956 CE
Hugh the Great, count of Paris, dies at Dourdan. He is succeeded by his eldest son Hugh Capet, who is recognized as Duke of the Franks by his cousin Lothair III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom. October – A Byzantine fleet under Basil Hexamilites deals a crushing defeat to the Hamdanid fleet at Tarsus in Cilicia (modern Turkey). King Ordoño III dies at Zamora after a 5-year reign. He is succeeded by his half-brother Sancho I as ruler of León (modern Spain).
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- Summer – Emperor Constantine VII appoints Nikephoros Phokas to commander of the Byzantine field army (Domestic of the Schools) in the East. He gives him order to prepare a campaign against the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla. Constantine makes treaties with neighbouring rulers, to seek military aid.source
Conflict & Security
- September - October – A Byzantine fleet under Basil Hexamilites deals a crushing defeat to the Hamdanid fleet at Tarsus in Cilicia (modern Turkey).source
- Berengar of Ivrea dispatches a Lombard army under his son Adalbert II to counter Liudolf, while he guards Pavia himself. In two battles Liudolf defeats the Lombard forces and enters Pavia, there to receive the homage of the Italian nobles and clergy on behalf of Otto I.source
Exploration & Expansion
- Liudolf, the eldest son of King Otto I (the Great), reconciles with his father and asks again for installation as duke of Swabia. Otto refuses, but at the instigation of his uncle Bruno I (duke of Lotharingia) allows Liudolf to lead an expedition to Italy to bring the vassal Berengar of Ivrea to heel.source
Religion & Belief
- Dunstan, an abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, is sent into exile by King Eadwig. He takes refuge in Flanders (modern Belgium), where Count Arnulf I gives him shelter in the Abbey of Mont Blandin, near Ghent.source
Climate & Environment
- An earthquake badly damages the Lighthouse of Alexandria: one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.source
Births
Deaths
- February 15 – Su Yugui, Chinese chancellor (b. 895)source
- February 27 – Theophylact, Byzantine patriarch (b. 917)source
- April 8 – Gilbert, duke of Burgundysource
- April 15 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuchsource
- May 19 – Robert, archbishop of Triersource
- June 4 – Muhammad II of Shirvan, Muslim rulersource
- June 16 – Hugh the Great, count of Paris, dies at Dourdan. He is succeeded by his eldest son Hugh Capet, who is recognized as Duke of the Franks by his cousin Lothair III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom.source
- June 16 – Hugh the Great, Frankish nobleman (b. 898)source
- August 29 – Fu (the Elder), Chinese empress consortsource
- August – Ordoño III, king of Leónsource
- September/October – Al-Masudi, Muslim historian and geographersource
- December 21 – Sun Sheng, Chinese chancellorsource
- December 26 – Wulfstan, archbishop of Yorksource
- King Ordoño III dies at Zamora after a 5-year reign. He is succeeded by his half-brother Sancho I as ruler of León (modern Spain).source