11th century Totally Explained

Everything about 11th Century totally explained

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century is the period from 1001 to 1100 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. In the history of European culture, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. There was a sudden decline of Byzantine power and rise of Norman domination over much of Europe, along with the prominent role in Europe of notably influential popes. In what is now Northern Italy, a growth of population in urban centers gave rise to early organized capitalism and more sophisticated, commercialized culture by the late 11th century. In Song China and the Islamic world, this century marked the high point for both classical Chinese civilization, science, and technology and medieval Islamic science, technology, and literature. Rivaling political factions at the Song Dynasty court created strife amongst the leading statesmen and ministers of the empire. There was also a population explosion, doubling to the size of 100 million, and an economic revolution in China that spurred manufacture and production rates which rivaled even Great Britain's coal and iron output in the early Industrial Revolution. For Chola-era India and Fatimid-era Egypt, they'd reached their zenith in military might and international influence. The Western Chalukya Empire (the Chola's rival) also rose to power by the end of the century. In this century the Turkish Seljuk dynasty comes to power in the Middle East over the now fragmented Abbasid realm, while the first of the Crusades were waged towards the close of the century. In Japan the Fujiwara clan continued to dominate the affairs of state. In the Americas the Toltec and Mixtec civilizations flourished in central America, along with the Huari Culture of South America and the Mississippian culture of North America. In Russia, there was the golden age for the principality of Kievan Rus. In Korea the Goryeo Kingdom flourished and faced external threats from the Liao Dynasty (Manchuria). In Vietnam the Lý Dynasty began, while in Myanmar the Pagan Kingdom reached its height of political and military power.

Overview

In European history, the 11th century is regarded as the beginning of the High Middle Ages, an age subsequent to the Early Middle Ages. The century began while the translatio imperii of 962 was still somewhat novel and ended in the midst of the Investiture Controversy. It saw the final Christianisation of Scandinavia and the emergence of the Peace and Truce of God movements, the Gregorian Reforms, and the Crusades which revitalised a church and a papacy that had survived tarnished by the tumultuous tenth century. In 1054, the Great Schism rent the church in two, however. In Germany, it was marked by the ascendancy of the Holy Roman Emperors, who hit their high watermark under the Salians. In Italy, it opened with the integration of the kingdom into the empire and the royal palace at Pavia was sacked in 1024. By the end of the century, Lombard and Byzantine rule in the Mezzogiorno had been usurped by the Normans and the power of the territorial magnates was being replaced by that of the citizens of the cities in the north. In Britain, it saw the transformation of Scotland into a single, more unified and centralised kingdom and the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The social transformations wrought in these lands brought them into the fuller orbit of European feudal politics. In France, it saw the nadir of the monarchy and the zenith of the great magnates, especially the dukes of Aquitaine and Normandy, who could thus foster such distinctive contributions of their lands as the pious warrior who conquered Britain, Italy, and the East and the impious peacelover, the troubadour, who crafted out of the European vernacular its first great literary themes. There were also the first figures of the intellectual movement known as Scholasticism, which emphasized dialectic arguments in disputes of Christian theology as well as classical philosopy. In Spain, the century opened with the successes of the last caliphs of Córdoba and ended in the successes of the Almoravids. In between was a period of Christian unification under Navarrese hegemony and success in the Reconquista against the taifa kingdoms which replaced the fallen caliphate. In China, there was a triangular affair of continued war and peace settlements between the Song Dynasty, the Tanguts-led Western Xia in the northwest, and the Khitans of the Liao Dynasty in the northeast. Meanwhile, opposing political factions evolved at the Song imperial court of Kaifeng. The political reformers at court, called the New Policies Group (新法, Xin Fa), were led by Emperor Shenzong of Song and the Chancellors Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi, while the political conservatives were led by Chancellor Sima Guang and Empress Dowager Gao, regent of the young Emperor Zhezong of Song. Heated political debate and sectarian intrigue followed, while political enemies were often dismissed from the capital to govern frontier regions in the deep south where malaria was known to be very fatal to northern Chinese people (see History of the Song Dynasty). This period also represents a high point in classical Chinese science and technology, with figures such as Su Song and Shen Kuo, as well as the age where the matured form of the Chinese pagoda was accomplished in Chinese architecture. In India, the Chola Dynasty reached its height of naval power under leaders such as Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I, dominating southern India (Tamil Nadu), Sri Lanka, and regions of South East Asia. They also sent raids into what is now modern-day Thailand. In Japan, the Fujiwara clan dominated central politics by acting as imperial regents, controlling the actions of the Emperor of Japan, who acted merely as a 'puppet monarch' during the Heian period. In the Middle East, the Fatimid Empire reached its zenith only to face steep decline, much like the Byzantine Empire in the first half of the century. The Seljuks came to prominence while the Abbasid caliphs held traditional titles without real, tangible authority in state affairs. In Korea, the rulers of the Goryeo Kingdom were able to concentrate more central authority into their own hands than in that of the nobles, and were able to fend off two Khitan invasions with their armies.

Events

1001-1008 - Japanese Lady Murasaki Shikibu writes the first novel, The Tale of Genji
1001 ± 40 years, Baitoushan volcano on what would be the Chinese-Korean border, erupts with a force of 6.5, the fourth largest Holocene blast.
1001, Mahmud of Ghazni, Muslim leader of Ghazni, begins a series of raids into Northern India; he finishes in 1027 with the destruction of Somnath.
c. 1001, Vikings, led by Leif Eriksson, establish small settlements in and around Vinland in North America
1003, Robert II of France invades the Duchy of Burgundy, then ruled by Otto-William, Duke of Burgundy; the initial invasion is unsuccessful, but Robert II eventually gained the acceptance of the Church in 1016 and annexed Burgundy into his realm.
1004, the library and university Dar Al-Hekma is founded in Egypt under the Fatimids.
1005, the Treaty of Shanyuan was signed between the Chinese Song Dynasty and the Khitan Liao Dynasty.
1008, the Fatimid Egyptian sea captain Domiyat travels to the Buddhist pilgrimage site in Shandong, China, to seek out the Chinese Emperor Zhenzong of Song with gifts from his ruling Imam Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, successfully reopening diplomatic relations between Egypt and China that had been lost since the collapse of the Tang Dynasty.
1009, Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Anterior Lê Dynasty of Vietnam, establishing the Lý Dynasty.
1009–1010, the Lombard known as Melus of Bari led an insurrection against the Byzantine Catepan of Italy, John Curcuas, as the latter was killed in battle and replaced by Basil Mesardonites, who brought Byzantine reinforcements.
1010, with the aid of scholars such as Song Zhun, Lu Duosun compiles a massive work of cartography in 1566 chapters, including the mapped topography of each provincial region in China down to the minute level of small towns and villages; this was an imperial compendium first issued by Emperor Taizu of Song in 971 AD.
1010–1011, the Second Goryeo-Khitan War; the Korean king was forced to flee the capital temporarily, but unable to establish a foothold and fearing a counterattack, the Khitan forces withdrew.
1011-1021, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen), a famous Iraqi scientist working in Egypt, feigned madness in fear of angering the Egyptian caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, and was kept under house arrest from 1011 to 1021. During this time, he wrote his influential Book of Optics.
1014, the Byzantine armies of Basil II are victorious over Samuil of Bulgaria in the Battle of Kleidion.
1015, in the Battle of Nesjar in Oslofjord, Norway, the forces of Olav Haraldsson fought the forces of Sveinn Hákonarson, with a victory ofr Olav.
1018, the First Bulgarian Empire is conquered by the Byzantine Empire
1018, the Byzantine armies of Basil Boioannes are victorious at the Battle of Cannae against the Lombards under Melus of Bari.
1018, the Third Goryeo-Khitan War; the Korean General Gang Gam-chan inflicted heavy losses to Khitan forces at the Battle of Kwiju. The Khitan withdrew and both sides signed a peace treaty.
1014-1020 The Book of Healing, a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopaedia, is written by Avicenna, Persian Muslim scholar.
1020s, The Canon of Medicine, a medical encyclopedia, is written by Avicenna, Persian Muslim scholar.
1021, the ruling Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah disappears suddenly, possibly assassinated by his own sister Sitt al-Mulk, which leads to the open persecution of the Druze by Ismaili Shia; the Druze proclaimed that Al-Hakim went into hiding (ghayba), whereupon he'd return as the Mahdi savior.
1025, the Chola Dynasty of India uses its naval powers to conquer the South East Asian kingdom of Srivijaya, turning it into a vassal.
1025, ruler Rajendra Chola I moves the capital city of the empire from Thanjavur to Gangaikonda Cholapuram
1028, the King of Srivijaya appeals to the Song Dynasty Chinese, sending a diplomatic mission to their capital at Kaifeng.
1030, the Battle of Stiklestad (Norway): Olav Haraldsson loses to his pagan vassals and is killed in the battle. He is later canonized and becomes the patron saint of Norway and Rex perpetuum Norvegiae ('the eternal king of Norway').
1035, Raoul Glaber chronicles a devastating three year famine induced by climatic changes in southern France
1035, Canute the Great dies, and his kingdom of present-day Norway, England, and Denmark was split amongst three rivals to his throne.
1035, William Iron Arm ventures to the Mezzogiorno
1037, Ferdinand I of León conquered the Kingdom of Galicia.
1040, Duncan I of Scotland slain in battle. Macbeth succeeds him.
1041, Samuel Aba became King of Hungary.
1042, the Normans establish Melfi as the capital of southern Italy.
1042, Bhoja, the Indian ruler, philosopher, and polymath of Malwa, completes the reconstruction of the temple of Somnath after its destruction by Mahmud of Ghazni.
1041–1048, Chinese artisan Bi Sheng invents ceramic movable type printing
1043, the Byzantine Empire and Kievan Rus engage in a naval confrontation, although a later treaty is signed between two parties that included the marriage alliance of Vsevolod I of Kiev to a princess daughter of Constantine IX Monomachos.
1043, the Byzantine General George Maniaces, who had served in Sicily back in 1038, was proclaimed emperor by his troops while he was catepan of Italy; he led an unsuccessful rebellion against Constantine IX Monomachos and was killed in battle in Macedonia during his march towards Constantinople.
1043, the Song Dynasty Chancellor of China, Fan Zhongyan, and prominent official and historian Ouyang Xiu introduce the Qingli Reforms, which would be rescinded by the court in 1045 due to partisan resistance to reforms.
1044, the Chinese Wujing Zongyao, written by Zeng Gongliang and Yang Weide, is the first book to describe gunpowder formulas; it also described their use in warfare, such as blackpowder-impregnated fuses for flamethrowers. It also described an early form of the compass, a thermoremanence compass.
1044, Henry III of the Holy Roman Empire defeats the Kingdom of Hungary in the Battle of Ménfő; Peter Urseolo captured Samuel Aba after the battle, executing him, and restoring his claim to the throne; the Kingdom of Hungary then briefly becomes a vassal to the Holy Roman Empire.
1045, the Zirids, a Berber dynasty of North Africa, break their allegiance with the Fatimid court of Egypt and recognize the Abbasids of Baghdad as the true caliphs.
1052, Fujiwara no Yorimichi converts the rural villa at Byōdō-in into a famous Japanese Buddhist temple.
1053, the Norman commander Humphrey of Hauteville is victorious in the Battle of Civitate against the Lombards and the papal coalition led by Rudolf of Benevento; Pope Leo IX himself is captured by the Normans.
1054, the Great Schism, in which the Western (Roman Catholic) and Eastern Orthodox churches separated from each other. Similar schisms in the past had been later repaired, but this one continues after nearly 1000 years.
1054, a large supernova is observed by astronomers, the remnants of which would form the Crab Nebula.
1054, the Battle of Atapuerca is fought between García V of Navarre and Ferdinand I of León
1055, the Seljuk Turks capture Baghdad, taking the Buyid Emir Al-Malik al-Rahim prisoner.
1056, Ferdinand I of León, King of Castile and King of León, is crowned Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of All Hispania).
1057, Anawrahta, ruler of the Pagan Kingdom, defeated the Mon city of Thaton, thus unifying all of Myanmar.
1061–1091, Norman conquest of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea
1065, independence of the Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal under the rule of Garcia
1066, in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the last Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson defeated his brother Tostig Godwinson and Harald III of Norway.
1066, Edward the Confessor dies; Harold Godwinson is killed in the Battle of Hastings, while the Norman conqueror is crowned William I of England.
1066, the Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and many others are killed in the 1066 Granada massacre.
1068–1073, the reign of Japanese Emperor Go-Sanjō brings about a brief period where central power is taken out of the hands of the Fujiwara clan.
1068, beginning in this year, Virarajendra Chola sends military raids into Malaysia and Indonesia.
1069–1076, with the support of Emperor Shenzong of Song, Chancellor Wang Anshi of the Chinese Song Dynasty introduces the 'New Policies', including the Baojia system of societal organization and militias, low-cost loans for farmers, taxes instead of corvée labor, government monopolies on tea, salt, and wine, reforming the land survey system, and eliminating the poetry requirement in the imperial examination system to gain bureaucrats of a more practical bent.
1070, the death of Athirajendra Chola and the ascension of Kulothunga Chola I marks the transition between the Medieval Cholas and the Chalukya Cholas.
1071, Defeat of the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert by the Seljuk army of Alp Arslan, ending 3 centuries of a Byzantine military and economic Golden Age.
1072, the Battle of Golpejera is fought between Sancho II of Castile and Alfonso VI of Castile
1073, the Seljuk Turks capture Ankara from the Byzantines.
1075, Henry IV suppresses the rebellion of Saxony in the First Battle of Langensalza.
1075, the Investiture Controversy is sparked when Pope Gregory VII asserted in the Dictatus papae extended rights granted to the pope (disturbing the balance of power) and new interpretation of God's role in founding the Church itself.
1075, Chinese official and diplomat Shen Kuo asserts the Song Dynasty's rightful border lines by using court archives against the bold bluff of Emperor Daozong of Liao, who had asserted that Liao Dynasty territory exceeded its earlier-accepted bounds.
1075–1076, a civil war in the Western Chalukya Empire of India; the Western Chalukya monarch Somesvara II plans to defeat his own ambitious brother Vikramaditya VI by allying with a traditional enemy, Kulothunga Chola I of the Chola Empire; Somesvara's forces suffered heavy defeat, and was eventually captured and imprisoned by Vikramaditya, who proclaimed himself king.
1076, the Ghana Empire is attacked by the Almoravids, who sack the capital of Koumbi Saleh, ending the rule of king Tunka Manin
1076, the Chinese Song Dynasty places strict government monopolies over the production and distribution of sulfur and saltpetre, in order to curb the possibility of merchants selling gunpowder formula components to enemies such as the Tanguts and Khitans.
1076, the Song Chinese allied with southern Vietnamese Champa and Cambodian Chenla to conquer the Lý Dynasty, which was an unsuccessful campaign.
1077, the Walk to Canossa by Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire.
1077, Chinese official Su Song is sent on a diplomatic mission to the Liao Dynasty and discovers that the Khitan calendar is more mathematically accurate than the Song calendar; Emperor Zhezong later sponsors Su Song's astronomical clock tower in order to compete with Liao astronomers.
1078, Oleg I of Chernigov is defeated in battle by his brother Vsevolod I of Kiev; Oleg escaped to Tmutarakan, but was imprisoned by the Khazars, sent to Constantinople as a prisoner, and then exiled to Rhodes.
1078, the revolt of Nikephoros III against Byzantine ruler Michael VII
1079, Malik Shah I reforms the Iranian Calendar
1080–1081, the Chinese statesman and scientist Shen Kuo is put in command of the campaign against the Western Xia, and although he successfully halts their invasion route to Yanzhou (modern Yan'an), another officer disobeys imperial orders and the campaign is ultimately a failure because of it.
1084, the enormous Chinese historical work of the Zizhi Tongjian is compiled by scholars under Chancellor Sima Guang, completed in 294 volumes and included 3 million written Chinese characters
1085, Alfonso VI of Castile captures the Moorish Muslim city of Toledo, Spain.
1085, the Katedralskolan, Lund school of Sweden is established by Canute IV of Denmark
1086, compilation of the Domesday Book by order of William I of England; it was similar to a modern day government census, as it was used by William to thoroughly document all the landholdings within the kingdom that could be properly taxed.
1086, the Battle of az-Zallaqah between the Almoravids and Castilians
1087, a new office at the Chinese international seaport of Quanzhou is established to handle and regulate taxes and tariffs on all mercantile transactions of foreign goods coming from Africa, Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, Persia, and South East Asia.
1087, the Italian cities of Genoa and Pisa engage in the African Mahdia campaign
1088, the renowned polymath Chinese scientist and official Shen Kuo made the world's first reference to the magnetic compass in his book Dream Pool Essays, along with encyclopedic documentation and inquiry into scientific discoveries.
1088, The University of Bologna is established.
1088, Rebellion of 1088 against William II of England lead by Odo of Bayeux.
1091, the Byzantine Empire under Alexios I Komnenos and his Cuman allies defeat Pechenegs at the Battle of Levounion
1093, Vikramaditya VI, ruler of the Western Chalukya Empire, defeats the army of Kulothunga Chola I in the Battle of Vengi.
1093, when the Chinese Empress Dowager Gao dies, the conservative faction that had followed Sima Guang is ousted from court, the liberal reforms of Wang Anshi reinstated, and Emperor Zhezong of Song halted all negotiations with the Tanguts of the Western Xia, resuming in armed conflict with them.
1093, the Kypchaks defeat princes of Kievan Rus at the Battle of the Stugna River
1093, Battle of Alnwick: Malcolm III of Scotland is killed by the forces of William II of England.
1094, the astronomical clock tower of Kaifeng, China—engineered by the official Su Song—is completed.
1094, El Cid, the great Spanish hero, conquers the Muslim city of Valencia
1094, a succession crisis following the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah sparks a rebellion which leads to the split of Ismaili Shia into the new Nizari religious branch.
ca. 1095–1099, earliest extant manuscript of the Song of Roland
1096, the Knights Templar are formed during the early First Crusade in order to protect European Christian pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.
1096, University of Oxford in England holds its first lectures
1097, the Siege of Nicaea during the First Crusade
1097, Diego Rodriguez, a son of El Cid, dies in the Battle of Consuegra, an Almoravid victory
1098, the Siege of Antioch during the First Crusade
1098, Pope Urban II makes an appearance at the Siege of Capua
1098, the Dongpo Academy of Hainan, China is built in honor of the Song Dynasty Chinese official and poet Su Shi, who was exiled there for criticizing reforms of the New Policies Group.
1098, the birth of Hildegard of Bingen, polymath
1099, the Siege of Jerusalem by European Crusaders.
1099, after the Kingdom of Jerusalem was established, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was made into the residential palace for the kings of Jerusalem.
1099, after building considerable strength, David IV of Georgia discontinues tribute payments to the Seljuk Turks.
King Anawrahta of Myanmar made a pilgrimage to Ceylon, returning to convert his country to Theravada Buddhism.
The Tuareg migrate to the Aïr region.
Kanem-Bornu expands southward into modern Nigeria.
The first of seven Hausa city-states are founded in Nigeria.
The Hodh region of Mauritania becomes desert.

Significant people

Abhinavagupta, Indian philosopher, logician, musician, poet, and dramatist from the Kashmir region

Abraham bar Hiyya, Jewish philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician from Catalonia

Abu al-Hasan 'Ali abi Sa'id 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Yunus al-Sadafi al-Misri, Egyptian mathematician and astronomer

Abū ‘Alī al-Haṣan ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen), optical researcher]

Abū ‘Alī al-Husayn ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), Persian physician, philosopher, and scientist

Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis), Andalusian-Arab physician, fsurgeon

Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī, Arab mathematician and astronomer from Al-Andalus

Abu Nasr Mansur, Iraqi mathematician

Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, researched in anthropology and geodesy,

Adalbold II of Utrecht, Dutch Bishop of Utrecht and mathematician

Adémar de Chabannes, French monk, writer, historian, and musical composer

Agnes, Empress, regent of the Holy Roman Empire

Anawrahta, ruler of the Pagan Kingdom

Anselm of Laon, French theologian

Al-Ghazali, celebrated Muslim scholar

Al-Karaji, Persian mathematician and engineer

Al-Muqtadi, Abbasid Caliph

Al-Qadir, Abbasid Caliph

Al-Qa'im, Abbasid Caliph

Al-Sijzi, Persian mathematician and astronomer

Alexander II, Pope

Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor

Alfonso VI of Castile, ruler of Leon and Castile

Alī ibn Ahmad al-Nasawī, Persian mathematician who commented on Greek works by Archimedes

Alp Arslan, Seljuk ruler

Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne

Saint Anselm, reputed founder of scholasticism and creator of the ontological argument

Atisha, influential Buddhist teacher to Tibet

Bao Zheng, Chinese judge and mayor of Kaifeng

Basil II, Byzantine Emperor

Benedict VIII, Pope

Benedict IX, Pope

Berengar of Tours, French theologian

Bernard II Tumapaler of Gascony, Duke of Gascony

Bhoja, a philosopher king and polymath of Malwa in India

Bilhana, a Kashmiri language poet from India

Bohemond I of Antioch, Crusader commander from Calabria

Burchard II, Bishop of Halberstadt

Byrhtferth, English monk and philosopher

Cai Jing, Chinese chancellor of the Song Dynasty

Cai Xiang, Chinese poet, scholar, calligrapher, structural engineer, and official

Canute the Great, ruler of England, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

Clement II, Pope

Clement III, Antipope

Constantine VIII, Byzantine Emperor

Constantine X, Byzantine Emperor

Constantine the African, Carthaginian Christian physician and translator of ancient Greek medicine

Conrad II, of the Holy Roman Empire

Constantine IX Monomachos, Byzantine Emperor

Cheng Yi, Chinese philosopher

Chongzong Emperor, ruler of Northwest China (Western Xia)

Damasus II, Pope

Daozong Emperor, ruler of Northeast China (Liao Dynasty)

Deokjong of Goryeo, king of Korea

Edith of Wessex, Queen of Wessex

Eight Deer Jaguar Claw, ruler of the Mixtecs in Mesoamerica

Eilmer of Malmesbury, a Benedictine monk who attempted flight with mechanical wings

El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar), Castilian nobleman

Ephraim of Pereyaslavl, Eastern Orthodox saint and bishop of Pereyaslav

Ethelred the Unready, king of England

Fan Kuan, Chinese landscape painter

Fan Zhongyan, Song Chinese chancellor

Ferdinand I of León, Emperor of All Hispania

Fujiwara Michinaga, powerful regent of Japan

Fujiwara no Yorimichi, Japanese court noble and regent

Gang Gam-chan, Korean general

George Maniaces, Greek Byzantine general

Gilbert de la Porrée, French scholastic logician and theologian

Go-Ichijō, Emperor of Japan

Go-Reizei, Emperor of Japan

Go-Sanjō, Emperor of Japan

Go-Suzaku, Emperor of Japan

Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine and a Crusader

Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Godwin, Earl of Wessex

Gregory VII, Pope (Hildebrand)

Guido of Arezzo, Italian music theorist

Guo Xi, a literati Chinese landscape painter

Guy I of Ponthieu, Count of Ponthieu

Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, wife of Godwin, Earl of Wessex

Gytha of Wessex, wife of Vladimir II Monomakh

Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani, a Persian missionary da'i to the Fatimid Caliphate

Han Shizhong, Chinese military general

Harold Godwinson, King of England

Henry I of France, king

Henry III, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire

Henry IV, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire

Hereward the Wake, English outlaw

Heribert of Cologne, Archbishop of Cologne

Hermann of Reichenau, German composer, music theorist, mathematician, and astronomer

Hilarion of Kiev, first non-Greek Metropolitan bishop of Kiev

Hisham II, Caliph of Cordoba

Hisham III, Caliph of Cordoba

Honorius II, Antipope

Horikawa, Emperor of Japan

Huang Tingjian, Chinese calligrapher and painter

Hugh of Châteauneuf, French theologian, Bishop of Grenoble, and partisan of the Gregorian reform

Hugh of St Victor, philosopher from Saxony

Hugh of Vermandois, Count of Vermandois, Crusader

Huizong Emperor, ruler of Northwest China (Western Xia)

Hyeonjong of Goryeo, king of Korea

Ichijō, Emperor of Japan

Isaac I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor

Isaac ibn Ghiyyat, Jewish rabbi from Spain

Ísleifur Gissurarson, first Bishop of Iceland

Jayasimha II, ruler of the Western Chalukya Empire

Jeongjong II of Goryeo, king of Korea

Jia Xian, Chinese mathematician

Jingzong Emperor, ruler of Northwest China (Western Xia)

Jōchō, famous Japanese sculptor

John Italus, Greek Byzantine philosopher

John Skylitzes, Byzantine historian

Joseph ibn Naghrela, Jewish vizier of Andalusia

Kushyar ibn Labban, Persian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer

Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury

Leif Eriksson, first European explorer to land in North America

Leo IX, Pope

Li Jiqian, Chinese rebel-turned-jiedushi of the Song Dynasty

Lady Li Qingzhao, revered Chinese poet and writer

Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah, Fatimid Caliph

Macbeth, ruler of Scotland

Malik Shah I, Seljuk ruler

Mansur ibn Nasir, ruler of the Hammadid in Algeria

Mariam of Vaspurakan, Queen dowager and regent of the Kingdom of Georgia

Maslamah Ibn Ahmad al-Majriti, Arab astronomer, chemist, mathematician, and scholar

Matilda of Tuscany, militant Italian noblewoman

Mei Yaochen, Chinese poet and official

Melus of Bari, Lombard nobleman

Mi Fu, Chinese painter, poet, and calligrapher

Michael I Cerularius, the Patriarch of Constantinople who was involved in the East-West Schism

Michael IV, Byzantine Emperor

Michael V, Byzantine Emperor

Michael VI, Byzantine Emperor

Michael VII, Byzantine Emperor

Michael Psellos, Byzantine writer, philosopher, official, and historian

Milarepa, Tibetan poet, yogi, and member of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism

Minamoto no Yorimitsu, a governor and commander loyal to the Fujiwara clan

Minamoto no Yorinobu, a samurai of the Minamoto clan

Mokjong of Goryeo, king of Korea

Moses ibn Ezra, Jewish philosopher, poet, and linguist from Spain

Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi, Persian theologian serving the Fatimid court

Muhammad Ibn Abbad Al Mutamid, last Abbadid ruler

Munjong of Goryeo, king of Korea

Murasaki Shikibu, female Japanese writer, the first novelist

Nasir Khusraw, Persian poet, theologian, philosopher, and traveler

Nicholas II, Pope

Nikephoros III, Byzantine Emperor

Notker Labeo, mathematician, first medieval commentator on Aristotle, and Benedictine monk from St. Gallen, Switzerland

Odo of Bayeux, Norman English bishop and earl

Olaf II, King of Norway

Omar Khayyám, Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher and astronomer

Otrok, khan of the Kipchaks

Ouyang Xiu, Chinese statesman, historian, essayist, and poet

Paschal II, Pope

Peter Abelard, French philosopher and logician

Peter Damian, cardinal and Doctor of the Church

Peter the Hermit, Crusader

Peter Urseolo, king of Hungary

Philip I of France

Rajaraja Chola I, ruler of Tamil Nadu (southern India) and Sri Lanka

Rajendra Chola I, ruler of Tamil Nadu (southern India) and Sri Lanka

Rajadhiraja Chola, ruler of the Cholas

Rajendra Chola II, ruler of the Cholas

Ramanuja, Chola Indian theologian, philosopher, and spiritual leader

Raymond IV of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and a Crusader

Renzong Emperor, ruler of China

Richard II, Duke of Normandy

Rober, Saint, founder of the Cistercians

Robert II, Count of Flanders, Crusader

Robert II of France, king

Robert of Jumièges, Archbishop of Canterbury

Robert Guiscard, Norman conqueror of Southern Italy and Sicily

Romanos III, Byzantine Emperor

Romanos IV, Byzantine Emperor

Samuel Aba, king of Hungary

Sancho III, king of Navarre

Sanjō, Emperor of Japan

Sei Shōnagon, writer, a Japanese lady of the royal court

Seonjong of Goryeo, king of Korea

Shao Yong, Chinese historian, poet, and philosopher

Shen Kuo, Chinese official, geologist, astronomer, encyclopedist, zoologist, botanist, hydraulic engineer, cartographer, general, diplomat, archaeologist, musician, poet, etc.

Shengzong Emperor, ruler of Northeast China (Liao Dynasty)

Shenzong Emperor, ruler of China

Shirakawa, Emperor of Japan

Samuel ibn Naghrela, Jewish scholar

Sigrid the Haughty, wife of Sweyn I of Denmark

Sima Guang, Song Chinese chancellor

Solomon ibn Gabirol, Jewish philosopher and poet from Spanish Al-Andalus

Somesvara I, ruler of the Western Chalukya Empire

Somesvara II, ruler of the Western Chalukya Empire

Sripati, Indian mathematician and astronomer

Stephen I, king of Hungary

Stephen IX, Pope