718

Year 718 (DCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 718th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 718th year of the 1st millennium, the 18th year of the 8th century, and the 9th year of the 710s decade. The denomination 718 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

718 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	718 DCCXVIII
Ab urbe condita	1471
Armenian calendar	167 ԹՎ ՃԿԷ
Assyrian calendar	5468
Balinese saka calendar	639–640
Bengali calendar	124–125
Berber calendar	1668
Buddhist calendar	1262
Burmese calendar	80
Byzantine calendar	6226–6227
Chinese calendar	丁巳年 (Fire Snake) 3415 or 3208     — to — 戊午年 (Earth Horse) 3416 or 3209
Coptic calendar	434–435
Discordian calendar	1884
Ethiopian calendar	710–711
Hebrew calendar	4478–4479
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	774–775
- Shaka Samvat	639–640
- Kali Yuga	3818–3819
Holocene calendar	10718
Iranian calendar	96–97
Islamic calendar	99–100
Japanese calendar	Yōrō 2 (養老２年)
Javanese calendar	611–612
Julian calendar	718 DCCXVIII
Korean calendar	3051
Minguo calendar	1194 before ROC 民前1194年
Nanakshahi calendar	−750
Seleucid era	1029/1030 AG
Thai solar calendar	1260–1261
Tibetan calendar	མེ་མོ་སྦྲུལ་ལོ་ (female Fire-Snake) 844 or 463 or −309     — to — ས་ཕོ་རྟ་ལོ་ (male Earth-Horse) 845 or 464 or −308

King Pelagius (Don Pelayo) (c. 685–737)

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Spring – A Muslim supply fleet of 760 ships under Sufyan arrives from Egypt and North Africa, concealing itself along the Asiatic shore. The Byzantines learn of the fleet's location from defecting Christian Egyptian sailors. Emperor Leo III sends the Byzantine navy again; his Greek fire ships destroy the enemy vessels in the Sea of Marmara and seize their supplies on shore, denying the sieging army vital provisions.^[1] On land the Byzantine troops ambush an advancing Arab army, and destroy it in the hills around Sophon, south of Nicomedia (modern Turkey).^[2][3][4][5] The Arab besiegers are still suffering from hunger and pestilence.
• August 15 – Siege of Constantinople: A Bulgar relief force attacks the siege lines at Constantinople, on the west side of the Bosporus. Contemporary chroniclers report that at least 22,000–32,000 Arabs are killed during the Bulgarian attacks. Caliph Umar II is forced to lift the siege after 13 months; the Muslim army attempts to withdraw back through Anatolia, while the rest escapes by sea in the remaining vessels. The Arab fleet suffers further casualties to storms, and an eruption of the volcano of Thera.^[6] According to Arab sources 150,000 Muslims perish during the campaign.^[7]

Western Europe

• Battle of Soissons: King Chilperic II of Neustria and his mayor of the palace Ragenfrid, allied with Eudes, independent duke of Aquitaine, march on Soissons in Picardy (northern France) but an army of Frankish veterans under Charles Martel defeat the Neustrian allies, who sue for peace. Chilperic flees to the land south of the River Loire and Ragenfrid escapes to Angers. Charles diplomatically chooses not to execute the enemy leaders, and becomes undisputed dux Francorum, ending the Frankish civil war.
• Summer – Battle of Covadonga: Pelagius (Don Pelayo) is proclaimed king (caudillo), and defeats the Umayyad forces under Munuza, provincial governor of Asturias, at Picos de Europa (near Covadonga). This marks the beginning of the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. He founds the Kingdom of Asturias, and establishes a military base at Cangas de Onís (northwest of Spain)^[8] (or 722).
• King Liutprand of the Lombards builds a close alliance with Charles Martel, and attacks the Bavarian castles on the River Adige, maintaining strategic control of the Alpine passes in the Italian Alps (approximate date).

Britain

• King Coenred of Northumbria dies after a 2-year reign. The throne is seized by Osric, probably a younger brother, or half-brother, of the late king Osred I.
• Former queen Cuthburh of Northumbria, abbess of Wimborne, dies at her abbey and is buried there (approximate date).

By topic

Religion

• The Wessex-born missionary Boniface sets out for Frisia a second time. He travels to Rome, where Pope Gregory II sends him on a mission to convert the Saxons in Lower Saxony (modern-day Germany).
• Hugh of Champagne, cousin of Charles Martel, enters the monastery of Jumièges (Normandy), and embraces the religious life as abbot.

Births

• Constantine V, Byzantine emperor (d. 775)
• Kōken, empress of Japan (d. 770)
• Niall Frossach, High King of Ireland (d. 778)
• Ōtomo no Yakamochi, Japanese statesman and poet, Shōgun (d. 785)

Deaths

• Coenred, king of Northumbria
• Cuthburh, Anglo-Saxon abbess (approximate date)
• Plectrude, Neustrian regent