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The Second millenium

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1016 is here!

In eastern Europe, the Khazar Empire collapses and is absorbed by its neighbors after a Byzantine-Rus alliance captures their king.

Cnut the Great, Prince of Denmark, becomes King of England. Eventually, he will rule England, Denmark, most of Norway, and part of Sweden. Cnut will use diplomacy, trade, and skill to unite England and Denmark. But ten years after his death, everything falls apart, and Canute is only a minor figure in English history.

Eight year old Ichijo the Second begins his twenty year reign as Emperor of Japan after his cousin abdicates. He dies at the age of 29, having kept the kingdom peaceful: no civil wars, no rebellions, no assassinations.

In Jerusalem, an earthquake badly damages the Dome of the Rock.

The Normans of northern Italy invade southern Italy, trying to carve a kingdom out of Byzantine territory. After initial victories, they are soundly defeated. But the organization that went into the invasion survives, and the Normans are now a powerful force on the Italian peninsula.

Sardinia, off Italy's western coast, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, and it is a Moslem stronghold. Two Italian republics build a navy and deal the Moslems a major defeat.
 
Not much happens in 1017.

Cnut the Great marries Emma of Normandy, the widow of Aethelread the Unready. Two of her sons, two of her stepsons, and one of her nephews will later become Kings of England. Cnut divides England into four earldoms.

About this time, construction begins on the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. Refurbished and improved on over the centuries, this magnificently beautiful building is still in use.

The Druze religion is founded. With about 1.75 million members today, it combines various older religions that had remained independent of Islam in the Moslem world.

Sunni Moslems in Tunisia rebel, declaring their city independent. The Moslem rulers quickly sack the city and end the rebellion.
 
Welcome to 1018!

Chola, a kingdom in southern India, is beginning a massive expansion. They launch a massive sea-born invasion of Sri Lanka, an island kingdom off India's southeastern coast. The Chola seize most of the kingdom, but for seventeen years, the Sri Lankans fight back, finally driving Chola out.

The Liao Dynasty, a break-away kingdom of China, invades Korea and suffers a massive defeat.

The Byzantines capture Bulgaria's king and annex all that remains of Bulgaria.

Boleslaw the Brave, ruler of the Poles, signs a peace treaty with the Germans and heads east, capturing territory from the Rus Kiev. Officially part of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland is one of the mightiest military forces in Europe.

The Scots win a major battle against Northumbria, gaining territory that is still part of Scotland today.
 
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1019 is a year of turmoil in the Moslem world.

Civil war continues to tear Moslem Spain apart, as their new ruler is assassinated shortly after taking the throne by force.

Nekor has been an independent Moslem kingdom for 309 years in modern Morocco. Neighboring Moslems conquer it this year and the kingdom disappears.

A pirate fleet from Manchuria, consisting of fifty ships, invades Japan, plundering villages and taking hundreds of slaves before a Japanese army drives them off. Returning to their base, they are attacked by the Koreans (whom they had been raiding) and the Koreans rescue 250 Japanese slaves. The Japanese government pays for their return.

After killing his brother Svyatopolk the Accursed, Yaroslav the Wise begins his thirty-five year reign over the Kiev Rus. During this time, Kiev Rus reaches the height of its cultural and military accomplishments.
 
And now it is 1020.


In the city of Rome, rioting breaks out as Jews are blamed for an earthquake.

In northern India, Hindus build the Kandariyâ Mahâdeva Temple, although they will work on it for another thirty years. One of India's most popular tourist attractions, it is the greatest example of Medieval Indian architecture.

About his time, "the Scientific Method" is devised. Today's concept that science is based on observation, rather than philosophy or authority, is fairly recent. And even today, the scientific method is not used for evolution. But most science today calls for experiments to verify theories, and that theories must be abandoned if observed to be false.
 
That was a good link to a good story, Tri Unity.

And now let's look at 1021.

As civil war continues to rock Moslem Spain, Valencia successfully secedes. It remains independent and gets conquered again every few decades. It seems that its Catholic and Jewish citizens did not receive much persecution.

Chola, the kingdom in southern India, continues its aggressive expansion, invading Bengal.

Vaspurakan was a Christian kingdom in eastern Turkey and western Iran. Racked by instability and threatened by Moslem neighbors, the kingdom voluntarily joins the Byzantine Empire.
 
So what's new in 1022?

Thirteen-year-old Anund James begins his twenty-eight year reign as King of Sweden. There seems to have been problems holding the Viking Empire together, and Anund helps the King of Norway increase his independence from Denmark.

China officially reports that it has one million men in its army.

In Spain, there is a small massacre of the Cathars. And who are they? The Catholic Church destroyed as many records as possible, and it is safe to say that they were falsely accused of heresy. The Cathars vigorously opposed the wickedness of the Catholic clergy while insisting that they themselves, while not Catholic, were genuine Christians. Spread over France and other parts of Europe, with poor communication, all of the Cathars probably did not believe exactly the same. They had elements of Gnosticism and various local religions, as well as remnants of pre-Catholic Christianity. It seems that some of them believed in salvation by faith.
 
Let's look and see at 1023.

Abbid, the Moslem governor of Seville, in Spain, seizes the city and declares it independent, with him as ruler. For nineteen cruel but incompetent years, he causes his kingdom to prosper and expand. Meanwhile, Moslem Spain continues its collapse, murdering two new rulers this year. A third new ruler takes the throne in December and is murdered one month later.
 
1024

John XIX begins his eight year reign as Pope. A layman who was the brother of the previous Pope, he is appointed by his powerful family. A major political figure in Italy, Germany, and Poland, he also expands his own political power over conflicting Catholic bishops. But he fails miserably in dealing with the Patriarch of Constantinople, refusing to recognize the Patriarch’s authority over the East.

Konrad I begins his ungainly fifteen year reign as Holy Roman Emperor. He spends his time fighting border wars. During his reign, Poland will become independent, but he will reconquer it. He invades Hungary and gets the daylights beaten out of him. But overall, he manages to expand his borders.

Moslem invaders sack the Hindu religious center at Somnath, killing 50,000 Hindus in the process.
 
Romanus became John XIX.

The Papacy had by this time become a virtual privately owned franchise. John XIX became the pope as the representative of the Tusculan family, who bought the chair through bribes. Romanus was the younger brother of Pope Benedict VIII. Romanus was a layman who went from layman to Pope in one day.

In his first year he was asked to sign a declaration by Emperor Basil II that the chair of Constantinople was equal to the chair of Rome in universal jurisdiction. This was met by a wave of protests that had made the empire shiver.
 
Good research, Tri Unity.

And now, it's time for the year 1025!

Boleslaw the Brave, Duke of Poland, renounces the authority of the Holy Roman Empire, declaring himself King of Poland. And thus, the nation of Poland begins. We have already seen that great nations don't really begin or end on a single day. Poland had already defeated German invaders (who were also part of the Holy Roman Empire), signed treaties, and had their own coins. Boleslaw dies shortly after declaring Poland independent, and his son becomes Poland's second king.

North African Moslems invade Sicily but are repelled.

Constantine VIII begins his three year reign as Byzantine Emperor. He had actually been a co-Emperor under various brothers but had never bothered with state affairs. Inheriting the throne by default, he was a cruel and incompetent murderer who avoided his responsibilities as much as possible.

In the southwestern United States, the Navajo Indians begin migrating onto Hopi land. Peaceful hunters and gatherers, the Navajo will migrate into the US southwest for another 175 years until that is their home.

Up until then, most sea-going ships had their decks built first, and then the rest of the ship was built around it. The modern method is to build the deck last. A ship using the modern method is wrecked off the coast of Turkey, and when it is later discovered, it becomes the first ship known to use the modern method.
 
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On to 1026!

The Battle of Helgae is a major victory for King Cnut the Great. Sweden and Norway decided to rebel against the Viking Empire, while Denmark and England stayed loyal. Cnut's large navy was sailing up a Swedish river when the rebels destroyed a temporary dam they had built, hitting Cnut's navy with a wall of water. But Cnut went on to win anyway, and he is now the dominant force in Scandinavia.

The Zubu were a Turkish group in eastern Mongolia and southeastern Russia, who had been conquered by the Liao Dynasty. They revolt again, and are defeated again. This time the exasperated Liaos put them under tribute.
 
And now we have reached the year 1027.

Henry I begins his 33 year reign as King of France, although he does not gain full power for another four years. Sometimes regarded as a weakling, he was realistic enough to realize when he couldn't win and was able to hold on to much, but not all, of his power.

Bagrat IV begins his 45 year reign over Georgia. He successfully fights off Moslems, Byzantines, and rebels. his successful reign is a testimony to the incompetence of the Byzantines. When he takes the throne, Byzantium promptly invades, but he fights them off. While the two Christian nations would have benefited heavily from an alliance, the Byzantine Emperors kept betraying him, so he kept playing them off against the Moslems

The great Moslem scientist Abū Alī ibn Sīnā publishes "The Book of Healing," a scientific encyclopedia designed to heal ignorance (It is not a book on medicine). The book strongly rejects superstition and astrology, demanding empirical evidence as proof. He demonstrated that Venus is closer to the Earth than the Sun is, rejecting long-held beliefs whose only real strength was tradition.
 
Welcome to 1028!


Cnut the Great, King of England and Denmark, becomes King of Norway. He holds part of Sweden, declaring himself their king as well, but historians agree that he never really ruled Sweden.

Ever heard of Sancho the Great? He was King of Navarre, a Catholic kingdom in northern Spain. Taking advantage of as assassination, he quickly and easily seizes Castille, another Catholic kingdom. Before his death, he will unite most of Catholic Spain into one kingdom, and then divide it among his sons. His kingdom of Navarre, however, will survive another six centuries.

Romanos III begins his unsuccessful six year reign as Byzantine Emperor. Starting out as a well-meaning but incompetent ruler, he personally leads a large army into a massive defeat by the Moslems. He spends fortunes on buildings and donations to the monks, wrecks the economy, and administers a business plan that reduces free peasants to serfdom.
 
Fortunately, things happen in the year 1030.

Norwegian Christians defeat the pagans, strengthening national Christianity. However, Olaf II is killed in battle against them, and he is now "The Eternal King" of Norway, as well as its patron saint.

Romanus II, the incompetent Emperor of Byzantium, personally leads an army into a massive defeat in Syria. But the jubilant Syrians get careless and suffer a rapid series of defeats by Byzantine generals, who force Syria to pay tribute to Byzantium.
 
Welcome to 1031.

What is left of Moslem Spain collapses into a variety of small Moslem kingdoms. Despite this, southern Spain will remain a cultural and scientific center for another four and a half centuries.

It's a bad year for the new nation of Poland, as Germans and Kiev Rus both invade. The king flees, and his brother Bezprym, oldest son of Boleslaw the Brave seizes the throne and begins a reign so cruel and incompetent that he is murdered the next year. His brother then retakes the throne.
 
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1032

With the death of his uncle, nineteen-year-old Benedict IX is appointed Pope by his powerful family. He is the only Pope to serve more than once (he was Pope three times). The first proven homosexual to be Pope, he held orgies and is considered a disgrace by the Catholic Church. Historians of the time reported rape, adulteries, and murder as being part of his reign.
In 1044, he will be expelled and replaced by Pope Sylvester III, but he will return a year later and forcibly re-seize the Papacy. Shortly afterwards, he will sell the Papacy to a pious priest, who will become Pope Gregory VI. But he changes his mind and re-seizes the Papacy.
With three Popes at the same time, Germany’s King Henry II holds a Church Council that replaces all three of them with Pope Clement II. But Clement dies the next year, and Benedict seizes the Papacy again. But German troops drive him out, and Pope Damasus II then excommunicates Benedict (who still claims to be Pope).
It’s hard to keep straight, but remember that from 1032 to 1048 there will be four other Popes during Benedict’s reign.

In Moslem Morocco, rebels capture the city of Fez and massacre 6,000 Jews.

Bezprym, King of Poland, is murdered and his brother re-takes the throne. Forced to divide Poland with two of his brothers, King Mieszko manages to re-unite the nation next year.
 
1033 can't be worse than last year.

Korea builds the “500 Kilometer Wall†along its northern border with China. Actually a series of forts and garrisons, some of it still stands.

As Europe goes through an unusually harsh springtime, fears grow that since it is the 1,000th anniversary of the Crucifixion, the end of the world is near. Actually, Jesus was probably crucified in 29 AD.

After a major earthquake hits Jerusalem, part of the wall is destroyed, leaving the Gihon Spring outside the wall. The waters of the Gihon Spring turned bitter and even septic (between 1033 C.E. and 1077 C.E.). The interpretation placed upon this event was as if God himself had turned the former "waters of salvation" into a corrupt liquid inside the precincts of God’s own House. The Jewish authorities were well aware of the account in Numbers 5:11-31 that showed bitter waters were associated with the adulterous woman in Temple symbolism. With this final ritualistic setback to their religious customs, the Jerusalem Academy abandoned Jerusalem and moved to Damascus. To the Jewish authorities by 1077 C.E., there was nothing of contemporary holiness left to the former Temple area over the Gihon Spring. Jerusalem was later taken over by the Christian Crusaders in 1099 C.E. and no Jew was able to step inside Jerusalem for the first 50 years of the Crusades.
 
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