Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide (p. 18). ISBN 978-184603-230-1
  17. ^ Treadgold. History of the Byzantine State, pp. 350, 352–353
  18. ^ Treadgold (1997), p. 349
  19. ^ Yorke. Kings and Kingdoms, p. 147
  20. ^ Pryor & Jeffreys (2006), pp. 32, 46, 73
  21. ^ Canard (1986), pp. 1002–1003
  22. ^ Blankinship (1994), p. 120
  23. ^ Mann, p. 187
  24. ^ David Nicolle (2008). Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide (p. 19). ISBN 978-184603-230-1
  25. ^ Wickham, Chris. Framing the Early Middle Ages. p. 366.
  26. ^ Lifshitz, Felice (2014). Religious Women in Early Carolingian Francia: A Study of Manuscript Transmission and Monastic Culture. Fordham University Press. p. 303. ISBN 9780823256891.
  27. ^ Harrack, Amir (1999). The Chronicle of Zuqnin, Parts III and IV A.D. 488–775. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. p. 158. ISBN 9780888442864.
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