856

By place

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.

By topic

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.

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

• 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