859

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	8th century · 9th century · 10th century
Decades:	820s · 830s · 840s · 850s · 860s · 870s · 880s
Years:	856 · 857 · 858 · 859 · 860 · 861 · 862

859 by topic

Politics

State leaders – Sovereign states

Birth and death categories

Births – Deaths

Establishment and disestablishment categories

Establishments – Disestablishments

859 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	859 DCCCLIX
Ab urbe condita	1612
Armenian calendar	308 ԹՎ ՅԸ
Assyrian calendar	5609
Bengali calendar	266
Berber calendar	1809
Buddhist calendar	1403
Burmese calendar	221
Byzantine calendar	6367–6368
Chinese calendar	戊寅年 (Earth Tiger) 3555 or 3495     — to — 己卯年 (Earth Rabbit) 3556 or 3496
Coptic calendar	575–576
Discordian calendar	2025
Ethiopian calendar	851–852
Hebrew calendar	4619–4620
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	915–916
- Shaka Samvat	780–781
- Kali Yuga	3959–3960
Holocene calendar	10859
Iranian calendar	237–238
Islamic calendar	244–245
Japanese calendar	Ten'an 3 / Jōgan 1 (貞観元年)
Javanese calendar	756–757
Julian calendar	859 DCCCLIX
Korean calendar	3192
Minguo calendar	1053 before ROC 民前1053年
Nanakshahi calendar	−609
Seleucid era	1170/1171 AG
Thai solar calendar	1401–1402

Vikings begin an expedition in the Mediterranean (between 859–862)

Year 859 (DCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events

By place

Europe

• January 15 – Battle of Saint-Quentin: Frankish forces led by Humfrid defeat king Louis the German at Saint-Quentin (Northern France). Humfrid is enfeoffed with the County of Autun and appointed Margrave of Burgundy by king Charles the Bald.
• Summer – The Viking chieftains Hastein and Björn Ironside (a son of Ragnar Lodbrok) begin an expedition and sail from the Loire River with a fleet of 62 ships to raid cities and monasteries in the Mediterranean Sea.^[1]
• Viking raiders invade the Kingdom of Pamplona (Western Pyrenees) and capture king García Íñiguez I, somewhere in the Andalusian heartland. They extort a ransom, rising to around 70,000 gold dinars.^[2]
• The Russian city of Novgorod is first mentioned in the Sofia chronicles.
• Winter - The weather is so severe that the Adriatic Sea freezes and Italy is covered in snow for 100 days.^[3]

Iberian Peninsula

• Battle of Albelda: King Ordoño I of Asturias and his ally García Íñiguez I defeat the Muslims under Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi at Albelda.
• Viking raiders burn the mosques of Seville and Algesiras in al-Andalus (modern Spain).^[4]

Africa

• The University of Al Karaouine is founded in Fes (modern Morocco) by Fatima al-Fihri (recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest university in the world).

China

• September 7 – Emperor Xuān Zong (Li Yi) dies after a 13-year reign. He is succeeded by his eldest son Yi Zong as ruler of the Tang Dynasty.

Births

• Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah, Muslim vizier (d. 946)
• Odo I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 860)
• Rudolph I, king of Burgundy (d. 912)
• Tannet of Pagan, king of Burma (d. 904)

Deaths

• March 11 – Eulogius, Spanish priest and martyr
• July 16 – Agilmar, archbishop of Vienne (or 860)
• September 7 – Xuān Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 810)
• December 13 – Angilbert II, archbishop of Milan
• Dhul-Nun al-Misri, Egyptian scholar and Sufi (b. 796)
• Immo, bishop of Noyon (approximate date)
• Lu Shang, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 789)
• Máel Gualae, king of Munster (Ireland)

References

1. Haywood, John (1995). The Historical Atlas of the Vikings, pp. 58–59. Penguin Books: ISBN 0-14-051328-0
2. Martínez Díez 2007, p. 25.
3. Yanko-Hombach, Valentina (2006). The Black Sea Flood Question. Springer. p. 638. ISBN 1402047746.
4. Rucquoi, Adeline (1993). Histoire médiévale de la Péninsule ibérique. Paris: Seuil. p. 85. ISBN 2-02-012935-3.