Fall – Otto II sets off on his first expedition to Italy. He leaves the government in the hands of Archchancellor Willigis. Otto is accompanied by his wife, Empress Theophanu.[1]
Spring – Emperor Otto II (the Red) leads the imperial court to Rome, making the city his imperial capital, and receives nobles from all parts of Western Europe. Otto makes plans to conquer Byzantine Italy.
Fall – Otto II departs with an expeditionary force from Rome, and invades Apulia (Southern Italy) to punish the Saracens. He demands a fleet from Pisa, and imposes a trade embargo against Venice.
Erik the Red leaves Norway, to survey west of IcelandinVikinglongships, that carry nearly 700 people with cattle, horses, and other necessities for starting a colony on the island. Erik finds land and calls it Greenland.
Summer – Emperor Otto II (the Red) assembles an imperial expeditionary force at Taranto, and proceeds along the gulf coast towards Calabria. In the meantime, Emir Abu'l-Qasim (Kalbid) of the Emirate of Sicily declares a Holy War (jihad) against the Germans, but his forces retreat when he notices the unexpected strength of Otto's troops (not far from Rossano).
July 13 (or14) – Battle of Stilo: Abu'l-Qasim is cornered by the imperial German forces led by Otto II at Cape Colonna (south of Crotone). After a violent clash, the German heavy cavalry destroys the Muslim centre, killing al-Qasim in the initial fighting. The Saracens hold together and draw Otto into a trap, encircling and defeating his forces (killing around 4,000 men).[3]
Fall – Fatimid troops under the defecting Hamdanid governor of Homs, Bakjur, attack Aleppo (modern Syria), but are repulsed through the intervention of the Byzantine army. Bardas Phokas (the Younger) sacks the city, while Bakjur flees to Fatimid territory in Egypt.
Emperor Sheng Zong of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty leads an expeditionary force against the Zubu after they killed their own khan and begin to act in defiance of the Khitan.
Spring – German boy-king Otto III (4 years old) is seized by the deposed Henry II, Duke of Bavaria ("the Wrangler"), who has recovered his duchy and claims the regency as a member of the Ottonian Dynasty. But Henry is forced to hand over Otto to his mother, empress consort Theophanu.[6]
Qiao Weiyue, a Chinese engineer, innovates the first known use of the double-gated canal pound lock during the Song dynasty, for adjusting different water levels in segments of the Grand CanalinChina.
Raja Raja Chola I (considered by many as the greatest emperor of the Chola Empire) becomes ruler of the Chola Dynasty. During his reign he expands his domains beyond South India.
August 17 – Battle of the Gates of Trajan: Emperor Basil II leads a Byzantine expeditionary force (30,000 men) against the Bulgarians to capture the fortress city of Sredets. After a siege of 20 days, Basil is forced to retreat from the Sofia Valley towards the town of Ihtiman (through a passage known as the Gate of Trajan). The Bulgarians under Tsar Samuel ambush and defeat the Byzantine forces. Only the elite Varangian Guard escapes with heavy casualties and leads Basil to safety through secondary routes.[11]
Mieszko I, duke (de facto) ruler of Poland, pledges his allegiance to Otto III and the Holy Roman Empire. He promises assistance in Otto's war against the Slavs.
Winter – King Harald II (Bluetooth) dies after a 28-year reign (driven into exile). He is succeeded by his son Sweyn Forkbeard as ruler of Denmark and Norway.
Emperor Kazan abdicates the throne after a political struggle from the Fujiwara family. He is succeeded by his 6-year-old cousin Ichijō as the 66th emperor (tennō) of Japan.
Borrell II, count of Barcelona, does not renew his allegiance to Hugh Capet. He becomes a de facto independent ruler, and starts minting its own currency – this will be confirmed legally by the Treaty of Corbeil (1258).
Almanzor (Al-Mansur), de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, continues his offensive against the kingdoms of León and Castile. King Bermudo II escapes to Zamora; the city resists for four days, but is finally sacked and captured.
Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to help him defeat Bardas Phokas (the Younger), who suffers a seizure during the siegeofAbydos (threatening to blockade the Dardanelles). Phokas dies, ending the revolt and threat to Constantinople. Upon Phokas' death, the other rebel leader Bardas Skleros (who is captured and blinded) yields to Basil's superior forces.
Winter – Theophanu arrives with her son, King Otto IIIinRome to meet John XV. Crescentius II (the Younger) offers his submission to the Holy Roman Empire, in return for which she confirms his title as patrician of Rome.
^Zlatarski, History of the Bulgarian state, v. I, ch. 2, pp. 674–675.
^Raffaele D'Amato (2010). Osprey: MAA - 459: The Varangian Guard 988–1453, p. 6. ISBN978-1-84908-179-5.
^Picard, Christophe (2000). Le Portugal musulman (VIIIe-XIIIe siècle). L'Occident d'al-Andalus sous domination islamique. Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose. p. 109. ISBN2-7068-1398-9.
^Robert Fawtier, The Capetian Kings of France, transl. Lionel Butler and R.J. Adam, (Macmillan, 1989), p.48.
^France, John (1991). "The occasion of the coming of the Normans to southern Italy". Journal of Medieval History. 17 (1): 183–203. doi:10.1016/0304-4181(91)90033-H.
^Gilbert Meynier (2010). L'Algérie cœur du Maghreb classique. De l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (658-1518). Paris: La Découverte; p. 45.
^David Peter Kirby; Ann Williams; Alfred P. Smyth (1991). A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain: England, Scotland, and Wales, C. 500-c. 1050. Seaby. p. 179.
^Murray, Alexander (2002). Reason and Society in the Middle Ages. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 376.
^Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 1 (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 49
