Apostles of Apostolic Constitutions, Clerical celibacy, rejected by Pope Constantine 698 Fall of Carthage 711–718 Umayyad conquest of Hispania 717–718 Second Arab siege of Constantinople 718–1492 Reconquista: Iberian Peninsula retaken by Roman Catholic Visigoth monarchs 718 Saint Boniface, archbishop of Mainz; an Englishman, given commission by Pope Gregory II to evangelize the Germans 720? Disentis Abbey of Switzerland 730–787 First Iconoclasm: Byzantine Emperor Leo III bans Christian icons; Pope Gregory II excommunicates him 731 English Church History written by Bede 732 Battle of Tours stops Islam from expanding westward 750? Tower added to St Peter's Basilica at the front of the atrium 752? Donation of Constantine, granted Western Roman Empire to the Pope (later proved a forgery) 756 Donation of Pepin recognizes Papal States 781 Nestorian Stele, Daqin Pagoda, Jesus Sutras, Christianity in China 787 Second Council of Nicaea, 7th ecumenical: ends first Iconoclasm 793 Sacking of the monastery of Lindisfarne marks the beginning of Viking raids on Christendom Middle Ages 800 King Charlemagne of the Franks is crowned first Holy Roman Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III 849–865 Ansgar, Archbishop of Bremen, "Apostle of the North", began evangelisation of North Germany, Denmark, Sweden 855 Antipope Anastasius: Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor appoints him over Pope Benedict III but popular pressure causes withdrawal 863 Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius sent by the Patriarch of Constantinople to evangelise the Slavic peoples. They translate the Bible into Slavonic 869–870 Catholic Fourth Council of Constantinople condemns Patriarch Photius (rejected by Orthodox) 879–880 Orthodox Fourth Council of Constantinople restores Photius, condemns Pope Nicholas I and Filioque (rejected by Catholics) 897, January Cadaver Synod: Pope Stephen VI conducts trial against dead Pope Formosus, public uprising against Stephen leads to his imprisonment and strangulation 909 Abbey of Cluny, Benedictine monastery, founded in France 966 Duke Mieszko I of Poland baptised; Poland becomes a Christian country 984 Antipope Boniface VII, murdered Pope John XIV, alleged to have murdered Pope Benedict VI in 974 988? Christianization of Kievan Rus' 991 Archbishop Arnulf of Rheims accuses Pope John XV of being the Antichrist 997–998 Antipope John XVI, deposed by Pope Gregory V and his cousin Holy Roman Emperor Otto III 1000 or 1001 Saint Stephen of Hungary crowned; Hungary becomes a Christian country 1001 Byzantine emperor Basil II and Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah execute a treaty guaranteeing the protection of Christian pilgrimage routes in the Middle