1070s

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	10th century – 11th century – 12th century
Decades:	1040s 1050s 1060s – 1070s – 1080s 1090s 1100s
Years:	1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

1070s: events by year

Contents: 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079

1070

• Hereward the Wake begins a Saxon revolt in the Fens of eastern England, which later collapses.
• Lanfranc, an Italian lawyer, becomes William's formidable Archbishop of Canterbury.
• Central Asian poet Yusuf Balasagun completes the Kutadgu Bilig.
• Bergen, Norway is founded by the king Olav Kyrre. This will function as the main city and capital of Norway, until it is replaced by Oslo in 1314.
• King Halsten of Sweden is deposed, with Håkan the Red becoming king in Gothenland and Anund Gårdske being chosen as king of Svealand.
• Abu Bakr Ibn-Umar founds Marrakesh.
• Chinese Chancellor Wang Anshi starts the Xining Reforms (which last until 1085).
• The Temple of Literature is established in the capital of Vietnam.
• A successful Byzantine counter-attack drives the Seljuk Turks across the Euphrates.
• Song Dynasty Chinese astronomer, engineer, and statesman Su Song completes the compilation of the Ben Cao Tu Jing, a pharmaceutical treatise with related subjects of botany, zoology, mineralogy, and metallurgy.

By place

Europe

• January 10 – The Normans conquer Palermo in Sicily.
• May 27 – The Accord of Winchester establishes the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the Archbishop of York in the Church of England.
• William I of England invades Scotland, and also receives the submission of Hereward the Wake.
• Osbern FitzOsbern becomes Bishop of Exeter.
• Dunfermline Abbey is founded – later to become the burial place of several Kings of Scots, including Robert the Bruce. The associated royal palace will be the birth place of King Charles I.
• Alfonso VI becomes king of Leon and Castile following the assassination of his brother Sancho.
• Divan'ı Lügat'ı Türk. An informative book written by Kaşgarlı Mahmut of Karakhanids to be presented to Caliph, about Turks.

Asia

• The Song Dynasty Chinese polymath scientist and statesman Shen Kuo is appointed as the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy, where he begins his groundbreaking work with the colleague Wei Pu on accurately plotting the orbital paths of the stars, planets, and moon three times a night for a continuum of five years.
• Shen Kuo is sent to supervise Chancellor Wang Anshi's program of surveying the building of silt deposits in the Bian Canal outside the capital city of Kaifeng. Using an original technique, Shen successfully dredges the canal and demonstrates the formidable value of the silt gathered as a fertilizer.

1073

• April 22 – Pope Gregory VII (Cardinal Hildebrand) succeeds Pope Alexander II as the 157th pope.
• Emperor Shirakawa ascends to the throne of Japan.
• Rabbi Yitchaki Alfassi finishes writing the Rif, an important work of Jewish law.
• John IX bar Shushan ends his term as Syrian Patriarch of Antioch.
• Sviatoslav II begins his reign as ruler of Kievan Rus.
• The Seljuk Turks conquer Ankara.
• Chancellor Wang Anshi of Song Dynasty China creates a new bureau of the central government called the Directorate of Weapons, which supervises the manufacture of military armaments and ensures quality control.

1074

• February 7 – Battle of Montesarchio: Prince Pandulf IV of Benevento is killed battling the encroaching Normans.
• The Liao Dynasty emperor rejects a proposal for all Khitan people to adopt surnames.
• William the Conqueror orders the White Tower to be built.
• November 25 – Magreb unites the Tengizi island chain, and becomes the first king of the Kingdom of Tengiz.

1075

• February – Pope Gregory VII holds a council that publishes a decree against lay investiture.
• April – Pope Gregory VII publishes the Dictatus Papae (Sayings of the Pope, aka the Dictates of Hildebrand), in which he asserts papal authority over earthly as well as spiritual rulers.
• Revolt of the Earls: Three earls rebel against William I of England (William the Conqueror), in the last serious act of resistance to the Norman Conquest.
• First Battle of Langensalza: Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor defeats the Saxon nobles and subjugates Saxony.
• The Liao Dynasty version of the Buddhist Tripitaka is completed (approximate date).
• Anund Gårdske is deposed as king of Svealand and king Håkan the Red of Gothenland proclaims himself king of all Sweden.
• The Seljuk Turks take Jerusalem from the Fatimids.
• Lý dynasty forces under Lý Thường Kiệt defend Vietnam against invasion by Song Dynasty China.
• The Song Dynasty Chinese polymath scientist and statesman Shen Kuo solves a heated border dispute with the Liao Dynasty by dredging up old diplomatic records; he refutes Emperor Daozong of Liao's bluffs point for point during a meeting at Mt. Yongan (near modern Pingquan in Hebei), and reestablishes the Song's rightful borders.

1076

• January – The German bishops who have been invested by Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor withdraw their allegiance from Pope Gregory VII.
• February 14 – Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
• October 8 – King Dmitar Zvonimir of Croatia was crowned in Solin near Split, by a representative of Pope Gregory VII.
• 1 November – In England a frost begins that lasts until April 1077.
• December 25 – Polish King Bolesław II the Bold (Polish: Bolesław Śmiały) is crowned in Gniezno.
• Anselm of Canterbury completes Monologion.
• The Almoravids capture the Ghanaian capital of Kumbi.
• Count Dirk V reconquers most of West Frisia (historical) from the bishop of Utrecht.
• The Trial of Penenden Heath is thought to have been held, with an important ruling regarding land rights subsequent to the Norman Conquest of England.
• Dmitar Zvonimir of Croatia donated the town of Vrana and Benedictine monastery of St. Gregory, as a sign of loyalty to Pope Gregory VII.
• Vikramaditya VI deposes his older brother Somesvara II, and becomes king of the Western Chalukya.
• Lý dynasty Vietnamese troops hold invading Song Dynasty Chinese forces at the Battle of Như Nguyệt River and a truce is concluded.

By area

Africa

• The Almoravids complete the conquest of the Ghana Empire, and reach Spain.

Asia

• The Seljuk Turks capture Nicaea and Jerusalem.
• Suleyman I of Rûm becomes the leader of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in modern Turkey.
• Anush Tigin Gharchai becomes, as a Seljuk vassal, leader of the Khwarezmid Empire.

Europe

• January 26 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor visits Pope Gregory VII as a penitent, asking him remove sentence of excommunication.
• January 28 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted.
• April 3 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor granted the county of Friuli, with ducal status, to Sigaerd, Patriarch of Aquileia.
• Robert Curthose instigates his first insurrection against his father, William the Conqueror.
• The kingdom of Duklja is founded.
• The first recorded Trial by combat is held in England.
• Vsevolod of Kiev becomes the prince of Kievan Rus'.
• Alfonso VI of Castile conquers Coria.
• The pope, Gregory VII, places the island of Corsica under the secular rule of the archbishop of Pisa.

By topic

Arts

• The Bayeux Tapestry is made.

Religion

• The first English Cluniac Benedictine priory is established.
• Paul of Caen is installed as Abbot of St Albans; the building of St Albans Abbey Church commences.
• Pope Christodolos of Alexandria ends his reign as Coptic Pope.
• Dionysius V Lazaros becomes Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.

By place

Europe

• The Romanesque church is begun at Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.
• Anselm of Canterbury becomes abbot of the Abbey of Bec.

Asia

• The Battle of Kalaura is fought.
• The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia is founded (approximate date).
• By this year, the iron industry in Song Dynasty China is producing a total weight of 127,000,000 kg (125,000 t) of iron product per year.

Africa

The Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin besieges Ceuta. Since the city can receive help from the sea, the siege will last until 1083.

1079

• Persian astronomer, Omar Khayyám, computed the length of the year as 365.24219858156 days which has been the most accurate calculation of old times. Khayyam also, in Treatise on Demonstrations of Problems in Algebra, produced a complete classification of cubic equations and their geometric solutions.
• Murder of Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów (pol. Stanisław ze Szczepanowa) by Polish King Bolesław II the Bold
• Upon the death of Håkan the Red, Halsten returns as king of Sweden, jointly with his brother Inge the Elder.
• Ladislaus Herman succeeds Boleslaus II in Poland.
• William I of England establishes the New Forest.
• Constance of Burgundy founds a monastery in Burgos.