Directory

1011 CE

Siege of Canterbury: Danish Viking raiders led by Thorkell the Tall pillage Canterbury after a siege, taking Ælfheah, archbishop of Canterbury, as a prisoner. Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), an Arab scientist working in Egypt, feigns madness for fear of angering Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, and is kept under house arrest. During this time he begins writing his influential Book of Optics. Byrhtferth, Benedictine monk of Ramsey Abbey, writes his Manual (Enchiridion) on the divine order of the universe and time.

Conflict & Security

  • June 11 – Lombard Revolt: Mahmoud the Fat of Bari rises up against the Lombard rebels, led by Melus, and delivers the city to Basil Mesardonites, Byzantine governor (catepan) of the Catepanate of Italy. Melus is forced to flee to Salerno, and his brother-in-law Dattus escapes to Monte Cassino, but their families are taken captive, and carted off to Constantinople.source
  • September 29 – Siege of Canterbury: Danish Viking raiders led by Thorkell the Tall pillage Canterbury after a siege, taking Ælfheah, archbishop of Canterbury, as a prisoner.source

Religion & Belief

  • The Grand Prince of Kyiv and ruler of Kievan Rus' Vladimir the Great laid the first foundations of Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.source
  • Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), an Arab scientist working in Egypt, feigns madness for fear of angering Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, and is kept under house arrest. During this time he begins writing his influential Book of Optics.source
  • Byrhtferth, Benedictine monk of Ramsey Abbey, writes his Manual (Enchiridion) on the divine order of the universe and time.source
  • Autumn – Basil Mesardonites visits Guaimar III of Salerno to secure his cooperation. Melus is forced to flee again. Basil proceeds to Monte Cassino – and persuades Abbot Atenulf to expel Dattus. Pope Sergius IV supports Dattus with papal troops, to garrison the tower on the Garigliano River, a fortified complex in the territory of the Duchy of Gaeta.source
  • The Baghdad Manifesto is ordered by Caliph Al-Qadir of the Abbasid Caliphate, in response to the growth of the Fatimid-supporting Ismaili sect of Islam within his borders.source

Crime & Justice

  • In Vietnam, emperor Lý Thái Tổ personally led a campaign to conquer the Cử Long barbarians. The campaign was a success for the emperor, all the barbarians' camps were burned, and their leaders were brought before the royal court.source

Births

  • Yaghi Siyan, Seljuk governor of Antioch (d. 1098)source
  • Shao Yong, Chinese philosopher and cosmologist (d. 1077)source
  • Ralph the Staller, English nobleman (d. 1068)source
  • Jōjin, Japanese Tendai monk (d. 1081)source
  • Robert I (the Old), duke of Burgundy (d. 1076)source

Deaths

  • February 9 – Bernard I, German noblemansource
  • February 23 – Willigis, archbishop of Mainzsource
  • July 25 – Ichijō, emperor of Japan (b. 980)source
  • November 5 – Mathilde, German abbess (b. 949)source
  • November 21 – Reizei, emperor of Japan (b. 950)source
  • Uma no Naishi, Japanese waka poet (b. 949)source
  • King Henry II enfeoffs Adalbero with Carinthia (including the rule over the March of Verona) after the death of Duke Conrad I.source
  • Mahendradatta, queen of Bali (b. 961)source
  • Sumbat III, Georgian prince of Tao-Klarjetisource
  • Muhammad ibn Suri, Ghurid ruler (malik)source
  • Anna Porphyrogenita, Grand Princess of Kievsource
  • Conrad I, duke of Carinthia (approximate date)source
  • Albert I, count of Namur (approximate date)source
  • Emperor Ichijō abdicates the throne and dies later after a 25-year reign. He is succeeded by his cousin Sanjō as the 67th emperor of Japan.source