809
Year 809 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.Events
By place
- Spring - Siege of Serdica: Krum, ruler of the Bulgarian Empire, captures the fortress of Serdica, after a long siege. According to Byzantine sources, he massacres the garrison and razes the city walls, before returning with much loot to Bulgaria. In the following years, Serdica will serve as a base for the expansion of the Bulgars to the south of the Balkans.
Europe
- A Byzantine fleet lands in the Venetian Lagoon, and attacks a Frankish flotilla at Comacchio, but is defeated. Doge Obelerio degli Antenori marries a Frankish bride, Carola; she becomes the first dogaressa of Venice.
- Aznar Galíndez I succeeds Aureolus, as count of Aragon. He is installed by King Louis the Pious, and remains a Frankish vassal.
- A rebellion in Gharb al-Andalus is crushed by the Emirate of Córdoba.
Abbasid Caliphate
- March 24 - Caliph Harun al-Rashid dies at Tus, on an expedition to put down an uprising in Khorasan. He is succeeded by his son Muhammad ibn Harun al-Amin.
Asia
- Emperor Heizei becomes ill, and abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Saga, who is installed as the 52nd emperor of Japan.
- Emperor Govinda III defeats his rival Nagabhata II, and obtains the submission of the Pala Empire.
By topic
Religion
Births
- Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Muslim scholar and physician
- Jing Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty
- Wen Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty
Deaths
- March 24 - Harun al-Rashid, Muslim caliph
- March 26 - Ludger, Frisian missionary
- July 14 - Ōtomo no Otomaro, Japanese general and Shōgun
- Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf, Muslim poet
- Aejang, king of Silla
- Aureolus of Aragon, Frankish nobleman
- Cellach Tosach mac Donngaile, Irish king
- Elfodd, Welsh bishop
- Gang, king of Balhae
- Wang Shizhen, Chinese general