Timeline of Kings and Queens, page 3
963
Luxembourg is founded with the acquisition of Lucilinburhuc (modern-day Luxembourg Castle) by Siegfried, count of Ardennes. Poland Mieszko I, of the Piast dynasty, son of the legendary Siemomysł, founds the Kingdom of Poland. Byzantine Empire Romanos II dies, aged 26, possibly poisoned by his wife, Theophano; Nikephoros II Phokas, a brilliant military commander, seizes power and becomes emperor; he marries Theophano.
964
Rome Benedict V is voted pope by the people of Rome; Leo VIII is appointed antipope by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I and is elected pope after Benedict is deposed.
965
Rome Pope Leo VIII is deposed; John XIII is elected pope.
966
León Ramiro III becomes king, aged 5; two nuns act as regents – his aunt, Elvira Ramirez, who styled herself queen, and his mother.
967
Scotland King Dub is assassinated; Cuilén, son of Indulf, who was probably involved in his predecessor’s murder, becomes king. Holy Roman Empire Otto II the Red becomes emperor.
969
Byzantine Empire Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by Theophana and others; one of the leaders of the assassination plot, John Tzimiskes, nephew of Nikephoros II, becomes Emperor John I; he successfully defends the empire from barbarian invasion. Bulgaria Boris II becomes tsar.
970
Pamplona Sancho II Garcés Abarca becomes king; he is the first to use the name ‘King of Navarre’; in other places he is styled ‘King of Aragón’.
971
Scotland King Cuilén is murdered when a hall he is in is deliberately set on fire by a Scottish noble, Amdarch, whose daughter Cuilén has been accused of raping; Kenneth II, son of Malcolm I, becomes king. Serbia Petrislav, son of Hvalimir II, becomes prince of Duklja and Travunia.
972
Rome Pope John XIII is possibly murdered by the jealous husband of a lover.
Kievan Rus’ Sviatoslav I is killed by the Pecheneg khan, Kurya, having expanded east and south, making his kingdom the largest state in Europe.
973
England King Edgar I is crowned at Bath by St Dunstan, 14 years after becoming king; the coronation, described in a poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, forms the basis of the current British coronation ceremony; shortly after, at Chester, six British kings, including the kings of Scotland and of Strathclyde, submit to Edgar. Rome Benedict VI is elected pope; two months after his election, he is imprisoned and strangled on the orders of Crescentius I, son of Theodora, Roman senatrix, and mother of Marozia. Sweden Eric the Victorious becomes king; he reduces the power of the nobility.
974
Rome Benedict VII is elected pope.
975
England Edward the Martyr’s succession to the throne, aged 13, is contested by supporters of his half-brother, Ethelred, but with Dunstan’s support, Edward is acknowledged by the Witan and crowned king; factional fighting characterizes his reign.
976
Ireland Brian Boru becomes king of Munster. Norway Harald II is killed in Denmark by Haakon Sigurdsson and Harald Bluetooth, the Danish king; Haakon II Sigurdsson becomes king. Venice The unpopular and despotic Pietro IV Candiano is killed in a revolution against his efforts to create a monarchy; Pietro I Orseolo, one of his opponents, is elected doge; he restores the city, seriously damaged in the revolution, with his own money. Austria Leopold of Babenberg is appointed margrave of Austria; the Babenberg family rules Austria until 1246. Bulgaria Tsar Boris II and his brother, Roman, are held as ‘honorary hostages’ in Constantinople; to ensure the dynasty will die out, Roman is castrated (Boris only has daughters). Byzantine Empire Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer, nephew of John I Tzimiskes, becomes emperor; he restores Syria to the empire and wages war successfully against Bulgaria. Kievan Rus’ Civil war breaks out between Oleg and Yaropolk, legitimate sons of the late ruler, Sviatoslav; Oleg is killed and Yarolpolk becomes prince of Kiev.
977
Bulgaria Boris II is accidentally killed by border guards who mistake him for a Byzantine noble; his brother, Roman, becomes tsar, ruling jointly with Samuil.
978
England Ethelred II the Unready becomes king of England at the age of 10, following the assassination of Edward the Martyr, his half-brother, possibly by servants of his stepmother, Ælfthryth (Elfrida); Ethelred develops the system of paying the Danes not to invade, known as Danegeld. Kiev Vladimir becomes grand prince of Kiev. Venice Doge Pietro I Orseolo suddenly joins a Benedictine monastery, later becoming a hermit; Vitale Candiano, possibly fourth son of the 22nd doge, Pietro IV Candiano, is elected doge.
979
Venice Vitale Candiano abdicates for health reasons; the wealthy but illiterate Tribuno Memmo is elected doge.
980
Kievan Rus’ Vladimir, illegitimate son of Sviatoslav I, kills his half-brother, Yaropolk, and becomes sole ruler. Belarus Ragnvald Olafsson, prince of Polatsk, a Scandinavian who settled in the area, is killed by Vladimir the Great, grand prince of Kiev, after his daughter refuses to marry him; Vladimir I becomes ruler.
983
Germany Otto III is elected king, aged 3. Rome John XIV is elected pope.
984
León Ramiro III loses his throne to Bermudo II the Gouty, son of Ordoño III, king of Galicia, following defeats at the hands of the Moors and his unpopular attempts to establish an absolutist monarchy.
985
Rome John XV is elected pope.
986
France Louis V succeeds Lothair as king of France. Denmark Sweyn I Forkbeard becomes king of Denmark.
987
France King Louis V dies in a hunting accident; he is the last Carolingian emperor; Hugh Capet, son of Hugh the Great, duke of France and Hedwige of Saxony, daughter of Henry the Fowler, is elected king; his descendants will rule France until 1328.
988
Kievan Rus’ Vladimir I converts to Christianity.
990
Serbia Jovan Vladimir becomes prince of Duklja; he allies his country with Byzantium, to avoid the expansionist aims of Bulgaria.
991
Venice Pietro II Orseolo is elected doge; he expands Venetian territory.
992
Poland Boleslaw I becomes king and greatly expands its territory; he unifies all the territories that traditionally make up Poland, and is the first ruler to be crowned king.
993
Burgundy Rudolph III becomes king of Burgundy.
994
Pamplona García Sánchez II becomes king.
995
Scotland Kenneth II is assassinated, possibly by Finnguala, daughter of Cuncar, Mormaer of Angus, whose only son Kenneth had been killed; Constantine III, son of King Cuilén, succeeds him.
Sweden Olof Skötkonung, son of Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard, becomes king; he unites the Swedes with the Goths and welcomes Christianity in his kingdom. Norway Haakon II is killed by a servant, in his pigsty; Olaf I Tryggvason, great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, becomes king; he builds the country’s first Christian church and has ambitions to rule a united Christian Scandinavia.
996
France Robert II the Pious becomes king; famine and revolution characterize his reign. Holy Roman Empire Otto III becomes emperor; he harbours ambitions to revive the power and glory of ancient Rome with himself as emperor; he revives Roman and Byzantine traditions and ceremonies. Rome Gregory V is elected pope, aged only 24; he is the first German pope.
997
Scotland Constantine III is killed in factional fighting; he is the last of the line of Áed to be king; Kenneth III, son of King Dub, succeeds him. Bulgaria Samuil becomes sole ruler, the first of the House of Comitopuli; his rule is characterized by war with Byzantium; he gains control of most of the Balkans and southern Greece. Serbia Samuil of Bulgaria conquers Duklja and takes Prince Jovan Vladimir prisoner; he marries Samuil’s daughter and the Bulgarian tsar restores his lands to him.
998
Rome Otto III of Germany retakes the city of Rome and reinstates his cousin Pope Gregory V after mutilating and blinding his rival, the antipope, John XVI.
999
Wales Llewelyn ap Seisyll becomes king of Deheubarth and Gwynedd in south-west and north-west Wales. León Alfonso V becomes king, aged 5; his mother acts as regent. Portugal Mendo Gonçalves becomes 3rd count of Portugal. Rome Sylvester II is elected pope; he is the first French pope and introduces Arabic knowledge of arithmetic, mathematics and astronomy to Europe.
1000
Norway Olaf I Tryggvason dies in the Battle of Svolder, in which he is fighting an alliance of his enemies; the country is split into three areas of control divided between Olaf the Swede and Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard, with the remainder controlled by Erik Hakonarson, a vassal of Sweyn. Hungary The Hungarian state is founded by Stephen I; he acts against paganism and extends his territory.
1002
Ireland The previous king, Máel Sechnaill, surrenders the title of ‘High King of all Ireland’ to Brian Boru. Germany Otto III dies fighting the Romans; in the face of opposition, Henry II is elected king. Bulgaria All-out war breaks out between Byzantine Emperor Basil II and Bulgarian Tsar Samuil; Basil defeats Samuil.
1003
Rome John XVII is elected pope, but dies five months later; John XVIII succeeds him; he is controlled by the Roman Crescentii family.
1004
Pamplona-Navarre Sancho III the Great becomes king; during his reign, the kingdom becomes known as Navarre; he brings Castile, León and other territories under his control. Italy Henry II, king of Germany, becomes king.
1005
Scotland Kenneth III is killed in battle by Máel Coluim mac Cináed, son of Kenneth II, who becomes king, known as Malcolm II.
1008 Portugal Alvito Nunes becomes count of Portugal. Venice Otto Orseolo, third son of previous doge, Pietro II Orseolo, is elected doge; at 16, he is the youngest in Venetian history.
1009
Rome Pope John XVIII abdicates; Pietro Martino Boccapecora is elected pope as Sergius IV.
1012
Rome Benedict VIII is elected pope; he will promote peace in Italy by allying with the Norman settlers, defeating the Saracens and subjugating the Crescentii family.
1013
England The Danes invade England under Sweyn Forkbeard; Ethelred II flees to Normandy, and Sweyn takes control of England.
1014
England Sweyn Forkbeard dies only five weeks after his victory over Ethelred; Sweyn’s son, Canute the Great, is proclaimed king by the Danish army, but is forced out of England with Ethelred being restored to the throne. Ireland High King Brian Boru decisively defeats the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf, but is stabbed in the back in his tent by a Viking chief; Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill of Meath becomes king again. Denmark Harald II becomes king. Norway On the death of Sweyn Forkbeard, Olaf II Haraldsson returns from fighting the Danes in England and declares himself king; he controls more of the country than any predecessor. Holy Roman Empire Henry II of Germany is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Byzantine Empire In the Battle of Kleidion, Basil II defeats the Bulgarian army and massacres 15,000 prisoners. Bulgaria All of the Bulgarian survivors of the Battle of Kleidion are blinded, apart from 1 in every 100, so that they can be led home; Samuil is reported to die of a heart attack when he sees them; Gavril Radomir becomes tsar.
1015
England The Viking king, Canute the Great, invades England. Bulgaria On the orders of Byzantine agents, Gavril Radomir is killed while hunting by his cousin, Ivan Vladislav, who takes the throne.
Belarus Bratislav becomes prince of Polotsk. Kievan Rus’ Sviatopolk I becomes prince of Kiev.
Canute the Great
Reign: 994/995–1035
Canute (Cnut) I, or Canute the Great, was King of England, Denmark and Norway and also overlord of Schleswig and Pomerania. He was the son of the sea-king Sweyn Forkbeard, a member of the Jomsburg Vikings.
Canute was considered to be a wise and successful king, but he is perhaps best remembered for the legend of commanding the waves to go back. According to the popular story, Canute grew tired of all the flattery from his subjects, such as ‘You are the greatest man that ever lived’. To try and prove a point, that he was not in fact the ‘greatest man who had ever lived’, he used all his powers to try and turn back the waves. Of course he was not successful, proving his point that even a king’s powers have certain limits!
Canute died in 1035, at Shaftesbury in Dorset, and was buried in Winchester. He was succeeded by Harthacanute, reigning as Canute III.
1016
England Edmund Ironside becomes king on 23 April, but dies on 30 November 1016; his territories are ceded to Canute, who becomes king of England; he executes the most powerful English chieftains and marries Emma of Normandy, widow of Ethelred the Unready. Serbia Prince Jovan Vladimir is beheaded by Bulgarian ruler Ivan Vladislav; he is canonized, the first Serbian saint; Jovan’s uncle, Dragimir, succeeds, ruling both Duklja and Travunia; Duklja becomes a vassal state of the Byzantine Empire for the next 20 years.
1017
England Canute divides the country into the earldoms of Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria. Portugal Ilduara Mendes marries Nuno Alvites and becomes countess of Portugal.
“Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings. For there is none worthy of the name but God, whom heaven, earth and sea obey.”
Canute the Great
1018
Bulgaria Ivan Vladislav is killed by Basil II’s invading Byzantine army; Presian II comes to power and leads the resistance for a brief period before submitting; the First Bulgarian Empire ends, and Bulgaria becomes part of the Byzantine Empire.
1019
Sweden and Norway sign a treaty at Kungälv. Denmark Canute I the Great becomes king. Kievan Rus’ Iaroslav the Wise murders his three brothers and comes to power; he begins the unification of Russia when he unites the principalities of Novgorod and Kiev for the first time; during his reign, Kievan Rus’ will reach the height of its power.
1020
England Canute the Great codifies the laws of England. Italy Italian towns, including Rome, Florence and Venice, become city-states. Poland Around this time, Boleslav I creates a powerful Polish state.
1022
Ireland Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, high king of Ireland, dies; a profusion of various contenders for the title follows, but none is successful until 1072. Sweden Anund Jakob becomes king.
1023
Wales Rhydderch ab Iestyn, ruler of Gwent and Morgannwg, seizes Deheubarth. Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig becomes king of Gwynedd. Spain The judge-governor of Sevilla seizes power as Abbad I, therefore founding the Abbadid dynasty.
1024
Rome John XIX, brother of previous Pope Benedict VIII, is elected pope. Germany Henry II dies childless; Conrad II, a Franconian nobleman, is elected king, the first of the Salian dynasty.
1025
Poland Mieszko II Lambert becomes king. Byzantine Empire Basil II dies childless, having greatly expanded the Empire; Constantine VIII, his co-emperor and brother, becomes sole ruler.
1026
Venice Tired of his appointments of members of his family to positions of power, the Venetians depose Pietro II Orseolo; Pietro Barbolano is elected doge.
1027
Holy Roman Empire Conrad II, king of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
1028
León Alfonso V is killed by an arrow while besieging a Muslim-held town in northern Portugal; Bermudo III, son of Alfonso V, becomes the last king of the Pérez dynasty. Portugal Mendes Nunes becomes count of Portugal. Norway Olaf II dies in the Battle of Stiklestad fighting against discontented subjects; he is canonized and becomes Norway’s patron saint; Canute the Great, already king of England, Denmark and parts of Sweden, becomes king; his northern empire is one of the most powerful in Europe. Germany Conrad II has his son, Henry III, elected co-king. Byzantine Empire Zoe, daughter of Constantine VIII, becomes empress; her husband becomes Romanos III.
1029
Spain García Sánchez, count of Castile, is assassinated by a party of exiled Castilian noblemen as he enters the church in León where he has gone to marry the sister of Bermudo III; Sancho III of Navarre makes his son, Ferdinand, count of Castile.
1030
France Henry I of France revolts against his father, Robert I. Norway King Olaf II of Norway is killed in the Battle of Stiklestad. He is succeeded by Canute and Svein.
1031
France Henry I becomes king, having shared the throne with his father Robert I for five years. Hungary Emeric, only son and heir of Stephen I, is killed by a wild boar while hunting. Poland Bezprym, brother of Mieszko II Lambert, becomes duke of Poland.
1032
Burgundy The Holy Roman Emperor, Conrad II, becomes king of Burgundy; Burgundy is absorbed by the French monarchy. Venice Doge Pietro Barbolano is forced to abdicate in favour of his predecessor, Otto Orseolo; Orseolo is close to death, however; a relative, Domenico Orseolo, attempts to seize power, but his attempt is not welcomed by the Venetians, who are against the establishment of a hereditary monarchy; wealthy merchant Domenico Flabanico, who has no noble ties, is elected doge. Rome Benedict IX is elected pope; aged only 20, he is one of the youngest popes. Poland Bezprym is murdered; Mieszko II Lambert returns to the throne.
1034
Scotland Duncan I, son of Crínán, lay abbot of Dunkeld, and Bethóc, daughter of Malcolm II, become king and queen. Poland Mieszko II Lambert dies, probably murdered by members of the Polish aristocracy; peasants revolt in favour of paganism; priests, monks and knights are killed and cities, churches and monasteries are burned; the Czechs invade from the south and Poland is divided among local rulers until 1039. Byzantine Empire Empress Zoe of Byzantium murders her husband, Romanos III, and marries her chamberlain, elevating him to the throne of the eastern Roman Empire as Michael IV the Paphlagonian.
