The Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang is a…

Boris inherits the Bulgarian throne from his father, Khan Presijan.

Bulgaria's territorial, military, and political potential have made it one of the largest states in Europe.

Bulgaria's approximate frontiers are the Dnieper River in the northeast, the Carpathian Mountains in the north, the Tisa (Tisza) River in the northwest, the Adriatic Sea in the west, and the Tomorr (Tomor), Belasica, Pirin, Rhodope, and Strandzha mountains in the south.

Many Slavic tribes had settled within the boundaries of the state, together with the proto-Bulgarians, a tribe of Turkic origin that had settled in the Balkan Peninsula at the end of the seventh century.

In view of the religious, ethnic, and language difficulties between the Slavs and the Bulgars, the introduction of a common and compulsory religion for all subjects is one of the principal preconditions for the formation of a united Bulgaria.

Pagan Bulgaria needs to join the “family of Christian states,” but the existence of two competing centers of Christianity—Rome and Constantinople—make it difficult for Boris to make his choice.

In 852, he sends emissaries to Eastern Francia to confirm the peace treaty of 845.

At the time of his accession he threatens Constantinople with an invasion, but his armies do not attack, and he receives a small area in Strandzha to the southeast.

The peace treaty is not signed, however, although both states exchange temporary delegations.

Pope Leo, in order to counter the Saracen menace definitively, has ordered a new line of walls encompassing the suburb on the right bank of the Tiber to be built, including Old St. Peter's Basilica, which has been undefended until this time.

The Leonine Wall, which defines Rome’s Leonine City, has been constructed following the sack of St. Peter's by Saracens in 846.

Built from 848 to 852 as the only extension ever made to the walls of Rome, this three-kilometer wall completely encircles the Vatican Hill for the first time in its history.

An abortive start had been made by Leo III, but disturbances in the city had suspended work, and the Romans had dismantled the sections that had been begun and used them in private constructions.

Pope Leo IV has used his estate workers, inhabitants from the surrounding countryside, Saracens captured after the sea battle of Ostia in 849 and funding from an imperial Frankish donation, to construct the wall, which runs in an enclosing U-shape from the riverbank at Hadrian's Mausoleum, soon to be Christened the Castel Sant'Angelo, up the slopes of the Vatican hill encircling the basilica and descending again to the river.

The walling is constructed of tufa and tiling, forty feet high, with 44 strong towers at bowshot intervals.

The massive round corner tower that still crowns the Vatican hill has its origins in this construction campaign.

Three new gates gave access to the newly enclosed Borgo.

Two are in the stretch of wall that leads back from the Castel Sant'Angelo: a small postern gate behind the fortified Mausoleum, called the Posterula S. Angeli and later, from its proximity to the Castello, the Porta Castelli, and a larger one, the principal gate through which emperors pass, near the church of St. Peregrino, called the Porta Peregrini, later the Porta S. Petri.

A third gate opens the Leonine City to the rione of Trastevere.

In addition, chain towers have been built along the Tiber river to repel Saracen assaults by water.

A festival celebrates the official completion of the walling on June 27, 852.

Leo has also restored and embellished the damaged Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura and St. Peter's: the latter's altar again receives its gold covering (after being stolen), which weighs two hundred and six pounds and is studded with precious gems.

Following the restoration of St. Peter's, Leo appeals to the Christian kingdoms to confront the Arab raiders.

The town of Essen grows up around a Benedictine convent established in 852.

Constantinople, its empire increasingly harassed by Muslim raids, launches a major offensive against the ‘Abbasid caliphate in 851.

A land army pushes eastward through Anatolia to crush a Muslim army and take ten thousand prisoners in Amida (Diyarbakir), simultaneously landing an amphibious force in Egypt and sacking the city of Damietta in 853.

The Empire had suffered two great losses during the 820s that destroyed their naval supremacy in the Mediterranean: the beginning of the Muslim conquest of Sicily and the fall of Crete to Andalusian exiles.

These losses had ushered an era where Saracen pirates raid the Christian northern shores of the Mediterranean almost at will.

The establishment of the Emirate of Crete, which has become a haven for Muslim ships, has opened the Aegean Sea up for raids, while their control—albeit partial—of Sicily has allowed the Arabs to raid and even settle in Italy and the Adriatic shores.

Several imperial attempts to retake Crete in the immediate aftermath of the Andalusian conquest, as well as a large-scale invasion in 842/843, had failed disastrously.

Constantinople thus tries a new approach in 852/853: it assembles a huge naval armament, reportedly of three fleets consisting of three hundred ships, and sends them to raid Muslim naval bases in the Eastern Mediterranean simultaneously.

One of these fleets, comprising eighty-five ships and five thousand men under a general known from Arab sources only as "Ibn Qatuna", heads for the Egyptian coast, for it is from Egypt that the Abbasids send aid to Crete.

The imperial fleet on May 22, 853 arrives before the city.

The garrison is absent at this time, attending a feast organized by the governor 'Anbasa ibn Ishaq al-Dabbi in Fustat.

Damietta's inhabitants flee the undefended city, which is plundered for two days, then torched by the invaders.

The imperial troops carry off some six hundred Arab and Coptic women, as well as large quantities of arms and other supplies intended for Crete.

They then sail east to attack the strong fortress of Ushtun and, after taking it, burn the many artillery and siege engines they find there and return home.

Although "one of the brightest military operations" (Christides) undertaken by the imperial Greek military, the raid is completely ignored in Byzantine sources, whose accounts are warped by their hostile attitude to Michael III and his reign.

As a consequence, the raid is known only through two Arab accounts, by al-Tabari and Ya'qubi.

According to the Arab chroniclers, the realization of Egypt's vulnerability from the sea led, after a long period of neglect, to the urgent strengthening of Egypt's maritime defenses: ships were constructed, new crews conscripted, and Damietta and other coastal sites fortified.

This marks the rebirth of the Egyptian navy, which will later reach its peak under the Fatimids.

Godfrid Haraldsson’s Seine Campaign and the Winter Standoff (853–854)

After spending another winter in Denmark (852–853), Godfrid Haraldsson launches another Viking incursion into West Francia, continuing his strategy of attacking key Frankish river settlements. On October 9, 853, he sails up the Seine River, penetrating deep into Carolingian lands.

Godfrid’s Advance on the Seine (853)

• The Viking fleet sails past Rouen, an already vulnerable city that had been sacked in 841.
• The fleet advances as far as Pont-de-l’Arche, a strategic point controlling the river route to Paris.
• The Vikings encamp on an island near Les Andelys, establishing a defensive position from which they can raid surrounding lands.

Frankish Response: A Winter Standoff

• Charles the Bald calls for reinforcements, summoning his army as well as troops from the Middle Kingdom, ruled by Lothair II, Godfrid’s godfather.
• The Frankish forces march toward the Viking camp, but despite their numerical strength, they are unable to attack effectively.
• The problem:
  • The Frankish land army lacks boats to engage the Viking fleet, leaving them unable to dislodge the invaders from their island stronghold.
  • The Vikings, protected by the river and their fortified position, simply wait out the winter, raiding surrounding lands at will.
• The two sides face each other for the entire winter, locked in a frustrating deadlock.

The Significance of the 853–854 Standoff

• Frankish military limitations exposed → The inability to challenge Viking naval superiority highlights the Carolingians’ struggle to develop an effective river defense strategy.
• Viking strategy shifts toward prolonged occupation → Rather than seasonal raids, Norse leaders like Godfrid increasingly use fortified winter camps to maintain a long-term presence in Francia.
• A prelude to Viking territorial ambitions → This campaign foreshadows later Viking control over the lower Seine, which will eventually lead to the establishment of Normandy under Rollo in 911.

The winter standoff of 853–854 demonstrates that the Viking threat to West Francia is no longer just a series of raids, but a sustained military challenge that the Carolingians struggle to contain.

The Viking settlement of Dublin becomes a small kingdom in Ireland in 853.

The Moravian Prince Rastislav persuades Boris I to help him against East Francia in 854.

According to some sources, some Franks bribed the Bulgarian monarch to attack Louis the German.

The Bulgarian-Slav campaign is a disaster, and Louis scores a great victory and invades Bulgaria.

At the same time, the Pannonian Croats wage a war against the Bulgarians.

Both peoples had coexisted peacefully up to that time, suggesting that the Croats had been paid by Louis to attack Bulgaria and distract Boris' attention from his alliance with Great Moravia.

Boris cannot achieve any success, and both sides exchange gifts and settle for peace.

Taranto is in 854 again the base for an Arab raid, led by Abbas-ibn-Faid, …

…which sacks the Lombard province of Salerno.