Directory

1040 CE

King Harold Harefoot dies at Oxford at the age of 24. His illegitimate son Ælfwine Haroldsson is left in the care of his grandmother, Ælfgifu of Northampton. Battle of Dandanaqan: The Turkmen Seljuqs defeat the Ghaznavid forces (50,000 men) led by Sultan Masʽud I at Dandanaqan, a fortress city in the desert near Merv. Ghaznavid commanders Ali Daya and Begtoghdi are blamed for the defeat and executed. 23 – Battle at Brůdek: Duke Bretislav I of Bohemia defeats the German forces under King Henry III ("the Black") in the Bohemian Forest.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • June 17 – Harthacnut lands at Sandwich and reclaims the throne of England which had been taken by Harald Harefoot in 1035.source

Conflict & Security

  • May 23 – Battle of Dandanaqan: The Turkmen Seljuqs defeat the Ghaznavid forces (50,000 men) led by Sultan Masʽud I at Dandanaqan, a fortress city in the desert near Merv. Ghaznavid commanders Ali Daya and Begtoghdi are blamed for the defeat and executed.source
  • August 14 – King Duncan is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth, who succeeds him as king of Scotland.source
  • August 22–23 – Battle at Brůdek: Duke Bretislav I of Bohemia defeats the German forces under King Henry III ("the Black") in the Bohemian Forest.source
  • Peter Delyan leads a rebellion against the Byzantine Empire and is proclaimed by the Bulgarian nobles as emperor (tsar) Peter II in Belgrade.source

Religion & Belief

  • Weihenstephan Abbey (Kloster Weihenstephan) in Germany, founds the oldest operating brewery.source
  • The Shalu Monastery is founded by the Buddhist monk Chetsun Sherab Jungnay in Tibet.source
  • The Emirate of Sicily is divided and fragmented into small fiefdoms. The Arab nobles of Palermo restore the regime of the Kalbids (approximate date).source

Crime & Justice

  • Spring – Nikephoros Dokeianos, Byzantine governor of the Catepanate of Italy, is murdered by Lombard rebels at Ascoli. He is replaced by Michael Dokeianos, who arrives in November with a Varangian army.source

Births

  • February 22 – Rashi, French rabbi and writer (d. 1105)source
  • July 12 – Yun Kwan, Korean general (d. 1111)source
  • Géza I (Magnus), king of Hungary (approximate date)source
  • Ibn Aqil, Persian theologian and jurist (d. 1119) (approximate date)source
  • Ernulf, French Benedictine monk and bishop (d. 1124)source
  • Sikelgaita, Lombard duchess of Apulia (d. 1090)source
  • Bonfilius, bishop of Foligno (approximate date)source
  • Ivo of Chartres, French bishop (approximate date)source
  • Alan Rufus, Norman nobleman (approximate date)source
  • Xiao Guanyin, Chinese empress consort of the Liao dynasty (d. 1075)source
  • Oddone Frangipane, Italian monk and hermit (d. 1127)source
  • Harald III, king of Denmark (approximate date)source
  • Zayn al-Din Gorgani, Persian physician (d. 1136) (approximate date)source
  • Blessed Gerard, founder of the Knights Hospitaller (d. 1120) (approximate date)source

Deaths

  • January 17 – Masʽud I, Ghaznavid sultan (b. 998)source
  • March 3 – Cunigunde, Holy Roman Empresssource
  • March 17 – Harold Harefoot, king of Englandsource
  • March 17 – King Harold Harefoot dies at Oxford at the age of 24. His illegitimate son Ælfwine Haroldsson is left in the care of his grandmother, Ælfgifu of Northampton.source
  • May 29 – Renauld I, French noblemansource
  • June 21 – Fulk III of Anjou, French nobleman (b. 970)source
  • August 14 – Duncan I, king of Scotlandsource
  • October 1 – Alan III, duke of Brittany (b. 997)source
  • Yeshe-Ö, Tibetan lama-king (approximate date)source
  • Abu Hashim al-Hasan, Zaidi imam and ruler of Jemensource
  • Ibn al-Haytham, Arab astronomer (approximate date)source
  • Hugh I, count of Empúries and Peraladasource
  • Bertha of Milan, Lombard duchess (approximate date)source
  • Helias of Cologne, Irish abbot and musiciansource