the building of protective chains over the Grand Canal. Britain October 26 – King Alfred the Great dies after a 28-year reign in which he has forced invading Danish Vikings to withdraw, consolidated England around Wessex, divided parts of Mercia into shires, compiled the best laws of earlier kings, encouraged learning by bringing famous scholars to Wessex and made his own translations of Latin works. He is succeeded by his eldest son, Edward the Elder as king of Wessex. Winter – Æthelwold's Revolt: Following the death of Alfred the Great, Æthelwold (youngest son of the late king Æthelred I) disputes the succession of Edward the Elder. He seizes the royal estates at Wimborne, the ancient symbolic burial place of West Saxon kings, and Christchurch. Edward set up his army camp at Badbury Rings. Æthelwold first declares that he will 'live or die' at Wimborne, but then flees to Northumbria. Arabian Empire Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Shaybani, Muslim ruler of Diyar Bakr, surrenders at the besieged capital of Amid (modern Turkey) to Caliph Al-Mu'tadid in exchange for clemency. Al-Muktafi, the son of Al-Mu'tadid, is installed as governor of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), ending the semi-independent Shaybanid Dynasty, which has ruled in Diyar Bakr since the 870s. The Qarmatians, led by Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi, capture Bahrain's capital of Hajr and Al-Hasa (Eastern Arabia). Abu Sa'id makes it his residence and establishes a religious utopian republic. By topic Religion Regino of Prüm, a Benedictine churchman, is expelled from Prüm and becomes abbot of St. Maximin's Abbey (which is destroyed by the Vikings) in Trier. Births Al-Qahir, Abbasid caliph (d. 950) Gonzalo Fernández, count of Castile (d. 915) Ma Xifan, king of Chu (d. 947) Ma Xisheng, king of Chu (d. 932) Wang Zongyan, emperor of Former Shu (d. 926) Werner V, Frankish nobleman (approximate date) Yelü Bei, prince of the Liao Dynasty (d. 937) Deaths July 26 – Li Hanzhi, Chinese warlord (b. 842) October 26 – Alfred the Great, king of Wessex (b. 849) December 8 – Arnulf of Carinthia, king of the East Frankish Kingdom Ahmad ibn al-Tayyib al-Sarakhsi, Persian traveler and historian Stylianos Zaoutzes, Byzantine official and minister Sumbat I of Klarjeti, Georgian prince Wang Gong, Chinese warlord Zheng Qi, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty Zoe Zaoutzaina, Byzantine empress consort of Leo VI References