10th century

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General history

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000.

Overview

The tenth century is usually regarded as a low point in European history. In China it was also a period of political upheaval. In Islamdom, however, it was a cultural zenith, especially in Spain.

Medievalist and historian of technology Lynn White said that "to the modern eye, it is very nearly the darkest of the Dark Ages," but concluded that ". . . if it was dark, it was the darkness of the womb." Similarly, Helen Waddell wrote that the tenth century was that which "in the textbooks disputes with the seventh the bad eminence, the nadir of the human intellect." Even in the fifteenth century, Lorenzo Valla described it as the Century of Lead and Iron.

Events

This statue of a yogini goddess was created in Kaveripakkam in Tamil Nadu, India, during the 10th century.

• The beginning of the Medieval Warm Period
• Viking groups settle in northern France - Norse become Normans
• Foundation of Cluny, first federated monastic order
• Incursions of Magyar (Hungarian) cavalry throughout Western Europe (47 expeditions in Germany, Italy and France, 899 - 970)
• Mieszko I, first duke of Poland, baptised a Christian in 966
• Khazar kingdom is attacked and defeated by Kievan Rus ( 965)
• Vladimir I, Prince of Kievan Rus, baptised a Christian in 988
• Collapse of the central lowland Maya civilization. End of Classic Maya period, begin Post-Classic Maya.
• Rise of the Toltecs in Mexico.
• Collapse of Great Moravia
• Buddhist temple construction commences at Bagan, Myanmar
• Laguna Copperplate Inscription, Kavi script, inscribed in Luzon, Philippines, dated Saka year 822 (AD 900).
• The medieval Croatian state becomes a unified kingdom under Tomislav
• Twentieth century Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus asserts that the orbits of all nine planets were within the same 90% arc of the solar system on 1 February 949. The next time it is thought this will occur is on 6 May 1492.
• Coastal cities on the Malay Peninsula are the seed for the first recorded Malay kingdoms.
• The Fatimid dynasty arises in eastern Algeria.
• Swedish influence extends to the Black Sea.
• The Christian Nubian kingdom reaches its peak of prosperity and military power. ( Early history of Sudan)
• The Mississippian culture begins in present day Southern USA.
• The Byzantine empire reaches the height of its military and economic strength
• Baile Átha Cliath (Dublin) was founded ( 988).
• Reindeer become extinct in Scotland.
• Lions become extinct in Caucasus.

Significant people

• Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, semi-legendaric Toltec ruler, (exact years of his life are unknown).
• Abd-ar-rahman III of Cordoba
• Nicephorus II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 912 - 969, reigned 963 - 969).
• Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 912 - 973, reigned 936 - 973).
• King Edmund I of England (lived 921 - 946, reigned 939 - 946).
• John I Tzimisces, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 925 - 976, reigned 969 - 976).
• Hugh Capet (lived 938 - 996), first Capetian King of France
• Géza of Hungary, ruler of the Magyars (lived 940 - 997, reigned 970 - 997).
• Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 955 - 983, reigned 973 - 983).
• Theophanu, wife of Otto II, mother and Regent of Otto III, (lived 956 - 991, reigned 983- 991).
• Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria (lived 958 - 1014, reigned 976 - 1014).
• Vladimir I, Prince of Kievan Rus (lived 958 - 1015).
• Basil II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, (lived 958 - 1025, reigned 976 - 1025).
• Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 980 - 1002, reigned 983 - 1002).
• Ferdowsi Persian poet
• Erik the Red Viking Explorer, founded Greenland
• Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah, founder of the Fatamid dynasty in 909.

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• Hop (plant) first mentioned in connection with beer brewing

Decades and years