The Second millenium

[Vince]

Welcome to the year 1000!

About 7 million people live in France, 7 million in Iberia, 5 million in Italy, 4 million in Germany, 2 million in Britain. The entire world population is about 300 million.

About this time, China begins developing coal as a fuel, replacing charcoal. Since charcoal is made from trees, this ends massive deforestation in China.

The Moslem world is going through a Golden Age, with some of the world's greatest scientists alive this year.

The mightiest empire in the world? China.

Hungary converts to Catholicism and becomes an independent nation. It remains a mighty nation until after World War 1, when it loses 70% of its territory.

"Bantu" is a general name for the Blacks who live in southern and central Africa. Their population is increasing, as they fight few wars. Around this time, the Hutus, a major Bantu ethnic group, migrate from western to central Africa. They settle in modern Rwanda and Burundi, where they still make up over 80% of the population.

The Vikings discover America...again. Leif Ericson lands in three different areas of Canada.





Technically part of Norway, Iceland is pressured to convert to Christianity by the Norwegian king.

 

[Vince]

There is still more going on in the year 1000!

About this time, a group of Indians settle on a plateau in central Mexico "Among the Prickly Pears Growing Among the Rocks." It will take another three centuries, but they will eventually become the Aztec Empire.

About this time, the Early Mississippi Culture advances out of the Late Woodland Period. Stretching from the southeastern United States to the central United States, this peaceful, civilized group of Indians will flourish and expand until the Europeans arrive. They have trade routes reaching to the western and northern United States, extensive mining operations, and extensive manufacturing of pottery. Yet they develop no written language, nor do they make stone monuments.

It's a rough year for Norway. Their king is sailing home when he is ambushed by a much larger fleet led by Denmark. Hopelessly outnumbered, the Norwegians lose, and Denmark takes control of the country.

The Moslem scientist Alhazen publishes his seven volume "Book of Optics," correctly explaining how the eye is able to see. He is regarded as the father of modern optics.

About this time, another Moslem scientist invents the astronomical sextant, which measures the distance between stars.

Paper has virtually replaced vellum in the Moslem Empire, furthering the spread of knowledge.

Conflicting records report that the Chinese invent gunpowder about this time.

 

[Vince]

And now it is the year 1001.

Mahmud of Ghazni will eventually become the first Moslem to take the title “Sultan.†He spends the next three years smashing the Hindus of northwestern India, eventually expanding the Ghaznavid Empire to include eastern Iran, northwest India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He loots and destroys thousands of Hindu temples, both in conquered areas and through raids, on one occasion massacring 50,000 Hindus who tried to defend a major temple.

Gregory, an Italian count, seizes Rome and expels the ruling family, declaring himself "Head of the Republic." However, he is overthrown next year.

Denmark, which had seized Norway last year, invades England and wins their first battle.

On the Chinese-Korean border, Baitoushan volcano gives off the fourth-greatest known eruption in history.

And the Philippines make their first appearance in this thread. The kingdom of Butuan, in the southern Philippines, offers tribute to China. A very prosperous Buddhist kingdom with extensive trade routes to surrounding nations, Butuan leaves us no evidence of how it began. They used huge outrigger canoes to transport cargo to and from their island nation.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 1002!

Newfoundland is a large island off the Canadian coast that is now part of Canada. Around this time, Leif Erickson founds a colony at the very northernmost tip of the island, at Jellyfish Cove. Rich with marine life and close to the Canadian mainland, the remains of the colony were discovered in 1960, making it the westernmost European settlement in the Americas before Columbus. Other evidence shows that both Canadian Indians and Eskimos had briefly inhabited, and then abandoned, Newfoundland before the Vikings arrived.

John Crescentius III begins his ten-year reign over the city of Rome. He forces HRE Otto III and Pope Sylvester to flee the city, although he later allows the Pope to return. Otto III dies shortly afterwards and is replaced by Henry II. John will appoint three Popes and be the real head of the Catholic Church.

English King Aethelred the Unready orders all Danish men massacred, in retaliation for years of Viking raids. Historians agree that most of the killed were mercenaries, settlers in small villages, and small populations in large cities.

 

[farouk]

Interestingly, Newfoundland didn't become part of Canada for nearly another 1000 years: in 1949, in fact.

 

[Vince]

Farouk is correct.

And now it is the year 103!

John XVII is appointed Pope by the ruler of Rome, but he dies seven months later. His epitaph states that he was Pope because that’s what he was called.
John XVIII is then appointed Pope. Ruling unsuccessfully for five years, he is overwhelmed by Moslem raids on the Italian coast and by plagues that break out in the Papal Territories. He concerns himself with ecclesiastical matters and finally resigns.

Boleslaw the Brave, ruler of the Poles, forcibly restores the ruler of the Bohemians to his throne. And then the Bohemian ruler massacres all his nobles. Boleslaw then blinds him and sends him to prison for the next thirty years of his life, and Poland seizes Bohemia. However, Boleslaw voluntarily gives it back to the HRE next year.

Learning of last year's massacre of Danish men, Denmark invades England. It will take them ten years, but they will eventually conquer England and add it to the Viking empire.

 

[Vince]

There's plenty more in 1004!

The Liao Dynasty learns a painful military lesson. They launch a massive invasion of China, and the two armies meet with a river between them. The Liao general is then killed by a Chinese sniper armed with a crossbow.

Henry II is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in northern Italy, and a battle breaks out between the Germans and the Italians. Henry then quickly invades Poland.

Arabs launch an attack on Pisa, a major city on Italy's northwestern coat, sacking the city and leaving.

Spanish Moslems sack Manressa, a town in northeastern Spain with a large Jewish population. After looting the town, the Moslems leave.

Erik the Red, father of Leif Erickson, and one of several Europeans who discovered America at different times, dies. The colonies he had founded in Greenland will survive for five centuries, eventually having churches, a monastery, and a nunnery. They will eventually become separated and then forgotten by Europe, be ravaged by unusually cold weather and war with the Inuit, and disappear.

 

[Vince]

Let's look at the year 1005.

The Song Dynasty has been steadily conquering other kingdoms and actually is “China.†But for now, they sign a peace treaty with the Liao Dynasty that will last for another century. The Liao are Mongolians whose kingdom includes much of northern China and modern Mongolia. When they collapse in the next century, China will obtain much of their territory.

After killing the king and his sn in battle, Malcolm II becomes High King of Scotland. Scotland has divided into several kingdoms, and Malcolm has some difficulty keeping control.

Danish Vikings send raiders into southern England.

Having been forcibly converted to Catholicism, Pomerania (located in modern Germany and Poland) successfully rebels.

Three days after his brother takes the throne, nineteen year old Le Long Dinh assassinates him and becomes Vietnam's third king. A legend of sadism and wickedness to this day, he dies four years later.

About this time, an unknown author compiles "The Collection of Gleanings," a boring collection of government-approved poems.

Moslems found a science library in Cairo.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 1006!

Java is a large Pacific Island that is part of Indonesia. This year, a massive volcanic eruption from Fire Mountian (still a very active and dangerous volcano) covers the center of the island with ash. Medang, a powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdom on the island is already losing a war when the ash causes Medang to collapse.


May 1 – The brightest supernova ever recorded, SN 1006, occurs in the constellation of Lupus. It is observed and described in China, Japan, the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere. Almost three times larger than Venus, it was about 1/4 as bright as a full moon and was visible during daylight hours. It shone brightly for three months, faded, and then shone for eighteen months. Today it is invisible but still emits powerful gamma rays.

 

[Vince]

1007 is an interesting year for Italy.

In southern Italy, Mount Vesuvius erupts again, but with the area around it is fairly vacant.

Local Jewish leaders found a Talmudic academy in Rome.

Aethelred the Unready buys off the Vikings, securing two years of peace for England.

About this time, the village of Shanghai is founded on China's east coast. Today it is China's most populated city, with over 23 million inhabitants.

It snows in Baghdad.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 1008.

It's been centuries since we mentioned Georgia, the kingdom on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. Heavily influenced by the Byzantine Empire, it had been conquered by the Arabs but was allowed to remain a semi-independent state. However, it had broken up into three kingdoms. This year, Bagrat III, ruler of one of the kingdoms, inherits another one and becomes the first King of Georgia. His steady improvement of the nations will help future rulers usher in a Golden Age a few decades later.

Egypt sends a trade mission to China.

Olaf the Treasure King, King of Sweden, is baptized. Historians cannot figure out how he got his name.

 

[Vince]

1009 is now on the line!

During this time, the Ghana Empire of western Africa is at the height of its power. Its control of major trade routes south of the Sahara builds it into a prosperous and powerful Black empire, usually absorbing its neighbors without warfare.

Peter Pig’s Snout becomes Pope and quickly changes his name to Sergius IV. He unsuccessfully resisted John Crescentius III, ruler of Rome and the real head of the Catholic Church. But John Crescentius III protects the Pope; however, three years later, one week after John’s death, the Pope is assassinated.

As part of a crusade against Christians, Moslems totally destroy the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, along with other Christian churches. The outrage produced in Europe provides an impetus to the later Crusades.

St. Bruno, "The Second Apostle to the Prussians," had gone into Kiev to win converts. He is beheaded by pagans, and the records state that it was near the border of Lithuania. No one had ever heard of Lithuania before, a small republic on the Baltic Sea, and we do not know how it originated.

 

[Vince]

There will never be another 1010.

A Japanese lady-in-waiting completes “The Tale of Genji,†considered the world’s first novel. Unlike other fiction, a novel only contains “possible†events; there is no magic or supernatural phenomena. Genji is the son of a Japanese Emperor, but he is demoted to commoner and becomes an imperial officer. The novel traces his life and adventures.
For the second time, Korea fights a bloody war with Mongolian nomads along its northern border. The war ends in a tie.
39 years in the making, China completes a gigantic atlas that includes towns, provinces, regions, and the entire nation.
Vietnam moves its capital to Hanoi. Successfully fighting off Chinese and other invaders from the north, the Vietnamese push steadily southward as well.
The Nile River freezes over.
For the next 21 years, Moslem Spain is racked by internal revolts and overthrown leaders. Eventually, the kingdom collapses and is replaced by a new Moslem dynasty.
The Pope sends a direct order to the bishop of Limoges, France, to end his persecution of Jews.

 

[Vince]

So much happened in 1010 that we're back for a second visit.

Iceland sends three ships with 160 settlers to Canada. The first European known to be born in America is born in their colony, but they eventually return to Iceland.

About this time, Beowulf, the legendary saga that many of us were forced to read in high school, is written down for the first time.

As Moslem Spain is racked by civil war and turmoil, the Catholic ruler of Barcelona allies with various Moslem rulers and sacks the Moslem capital.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 1011!

The Chinese complete a monumental dictionary.

Sanjo begins his uneventful five-year reign as Emperor of Japan. At the age of forty he abdicates due to his growing blindness.

Danish Vikings capture Canterbury, England, and capture the Archbishop of Canterbury. A pious man who refuses to be ransomed, the Archbishop is executed next year and later made a saint.

The great Moslem scientist, Alhacen, is in Egypt when political turmoil erupts. Although not involved, he is placed under house arrest for the next ten years. During this time, he begins his famous work on "Optics."

 

[Vince]

Time to delve, into 1012!

Danish Vikings land on the east central coast of Scotland, where they are defeated and driven off.

At this point in time, Ireland has about 500,000 people and about 150 territorial rulers. Brian Boru, the High King, has to deal with a major rebellion that lasts another two years.

As Berber and Slavic mercenaries join the fray, Moslem Spain has another overthrow as an overthrown caliph regains part of his territory. But even victorious caliphs cannot claim the whole nation, as the mercenaries keep switching sides.

Abu Ruler by God's Command, also known as "The Mad Caliph," is ruler of the Fatimid Empire of northern Africa. Considered a holy man by some Moslem groups and a villain by others, he is having trouble from the Moslem Empire, which is stirring up opposition to him. Accused of favoring Christians and Jews too much, he orders all their places of worship destroyed, but he appears to have prevented the order from being carried out.

 

[Vince]

For the second time, we delve into the year 1012.

Benedict VIII becomes Pope. For twelve years, this brilliant leader will support reform, organize resistance to Moslem raiders, and help establish peace and stability throughout Italy. Working closely with the German Emperor, the Pope helps Normans settle in northern Italy, and convinces the Emperor to send troops to southern Italy to restore areas that have rebelled in order to join the Byzantine Empire.

The Normans? Viking raiders had conquered and settled into northern France a century ago, blending in with the local Germans and Romans to form the Normans. Their semi-independent nation was closely connected to France. They eventually became devout Catholics who developed an advanced culture. Because their growing population presented a problem, and because the Pope could trust them, the HRE helped them spread into northern Italy.

Hungary passes some strict anti-Jewish laws, and then ignores them.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 1013.

China completes “The Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau,†a valuable encyclopedia with over 1,000 volumes.

The chaos continues in Moslem Spain, as civil war breaks out between Arabs and Berbers. Next year, a massacre of Jews occurs in Cordova. But this year, the Jews are ordered to leave, and Cordoba loses its place as the largest city in the world. Kaifeng, the capital of China, is now the world's most populated city.

Sweyn I, King of Denmark, personally leads an invasion of England. Aethelred the Unready flees the country, and England is now part of the Viking Empire.

 

[Vince]

It's 1014, and the Vikings lose two nations. The Irish High King, Brian Boru, leads them against an alliance of a Viking Irish king, Viking mercenaries, Vikings from outlying regions, and an Irish traitor. Although Brian himself is killed, the Viking defeat is so great that their power in Ireland is permanently broken. The 7,000 man Viking army loses about 6,000 men, including most of their leaders; while the Irish lose 4,000 men. However, Ireland starts falling apart into steadily-smaller kingdoms, now that the Viking threat is lessened. It seems that the surviving Vikings are either driven out of Ireland, blend in with the Irish, or maintain small settlements that continue to war with the Irish.

One year after conquering England, Denmark's King Sweyne dies. To the dismay of the Viking leaders, Aethelread the Unready returns in triumph, after negotiating a treaty with the English nobility.

At the Battle of Thessalonika, the Bulgarians suffer such a massive defeat that their nation can only survive another four years before being absorbed by the Byzantines. After blinding 15,000 prisoners taken at Thessalonika, the Byzantine Emperor earns the name "Basil the Bulgar Slayer."

Norway outlaws dueling.

 

[Vince]

And now it is 1015.

The Inuit (Eskimos) had created settlements of over 1,000 people even before the rise of the Roman Empire. But they usually practice a scientifically nomadic lifestyle. Relying on hunting and fishing, with little farming, their population is increasing as they master the science of predicting where food will be and migrate accordingly. The Dorsett, who inhabited the North before them, could not adjust to temperatures that were not as frigid. Today, a single village in Canada is all that is left of the Dorsett. The Vikings of Greenland and Canada, on the other hand, couldn’t adjust to weather that grew even colder than what they were used to. The Inuit eventually replaced them both.

Cnut the Great, son of Sweyn, feels that he should have inherited the throne of England, and the Viking leaders agree. He invades England, and next year retakes the throne from Aethelread the Unready.

Olaf the Saint becomes King of Norway. Determined to re-unite the nation his father had once ruled, he eventually annihilates five minor kings, but is later killed in battle.