Year 1056 ( MLVI) was a

leap year starting on Monday A leap year starting on Monday is any year with 366 days (i.e. it includes February 29, 29 February) that begins on Monday, 1 January, and ends on Leap year starting on Tuesday, Tuesday, 31 December. Its dominical letters hence are GF. The most rec ...

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 ...

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

August 31 Events Pre-1600 * 1056 – After a sudden illness a few days previously, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty. * 1057 – Abdication of Byzantine Emperor Michael VI Bringas after just one ye ...

– Empress Theodora (a sister of the former Empress Zoë) dies after a 18-month reign, by a sudden illness at

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. She is succeeded by Michael VI Bringas ("the Old"), who had served as military finance minister under the former Emperor

Romanos III Romanos III Argyros (; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos, was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death in 1034. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople when the dying Constantine ...

. Michael is appointed through the influence of Leo Paraspondylos, Theodora's most trusted adviser. This ends the

Macedonian dynasty The Macedonian dynasty () Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty, ruled the Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, following the Byzantium under the Amorian dynasty, Amorian dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine state reached its greates ...

. *

Theodosius Theodosius ( Latinized from the Greek "Θεοδόσιος", Theodosios, "given by god") is a given name. It may take the form Teodósio, Teodosie, Teodosije etc. Theodosia is a feminine version of the name. Emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium ...

, a nephew of the former Emperor

Constantine IX Constantine IX Monomachos (; 980/ 1000 – 11 January 1055) reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita chose him as a husband and co-emperor in 1042, although he had been exiled for conspiring again ...

, tries to usurp the Byzantine throne, and liberates all the prisoners who flock to his banner. With their support, he marches through the streets of Constantinople to the Palace. There, the

Varangian Guard The Varangian Guard () was an elite unit of the Byzantine army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from Nort ...

forms outside to stop him. Theodosius loses heart and heads for

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

. Later he is captured, and exiled to

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north s ...

Europe

October 5 Events Pre-1600 * 610 – Heraclius arrives at Constantinople, kills Byzantine Emperor Phocas, and becomes emperor. * 816 – King Louis the Pious is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope. * 869 – The Fourth Co ...

–

Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor Henry III (, 28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black () or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. Henry was rais ...

("the Black") dies after a 10-year reign at Bodfeld, an imperial hunting lodge (''Königspfalz'') in the

Harz Mountains The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a Mittelgebirge, highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The nam ...

. He is succeeded by his 5-year-old only son Henry IV as "king of the Germans" and enthroned by Pope Victor II (also a German) at

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

– while his mother, Empress

Agnes of Poitou Agnes of Poitou ( – 14 December 1077) was the queen of Germany from 1043 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1046 until 1056 as the wife of Emperor Henry III. From 1056 to 1061, she ruled the Holy Roman Empire as regent during the ...

, becomes co-

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

. * Ottokar I, count of

Steyr Steyr (; ) is a statutory city (Austria), statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd lar ...

, becomes

margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

of the Karantanian March (later known as

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

Britain

June 16 Events Pre-1600 * 632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (''shah'') of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran). *1407 – Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son K ...

– In response to the attack on

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

Cathedral in

1055 1055 (Roman numerals, MLV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 11 – Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos dies after a 12½-year reign at Constantinople. He is succee ...

, Leofgar the bishop of Hereford takes an army into

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

to deal with the Welsh prince

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ( – 5 August 1063) was the first and only Welsh king to unite all of Wales under his rule from 1055 to 1063. He had also previously been King of Gwynedd and Powys from 1039 to 1055. Gruffudd was the son of Llywelyn ap ...

. He along with a large number of English troops is killed in battle at Glasbury-on-Wye by the Welsh. Earl

Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the decisive battle of the Norman ...

raises an army to take revenge, but comes to peaceful terms with Gruffydd.

Northern Africa

Battle of Tabfarilla The Battle of Tabfarilla was a military conflict between the Lamtuna and the Godala. Both of them Muslim Berber Sanhaja tribes of the Sahara Desert and one time allies, the Lamtuna formed the core of the Almoravids after the Godala broke away. Th ...

in modern day

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

: The

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

are crushed by the

Godala The Godala or Gudāla is a Berber tribe in Western Africa that lived along the Atlantic coast in present-day Mauritania and participated in the Saharan salt trade and the salt mines of Ijiil. The Godala may be linked to or the same as the ancient ...

and their Emir. *

Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Umar ibn Talagagin ibn Turgut ibn Wartasin, commonly suffixed al-Lamtuni al-Sanhaji, (d. near Azuggi, 1056; Arabic : يحيى إبن عمر) was a chieftain of the Lamtuna, a tribe in the Sanhaja confederation. Yahya ibn ...

falls.

By topic

Religion

* The

Pagoda of Fogong Temple The Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple () of Ying County, Shanxi province, China, is a wooden Chinese pagoda. It is also known as the Wooden Pagoda of Ying County (Chinese: 应县木塔, pinyin: yìngxiàn mùtǎ). It was constructed in 1056, d ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

in northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

is built during the Liao dynasty. Work begins on the Pizhi Pagoda of Lingyan Temple at

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

under the opposing

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 ...

. * Dromtön, an Atiśa chief disciple, founds Reting Monastery in the Reting Tsangpo Valley (north of

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

) as the seat of Kadam lineage of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

. * The Muslims expel 300

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

from

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, and European Christians are forbidden to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Births

July 24 Events Pre-1600 * 1132 – Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily. * 1148 – Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade. * 1304 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of S ...

–

Al-Muqtadi Abū'l-Qasim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qa'im (Arabic: أبو القاسم عبد الله بن محمد بن القائم) better known by his regnal name al-Muqtadi (Arabic: المقتدي 'the follower'; 1056 – February 1094) was the ...

, caliph of the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

(d. 1094) * Abdallah ibn Buluggin ("the Conqueror"), emir of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

* Baldwin II of Mons, count of Hainaut (approximate date) * Ermengol IV, Count of Urgell (or Armengol), Spanish

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. 1092) *

Fujiwara no Kiyohira was a samurai of mixed Japanese- Emishi parentage of the late Heian period (794–1185), who was the founder of the Hiraizumi or Northern Fujiwara dynasty that ruled Northern Japan from about 1100 to 1189. Biography Kiyohira was the son of Fuj ...

, Japanese nobleman and

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

(d.

1128 Year 1128 ( MCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Hungarian War: Emperor John II Komnenos defeats the Hungarians and their Serbian allies at the fortress o ...

) *

Hildegarde of Burgundy Hildegarde of Burgundy (–1104) was a French noble, Duchess consort of Gascony and Aquitaine by marriage to William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine. She was the only daughter of Robert I, Duke of Burgundy with his second wife, Ermengarde of Anjou. ...

, French noblewoman (approximate date) *

Nestor the Chronicler Nestor the Chronicler or Nestor the Hagiographer (; 1056 – 1114) was a monk from the Kievan Rus who is known to have written two saints' lives: the ''Life of the Venerable Theodosius of the Kiev Caves'' and the ''Account about the Life an ...

, Russian monk and historian (d.

1114 Year 1114 (Roman numerals, MCXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 7 – Emperor Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V marries Empress Maud, Matilda (or Maude), 11-yea ...

) (approximate date) *

Sæmundr fróði Sæmundr Sigfússon, better known as Sæmundr fróði (''Sæmundr the Learned''; 1056–1133), was an Icelandic priest and scholar. Biography Sæmundr is known to have studied abroad. Previously it has generally been held that he studied in Fra ...

(Sæmundur Sigfússon), Icelandic priest and scholar (d. 1133) * Zhou Bangyan, Chinese bureaucrat and '' ci'' poet (d. 1121)

Deaths

February 10 Events Pre-1600 * 1258 – The Siege of Baghdad ends with the surrender of the last Abbasid caliph to Hulegu Khan, a prince of the Mongol Empire. * 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bru ...

–

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ; ; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern histori ...

, English bishop of

February 11 Events Pre-1600 * 660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. * 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman Empire, on the eve of his comin ...

– Herman II (or Heriman), archbishop of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

– Leofgar (or Leovegard), English bishop of Hereford, killed in battle *

** Odda of Deerhurst, English nobleman ** Theodora, empress regnant of the

Byzantine Empire 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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

September 10 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – The bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde. * 1089 – The first synod of pope Urban II starts in Melfi, with seventy bishops and twelve abbots in attendance. The synod issues several decree ...

–

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, margrave of the

Nordmark The Northern March or North March (, ) was created out of the division of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the ''Marca'' (roughly corresponding to the modern state of Brandenburg) and was part of the ...

– Henry III ("the Black"), Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1017) *

November 25 Events Pre-1600 *571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Ancient Rome, Rome, celebrates the first of his three Roman triumph, triumphs for his victory over the Etruscans. *1034 – Máel Coluim II of Scotland, Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, Ki ...

– Flann Mainistreach, Irish poet and historian * Áed Ua Forréid, bishop of

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

(

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

) * Anselm of Liège, French chronicler (approximate date) * Benedict IX, pope of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

(approximate date) *

Ekkehard IV Ekkehard IV ( 980 – c. 1056) was a monk of the Abbey of Saint Gall and the author of the ''Casus sancti Galli'' and ''Liber Benedictionum''. Life According to the testimony in his "Chronicle" (especially in view of his statement that he had hear ...

, Swiss monk and chronicler (approximate date) *

Hilal al-Sabi' Hilal or Al-Hilal may refer to: *Hilal (, ''hilāl''), a crescent **the Lunar phase, crescent Moon visible after a new Moon, determining the beginning of a month in the Islamic calendar *Banu Hilal, a confederation of tribes of Arabia Arts an ...

, Buyid historian, bureaucrat and writer * Leo of Ohrid, Byzantine archbishop and theologian *

, Almoravid chieftain

References

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