1080s

Events

1080

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Autumn – Nikephoros Melissenos, a Byzantine general and aristocrat, seizes control of what remains of Byzantine Asia Minor (modern Turkey), and proclaims himself emperor against Nikephoros III. Melissenos makes an alliance with Sultan Suleiman ibn Qutulmish and recruits many Turkish mercenaries to his army.

Europe

• January 27 – Battle of Flarchheim: Emperor Henry IV defeats the forces led by the German anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfelden, duke of Swabia, near the town of Flarchheim (modern Germany).
• April 17 – King Harald III dies after a 4-year reign and is buried at Dalby Church in Scania (modern Sweden). He is succeeded by his brother Canute IV (the Holy) as ruler of Denmark.
• October 14 – Battle on the Elster: Rudolf of Rheinfelden defeats the imperial forces led by Henry IV at the Elster River. Rudolf dies the following day at Merseburg of wounds received.

Britain

• May 14 – Walcher, bishop of Durham, is killed by rebel Northumbrians. King William I (the Conqueror) sends a punitive expedition led by his half-brother Odo of Bayeux to pacify Northumbria.
• Autumn – Robert Curthose, a son of William I, is sent to invade Scotland. He reaches as far as Falkirk and forces King Malcolm III to agree to terms while building fortifications at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
• Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, builds Devizes Castle in Wiltshire.

Armenia

• The Rubenid Principality of Cilicia gains independence after its founder, Ruben I, succeeds in establishing his authority in the mountainous regions of Cilicia.

Africa

• The Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, conquers Tangier, Badis and Hunayn.

China

• Shen Kuo, Chinese polymath scientist and statesman, begins his defensive military campaign against the Tanguts of the Western Xia. He successfully defends the invasion route to Yanzhou (Shaanxi province).

By topic

Religion

• June 25 – Wibert of Ravenna is elected as anti-pope Clement III during the pro-imperial Synod of Brixen. Pope Gregory VII is deposed, signed in a decree by Henry IV.
• King Alfonso VI (the Brave) of León and Castile establishes Latin liturgy in the Catholic Church, in place of the Hispanic Rite.
• Benno II, bishop of Osnabrück, founds the Benedictine abby of Iburg Castle (modern Germany).

1081

By place

Byzantine Empire

• April 1 – Emperor Nikephoros III is forced to abdicate the throne, and retires to the Peribleptos monastery. He is succeeded by Alexios I Komnenos, who is crowned on April 5, as ruler of the Byzantine Empire. His brother-in-law Nikephoros Melissenos supports Alexios as new emperor, in exchange for the title of Caesar (co-emperor), and is appointed as commander of the Byzantine armies in the West.
• May – A Norman fleet of 150 ships (including 60 horse transports), led by Duke Robert Guiscard, sets off towards the Dalmatian coast. An army of 15,000 men (including about 1,300 Norman knights) sails to the city of Avalona (modern Albania); they are joined by several ships from Ragusa, a republic in the Balkans who are enemies of the Byzantines.
• October 18 – Battle of Dyrrhachium: After taking the island of Corfu, Robert Guiscard advances to Dyrrhachium (modern-day Durrës), and lays siege to the city. Alexios I Komnenos attempts to defend Illyria from the Normans (the first recorded mention of Albania), but is defeated by Guiscard, outside Dyrrhachium, the Byzantine capital city of Illyria.

Europe

• King Alfonso VI ("the Brave") of Castile exiles his most famous commander, El Cid, who goes into exile and offers his services to the twins – Counts Ramon Berenguer II and Berenguer Ramon II of Barcelona, but is turned down. He ends up in the service of Emir Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud of Zaragoza.
• King Mihailo ("King of the Slavs") dies after a 30-year reign. He is succeeded by his son, Constantine Bodin as ruler of Duklja (until 1101).

Britain

• Battle of Mynydd Carn (near St Davids in Wales): Gruffudd ap Cynan in alliance with Rhys ap Tewdwr, prince of Deheubarth, defeats the forces of Trahaearn ap Caradog, Caradog ap Gruffydd and Meilir ap Rhiwallon (who are all killed), allowing Gruffudd to claim the Kingdom of Gwynedd.
• King William the Conqueror of England orders the creation of a castle at Cardiff during his tour of southern Wales. The first castle on the site would be a motte and bailey type and is built on existing Roman fortifications.

Seljuk Empire

• Seljuk emir Tzachas (or Chaka Bey) conquers Smyrna (modern-day İzmir) and founds a short-lived independent state, which emerges as the first sea power in Turkish history.

By topic

Religion

• Pope Gregory VII writes a letter to Hermann, bishop of Metz, about the behavior of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (approximate date).
• Construction begins on St. Canute's Cathedral in Odense (modern Denmark).

1082

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Spring – The Normans under Duke Robert Guiscard take Dyrrhachium (modern-day Durrës) in Illyria and advance inland, capturing most of Macedonia and Thessaly. Robert is forced to leave Greece to deal with an uprising in Italy. He leaves his son Bohemond in charge of the army, who lays siege to the city of Larissa. Emperor Alexios I Komnenos mobilizes a new army, and with the support of 7,000 Seljuk Turks he clears Thessaly from the Normans.
• Byzantine–Venetian treaty: Alexios I signs a trade and defence pact with Venice, in the form of an imperial Golden Bull. He grants the Venetians a commercial colony in Constantinople, as well as free trading and exemption from taxes, throughout the Byzantine Empire in return for their defense of the Adriatic Sea against the Normans.

Europe

• May 12 – Battle of Mailberg: Duke Vratislaus II of Bohemia invades Austria with an army of 8,000 men (supported by mercenaries from Moravia and Bavaria). He defeats the forces under Margrave Leopold II ("the Fair") near Mailberg. The northern region of Lower Austria is devastated from pillage and famine.
• December 6 – Count Ramon Berenguer II of Barcelona is killed while hunting in the woods. He is succeeded by his twin brother Berenguer Ramon II as the sole ruler of Catalonia (modern Spain).
• Winter – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, leads an expedition into Italy and besieges Rome. He gains entry and a synod is agreed upon by the Romans to rule on the dispute between Henry and Pope Gregory VII.
• Adalbero, margrave of Styria, is forced to resign in favor of his brother Ottokar II, who is an ally of Gregory VII.
• The first mention of the town of Hofgeismar (modern Germany) is recorded.

Asia

• Approximate date – The Korean printing of the entire Buddhist Tripiṭaka is completed.

By topic

Religion

• Construction of the Rochester Cathedral is completed in England.

1083

By place

Europe

• January 6 – A Castilian army, under Count Gonzalo Salvadórez and his son-in-law Ramiro Garcés, Lord of Calahorra, child of the late King García Sánchez III of Pamplona, enters the surrendered bastion of Rueda, but are then treacherously set upon and killed. Gonzalo, Ramiro, and Ramiro's illegitimate half-brother Sancho Garcés are among the many nobles to lose their lives, in what will be remembered as the 'disaster' or 'treachery of Rueda'.
• Summer – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor besieges Pope Gregory VII in Castel Sant'Angelo at Rome.
• October – While Robert Guiscard is in Italy, emperor Alexios I Komnenos retakes territory previously lost to the Normans, including the town of Kastoria. Several Normans, including Peter Aliphas, switch sides to the Byzantines.
• Reconquista: Castilian forces under Alfonso VI reconquer Talavera de la Reina in the Taifa of Toledo (modern Spain).
• King Sancho Ramírez of Pamplona and Aragon, conquers Graus (located in the Pyrenees).
• King William the Conqueror imprisons his half-brother Odo of Bayeux for planning a military expedition to Italy.

Africa

• Ceuta falls to the Almoravids, after a five-year siege.

1084

By place

Europe

• March 31 – Emperor Henry IV besieges Rome and enters the city. He is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Antipope Clement III in Rome and receives the patrician authority.
• May – Sack of Rome: Duke Robert Guiscard leads a Norman army (36,000 men) north and enters Rome; the city is sacked, and Henry IV is forced to retreat.
• Robert Guiscard returns with 150 warships in Illyria (modern Albania), and occupies Corfu and Kefalonia with the support of Ragusa and the Dalmatian city-states.
• King Halsten Stenkilsson is killed and his brother Inge the Elder is deposed in Svealand (modern Sweden). Inge is replaced by his brother-in-law Blot-Sweyn.

Seljuk Empire

• The Seljuk Turks under Sultan Malik-Shah I conquer Byzantine Antioch, held by Philaretos Brachamios, an Armenian general, who seizes power as a usurper.

Asia

• Sima Guang, Chinese chancellor and historian, with a group of scholars, completes the Zizhi Tongjian, a chronicle of universal history of China.
• April 21 – King Kyansittha begins his reign as ruler of the Pagan Kingdom in Burma (modern Myanmar).

By topic

Religion

• Pope Gregory VII, who has been forced by the presence in Rome of Henry IV to retreat to the Castel Sant'Angelo, is freed by Robert Guiscard and restores papal authority in Rome.
• Bruno of Cologne founds the Carthusian Order which includes both monks and nuns. He builds a hermitage in the French Alps.
• Building work starts on Worcester Cathedral in England, orchestrated by Bishop Wulfstan.

1085

By place

Europe

• May 25 – King Alfonso VI of León and Castile ("the Brave") recaptures Toledo from the Moors, and occupies other cities such as Madrid and Talavera (including the castle of Aledo). Alfonso moves his capital to Toledo, and consolidates his power between Sistema Central and the Tagus River, from where he launches more attacks against the taifas of Córdoba, Seville, Badajoz and Granada (modern Spain).
• Summer – Robert Guiscard heads for the Ionian Islands despite an epidemic among troops on Corfu. His son, Roger Borsa, lands on Cephalonia but Guiscard falls sick as his ship approaches the northernmost headland and is carried ashore, where he dies of fever (on July 17).
• Emperor Henry IV declares the Peace of God in all the imperial territories of the Holy Roman Empire to quell any sedition.
• June 15 – Vratislaus II, a son of Duke Bretislav I, becomes the first king of Bohemia and is elevated 'for life' by Henry IV.
• Katedralskolan in Lund (modern Sweden), the oldest school in Scandinavia, is founded by King Canute IV of Denmark.

England

• The Domesday Survey is commissioned by King William the Conqueror, apparently prompted by the abortive invasion of Canute IV, to ensure proper taxation and levies.

China

• April 1 – Emperor Zhezong ascends the throne at the age of 8 under the supervision of his grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Gao. She cancels the reform policy of Chancellor Wang Anshi.
• The output of copper currency for the Chinese Song dynasty reaches 6 billion coins a year, prompting the Chinese government to adopt the world's first paper-printed money later in the 1120s.

1086

By place

Europe

• October 23 – Battle of Sagrajas: Spanish forces under King Alfonso VI ("the Brave") of Castile are defeated by the Moors and their allies, the Almoravids, who have been invited to help on orders by Emir Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad.
• Norman forces under Count Roger I ("Bosso") conquer Syracuse, the last Muslim stronghold in Sicily.

England

• August 1 – King William the Conqueror calls for a meeting at Old Sarum, where he invites his major vassals and tenants-in-chief to swear allegiance to him. This is known as the Oath of Salisbury.
• The Domesday Book is completed. Drawn up on the orders of William I; it describes in detail the landholdings and resources in England.
• The population in England is estimated to be 1.25 million citizens with 10% living in boroughs.

Seljuk Empire

• Summer – Suleiman ibn Qutulmish, ruler of the Turks in Rum, is killed by Emir Tutush I in the battle of Ain Salm near Antioch. Suleiman's 7-year-old son Kilij Arslan I is captured and transferred as hostage to Isfahan (modern Iran).
• Sultan Malik-Shah I rebuilds the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf (modern Iraq), after it was destroyed by fire.

By topic

Religion

• May 24 – Pope Victor III succeeds Gregory VII as the 158th pope of the Catholic Church, though he does not accept election until 1087.

1087

By place

Europe

• Summer – The Taifa of Valencia falls under the domination of El Cid. He stabilizes the region around Valencia, which has revolted against the Moorish puppet ruler Al-Qadir.
• Inge the Elder returns to Svealand and kills his brother-in-law Blot-Sweyn after a 3-year reign. Inge again proclaims himself king of Sweden (approximate date).

England

• September 9 – William the Conqueror dies in Rouen after a fall from his horse. He is succeeded as king of England by his third son William II.
• A fire in London destroys much of the city, including St. Paul's Cathedral. Bishop Maurice starts the rebuilding of a new, much larger cathedral.

Africa

• Mahdia campaign: The navies of Genoa and Pisa take the capital of the Zirids, and occupy Mahdia for a year. Subsequently, both republics obtain trading privileges.
• Completion of Bab al-Futuh, Cairo

Japan

• January 3 – Emperor Shirakawa abdicates in favor of his 7-year-old son Horikawa after a 14-year reign. He exerts his personal power to set the cloistered rule system further in motion.

Middle East

• May: The marriage of Caliph al-Muqtadi and Mah-i Mulk is consummated. This marriage strengthens the political relation of Malik-Shah I and the Caliph.

By topic

Religion

• May 9 – The relics of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of seafarers, are stolen by Italian sailors from his church in Myra (modern Turkey) and transported to Bari in southern Italy.
• September 16 – Pope Victor III dies after a 1-year pontificate at Monte Cassino. He is buried in the abbey's chapter house.

1088

By place

Europe

• Almoravid forces (supported with fighters from local Andalusian provinces), under Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin, besiege Aledo, but are forced to retreat, by the arrival of Spanish troops of King Alfonso VI ("the Brave") of Castile.
• Catalonian troops, under Count Berenguer Ramon II, reconquer Tarragona (lost again in 1108). He will rule Catalonia with his 6-year-old nephew Ramon Berenguer III, until he comes of age.

England

• Spring – A rebellion led by William the Conqueror's half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert (2nd Earl of Cornwall), begins against King William II with the aim to remove him from the throne. Odo's revolt in Kent and Sussex is supported by nobles across the country.
• The Worcestershire rebellion led by Robert de Lacy (a son of Ilbert de Lacy) is dealt with quickly by Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester, who calls on those knights and local landowners still loyal to William II to defend Worcester. Many of the rebels are captured or killed.
• William II calls the representatives of the fyrd to a meeting in London. He promises (with the support of Lanfranc, bishop of Canterbury) the people better laws, and the removal of taxes if they support him against the rebels.
• William II lays siege to Pevensey Castle on the south coast where Odo of Bayeux has taken shelter with Robert. Odo is forced to surrender, and agrees to go to Rochester to convince the rebels to accept William as the rightful king of England.
• Summer – William II lays siege to Rochester Castle and puts down the revolt. Odo of Bayeux and the rebels surrender (agreeing only that their lives will be spared). William takes Odo's lands and exiles him to Normandy.

Africa

• Nasir ibn Alnas, ruler of the Hammadids, dies after a 26-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Al-Mansur ibn al-Nasir (until 1104).

By topic

Arts and Culture

• The Dream Pool Essays is published by the Chinese polymath scientist and statesman Shen Kuo. His book represents the earliest known writing about the magnetic compass, movable type printing, experimentation with the camera obscura only decades after Hasan ibn al-Haytham, which includes many different fields of study in essay and encyclopedic form, including geology, astronomy, archaeology, mathematics, pharmacology, magnetism, geography, optics, hydraulics, economics, military strategy, philosophy, etc. Some of Shen's most advanced theories include geomorphology and climate variability, while he improves Chinese astronomy, by fixing the position of the pole star and correcting the lunar error, by plotting its orbital course every night for a continuum of five years. Shen's book is also the first to describe the drydock in China – and discusses the advantages of the recent invention of the canal pound lock, over the old flash lock.
• Su Song, Chinese polymath scientist and statesman, invents the pilot model for his astronomical clock tower constructed in Kaifeng. It features an escapement mechanism – and the world's oldest known power-transmitting chain drive to operate the armillary sphere, opening doors, and mechanical-driven mannequins, that would rotate in shifts to announce the time on plaques.

Education

• The oldest extant university, the University of Bologna, is founded in Italy (approximate date).

Geology

• April 16 – The 6.5 Tmogvi earthquake affects the southern provinces of Georgia, which causes the destruction of the castle of Tmogvi and many deaths.

Religion

• March 12 – Pope Urban II (Urbanus) succeeds Victor III as the 159th pope of the Catholic Church in Rome.

1089

By place

Europe

• April 20 (possible date) – Demetrius Zvonimir, king of Croatia, dies after a 12-year reign, and is succeeded by Stephen II. Zvonimir's widow, Helena of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, plots the inheritance of the Croatian crown for her brother, King Ladislaus I of Hungary.
• June 24 – Reconquista: Gaston IV, Viscount of Béarn (supported by French crusaders) reconquers the Aragonese city of Monzón from Emir Al-Mustain II of the Taifa of Zaragoza.
• August 18 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, marries Eupraxia of Kiev (daughter of Grand Prince Vsevolod I) at Cologne. She is crowned and assumes the name Adelaide (or Adelheid).
• King George II abdicates the throne in favour of his 16-year-old son David IV ("the Builder") who becomes ruler of Georgia (until 1125).

England

• August 11 – A powerful earthquake is recorded in England.
• Northumbria is divided by King William II into the counties of Northumberland, County Palatine of Durham, Yorkshire, Westmorland and Lancashire.

By topic

Religion

• March 21 – Cîteaux Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery, is established by a group of French monks under Robert of Molesme in southern France.
• August 28 – Braga Cathedral in the County of Portugal has its reconstruction (following 353 years of Muslim occupation) completed sufficiently for its consecration to the Virgin Mary to take place.
• September
  • The Synod of Melfi, led by Pope Urban II (his first papal council), issues decrees against simony and clerical marriage.
  • A church council, held in Constantinople, discuses relations between Eastern and Western Christianity.