1085 CE

Emperor Zhezong ascends the throne at the age of 8 under the supervision of his grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Gao. She cancels the reform policy of Chancellor Wang Anshi. King Alfonso VI of León and Castile ("the Brave") recaptures Toledo from the Moors, and occupies other cities such as Madrid and Talavera (including the castle of Aledo). Alfonso moves his capital to Toledo, and consolidates his power between Sistema Central and the Tagus River, from where he launches more attacks against the taifas of Córdoba, Seville, Badajoz and Granada (modern Spain). Vratislaus II, a son of Duke Bretislav I, becomes the first king of Bohemia and is elevated 'for life' by Henry IV.

In the 1080s, the 11th century.

Conflict & Security

  • May 25 – King Alfonso VI of León and Castile ("the Brave") recaptures Toledo from the Moors, and occupies other cities such as Madrid and Talavera (including the castle of Aledo). Alfonso moves his capital to Toledo, and consolidates his power between Sistema Central and the Tagus River, from where he launches more attacks against the taifas of Córdoba, Seville, Badajoz and Granada (modern Spain).source
  • The Domesday Survey is commissioned by King William the Conqueror, apparently prompted by the abortive invasion of Canute IV, to ensure proper taxation and levies.source

Religion & Belief

  • Emperor Henry IV declares the Peace of God in all the imperial territories of the Holy Roman Empire to quell any sedition.source

Economy & Finance

  • The output of copper currency for the Chinese Song dynasty reaches 6 billion coins a year, prompting the Chinese government to adopt the world's first paper-printed money later in the 1120s.source

Health & Medicine

  • Summer – Robert Guiscard heads for the Ionian Islands despite an epidemic among troops on Corfu. His son, Roger Borsa, lands on Cephalonia but Guiscard falls sick as his ship approaches the northernmost headland and is carried ashore, where he dies of fever (on July 17).source

Culture & Society

  • April 1 – Emperor Zhezong ascends the throne at the age of 8 under the supervision of his grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Gao. She cancels the reform policy of Chancellor Wang Anshi.source
  • June 15 – Vratislaus II, a son of Duke Bretislav I, becomes the first king of Bohemia and is elevated 'for life' by Henry IV.source
  • Katedralskolan in Lund (modern Sweden), the oldest school in Scandinavia, is founded by King Canute IV of Denmark.source

Births

  • September 19 – Maria Komnene, Byzantine princesssource
  • Waleran II, duke of Lower Lorraine (approximate date)source
  • Ahmad Sanjar, Seljuk ruler of Khorasan (approximate date)source
  • Otto II the Black, Moravian prince (approximate date)source
  • Stephen of Obazine, French priest and hermit (died 1154)source
  • Robert fitz Martin, Norman knight and nobleman (died 1159)source
  • Imad ad-Din Zengi, Seljuk ruler of Mosul (approximate date)source
  • Avempace, Andalusian polymath and philosopher (died 1138)source
  • Ralph I (or Raoul), count of Vermandois (approximate date)source
  • William, Count of Sully ("the Simple"), French nobleman (approximate date)source
  • Zhu Bian, Chinese diplomat, poet and writer (died 1144)source
  • Gilbert of Sempringham, English priest (approximate date)source
  • William of Montevergine, Italian monk and abbot (died 1142)source
  • Elizabeth of Vermandois, English countess (approximate date)source

Deaths

  • January 3 – Williram of Ebersberg, German abbotsource
  • April 1 – Shenzong, emperor of Song dynasty China (born 1048)source
  • May 25 – Gregory VII, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • May 27 – Gundred, Countess of Surrey (or Gundreda), English noblewomansource
  • June 19 – Vitalis of Bernay, Norman monk and abbotsource
  • July 17 – Robert Guiscard, Norman warrior and noblemansource
  • August 19 – Al-Juwayni, Persian scholar and imam (born 1028)source
  • September 20 – Hermann II, German nobleman (born 1049)source
  • Yūsuf Balasaguni, Karakhanid statesman (born 1019)source
  • Maitripada, Indian Buddhist philosopher (born 1007)source
  • Al-Lakhmi, Fatimid scholar, jurist and writer (born 1006)source
  • Osbern Giffard, Norman nobleman (approximate date)source
  • Cheng Hao, Chinese neo-Confucian philosopher (born 1032)source
  • Alfanus I (or Alfano), Italian physician and archbishopsource