890s

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	8th century – 9th century – 10th century
Decades:	860s 870s 880s – 890s – 900s 910s 920s
Years:	890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899
890s-related categories:	Births – Deaths – By country Establishments

This is a list of events occurring in the 890s, ordered by year.

By place

Europe

• The sovereignty of Great Moravian king Svatopluk I in Bohemia is confirmed.
• Lusatia becomes a part of Great Moravia.
• The Welsh ruler Anarawd ap Rhodri, King of Gwynedd, makes the first ceremonial visit to an English court (that of Alfred the Great).
• Approximate date
  • King Alfred the Great of England begins to commission and undertake a series of translations into Old English, beginning with his own version of Pope Gregory I's Pastoral Care.
  • Ohthere of Hålogaland narrates the story of his travels to Alfred the Great, who arranges for it to be written down.
  • The town of Kirby Muxloe is founded in England.

Americas

• The Mayans write the first book in the Americas.

By place

Asia

• June – Death of the Abbasid regent, al-Muwaffaq. His son, al-Mu'tadid, is recognized as regent and second heir two days later, on 4 June, by his uncle, Caliph al-Mu'tamid.

Europe

• Arnulf of Carinthia defeats the Normans at the Battle of Leuven.
• April – Duke Guy of Spoleto is crowned Roman Emperor.
• The forces of Abdullah ibn Muhammad, Emir of Córdoba, defeat those of the rebel Umar ibn Hafsun at Poley in southern Spain.

By topic

Religion

• October 6 – Pope Formosus succeeds Pope Stephen V as the 111th pope.

By place

Europe

• Poppo of Thuringia, count of the march in Thuringia, is deposed by the German Carolingian king Arnulf of Carinthia.
• Arnulf of Carinthia and his Magyar (Hungarian) allies invade Great Moravia.

Asia

• The former Silla general Gyeonhwon attacks the city of Gwangju and declares himself king.
• The de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate, al-Mu'tadid, removes his cousin al-Mufawwad from the succession in April, and becomes himself Caliph after the death of al-Mu'tamid in October.

By place

Asia

• The Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tadid recovers direct control of Mosul.

Eurasia

• December 28 – The 893 Dvin earthquake destroys the city of Dvin in Armenia.

Europe

• Council of Preslav: Simeon I succeeds Vladimir as prince of Bulgaria; the capital is moved from Pliska to Preslav.
• Galindo II Aznárez succeeds Aznar II Galíndez as Count of Aragon.
• Asser writes his Life of King Alfred in Wessex.
• In Spain, the king Alfonso III of Leon repopulates the city of Zamora with Mozarabs from Toledo.

By topic

Religion

• Council of Preslav: The Byzantine clergy is expelled from Bulgaria, and the Greek language is replaced with Old Bulgarian (also known as Old Church Slavonic) as an official language.

By place

Europe

• Northumbrians and East Angles swear allegiance to Alfred the Great, but promptly break their truce by attacking the south-west of England.
• Battle of Benfleet: The Saxons defeat the Vikings in England (probable date).
• Mojmír II becomes King of Great Moravia after the death of his father Svatopluk I.
• A Byzantine-Hungarian alliance forces Bulgar invaders to agree to a peace settlement. The Byzantines then break the peace settlement with the Hungarians and realign with the Bulgars; this substantially weakens both the Hungarians and Bulgars to the Byzantines' benefit.
• Serbian ruler Petar defeats his revolting cousin Bran.

Asia

• Japan ceases commercial relations (called Imperial Japanese embassies to China) with China on the orders of the Japanese emperor Uda.

By place

Asia

• The Taghlibi chieftain Hamdan ibn Hamdun is defeated and captured by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tadid. Hamdan's son Husayn enters caliphal service, beginning the rise of the Hamdanid dynasty.

Europe

• The seven tribes of the Magyars settle in the Carpathian Basin under the leadership of Árpád (The traditional date of 896 held during the 20th century has proved to be erroneous). People think of them as returning Huns, thus the Magyars come to be known as Hungarians.
• Bohemia breaks away from Great Moravia.
• Arnulf of Carinthia undertakes his second Italian campaign.
• The Danes begin raids on Sussex, England.

By topic

Music

• Approximate date of composition of the Musica enchiriadis, the beginnings of western polyphonic music.

By place

Europe

• Decisive Bulgarian victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Southern Buh.
• The Bulgarians, under Simeon I, defeat the Byzantine Empire at Bulgarophygon.
• The Eastern Franks invade and conquer Italy under the leadership of Arnulf of Carinthia.
• Alfred the Great restores the city walls of London.
• Serbian pretender Klonimir is defeated by his ruling cousin, Petar.

Asia

• January 13 – Emperor Zhaozong appoints Li Keyong as the Prince of Jin, who begins his reign as first emperor of Jin following the collapse of the Tang dynasty in China.
• Spring – The thirty-year rebellion by the Kharijites in the Jazira is ended by the Abbasid Caliphate.

By topic

Religion

• April – Pope Boniface VI succeeds Pope Formosus as the 112th pope.
• May – Pope Stephen VI (also referred to as Stephen VII) succeeds Pope Boniface VI as the 113th pope.

By place

Asia

• Emperor Uda of Japan is succeeded by Emperor Daigo.
• Yahya al-Hadi ila'l Haqq founds the rule of Zaidi Shiite Imams in Yemen, which will endure until the second half of the 20th century.
• Taking advantage of the turmoil in the Tulunid government, Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tadid recovers control of the Cilician Thughur and of northern Syria.

By topic

Religion

• January – The Cadaver Synod is held.
• August – Pope Romanus succeeds Pope Stephen VI as the 114th pope.
• November – Pope Romanus is deposed.
• December – Pope Theodore II succeeds Pope Romanus as the 115th pope, but dies twenty days later.

By place

Europe

• A Magyar army headed by Álmos besieges Kiev.
• Magyar tribes found the state of Székesfehérvár in Hungary.
• Bologna joins the Italian Kingdom.
• King Odo of West Francia dies, and is succeeded by his rival claimant to the throne, Charles the Simple.
• Lambert II of Spoleto, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor, is killed.

Asia

• King Kasyapa IV accedes to the throne of Sri Lanka.
• Bhaktapur is founded in Nepal.

Africa

• The Yodit Era ends in Ethiopia.

By topic

Religion

• January – Pope John IX succeeds Theodore II as the 116th pope.

By place

Asia

• Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Shaybani surrenders Amid to Caliph al-Mu'tadid, thereby ending the semi-independent Shaybanid dynasty ruling in Diyar Bakr since the 870s.
• The Qarmatians seize Bahrein.

Europe

• Edward the Elder becomes King of Wessex.
• Regino of Prüm is expelled from Prüm and becomes abbot of St. Martin's in Trier.
• September 24 – The Magyar army consisting of 5000 men, defeats Berengar of Friuli, the king of Italy at Brenta, whose army is 15,000. Italy becomes the vassal of the Hungarians.
• The Magyars heavily damage Reggio Emilia, killing Bishop Azzo II.