Editing 751 (section)

== Events ==

=== By place ===

==== Byzantine Empire ====
* [[June]] &ndash; [[Leo IV the Khazar|Leo IV]], son of Emperor [[Constantine V]], is crowned co-emperor at [[Constantinople]]. Only a year or so after his mother [[Tzitzak|Irene]] died, Constantine's second wife [[Maria, wife of Constantine V|Maria]] dies, at approximately the same time as Leo's [[coronation]].

==== Europe ====
* [[November]] &ndash; [[Pepin the Short]], youngest son of [[Charles Martel]], forces the last [[Merovingian]] king [[Childeric III]] to retire to the [[Abbey of Saint Bertin|monastery of Saint-Bertin]]. He proclaims himself as [[List of Frankish kings#Later Kings of the Franks (679–751)|king of the Franks]] with the support of [[Pope Zachary]], and is crowned at [[Soissons]] by [[Saint Boniface|Boniface]], bishop of [[Mainz]], becoming, as Pepin III, the first [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]] monarch of the [[Francia|Frankish Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Pierre |last=Riché |title=The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe |location=Philadelphia |year=1993 |page=65 }}</ref>
* King [[Aistulf]] of the [[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombards]] captures [[Ravenna]] and the [[Romagna]], ending the Byzantine [[Exarchate of Ravenna]]. The last exarch [[Eutychius (exarch)|Eutychius]] is killed by the Lombards. Aistulf threatens [[Rome]], claiming a [[Tax per head|capitation tax]]. [[Pope Zachary]], alarmed, appeals for aid from the [[Byzantine Empire]], but his request is declined.

==== Abbasid Caliphate ====
* [[Battle of Talas]]: First recorded encounter (and the last) between Arab and Chinese forces. The rulers of [[Tashkent]] and [[Ferghana]] are both nominal [[vassal]]s of the [[Tang dynasty|Tang Dynasty]]; the Chinese have intervened on behalf of Ferghana in a conflict between the two; the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], competing with the Chinese for control of [[Central Asia]], has become involved. Arab forces from [[Samarkand]] have marched to challenge a Chinese army (30,000 men) under [[Gao Xianzhi]]. Gao has had a series of military victories in the region, but his [[Turkish people|Turkish]] contingent, [[Karluks|Karluk]] mercenaries, defects. Out of 10,000 Tang troops, only 2,000 manage to return from the [[Talas River]] to [[China]]. The Arabs triumph, and they will remain the dominant force in [[Transoxiana]] for the next 150 years. 
* [[Muslim]] introduction of [[papermaking]]: The first [[paper mill]] in the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]] begins production at Samarkand. Captured craftsmen, taken at the Battle of Talas River, have by some accounts revealed the technique of papermaking (although [[History of paper|paper]] may have arrived from China much earlier via the [[Silk Road]]). Arab scholars will use paper to produce translations of [[Ancient Greek]] and Roman writings.

==== Asia ====
* Like the storm of [[721]], the [[storm]] of this year at the southern Chinese seaport of [[Yangzhou]] reportedly destroys over 1,000 ships engaged in canal and river traffic (approximate date).
* The Japanese [[poetry]] anthology ''[[Kaifūsō]]'' is assembled.

=== By topic ===

==== Religion ====
* [[Kim Daeseong]], chief minister of [[Silla]], orders the construction of the [[Bulguksa]] and [[Seokguram]] temples at [[Gyeongju]] ([[South Korea]]).
* The oldest surviving printed document, a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] scripture, is printed in [[Goryo|Korea]].
* Theodore succeeds Theophylact as [[List of Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch|Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch]].
* The [[Vairocana|Great Buddha]] at [[Tōdai-ji]] in [[Nara, Nara|Nara]] ([[Japan]]) is completed.
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