856



Year 856 (DCCCLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * March 15 – Emperor Michael III overthrows the regency of his mother Theodora. He appoints his uncle Bardas as the de facto regent and co-ruler of the Byzantine Empire.

Europe

 * King Charles the Bald cedes the county of Maine to Erispoe, ruler (duke) of Brittany—this in return for an alliance against the Vikings.
 * King Ordoño I of Asturias is said to have begun the repopulation of the town of León in the northwest of Spain (approximate date).

Britain

 * October 1 – King Æthelwulf of Wessex marries the 12- or 13-year-old Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, at Verberie (Northern France). She is crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, archbishop of Reims. The marriage is a diplomatic alliance between Wessex and the West Frankish Kingdom.
 * Winter – Æthelwulf returns to Wessex to face a revolt by his eldest son Æthelbald, who usurps the throne. Æthelwulf agrees to give up the western part of his kingdom, in order to avoid a civil war. He keeps control over Sussex, Surrey, Essex and Kent, over which Prince Æthelberht has presided.

Geology

 * November (approximate date) – An earthquake in Corinth, Greece kills an estimated 45,000 people.
 * December 3 – Another earthquake strikes the Abbasid Caliphate (modern-day Tunisia), also killing an estimated 45,000 people.
 * December 22 – Another earthquake strikes Damghan (modern-day Iran), killing an estimated 200,000 people.

Births

 * October 24 – Li Keyong, Shatuo governor (jiedushi) (d. 908)
 * Li Maozhen, Chinese warlord and king (d. 924)

Deaths

 * January 7 – Aldric, bishop of Le Mans
 * February 4 – Rabanus Maurus, archbishop of Mainz
 * August 6 – Fujiwara no Nagara, Japanese statesman (b. 802)
 * August 16 – Theutbald I, bishop of Langres
 * Florinus of Remüs, Frankish priest and martyr
 * Godfrid Haraldsson, Viking chieftain (approximate date)
 * Guerin, Frankish nobleman (or 845)
 * Ilyas ibn Asad, Muslim emir (approximate date)
 * Muhammad I Abu 'l-Abbas, Muslim emir