859

Year 859 (DCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	8th century 9th century 10th century
Decades:	830s 840s 850s 860s 870s
Years:	856 857 858 859 860 861 862

859 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	859 DCCCLIX
Ab urbe condita	1612
Armenian calendar	308 ԹՎ ՅԸ
Assyrian calendar	5609
Balinese saka calendar	780–781
Bengali calendar	266
Berber calendar	1809
Buddhist calendar	1403
Burmese calendar	221
Byzantine calendar	6367–6368
Chinese calendar	戊寅年 (Earth Tiger) 3555 or 3495     — to — 己卯年 (Earth Rabbit) 3556 or 3496
Coptic calendar	575–576
Discordian calendar	2025
Ethiopian calendar	851–852
Hebrew calendar	4619–4620
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	915–916
- Shaka Samvat	780–781
- Kali Yuga	3959–3960
Holocene calendar	10859
Iranian calendar	237–238
Islamic calendar	244–245
Japanese calendar	Ten'an 3 / Jōgan 1 (貞観元年)
Javanese calendar	756–757
Julian calendar	859 DCCCLIX
Korean calendar	3192
Minguo calendar	1053 before ROC 民前1053年
Nanakshahi calendar	−609
Seleucid era	1170/1171 AG
Thai solar calendar	1401–1402
Tibetan calendar	阳土虎年 (male Earth-Tiger) 985 or 604 or −168     — to — 阴土兔年 (female Earth-Rabbit) 986 or 605 or −167

Vikings begin an expedition in the Mediterranean (between 859–862)

Events

Europe

• January 15 – Battle of St. Quentin: Frankish forces, led by Humfrid, defeat King Louis the German at Saint-Quentin (Northern France). Humfrid is enfeoffed with the County of Autun, and appointed Margrave of Burgundy, by King Charles the Bald.
• Summer – The Viking chieftains Hastein and Björn Ironside (a son of Ragnar Lodbrok) begin an expedition, and sail from the Loire River with a fleet of 62 ships, to raid cities and monasteries in the Mediterranean Sea.[1]
• Viking raiders invade the Kingdom of Pamplona (Western Pyrenees), and capture King García Íñiguez I, somewhere in the Andalusian heartland. They extort a ransom, rising to around 70,000 gold dinars.[2]
• The Russian city of Novgorod is first mentioned in the Sofia Chronicles.
• Winter - The weather is so severe that the Adriatic Sea freezes, and Italy is covered in snow for 100 days.[3]

Iberian Peninsula

• Battle of Albelda: King Ordoño I of Asturias, and his ally García Íñiguez I, defeat the Muslims under Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi at Albelda.
• Viking raiders burn the mosques of Seville and Algeciras in al-Andalus (modern Spain).[4]

Africa

• The University of Al Karaouine is founded in Fes (modern Morocco), by Fatima al-Fihri (recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest university in the world).

China

• September 7 – Emperor Xuān Zong (Li Yi) dies after a 13-year reign. He is succeeded by his eldest son Yi Zong, as ruler of the Tang Dynasty.

Syria

• 859 Syrian coast earthquake. It affected the Mediterranean coast of Syria[5] It caused almost the complete destruction of Latakia and Jableh, major damage at Antioch and led to many deaths.[6]

Births

• Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, first Zaydi Imam of Yemen (d. 911)[7]
• Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah, vizier of the Abbasid Caliphate (d. 946)
• Odo I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 860)
• Rudolph I, king of Burgundy (d. 912)
• Tannet of Pagan, king of Burma (d. 904)

Deaths

• September 7 – Xuān Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 810)
• December 13 – Angilbert II, archbishop of Milan
• Dhul-Nun al-Misri, Egyptian scholar and Sufi (b. 796)
• Immo, bishop of Noyon (approximate date)
• Lu Shang, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 789)
• Máel Gualae, king of Munster (Ireland)

References

1. Haywood, John (1995). The Historical Atlas of the Vikings, pp. 58–59. Penguin Books: ISBN 0-14-051328-0
2. Martínez Díez 2007, p. 25. sfn error: no target: CITEREFMartínez_Díez2007 (help)
3. Yanko-Hombach, Valentina (2006). The Black Sea Flood Question. Springer. p. 638. ISBN 1402047746.
4. Rucquoi, Adeline (1993). Histoire médiévale de la Péninsule ibérique. Paris: Seuil. p. 85. ISBN 2-02-012935-3.
5. Antonopoulos, J. (1980). "Data from investigation of seismic Sea waves events in the Eastern Mediterranean from 500 to 1000 A.D.". Annals of Geophysics. 33 (1). doi:10.4401/ag-4701.
6. Ambraseys, N. (2009). Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East: A Multidisciplinary Study of Seismicity up to 1900 (First ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 243–244. ISBN 978-1-316-34785-0.
7. Madelung, W. (2004). "al-Ḥādī Ila 'l-Ḥaḳḳ". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume XII: Supplement. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 334–335. ISBN 978-90-04-13974-9.