Charles's campaign leads all the way to…

Charles initiates a harsh war of reprisal against the Saxons, who, unreceptive to Christianity and unamenable to civilization but attracted by growing Frankish wealth, often raid Austrasia.

The Saxon Wars begin with a Frankish invasion of Saxon territory and the subjugation of the Engrians and destruction of their sacred symbol Irminsul near Paderborn in 772 or 773 at Eresburg, and seizes its treasure.

Irminsul may have been a hollow tree trunk, presumably representing the pillar supporting the skies—similar to the Nordic tree Yggdrasil.

King Charles and his uncle Bernard lead troops across the Alps in 773.

The Lombards are severely defeated at Mortara (Ara Mortis) and …

…soon besieged in their capital of Ticinum, the modern Pavia.

Desiderius' son Adalgis is raising an army at Verona, where he shelters the widow and children of Charles's elder brother, Carloman I, who had entered an Italian monastery after abdicating the kingship, but the young prince is chased to the Adriatic littoral and flees to Constantinople when Charles approaches.

Adalgis is received by the emperor Constantine V, who raises him to the patriciate.

The Chinese, unable to prevail against the rebellious king of Nanzhao, recognize the kingdom as an independent state in 774.

Telerig, although he is first mentioned in the Byzantine sources only in 774, is considered the immediate successor of Pagan, who was murdered in 768.

Constantine V embarks on a major expedition against Bulgaria in May 774, leading his field army on land, and dispatching a fleet of two thousand ships carrying horsemen towards the Danube delta.

The fleet disembarks in the vicinity of Varna, but the emperor does not press his potential advantage and inexplicably retreats.

Shortly afterwards the two sides sign a truce promising the cessation of hostilities.

However, in October 774 Telerig sends an army of twelve thousand men to raid Berzitia, Macedonia and to transfer its population to Bulgaria.

Collecting a large army of eighty thousand troops, Constantine V surprises the Bulgarians and wins a resounding victory.

The subsequent attack on Bulgaria fails, because the imperial fleet encounters contrary winds in the Black Sea.

At this point Telerig sends a secret emissary to Constantine V, indicating his intention to flee Bulgaria and seek refuge with the emperor, and seeking assurances of hospitality and a list of people of the Empire who might help him.

Telerig succeeds in having the emperor betray his own agents in Bulgaria, who are duly rounded up and executed.

The Reign of Aurelius of Asturias (768–774 CE)

After the assassination of King Fruela I, the Asturian nobility elects Aurelius as king. He is believed to have been crowned in Sama, and his reign is characterized as relatively peaceful, with few mentions in medieval chronicles, suggesting a period of stability.

The First Recorded Peasant Revolt in Iberia

The only significant event recorded during Aurelius’ rule is a rebellion of serfs, which he successfully suppresses. Although the exact location of the uprising is unknown, this marks the first recorded instance of anti-seignorial revoltin Iberian history, hinting at early tensions between landowners and peasants.

Diplomacy with the Muslims

Following the custom of the time, Aurelius is believed to have negotiated peace with the Muslims who controlled the lands to the south. According to legend, this involved an exchange of brides, which supposedly gave rise to the place-name El Entrego—now part of San Martín del Rey Aurelio, the municipality where Aurelius resided and which likely served as the effective capital of Asturias during his reign.

Death and Succession

After six years on the throne, Aurelius dies of natural causes in 774 CE. There is no record of him having a wife or children. He is succeeded by his cousin-in-law, Silo, the husband of Adosinda, daughter of Alfonso I of Asturias.

Charles, accompanied by Frankish nobles who arrive in great numbers, passes Easter 774 in Rome and confirms his father Pepin the Short’s award to the papacy of the territory later called the Papal States.

Annexing the Duchy of Spoleto, Charles assumes the title “King of the Franks and Lombards and Patrician of the Romans.”

The Frankish siege lasts until June 774, when Desiderius surrenders and opens the gates in return for the lives of his soldiers and subjects.

Desiderius is exiled to the abbey of Corbie, where he will die sometime around 786, and his son Adelchis will spend his entire life in futile attempts to recover his father's kingdom.

Some sources state that the king and his family were banished to a monastery at Liège, Belgium.

Charles, unusually, has himself crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy and makes the magnates of Lombardy do homage to him at Pavia.

Only Duke Arechis II of Benevento refuses to submit and proclaims independence, adopting the title prince of Benevento.

Charlemagne is now master of Italy as king of the Lombards.

He leaves Italy with a garrison in Pavia and a few Frankish counts in place the same year.

Al-Mansur, following the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate, had abolished the subsidies paid to the various Armenian princes (nakharar) and in addition imposed heavy tax duties on them.

Coupled with instances of religious persecution against the majority Christian Armenian population, these measures had prompted the outbreak of a major anti-Abbasid revolt in 774.

The revolt is led by Artavazd Mamikonian, but has gathered the direct or tacit support of most nakharar families, most notably the hitherto pro-Arab Bagratuni, while the Artsruni and Siwni families remain neutral.

The rebellion spreads through Armenia, including attacks against Arab tax-collectors, and the local Arab governor, al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba, is unable to contain it.

The Caliph sends thirty thousand Khurasanis under Amir ibn Isma'il into the province, and at the Battle of Bagrevand on April 25, 775, the nakharars suffer a decisive defeat, losing their leaders, Smbat VII Bagratuni and Musel VI Mamikonian.

After the battle, the revolt is brutally suppressed by the Abbasids Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and flee to the Empire.