The Great Events by Famous Historians [Volumes 1-14]

Saracens invade Castile and are defeated at Uxama.

936. Death of Henry the Fowler; accession of Otho the Great in Germany and of Louis d'Outre-Mer in France. Louis was given the surname for having been in exile in England, whence he was recalled to the crown.

From this time chivalry may be said to arise. See "GROWTH AND DECADENCE OF CHIVALRY," v, 109.

937. Confederation of Scots and Irish with the Danes of Northumberland, totally defeated by Athelstan, at Brunanburh.

France is invaded by the Hungarians.

939. The Marquis of Istria levies imposts on Venetian merchants, the repeal of which is enforced by the Doge suspending all intercourse between the two states.

940. Death of King Athelstan; his brother Edmund succeeds to the English throne.

941. Constantinople attacked by the Russians under Igor; they are repelled by Romanus.

945. Death of Igor; his widow, Olga, governs the Russians during the minority of their son Swatoslaus.

Cumberland and Westmoreland, England, granted as a fief to Malcolm, King of Scotland.

946. Edmund, who had conquered Mercia and the "Five Boroughs" of the Danish confederacy, England, slain by an outlaw; his brother Edred succeeds.

951. Otho the Great marches an army in to Italy; he dethrones Berengar for cruelly ill-treating Adelaide.

952. Otho restores Italy to Berengar and his son; they do homage to him at the Diet of Augsburg.

955. Otho vanquishes the Hungarians on the Lech; he afterward conquers the Slavonians.

Olga, the Russian Princess, baptized at Constantinople; she carries back into her own country some beginnings of civilization.

956. Many provinces, including Armenia, recovered from the Saracens by the Eastern Empire.

959. St. Dunstan made archbishop of Canterbury on the accession of Edgar.

961. Berengar finally dethroned by Otho the Great; the sovereignty of Italy passes from Charlemagne's descendants to German rulers.

962. Otho the Great, master of Italy; his coronation as emperor of the Romans by Pope John XII; establishment of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation.

963. Nicephorus Phocas defeats the Saracens and recovers the former provinces of the empire as far as the Euphrates.

Al Hakem, Caliph of Cordova, famous as a patron of literature and learning, and who is said to have collected a library of 600,000 volumes, employs agents in Africa and Arabia to purchase or copy manuscripts.

King Edgar, England, defeats the Welsh and exacts an annual tribute of three hundred wolves' heads.

964. Pope Leo VIII is expelled; John XII reinstated, he dies soon after; Rome is besieged and captured by the Emperor, after a revolt encouraged by Berengar.

966. After 328 years' subjection Antioch is recovered from the Saracens.

Bulgaria invaded by the Russians, who also extend their dominion to the Black Sea.

Miecislas, ruler of Poland, embraces Christianity.

969. Kahira (now Cairo) built by the Fatimites, who establish a caliphate in Egypt. See "CONQUEST OF EGYPT BY THE FATIMITES," v, 94.

Nicephorus Phocas, Emperor of the East, murdered by John Zimisces, who succeeds.

971. All munitions of war and arms are by the Venetians forbidden to be sold by their merchants to the Saracens.

973. On the death of his father, Otho the Great, Otho II ascends the throne of the German empire. His Empress, Theophania, introduces Greek customs and manners into Germany.

976. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, defeated by Otho II and deposed, takes refuge in Bohemia.

Death of Al Hakem; his reign the most glorious of the Saracenic dominion in Spain.

Commotion in Venice; the Doge attempts to introduce mercenary troops and is slain; his palace, St. Mark's, and other churches burned.

978. Otho II makes a victorious movement into France.

979. King Edward the Martyr assassinated by command of his mother-in-law, Elfrida; Ethelred the Unready succeeds. (Date uncertain.)

980. Theophania urges her husband, Otho II, to claim the Greek provinces in Italy; he advances with his army to Ravenna.

Vladimir obtains the assistance of the sea-kings, defeats his brother, Jaropolk, puts him to death, and becomes sole ruler of Russia.

982. Saracens of Africa are invited by the Greek emperors to join them in opposing Otho; battle of Basientello, total defeat of Otho; he is taken prisoner, but escapes by swimming.

983. Eric the Red, a Norseman, first visits Greenland, which he thus names, and afterward settles. See "LEIF ERICSON DISCOVERS AMERICA," v, 141.

Death of Otho II; Otho III succeeds to the throne of Germany under the regency of his mother, Theophania.

987. Death of Louis V, the last of the Carlovingian line; Hugh Capet is elected king of France; this inaugurates the Capetian dynasty.

988. Vladimir the Great of Russia embraces Christianity. See "CONVERSION OF VLADIMIR THE GREAT," v, 128.

989. Sedition in Rome; Empress Theophania arrives there and suppresses it.

In Germany rural counts and barons commence their depredations on the properties of their neighbors.

Learned men from all parts of the East flock to Cordova, Almansor, the Saracen regent, having set apart a fund to promote literature.

991. Archbishop Gerbert, of Rheims, introduces the use of Arabic numerals, which he had learned at Cordova.