Culture & Society in the 11th century

122 sourced entries, 1000 CE to 1099 CE, oldest first. Also see Culture & Society across every century or everything else in the 11th century.

• 1000April 8: Fujiwara no Shoshi is promoted to Empress (Chugu), while there is another empress, Fujiwara no Teishi (kogo) - this is the first time that there are two empressessource
• 1000The Kingdom of Hungary was established in 1000 as a Christian state. In the next centuries, the Kingdom of Hungary became the pre-eminent cultural power in the Central European region. On December 25, Stephen I was crowned as the first King of Hungary in Esztergom.source
• 1000Palace Scandal: Princess Consort Yasuko has an affair. Michinaga (her half-brother) investigates it secretly and finds out the truth about her pregnancy. Yasuko cries and repents. Yasuko leaves the palace under the patronage of Empress Dowager Senshi and Michinaga (moved to his residence).source
• 1000In the Kingdom of France, Robert II, the son of Hugh Capet, was the first King of the Capetian royal dynasty.source
• 1000The Château de Goulaine vineyard was founded in France.source
• 100170th birthday and longevity ceremony of Fujiwara no Bokushi (mother-in-law of Fujiwara no Michinaga, grandmother of Empress Shōshi).source
• 1001Robert II, King of France, marries for the third time, with Constance Taillefer d'Arles.source
• 100140th birthday of Empress dowager Senshi (mother of Emperor Ichijō).source
• 1001Construction begins on the Liaodi Pagoda, the tallest pagoda in Chinese history (completed in 1055).source
• 1002In Japan, court lady Sei Shōnagon completes writing The Pillow Book.source
• 1003Construction of the Brihadisvara Temple in Tamil Nadu (modern India), during the Chola Dynasty (Early Medieval period).source
• 1004December – Fujiwara no Kenshi, the future empress consort, enters the palace as lady-in-waiting to her sister, Empress Shōshi.source
• 1004Jingdezhen porcelain enters a period of significant production during the Song dynasty.source
• 1007January 1 (New Year’s Day) – Imperial Princess Shushi is granted the title Ippon Shinno (first rank princess).source
• 1007January 29 – Ranking ceremony of Murasaki Shikibu – as a renowned writer and lady-in-waiting, tutor of Empress Shōshi, she is elevated to the highest position in the palace below the empress.source
• 1007April – Imperial Prince Tomohira receives the title nihon (second rank prince).source
• 1008November 13 – Kamo Special Festival: The poet Murasaki Shikibu is given her name from a famous court poet, Fujiwara no Kinto; this year she probably starts to write The Diary of Lady Murasaki.source
• 100842nd Birthday of Fujiwara no Michinaga, father-in-law of the emperor, is celebrated.source
• 100921st November – The Lý Dynasty in Vietnam is proclaimed by Emperor Lý Thái Tổ (former commander of the palace guard) after the death of Lê Long Đĩnh, the last monarch of the Lê Dynasty.source
• 1009Princess Takahime (daughter of Imperial Prince Tomohira, cousin of emperor Ichijo) is married to Fujiwara no Yorimichi, first son of Fujiwara no Michinaga, enlarging the latter’s power.source
• 1010January – Fujiwara no Kenshi (daughter of Michinaga) is married to the imperial heir Crown Prince Okisada.source
• 1010February 14 – On the death of Fujiwara no Korechika his daughter, the poet Fujiwara no Chikako, becomes a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shōshi.source
• 1010March 8 – Persian poet Ferdowsi finishes writing the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), which will be regarded as the national epic of the greater Iranian culture.source
• 1010Beowulf is written anonymously in Old English (approximate date).source
• 1010The construction of 217 ft (66 m) tall Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur (a city now in Tamil Nadu, India) is completed during the Chola dynasty, and at about this time the wall painting Rajaraja I and His Teachersource
• 1010In the Chola dynasty of southern India, the first votes are celebrated by adding a ballot in an urn.source
• 1010Lady Murasaki writes The Tale of Genji in Japanese (approximate date).source
• 1010Song Zhun of Song dynasty China completes the work of the earlier geographer Lu Duosun, an enormous atlas of China that is written and illustrated in 1,556 chapters, showing maps of each region, city, town, and village (the atlas took 39 years to complete).source
• 1012February – Fujiwara no Kenshi, daughter of the powerful court official Fujiwara no Michinaga, is elevated to Empress Consort (Chūgū). The Emperor's first wife, Fujiwara no Seishi, is also elevated to Empress (Kōgō) at the same time but Michinaga ensures that court officials do not attend her ceremony.source
• 1012The Tepanec tribe settles on the western region of Lake Texcoco. The lineage starts when the Chichimeca chieftain Acolhua marries Cuetlaxochitzin, daughter of Xolotl, another Chichimeca chieftain.source
• 1013December 25 – Sweyn Forkbeard takes control of the Danelaw and is proclaimed king of England in London. Some of the English provinces refuse to pay homage to Sweyn, who has no dynastic right to claim the throne.source
• 1013The Four Great Books of Song, the Song dynasty Chinese encyclopedia Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau which has been compiled since 1005, is completed in 1,000 volumes of 9.4 million written Chinese characters.source
• 1014Rajendra Chola I, king of the Chola dynasty begins his reign. (India)source
• 1015Peacocks arrive from the Chinese Song Empire to Fujiwara's mansion in Japan.source
• 1016Japanese poet Koshikibu no Naishi (lady-in-waiting to Dowager Empress Shōshi) and her husband Fujiwara no Kiminari (son of Michinaga) have a son, but the couple is not accepted because of the social gap between them.source
• 1017January 6 – Cnut ("the Great") is crowned king of England. In July he marries Emma of Normandy, the widow of Æthelred the Unready, securing his ties with Normandy.source
• 1017December 24 – Michinaga is granted the honorary title Daijō-daijin of Japan.source
• 1018January 22 – Emperor Go-Ichijō of Japan celebrates his coming-of-age ceremony; he is aged 9 at this time.source
• 1018November 26 – 19-year-old Fujiwara no Ishi marries her nephew Go-Ichijō, becoming Empress of Japan (Chugu), the third in succession of the daughters of influential court official Fujiwara no Michinaga to become Empress. Michinaga, who sent her to court in March, holds a banquet in celebration.source
• 1018Cnut ("the Great"), King of England, travels to Denmark to succeed his brother Harald II on the Danish throne.source
• 1023May 11 – In the Kingdom of León in Spain, the Abbot Oliba declines to authorize the wedding of King Alfonso V to Urraca Garcés, the sister of King Sancho of Pamplona, describing it as incesti connubii. The wedding takes place anyway.source
• 1023August 11 – King Robert II of France and Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor have a neutral site meeting at Ivois (now Carignan in France's département of Ardennes), and pledge to convene an assembly at Pavia to reform the clergy.source
• 1023November 13 – The marriage of King Alfonso V of León to Princess Urraca of Pamplona is confirmed by the Roman Catholic Church.source
• 102360th birthday and longevity ceremony of Japanese matriarch Minamoto no Rinshi, wife of Fujiwara no Michinaga.source
• 1024May 13 – Fujiwara no Takako, daughter of influential Japanese statesman Fujiwara no Michinaga, is married to Minamoto no Morofusa.source
• 1024July 17 – In Japan, the Manju (万寿) era begins.source
• 1024August 23 (17th day of 7th month of 1 Manju) – While Emperor Goichijo attends a sumo match in the Shishinden hall behind the Ichijo-in Temple, a fight breaks out between Judge Fujiwara Keisuke and Minamoto no Shigeto, leader of the Kurando Shikibu.source
• 1024September 4 – Conrad the Elder is elected as the new King of Germany by an assembly of imperial princes and nobles at Kamba, receiving more votes than his cousin Conrad the Younger, son of Conrad I, Duke of Carinthiasource
• 1024September 8 – Conrad the Elder is crowned as King Conrad II of Germany in a ceremony at Mainz, and he and Conrad the Younger are invested as joint dukes of Franconia.source
• 1024Japanese waka poet Sagami divorces, returns to Kyoto and becomes a lady-in-waiting to Imperial Princess Shushi.source
• 1024Japanese waka poet Daini no Sanmi, lady-in-waiting to dowager Grand Empress Shōshi, is married to Fujiwara no Kanetaka.source
• 1025January 21 – Chifuru, daughter of powerful Japanese court official Fujiwara no Sanesuke (rival of Fujiwara no Michinaga) has her mogi ceremony. Sanesuke wants to make his daughter an imperial consort which causes the dislike of Empress Ishi (daughter of Michinaga) – eventually Kampaku (Regent) Fujiwara no Yorimichi prevents it. [Unclear significance]source
• 1025March 6 – In the Duchy of Aquitaine in France, the Aquitanian barons and prelates meet at Maillezais, to discuss the claims by William the Fat, son of the Duke of Aquitaine Guillaume le Grand (William the Great) to rule the vacant throne of the Kingdom of Italy (primarily Lombardy and Tuscany) within the Holy Roman Empire. The title is eventually claimed by Conrad the Salic.source
• 1025Japanese Kampaku (Regent) Fujiwara no Yorimichi holds horse racing at his mansion; the emperor attends. [Unclear significance]source
• 10269-year-old Henry "the Black" is made duke of Bavaria by his father, Conrad II, after the death of his predecessor Henry V.source
• 1026Approximate date – Guido of Arezzo writes his treatise on music, Micrologus.source
• 1027August 6 – Robert the Magnificent becomes duke of Normandy after the death of his brother Richard III.source
• 1027August 16 – Bagrat IV becomes king of Georgia on the death of his father, George I. Queen Dowager Mariam becomes regent for her 9-year-old son.source
• 1027This is the first year of the first rabjyung (60-year) cycle to start in the Tibetan calendar.source
• 1027Wedding of Crown Prince Atsunaga of Japan and Imperial Princess Teishi.source
• 1027The Book of Healing (Arabic: کتاب الشفاء Kitab Al-Shifaʾ, Latin: Sufficientia), a comprehensive scientific and philosophical encyclopedia written by the Persian polymath Avicenna (Abū ʿAlī ibn Sīnā), is published.source
• 1027King Sigtrygg Silkbeard of Dublin and sub-King Flannacán of Brega make a pilgrimage to Rome.source
• 1028November 15 – Zoë Porphyrogenita takes the throne as empress consort. Her husband, Romanos III (age 60) becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.source
• 1034April 11 – Emperor Romanos III (Argyros) is drowned in his bath, at the urging of his wife Zoë, who marries her chamberlain, and elevates him to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, as Michael IV. Romanos is buried in the Church of St. Mary Peribleptos in Constantinople.source
• 1035October 16 – Conrad II grants the right to hold the first Freimarkt festival in Bremen. The city increases her trade with Norway, and the northern Netherlands.source
• 1037The Chinese rime dictionary of the Jiyun is published during the Song Dynasty.source
• 1038August 15 – On the death of his uncle, Stephen I, Peter Orseolo becomes the second ruler of Hungary.source
• 1043Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev makes an agreement with Duke Casimir I the Restorer of Poland that recognizes Chervyen as part of Kiev. The agreement is sealed with a double marriage – Casimir to Maria Dobroniega (a daughter of Vladimir the Great), and Iziaslav to Gertrude, Casimir's sister.source
• 1044August 11 – King Anawrahta seizes the throne of the Pagan Empire at Bagan in Burma (modern Myanmar).source
• 1044The 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
• 1045February 5 – Emperor Go-Reizei ascends the throne of Japan.source
• 1046Munjong is crowned the 11th king of Goryeo (Korea).source
• 1047October 25 – Harald Hardrada becomes sole king of Norway on the death of his nephew and co-regent Magnus I ("the Good"). The crown of Denmark passes to Sweyn II.source
• 1047Spring – Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor ("the Black") travels to southern Italy, and deprives Guaimar IV of his title Duke of Apulia and Calabria. He receives homage from Drogo of Hauteville, who becomes "Duke and Master of all Italy".source
• 1048The city of Oslo is founded by King Harald Hardrada of Norway (approximate date).source
• 1051Edward the Confessor invites William of Normandy to England. It is at this point that it is thought that Edward promises the English throne to William in the event of his death.source
• 1053April – Harold Godwinson succeeds his father Godwin as earl of Wessex. He invites the exiled Edward the Exile, son of Edmund II, to return in the hope that he can claim the English throne from King Edward the Confessor.source
• 1053December – Conrad I, duke of Bavaria, is summoned to a Christmas court at Merseburg, and deposed by Emperor Henry III. He flees to King Andrew I in Hungary, and joins a coalition with the rebellious Welf III, duke of Carinthia. Henry's 4-year-old son Henry becomes the new duke of Bavaria.source
• 1055Construction on the Liaodi Pagoda in Hebei is completed (the tallest pagoda in Chinese history, standing at a height of 84 m (275 ft) tall).source
• 10584-year-old Judith of Swabia, youngest daughter of the late Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, is engaged to Prince Solomon of Hungary at Regensburg.source
• 1059Peter Krešimir IV is crowned king of Croatia and Dalmatia. His coronation is recognised by the Byzantine Empire who confirm him as the supreme ruler of the Dalmatian cities, i.e. over the Theme of Dalmatia – excluding the theme of Ragusa and the Duchy of Durazzo.source
• 1060December 6 – Béla I ("the Champion") is crowned king of Hungary after his nephew, Solomon is deprived of the crown. He is supported by Duke Bolesław II the Generous – who helps him (with Polish troops) to obtain the Hungarian throne.source
• 1060The compilation of the New Book of Tang is completed, under a team of scholars led by Ouyang Xiu.source
• 1063Doge Domenico I orders the construction of the present building of St Mark's Basilica at Venice (approximate date).source
• 1063The Pizhi Pagoda located at Lingyan Temple (Shandong province) in China is completed, standing at a height of 54 m (177 ft) tall.source
• 1066January – Harold Godwinson marries Ealdgyth, daughter of Ælfgar (earl of Mercia), and widow of King Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.source
• 1066Magnus II (Haraldsson), a son of Harald Hardrada, is crowned king of Norway. He unites Western Norway and Northern Norway.source
• 1066City of Šibenik first mentioned under its present name in a Charter of the Croatian King Petar Krešimir IVsource
• 1067Winchester Castle in Hampshire is founded by William I; it is later one of the seats of government of the Norman kings ruling England.source
• 1068January 1 – Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, wife of the late Emperor Constantine X, marries General Romanos Diogenes (a member of a prominent Cappadocian family) – who is proclaimed co-emperor as Romanos IV of the Byzantine Empire.source
• 1068September – Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah marries Abu Bakr ibn Umar, leader of the Almoravids, and becomes his queen and co-regent.source
• 1068Edgar the Ætheling takes refuge with King Malcolm III of Scotland along with Edgar's sister Margaret, who marries King Malcolm.source
• 1070June 9 – Kulottunga I begins his reign as Chola emperor in South India.source
• 1070Bergen is founded by King Olaf III of Norway; it will function as the main city and capital of Norway, until it is replaced by Oslo in 1314.source
• 1070The Temple of Literature, Hanoi, is established in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam.source
• 1070Uyghur poet Yusuf Khass Hajib of Balasagun, in the Kara-Khanid Khanate, completes the Kutadgu Bilig ("The Wisdom Which Brings Good Fortune"), and presents it to the prince of Kashgar.source
• 1071May – Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah marries Yusuf ibn Tashfin, leader of the Almoravids, and becomes his queen and co-regent.source
• 1072Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, an informative book written by Mahmud al-Kashgari about the Turks, is presented to the ruler of the Kara-Khanid Khanate.source
• 1073Edgar Ætheling, last male member of the House of Wessex, joins forces with Kings Malcolm III of Scotland and Philip I of France in an attempt to take the English throne.source
• 1075The Liao dynasty version of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka is completed (approximate date).source
• 1076October 8 – Demetrius Zvonimir is crowned as king of Croatia in Solin (near Split), in the Basilica of Saint Peter and Moses (known later as the Hollow Church) by a representative of Gregory VII.source
• 1076Anselm of Aosta, an Italian Benedictine abbot, completes his Monologion at the request of his fellow monks.source
• 1076Approximate date – The Trial of Penenden Heath is held, with an important ruling regarding land rights subsequent to the Norman Conquest.source
• 1077The Bayeux Tapestry (embroidery) is completed, probably in England, possibly to unveil at the dedication of Bayeux Cathedral this year.source
• 1079Emperor Henry IV appoints Frederick I as duke of Swabia at Hohenstaufen Castle. Henry's 7-year-old daughter Agnes of Waiblingen is betrothed to Frederick who founds the Hohenstaufen Dynasty.source
• 1084April 21 – King Kyansittha begins his reign as ruler of the Pagan Kingdom in Burma (modern Myanmar).source
• 1084Sima Guang, Chinese chancellor and historian, with a group of scholars, completes the Zizhi Tongjian, a chronicle of universal history of China.source
• 1085April 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
• 1085June 15 – Vratislaus II, a son of Duke Bretislav I, becomes the first king of Bohemia and is elevated 'for life' by Henry IV.source
• 1085Katedralskolan in Lund (modern Sweden), the oldest school in Scandinavia, is founded by King Canute IV of Denmark.source
• 1086August 1 – King William the Conqueror calls for a meeting at Old Sarum, where he invites his major vassals and tenants-in-chief to swear allegiance to him. This is known as the Oath of Salisbury.source
• 1086The Domesday Book is completed. Drawn up on the orders of William I; it describes in detail the landholdings and resources in England.source
• 1088The oldest extant university, the University of Bologna, is founded in Italy (approximate date).source
• 1089August 18 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, marries Eupraxia of Kiev (daughter of Grand Prince Vsevolod I) at Cologne. She is crowned and assumes the name Adelaide (or Adelheid).source
• 1090Qin Guan, Chinese poet of the Song dynasty, writes the Can Shu (Book of Sericulture), which describes a silk-reeling machine that has the world's oldest known mechanical belt drive.source
• 1090King Stephen II of Croatia becomes involved in an open conflict between factions of the Croatian nobility, who reassert their traditional rights in their own counties.source
• 1094May–June – Duncan, son of the late King Malcolm III of Scotland, gathers a substantial army, chiefly Anglo-Normans from England, and challenges his uncle Donald III ("the Fair") for the Kingdom of Scotland. Duncan is crowned king at Scone.source
• 1094May – El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar) completes his conquest of Valencia in Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and begins his rule (in the name of King Alfonso VI) there. The Almoravid campaign to regain the city fails.source
• 1096May – The People's Crusade, under Peter the Hermit, arrives at Sopron. Coloman, King of Hungary ("the Learned") gives them permission to pass through Hungary, and to use the markets. Peter and his followers (some 20,000 men and women) travel from Budapest southwards supported by knights, while lumbering wagons carry stores and a chest of money that he has collected for the journey.source
• 1096King Alfonso VI ("the Brave") of Castile arranges to marry his daughter Theresa to Henry of Burgundy (House of Burgundy). Theresa's dowry includes the County of Portugal, given to Henry with Porto as the capital.source
• 1096Spring – Peter the Hermit begins his preaching of the First Crusade, traveling from Berry (in central France) across Champagne, and down the Meuse Valley to Cologne (modern Germany). He gathers the People's Crusade (some 40,000 supporters), which departs about April 20. Peter's speeches appeal not only to nobles and knights, but also laborers, tradesmen and peasants (among them are former brigands and criminals).source
• 1099May 26 – The Crusaders march to Haifa and along the coast under Mount Carmel to Caesarea (modern Israel), where they rest for four days in order to celebrate Whitsun (Whit Sunday).source