May – September – Rus'–Byzantine War: The Rus' and their allies, the Pechenegs, under the Varangian prince Igor I of Kiev, cross the Black Sea with an invasion fleet of 1,000 ships[2] (40,000 men) and disembark on the northern coast of Asia Minor. While the Byzantine fleet is engaged against the Arabs in the Mediterranean, the Rus' forces reach the gates of Constantinople. Emperor Romanos I organizes the defense of the capital and assembles 15 old ships (equipped with throwers of Greek fire) under the chamberlain (protovestiarios) Theophanes. The Byzantines repel the Rus' fleet (nearly annihilating the entire fleet) but can not prevent the invaders from pillaging the hinterland of Constantinople, venturing as far south as Nicomedia (modern-day İzmit). In September, John Kourkouas and Bardas Phokas ("the Elder"), two leading generals, destroy the Rus' forces in Thrace. Igor manages, with only a handful of boats, to escape to the Caspian Sea.
Fall – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, leads a fourth expedition to Rome to dislodge Alberic II. He proceeds to Lazio, preparing a campaign to capture the papal capital. Again the attacks fail and Hugh retreats to Milan.
Fall – Hugh of Provence makes a truce with the Moors of Fraxinet, after hearing the news that a Swabian army is about to descend on Italy. He allows the Moors to attack the Alpine passes for his own political ends in his struggle with Berengar of Ivrea.[4] The Byzantines cry foul and end their alliance with Hugh.
December 17 – William I ("Longsword"), duke of Normandy, is ambushed and assassinated by supporters of Arnulf I ("the Great"), count of Flanders, while the two are at a peace conference at Picquigny (on an island on the Somme) to settle their differences.[5] William is succeeded by his 9-year-old son Richard.
Winter – The Hungarians raid Friuli and descend into central Italy. Hugh of Provence grants them a large sum of tribute if they return to the Gothic March or Spain. The Hungarians refuse the offer and raid the countryside of Lazio, destroying the region of Sabina.
Idwal Foel, king of Gwynedd, openly rebels against the overlordship of Edmund I. He and Llywelyn ap Merfyn, king of Pows, are killed fighting the English forces.
Hywel Dda, king of Deheubarth, annexes Gwynedd and Powys, to become the sole ruler of most of Wales.
Fall – Pope Stephen VIII tries to negotiate a peace that will end the feud between Alberic II, de facto ruler of Rome, and Hugh of Provence (his stepfather) but he dies after a 3-year reign. Stephen is succeeded by Marinus II as the 128th pope of the Catholic Church.
King Edmund I ravages Strathclyde and defeats the Scottish king Constantine II, who has reigned as king of Alba since 900. Constantine, ruler of the 'Picts and Scots', abdicates to enter a monastery and yields control of his realm to his cousin Malcolm I.[9]
Raymond III (or Pons I), count of Toulouse, travels to Nevers (southeast of Paris) to declare his fidelity to king Louis IV ("d'Outremer"). He is granted the title 'prince of the Aquitanians' by the king.[12]
The largest recorded epidemic of ergotism, also known as "Saint Anthony's Fire, kills 40,000 people in France. [13]
January 27 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown barely a month after deposing their father, Romanos I. With the help of his wife, Constantine VII becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He appoints to the highest army commands four members of the Phokas family, which have been in disgrace under Romanos.
Spring – Berengar of Ivrea invades Italy with hired Lombard troops and takes up residence in Milan. Berengar proceeds to Verona, where he is joined by forces of Count Milo and other partisans.
King Hugh of Provence lays siege to Vignola to put an end to Berengar's advance. But to no avail, as Berengar of Ivrea is hailed throughout northern Italy as a liberator, and Hugh flees to Provence.
April 13 – Hugh of Provence abdicates the throne in favor of his son Lothair II (who has been co-ruler since 931) and is acclaimed as sole king of Lombardia. Hugh is allowed to retire in Pavia.
Summer – King Louis IV ("d'Outremer") is captured by the Normans and handed over to Hugh the Great. In return for the release of Louis, Laon surrenders to him in compensation.[16]
Autumn – The Min Kingdom is destroyed by the Southern Tang. Emperor Yuan Zong expands its domains beyond those of the former Wu Kingdom. He annexes Min territory into its own boundaries.
Summer – King Otto I invades the West Frankish Kingdom with an expeditionary force, but his armies are not strong enough to take the key cities of Laon, Reims and Paris. After three months, Otto ends his campaign without defeating his rival Hugh the Great. He manages to depose Hugh of Vermandois from his position as archbishop of Reims, restoring Artald of Reims to his former office.[17]
Battle of Baghdad: Along the banks of the Tigris, Buyid forces under Mu'izz al-Dawla defeat the Hamdanids for control of the city. They are forced to pay tax revenues and agree to recognize Al-Muti as the legitimate caliph.
Japan
May 16 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne after a 16-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother Murakami, who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
Summer – A Hungarian army led by Grand Prince Taksony campaigns in Italy, heading southwards on the eastern shore of the peninsula. It besieges Larino and reaches Otranto, plundering Apulia for three months.[19]Berengar of Ivrea negotiates a truce and offers them a massive tribute (for which he imposes a special tax).
March 10 – The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan, the military governor (jiedushi) of Bingzhou. He declares himself emperor (formally called Gaozu) and establishes the capital in Bian, present-day Kaifeng.
King Eadred ravages Northumbria and burns down St. Wilfrid's church at Ripon. On his way home, he sustains heavy losses at Castleford. Eadred manages to check his rivals, and the Northumbrians are forced to pay him compensation.[22]
A Byzantine expeditionary force under Constantine Gongyles attempts to re-conquer the Emirate of Crete from the Saracens. The expedition ends in a disastrous failure; the Byzantine camp is destroyed in a surprise attack. Gongyles himself barely escapes on his flagship.[25]
^Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. Cassell & Co. p. 199. ISBN1854095234.
^Sources give varying figures for the size of the Russian fleet. The number 10,000 ships appears in the Primary Chronicle and in Greek sources, some of which put the figure as high as 15,000 ships. Liutprand of Cremona wrote that the fleet numbered only 1,000 ships; Liutprand's report is based on the account of his step-father who witnessed the attack while serving as envoy in Constantinople. Modern historians find the latter estimate to be the most credible. Runciman (1988), p. 111.
^Martínez Díez, Gonzalo (2005). El condado de Castilla, 711–1038: la historia frente a la leyenda. Marcial Pons Historia. pp. 372–73.
^Liudprand, V, 16–17; R. Hitchcock, Mozarabs in Medieval and Early Modern Spain (Franham: Ashgate, 2008), p. 42.
^David Nicholas, Medieval Flanders (Longman Group UK Limited, London, 1992), p. 40.
^Edmund I (king of England), "Edmund-I"Encyclopædia Britannica.
^Brian Todd Cary (2012). Road to Manzikert – Byanztine and Islamic Warfare (527–1071), p. 81. ISBN978-184884-215-1.
^Charles R. Bowlus. The Battle of Lechfield and his Aftermath, August 955: The End of the Age of Migrations in the Latin West. Ashgate (2006), p. 145.
^Woolf, Pictland to Alba, p. 175; Anderson, Early Sources, pp. 444-448; Broun, "Constantine II".
^Quoted in Wheeler, W.H. (1896). A history of the fens of South Lincolnshire (2 ed.). Boston: J.M.Newcomb. p. 313.
^K. Halloran, "A Murder at Pucklechurch: The Death of King Edmund I, 26 May 946". Midland History, Volume 40. Issue 1 (Spring 2015), pp. 120–129.
^Bóna, István (2000). The Hungarians and Europe in the 9th-10th centuries. Budapest: Historia - MTA Történettudományi Intézete, p. 26. ISBN963-8312-67-X.
^Bóna, István (2000). The Hungarians and Europe in the 9th-10th centuries. Budapest: Historia - MTA Történettudományi Intézete, p. 27. ISBN963-8312-67-X.
^Anglo-Saxon Chronicle MS D, 948, but the Historia Regum gives 950.
^F.I. Kilvington, A Short History of St Albans School (1986)
^Bóna, István (2000). The Hungarians and Europe in the 9th-10th centuries. Budapest: Historia - MTA Történettudományi Intézete, p. 27. ISBN963-8312-67-X.
