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.
Region
Europe
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
Boleslaw I the Brave (1025): Poland's First Crowned King
Bolesław became the first crowned King of Poland shortly before his death on 17 June 1025.
Middle Ages
Battle of Stiklestad (1030): Death of St Olaf of Norway
Olaf was killed and his army defeated; within a year he was declared a saint, and his son Magnus regained Norway in 1035.
Middle Ages
Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv: Yaroslav's Great Church
Kyiv's cathedral became the religious centre of Rus and survives with much of its 11th-century mosaic and fresco decoration.
Middle Ages
Macbeth, King of Scots (1040-1057): History Behind Shakespeare
Macbeth ruled Scotland from 1040 to 1057 before being killed by Duncan's son Malcolm at Lumphanan.
Middle Ages
Almoravids: The Berber Empire of North Africa and Spain
The Almoravids united Morocco and al-Andalus under one Berber dynasty for about sixty years before the Almohads overthrew them in 1147.
Middle Ages
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (1051): The Monastery of the Caves
A small cave community grew into the most influential monastery of Rus and a centre of learning, pilgrimage and printing.
Middle Ages
Great Schism of 1054: The Split Between East and West Churches
Mutual excommunications between Rome's legates and the Patriarch of Constantinople became the symbolic date of the division between Catholic and Orthodox Christianity.
Middle Ages
Battle of Hastings (1066): The Norman Conquest of England
Norman victory; Harold II was killed and William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066.
Middle Ages
Battle of Fulford (1066): Harald Hardrada Wins Outside York
Norwegian victory; the northern English army was broken and York submitted to Harald Hardrada.
Middle Ages
Death of Edward the Confessor (1066) and the Succession Crisis
Harold Godwinson was crowned king on 6 January 1066, but his right to the throne was challenged by William of Normandy and Harald Hardrada of Norway.