__NOTOC__ Year 781 ( DCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 781 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.

Events

By place

Europe

* King Charlemagne has his son Carloman (renamed Pepin) anointed "King of Italy", and he is crowned by Pope Adrian I with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. His younger brother Charles I is anointed king of Aquitaine, and Louis the Pious (only 3-years old) is appointed sub-king of Italy and Aquitaine, following the conversion of Aquitaine from a Duchy to a sub-kingdom. * Charlemagne meets Alcuin, Anglo-Saxon missionary, in Italy, and invites him to

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

, where he becomes Charlemagne's chief adviser on religious and educational matters (approximate date). * The Frankish currency called the ''

livre carolingienne The livre (abbreviation: £ or ₶., French for (pound)) was the currency of Kingdom of France and its predecessor state of West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of coins ...

'' is minted for the first time (approximate date).

Asia

* Yang Yan, Chinese statesman, commits

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

after being accused of

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

. He is credited with reforming the

tax system A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

for peasants, reducing the power of the aristocratic classes, and eliminating their tax-free estates. * April 30 – Emperor Kōnin of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

abdicates the throne after an 11-year reign, in favour of his half- Korean son, Kanmu. *

July 31 Events Pre-1600 *30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide. * 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Tr ...

– The oldest recorded eruption of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...

occurs (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781). * New city of Bian (汴) is constructed on the site of Kaifeng during the Tang Dynasty (

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

). * Marriage of Abbasid prince ''Harun ibn al-Mahdi'' (future caliph Harun al-Rashid) and Zubaidah bint Ja'far.

By topic

Religion

* Charlemagne defines the Papal territory (see Papal States). He codifies the regions over which the pope would be temporal

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

: the Duchy of Rome is expanded by Ravenna, the Duchy of the Pentapolis, parts of the Duchy of Benevento, Tuscany,

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

and

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. * Nestorians in China build Christian monasteries, and erect the Nestorian Stele (approximate date).

Births

* Harith al-Muhasibi, founder of the Baghdad School of Islamic philosophy, and a teacher of the Sufi masters Junayd al-Baghdadi and Sari al-Saqti (d. 857)

Deaths

* Alchmund, bishop of

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

(approximate date) * King Fergus mac Echdach of Dál Riata ( Scotland) * Guo Ziyi, general of the Tang Dynasty (b.

697 __NOTOC__ Year 697 ( DCXCVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 697 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

) *

Isonokami no Yakatsugu was a Japanese noble and scholar of the late Nara period. He was the grandson of the '' sadaijin'' Isonokami no Maro and son of the ''chūnagon'' Isonokami no Otomaro. Yakatsugu himself reached the court rank of and the position of ''dainagon ...

, Japanese nobleman (b.

723 __NOTOC__ Year 723 ( DCCXXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 723 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...

) * Yang Yan,

chancellor of the Tang Dynasty The chancellor () was a semi-formally designated office position for a number of high-level officials at one time during the Tang dynasty of China. This list also includes chancellors of the short-lived Wu Zhou dynasty, which is typically tre ...

(b. 727)

References

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