Clash between the armies of Bardas Skleros and Bardas Phokas

Year 979 ( CMLXXIX) was a

common year starting on Wednesday A common year starting on Wednesday is any non-leap year (a year with 365 days) that begins on Wednesday, January 1, and ends on Wednesday, December 31. Its dominical letter hence is E. The current year, 2025, is a common year starting on Wedne ...

of the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

. It was the 979th year of the Common Era and the Anno Domini designation, the 979th year of the 1st millennium, the 79th year of the 10th century, and the 10th and last year of the 970s decade.

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

March 24 Events Pre-1600 *1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6. * 1387 – English victory over a Franco- Castilian- Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margat ...

– Second Battle of Pankaleia: An Ibero-

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

expeditionary force, under General Bardas Phokas (the Younger), inflicts a crushing defeat on the rebels of General Bardas Skleros, at Sarvenis (modern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). Skleros manages to escape, and finds shelter with his Muslim allies. The rebellion is subdued without difficulty.

Europe

* Vitale Candiano, doge of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, abdicates for health reasons after a 14-month reign, and retires to a monastery. He is succeeded by Tribuno Memmo, a son-in-law of the murdered Pietro IV Candiano. Tribuno declares a general

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

for everyone complicit in the plot against Pietro. *

June 8 Events Pre-1600 * 218 – Battle of Antioch: With the support of the Syrian legions, Elagabalus defeats the forces of emperor Macrinus. * 452 – Attila leads a Hun army in the invasion of Italy, devastating the northern provinces ...

–

Louis V Louis V may refer to: * Louis V of France (967–987) * Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor and V of Germany (1282–1347) * Louis V, Duke of Bavaria (1315–1361) * Louis V, Elector Palatine (ruled 1508–1544) * Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (r ...

, nicknamed ''le Fainéant'' (the Do-Nothing), is crowned as the co-emperor of

West Francia In medieval historiography, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the year 843, from the Treaty of Verdun, to 987, the beginning of the Capet ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

by his father, King Lothair. Upon Lothair's death on

March 2 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost ...

, 986, Louis becomes the sole ruler. * The city of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

is founded by

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, duke of

Lower Lorraine The Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, also called Northern Lotharingia, Lower Lorraine or Northern Lorraine (and also referred to as '' Lothier'' or '' Lottier''

. He constructs fortifications (a

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

on an island) on the Senne River (modern

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Britain

Tynwald Tynwald (), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald () or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Leg ...

(or Tynwald Court), the parliament of the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, is founded. It remains active as the longest continuous

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the world.

Africa

* Jawhar as-Siqilli is dismissed as

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

after an unsuccessful campaign in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

(near

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

). He is replaced by Ya'qub ibn Killis.

China

* Battle of Gaoliang River: Emperor Tai Zong leads an expedition into You Prefecture (or Youzhou). The Liao Dynasty counter-attacks and defeats the Song forces near modern-day

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. * Summer – Tai Zong invades the

Northern Han The Northern Han ( zh, t=北漢, s=北汉, p=Běi Hàn) was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded by Liu Min (Emperor Shizu) as a continuation of the Later Ha ...

and besieges the capital of

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

. A relief force sent by the Liao Dynasty is defeated. The Kingdom is absorbed into the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

Births

August 29 Events Pre-1600 * 708 – Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708). * 870 – The city of Melite surrenders to an Aghlabid army following a siege, putting an end to Byzanti ...

–

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

(or Eudes), French

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

(d. 1045) * Al-Muqtana Baha'uddin, Druze religious leader (d. 1043) * Estrid (or Astrid), queen consort of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(d.

1035 Year 1035 (Roman numerals, MXXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March 23 – Battle of Cesar (near the village of Cesar, Portugal): The armies of Bermudo III, King of Ki ...

) * Fujiwara no Takaie, Japanese nobleman (d. 1044) * Ibn al-Samh, Andalusian

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

(d. 1035) * Matilda, countess palatine of

Lotharingia Lotharingia was a historical region and an early medieval polity that existed during the late Carolingian and early Ottonian era, from the middle of the 9th to the middle of the 10th century. It was established in 855 by the Treaty of Prüm, a ...

(d. 1025)

Deaths

June 29 Events Pre-1600 * 226 – Cao Rui succeeds his father as emperor of Wei. * 1149 – Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi. * 1170 – A major earthquake hits Syria, badly damagi ...

– Fujiwara no Koshi, Japanese empress (b.

947 Year 947 (Roman numerals, CMXLVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – A Principality of Hungary, Hungarian army led by Grand Prince Taksony of Hungary, Taksony campaign ...

) * August 3 – Thietmar, German nobleman *

August 11 Events Pre-1600 * 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins. * 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and foun ...

–

Gero Gero I ( 900 – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great (),Thompson, 486. Also se was a nobleman from East Francia who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he ...

, German nobleman *

August 26 Events Pre-1600 * 683 – Yazid I's army kills 11,000 people of Medina including notable Sahabas in Battle of al-Harrah. * 1071 – The Seljuq Turks defeat the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert, and soon gain control of most o ...

– Zhao Dezhao, prince of the

(b.

951 Year 951 (Roman numerals, CMLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Berengar II of Italy seizes Liguria, with help from the feudal lord Oberto I. He reorganizes the territorie ...

) *

– Abu Taghlib, Hamdanid

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

September 19 Events Pre-1600 * 96 – Nerva, suspected of complicity of the death of Domitian, is declared emperor by Senate. The Senate then annuls laws passed by Domitian and orders his statues to be destroyed. * 634 – Siege of Damascus: The ...

– Gotofredo I, archbishop of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

*''unknown dates'' ** 'Imran ibn Shahin, Muslim ruler ** Vitale Candiano, doge of

** Hasanwayh, Hasanwayhid ruler *''probable'' –

Iago ab Idwal Iago ab Idwal (fl. 942-979) was a King of Gwynedd (reigned 950–979) and possibly Powys. Iago was the son of the previous King Idwal Foel who had inherited the throne of Gwynedd on the death of his father Anarawd ap Rhodri in 916. Iago's p ...

, king of

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

References

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