AD 888

By place

Europe

• January 13 - Emperor Charles III dies at Neidingen, after having suffered repeat bouts of an illness that may have been epilepsy. The Frankish Empire is split again, and falls apart into separate kingdoms. Count Odo, the hero of the Siege of Paris, is elected king of the West Frankish Kingdom, and crowned at Compiègne by Walter, archbishop of Sens. Other Frankish noblemen support the 8-year-old Charles the Simple.
• October - Alan I, count of Vannes, and his rival Judicael, unite their forces to defeat the Vikings at Questembert. Judicael is killed, in a notable victory for the Bretons, with 15,000 Vikings crushed, some few 400 escaping to their ships. In command of a 'united' Breton force, Alan is able to drive the Vikings back to the Loire River. Alan becomes sole ruler of Brittany, and over the Frankish counties of Rennes, Nantes, Coutances and Avranches.
• October - Battle of Milazzo: the Aghlabids score a crushing victory over a Byzantine fleet off Sicily.
• Winter - King Arnulf of Carinthia leads an East Frankish expedition into Italy, after he is recognized as overlord of France and Burgundy. Arnulf descends with an army over the Brenner Pass, and meets King Berengar I at a peace conference at Trento. Berengar grants him two counties in the Val d'Adige, and does homage to Arnulf as overlord. In turn, Arnulf confirms Berengar as king of Lombardia, and returns to Germany.

  Britain

• Lord Æthelred II of the Mercians is struck down with a debilitating illness. His wife, Princess Æthelflæd of Wessex, joins him as joint ruler of Mercia.

  Al-Andalus

• Al-Mundhir, Moorish emir of Córdoba, dies after a two-year reign.

  China

• April 20 - Emperor Xi Zong dies of illness at Chang'an, after a 14-year reign. He is succeeded by his 21-year-old brother Zhao Zong, as ruler of the Tang Dynasty.

  By topic

Religion

• Shaftesbury Abbey is founded by King Alfred the Great in Dorset. He installs his daughter Æthelgifu as first abbess.