Directory

937 CE

King Rudolph II of Burgundy dies after a 25-year reign, and is succeeded by his 12-year-old son Conrad I ("the Peaceful"). His wife, Queen Bertha, takes effective control of unified Burgundy, transferring its capital to Arles (that Burgundian kingdom was later known from the 12th century as the Kingdom of Arles). Li Bian usurps the throne and deposes Emperor Yang Pu. The Wu State is replaced and Li (called "Xu Zhigao") becomes the first emperor of Southern Tang, one of the Ten Kingdoms in southern China. A Hungarian army invades Burgundy, and burns the city of Tournus. Then they go southwards to Italy, pillaging the environs of Naples, Benevento and Monte Cassino. When the Hungarians return home, they are attacked in the Apennine Mountains by Lombard forces, losing their plunder (approximate date).

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • November 10 – Li Bian usurps the throne and deposes Emperor Yang Pu. The Wu State is replaced and Li (called "Xu Zhigao") becomes the first emperor of Southern Tang, one of the Ten Kingdoms in southern China.source
  • Magdeburg becomes the capital of the East Frankish Kingdom, after a Diet held by King Otto I (approximate date).source

Conflict & Security

  • A Hungarian army invades Burgundy, and burns the city of Tournus. Then they go southwards to Italy, pillaging the environs of Naples, Benevento and Monte Cassino. When the Hungarians return home, they are attacked in the Apennine Mountains by Lombard forces, losing their plunder (approximate date).source
  • Winter – Gero succeeds his brother Siegfried after his death. King Otto I appoints him as count and margrave of a vast border region around Merseburg that abuts the Wends on the River Saale (Lower Saxony).source
  • Battle of Brunanburh: King Æthelstan defeats a combined Northern Army under the kings Olaf of Dublin, Constantine II of Scotland and Owain of Strathclyde. Though none of the British monarchs appear to have taken part, the people of Strathclyde were a major contingent under their Scottish king.source
  • King Otto I refuses to give land to his older (illegitimate) half-brother Thankmar, who gains the support of Eberhard III (duke of Franconia) and Wichmann the Elder, and seizes the fortress of Eresburg. Otto assumes direct rule over Franconia, and dissolves it into smaller counties.source
  • Winter – The Later Tang falls to the Later Jin (during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period) founded by Emperor Shi Jingtang (posthumously known as "Gaozu of Jin").source

Culture & Society

  • King Hugh of Arles (king of Italy) travels to Colombier (Switzerland) and marries Rudolph's widow Bertha. He takes Conrad I under his tutelage and betroths Rudolph's 6-year-old daughter Adelaide with his own son and co-ruler Lothair II.source

Births

  • William IV, duke of Aquitaine (d. 994)source
  • Li Yu, ruler of Southern Tang (approximate date)source
  • Haakon Sigurdsson, Viking ruler (d. 995)source
  • Bagrat II, king of Iberia and Kartli (d. 994)source
  • Meng Xuanzhe, prince of Later Shu (d. 991)source
  • Attilanus, bishop of Zamora (d. 1007)source
  • Khalaf ibn Ahmad, Saffarid emir (d. 1009)source
  • Gu Hongzhong, Chinese painter (d. 975)source

Deaths

  • January 11 – Cao, empress of Later Tangsource
  • January 11 – Liu, empress of Later Tangsource
  • January 11 – Li Congke, emperor of Later Tang (b. 885)source
  • January 14 – Zhang Yanlang, Chinese officialsource
  • July 11 – King Rudolph II of Burgundy dies after a 25-year reign, and is succeeded by his 12-year-old son Conrad I ("the Peaceful"). His wife, Queen Bertha, takes effective control of unified Burgundy, transferring its capital to Arles (that Burgundian kingdom was later known from the 12th century as the Kingdom of Arles).source
  • July 11 – Rudolph II, king of Burgundysource
  • July 14 – Arnulf I, duke of Bavariasource
  • October 10 – Wang Lingmou, chancellor of Wusource
  • December 3 – Siegfried, Frankish noblemansource
  • Abbo, adviser and bishop of Soissonssource
  • Gebeachan, king of the Isles (Hebrides)source
  • Xu Jingqian, official and regent of Wu (b. 919)source
  • Yang Meng, prince of Wu (Ten Kingdoms)source
  • David ibn Merwan, Jewish philosophersource