Middle Ages
Battle of Karbala (680): The Death of Husayn ibn Ali
Husayn and most of his male companions were killed; his death became the central event of Shia remembrance, commemorated every year at Ashura.
Era · c. 500 – 1500
Middle Ages
Kingdoms, crusades and plagues: the medieval world from the end of the Western Roman Empire to the fall of Constantinople.
Middle Ages
First Bulgarian Empire (681): Asparukh Founds a Balkan State
Byzantium agreed to pay annual tribute to the Bulgars, recognising a new state between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains.
Middle Ages
Lady Six Sky: The Warrior Queen of Naranjo (682)
A foreign-born princess re-established Naranjo's royal line, and under her and her son the city fought its way back to regional power.
Middle Ages
Rise of Srivijaya (682): Sumatra's Maritime Buddhist Empire
Srivijaya became the leading trading power and Buddhist centre of maritime Southeast Asia for more than three centuries.
Middle Ages
Battle of Nechtansmere (685): Picts Defeat Northumbria
Decisive Pictish victory; King Ecgfrith was killed and Northumbrian rule north of the Forth collapsed.
Middle Ages
Battle of Tertry (687): Pippin of Herstal Takes Power in Francia
Austrasian victory; Pippin of Herstal became the dominant figure in the whole Frankish kingdom while Merovingian kings kept their thrones.
Middle Ages
Wu Zetian: China's Only Reigning Empress (690-705)
Wu ruled as emperor of her own Zhou dynasty for 15 years until a palace coup in 705 restored the Tang; she remains the only woman to reign in China in her own name.
Middle Ages
Dome of the Rock (691): Abd al-Malik's Shrine in Jerusalem
The Umayyads created the oldest surviving major monument of Islam, a domed shrine over the sacred rock that remains a symbol of Jerusalem.
Middle Ages
Jasaw Chan K'awiil and Tikal's Victory Over Calakmul (695)
Tikal defeated Calakmul, broke the Snake dynasty's dominance over the central Maya lowlands and began a century of renewed power and building.
Middle Ages
Balhae (698): Dae Jo-yeong's Kingdom in Manchuria and Korea
Dae Jo-yeong founded a kingdom, first called Jin and from 713 Balhae, that ruled Manchuria and northern Korea for over two centuries.
Middle Ages
Franks Casket (c. 700): Anglo-Saxon Whalebone Box with Runes
The casket survives as one of the most important objects of Anglo-Saxon art and a key source for early English runic writing.
Middle Ages
Codex Amiatinus (c. 700): Oldest Complete Latin Vulgate Bible
The giant single-volume Bible survived in Italy and is today the earliest complete manuscript of the Latin Vulgate.