The Eastern Hemisphere 900 AD
This page comprises of the years between 901 and 1000. So, a hundred years of events and births! These will be later on divided into decades, but not into any individual years.
900s - 910s - 920s - 930s - 940s - 950s- 960s - 970s - 980s - 990s
Greenland is discovered by the Norseman Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, Al-Azhar University in Cairo is founded (970-972), reindeer and bears become extinct in Britain, the last wild lion is seen in Europe,
In the year 900, the Maya civilization comes to an end and the great stone pyramids and other structures are abandoned and overgrown with jungle,
904-xxxx Egil Skallagrímsson* Viking-age poet/warrior/farmer - Iceland (995/c. 91)
907-xxxx Wenceslaus I* Duke of Bohemia - Prague, Bohemia (935/c. 28)
910s: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis IV in the Battle of Augsburg (Jun 12, 910), the King of West Francia and the leader of the Vikings sign a peace agreement: Rollo the Viking, now Count of Rouen, converts to Christianity and promises to prevent any other Vikings sailing up the Seine to attack the West Frankish Kingdom (autumn 911), Abd al-Rahman III becomes emir of Córdoba (Oct 912),
910-xxxx Gamle Eirikssen* Viking ruler/eldest son of King Eric Bloodaxe and Queen Gunnhild - Norway (950/40)
910-xxxx Gunnhildr konungamóðir* Mother of Kings/quasi-historical figure/probably wife of Eric Bloodaxe - Jutland, Denmark (c.980/c.70)
911-xxx Minamoto no Shitago* 源 順 nobleman/poet/scholar - Japan (983/c. 72)
912-1123 Otto I* Holy Roman Emperor/a.k.a. Otto the Great - possibly Wallhausen, East Francia (973/60)
920-xxxx Haakon the Good* King of Norway/noted for his attempts to introduce Christianity into Norway - Håkonshella, Hordaland, Norway (961/c. 41)
925 Li Fang* scholar/bureaucrat of the Song Dynasty - Hengshui, Hebei, China (996/c. 71)
931-0323 Liu Chengyou* 劉承祐 the second and final emperor of imperial China’s short-lived Later Han - Ye, Later Tang Dynasty (951/19)
932-0828 Richard I of Normandy* a.k.a. Richard the Fearless/Count of Rouen/grandson of Rollo - Fècamp, Normandy, France (996/64)
933-0303 Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri* Persian Sunni scholar - Persia (1014/81)
935- Eochaid ua Flannacáin* Irish cleric/poet - Ireland (1004/69)
940- Thorgeir Ljosvetningagodi* lawspeaker in Iceland’s Althing -
940-0610 Abu al-Wafa' Buzjani* mathematician/astronomer - Buzhgan, Iran (998/58)
941- Lothair of France* the penultimate Carolingian king of West Francia - Laon, France (986/44)
942-0307 Mu’ayyad al-Dawla* the Buyid amir of Hamadan, Jibal, Tabaristan and Gorgan - (983/39)
942- Fujiwara no Tamemitsu* 藤原 為光 statesman/courtier/politician - Japan (992/50)
943- Edgar the Peaceful* King of the English - (975/c.31)
In the year 950, Berengar is crowned king of Italy (Nov 22), King Hywel Dda (“the Good”) dies after an 8-year reign whereby his three sons divide Wales amongst themselves, the Tu’i Tonga Empire starts to expand in the Pacific Ocean, with the capital at Mu’a on the island of Tongatapu.
950- Erik the Red* Norwegian Viking/father of Leif Erikson/ - Rogaland, Norway (ca 1003) Amuraworld.com
In the year 955, King Otto I defeats the Hungarians near Augsburg, putting an end to the Hungarian campaigns into West Europe (Aug 10), King Eadred is succeeded by his 15-year-old nephew Eadwig as King of England (Nov 23)
955- Otto II* Holy Roman Emperor - Saxony, Kingdom of Germany (983/c. 27)
956c Siegfried II* Count of Stade/son of Henry I the Bald - (1037/c.81)
957- Fujiwara no Junshi* 藤原 遵子 consort of Emperor En’yū of Japan - Japan (1017/c. 60)
958- Basil II* Byzantine emperor/“the Bulgar Slayer” - Constantinople, Byzantine Empire (1025/c.67)
959-0412 Emperor En’yū* the 64th emperor of Japan - Heian Kyoo, Japan (991/31)
In the year 960, a Byzantine fleet lands on Crete, defeating the Muslim resistance, but the muslims send for aid by the Fatimids in Ifriqiya and the Caliphate of Córdoba (summer), the Byzantines defeat the Hamdanid army in an ambush in the passages of the Cilician mountains - the Hamdanids can no longer afford to raid in Anatolia, which is a turning point in the Arab-Byzantine wars in the East (Nov 8), Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark, consolidates his rule over Jutland and Zealand, and adopts Christianity, like does the rest of Scandinavia later on.
960- Sweyn Forkbeard* King of Denmark and England/son of Harald Bluetooth - Denmark (1014/c. 74)
960- Fan Kuan* landscape painter of the Song dynasty - China (1030/c. 70 )
960- Abu Nasr Mansur* Persian Muslim mathematician/astronomer - Gilan, Persia (1036/c. 76)
961-0115 Seongjong of Goryeo* sixth ruler of Kingdom of Goreyo - Goreyo (997/36)
962
968- Olaf Tryggvason* King of Norway/son of Tryggvi Olafsson/the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair - Norway (1000/c.32)
In the year 970, Eric the Victorious becomes the first (documented) king of Sweden in Uppland, Skagul Toste leads a Viking expedition to England and demands Danegeld (a tax raised to pay tribute to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged), construction is completed on Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt (the world’s oldest Islamic university).
970-xxxx Leif Erikson* Norse explorer/son of Erik the Red/probably the first known European to have set foot in North America - Icelandic Commonwealth (ca 1020/c.50)
973- Al-Biruni* scholar/polymath during the Islamic Golden Age - Kath, Afrighids Dynasty (c.1050/77)
974- Bruno of Querfurt* Christian missionary bishop/martyr - Querfurt, Saxony-Anhalt, Holy Roman Empire (1009/c.35)
975-0725 Thietmar of Merseburg* bishop/chronicler - Halberstadt, Saxony-Anhalt, Holy Roman Empire (1018/43)
977-0304 Al-Musabbihi* Fatimid historian/writer/ administrative official - Fustat, Egypt (1030/53)
978- Yaroslav the Wise* Russian grand prince/son of Vladimir the Great - Russia (1054/c. 76)
A Viking ring fortress in Trelleborg (modern Denmark)
In the year 980, Vladimir I, grand prince of Kiev, consolidates the Kievan realm from modern Ukraine to the Baltic Sea, and is proclaimed ruler of all Kievan Rus' (Jun 11), peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II and King Lothair III, ending the Franco-German war of 978–980, King Harald Bluetooth orders the construction of the Viking ring fortress of Trelleborg, Viking raids threaten the southern English coast after a pause of 25 years - Hampshire and the Isle of Thanet are ravaged.
980- Olof Skötkonung* King of Sweden/stands at the threshold of recorded history, since he is the first Swedish ruler about whom there is substantial knowledge. Regarded as the first king known to have ruled both the Swedes and the Geats (Goths) - Sweden (1022/c42)
980-06xx Otto III* Holy Roman Emperor - near Kessel, Kingdom of Germany (1002/21)
981- Giovanni Orseolo* Dux Dalmatiae/first Venetian to hold power in Dalmatia - Venice (1006)
982-xxxx Dirk III* Count of Friesland (Holland) - (1039) JOL
983-xxxx Gunnlaugr Ormstunga* poet/“Serpent’s Tongue” - Iceland (1008/25)
In the year 986, Erik the Red, the father of Leif Eriksson, departs from Iceland towards Greenland (that time still a lot of green there). 25 ships loaded with settlers and material. About half of them managed to get to the destination and create a permanent settlement there. Later that year Bjarni Herjólfsson, looking for his father who had gone to Greenland, became probably the first European to sight the mainland of the Americas. He tells about his trip to Leif Eriksson.
before 989 Robert II* archbishop of Rouen/son of Richard I/great grandson of Rollo - Normandy (1037/c.50)
In the year 990, as Empress Theophanu dies at Nijmegen, Empress Adelaide of Italy assumes regency over her 10-year-old grandson, King Otto III (Jun 15), the city of Lund (Sweden) is founded, during the reign of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard, Al-Mansur, de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho (modern Portugal), expanding the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba, the Ghana Empire takes the Berber town of Aoudaghost (modern Mauritania).
990-1111 Gisela of Swabia* Queen consort of Germany/Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire - Swabia, German Kingdom (1043)
995- Olaf II of Norway* King of Norway/later St. Olaf/his sainthood encouraged the widespread adoption of Christianity by Scandinavia’s Vikings/Norsemen - Ringerike, Norway (1030/c.35)
999- Odo, Count of Penthièvre* duke and regent of Brittany - (1079/c. 80)
Updated 22.11.2022
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