Directory

1068 CE

Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, wife of the late Emperor Constantine X, marries General Romanos Diogenes (a member of a prominent Cappadocian family) – who is proclaimed co-emperor as Romanos IV of the Byzantine Empire. William I brings his wife Matilda of Flanders to England. She is crowned queen in Westminster Abbey. Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah marries Abu Bakr ibn Umar, leader of the Almoravids, and becomes his queen and co-regent.

Conflict & Security

  • Norman forces under Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I invade Sicily. Muslim ruler Ayyub ibn Tamim's forces oppose them. The Normans and the Muslim army meet at the Battle of Misilmeri. The Norman forces defeat the Muslim army. Ayyub ibn Tamim flees from Sicily. The Norman conquest of the island continues to expand.source
  • Norman conquest of southern Italy: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard (duke of Apulia and Calabria) lay siege to the Byzantine city of Bari.source
  • Siege of Exeter: Norman forces under King William I (the Conqueror) take the city of Exeter after a siege of 18-days.source
  • Autumn – Romanos IV begins a campaign against the Seljuk Turks, leading a Byzantine expeditionary force (which is in poor condition). He is successful in recapturing the fortress city of Hieropolis (modern-day Manbij) near Aleppo in northern Syria.source
  • Kiev Uprising: The city of Kiev rebels against Iziaslav I, in the aftermath of the Kievan Rus' defeat against the Cumans.source
  • Winter – Romanos IV leaves a portion of his army as a rearguard at Melitene. The Byzantine garrison fails to check a Seljuk raid that manages to sack Amorium (penetrating deep in Byzantine territory). Romanos winters near Aleppo before returning to Constantinople.source
  • William I begins a campaign in the East Midlands to put down the rebellions at Nottingham, Stafford, Lincoln and York.source
  • Battle of the Alta River: The Cumans defeat the Kievan Rus' forces of Grand Prince Iziaslav I, and his brothers Sviatoslav II and Vsevolod I.source

Religion & Belief

  • May 11 – William I brings his wife Matilda of Flanders to England. She is crowned queen in Westminster Abbey.source
  • Rethra destruction: In the Annals of Augsburg, the Slavic city is mentioned for the last time under the year 1068. It is captured by bishop Burchard, who destroys their temple and abducts the sacred white horse living there.source

Climate & Environment

  • March 18 – An earthquake affects the Near East, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shock has a magnitude greater than 7, and leaves about 20,000 people dead.source

Culture & Society

  • January 1 – Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, wife of the late Emperor Constantine X, marries General Romanos Diogenes (a member of a prominent Cappadocian family) – who is proclaimed co-emperor as Romanos IV of the Byzantine Empire.source
  • September – Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah marries Abu Bakr ibn Umar, leader of the Almoravids, and becomes his queen and co-regent.source
  • Edgar the Ætheling takes refuge with King Malcolm III of Scotland along with Edgar's sister Margaret, who marries King Malcolm.source

Births

  • August 1 – Taizu (Aguda), emperor of the Jin Dynasty (d. 1123)source
  • Peter I, king of Aragon (approximate date)source
  • Henry I, king of England (approximate date) (d. 1135)source
  • Haakon Magnusson (Toresfostre), king of Norway (d. 1095)source
  • Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl Derby (d. 1139)source
  • Ermengarde of Anjou, duchess of Aquitaine and Brittany (d. 1146)source
  • Abu al-Salt, Moorish astronomer and polymath (approximate date)source

Deaths

  • January 11 – Egbert I, margrave of Meissensource
  • May 22 – Go-Reizei, emperor of Japan (b. 1025)source
  • November 10 – Agnes of Burgundy, duchess of Aquitainesource
  • Argyrus, Lombard nobleman and generalsource
  • Ralph the Staller, English noblemansource
  • Abulchares, Byzantine general and catepansource
  • Vijayaditya VI, king of the Eastern Chalukyas (unconfirmed)source
  • Böritigin, ruler of Transoxiana (Kara-Khanid Khanate)source
  • Ali ibn Yusuf al-Ilaqi, Persian physiciansource
  • William IV (or Guillem), French noblemansource
  • Yi Zong, emperor of Western Xia (b. 1047)source
  • Choe Chung, Korean Confucian scholar (b. 984)source
  • Eadnoth the Constable, English landownersource
  • William of Montreuil, Italo-Norman dukesource