WORLD HISTORY · TIMELINE 日本語
The 10th century901–1000
What were the key events of the 10th century?
In the 10th century (901–1000), the Tang dynasty fell and China entered the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period before the Song was founded, while Goryeo was established in Korea. In Japan, kana script spread and a distinctly Japanese court culture grew even as Taira no Masakado rebelled, and in Europe Otto I was crowned emperor.
- Sugawara no Michizane demoted to DazaifuAsia
- Kana spreads and native Japanese culture flourishesAsia
- Tang falls; Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms beginAsia
- Yelü Abaoji founds the Liao dynastyAsia
- Wang Geon founds GoryeoAsia
- Taira no Masakado rebelsAsia
- Zhao Kuangyin becomes emperor, founding the SongAsia
- Pope crowns Otto I emperorEurope
Summaries are written by the site editors.
Key events of the 10th century (timeline · excerpt)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
Sugawara no Michizane demoted to Dazaifu
Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabid army, concluding the Muslim conquest of Sicily.
The Abbasid army under Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib defeats the Qarmatians at the Battle of Hama.
Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week.
The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
King Berengar I of Italy and a hired Hungarian army defeat the Frankish forces at Verona. King Louis III is captured and blinded for breaking the oath he gave in 902 to not return to Italy.
Abbasid general Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh leads a raid against the Byzantine Empire, taking 4,000–5,000 captives.
Tang falls; Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms begin
Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang dynasty after nearly three hundred years of rule.
Battle of Eisenach: An invading Hungarian force defeats an East Frankish army under Duke Burchard of Thuringia.
Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors.
The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army near the Rednitz River, killing its leader Gebhard, Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine).
The last major Danish army to raid England for nearly a century is defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward the Elder and Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians.
Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy.
William I of Aquitaine gifts abbot Berno a group of lands close to Mâcon to found a new monastery. Contrary to other Benedictine monasteries, William sets the monastery outside of the control of any feudal lord.
Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed by Constantine's uncle Alexander on his deathbed.
Yelü Abaoji founds the Liao dynasty
Liu Yan declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu.
Wang Geon founds Goryeo
Romanos Lekapenos seizes the Boukoleon Palace in Constantinople and becomes regent of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII.
The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his army.
The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
Battle of Islandbridge: High King Niall Glúndub is killed while leading an Irish coalition against the Vikings of Uí Ímair, led by King Sitric Cáech.
Rout of an alliance of Christian troops from Navarre and Léon against the Muslims at the Battle of Valdejunquera.
Christopher Lekapenos is crowned Byzantine co-emperor by his father, emperor Romanos I Lekapenos, on the feast of Whitsun.
Treaty of Bonn: The Frankish kings Charles the Simple and Henry the Fowler sign a peace treaty or 'pact of friendship' (amicitia) to recognize their borders along the Rhine.
Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
Battle of Firenzuola: Lombard forces under King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, defeat the dethroned Emperor Berengar I of Italy at Firenzuola (Tuscany).
King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh and King Owain of the Cumbrians accept the overlordship of King Æthelstan of England, leading to seven years of peace in the north.
The Sajid emir of Adharbayjan, Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj is defeated and captured by the Qarmatians near Kufa.
Battle of Lenzen: Slavic forces (the Redarii and the Obotrites) are defeated by a Saxon army near the fortified stronghold of Lenzen in Brandenburg.
After a two-year siege, the city of Toledo, in Spain, surrenders to the forces of the Caliph of Córdoba Abd al-Rahman III, assuming an important victory in his campaign to subjugate the Central March.
Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir is killed while fighting against the forces of general Mu'nis al-Muzaffar. Al-Muqtadir's brother al-Qahir is chosen to succeed him.
After a ten-year truce, German King Henry the Fowler defeats a Hungarian army at the Battle of Riade near the Unstrut river.
Abbasid Caliph Al-Qahir is deposed and blinded. His nephew al-Radi succeeds him as caliph.
Taira no Masakado rebels
Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia is murdered by a group of nobles led by his brother Boleslaus I, who succeeds him.
Shi Jingtang is enthroned as the first emperor of the Later Jin by Emperor Taizong of Liao, following a revolt against Emperor Fei of Later Tang.
Ten Kingdoms: Li Bian usurps the throne and deposes Emperor Yang Pu. The Wu State is replaced by Li (now called "Xu Zhigao"), who becomes the first ruler of Southern Tang.
Battle of Simancas: King Ramiro II of León defeats the Moorish army under Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III near the city of Simancas.
The Battle of Alhandic is fought between Ramiro II of León and Abd-ar-Rahman III at Zamora in the context of the Spanish Reconquista. The battle resulted in a victory for the Emirate of Córdoba.
Battle of Andernach: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard of Franconia and other Frankish dukes.
Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdanids of Mosul and the Baridis of Basra over control of the Abbasid capital, Baghdad.
Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos is arrested by two of his sons, forced to abdicate and to live as a monk for the rest of his life.
The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
Caliph al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Alberic II of Spoleto arranges the election of pope Agapetus II following the death of Pope Marinus II.
Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
England is left temporarily without a monarch after the death of King Edmund I in a street fight, resulting in Edmund's brother Eadred assuming the throne for the minority of Edmund's two sons.
Emperor Taizong of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty captures Daliang, ending the dynasty and empire of the Later Jin.
Abu Yazid, a Kharijite rebel leader, is defeated and killed in the Hodna Mountains in modern-day Algeria by Fatimid forces.
Guo Wei, a court official, leads a military coup and declares himself emperor of the new Later Zhou.
Emperor Li Jing sends a Southern Tang expeditionary force of 10,000 men under Bian Hao to conquer Chu. Li Jing removes the ruling family to his own capital in Nanjing, ending the Chu Kingdom.
The 13-year-old Lothair III is crowned at the Abbey of Saint-Remi as king of the West Frankish Kingdom.
Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats the Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.
Zhao Kuangyin becomes emperor, founding the Song
Zhao Kuangyin declares himself Emperor Taizu of Song, ending the Later Zhou and beginning the Song dynasty.
Battle of Andrassos: Byzantines under Leo Phokas the Younger score a crushing victory over the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla.
King Otto I elects his six-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda.
Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor and Pope John XII co-sign the Diploma Ottonianum, recognising John as ruler of Rome.
The Sack of Aleppo as part of the Arab–Byzantine wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo.
Nikephoros II Phokas is crowned emperor of the Byzantine Empire, swearing to protect the two sons of the previous emperor Romanos II, who are already crowned co-emperors.
Synod of Rome: Emperor Otto I calls a council at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope John XII is deposed on charges of an armed rebellion against Otto.
The lay papal protonotary is elected pope and takes the name Leo VIII, being consecrated on 6 December after ordination.
Nikephoros II Phokas captures the city of Tarsus, finalising the Byzantine conquest of Cilicia.
Following his marriage to the Christian Doubravka of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converts to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state.
The Fatimid general Jawhar leads the Friday prayer in Fustat in the name of Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, thereby symbolically completing the Fatimid conquest of Egypt.
Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes.
Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
Battle of Ayn Shams: The Fatimids under Jawhar defeat the Qarmatians at the gates of Cairo, putting an end to the First Qarmatian invasion of Egypt.
Otto II, Co-Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, marries Byzantine princess Theophanu. She is crowned empress by Pope John XIII in Rome the same day.
In the first coronation ceremony ever held for an English monarch, Edgar the Peaceful is crowned King of England, having ruled since 959 AD. His wife, Ælfthryth, is crowned queen, the first recorded coronation for a Queen of England.
Abbasid Caliph al-Muti' is forced to abdicate by his Turkic general Sabuktakin and succeeded by his son al-Ta'i'.
Byzantine forces loyal to emperor Basil II under Bardas Phokas the Younger defeat rebel forces under Bardas Skleros in the battle of Pankaleia (approximate date).
Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws.
Vladimir the Great consolidates the Kievan realm from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. He is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus'.
King Otto II and his Frankish army are defeated by the Muslim army of al-Qasim at Cape Colonna, Southern Italy.
Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria.
Louis V becomes the last Carolingian king of West Francia after the death of his father, Lothaire.
Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of the Gates of Trajan: The Bulgarians under the Comitopuli Samuel and Aron defeat the Byzantine forces at the Gate of Trajan, with Byzantine Emperor Basil II barely escaping.
Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolution in 1792.
Bardas Phokas the Younger rebels against Byzantine emperor Basil II and declares himself emperor.
The Norse King Glúniairn recognises Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, High King of Ireland, and agrees to pay taxes and accept Brehon Law; the event is considered to be the founding of the city of Dublin.
The death of Bardas Phokas the Younger in the battle of Abydos ends his second rebellion against Byzantine Emperor Basil II.
Battle of Maldon: The English, led by Byrhtnoth, Ealdorman of Essex, are defeated by a band of inland-raiding Vikings near Maldon, Essex.
German king Otto III chooses his cousin Bruno of Carinthia as pope following the death of Pope John XV. Bruno becomes pope under the name Gregory V.
Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi (Austria in Old High German).
Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
Battle of Glenmama: The combined forces of Munster and Meath under king Brian Boru inflict a crushing defeat on the allied armies of Leinster and Dublin near Lyons Hill in Ireland.
Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah assassinates the eunuch chief minister Barjawan and assumes control of the government.
The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.