Middle Ages
Greek Fire: The Byzantine Empire's Secret Incendiary Weapon
A closely guarded naval weapon that helped Byzantium defeat Arab and Rus fleets; its exact formula was eventually lost.
Region
Europe
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
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
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.
Middle Ages
Umayyad Conquest of Hispania (711): The Birth of al-Andalus
The Visigothic kingdom collapsed and most of the Iberian Peninsula became al-Andalus, a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, except for small Christian territories in the north.
Middle Ages
Lindisfarne Gospels (c. 715): Masterpiece of Insular Art
The manuscript survived Viking raids and the Reformation and is now one of the British Library's greatest treasures.
Middle Ages
Arab Siege of Constantinople (717-718): Leo III Holds the City
Decisive Byzantine victory; the Umayyad army and fleet suffered heavy losses and the caliphate abandoned attempts to conquer Constantinople.
Middle Ages
Battle of Covadonga (722): Pelagius and the Kingdom of Asturias
Asturian victory over a Muslim expedition; Pelagius secured an independent Christian lordship that became the Kingdom of Asturias.
Middle Ages
Boniface Fells Donar's Oak (723): Converting the Germans
The felling of the oak became a symbol of Boniface's mission, which built a church organisation across central Germany.
Middle Ages
Byzantine Iconoclasm: The Battle Over Holy Images, 726-843
Images were restored in 843, an event celebrated by the Orthodox Church as the Triumph of Orthodoxy.