Events

By Place

Europe

• August 15 — Battle of Roncevaux Pass (Roncesvalles): Charlemagne's army suffers a terrible defeat at the hand of the Basques. Among those killed is Roland, lord of the Breton March; the 11th-century Song of Roland is loosely based on the events of this battle.
• Charlemagne fights the Moors in Spain.
• Widukind returns to Saxony from Denmark.

Births

• 16 April — King Louis the Pious (d. 840)
• Zhaozhou, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk
• Liu Gongquan, noted Chinese calligrapher
• Emperor Xianzong of Tang, China

Deaths

• August 15 — Roland, Frankish commander
• Autpert Ambrose, monk and writer