The previous part is here: https://bartoll.se/2024/03/history-matrix-part50/
All parts of this series can be found here: https://bartoll.se/world-playbook-quickstart/
In 656 AD, the Frankish King Sigebert III of Austrasia, age 25, died during mysterious circumstances. His 5-year-old son Dagobert II was kidnapped by the court chancellor, Grimoald the Elder, who instead made his own adopted son Childebert king, and then exiled young Dagobert to an Irish monastery.
In Britannia, King Oswiu of Northumbria invaded Pengwern (present-day Wales) and killed King Cynddylan in battle, near the River Trent. Cynddylan’s brother Morfael and the rest of the royal family fled to Glastening (Wessex.)
In the Arabian Empire, the first Islamic Civil War broke out as an armed revolt erupted in Egypt where several Muslim sympathizers travelled to Medina to rally support after the assassination of the second caliph, Umar, thus beginning the fitna (meaning the ‘trail of faith’.) The Muslim expansion came to a halt as the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali, and the rebel groups battled each other.
In 657 AD, Grimoald the Elder, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, was deposed by Clovis II, the 23-year-old king of Neustria and brother of the likely assassinated King Sigebert III. Clovis also captured Grimoald’s adopted son and usurper Childebert and executed them both.
However, shortly afterwards Clovis II died and historian Henri Pirenne stated that Clovis “died insane.” He was succeeded by his eldest son Chlothar III, age 5, who became king of Neustria and Burgundy, under the regency of his mother Balthild.
In Asia, Gao Zong commissioned the pharmacology publication of an official ‘materia medica,’ documenting the use of 833 different substances for medicinal purposes. This pseudo-science of remedies and using herbs, substances, and other chemicals to suppress symptoms and thus blunt the healing process clearly shows how those in control, as in this case Emperor Gao Zong, has kept the population in the dark of how our bodies and our physiology actually work and thus kept their citizens sick and weak and easy to control. The exactly same strategy as used with food as toxic and non-bioavailable crop-plants were introduced to “fight” starvation.
In 658 AD, Emperor Constans II of the Byzantine/Roman Empire made a military expedition to the Balkan Peninsula, where he defeated the Avars in Macedonia. He temporarily reasserted Byzantine rule, and resettled some of them in Anatolia to fight against the Rashidun Caliphate and the Arab-Muslim expansion.
In Europe, King Samo of the Slavic people died, which made the Slavic tribes fall apart and the Avars captured most of their territory in Hungary.
In Britannia, during a revolt led by three Mercian noblemen (Immin, Eata, and Eadberht,) Wulfhere (son of king Penda,) was installed as ruler of Mercia. The supporters of King Oswiu of Northumbria were driven out.
In 659 AD, Emperor Constans II signed a peace treaty with the Rashidun Caliphate, who had no other choice as they still were occupied with the Islamic Civil War. Constans II used the pause to strengthen his defenses, and to consolidate Byzantine control over Armenia.
In 660 AD, Emperor Constans II became paranoid about the ambitions of his younger brother, Theodosius, and had him assassinated. That action attracted the hatred of the citizens of Constantinople, and Constans decided to leave the Byzantine capital and moved his household to Syracuse (Sicily.)
In Britannia, King Sigeberht II of Essex was murdered by his brothers, Swithelm and Swithfrith, and other kinsmen for being “too quick and ready to pardon his enemies”; that is to say, the Christians.
Swithelm took the throne of Essex, with Swithfrith as joint-monarch.
In Asia, Emperor Gao Zong suffered from illness, and apparently his 833 substances for “medicinal purposes” could not help him. Likely it was what made him weak and “sickly.” He handed the power to rule China to his wife Wu Zetian.
In 661 AD, the Lombard king Aripert I in Italy died and his sons Perctarit and Godepert became co-rulers, splitting the kingdom and establishing their capitals in Milan and Pavia.
In Britannia, Wulfhere appointed Æthelwealh as king of Sussex, and Æthelwealh was baptized into the Catholic faith in Mercia.
In the Arabian Empire, Ali ibn Abi Talib, first Shia imam and fourth caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate was assassinated during a prayer at a shrine at Kufa (Iraq.)
He was succeeded by Mu’awiyah I as Caliph, age 59, who moved his seat of government to Damascus, and founded the Umayyad Caliphate, ending the Rashidun Caliphate. Christians were then persecuted and their churches were destroyed.
In 662 AD, in Italy, the newly crowned Lombard co-king Godepert made war against his brother Perctarit. Godepert asked duke Grimoald for help, but he turned on him and had him assassinated. Grimoald I then usurped the throne and became ruler of the Lombard Kingdom while Godepert’s brother Perctarit was exiled, and sought out refuge in Gaul and Britain.
In Britannia, King Swithelm of Essex was converted to Catholicism and baptized by bishop Cedd, a significant participant in the Synod of Whitby. The baptize took place at the court of King Æthelwald of East Anglia, who acted as his sponsor.
In the Arab Empire, as the Civil war had settled, Arab forces of the Umayyad Caliphate resumed the push to capture Persian lands, and began to move towards the lands east and north of the plateau, towards Greater Khorasan (Iran) and the Silk Road along Transoxiana.
In 663 AD, as the new Lombard usurper King Grimoald I was busy with Frankish forces from Neustria, Emperor Constans II of the Byzantine/Roman Empire launched and assault against the Duchy of Benevento (Southern Italy.)
After a successful military campaign, Constans II visited Rome for 12 days (the only emperor to set foot in Rome for two centuries,) and was received with great honor by Pope Vitalian. Constans gave the order to strip buildings, including the Pantheon, of their ornaments, which was to be carried back to Constantinople.
Constans II also moved the imperial court from Constantinople to his new seat in Syracuse. He also tried to stop the Arab conquest of Sicily, and restored Rome as seat of the Byzantine/Roman Empire. To fund his campaigns, Constans stripped sacred altar vessels from churches all over Rome.
By mid-May, the Byzantine army, led by Constans II, was defeated by the Lombards under Romuald I, halting the expansion.
In 664 AD, the alleged “Yellow Plague of 664” was said to have affected Britain and Ireland. According to the Irish Annals of Tigernach, the plague was preceded by a solar eclipse on 1 May 664 and considered a “divine punishment” for sins.
It’s hard to say if the “plague” ever actually happened, or of it was an invention by the Catholic Church and the history books. With that said, Britain was war-ridden at this time experiencing famine as King Oswiu had just invaded Pictland (modern Scotland.) So, it’s not impossible that a lot of people got “sick” from trauma, from spoiled food, and could not recover due to being severely malnourished (as seen with most previous recorded “plagues.”)
Later this year, King Oswiu of Northumbria called for a meeting at Whitby Abbey to settle the church practices in his kingdom – to decide between those of the Celtic Church (of Wales, Scotland and the north of England,) or the Roman Church (of the south of England.) It was decided to follow the practice of Rome, as in the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, many Irish clergy left Northumbria and returned to Ireland.
In 665 AD, Wu Zetian, the wife of the Chinese retired and sickly emperor Gao Zong, became the absolute ruler by eliminating all her political rivals.
In Britannia, according to the Annales Cambriae, the Anglo-Saxons converted to “Christianity,” as in Catholicism, after the Second Battle of Badon.
In 666 AD, Duke Lupus of Friuli revolted against Lombard King Grimoald I. Grimoald attacked and demolished the region of Friuli, killed Lupus, and then tracked down his son Arnefrit and killed him in battle at the castle of Nimis. Grimoald appointed Wechtar as the new duke of Friuli.
In 667 AD, the Caliph Muawiyah I launched a series of attacks against Byzantine holdings in Africa, Sicily and the East.
In Italy, the Lombards, under King Grimoald I, continued their campaign after the revolt by Lupus to get rid of sympathizers and allies by destroying Oderzo (Northern Italy.) Much of its population fled to the nearby city of Heraclea.