Exploration & Expansion in the 11th century

58 sourced entries, 1001 CE to 1099 CE, oldest first. Also see Exploration & Expansion across every century or everything else in the 11th century.

• 1001March 17 – The Buddhist ruler of Butuan, in the Philippines (P’u-tuan in the Sung Dynasty records), Sari Bata Shaja, makes the first tributary mission to China.source
• 1001The first reference is made to Khotyn, Ukrainian town, and to Nyalka, Hungarian village, as to Chimudi.source
• 1001Ermengol I, Count of Urgell makes his second voyage to Rome.source
• 1001Vikings, led by Leif Erikson, establish small settlements in and around Vinland in North America (approximate date).source
• 1001The town of Lloret de Mar is founded in Catalonia.source
• 1002Brian Boru, king of Leinster and Munster, becomes High King of Ireland. After the submission of Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, Brian Boru makes an expedition to the North.source
• 1003Emperor Sheng Zong of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty leads an expedition into Mongolia and subdues the Zubu tribe who are forced to pay an annual tribute.source
• 1005High King of Ireland Brian Boru makes a second expedition to the north, to take hostages from the northern kingdoms. During this campaign he visits Armagh – making an offering of 20 ounces of gold to the church and confirming to the apostolic see of Saint Patrick, ecclesiastical supremacy over the whole of Ireland.source
• 1006Brian Boru visits Ulster, and remains unchallenged.source
• 1006Summer–Autumn – Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard raid south-eastern England from the Isle of Wight to Reading in the Thames Valley where they overwinter at the Wallingford river crossing.source
• 1008The oldest known mention is made of the city of Gundelfingen (Southern Germany).source
• 1008Battle at Herdaler: Olaf Haraldsson sails to the southern coast of Finland to plunder, where he and his men are ambushed and defeated in the woods.source
• 1008Olaf Haraldsson, future king of Norway, makes raids in the Baltic Sea. He lands on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, wins a battle there, and forces the inhabitants to pay tribute.source
• 1010Egyptian military commander Zar'ah ibn Isa ibn Nasturus appointed Vizier of Egypt.source
• 1010Viking explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni attempts to found a settlement in North America (approximate date).source
• 1013Summer – Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard (accompanied by his son Cnut) sail from Denmark to attack England. Again London defends itself and the Vikings move elsewhere, plundering Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria. King Æthelred the Unready sends his sons Edward and Alfred to Normandy. Æthelred retreats to the Isle of Wight and follows them later into exile.source
• 1018Egyptian military commander Sa'id ibn Isa ibn Nasturus appointed Vizier of Egypt.source
• 1021The last evidence of indigenous Christian and non-Arabophone culture in Tripolitania (modern Libya) is seen.source
• 1021Vikings known to be residing L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland (island).source
• 1024Anushtakin al-Dizbari of Palestine leads an expedition in the mountains around Nablus to apprehend the Bedouin leader Hassan ibn Mufarrij. However, the latter, with 3,000 of his horsemen, repulses Anushtakin, who retreats to Ramla, the capital of Palestine. Hassan and his troops then arrive at Ramla and burn the capital.source
• 1024Byzantine expedition to invade Sicily: Governor Ahmed al-Akhal appeals to the Zirids of Ifriqiya for help. They dispatch a fleet, but these are caught up in a storm and destroyed near Pantelleria.source
• 1024In India, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni begins his 12th, and final, expedition of plunder, departing with a cavalry of 30,000 troops, toward Multan, followed by Ajmer and Anhilvada, arriving at Somnath on January 30.source
• 1025Emir Al-Mu'izz ibn Badis of the Zirid dynasty in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia) attempts to retake Sicily but is unsuccessful.source
• 1026Spring – King Conrad II, "the Elder", assembles an army of thousands of armored knights for an expedition into Italy. He besieges Pavia and marches to Milan, where he is crowned with the Iron Crown by Archbishop Aribert as king of the Lombards. Duke William V ("the Great") of Aquitaine, who is already en route for Italy, decides to renounce his claim to the Lombard throne and turns back.source
• 1030The first mention is made of Tartu, Estonia, as Grand Prince Yaroslav I (the Wise) of Novgorod and Kiev defeats the Estonians and finds a fort named Yuryev (modern-day Tartu). The Rus' will hold the fortress for 30 or 31 years.source
• 1030The first mention is made of Thalwil, Switzerland, derived from Tellewilare and indicates the early medieval origins of Thalwil as an Alemannic farmstead.source
• 1034Spring – Emperor Conrad II (the Elder) leads a German military expedition via the Rhone River into Burgundy, while two Italian armies led by Archbishop Aribert and Boniface III (margrave of Tuscany) head over the Alps and join with Count Humbert I at Great St. Bernard Pass.source
• 1035Pisa launches a naval assault against Saracen pirate strongholds in the Lipari Islands.source
• 1037Summer – A Byzantine expeditionary force under George Maniakes lands at Sicily, and defeats the Zirids. Maniakes begins his campaign to reconquer the island.source
• 1038The name of Versailles, at this time a small village, appears for the first time in a medieval charter in France.source
• 1038Duke John II drives his brother Manso II and his mother Maria out of Amalfi. He has Manso blinded and exiled to the island of Sirenuse. John reconciles with Maria, and allows her to remain as co-ruler of Amalfi.source
• 1043The Seljuqs under Tughril Beg expel the Oghuz Turks from Khorasan and conquer Qazvin (modern Iran). They become the new masters of the Ziyarid dynasty (approximate date).source
• 1045Harald Hardrada returns to Scandinavia through Sigtuna in Sweden, after escaping from the Byzantine Empire with a fortune.source
• 1046March 5 – Nasir Khusraw begins his 7-year Middle Eastern (19,000-kilometre) journey, which he later describes in the book Safarnāmé.source
• 1047Winter – Constantine IX allows the Pecheneg tribes to cross the Danube and settle permanently in Byzantine territory. He buys their alliance with presents, using them to attack his enemies (Bulgars and Magyars) in the rear, and so to prevent any southward advance of the Kievan Rus'.source
• 1049Viking Irish raiders ally with King Gruffydd ap Rhydderch of Gwent in raiding along the River Severn.source
• 1050Macbeth, King of Scotland, makes a pilgrimage to Rome.source
• 1052Summer – Godwin, Earl of Wessex, sails with a large fleet up the Thames to London, forcing King Edward the Confessor to reinstate him into his previous position of power.source
• 1054The Almoravids retake the trading center of Aoudaghost from the Ghana Empire. Repeated Almoravid incursions, aimed at seizing control of the trans-Saharan gold trade, disrupt Ghana's dominance of the trade routes.source
• 1058September 20 – Empress Agnes de Poitou and King Andrew I ("the White") of Hungary meet to negotiate about the border zone in Burgenland (modern Austria).source
• 1062The Almoravids overrun modern-day Morocco, and establish an intercontinental kingdom, stretching from Spain to Senegal.source
• 1062The Banu Khurasan, a vassal of the Hammdid Dynasty, begin to rule the north of Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia).source
• 1066September 27 – William, Duke of Normandy and his army set sail from the mouth of the River Somme, beginning the Norman conquest of England. The following day he lands on the English coast at Pevensey, splits his forces, and sails with the main army to Hastings.source
• 1070Jews from Rouen in Normandy settle in England at the invitation of King William I.source
• 1074Emperor Shenzong of Song establishes a Marine Office and a Goods Control Bureau north-west of Shanghai, allowing for the loading and unloading of freight.source
• 1079The Seljuk Turks under Sultan Suleiman ibn Qutulmish reach and occupy the western coast of Asia Minor, an area known since the Archaic Period (c. 800–c. 500 BC) as Ionia (modern Turkey).source
• 1081May – A Norman fleet of 150 ships (including 60 horse transports), led by Duke Robert Guiscard, sets off towards the Dalmatian coast. An army of 15,000 men (including about 1,300 Norman knights) sails to the city of Avalona (modern Albania); they are joined by several ships from Ragusa, a republic in the Balkans who are enemies of the Byzantines.source
• 1081King William the Conqueror of England orders the creation of a castle at Cardiff during his armed pilgrimage in southern Wales. The first castle on the site would be a motte and bailey type and is built on existing Roman fortifications.source
• 1083King William the Conqueror imprisons his half-brother Odo of Bayeux for planning a military expedition to Italy.source
• 1083Reconquista: Castilian forces under Alfonso VI reconquer Talavera de la Reina in the Taifa of Toledo (modern Spain).source
• 1090Béjaïa (or Bugia) becomes the capital of the Hammadid dynasty in modern-day Algeria. It becomes an important port and centre of culture.source
• 1090Troubadours begin playing in western Aquitaine (Poitou and Saintonge) and Gascony (approximate date).source
• 1090A third Almoravid expedition is launched in Al-Andalus, designed to finally subdue the Taifa's Kingdoms. The cities of Córdoba, Seville, Granada, Málaga, Almería and Ronda fall to the troops of Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin.source
• 1096August – Hugh ("the Great"), count of Vermandois (a brother of King Philip I), departs to join the First Crusade. He travels with a small army via the Alps to Rome. While sailing the Adriatic Sea from Bari to Dyrrachium his fleet is reduced by shipwreck. Hugh's own ship is stranded on the shore near Epirus.source
• 1096October – Bohemond I, Italo-Norman prince of Taranto (the son of Duke Robert Guiscard), departs to join the First Crusade. He crosses the Adriatic Sea from Brindisi with his army (some 4,000 men), and arrives in Vorë. While traveling, Bohemond gives strict orders not to plunder Byzantine villages.source
• 1098July 14 – Donation of Altavilla: Bohemond I grants commercial privileges and the right to use warehouses (fondaco) to the Republic of Genoa. This marks the beginning of Italian merchant settlements in the Levant.source
• 1099February – The Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon set out from Antioch to Latakia. They are joined by forces of Bohemond I and Robert II, count of Flanders. On their arrival, Bohemond decides to turn back to consolidate his power in Antioch. Godfrey and Robert move on to besiege the small sea-port of Jabala. After two weeks, the Emir of Jabala makes a truce, and accepts the suzerainty of the Crusaders.source
• 1099August 10 – The Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon (supported by 1,200–1,300 knights) assemble at Yibna (Ibelin) – close to the coast and almost halfway from Jaffa to Ascalon.source