transference of the silk trade from Thebes and Corinth to Palermo, under
the judicious protection it received from Roger; but it would be more
correct to say that the injudicious and oppressive financial
administration of the Byzantine emperors destroyed the commercial
prosperity and manufacturing industry of the Greeks; while the wise
liberality and intelligent protection of the Norman kings extended the
commerce and increased the industry of the Sicilians.
When the Sicilian fleet returned to Palermo, Roger determined to employ
all the silk manufacturers in their original occupations. He
consequently collected all their families together, and settled them at
Palermo, supplying them with the means of exercising their industry with
profit to themselves, and inducing them to teach his own subjects to
manufacture the richest brocades and to rival the rarest productions of
the East.
Roger, unlike most of the monarchs of his age, paid particular attention
to improving the wealth of his dominions by increasing the prosperity of
his subjects. During his reign the cultivation of the sugar-cane was
introduced into Sicily. The conduct of Manuel was very different; when
he concluded peace with William, the son and successor of Roger, in
1158, he paid no attention to the commercial interests of his Greek
subjects; the silk manufactures of Thebes and Corinth were not reclaimed
and reinstated in their native seats; they were left to exercise their
industry for the profit of their new prince, while their old sovereign
would have abandoned them to perish from want. Under such circumstances
it is not remarkable that the commerce and the manufactures of Greece
were transferred in the course of another century to Sicily and Italy.
CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY
EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS VOLUME
A.D. 843-1161
JOHN RUDD, LL.D.
Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals
following give volume and page.
Separate chronologies of the various nations, and of the careers of
famous persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with volume and page
references showing where the several events are fully treated.
A.D.
843. Messina in Sicily captured by the Saracens.
Feudalism may be said to become an actuality from about this time. See
"FEUDALISM: ITS FRANKISH BIRTH AND ENGLISH DEVELOPMENT," v, 1.
The Danes--called by Arabian writers "_Magioges_," people of Gog and
Magog--land at Lisbon from fifty-four ships and carry off a rich booty.
The treaty of Verdun, between the three sons of Louis _le Débonnaire_.
See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22.
844. Lothair gives the title king of Italy to his son Louis, who is
crowned at Rome.
Abderrahman fits out a fleet to resist the Danes who have infested the
neighborhood of Cadiz and Seville.
845. Paris is pillaged for the first time by the Danes or Northmen. See
"DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22.
Hamburg is looted and destroyed by the Danes.
846. Rome is attacked by the Saracens, who, after plundering the
country, lay siege to Gaeta.
Spain afflicted by a great drought and swarms of locusts.
847. A violent storm drives the Saracens from the siege of Gaeta. The
distress in Spain is relieved by Abderrahman, who remits the taxes and
constructs aqueducts and fountains.
848. Louis, King of Italy, drives the Saracens out of Beneventum.
Bordeaux is assailed by the Northmen, but they are vigorously repulsed.
See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22.
Pope Leo IV adds a new quarter to the city of Rome by surrounding the
Vatican with walls.
849. Birth of Alfred the Great. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49.
Gottschalk, a German bishop who preached the doctrine of twofold
predestination, sentenced by the Council of Quincy to be flogged and
suffer perpetual imprisonment.
The Saracens range at will through the Mediterranean; they are defeated
at the mouth of the Tiber by the combined fleets of Naples, Gaeta, and
Amalphi.
On Gallic soil the _benificium_ and practice of commendation is
specially fostered. See "FEUDALISM: ITS FRANKISH BIRTH AND ENGLISH
DEVELOPMENT," v, 1.
850. Roric, a nephew of Harold, collects a piratical armament in
Friesland and attacks adjacent coasts; Lothair grants Durstadt to him to
secure his own lands.
Pépin strengthens himself in Aquitaine by leagues with the Northmen. See
"DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22.
851. Danes ascend the Rhine with 252 ships and plunder Ghent, Cologne,
Treves, and Aix-la-Chapelle.
Roric, with 350 sail, proceeds up the Thames and pillages Canterbury and
London, after defeating the King of Mercia; he is at last defeated by
Ethelwulf, with great slaughter, at Ockley.
852. A revolt against the Moslems in Armenia.
853. Hastings' (the Danish chief) ruse at Tuscany. See "DECAY OF THE
FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22.
855. Death of Lothair, Emperor of the Franks; civil war between his
sons.
A band of Danes keep the Isle of Sheppey through the winter; their first
foothold in England.
860. Iceland discovered by the Northmen.
862. Rurik, the Varangian chief, conquers Novgorod and Kiov and lays the
foundation of the Russian empire.
863. Cyril and Methodius, the "apostles of the Slavs," undertake the
conversion of the Moravians.
Pope Nicholas deposes Photius and declares Ignatius to be the patriarch
of Constantinople; Photius in turn excommunicates the Pope.
Charles the Bald founds the County of Flanders.
864. Pope Nicholas asserts his exclusive right to appoint and depose
bishops; the sovereigns and prelates of France and Germany resist his
claim.
Christianity first introduced into Russia; it makes little progress.
865. First naval expedition of the Varangians or Russians against
Constantinople; their fleet is dispersed by a storm.
866. East Anglia invaded by a numerous body of Danes.
Accession of Alfonso the Great of Asturias.
868. Nottingham captured by the Danes; they are besieged by Burhred,
Alfred, and his brother, who allow them to return to York with their
booty. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49.
869. Eighth general council held at Constantinople; the deposition of
Photius confirmed and all iconoclasts anathematized.
870. Malta captured by the Saracens.
East Anglia captured by the Danes; Edmund, titular king of the country,
is treacherously slain by them; is afterward canonized.
871. Hincmar, a French prelate, encourages Charles the Bald to resist the
authority assumed by the Pope over the church of France.
Bari, a Saracen fortress in Southern Italy, is surrendered to the Franks
and Greeks.
Alfred ascends the throne of Wessex. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT,"
v, 49.
872. Louis of Germany relinquishes to Emperor Louis his portion of
Lorraine.
873. On the approach of Emperor Louis with an army the Saracens, who
were besieging Salerno, retire; they land in Calabria and commit great
depredations.
Locusts lay waste Italy, France, and Germany.
Organs introduced into the churches of Germany.
874. Mercia is conquered by the Danes, who set up Ceolwulf as their
king.
Iceland is settled by the Danes.
875. Death of Emperor Louis; Charles the Bald and Louis of Germany
contend for the succession. The former, by granting new privileges to
the Church of Rome, obtains the support of the Pope, and is acknowledged
as the king of Italy and emperor of the West.
Alfred, King of Wessex, fits out a fleet and conquers the Danes in a
great sea battle. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49.
876. Death of Louis of Germany; division of his kingdom among his three
sons: Bavaria to Carloman; Saxony to Louis the Stammerer; and East
France (Franconia and Swabia) to Charles the Fat. Their uncle, Charles
the Bald, attempts to dispossess them, but is defeated by Louis at
Andernach.
Rollo, at the head of the Northmen, enters the Seine and makes his first
settlement in Normandy. See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22.
877. No emperor of the West for three years.
Carloman acquires the crown of Italy; the Pope, who opposes him, is
driven from Rome by Lambert, Duke of Spoleto, and takes refuge in
France.
A large traffic in slaves carried on by the Venetians.
Count Boso founds the kingdom of Florence.
878. Alfred defeats a great host of the Danes at Eddington. See "CAREER
OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49.
Syracuse captured by the Saracens, who become the masters of Sicily.
879. Methodius forbidden by the Pope to perform the services of the
Church for the Slavonians in their own language.
The kingdom of Cisjurane, Burgundy, founded; it included Provence,
Dauphiné, and the southern part of Savoy.
880. Germany is ravaged by the Northmen.
Alfred, the English King, defeats the Danes at the battle of Ethandun;
by treaty he gives them equal rights, and they acknowledge his
supremacy. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49.
881. Methodius gets leave to use the Slavonic tongue in the churches.
Charles the Fat ascends the throne of Italy and Germany; is emperor of
the West.
882. Albategni, the Arabian astronomer, observes the autumnal equinox,
September 19th.
883. Alfred sends Singhelm and Athelstan on missions to Rome and the
Christian church in India.
884. Charles the Fat reunites the Frankish empire of Charlemagne.
885. Siege of Paris by the Northmen. See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE,"
v, 22.
886. Alfred the Great said to have founded the University of Oxford.
887. Deposition of Charles the Fat; Arnulf, natural son of Carloman of
Bavaria, elected by the nobles.
888. Death of Charles the Fat; final disruption of the Frankish empire;
the crown of France in dispute between the Count of Paris, Eudes, and
Charles the Simple. See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22.
Founding of the kingdom of Transjurane, Burgundy, which includes the
northern part of Savoy and all Switzerland between the Reuss and the
Jura.
Alfred the Great begins his translations from Latin into Anglo-Saxon.
See "AUGUSTINE'S MISSIONARY WORK IN ENGLAND," iv, 182.
890. Southern Italy constituted a province of the Greek empire and
called Lombardia.
891. King Arnulf, of Germany, defeats the Northmen or Danes at Louvain.
894. Arnulf becomes emperor of Germany.
Hungarians (Magyars) cross the Carpathians and occupy the plains of the
Theiss.
895. Rome is captured by Emperor Arnulf of Germany; he is crowned
emperor of the West.
896. Pope Stephen VII declares the election of his predecessor,
Formosus, invalid; disinters his body and has it thrown in the Tiber.
897. Pope Stephen imprisoned and strangled.
Alfred constructs a powerful navy and defeats Hastings the Dane. See
"CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49.
899. Accession of Louis the Child, on the death of Arnulf, to the German
throne.
900. Hungarians ravage Northern Italy.
901. Death of Alfred the Great, King of England; his son, Edward the
Elder, succeeds.
904. Russians, with a large naval force, attack Constantinople, and the
Saracens Thessalonica.
907. Bavaria desolated by the Hungarians.
909. Founding of the Fatimite caliphate in Africa. See "CONQUEST OF
EGYPT BY THE FATIMITES," v, 94.
911. End of the Carlovingian line in Germany. See "HENRY THE FOWLER
FOUNDS THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS," v, 82.
912. Rollo, converted to Christianity, takes the name of Robert and
receives from Peter the Simple the province afterward called Normandy,
of which he is the first duke. See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v,
22.
913. Igor, son of Rurik, by the death of his guardian, Oleg, is invested
with the government of Russia.
Bodies of Hungarians and Slavs make inroads on German territory. See
"HENRY THE FOWLER FOUNDS THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS," v, 82.
914. John X elected pope through the intrigues of Theodora.
916. Berengar is crowned emperor of the West, in Italy.
918. Death of Conrad, the King of Germany. See "HENRY THE FOWLER FOUNDS
THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS," v, 82.
919. Founding of the Danish kingdom of Dublin, Ireland. "HENRY THE
FOWLER FOUNDS THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS." See v, 82.
923. Rudolph of Burgundy disputes with Charles the Simple for the crown
of France.
924. Germany is overrun and devastated by the Hungarians. Death of
Berengar, upon which the imperial title lapses.
925. Edward the Elder is succeeded by his son Athelstan, in England.
926. Henry the Fowler conquers the Slavonians; he establishes the
margravate of Brandenburg.
928. Guido and Marozia usurp supreme temporal power in Rome and confine
Pope John X in prison, where he dies. (Date uncertain.)
929. Charles the Simple dies in captivity at Péronne.
Abu Taher, the Carmathian leader, plunders Mecca and massacres the
pilgrims.
930. Prague is besieged by Henry the Fowler, who becomes superior lord
of Bohemia; his son, Otho, marries Eadgith, sister of Athelstan, King of
England.
931. Marozia still rules in Rome; she makes her son pope John XI.
932. Hugh marries Marozia and is expelled from Rome by her son Alberic,
who confines his mother, and his brother, Pope John, in St. Angelo and
governs the city.
933. Henry the Fowler is victorious over the Hungarians at Merseburg.
See "HENRY THE FOWLER FOUNDS THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS," v, 82.
Union of Cis- and Transjurane Burgundy into one realm, the kingdom of
Arles.
Saracens invade Castile and are defeated at Uxama.
936. Death of Henry the Fowler; accession of Otho the Great in Germany
and of Louis _d'Outre-Mer_ in France. Louis was given the surname for
having been in exile in England, whence he was recalled to the crown.
From this time chivalry may be said to arise. See "GROWTH AND DECADENCE
OF CHIVALRY," v, 109.
937. Confederation of Scots and Irish with the Danes of Northumberland,
totally defeated by Athelstan, at Brunanburh.
France is invaded by the Hungarians.
939. The Marquis of Istria levies imposts on Venetian merchants, the
repeal of which is enforced by the Doge suspending all intercourse
between the two states.
940. Death of King Athelstan; his brother Edmund succeeds to the English
throne.
941. Constantinople attacked by the Russians under Igor; they are
repelled by Romanus.
945. Death of Igor; his widow, Olga, governs the Russians during the
minority of their son Swatoslaus.
Cumberland and Westmoreland, England, granted as a fief to Malcolm, King
of Scotland.
946. Edmund, who had conquered Mercia and the "Five Boroughs" of the
Danish confederacy, England, slain by an outlaw; his brother Edred
succeeds.
951. Otho the Great marches an army in to Italy; he dethrones Berengar
for cruelly ill-treating Adelaide.
952. Otho restores Italy to Berengar and his son; they do homage to him
at the Diet of Augsburg.
955. Otho vanquishes the Hungarians on the Lech; he afterward conquers
the Slavonians.
Olga, the Russian Princess, baptized at Constantinople; she carries back
into her own country some beginnings of civilization.
956. Many provinces, including Armenia, recovered from the Saracens by
the Eastern Empire.
959. St. Dunstan made archbishop of Canterbury on the accession of
Edgar.
961. Berengar finally dethroned by Otho the Great; the sovereignty of
Italy passes from Charlemagne's descendants to German rulers.
962. Otho the Great, master of Italy; his coronation as emperor of the
Romans by Pope John XII; establishment of the Holy Roman Empire of the
German nation.
963. Nicephorus Phocas defeats the Saracens and recovers the former
provinces of the empire as far as the Euphrates.
Al Hakem, Caliph of Cordova, famous as a patron of literature and
learning, and who is said to have collected a library of 600,000
volumes, employs agents in Africa and Arabia to purchase or copy
manuscripts.
King Edgar, England, defeats the Welsh and exacts an annual tribute of
three hundred wolves' heads.
964. Pope Leo VIII is expelled; John XII reinstated, he dies soon after;
Rome is besieged and captured by the Emperor, after a revolt encouraged
by Berengar.
966. After 328 years' subjection Antioch is recovered from the Saracens.
Bulgaria invaded by the Russians, who also extend their dominion to the
Black Sea.
Miecislas, ruler of Poland, embraces Christianity.
969. Kahira (now Cairo) built by the Fatimites, who establish a
caliphate in Egypt. See "CONQUEST OF EGYPT BY THE FATIMITES," v, 94.
Nicephorus Phocas, Emperor of the East, murdered by John Zimisces, who
succeeds.
971. All munitions of war and arms are by the Venetians forbidden to be
sold by their merchants to the Saracens.
973. On the death of his father, Otho the Great, Otho II ascends the
throne of the German empire. His Empress, Theophania, introduces Greek
customs and manners into Germany.
976. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, defeated by Otho II and deposed, takes
refuge in Bohemia.
Death of Al Hakem; his reign the most glorious of the Saracenic dominion
in Spain.
Commotion in Venice; the Doge attempts to introduce mercenary troops and
is slain; his palace, St. Mark's, and other churches burned.
978. Otho II makes a victorious movement into France.
979. King Edward the Martyr assassinated by command of his
mother-in-law, Elfrida; Ethelred the Unready succeeds. (Date uncertain.)
980. Theophania urges her husband, Otho II, to claim the Greek provinces
in Italy; he advances with his army to Ravenna.
Vladimir obtains the assistance of the sea-kings, defeats his brother,
Jaropolk, puts him to death, and becomes sole ruler of Russia.
982. Saracens of Africa are invited by the Greek emperors to join them
in opposing Otho; battle of Basientello, total defeat of Otho; he is
taken prisoner, but escapes by swimming.
983. Eric the Red, a Norseman, first visits Greenland, which he thus
names, and afterward settles. See "LEIF ERICSON DISCOVERS AMERICA," v,
141.
Death of Otho II; Otho III succeeds to the throne of Germany under the
regency of his mother, Theophania.
987. Death of Louis V, the last of the Carlovingian line; Hugh Capet is
elected king of France; this inaugurates the Capetian dynasty.
988. Vladimir the Great of Russia embraces Christianity. See "CONVERSION
OF VLADIMIR THE GREAT," v, 128.
989. Sedition in Rome; Empress Theophania arrives there and suppresses
it.
In Germany rural counts and barons commence their depredations on the
properties of their neighbors.
Learned men from all parts of the East flock to Cordova, Almansor, the
Saracen regent, having set apart a fund to promote literature.
991. Archbishop Gerbert, of Rheims, introduces the use of Arabic
numerals, which he had learned at Cordova.
Ipswich and Maldon, England, ravaged by the Danes; a tribute raised for
them by means of the "Danegild" tax.
994. Hugh Capet maintains Gerbert in the see of Rheims, against the
opposition of the Pope.
With a fleet of ninety-four ships the kings of Norway and Denmark attack
London; they are beaten off by the citizens.
996. Death of Hugh Capet; his son Robert succeeds.
997. Venetians conquer the coast and islands of the Adriatic as far as
Ragusa; their Doge styles himself duke of Dalmatia.
Death of Gejza, first Christian prince of Hungary.
Insurrection of peasants in Normandy.
998. Crescentius, having usurped power in Rome and expelled the Pope, is
defeated, captured, and put to death by Otho III.
1000. Leif Ericson and Biorn discover America. See "LEIF ERICSON
DISCOVERS AMERICA," v, 141.
Otho III and Boleslas the Valiant, King of Poland, meet at Gnesen.
Expectation of the end of the world causes the sowing of seed and other
agricultural work to be neglected; famine ensues therefrom.
Duke Stephen of Hungary receives the royal title from Pope Sylvester II.
First invasion of India by Mahmud. See "MAHOMETANS IN INDIA," v, 151.
1002. Massacre of Danes in England; the Day of St. Brice.
Henry, Duke of Bavaria, elected king of Germany on the death of Otho
III.
1003. Sweyn of Denmark invades England to avenge the massacre of his
people.
1013. After various repulses and successes Sweyn takes nearly the whole
of England; King Ethelred and his Queen flee to her brother Richard,
Duke of Normandy.
Imperial coronation of Henry II.
1014. Death of Sweyn. Ethelred returns to England; he battles with the
Danes, under Sweyn's son, Canute, who is driven from the country.
King Brian, the Brian Boroimhe or Boru, the most famous of Irish kings,
defeats the Danes at the battle of Clontarf, but perishes in the
conflict.
1016. Pope Benedict VIII repulses the Saracens at Luni, Tuscany; they
besiege Salerno and are defeated by the aid of a band of Norman pilgrims
returning from Jerusalem.
Edmund "Ironsides," the English King, assassinated. See "CANUTE BECOMES
KING OF ENGLAND," v, 164.
1017. Swatopolk, Grand Duke of Russia, defeated by his brother,
Jaroslav, Prince of Novgorod, seeks an asylum in Poland.
All England acknowledges Canute as king. See "CANUTE BECOMES KING OF
ENGLAND," v, 164.
1018. Complete destruction of the Bulgarian realm by the Eastern emperor
Basil II.
Swatopolk finally expelled from Russia by Jaroslav, who becomes ruler.
1020. Death of Firdusi, a famous Persian poet.
1022. Guido Aretinus invents the staff, and is the first to adopt as
names for the notes of the musical scale the initial syllables of the
hemistichs of a hymn in honor of St. John the Baptist.
1024. Death of the emperor Henry II of Germany; the Franconian dynasty
inaugurated by Conrad II.
1027. Conrad II crowned emperor at Rome; Canute of England and Rudolph
of Burgundy attend the ceremony.
Schleswig is formally ceded to Denmark by Conrad II.
1028. Canute invades Norway; he conquers King Olaf and annexes his
dominions. See "CANUTE BECOMES KING OF ENGLAND," v, 164.
1031. End of the Ommiad caliphate of Cordova; Spain divided by the
Moorish chiefs into many states.
1033. Institution of the "Truce of God." A suspension of private feuds
observed in England, France, Italy, and elsewhere. Such a truce provided
that these feuds should cease on all the more important church festivals
and fasts, from Thursday evening to Monday morning, during Lent, or
similar occasions.
Castile created an independent kingdom by Sancho the Great, King of
Navarre.
Conrad II extends his dominion over the Arletan territories.
1035. Death of King Canute; his sons, Hardicanute in Denmark, Harold in
England, and Sweyn in Norway, succeed him. See "CANUTE BECOMES KING OF
ENGLAND," v, 164.
Aragon created an independent kingdom.
1037. Avicenna, Arabian physician and scholar, dies. (Date uncertain.)
Harold becomes king of all England.
1039. Murder of King Duncan, of Scotland, by Macbeth, who succeeds.
1042. End of the Danish rule in England; Hardicanute succeeded by Edward
the Confessor.
1045. Ferdinand of Castile exacts tribute from his Moorish neighbors.
1046. Henry III holds a council at Sutri on the question of the papacy.
See "HENRY III DEPOSES THE SIMONIACAL POPES," v, 177.
1047. Count Guelf given the duchy Carinthia by Emperor Henry III.
1048. On the death of Clement II, the deposed Pope again intrudes
himself. See "HENRY III DEPOSES THE SIMONIACAL POPES," v, 177.
1049. Hildebrand, the monk, assumes charge of the patrimony of St.
Peter, at Rome.
1050. Bérenger of Tours condemned and imprisoned for denying the
doctrine of transubstantiation.
1051. William of Normandy visits England; he confers with Edward the
Confessor.
1052. Archbishop Robert, with the Norman bishops and nobles, driven out
of England.
1053. In Italy the Norman conquests of that country are conferred on
them as a fief of the Church.
1054. Separation of the Greek and Latin churches. See "DISSENSION AND
SEPARATION OF THE GREEK AND ROMAN CHURCHES," v, 189.
1055. Togrul Beg drives the Buyides from Bagdad and establishes his
authority there.
1056. Death of Emperor Henry III; his son, Henry IV, is elected king
under the regency of his mother, Agnes.
Malcolm defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland, at Dunsinane.
1057. Harold, son of Earl Godwin, is designated heir to the throne of
England. See "NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND," v, 204.
1059. Nicholas II and the Council of Rome decree that future popes shall
be elected by the college of cardinals, but confirmed by the people and
clergy of Rome and the emperor.
1060. King Andrew slain in battle by his brother, Bela, who ascends the
throne of Hungary.
1061. Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger, at the head of the Normans,
engage in the conquest of Sicily from the Saracens.