The Second millenium

[Vince]

Welcome to 1087!

You may recall that Ifriqa, in the central part of northern Africa, was being ruined by rival Moslems. This year, Genoa and Pisa, two Italian city-states, send a navy that seizes their capital. After negotiating trading rights, the Italians leave next year.

Before dying, William the Conqueror gives England to his son William Rufus, and Normandy to his son Robert. Since the two hate each other, and many nobles hold lands in both areas, civil war was inevitable. William Rufus will rule until 1100. Heavily disliked by the Catholic Church, he was easily alienated from his subjects.

After refusing twice, Victor III is seized by a crowd, physically dragged into a church, and crowned as Pope. A moderate who backed off from some of Gregory VII's excesses, Pope Victor is forced to flee Rome three days later, resigns the Papacy, and returns to his monastery. But a Church conference persuades him to return. He soon gets sick and dies 18 months after his election.

Inge the Elder, son of a former king, returns to Sweden, kills Svein the Sacrificer, and rules for 18 years. He founds Sweden's first nunnery, makes peace with Norway, and finally dies of old age.

Nine year old Hirakawa begins his twenty year reign as Emperor of Japan when his father abdicates. Ruling from a monastery, however, his father is the real ruler.

 

[Vince]

1088 is a good year for people named Rufus.

Having inherited England from his father last year, William Rufus is faced with a nation-wide revolt. The two half-brothers of William the Conqueror (Rufus's father) lead the nobles in a nationwide rebellion, because the nobles fear the loss of their lands in either England or Normandy. After rapid successes, the nobles are divided when Rufus promises lands and money to those who take his side. Re-enforcements from Normandy do not arrive, Rufus personally leads atacks on his enemies, and six months later, it is all over.

The Almoravid Epire of northwest Africa finally invades Spain. Details aren't clear, but they rapidly seize much of what is left of Moslem Spain, then are defeated by the Catholics as they try to advance into central Spain. And the Catholics capture Tarragona, a Moslem stronghold in the northeast corner of Spain; but twenty years later, the Moslems retake it.

The Italians found the University of Bologna, which today has about 100,000 students. It is one of three universities that claim to be the oldest university in the world. Why the uncertainty? Bologna definitely began as a university, while Oxford and Salamanca in Spain were not officially chartered as universities when they began.

Pope Urban II begins his eleven year reign. A rival of Pope Clement III (who was appointed by Germany and still held power) Urban is famous for organizing the First Crusade and for establishing the current Roman Curia, which still helps rule the Catholic church. Tough, honest, and smart, he was a major factor in European politics, extending the power of the Papacy over various kingdoms.

 

[Vince]

1089 is a big year in southern India. Rama Varma inherits the throne of a disintegrating kingdom on India's southwestern coast. The Chola Empire, which dominates the region, later seizes the southern half of his kingdom and then captures his capital. But Rama Varma launches a massive suiciide attack that devastates the Cholas so badly that they withdraw from his kingdom and cease to be a dominating power.

Central Syria and England are both hit by earthquakes.

French Crusaders enter Moslem Spian. The northeastern part of Spain still contains varous Moslem kingdoms, and the Crusaders sieze the city of Monzon. This small town adjoins two rivers, and because of its strategic importance, it later gains a castle and a cathedral, both of which still stand.

 

[Vince]

1090

It’s one of the greatest scientific inventions in history, as China completes a mechanical clock tower designed by Su Song, the scientific genius. The Clock features the first endless chain drive (the chain drive formed a loop, so it could keep running). With over 100 mechanical sub-systems, it sounded the hour and kept accurate time. Later European writers refused to believe that China could have invented such a thing and insisted that it was imported. Su Song was a "polymath" ( a person heavily educated in a wide variety of subjects) who distinguished himself as a statesman, astronomer, cartographer, horologist, pharmacologist, mineralogist, zoologist, botanist, mechanical and architectural engineer, poet, antiquarian, and ambassador of China.

The Almoravid Empire of northwestern Africa continues its invasion of Spain, capturing both Moslem and Catholic cities.

 

[Vince]

1091 is another good year for William Rufus, King of England. He invades Normandy, which is ruled by his half-brother, and gets some territory in a peace settlement. And then Scotland invades England, gets defeated, and is forced to pay tribute.

Having conquered Sicily and southern Italy, the Normans now extend the Kingdom of Sicily to include part of central Italy. They also capture the island of Malta in the Mediterranean.

Britain's earliest recorded tornado destroys London Bridge and about 600 houses, and damages some churches.

In a surprise move, the Pechenegs, a nomadic Turkish people, attack Constantinople itself. The Turks suffer such massive losses that their tribe eventually disintegrates.

In Spain, the last remains of the first Moslem Empire fall to invading African Moslems. Defense treaties between Spain's remaining Moslem kingdoms and various Catholic kingdoms are signed as a result.

 

[Vince]

1092

Britain has a rough year weather-wise, as high tides flood large parts of both Scotland and England. But it is not true that part of England remains submerged to this day. (You can't believe everything you read in Wikipedia). And having beaten Scotland and forcing them to pay tribute, England annexes some Scottish territory.

As is usual, some small revolts break out in the Holy Roman Empire.

 

[Vince]

1093 is a really, really, bad year for Scotland. Having signed a treaty when their previous invasion of England failed, the Scots had watched as the victorious English built up their defenses--and then they invaded again. This time, the English kill the King and his son, and the defeated Scots erupt into civil war over the succession.

Having invaded the territory of the Kiev Rus, Turkish nomads attempt to negotiate a peace treaty. But the Rus arrest their ambassadors and attack. The Turks win a major victory and advance further than they had originally intended.

Magnus Barefoot, the last Viking king, begins his ten year reign over Norway. He will conquer various islands in the Irish Sea, and eventually get himself killed invading Ireland.

 

[Vince]

Welcome to 1094

The legendary Catholic hero, El Cid, is exiled from the Spanish Court for winning too many victories. So he organizes a ragtag army and seizes Valencia from the Moslems, making himself King. Located in the very center of Spain's eastern coast, Valencia is now Spain's third-largest city.

Al-Bakri was a Spanish Moslem who never left Spain. But he interviewed merchants and travelers, recording valuable information on the history of Africans, Arabs, and Europeans. He dies this year, and a crater on the moon has been named in his honor.

It's all right to feel sorry for fifty-nine year old Donald the Fair, as he begins his unhappy four-year reign over Scotland. With all kinds of plots against him, we're not even sure how he got murdered. He appears as a minor character in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth."

 

[Vince]

1095

Henry IV ends persecution of the Jews within the Holy Roman Empire.

The First Crusade starts getting organized. The Byzantine Emperor sends ambassadors to the Pope, asking for European help against the Seljuk Turks. The Pope begins meetings with European leaders, and Peter the Hermit begins preaching throughout Europe on the need for a Crusade to retake the Holy Land from the Moslems.

In Spain, African Moslems begins a massive offensive, re-seizing Lisbon from the Catholics.

Coloman the Book Lover begins his 21 year reign as King of Hungary. A former bishop, he seizes the throne when his father dies. He expands Hungary's boundaries, but he is at constant war with pillaging Crusaders, Catholic neighbors, and his brother.

 

[Vince]

1096 is a year of disgrace.

As Pope Urban VI prepares a Crusade, Peter the Hermit gets tired of waiting. Assembling a vast army of peasants and a small number of knights, he leads the People’s Crusade towards Jerusalem. Starting with 40,000 men, the Crusaders had to pillage Catholic and then Byzantine areas for food, and about 1/4 of them were killed by Christians before they reached Constantinople. Ignoring warnings from the Byzantine Emperor not to battle the Turks, the Crusaders were ferried across the Bosporus, where they united with other Crusaders to pillage the countryside. Eventually they rode into a massive ambush and their army was smashed. Survivors were either executed or converted to Islam, while others escaped back to Constantinople to wait for the next group of Crusaders.

Back in Germany, another group of Crusaders decides that first they must kill all the Jews. In different areas, bishops support or oppose the massacre, and some local leaders raise militia to fight the Crusaders. About 1/4 of Germany’s 20,000 Jews are killed.

 

[Vince]

1097 ought to be better than 1096.

Entering the Seljuk Turkish Empire with 10,000 men, the First Crusade realizes that Turkish scouts are reporting their movements. Expecting an ambush, they attack a Moslem alliance that ranged between 6,000 and 30,000 men, smashing the Moslems so badly that they are able to expand into steadily larger areas for the next two years.

In June, Nicaea, a major city in northwestern Turkey, is captured by the Crusaders after a one-month siege. In July, the Crusaders capture Latakia, Syria's major port on the Mediterranean. Besieging Antioch, the Crusaders are surprised by a 20,000 man Moslem army sent to end the siege. Despite smashing the army, the starving Crusaders are forced to withdraw next year.

Meanwhile, Hungary conquers Croatia, holding it until 1918.

Edgar the Valiant seizes the throne of Scotland for the next ten years. He remains friends with William Rufus, King of England. Beset by internal revolts by rivals for the throne, he is forced to cede part of western Scotland to Norway in exchange for peace.

 

[Vince]

1098 is another great year for the First Crusade.

In February, a major Moslem alliance collapses as the Moslems withdraw to their own cities in the face of Crusader advances.
Defeated in their siege of Antioch in the very center of Turkey's southern border, the Crusaders return and capture the city.

But then a large Moslem army arrives, and the Crusaders find themselves besieged within Antioch. No problem, as the Moslems are badly divided among themselves, deserting their leader and leaving him in defeat from a Crusader counter-attack.

But without enough food, the Crusaders send raiding parties throughout the land, and they eventually reach Ma'arra, a large Syrian city. Too short of food to maintain a siege, the Crusaders retreat, but capturing enough food from smaller cities, they manage to capture Ma'arra, massacre part of the population, and eat some of the dead bodies in their desperation for food.

 

[Vince]

1099

Pascal II begins his nineteen year reign as Pope. Eleven years into Paschal's reign, Pope Clement III dies after thirty years as Pope, making things easier for him. Paschal seemed to be honest but incompetent. Forced by the German Emperor to surrender all German gifts to the Catholic Church, he was imprisoned by the Germans when the citizens of Rome rebelled. After 61 days of brutal mistreatment by the Germans, he agreed to their terms. Returning to Rome, he quickly repudiated the agreement, pointing out correctly that he had agreed under torture.

Pope Pascal is most famous for his refusal to end the schism between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. The Patriarch of Constantinople wanted to re-unite, but Pascal was inflexible in demanding that the Orthodox Church must recognize the Pope as ruler of the entire Church. Faced with vehement opposition, the Patriarch had to refuse, and Paschal’s stand remains the official position of the Catholic Church. Four centuries before Columbus, he appoints the first American bishop, putting him over Greenland and Newfoundland (the large Canadian island discovered by Brandon the Navigator. No Europeans or Catholics lived there at the time).

The Crusaders capture Jerusalem. They establish the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which survives for 192 years. The Moslems of Egypt quickly send a large army to regain Jerusalem, and the Crusaders hand them a major defeat. Effectively, the very successful First Crusade now comes to an end.

 

[Vince]

It's 1100, and a new century!

About this time, the southwestern United States is booming. Indians settle in Acoma Pueblo and hundreds of miles away, other Indians establish the village of Oraibi. These appear to be the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. At the same time, The Good City reaches its greatest size, with 800 rooms carved out of rock.
Meanwhile, “Those Who Have Gone” become the only American Indians to build irrigation canals. Over the next two centuries, Those Who Have Gone will become a major tribe due to their population increase. Their villages are centered around a courtyard, they put up ball fields, and they are in regular contact with Mexican Indians. The only ancient civilization to invent acid etching, they left behind magnificent pottery and ornaments. For some unexplained reason, they abandon Snaketown, which houses about 2,000 residents, burning much of it when they do. Their civilization collapses around 1450, and three tribal groups seem to be what's left of them today.

Using archeology, DNA testing, and verbal histories, historians THINK that the American Indians (every last one of them) walked into Alaska from Asia. They usually headed south, rejecting the cool temperatures of western Canada and the northwestern United States, until they reached warm areas, but always close to the Pacific Ocean. They built civilizations in the southwestern United States, but built even greater ones in Mexico and South America. Once they reached South America, they scattered. Some traveled east along South America's northern coast, and eventually reached the Atlantic Ocean. From there, they migrated north into the Caribbean islands that are east of Mexico. Continuing northward, they eventually reached the southeastern United States and established a major culture there.

Racially, the American Indians seem to have begun before recorded history, with northern Europeans who migrated east into Asia, blended with Asian Caucasians and Orientals, picked up some Polynesians (Pacific Islanders) along the way, and kept moving east. By the time recorded history began, there were no American Indians left in Asia.

 

[Vince]

It's our second day in the year 1100. And we're still in North America.

About a century after being founded on Alaska's west coast, the Thule Culture is spreading rapidly east across Alaska and Canada, but only in the frozen North. These are the first Inuit, and as they expand, they replace the Dorsets. The Dorsets see the world as round, with the North Pole as the center, and they are unable to adapt to less frigid climates. The more versatile Inuit are able to expand into less frigid areas, and by 1300 reach Greenland. Nicknamed “Eskimos” (“dog eaters”) by hostile Canadian Indians, they usually reject the term as a racial insult. Stretching across eastern Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, there are about 150,500 Inuit today.

About this time, the Maya Indians of southern North America write the Dresden Codex, the oldest known American book. Three copies survive. 39 pages long, written on both sides, it contains accurate astronomical tables, many pictures with short descriptions, religious instructions on how to determine feast days, and information on the rain god.

 

[Vince]

For the third time, welcome to the year 1100!

200 years after being founded, the Chimu Culture is thriving in northern Peru. Inhabiting a desert that is 20 miles long and 100 miles wide, they take advantage of several rivers crossing their land for agriculture. They make advanced pottery, all of which is black, along with other crafts. They develop an extensive ocean fishing industry. Around 1470, they are conquered and absorbed by the Incas.

Little is known about the Mapungubwe kingdom of southern Africa. Founded abut seventy years earlier on a hilltop, these Bantus (a general name for Blacks of central and southern Africa) had expanded peacefuly southward. Around 1220, they become an important power, as a result of good farmland and hunting land, as well as control of ivory and gold trade routes. Around 1290, their kingdom disappears and is not rediscovered until the 1930's. Leaving no written records, they left behind well-constructed stone buildings and walls, indicting that they had a complex social structure.

 

[Vince]

For the last time, we are in the year 1100.

We're not sure who shot William Rufus, King of England, while he was hunting, but Henry I becomes the new King. He rules for 35 tough, competent years, bringing in peace and prosperity while rooting out corruption. But after his death, England erupts into civil war.

In Peru, the inhabitants of Cuzco build a fortress. Two centuries later, the Incas will seize that fortress and make the city their capital.

For two centuries, the Zubu have been tributaries to the Liao Dynasty (which claims to be the "real" China"). They revolt and invade Liao, and are smashingly defeated. Their leader is taken to the Liao capital and hacked to pieces, and the Zubu disappear forever.

Huizong had been co-Emperor of China with his half-brother, but the half-brother dies and he is now sole ruler of China for the next 26 years. Under his brilliant leadership, science, art, and culture flourish. But his neglect of the army eventually brings disaster onto China.

Having achieved victory, the Crusaders have a supply problem. Various Italian city-states fight their way into different Moslem ports and establish profitable trade routes.

After a twenty year reign, Pope Clement III dies, and Sylvestor III is elected Pope by his supporters. He is arrested a few months later, condemned by his rival, Pope Pascal II, and sentenced to a monastery where he dies two years later.

 

[Vince]

Finally, it is the year 1101.

In a massive battle that lasts several days, Turks devastate an army of European Crusaders. Clearly out-thought by the Turks, the Crusaders are maneuvered onto dry, open ground where Turkish cavalry has the advantage.

With Pope Sylvester III imprisoned in a monastery (He dies next year) the imperial party (which supports the right of the Holy Roman Emperor to appoint the Pope) appoints an Italian cardinal as Pope Albert. The new Pope is quickly arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in a monastery. Pope Urban II now reigns as the only Pope, ending twenty-two years of having two Popes.

Ruled by Christians, the Kingdom of Jerusalem captures a fortress and the city of Caesarea from the Moslems. But a wave of Christian Crusaders is virtually annihilated on their way to Jerusalem after arriving from Europe.

In Spain, Moslems besiege Valencia, a major seaport recently captured by the Catholics. The city is taken next year.

 

[Vince]

1102

Hungary and Croatia unite into one kingdom, staying together for the next 800 years.

After defeateing a massive Moslem counter-attack on Jerusalem, the Crusaders capture two more Moslem cities.

Boleslaw the Wrymouth begins his 31 year reign as King of Poland. A brilliant politician, he establishes strong alliances with Hungary and Kiev Rus, defeats the Holy Roman Empire, expands Polish territory, and unites Poland into a unified state. And when he dies, he divides Poland amng his sons, leading to two centuries of a divided kingdom.

Spanish Moslems recapture Valencia, and they and rival Moslems will hold it for another century. The Catholics briefly retook it, but they burned it when they were forced to evacuate.

 

[jeffreynaylor2009]

Is this a history lesson or a point?