Directory

1041 CE

Peter, King of Hungary is deposed by a palace coup. The Hungarian magnates elect Samuel Aba as their king. Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian dies after a 6-year reign. His wife, Empress Zoë, elevates (on the advice of her lover John the Orphanotrophos) her adoptive son to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, as Michael V Kalaphates. Shortly after, Michael comes into conflict with his uncle John, and banishes him to a monastery. Winter – Battle of Ostrovo: The Byzantines, with the help of the Varangian Guard, led by Harald Hardrada (future king of Norway), defeat the Bulgarian troops, near Lake Ostrovo in Greece.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • King Harthacnut invites his half-brother Edward the Confessor to return to England from exile in Normandy as his heir as king of England, with the support of Godwin, Earl of Wessex.source

Conflict & Security

  • March 17 – Battle of Olivento: Norman troops and their Lombard allies, led by William Iron Arm, are victorious against the Byzantines at the feet of the Monte Vulture, near the River Olivento in Apulia.source
  • May 4 – Battle of Montemaggiore: Lombard-Norman rebel forces, led by William, are again victorious, and defeat a Byzantine army (18,000 men) on the hill of Montemaggiore, near the River Ofanto.source
  • September 3 – Battle of Montepeloso: Lombard-Norman rebel forces, led by William, defeat the Byzantines at Montepeloso. During the battle, Boioannes, governor of the Catepanate of Italy, is captured.source
  • September – Peter, King of Hungary is deposed by a palace coup. The Hungarian magnates elect Samuel Aba as their king.source
  • The Zirid dynasty rejects Shi'ite obedience and Fatimid domination, and recognizes the Abbasids as their overlords.source
  • Winter – Battle of Ostrovo: The Byzantines, with the help of the Varangian Guard, led by Harald Hardrada (future king of Norway), defeat the Bulgarian troops, near Lake Ostrovo in Greece.source
  • The city of Worcester rebels against the naval taxes of Harthacnut. He reduces the navy from 60 to 32 ships.source
  • At about this time, the number of enlisted soldiers in the Song dynasty Chinese military reaches well over 1,250,000 troops, an increase since 1022, when there were a million soldiers.source

Births

  • Ōe no Masafusa, Japanese poet (d. 1111)source
  • Raymond IV of Toulouse (Raymond of Saint-Gilles), French nobleman (d. 1105) (approximate date)source

Deaths

  • February 4 – Fujiwara no Kintō, Japanese poet (b. 966)source
  • September – Budo, Hungarian courtiersource
  • December 10 – Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian dies after a 6-year reign. His wife, Empress Zoë, elevates (on the advice of her lover John the Orphanotrophos) her adoptive son to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, as Michael V Kalaphates. Shortly after, Michael comes into conflict with his uncle John, and banishes him to a monastery.source
  • December 10 – Michael IV the Paphlagonian, Byzantine emperor (b. 1010)source
  • Tancred of Hauteville, Norman nobleman (b. 980)source
  • Akazome Emon, Japanese waka poet (approximate date)source
  • Peter Delyan, Bulgarian rebel leader and ruler (tsar)source
  • Muhammad ibn Rustam Dushmanziyar, Buyid emirsource
  • Vikramabahu, Prince of Ruhuna (or Kassapa), ruler of Sri Lanka (b. 1017)source
  • Mac Beathaidh mac Ainmire, Irish poet and Chief Ollamsource
  • Adolf II of Lotharingia, German nobleman (b. 1002)source
  • Muhammad of Ghazni, sultan of the Ghaznavids (b. 998)source
  • Gangeyadeva, Indian ruler of the Kalachuris of Tripurisource
  • Sampiro, Spanish bishop, politician and intellectualsource