Middle Ages
Jingdezhen (1004): How China's Porcelain Capital Got Its Name
The kiln town took the name of the Jingde reign and grew into the leading centre of Chinese porcelain, home to the imperial kilns from the Ming dynasty onwards.
Era · c. 500 – 1500
Middle Ages
Kingdoms, crusades and plagues: the medieval world from the end of the Western Roman Empire to the fall of Constantinople.
Middle Ages
The Tale of Genji: Murasaki Shikibu's Heian Masterpiece
A 54-chapter prose tale of court life became the most celebrated work of Japanese literature and is often described as the world's first novel.
Middle Ages
Church of the Holy Sepulchre Destroyed (1009) by al-Hakim
The church and much of the rock-cut tomb were demolished; a smaller church was rebuilt with Byzantine help by about 1048.
Middle Ages
Thorfinn Karlsefni's Vinland Expedition (c. 1010)
The settlers stayed two or three years but withdrew to Greenland after conflict with Indigenous people; no lasting Norse colony was founded.
Middle Ages
Ly Thai To Moves the Capital to Thang Long (Hanoi), 1010
Thang Long became the capital of the Ly dynasty and, under later names, the long-term political centre of Vietnam.
Middle Ages
Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics (1011-1021) and Vision
The Book of Optics established the theory that vision is caused by light entering the eye and set a new standard for experimental, mathematical optics in both Islamic and European science.
Middle Ages
Battle of Clontarf (1014): Brian Boru and the Vikings
Victory for Brian's army, but Brian, his son Murchad and his grandson Tairdelbach were killed; Norse Dublin survived under Sitric.
Middle Ages
Battle of Kleidion (1014): Basil II, the Bulgar Slayer
Byzantine victory; Samuel's army was destroyed, he died weeks later, and Bulgaria was annexed by 1018.
Middle Ages
Cnut the Great Conquers England (1016): A North Sea Empire
Cnut won at Assandun, shared England with Edmund Ironside and became sole king after Edmund's death on 30 November 1016.
Middle Ages
Al-Biruni and His Study of India: A Scholar in Ghazni
Al-Biruni produced the most detailed medieval account of Indian religion, science and society, and an estimate of the Earth's radius close to the modern value.
Middle Ages
Yaroslav the Wise: Kievan Rus at Its Height and Russkaya Pravda
Yaroslav united Kievan Rus, gave it its first written law code and great churches, and linked his dynasty by marriage to much of Europe.
Middle Ages
Rajendra Chola I's Ganges Expedition and Gangaikonda Cholapuram
The Chola army reached the Ganges and returned with its water; Rajendra took the title Gangaikonda Chola and founded a new capital.