697

Events

By place

Europe

• Paolo Lucio Anafesto is elected the first Doge of Venice, which begins its rise as a major power in the Mediterranean Sea. Built up from fishing villages settled by fugitives from the Huns (see 452), the city of Venice occupies some 60 marshy islands (Venetian Lagoon).
• Radbod, king of the Frisians, retreats to the island of Heligoland in the North Sea (approximate date).

Britain

• Queen Osthryth of Mercia is murdered by her own noblemen. She is buried at Bardney Abbey (Lincolnshire), and later revered as a saint.

Arabian Empire

• Syrian forces under Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, governor of Iraq, defeat the Persian Kharijites, who have captured the city of Mosul and occupy large parts of Mesopotamia (approximate date).

Asia

• Empress Jitō abdicates the throne in favor of the 14-year-old Monmu (grandson of late emperor Tenmu). During her 11-year reign she has established the foundations of law in Japan.

Mesoamerica

• The Mayan city of Bahlam Jol is destroyed by Naranjo as retaliation for rebelling against its suzerain.

By topic

Religion

• Council of Birr: The northern part of Ireland accepts the Roman calculations for celebrating Easter. At this synod Adomnán, abbot of Iona (Scotland), promulgates his Cáin Adomnáin ("Law of the Innocents").
• A festival, for the opening of the eyes of Buddhist images, is held in Yakushi-ji Temple in Japan (approximate date).

Births

• Fang Guan, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (d. 763)
• Guo Ziyi, general of the Tang dynasty (d. 781)
• Osred I, king of Northumbria (approximate date)

Deaths

• Eochaid mac Domangairt, king of Dál Riata
• Ferchar Fota, king of Dál Riata (Scotland)
• Hugobert, Merovingian noblemen (seneschal)
• Nordebert, mayor of the palace of Neustria
• Osthryth, queen of Mercia (English Midlands)

References

References

1. (1999). "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People: The Greater Chronicle ; Bede's Letter to Egbert". [[Oxford University Press]].