Leo, along with with his letter informing…

The name Linz first appears in 799 for the locale of the second-century CE Roman fortress-settlement of Lentia, situated in the region of present north central Austria on the Danube River, west of Vienna.

The three archways of the gatehouse of the royal monastery at Lorsch, completed in the 790’s, imitate a Roman triumphal arch.

The gatehouse, modeled after Roman buildings, features engaged columns and pilasters as well as the Carolingian innovation of westworks.

The First Viking Raids on the Frankish Kingdom (799)

By the late 8th century, the Frankish kingdom experiences its first Viking incursions, marking the beginning of a centuries-long period of Norse raids along the coasts of Western Europe. These attacks, primarily launched in the summer, are carried out by Scandinavian raiders, who return to winter in their homelands before launching further assaults in subsequent years.

The Raid on Noirmoutier (799): The First Viking Attack on Continental Europe

The earliest recorded Viking raid on continental Europe occurs in 799, when Norse raiders attack the monastery of Saint Philibert of Jumièges on Noirmoutier, an island off the Atlantic coast of France. This monastic settlement, located near the mouth of the Loire River, becomes an early target due to its wealth, isolation, and lack of defenses.

This event marks:

• The first known Viking raid on Frankish territory, preceding the more famous Norse incursions into England by decades.
• The beginning of Frankish coastal vulnerability, as monasteries, rich in gold, manuscripts, and relics, become prime targets for Viking plunder.
• A preview of future Viking aggression, as Norse fleets will soon escalate their raids, reaching the Seine, Loire, and beyond.

The Beginning of the Viking Age in Francia

Though sporadic at first, Viking attacks on the Frankish kingdom will grow more frequent and intensify in the 9th century, culminating in major invasions, sieges, and settlements along the Seine and Loire Rivers, and eventually deep into the Frankish heartland. Charlemagne initially dismisses these raids as isolated acts of piracy, but by the reign of his successors, the Viking threat will become a defining crisis of the Carolingian world.

Leo had been received by the Frankish king with the greatest honor at Paderborn.

This meeting forms the basis of the epic poem Karolus Magnus et Leo Papa.

Leo’s enemies had accused the new pope of adultery and perjury.

Charles order them to Paderborn, but no decision can be made.

He then has Leo escorted back to Rome, to where he returns on November 29, 799.

Dawud is the son of Yazid ibn Hatim, who served as the governor of Ifriqiyah for the caliphs al-Mansur, al-Mahdi, al-Hadi, and al-Rashid.

Yazid had died early in the reign of al-Rashid, at which point Dawud had temporarily succeeded him as governor.

His leadership, however, had proved inadequate, and the government's authority within the province had begun to weaken.

As a result, al-Rashid had appointed Dawud's uncle Rawh ibn Hatim to take control of Ifriqiyah instead.

Following this, Dawud had been appointed over Egypt in 790.

After serving as governor there for slightly more than a year, he was dismissed from that post as well and replaced with the Abbasid prince Musa ibn 'Isa.

Dawud is invested with the governorship of al-Sind in 800 and tasked with pacifying the province, which is plagued by a longstanding conflict between the Arab tribes here.

He initially sends his brother al-Mughirah to take control of al-Mansurah, but the city's inhabitants rebel and expel him.

Dawud then enters al-Sind in force and lays siege to al-Mansurah, which he manages to take several months later.

He then proceeds to secure the other cities of al-Sind, thereby firmly reestablishing Abbasid control over the province.

Dawud will spend the next two decades as governor of al-Sind, setting a record for the longest tenure of any governor in the early Abbasid period.

Charles himself goes to Rome in November 800, and on December 1 holds a council here with representatives of both sides.

Leo, on December 23, takes an oath of purgation concerning the charges brought against him, and his opponents are exiled.

Charlemagne's father, Pepin, had defended the papacy against the Lombards and issued the Donation of Pepin, which had granted the land around Rome to the pope as a fief.

In 774, Pope Adrian I had conferred on Charles his father’s dignity of Patricius Romanus, which implied primarily the protection of the Roman Church in all its rights and privileges, above all in the temporal authority which it had gradually acquired (notably in the former imperial Duchy of Rome and the Exarchate of Ravenna) by just titles in the course of the two preceding centuries.

Few moments in world history prove to be of greater significance than what transpires in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on Christmas Day in the year 800, when, two days after Leo's oath, he crowns Charles as Roman emperor.

According to Charlemagne's biographer, Einhard (Vita Caroli 28), Charles had no suspicion of what was about to happen, and if informed would not have accepted the imperial crown.

On the other hand, there seems no reason to doubt that for some time previous the elevation of Charles had been discussed, both at home and at Rome, especially in view of two facts: the scandalous condition of the imperial government at Constantinople, and the acknowledged grandeur and solidity of the Carolingian house.

This represents, in theory, the reestablishment, after a hiatus of more than three centuries, of a Roman empire with two rulers -- one in Rome and one in Constantinople.

In fact, Charles rules from Aachen, not Rome, and the Imperial Greeks view the Germanic emperor as a usurper.

The coronation offends Constantinople, which sees itself still as the rightful defender of Rome, but the Eastern Roman Empress Irene of Athens, like many of her predecessors since Justinian, is too weak to offer protection to the city or its much reduced citizenry.

Thus does Charlemagne, wise though illiterate, pious but ruthless, become the father of Europe.

Rabia Basri, recognized by the Muslim community as a Sufic saint not long after her death in 801, calls upon her coreligionists to love God "for his own sake," not out of hope for paradise or terror of hell.

Bahlul Ibn Marzuq had rebelled in Zaragoza in 798 against the Arab-Muslim central government of Muslim Al-Andalus.

He rebels in Zaragoza against the government of Al-Andalus in 798, and in 800 had conquered Huesca from the Banu Salama.

His rebellion carries popular support, especially after public backing by theologian Ibn al-Mughallis.

The emir sends the Huesca native, general Amrus ibn Yusuf, and Huesca and …

…Zaragoza are retaken around 801.

Charles invades the rebellious papal territory of Benevento in 801 to bring it under his control.