Charlemagne dies in the city of Aachen.
Events
- King Godfred of the Danes leads 200 Viking ships to plunder the Frisian coast, and forces the merchants to pay 100 pounds of silver. He claims Northern Frisia as Danish territory.
- Charlemagne dies of pleurisy in Aachen, after an almost 14-year reign (since 800) as the first Roman Emperor of Frankish origin (the precursor of the Holy Roman Emperor). He is embalmed and buried in Aachen Cathedral. Charlemagne is succeeded by his son Louis the Pious, as king of the Frankish Empire.
- 815: A 30-year peace agreement is signed between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire.
- The Chinese government takes over the issuing of paper bank drafts, the ancestor of paper money.
- Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson sets out from the Faroe Islands and discovers Iceland
- Emperor Saga of Japan is the first sovereign to drink tea (according to legend), imported from China by monks. The upper classes adopt this beverage for medicinal use.
- Vikings raid Ireland at the Kingdom of Munster, at Inish Cathaigh
- Vikings known as Rus’ (Norsemen) plunder the north coast of Anatolia (modern Turkey), marking the first recorded raid of Rus’ people on territory in the Byzantine Empire
Religion
- The Book of Kells (also known as the Book of Colomba), an illuminated manuscript, is completed by Celtic monks (approximate date).
- Synod of Aachen: The council adopts a capitulare monasticum, containing the Benedictine rules of monastic life in the Frankish realm.