8thcentury

The 8th century refers to the period from 701 to 800 CE. It was a time of political realignments, expanding empires, and cross‑cultural exchange across Eurasia. Key developments include the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate in the Middle East, the consolidation of the Tang Dynasty in China, and the emergence of the Frankish realm under the Carolingians in Western Europe, alongside the beginnings of the Viking Age in northern seas.

In Europe, the Frankish kingdoms grew under the Carolingians. Pepin the Short defeated the Lombards in 754, and Charlemagne expanded Frankish rule in Gaul and parts of Italy after 768. In 800 he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, marking a high point for a Western imperial project. The Viking Age began with a raid on Lindisfarne in 793, signaling increased Norse expansion and contact with Christian Europe.

Across Asia and the Middle East, the Abbasid Caliphate rose to prominence after a 750 revolution, making Baghdad a center of science and culture during the early Islamic Golden Age. In Iberia, Abd al-Rahman I established the independent Emirate of Cordoba in 756. In China, the Tang Dynasty endured the disruptive An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) but continued to influence East Asian culture, while Japan entered the Heian period with the capital move to Heian-kyō in 794.

Trade and learning linked distant regions through Silk Road and Indian Ocean networks. Urban centers across the Islamic world, Tang China, and the Japanese archipelago produced advances in science, literature, administration, and art. The 8th century laid groundwork for mid‑medieval developments, including enduring political structures, Islamic scholarship, and northern European expansion that would shape subsequent centuries.