1044 CE

Battle of Ménfő: German troops under King Henry III ("the Black") defeat the Hungarian army, led by King Samuel Aba, who flees the field but is captured and killed. Peter Orseolo ("the Venetian") becomes (for the second time) king of Hungary, and a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire. King Anawrahta seizes the throne of the Pagan Empire at Bagan in Burma (modern Myanmar). The Chinese military treatise of the Wujing Zongyao is written and compiled by scholars Zeng Gongliang (曾公亮), Ding Du (丁度), and Yang Weide (楊惟德), during the Song dynasty. It is the first book in history to include formulas for gunpowder, and its use for various bombs (thrown by sling or trebuchet catapult). It also describes the double-piston pump flamethrower and a thermoremanence compass, a few decades before Shen Kuo wrote of the first known magnetic mariner's compass. Although emphasizing the importance of many weapons, it reserves high respect for the crossbow, and the ability of crossbowmen to fell charging units of nomadic cavalrymen.

In the 1040s, the 11th century.

Conflict & Security

  • July 6 – Battle of Ménfő: German troops under King Henry III ("the Black") defeat the Hungarian army, led by King Samuel Aba, who flees the field but is captured and killed. Peter Orseolo ("the Venetian") becomes (for the second time) king of Hungary, and a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire.source
  • Summer – Geoffrey II ("the Hammer"), count of Anjou, captures the city of Tours, and takes control of the county of Touraine.source

Religion & Belief

  • September – A second Roman uprising forces Pope Benedict IX out of Rome. He is succeeded by the new elected (anti)-Pope Sylvester III (until 1045).source

Culture & Society

  • August 11 – King Anawrahta seizes the throne of the Pagan Empire at Bagan in Burma (modern Myanmar).source
  • The Chinese military treatise of the Wujing Zongyao is written and compiled by scholars Zeng Gongliang (曾公亮), Ding Du (丁度), and Yang Weide (楊惟德), during the Song dynasty. It is the first book in history to include formulas for gunpowder, and its use for various bombs (thrown by sling or trebuchet catapult). It also describes the double-piston pump flamethrower and a thermoremanence compass, a few decades before Shen Kuo wrote of the first known magnetic mariner's compass. Although emphasizing the importance of many weapons, it reserves high respect for the crossbow, and the ability of crossbowmen to fell charging units of nomadic cavalrymen.source

Births

  • Władysław I Herman, duke of Poland (died 1102)source
  • Trahaearn ap Caradog, Welsh king of Gwynedd (died 1081)source
  • Abelard of Hauteville, Italo-Norman nobleman (died 1081)source

Deaths

  • January 14 – Adelaide I, abbess of Quedlinburgsource
  • February 13 – Zhao Yuanyan, Chinese prince of the Song dynasty (born 985)source
  • April 19 – Gothelo I (or Gozelo), duke of Lorrainesource
  • July 6 – Samuel Aba, palatine and king of Hungarysource
  • August 11 – Sokkate, last king of the Pagan Kingdom, killed in combat (born 1001)source
  • November 14 – Thietmar of Hildesheim, German bishopsource
  • Abu'l-Husayn al-Basri, Mu'tazilite faqih and theologiansource
  • Sharif al-Murtaza, Buyid Shia scholar (born 965)source
  • Rajendra Chola I, emperor of the Chola dynastysource