By place Byzantine Empire •
Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General
Bardas Skleros are defeated by the
Byzantine army loyal to Emperor
Basil II, commanded by General
Bardas Phokas (
the Younger), near Pankaleia (modern-day
Hisarköy). Phokas regroups his forces and continues his march to the East, drawing Skleros away from
Constantinople.
Europe •
War of the Three Henries: Emperor
Otto II (the Red) supported by his nephew
Otto I, duke of
Bavaria and
Carinthia, attacks
Passau, where the rebels have assembled. In September, the town surrenders due to Otto's
siege tactics, which includes a
bridge of boats. Ending of the revolt of
Henry II (the Wrangler) against Otto II. • Otto II has the three insurrectionists punished at
Magdeburg. Henry II is stripped of all his possessions and imprisoned in the custody of Bishop
Folcmar of
Utrecht. The other two:
Henry III (the Younger) loses his duchy to Otto I and
Henry I, bishop of
Augsburg, is arrested and imprisoned in
Werden Abbey (
Germany). •
Franco-German war of 978–980 begins. •
Almanzor, a court official and
regent of
Córdoba, becomes a
chamberlain (
hajib) and seizes power from the 13-year-old Caliph
Hisham II. During his reign, Almanzor will exercise strong influence over
Subh (the mother of Hisham) and wages successful campaigns against the
Christian kingdoms in Northern
Spain. • Fall –
Mieszko I, duke and prince (
de facto ruler) of
Poland, abducts
Oda of Haldensleben from the monastery of
Kalbe (
Saxony-Anhalt) and marries her. She becomes Mieszko's second wife and
Duchess of the Polans. •
Pandulf I (Ironhead), a
Lombard prince, annexes the
Principality of Salerno into his domains. For the first time, the Lombard duchies of
Benevento,
Capua, Salerno and
Spoleto-Camerino are united under one ruler. •
Pietro I Orseolo, doge of
Venice, escapes from Venice and travels to the
Benedictine abbey of
Michel-de-Cuxa (Southern
France). He is succeeded by
Vitale Candiano (not the bishop of
Grado) as doge of Venice. • Winter –
Vladimir I (the Great), grand prince of
Kiev, returns from
Norway with a
Varangian mercenary army and re-captures
Novgorod. On his way to Kiev, he marches against the forces of his brother
Yaropolk I.
England •
March 18 – King Edward the Martyr is murdered at
Corfe Castle (
Dorsetshire) upon the orders of his step-mother
Ælfthryth (or
Elfrida). He is succeeded by his half-brother
Æthelred II (
the Unready) who becomes king of
England. During his reign Æthelred tries to keep his realm from being overrun by
Danish Viking invaders. • English troops are deployed on the
Llŷn Peninsula on behalf of King
Hywel of
Gwynedd in order to prevent his uncle, King
Iago, invading with Viking allies from
Dublin. • The town of
Guildford (
Surrey) becomes the location of the
Royal Mint.
China •
June 3 –
Chen Hongjin,
Jiedushi of
Pinghai Circuit, surrenders his territories and pledges
allegiance to the
Song Dynasty. •
June 9 – King
Qian Chu surrenders his territories and pledges
allegiance to the
Song Dynasty, saving his people from war and economic destruction. Qian Chu remains ruler and moves 3,000 members of his
household to Bianjing (modern-day
Kaifeng).
Wuyue is absorbed into the Song Dynasty, effectively ending the kingdom.
By topic Literature • One 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.
Religion • The
Badia Fiorentina, a Benedictine abbey in
Florence, is founded by
Willa of Tuscany, the widow of
Hubert of Tuscany. == Births ==