upright=1.35|thumb|View of [[Taormina with the Saracen castle.]]

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Year 902 (CMII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.

Events

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By place

Europe

  • Spring &ndash; Adalbert II, margrave of Tuscany, revolts against Emperor Louis III ("the Blind"). He helps the deposed King Berengar I to recover the Kingdom of Italy. Louis III is forced to abdicate the Lombard throne and flees to Provence, compelled to promise never to return to Italy.
  • February – March &ndash; Abu Abbas Abdallah, conqueror of Reggio Calabria, returns from Sicily and succeeds his father Ibrahim II as Aghlabid emir of Ifriqiya.
  • June &ndash; Ibrahim II lands with an Aghlabid expeditionary force in Trapani, and proceeds to Palermo. He crushes the reinforced Byzantine army at Giardini.
  • August 1 &ndash; Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabid army. After nearly 75 years, all of Sicily is in Aghlabid hands.
  • September &ndash; Ibrahim II crosses the Strait of Messina into Calabria. He begins his march to conquer the rest of Italy, and lays siege at Cosenza.
  • October 23 &ndash; Ibrahim II dies of dysentery in a chapel near Cosenza. His grandson, Ziyadat Allah, takes over the army, but lifts the siege.
  • Winter &ndash; The Balearic Islands are conquered by the Emirate of Córdoba. The Moors improve agriculture with irrigation on the islands.

Britain And Ireland

  • December 13 &ndash; Battle of the Holme: The Anglo-Saxon army is defeated by the Danish Vikings under Æthelwold (a son of Æthelred I) at Holme. Æthelwold is killed, ending his revolt against King Edward the Elder.
  • Winter &ndash; The Norsemen are expelled from Dublin. After a brief foray into Seisyllwg (Wales), a group, under the Viking lord Ingimundr, settle in the Wirral with the agreement of Lady Æthelflæd of the Mercians.

Arabian Empire

  • April 5 &ndash; Caliph Al-Mu'tadid dies in Baghdad after a 10-year reign. Possibly poisoned in a palace intrigue, he is succeeded by his eldest son Al-Muktafi as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.
  • The Kutama tribe under Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i revolt against the Aghlabids. He begins a campaign and dispatches an invitation to the Fatimid spiritual leader Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah to support him.
  • Moorish Andalusian merchants set up a trade settlement (so-called emporium) in Oran (modern Algeria).

Asia

  • Spring &ndash; Emperor Zhao Zong appoints Yang Xingmi as the overall commander of the Eastern circuits in China. He receives the title of Prince Wuzhong of Wu.
  • The Kingdom of Nanzhao in East Asia is overthrown, followed by three dynasties in quick succession, before the establishment of the Kingdom of Dali in 937.

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Births

  • November 25 &ndash; Tai Zong, emperor of the Liao dynasty (d. 947)
  • Ælfweard, king of Wessex (approximate date)
  • Du, empress of the Song dynasty (approximate date)
  • Eadgifu, queen and wife of Charles the Simple
  • Han Xizai, Chinese official and calligrapher (d. 970)
  • Lady Xu Xinyue, wife of Qian Yuanguan (d. 946)
  • Lothar I, Frankish nobleman (d. 929)
  • Wang Jun, chancellor of Later Zhou (or 903)

Deaths

  • February 16 &ndash; Mary the Younger, Byzantine saint (b. 875)
  • April 5 &ndash; Al-Mu'tadid, Abbasid caliph
  • August 14 &ndash; Badr al-Mu'tadidi, Abbasid commander-in-chief
  • October 23 &ndash; Ibrahim II, Aghlabid emir (b. 850)
  • December 5 &ndash; Ealhswith, queen and wife of Alfred the Great
  • December 16 &ndash; Wei Yifan, chancellor of the Tang dynasty
  • Æthelwold, son of Æthelred of Wessex
  • Amr ibn al-Layth, Saffarid emir
  • Anscar I, margrave of Ivrea (Italy)
  • Li Cunxin, general of the Tang dynasty (b. 862)
  • Wang Zongdi, Chinese official and governor
  • Yunju Daoying, Chinese Buddhist teacher (b. 830)

References