Battle of Arcadiopolis: John I dispatches an elite force (10–12,000 men) to delay the Kievan Rus'. The Byzantines under Bardas Skleros successfully ambush the Kievan-Bulgarian invaders at Arcadiopolis (modern Turkey). The battle turns into a complete rout, killing thousands. Grand Prince Sviatoslav I is driven out of Thrace and withdraws his forces to the fortress city of Silistra.[2]
Summer – Bardas Phokas (the Younger) and his family rebel against their own cousin, John I. Bardas is proclaimed 'emperor' by his troops at Caesarea, but the rebellion is extinguished by Bardas Skleros. Phokas and his relatives are captured and exiled to the island of Chios (Aegean Sea).
Summer – Byzantine-Imperial truce: Emperor Otto I (the Great) meets with John I at Bari and accepts a permanent peace agreement. Pandulf I (Ironhead) is released from captivity in Constantinople (see 969).
The oldest preserved document (by Otto I) mentions LeibnitzinStyria (modern Austria).
Battle of Dorostolon: A Byzantine expeditionary army (possibly 30–40,000 men) attacks the Bulgarian frontier, personally led by Emperor John I. He lays siege to the fortress city of Dorostolon (located on the Lower Danube), and is reinforced by a fleet of 300 ships equipped with Greek fire.[3] The Kievan Rus' and their Bulgarian allies are reduced to extremities by famine. After a 3-month siege, Grand Prince Sviatoslav I agrees to sign a peace treaty with the Byzantines, whereby he renounces his interests towards Bulgarian lands and the city of ChersonesosinCrimea. Sviatoslav is allowed to evacuate his army to Berezan Island, while the Byzantines enter Dorostolon. John renames the city Theodoropolis (named after the reigning Empress Theodora).[4]
King Cuilén (or Cuilean) is killed by Britons after a 6-year reign. He is succeeded by his nephew Kenneth II, as ruler of Alba (Scotland). He will not be sole king until 977.
Battle of Alexandretta: The Byzantines defeat a Fatimid force (4,000 men) near Alexandretta (modern Turkey), while the main Fatimid army is besieging the fortress city of Antioch. Coupled with news of an advance against Damascus of the Qarmatians, the Fatimids are forced to lift the siege and withdraw to Egypt.
January 23 – A war elephant corps of the Southern Han is defeated at Shao, by crossbow fire from Song dynasty troops. The Southern Han Kingdom is forced to submit to the Song dynasty. Ending Southern Han rule, but also the first regular war elephant corps employed in a Chinese army, that had gained the Southern Han victories throughout the 10th century.
The grave of Swithun, Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester, is moved into an indoor shrine (he was previously buried outside) in the Old Minster. The ceremony is said to have been marred by 40 days of torrential rain.
John I removes various Bulgarian boyars from their homes, and settles them in Constantinople and Anatolia (modern Turkey), where they are given high titles and lands.[7]
Spring – Grand Prince Sviatoslav Iisambushed by the Pechenegs (possibly in the service of the Byzantines) and killed during his attempt to cross the Dnieper rapids (modern Ukraine). His skull is made into a drinking cup. Sviatoslav is succeeded by his eldest son Yaropolk I as ruler of Kiev, which leads to a civil war with his brother Oleg.[8]
July: Melias moves against Amida (modern Turkey). He defeats the Arabs outside the walls, and begins to lay siege to the city. After a few days, a violent wind and a thick dust spreads over the Byzantine camp. Covered by the dust, the Arabs attack and route the Byzantines. Many of them are slaughtered and some, including Melias, are taken prisoner. Previous Byzantine gains in the area are lost. The wounded Melias dies later in captivity.
Edgar I marches with his army north to Chester. His navy meets him there via the Irish Sea. This show of strength persuades the 'Northern Kings' to submit to his overlordship (approximate date).
Cloves, ginger, black pepper, and other Eastern spices are available for purchase in the marketplace at Mainz. The spices are brought to the city by Jewish traveling merchants, known as the Radhanites, who have contacts in the international trade between the Christian and Islamic world (approximate date).
In the Council of Winchester, Edgar I accepts a 'Monastic Agreement' (called the Regularis Concordia). The document is compiled by Bishop Æthelwold and serves as a rule for how monastic life should be performed.
Battle of Danevirke: Emperor Otto II defeats the rebel forces of King Harald I, who has invaded Nordalbingia (modern-day Holstein), to shake off imperial overlordship. Otto's armies swiftly subdue the Danes, consolidating the frontier between Scandinavia and Northern Germany. Meanwhile, Henry II begins a rebellion against his cousin Otto. He forges alliances with Bavarian and Saxon nobles.
The Qarmatians are defeated north of CairobyFatimid forces under General Jawhar al-Siqilli. He consolidates Fatimid rule and sends a legation to the Christian land of Nubia to secure the southern border of Egypt. Arab traders introduce Islam to the population, which gradually supplants Christianity.
July 8 – King Edgar I (the Peaceful) dies at Winchester after a 16-year reign. He is succeeded by his 12-year-old son Edward II (the Martyr) as ruler of England.
June – Emir Abu'l-Qasim launches a raiding expedition into Byzantine Italy from Sicily. He imposes a tribute on the cities of Cosenza and Cellere. Meanwhile, a Fatimid fleet assaults the Apulian coast and raids the surrounding countryside. Abu'l-Qasim sends an army to Otranto and besieges Gravina, before returning to Sicily – bringing home hundreds of captives and slaves.
Summer – Pietro IV Candiano, doge of Venice, demands Venetian assistance to put down a revolt in his personal fiefs around Ferrara. The Venetians also revolt against Candiano and assault the doge's palace. Repelled by mercenary forces, they burn the neighborhood – bringing the palace down with it. Candiano and his family escape, but are killed by the mob.
May – Boris II, dethroned emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria, and his brother Roman manage to escape from captivity in Constantinople. They reach the Bulgarian border, but Boris is killed by mistake by the border guards. Roman is crowned as new ruler, although leadership and the control of the army remain in the hands of General Samuel (a member of the Cometopuli Dynasty).[22]
November 30 – Otto II is unable to take Paris, he lifts the siege of the capital and withdraws. A Frankish army under Lothair III pursues and defeats the imperial rearguard while crossing the Aisne River. Otto escapes and is forced to take refuge at Aachen with Charles, after his supplies are destroyed.[26]
Otto II has the three insurrectionists punished at Magdeburg. Henry II is stripped of all his possessions and imprisoned in the custody of Bishop FolcmarofUtrecht. The other two: Henry III (the Younger) loses his duchy to Otto I and Henry I, bishop of Augsburg, is arrested and imprisoned in Werden Abbey (Germany).[27]
Almanzor, a court official and regentofCórdoba, becomes a chamberlain (hajib) and seizes power from the 13-year-old Caliph Hisham II. During his reign, Almanzor will exercise strong influence over Subh (the mother of Hisham) and wages successful campaigns against the Christian kingdoms in Northern Spain.
March 18 – King Edward II (the Martyr) is murdered at Corfe Castle (Dorsetshire) upon the orders of his step-mother Ælfthryth (orElfrida). He is succeeded by his half-brother Æthelred II (the Unready) who becomes king of England. During his reign Æthelred tries to keep his realm from being overrun by DanishViking invaders.
English troops are deployed on the Llŷn Peninsula on behalf of King HywelofGwynedd in order to prevent his uncle, King Iago, invading with Viking allies from Dublin.
June 9 – King Qian Chu surrenders his territories and pledges allegiance to the Song Dynasty, saving his people from war and economic destruction. Qian Chu remains ruler and moves 3,000 members of his household to Bianjing (modern-day Kaifeng). Wuyue is absorbed into the Song Dynasty, effectively ending the kingdom.
Vitale Candiano, doge of Venice, abdicates for health reasons after a 14-month reign, and retires to a monastery. He is succeeded by Tribuno Memmo, a son-in-law of the murdered Pietro IV Candiano. Tribuno declares a general amnesty for everyone complicit in the plot against Pietro.[28]
June 8 – Louis V, nicknamed le Fainéant (the Do-Nothing), is crowned as the co-emperor of West FranciaatParis by his father, King Lothair. Upon Lothair's death on March 2, 986, Louis becomes the sole ruler.
Summer – Tai Zong invades the Northern Han and besieges the capital of Taiyuan. A relief force sent by the Liao Dynasty is defeated. The Kingdom is absorbed into the Song Dynasty.
^Reuter, Timothy (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 254. ISBN978-0-521-36447-8.
^Richard Brzezinski (1998). History of Poland: Old Poland, King Mieszko I , p. 15. ISBN83-7212-019-6.
^The most recent survey of the Anglo-Saxon history of Peterborough Abbey is in Kelly, S.E. (ed.), Charters of Peterborough Abbey, Anglo-Saxon Charters 14, OUP, 2009.
^Reuter, Timothy (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 254. ISBN978-0-521-36447-8.
^Roger Collins (2009). Keepers of the keys of heaven: A History of the Papacy, p. 187 (Basic Books).
^Stratton, J.M. (1969). Agricultural Records. John Baker. ISBN0-212-97022-4.
^Reuter, Timothy (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 388. ISBN978-0-521-36447-8.
^Pierre Riché (1993). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forced Europe, trans. Michael Idomir Allen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), pp. 276-77.
^Thérèse Charmasson, Anne-Marie le Lorrain, Martine Sonnet: Chronologie de l'histoire de France, 1994, p. 90.
^Jim Bradbury (2007). The Capetians: Kings of France, 987–1328, (London: Hambledon Continuum), p. 43.
^Reuter, Timothy (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 254. ISBN978-0-521-36447-8.
^Janet Sethre (2003). The Souls of Venice, p. 84 (McFarland & Co. Inc).
