676

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Summer - Siege of Constantinople: Caliph Muawiyah I sends his son Yazid with Muslim reinforcements to Constantinople. At the same time, the Byzantines have to face a Slavic attack on Thessaloniki and Lombard attacks in Italy.

  Europe

• Dagobert II, son of the late king Sigibert III, becomes the new ruler of Austrasia, after his predecessor Clovis III is murdered.

  Britain

• King Æthelred of Mercia invades Kent, in an attempt to enforce overlordship and diminish Kentish influence in Surrey and London. His armies destroy the Diocese of Rochester , and ravage the surrounding countryside.
• King Æscwine of Wessex dies after a 2-year reign, and is succeeded by Centwine, son of the late king Cynegils. He reasserts the power of his Anglo-Saxon kingdom over the Welsh.

  Asia

• Emperor Tenmu of Japan promulgates a decree about taxes from fiefs, and the employment of persons for the service from the outer provinces. Men of distinguished ability are allowed to enter the service, even though they are of the common people, regardless of their ranks.
• The broad-based peninsular effort under Silla's leadership, to prevent Chinese domination of Korea, succeeds in forcing Chinese troops to withdraw into Manchuria, in northeast China.

  By topic

Religion

• Aldhelm, Anglo-Saxon scholar-poet, founds Malmesbury Abbey on the site of the hermitage of his old tutor Máel Dub.
• Æthelred of Mercia founds the monastery at Breedon on the Hill on the site of The Bulwarks, an Iron Age hill fort.
• June 17 - Pope Adeodatus II dies at Rome after a reign of 4 years. He is succeeded by Donus as the 78th pope.
• Cuthbert of Lindisfarne retires to a hermitage near Holburn, at a place now known as St. Cuthbert's Cave.