Culture & Society in the 10th century

50 sourced entries, 900 CE to 999 CE, oldest first. Also see Culture & Society across every century or everything else in the 10th century.

• 900June 8 – Edward the Elder (son of Alfred the Great) is crowned king of England at Kingston upon Thames.source
• 900Summer – After the death of his wife Zoe Zaoutzaina, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI marries Eudokia Baïana.source
• 900c. 900 –1230 – Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, is built by the Ancestral Pueblo people.source
• 901Edward the Elder takes the title "King of the Anglo-Saxons". His mother, Dowager-Queen Ealhswith, founds the Nunnaminster at Winchester and retires into a religious life there.source
• 901The Mesoamerican ballgame court is dedicated by the Maya ruler Chan Chak K'ak'nal Ajaw (also known as Lord Chac) at Uxmal (modern Mexico).source
• 909April 27 – The Min Kingdom (modern-day Fujian province) is established by governor Wang Shenzhi (Prince of Langye), with Fuzhou (known as Changle) as its capital. Wang Shenzhi tries to attract scholars who will help to construct an efficient bureaucracy and tax system.source
• 914In India Emperor Indra III of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty, a grandson of Krishna II, begins his rule (until 929).source
• 919March 25 – Romanos Lekapenos, admiral (droungarios) of the Byzantine navy, seizes the Boukoleon Palace in Constantinople. He is named megas hetaireiarches (head of the imperial guard). Lekapenos consolidates his position and becomes regent of Emperor Constantine VII. He marries his 9-year-old daughter Helena Lekapene to Constantine and assumes the new title of basileopator (one of the highest offices in the Byzantine Empire).source
• 925September 4 — The coronation of Æthelstan as King of the Anglo-Saxons (comprising the united kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia) takes place on the island of Britain at Kingston upon Thames.source
• 925December 10 — In Pamplona in Spain, Jimeno II becomes the new King of Navarre in Spain upon the death of his brother, King Sancho I.source
• 931Nómina Leonesa, an account of the kings of Asturias and León, is published (approximate date).source
• 936June 19 – At Laon, Louis IV, the 14-year old son of the late King Charles the Simple, is crowned King of West Francia after being recalled from Wessex by Hugh the Great, count of Paris. Hugh, whose father, King Robert I, was killed in battle near Soissons in 923, is given the title Duke of the Franks and becomes the second most powerful man in the West Frankish Kingdom. The crowning of Louis IV follows the death of King Rudolph I at Auxerre earlier in the year.source
• 937King Hugh of Arles (king of Italy) travels to Colombier (Switzerland) and marries Rudolph's widow Bertha. He takes Conrad I under his tutelage and betroths Rudolph's 6-year-old daughter Adelaide with his own son and co-ruler Lothair II.source
• 940Saadia Gaon, a Jewish rabbi and philosopher, compiles his Siddur (Jewish prayer book) in Arabic and synagogal poetry in modern-day Iraq (approximate date).source
• 945King Hywel Dda ("the Good") convenes a conference at Whitland, which draws up a standardized code of laws in Wales (approximate date).source
• 947Al-Masudi, an Arab historian and geographer, completes his large-scale work The Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems, a historical book about the beginning of the world, starting with Adam and Eve.source
• 948St. Albans School is founded in Hertfordshire.source
• 960Richard I (the Fearless), duke of Normandy, marries Emma of Paris. She is the daughter of Hugh the Great, former Duke of the Franks. The union gives him a permanent status to the House of Capet.source
• 960Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark, consolidates his rule over Jutland and Zealand. He adopts Christianity, erecting a carved stone at Jelling to honour his parents. It features a runic inscription (best-known in Denmark) and an image of Christ surrounded by interlace. The other Scandinavian kingdoms slowly convert to Christianity (approximate date).source
• 961May 26 – Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor elects his 6-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler at the Imperial Diet in Worms. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda and his half-brother William of Mainz. Otto's own brother Bruno I is charged with the provisional government of Lorraine again.source
• 961The "Shroud of Saint Josse", a rich silk Samite camel cloth from Khurasan, is made. It is preserved in the Abbey of Saint-Josse-sur-Mer, near Caen (Normandy) (approximate date).source
• 963September 20 – Nikephoros II marries the former Byzantine consort Theophano, the widow of Emperor Romanos II, bolstering his legitimacy.source
• 963Luxembourg has her beginnings at Luxembourg Castle (located on the Bock), founded by Sigfried, count of the Ardennes.source
• 965September 23 – Al-Mutanabbi, an Abbasid poet, returns from 5 years in Mesopotamia. He has lived at Shiraz under the protection of the Buyid emir 'Adud al-Dawla, but bandits kill him near An Numaniyah (modern Iran).source
• 965The last of the Jelling stones was erected in Denmark by the king Harald Bluetooth; a monumental incident in danish history, often referred to as the birth of Denmark as a nation unified under the religion of Christianity.source
• 966April 14 – Mieszko I, first duke and prince of Poland, is baptized a Christian, which is usually considered the foundation of the Polish state. Mieszko's baptism, under the influence of his wife Doubravka of Bohemia, brings his territories into the community of Christian countries. The lands ruled by Mieszko cover about 250,000 km², and are inhabited by about 1.2 million people around this time.source
• 966May – Pietro IV Candiano, doge of Venice, remarries to Waldrada of Tuscany, a daughter of Hubert, Duke of Spoleto, and a relative of Otto the Great. Waldrada brings him a large dowry, including the possessions of Ferrara, Friuli and Treviso (northern Italy).source
• 966Spring – King Lothair of France marries Princess Emma of Italy (the only daughter of Adelaide of Burgundy—second wife of Emperor Otto the Great, from her first marriage with King Lothair II, member of the Bosonid dynasty). Lothair strengthens his ties with the Holy Roman Empire. He temporarily remains in control of the cities of Arras and Douai. The latter becomes a flourishing textile market centre during the Middle Ages.source
• 974The Liao Dynasty exchanges ambassadors with the Song Dynasty on New Years Day (Spring Festival).source
• 976Summer – Otto II appoints Leopold I (the Illustrious), a member of the House of Babenberg, as margrave of the Marcha Orientalis (the later Archduchy of Austria). In order to maintain his possession in Southern Italy, Otto strengthens his army with 2,100 mailed horsemen (heavy cavalry) from Germany, of which around 1,500 are to be provided by the Churches.source
• 978One of the Four Great Books of Song, the Taiping Guangji, a Chinese collection of deities, fairies, ghost stories and theology, is completed. The collection is divided into 500 volumes and consists of about 3 million Chinese characters.source
• 978The town of Guildford (Surrey) becomes the location of the Royal Mint.source
• 979June 8 – Louis V, nicknamed le Fainéant (the Do-Nothing), is crowned as the co-emperor of West Francia at Paris by his father, King Lothair. Upon Lothair's death on March 2, 986, Louis becomes the sole ruler.source
• 980Winter – Otto II celebrates Christmas with his family at Ravenna. He receives the Iron Crown of Lombardy as the King of Italy.source
• 981Summer – Seongjong ascends the throne of Goryeo (Korea) after the death of his brother-in-law (and cousin), king Gyeongjong.source
• 981The first recorded Mahamastakabhisheka ceremony, of the sacred 57 foot high monolithic statue of Bahubali, is performed.source
• 983One of the Four Great Books of Song, the encyclopedia Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era is completed in 1,000 volumes, of 4.7 million written Chinese characters.source
• 985Summer – Henry II (the Wrangler) is restored as duke of Bavaria by Empress Theophanu and her mother-in-law Adelaide at an Hoftag assembly in Rohr (Thuringia). King Otto III (5-years old) remains under the regency of the two empresses in the Holy Roman Empire and in the Kingdom of Italy.source
• 986One of the Four Great Books of Song, the Chinese encyclopedia Finest Blossoms in the Garden of Literature is finished, with a total of 1,000 volumes.source
• 987December – The 15-year-old Robert (the son of Hugh Capet) is crowned co-ruler of France around Christmas at Orléans.source
• 988April 1 – 16-year old Robert II of France ("Robert the Pious") is married to the much older Rozala (the widow of Arnulf II). The marriage is arranged by Robert's father, King Hugh Capet, to secure the loyalty of the County of Flanders.source
• 988The Liao dynasty adopts civil service examinations in the 'Southern Chancellery', based on Tang dynasty models (approximate date).source
• 989October 25 – The Hagia Sophia at Constantinople is struck by a great earthquake, causing the collapse of the western dome arch. Basil II asks the Armenian architect Trdat, the creator of the Cathedral of Ani, to direct the repairs.source
• 989Sankore Madrasah, at this stage a mosque, is founded in Timbuktu (modern-day Mali).source
• 990The city of Lund, Sweden is founded, during the reign of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard (approximate date).source
• 994September – King Otto III, now 14 years old, receives the regalia to rule the Kingdom of Germany at an assembly of the Imperial Diet in Solingen. Otto appoints Heribert of Cologne as chancellor of Italy.source
• 994Olaf Tryggvason, already a baptised Christian, is confirmed as Christian in a ceremony at Andover. After receiving gifts from Æthelred II, Olaf leaves for Norway.source
• 997Trondheim is founded by King Olav Tryggvason. This will function as the main city and capital of Norway, until Bergen is founded in 1070.source
• 999February 9 – The Mogi Ceremony of Fujiwara no Shoshi is held (she later becomes empress).source
• 999December – Empress Teishi gives birth to Prince Atsuyasu (who becomes the imperial heir), but on the next day, her rival, Fujiwara no Shoshi, is promoted to Consort.source