11th century
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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. In the history of European culture, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages, with a sudden decline of Byzantine power and rise of Norman domination over much of Europe. In Song Dynasty China it was a high point of classical Chinese civilization, technology, and science. In Persia, there was likewise a golden age for medieval Iranian science and Persian literature. For Chola-era India and Fatimid-era Egypt, they had reached their zenith in military might and international influence. In this century the Turkish Seljuk dynasty comes to power in the Middle East over the now fragmented Abbasid realm. In Japan the Fujiwara clan continued to dominate the affairs of state. In the Americas the Toltec civilization flourished in central America.
Overview
The eleventh century is, in European history, a century of change. It is usually marked as the first period of the High Middle Ages and is therefore sometimes termed the Early Middle Ages, though this term has another common meaning synonymous with Dark Ages. The century began while the translatio imperii of 962 was still somewhat novel and ended in the midst of the Investiture Controversy. It saw the final Christianisation of Scandinavia and the emergence of the Peace and Truce of God movements, the Gregorian Reforms, and the Crusades which revitalised a church and a papacy which survived tarnished by the tumultuous tenth century. In 1054, the Great Schism rent the church in two, however.
In Germany, it was marked by the ascendancy of the Holy Roman Emperors, who hit their high watermark under the Salians.
In Italy, it opened with the integration of the kingdom into the empire and the royal palace at Pavia was sacked in 1024. By the end of the century, Lombard and Byzantine rule in the Mezzogiorno had been usurped by the Normans and the power of the territorial magnates was being replaced by that of the citizens of the cities in the north.
In Britain, it saw the transformation of Scotland into a single, more unified and centralised kingdom and the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The social transformations wrought in these lands brought them into the fuller orbit of European feudal politics.
In France, it saw the nadir of the monarchy and the zenith of the great magnates, especially the dukes of Aquitaine and Normandy, who could thus foster such distinctive contributions of their lands as the pious warrior who conquered Britain, Italy, and the East and the impious peacelover, the troubadour, who crafted out of the European vernacular its first great literary themes.
In Spain, the century opened with the successes of the last caliphs of Córdoba and ended in the successes of the Almoravids. In between was a period of Christian unification under Navarrese hegemony and success in the Reconquista against the taifa kingdoms which replaced the fallen caliphate. Spain emerged fully "Europeanised".
In China, political factions rise at the imperial court of Kaifeng during the Song Dynasty. The political reformers at court, called the New Policies Group (新法, Xin Fa), were led by Emperor Shenzong of Song and the Chancellors Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi, while the political conservatives were led by Chancellor Sima Guang and Empress Dowager Gao, regent of the young Emperor Zhezong of Song. Heated political debate and sectarian intrigue followed, while political enemies were often dismissed from the capital to govern frontier regions in the deep south where malaria was known to be very fatal to northern Chinese people (see History of the Song Dynasty). This period also represents a high point in classical Chinese science and technology, with figures such as Su Song and Shen Kuo.
In India, the Chola Dynasty reaches its height of naval power under leaders such as Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I, dominating southern India (Tamil Nadu), Sri Lanka, and regions of South East Asia. They also sent raids into what is modern-day Thailand.
In Japan, the Fujiwara clan dominates central politics by acting as regents, controlling the actions of the Emperor of Japan, who acted merely as a 'puppet monarch' during the Heian period.
Events
- c. 1000, the Al-Tasrif is written by the physician and scientist Abu al-Qasim
- 1001 ± 40 years, Baitoushan volcano on what would be the Chinese-Korean border, erupts with a force of 6.5, the fourth largest Holocene blast.
- 1001, Mahmud of Ghazni, Muslim leader of Ghazni, begins a series of raids into Northern India; he finishes in 1027 with the destruction of Somnath.
- c. 1001, Vikings, led by Leif Eriksson, establish small settlements in and around Vinland in North America
- 1005, the Treaty of Shanyuan was signed between the Chinese Song Dynasty and the Khitan Liao Dynasty.
- 1008, the Fatimid Egyptian sea captian Domiyat travels to the Buddhist pilgrimage site in Shandong, China, to seek out the Chinese Emperor Zhenzong of Song with gifts from his ruling Imam Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, successfully reopening diplomatic relations between Egypt and China that had been lost since the collapse of the Tang Dynasty.
- 1009-1010, the Lombard known as Melus of Bari led an insurrection against the Byzantine Catepan of Italy, John Curcuas, as the latter was killed in battle and replaced by Basil Mesardonites, who brought Byzantine reinforcements.
- 1010, with the aid of scholars such as Song Zhun, Lu Duosun compiles a massive work of cartography in 1566 chapters, including the mapped topography of each provincial region in China down to the minute level of small towns and villages; this was an imperial compendium first issued by Emperor Taizu of Song in 971 AD.
- 1014, the Byzantine armies of Basil II are victorious over Samuil of Bulgaria in the Battle of Kleidion.
- 1018, the First Bulgarian Empire is conquered by the Byzantine Empire
- 1018, the Byzantine armies of Basil Boioannes are victorious at the Battle of Cannae against the Lombards under Melus of Bari.
- 1021, the ruling Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah disappears suddenly, possibly assassinated by his own sister Sitt al-Mulk, which leads to the open persecution of the Druze by Ismaili Shia; the Druze proclaimed that Al-Hakim went into hiding (ghayba), whereupon he would return as the Mahdi savior.
- 1025, the Chola Dynasty of India uses its naval powers to conquer the South East Asian kingdom of Srivijaya, turning it into a vassal.
- 1025, ruler Rajendra Chola I moves the capital city of the empire from Thanjavur to Gangaikonda Cholapuram
- 1028, the King of Srivijaya appeals to the Song Dynasty Chinese, sending a diplomatic mission to their capital at Kaifeng.
- 1040, Duncan I of Scotland slain in battle. Macbeth succeeds him.
- 1041, Samuel Aba became King of Hungary.
- 1041-1048, Chinese artisan Bi Sheng invents ceramic movable type printing
- 1044, the Chinese Wujing Zongyao (武经总要), written by Zeng Gongliang and Yang Weide, is the first book to describe gunpowder formulas; it also described their use in warfare, such as gunpowder-impregnated fuses for flamethrowers. It also described an early form of the compass, a thermoremanence compass.
- 1052, earliest date for the publication of Ibn Sina's The Canon of Medicine
- 1053, the Norman commander Humphrey of Hauteville is victorious in the Battle of Civitate against the Lombards and the papal coalition led by Rudolf of Benevento; Pope Leo IX himself is captured by the Normans.
- 1054, the Great Schism, in which the Western (Roman Catholic) and Eastern Orthodox churches separated from each other. Similar schisms in the past had been later repaired, but this one continues after nearly 1000 years.
- 1057, Anawrahta, ruler of the Pagan Kingdom, defeated the Mon city of Thaton, thus unifying all of Myanmar.
- 1061-1091, Norman conquest of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea
- 1065, independence of the Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal under the rule of Garcia
- 1066, Edward the Confessor dies; Norman conquest of England in the Battle of Hastings
- 1068-1073, the reign of Japanese Emperor Go-Sanjō brings about a brief period where central power is taken out of the hands of the Fujiwara clan.
- 1069-1076, Chancellor Wang Anshi of the Chinese Song Dynasty introduces the 'New Policies', including the Baojia system of societal organization and militias, low-cost loans for farmers, taxes instead of corvée labor, government monopolies on tea, salt, and wine, reforming the land survey system, and eliminating the poetry requirement in the imperial examination system to gain bureaucrats of a more practical bent.
- 1071, Defeat of the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert by the Seljuk army of Alp Arslan, ending 3 centuries of a Byzantine military and economic Golden Age.
- 1076, Ghana Empire began break-up after capital (Kumbi) sacked
- 1076, the Chinese Song Dynasty places strict government monopolies over the production and distribution of sulfur and saltpetre, in order to curb the possibility of merchants selling gunpowder formula components to enemies such as the Tanguts and Khitans.
- 1077, the Walk to Canossa by Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1079, Malik Shah I reforms the Iranian Calendar
- 1080-1081, the Chinese statesman and scientist Shen Kuo is put in command of the campaign against the Western Xia, and although he successfully halts their invasion route to Yanzhou (modern Yan'an), another officer disobeys imperial orders and the campaign is ultimately a failure because of it.
- 1084, the enormous Chinese historical work of the Zizhi Tongjian is compiled by scholars under Chancellor Sima Guang, completed in 294 volumes and included 3 million written Chinese characters
- 1085, Alfonso VI of Castile captures the Muslim city of Toledo.
- 1086, compilation of the Domesday Book by order of William I of England
- 1087, a new office at the Chinese international seaport of Quanzhou is established to handle and regulate taxes and tariffs on all mercantile transactions of foreign goods coming from Africa, Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, Persia, and South East Asia.
- 1088, Su Song of the Chinese Song Dynasty completes the pilot model for his astronomical clock tower in Kaifeng; Chinese scientist Shen Kuo makes the world's first reference to the magnetic compass in his Dream Pool Essays.
- 1094, El Cid, the great Spanish hero, conquers the Muslim city of Valencia
- 1094, a succession crisis following the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah sparks a rebellion which leads to the split of Ismaili Shia into the new Nizari religious branch.
- ca. 1095-1099, earliest extant manuscript of the Song of Roland
- 1099, First Crusade captures Jerusalem
- King Anawrahta of Myanmar made a pilgrimage to Ceylon, returning to convert his country to Theravada Buddhism.
- The Tuareg migrate to the Aïr region.
- Kanem-Bornu expands southward into modern Nigeria.
- The first of seven Hausa city-states are founded in Nigeria.
- The Hodh region of Mauritania becomes desert.
Significant people
- Abū ‘Alī al-Husayn ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sīnā al-Balkhī (Avicenna), Persian physician, philosopher, and scientist
- Abū ‘Alī al-Haṣan ibn al-Haṣan ibn al-Haytham, Persian scientist
- Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, Persian scientist
- Empress Agnes
- Anawrahta, ruler of the Pagan Kingdom
- Al-Ghazali, celebrated Muslim scholar
- Al-Muqtadi, Abbasid Caliph
- Al-Qadir, Abbasid Caliph
- Al-Qa'im, Abbasid Caliph
- Alexius I Comnenus byzantine Emperor
- Alp Arslan, Seljuk ruler
- Archbishop Anno II of Cologne
- Saint Anselm, reputed founder of scholasticism and creator of the ontological argument
- Atisha, influential Buddhist teacher to Tibet
- Basil II Byzantine Emperor
- Canute the Great, ruler of England, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
- Cheng Yi (philosopher)
- El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar)
- Fan Zhongyan, Song Chinese chancellor
- Fujiwara Michinaga, powerful regent of Japan
- Emperor Go-Sanjō of Japan,
- Pope Saint Gregory VII (Hildebrand)
- Guido of Arezzo, Italian music theorist
- Emperor Henry III, of the Holy Roman Empire
- Emperor Henry IV, of the Holy Roman Empire
- Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani, a Persian missionary da'i to the Fatimid Caliphate
- Conrad II, of the Holy Roman Empire,
- Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury
- Leif Eriksson, first European explorer to land in North America
- Pope Leo IX
- Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah, Fatimid Caliph
- Macbeth, ruler of Scotland
- Malik Shah I, Seljuk ruler
- Minamoto no Yorimitsu, a governor and commander loyal to the Fujiwara clan
- Minamoto no Yorinobu, a samurai of the Minamoto clan
- Murasaki Shikibu, female Japanese writer
- Rajaraja Chola I, ruler of Tamil Nadu (southern India) and Sri Lanka
- Rajendra Chola I, ruler of Tamil Nadu (southern India), Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Srivijaya, and part of Thailand.
- Emperor Renzong of Song, ruler of China
- Saint Robert, founder of the Cistercians
- Sei Shōnagon, female Japanese writer
- Emperor Shenzong of Song, ruler of China
- Emperor Shirakawa of Japan
- Sima Guang, Song Chinese chancellor
- Shen Kuo, Chinese scientist, author of Dream Pool Essays
- John Skylitzes, Byzantine historian
- Stephen I of Hungary
- Su Shi, famous Chinese poet
- Su Song, Chinese astronomer and mechanical engineer
- Tāriqu l-Ḥakīm bi Amr al-Lāh, Sixth Fātimid Caliph
- Tunka Manin ruler of the Ghana Empire
- Pope Urban II
- Wang Anshi, Song Chinese chancellor
- Wei Pu, Chinese astronomer
- William the Conqueror, ruler of Normandy and England
- Emperor Zhezong of Song, ruler of China
Inventions, discoveries, introductions
- See also 1000s in architecture.
- Troubadours appear in what is now southern France.
- The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu is one of the first novels in the Japanese language.
- The tittle was created.
- Main body of Aristotle's works rediscovered.
- St Albans Cathedral of Norman-era England is completed in 1089.
- The Al-Hakim Mosque of Fatimid Egypt is completed in 1013 AD.
- The Iron Pagoda of Kaifeng, China is built in 1049 AD.
- The Brihadeeswarar Temple of India is completed in 1010 AD during the reign of Rajaraja Chola I.
- Construction work begins in 1059 AD on the Parma Cathedral of Italy.
- The Martin-du-Canigou monastery is built by 1009 AD, in present day southern France.
- The Chinese mechanical engineer and astronomer Su Song incorporates the world's first known chain drive to operate the armillary sphere of his astronomical clock tower.
- Chinese scientist Shen Kuo creates a theory for land formation, or geomorphology, theorized that climate change occurred over time, discovers the concept of true north, improves the design of the astronomical sighting tube to view the polestar indefinitely, hypothesizes the retrogradation theory of planetary motion, and by observing lunar eclipse and solar eclipse he hypothesized that the sun and moon were spherical.
- The roots of European Scholasticism are found in this period, as the renewed spark of interest in literature and Classicism in Europe would bring about the Renaissance. In the 11th century, there were early Scholastic figures such as Anselm of Canterbury, Peter Abelard, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Peter Lombard, and Gilbert de la Porrée.
- Bi Sheng of Song Dynasty China invents movable type printing using individual ceramic characters
- The Chinese engineer Yan Su recreates the mechanical compass vehicle of the South Pointing Chariot, first invented by Ma Jun in the 3rd century
- In Europe, the introduction of the horizontal loom operated by foot-treadles makes weaving faster and more efficient.
- The Muslim scientist Ibn al-Haytham is accredited with the discovery of the camera obscura and pinhole camera between the years 1015 and 1021 AD.
- First known use of the drydock in China.
- The Chinese establish fortified maritime trading bases in the Philippines.