803

Events

Emperors Nikephoros I and Charlemagne settle their imperial boundaries in the Adriatic Sea, and sign the Pax Nicephori. The Byzantines retain control of the coastal cities and islands in Dalmatian Croatia, while Frankish rule is accepted over Istria and the Dalmatian hinterland. Venice is recognized as independent by the Byzantine Empire.
Summer - Bardanes Tourkos, Byzantine general, is proclaimed emperor by the troops of the Anatolic, Opsikion, Thracian and Bucellarian themes. The 'rebel' army marches to Chrysopolis, a suburb of Constantinople. After the defection of two of his trusted aides, future emperors Leo the Armenian and Michael the Amorian, Bardanes negotiates peace.

May - Krum, ruler of the Bulgarian Empire, begins his territorial expansion and raids the Byzantine northern frontier. He leads his warriors — mostly Bulgars, Slavs, Thracians and Macedonians — across the Carpathian Mountains, over the Danube River, and throughout Transylvania, Thrace, and Macedonia.
St. Peter Stiftskulinarium, possibly Central Europe's oldest restaurant, is founded in Salzburg, Austria.

Caliph Harun al-Rashid has his friend and vizier Ja'far ibn Yahya beheaded, The surviving members of the influential Barmakid family are imprisoned on the orders of Harun, and their property is confiscated.
November - December: Caliph Harun al-Rashid marries Umm Muhammad, the daughter of Abbasid prince Salih al-Miskin and Umm Abdullah, the daughter of Isa ibn Ali, in Al-raqqah. She had formerly been married to Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi, who had repudiated her.
The 803 Mopsuestia earthquake takes place in the vicinity of Mopsuestia, and the Gulf of Alexandretta

October 12 - The Synod of Clofesho is held, at which the Archbishopric of Lichfield is demoted to an ordinary bishopric, with papal permission obtained by King Coenwulf of Mercia.