Umar, also spelled Omar, Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Umar Son of Al-Khattab, was one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs (rulers) in history. He was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as th...

Emperor Taizong of Tang, previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty for his role in encouraging...

Dagobert I was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He was the last king of the Merovingian dynasty to wield any real royal power. Dagobert was the first of the Fran...

Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, was a Chinese sovereign, who ruled officially under the name of her self-proclaimed "Zhou dynasty", from 690 to 705. She was the only female emperor of China in more than 4,000 years. She had previous imperial posit...

Charles Martel also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum (737–43) at the end of his life, using the...

Pepin the Short (or Pepin the Younger or Pepin III), was the King of the Franks from 751 to 768 and is best known for being the father of Charlemagne, or Charles the Great. He was born in 714 in Jupille, close to the city of Liège, in what...

Al-Mansur was the second Abbasid Caliph from 136 AH to 158 AH (754 AD – 775 AD). He is generally regarded as the real founder of the Abbasid Caliphate. In 762 he founded as new imperial residence and palace city Madinat as-Salam (the cit...

Empress Koken, also known as Empress Shotoku, was the 46th (with Empress Koken name) and the 48th monarch of Japan (with Empress Shotoku name), according to the traditional order of succession. Empress Koken first reigned from 749 to 758, t...

Abd al-Rahman I was the founder of a Muslim dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia for nearly three centuries (including the succeeding Caliphate of Córdoba). The Muslims called the regions of Iberia under their dominion al-Andalus....

Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Great, was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Cent...

Irene of Athens, Byzantine empress (797-802). She served (780-90) as regent for her son, Constantine VI, and later was made (792) joint ruler. Devoted to the Orthodox Church, she bent most of her efforts to suppressing iconoclasm. In 797 Ir...

Offa (son of Thingfrith, son of Eanulf), King of Mercia, was one of the leading figures of Saxon history. He obtained the throne of Mercia in 757, after the murder of his cousin, King Aethelbald, by Beornraed. After spending fourteen years...

Louis the Pious, also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of the Franks and co-Emperor (as Louis I) with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only surviving adult son of Charlemag...

Basil I, called the Macedonian was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a simple peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the Imperial court. He entered into the service of Theophilitzes, a relative of Emperor Michael...

Charles the Bald was the King of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and Holy Roman Emperor (875–877, as Charles II). After a series of civil wars during the reign of his father, Louis the Pious, Charles succeeded by the Treaty...