866 - Definition and Overview

Events

• Fujiwara no Yoshifusa becomes regent of Japan, starting the Fujiwara regentship.
• Alfonso III succeeds as king of Asturias.
• Louis II beats the Saracen invaders in Italy.
• Ivar the Boneless crosses over to England and beats and captures king Ella of Northumbria, thus revenging his father Ragnar Lodbrok.
• Ethelred succeeds as king of Wessex (or 865).
• Pope Nicholas I forbids the use of torture in prosecutions for witchcraft.
• A "great Viking army" captured York

Births

Deaths

• April: Bardas, co-emperor and de facto ruler of the Byzantine Empire (murdered)
• 27 May: Ordoño I, king of Asturias
• al-Kindi, Muslim philosopher
• Ethelbert, king of Wessex and Bretwalda (or 865)