796

Year 796 (DCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 796 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	7th century 8th century 9th century
Decades:	770s 780s 790s 800s 810s
Years:	793 794 795 796 797 798 799

796 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	796 DCCXCVI
Ab urbe condita	1549
Armenian calendar	245 ԹՎ ՄԽԵ
Assyrian calendar	5546
Balinese saka calendar	717–718
Bengali calendar	203
Berber calendar	1746
Buddhist calendar	1340
Burmese calendar	158
Byzantine calendar	6304–6305
Chinese calendar	乙亥年 (Wood Pig) 3492 or 3432     — to — 丙子年 (Fire Rat) 3493 or 3433
Coptic calendar	512–513
Discordian calendar	1962
Ethiopian calendar	788–789
Hebrew calendar	4556–4557
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	852–853
- Shaka Samvat	717–718
- Kali Yuga	3896–3897
Holocene calendar	10796
Iranian calendar	174–175
Islamic calendar	179–180
Japanese calendar	Enryaku 15 (延暦１５年)
Javanese calendar	691–692
Julian calendar	796 DCCXCVI
Korean calendar	3129
Minguo calendar	1116 before ROC 民前1116年
Nanakshahi calendar	−672
Seleucid era	1107/1108 AG
Thai solar calendar	1338–1339
Tibetan calendar	阴木猪年 (female Wood-Pig) 922 or 541 or −231     — to — 阳火鼠年 (male Fire-Rat) 923 or 542 or −230

A coin depicting Offa of Mercia (757–796)

Events

North America

• The Three Fires Confederacy is formed at Michilimackinac.[1]

Europe

• King Charlemagne organizes an invasion of the Avar Khaganate, with one army under his son Pepin of Italy and another army under one of his vassals, the Croat Duke Vojnomir. The two armies launch a successful two-pronged invasion of the Avar Khaganate (modern Hungary). They seize the Avar "ring" (the nomadic tent capital), destroying Avar power before returning with so much booty in gold and jewels that 15 wagons, each drawn by four oxen, are needed to bring it back to Frankish territory.[2] Charlemagne wins a major victory (in which the Lower Pannonian duke Vojnomir aids him), and the Franks make themselves overlords over the Croatians of northern Dalmatia, Slavonia, and Pannonia. Frankish missionaries are sent to the area to convert the pagan population to Christianity.[3]

Britain

• April 18 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered, probably at Corbridge, by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. Another rival, Torhtmund, slays Ealdred in revenge. Northumbria is plunged into chaos. The patrician Osbald is placed on the throne, but is deserted by his supporters after only 27 days. He flees from Lindisfarne to Pictland. Another faction brings back Æthelred I's old back-from-the-dead rival, Eardwulf, as the new king. He dismisses his wife and publicly takes a concubine. Eardwulf is alienated from Archbishop Eanbald of York.
• King Offa of Mercia and Charlemagne seal a trading agreement, and a marriage alliance is proposed. However, Offa dies after a 39-year reign, that has incorporated Kent, Essex, Sussex, and East Anglia into the Mercian realm. Offa is buried at Bedford, and succeeded for a short time by his son Ecgfrith, and then a distant cousin, Coenwulf.
• Prince Eadberht Præn leaves the Church, returns to Kent and claims his throne. Eadwald proclaims himself king of East Anglia, but is later ousted by Coenwulf. Direct rule from Mercia is re-established.

Religion

• Alcuin, Anglo-Saxon monk and scholar, is appointed as abbot by Charlemagne, who puts him in charge of leading Marmoutier Abbey in Tours.
• Tō-ji, a Buddhist temple of the Shingon sect, is established in Kyoto, Japan.

Births

• Al-Mu'tasim, Muslim caliph (d. 842)
• Dhul-Nun al-Misri, Egyptian scholar and Sufi (d. 859)
• Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub al-Juzajani, Muslim hadith scholar
• Liu Zhuan, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 858)
• Lü Dongbin, Chinese scholar and poet
• Xiao Fang, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 875)

Deaths

• April 18 – Æthelred I, king of Northumbria
• June 12 – Hisham I, Muslim emir (b. 757)
• July 29 – Offa, king of Mercia (b. 730)
• August 10 – Eanbald, archbishop of York
• Colla mac Fergusso, king of Connacht (Ireland)
• Ecgfrith, king of Mercia
• Fujiwara no Tsuginawa, Japanese statesman (b. 727)
• Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari, Muslim philosopher (or 806)
• Sibawayh, Persian linguist and grammarian (b. 760)
• Tassilo III, duke of Bavaria (approximate date)

References

1. Loew, Patty; "Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal"; Madison, Wisconsin Historical Society Press; 2001.
2. David Nicolle (2014). The Conquest of Saxony AD 782–785, p. 81. ISBN 978-1-78200-825-5
3. Fine, John V. A. Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. p. 78. ISBN 0-472-08149-7.