1000s (decade)

Palace Scandal: Princess Consort Yasuko has an affair - Michinaga (her half-brother) investigates it secretly and find out the truth + pregnancy - Yasuko cries a lot and repent what she did - Yasuko leaves the palace under the patronage of Empress Dowager Senshi and Michinaga (moved to his residence)

Murasaki Shikibu starts the write the Tale of Genji

10 January: Death of Empress Dowager Masako (empress consort of the late Emperor Reizei)

8 April: Fujiwara no Shoshi is promoted to Empress (Chugu), while there is an other empress, Fujiwara no Teishi (kogo) - this is the first time that there are two empresses

• The Taíno have become the dominant culture of modern day Puerto Rico

Europe in 1000

In continental Europe, the Holy Roman Empire established itself as the most powerful state. Otto III made a pilgrimage from Rome to Aachen and Gniezno (Gnesen), stopping at Regensburg, Meissen, Magdeburg, and Gniezno. The Congress of Gniezno (with Bolesław I Chrobry) was part of his pilgrimage. In Rome, he built the basilica of San Bartolomeo all'Isola, to host the relics of St. Bartholomew.

In France, Robert II, the son of Hugh Capet, was the first of the Capetian kings.

The Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty was engaged in a long and hard war with the First Bulgarian Empire. In the year 1000, the Byzantine generals Theodorokanos and Nikephoros Xiphias captured the former Bulgarian capitals of Pliska and Great Preslav, along with Little Preslav, extending Byzantine control over the northeastern portion of the Bulgarian state (Mysia and Scythia Minor). At the same time, Byzantium was instrumental in the Christianization of the Kievan Rus' and of other medieval Slavic states.

In Great Britain, a unified Kingdom of England had developed out of the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In Scandinavia, Christianization was in its early stages, with the Althingi of the Icelandic Commonwealth embracing Christianity in the year 1000.

On September 9, King Olaf Tryggvason was defeated by Denmark and Sweden in the Battle of Svolder. Sweyn I established Danish control over part of Norway. Oslo, Norway, was founded (the exact year is debatable, but the 1,000 year anniversary was held in the year 2000).

The Papacy during this time was in a period of decline, in retrospect known as the saeculum obscurum ("Dark Age") or "pornocracy" ("rule of harlots"), a state of affairs that would result in the Great Schism later in the 11th century.

Hungary was established in 1000 as a Christian state. In the next centuries, the Kingdom of Hungary became the pre-eminent cultural power in the Central European region. On December 25, Stephen I was crowned as the first King of Hungary in Esztergom.

Sancho III of Navarre became King of Aragon and Navarre. The Reconquista was gaining some ground, but the southern Iberian peninsula would still be dominated by Islam for centuries to come; Córdoba at this time was the world's largest city with 450,000 inhabitants.

It is known that in or around this year, Norse explorer Leif Ericson became the first European to land in the Americas, at L'Anse aux Meadows in modern-day Newfoundland.

• The Château de Goulaine vineyard was founded in France.
• The archdiocese in Gniezno was founded; the first archbishop was Gaudentius (Radim), from Slavník's dynasty, and dioceses in Kołobrzeg, Kraków and Wrocław.
• The Bell foundry was founded in Italy by Pontificia Fonderia Marinelli.

The Islamic world was in its Golden Age; still organised in caliphates, it continued to be dominated by the Abbasid Caliphate, with the Caliphate of Córdoba to the west, and experienced ongoing campaigns in Africa and in India. Persia was in a period of instability, with various polities seceding from Abassid rule, among whom the Ghaznavids would emerge as the most powerful.

The Islamic world was reaching the peak of its historical scientific achievements. Important scholars and scientists who flourished in AD 1000 include Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis), Ibn Yunus (publishes his astronomical treatise Al-Zij al-Hakimi al-Kabir in Cairo in c. 1000), Abu Sahl al-Quhi (Kuhi), Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi, Abu Nasr Mansur, Abu al-Wafa, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, Al-Muqaddasi, Ali Ibn Isa, and al-Karaji (al-Karkhi). Ibn al-Haytham (Book of Optics), Avicenna, and Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, who all flourished around the year 1000, are considered to be among the greatest scientists of the Middle Ages altogether.

The Turkic migration by this time had reached Eastern Europe, and most of the Turkic tribes (Khazars, Bulghars, Pechenegs etc.) had been Islamized.

Babylon was abandoned around this year.

Sei Shonagon starts the write the Pillow Book.

70th Birthday and Longevity Ceremony of Fujiwara no Bokushi (mother-in-law of Fujiwara no Michinaga, grandmother of Empress Shoshi).

40th Birthday of Empress Dowager Senshi (mother of Emperor Ichijo).

13 January - Empress Teishi dies in childbirth.

November - The imperial palace is destroyed by fire.

• Khazrun ben Falful, from the Maghrawa family Banu Khazrun, begins ruling Tripoli, on the African continent.

• March 17 – The Buddhist ruler of Butuan, in the Philippines (P’u-tuan in the Sung Dynasty records), Sari Bata Shaja, makes the first tributary mission to China.
• The Changbai Mountains volcano, located on the present-day Chinese-Korean border, erupts with a force of 6.5, the fourth largest Holocene blast (approximate date).
• The Tao/Tayk region is annexed by the Byzantines, as the Theme of Iberia.
• Mahmud of Ghazni, Muslim leader of Ghazni, begins a series of raids into northern India, establishing the Ghaznavid Empire across most of today's Afghanistan, eastern Iran, and Pakistan.
• Battle of Peshawar: Jayapala suffers defeat from the Ghaznavid Empire.
• Former emperor Đinh Phế Đế dies, while suppressing the Cửu Long Rebellion in Thanh Hoa Province.
• Khmer King Jayavarman V is succeeded by Udayadityavarman I, and/or Suryavarman I.
• Construction begins on the Liaodi Pagoda, the tallest pagoda in Chinese history (completed in 1055).
• Oqropiri (Ioane I), Svimeon III and Melkisedek I are Catholicoi of Iberia within one year.

• February 6 – After leading the revolt against Emperor Otto III and expelling the Crescentii, Gregory I, Count of Tusculum is named "Head of the Republic".
• July 31 – Emperor Otto III confirms the possessions of Ulric Manfred II of Turin, and grants him privileges.
• July – Sergius II becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.
• Byzantine Emperor Basil II attempts to reconquer Bulgaria.
• Robert II, King of France, marries for the third time, with Constance Taillefer d'Arles.
• Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor has Charlemagne's vault opened at Aachen Cathedral.
• The First Battle of Alton: Danish invaders defeat the English.
• Battle of Pinhoe: Vikings defeat the Anglo-Saxons in Devon.
• Bolesław I of Poland begins ruling parts of Slovakia.
• Bryachislav of Polotsk begins ruling Polotsk.
• Werner I, Bishop of Strasbourg begins ruling the Archbishopric of Strasbourg.
• Ermengol I of Urgell makes his second voyage to Rome.
• Þorgeirr Ljósvetningagoði ends being a lawspeaker in Iceland's Althing.
• Ælfgar, bishop of Elmham, is consecrated.
• Æthelred becomes bishop of Cornwall, but dies shortly afterwards.
• The town of Lloret de Mar is founded in Catalonia.
• The first reference is made to Khotyn, Ukrainian town,[1] and to Nyalka, Hungarian village, as to Chimudi.
• Brian Boru attacks the Ui Neill.

• Vikings, led by Leif Eriksson, establish small settlements in and around Vinland in North America (approximate date).

• King Edward the Martyr of England is canonized.
• The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Esztergom is established.
• A tomb of Saint Ivo (possibly) is uncovered in Huntingdonshire.

• January 23 – Emperor Otto III dies, at the age of 22, of smallpox at Castle of Paterno (near Rome) after a 19-year reign. He leaves no son, nor a surviving brother who can succeed by hereditary right to the throne.[2] Otto is buried in Aachen Cathedral alongside the body of Charlemagne (Charles the Great).
• February 15 – At an assembly at Pavia of Lombard nobles and secondi milites (the minor nobles), Arduin of Ivrea (grandson of former King Berengar II) is restored to his domains and crowned as King of Italy in the Basilica of San Michele Maggiore. Arduin is supported by Arnulf II, archbishop of Milan.
• June 7 – Henry II, a cousin of Otto III, is elected and crowned as King of Germany by Archbishop Willigis at Mainz. Henry does not recognise the coronation of Arduin. Otto of Worms withdraws his nomination for the title of Holy Roman Emperor and receives the Duchy of Carinthia (modern Austria) - Henry is the first King to be elected away from the Cathedral of Aachen since the tradition was begun by Otto I in 936.
• July – Battle of Calatañazor: Christian armies led by Alfonso V of León, Sancho III of Pamplona and Sancho García of Castile, defeat the invading Saracens under Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus.
• August 8 – Al-Mansur dies after a 24-year reign and is succeeded by his son Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar as ruler (hajib) of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba (modern Spain).
• October 15 – Henry I, duke of Burgundy, dies and is succeeded by his stepson, Otto-William. He inherits the duchy, this is disputed by King Robert II (the Pious) of France.
• Fall – A revolt organized by Bohemian nobles of the rivalling Vršovci clan, forces Duke Boleslaus III (the Red) to flee to Germany. He is succeeded by Vladivoj (until 1003).

• November 13 – St. Brice's Day massacre: King Æthelred II (the Unready) orders all Danes in England killed. Æthelred marries (as his second wife) Emma, daughter of Duke Richard I of Normandy.
• Brian Boru, king of Leinster and Munster, becomes High King of Ireland. After the submission of Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, Brian Boru makes an expedition to the North.
• Winter – Æthelred II pays tribute (or Danegeld) to Sweyn Forkbeard. He buys him off with a massive payment of 24,000 lbs of silver to hold off Viking raids against England.

• Winter – Khalaf ibn Ahmad, Saffarid emir of Sistan (modern Iran), is deposed and surrenders to the Ghaznavid Dynasty after a 39-year reign (approximate date).

• June – Frederick, archbishop of Ravenna, is sent as an imperial legate to the Synod of Pöhlde, to mediate between the claims of Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim and Willigis, concerning the control of Gandersheim Abbey.

• February 9 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Duke Bolesław I (the Brave) of Poland. The following months, Boleslaus' brothers Jaromír and Oldřich flee to Germany and place themselves under the protection of King Henry II, while Boleslaus orders the massacre of his Bohemian leading nobles at Vyšehrad.
• German–Polish War: Bolesław I annexes Bohemia and parts of Moravia (modern Slovakia). German nobles under Henry of Schweinfurt revolt against Henry II (who has been promised the Duchy of Bavaria).
• Count Oliba (Taillefer) Ripoll. Oliba takes up the Benedictine habit at the Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll.
• King Robert II (the Pious) invades Burgundy, but fails. After this fiasco Robert repudiates his second wife, Bertha of Burgundy, and marries Constance of Arles who becomes queen consort of France.
• King Rudolph III of Burgundy invests Humbert I (the White-Handed) with the domains of the Duchy of Aosta. He becomes the first count of the House of Savoy.
• King Stephen I of Hungary invades Transylvania (modern Romania) and establishes the Diocese of Transylvania (approximate date).
• Battle of Albesa: Muslim forces of the Caliphate of Cordoba defeat the northern Christian armies of León, Pamplona and Castile.[3]

• King Sweyn I (Forkbeard) lands with a Danish Viking fleet in East Anglia, ravaging the countryside. Northumbria surrenders to him (approximate date).

• Emperor Sheng Zong of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty leads an expedition into Mongolia and subdues the Zubu tribe who are forced to pay an annual tribute.

• Construction of the Brihadisvara Temple in Tamil Nadu (modern India), during the Chola Dynasty (Early Medieval period).

• May 12 – Pope Sylvester II dies after a 4-year pontificate. He is succeeded by John XVII as the 140th pope of the Catholic Church.
• November 6 – John XVII dies after a pontificate of about 7 months and is buried in the Lateran Basilica at Rome.
• Heribert, archbishop of Cologne, founds Deutz Abbey at Deutz (Germany).

December: Fujiwara no Kenshi enter the palace as lady-in-waiting to her sister, Empress Shoshi (Kenshi will become empress, too)

• Battle of Skopje: Emperor Basil II defeats the Bulgarian forces near Skopje (modern North Macedonia). Leaving his army behind, Samuel of Bulgaria manages to escape. Basil continues his campaign and besieges the fortress of Pernik. By the end of the year Basil has reconquered about half of the Bulgarian Empire.[4]

• Spring – King Henry II crosses with an expeditionary force through the Brenner Pass to Trento. After initial military successes against Arduin of Ivrea, he receives the homage of the Italian clergy and Lombard noble families.
• May 14 – Henry II is crowned King of Italy by Archbishop Arnulf II in Pavia. A quarrel ensues between the German troops and the Pavese citizens. Henry orders a massacre of the population in response, destroying the city.
• German–Polish War: Duke Bolesław I of Poland loses Bohemia. With German support, Jaromír occupies Prague and proclaims himself the new duke. At Merseburg, he promises to hold Bohemia as a vassal of Henry II.
• Fall – Venetian-Byzantine forces defeat the Saracens at Bari. The citadel is on the brink of capitulation after a 3-days siege. Giovanni, a son of Doge Pietro Orseolo II, is married to the Byzantine princess Maria Argyra.[5]
• Moorish forces under vizier Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar sack the Catalan city of Manresa (modern Spain).[3]
• Saracen pirates under the Balearic emir Mugahid sack Pisa, destroying nearly one-quarter of the city.
• Sancho III becomes king of Pamplona, Aragon and Castille (until 1035).

• A Danish Viking fleet under Sweyn I (Forkbeard) lands in Norfolk. Ealdorman Ulfcytel orders his Anglo-Saxon troops to burn the raiding ships. The plan fails and Ulfcytel's small army is defeated by the Vikings.

• An episode of plague and famine breaks out in North Africa.[6]

• Summer – Emperor Sheng Zong of Liao launches a major offensive against the Song Dynasty. He invades Shanyang and threatens the Song capital of Kaifeng (approximate date).
• Jingdezhen porcelain enters a period of significant production during the Song Dynasty.

• Spring – Pope John XVIII begins his reign as the 141st pope of the Catholic Church at Rome (until 1009).

- Shui Wakashu is compiled by Retired Emperor Kazan (This is an imperial waka poem anthology)

13 May: The court permits Fujiwara no Korechika to enter the palace

• Spring – The Republic of Pisa conducts a military offensive against the Saracen strongholds in Southern Italy. The Pisan fleet sacks the city of Reggio Calabria. Pisa becomes one of the four commercial Maritime Republics (the other three are Genoa, Venice and Amalfi), which fight each other for control of the Mediterranean Sea.[7]

• High King Brian Boru makes a second expedition to the north, to take hostages from the northern kingdoms. During this campaign he visits Armagh – making an offering of 20 ounces of gold to the church and confirming to the apostolic see of Saint Patrick, ecclesiastical supremacy over the whole of Ireland.[8]
• March 25 – King Kenneth III (the Chief) is killed in the battle of Monzievaird in Strathearn. He is succeeded by his cousin Malcolm II (the Destroyer) (son of the late King Kenneth II) as ruler of Scotland.
• Summer – Danish Viking raiders under Sweyn I (Forkbeard) continue to ravage the cities (mostly poorly defended) in Southern England. A famine strikes Sweyn's army, which has to live off the land.[9]
• November 16 – Ælfric of Abingdon, archbishop of Canterbury, leaves ships to the people of Wiltshire and Kent in his will. Leaving the best one, equipped for 60 men, to King Æthelred the Unready.

• January 13–18– The Shanyuan Treaty is negotiated between the Liao Dynasty and the Song Dynasty. The Song government agrees to pay an annual tribute of 200,000 bolts of raw silk and 100,000 taels of silver. Ending the northern border clashes against Liao.
• Lê Trung Tông succeeds his father Lê Hoàn as emperor of the Early Lê Dynasty (modern Vietnam), preceding anarchy and 8 months succession war with other princes. Lê Ngoạ Triều succeeds his brother Lê Trung Tông, killing him after just a 3-days reign.
• The Shūi Wakashū ("Collection of Gleanings") is compiled by Emperor Kazan of Japan (approximate date).

• Summer – The Saracen fleet appears before Pisa, but departs again. The Pisans take their fleet to sea to give chase and defeat the Arab fleet at the battle of Reggio Calabria (Southern Italy).
• Brian Boru visits Ulster and remains unchallenged

• Autumn – Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn I (Forkbeard) attack and destroy the river crossing at Wallingford. The Danes attack and burn the town of Reading (located in the Thames Valley).

• A major eruption of the Mount Merapi volcano covers all of central Java with volcanic ash, causes devastation throughout central Java, and destroys the Hindu kingdom of Mataram on the island of Java.[10]

• May 1 – The brightest supernova ever recorded, SN 1006, occurs in the constellation of Lupus. It is observed and described in China, Japan, Iraq, Egypt, and Europe and possibly depicted in North American rock art. Modern astronomers now consider its distance at about 7,200 light-years. The supernova provides enough light to read by on a night with a dark moon.[11]

1 January: New Year’s Day - Imperial Princess Shushi is granted the title Ippon Shinno (first rank princess)

29 January: Ranking Ceremony of Murasaki Shikibu - as a renowned writer and lady-in-waiting, tutor of Empress Shoshi, she is elevated to high - above her, there is only the empress in the palace

April: Imperial Prince Tomohira receives the title nihon (second rank prince)

• King Æthelred II (the Unready) pays the Danish Vikings a sum of 36,000 pounds of silver (Danegeld) to stop further invasions.[12]

• The Book of Kells is stolen from the Abbey of Kells.

• Ælfheah of Canterbury travels to Rome to receive his pallium – symbol of his status as an archbishop – from Pope John XVIII.
• November 1 – King Henry II of Germany founds the Archdiocese of Bamberg during a synod held in Frankfurt.
• The Keraites, a Turco-Mongolian tribe, are converted to Nestorianism (a sect of Christianity).[13]

Murasaki Shikibu starts to write her diary (Murasaki Shikibu Nikki)

42th Birthday of Fujiwara no Michinaga - it is a great celebration because he is the father-in-law of the emperor

17 March: Death of Retired Emperor Kazan

25 May: Death of Imperial Princess Bishi (second daughter of Emperor Ichijo) - after the death of her mother, she was raised by her stepmother, Empress Shoshi but has a weak health

12 October: Empress Shoshi give birth to Prince Atsuhira - this means that the blood of Michinaga will sit on the throne

13 November: Kamo Special Festival - On this occasion, Lady Shikibu is given the name Murasaki from a famous court poet, Fujiwara no Kinto

• Olaf Haraldsson, future king of Norway, makes raids in the Baltic Sea. He lands on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, wins a battle there, and forces the inhabitants to pay tribute.
• Battle at Herdaler: Olaf Haraldsson sails to the southern coast of Finland to plunder, where he and his men are ambushed and defeated in the woods.
• Bagrat III adds more lands to his realm, and becomes the first ruler of the Kingdom of Georgia (until 1014).
• The oldest known mention is made of the city of Gundelfingen (Southern Germany).
• Abkhazia and Iberia are unified into the Kingdom of Georgia.

• King Æthelred II (the Unready) orders a new fleet of warships built, organised on a national scale. It is a huge undertaking, but is completed the following year.[14]

• Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah sends a tributary mission to Emperor Zhen Zong of the Song Dynasty, in order to reestablish trade relations between the Fatimid Caliphate and China (approximate date).

• Olof Skötkonung, king of Sweden, is baptized in Husaby (Västergötland) by missionary Sigfrid, and makes generous donations on the spot.[15]
• Autumn – Bruno of Querfurt, a missionary bishop, and 18 companions sets out on a mission to spread Christianity among the Prussians.[16]

- Murasaki Shikibu teach Chinese to Empress Shoshi in secret because this language is usually learnt by men.

- Princess Takahime (daughter of Imperial Prince Tomohira, cousin of emperor Ichijo) is married to Fujiwara no Yorimichi, the first son of Fujiwara no Michinaga - this connection with the imperial family enlarge Michinaga’s power

- Takashina no Mitsuko is imprisoned for cursing the empress - they implicate Korechika but later pardon him

21 August: Death of Imperial Prince Tomohira (uncle of the emperor)

14 December: Empress Shoshi give birth to Prince Atsunaga (he is her second prince so it is great joy)

• February 14 or March 9 – The first known mention is made of the name of Lithuania, in connection with the murder of Bruno of Querfurt. He is beheaded and his 18 companions are hanged the same day during a mission among the Prussians in the Baltic region.[17]
• May 9 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus, an Italian nobleman, revolt in Bari against the Catepanate of Italy (a province of the Byzantine Empire). He and his brother-in-law Dattus (or Datto) mobilises a large army and invades southern Italy.[18]
• November 1 – Berber forces led by Sulayman ibn al-Hakam defeat the Umayyad caliph Muhammad II in the battle of Alcolea. He enters the city of Córdoba, which is sacked by Berbers and Castillans. Sulayman is elected as caliph of the Caliphate of Córdoba.
• Doge Pietro II Orseolo dies after an 18-year reign in which he has start the expansion of Venetia by conquering the islands of Lastovo and Korčula along the Dalmatian coast. Pietro is succeeded by his 16-year-old son Otto Orseolo as sole ruler of Venice.[19]
• Law on planning and building passed in Serbia during the reign of Prince Jovan Vladimir.

• Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn I (Forkbeard) repeatedly attack southern England, destroying the land to avenge the St. Brice's Day massacre (see 1002).
• August - A large Viking army led by Thorkell the Tall lands on Kent and proceeds to terrorize most of Southern England.[20][21]

• Spring – General Gang Jo leads a coup against King Mokjong. He is deposed and sent into exile in Chungju. After murdering Mokjong, Gang Jo places Hyeonjong on the throne as ruler of Goryeo.
• November – The Lý Dynasty in Vietnam is proclaimed by Emperor Lý Thái Tổ (former commander of the palace guard) after the death of Lê Long Đĩnh, the last monarch of the Lê Dynasty.

• Summer – Pope John XVIII dies after a pontificate of 5-years. He is succeeded by Sergius IV as the 142nd pope of the Catholic Church.
• August 29 – Mainz Cathedral suffers extensive damage from a fire, which destroys the building on the day of its inauguration.[22]
• October 18 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.