1008

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Coin of Olof Skötkonung (c. 980–1022)

Year 1008 (MVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events[]

By place[]

Europe[]

• Olaf Haraldsson, future king of Norway, makes raids in the Baltic Sea. He lands on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, wins a battle there, and forces the inhabitants to pay tribute.
• Battle at Herdaler: Olaf Haraldsson sails to the southern coast of Finland to plunder, where he and his men are ambushed and defeated in the woods.
• Bagrat III adds more lands to his realm, and becomes the first ruler of the Kingdom of Georgia (until 1014).
• The oldest known mention is made of the city of Gundelfingen (Southern Germany).
• Abkhazia and Iberia are unified into the Kingdom of Georgia.

England[]

• King Æthelred the Unready orders a new fleet of warships built, organised on a national scale. It is a huge undertaking, but is completed the following year.^[1]

Arabian Empire[]

• Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah sends a tributary mission to Emperor Emperor Zhenzong of the Song dynasty in order to reestablish trade relations between the Fatimid Caliphate and China (approximate date).

Japan[]

• November 13 – Kamo Special Festival: The poet Murasaki Shikibu is given her name from a famous court poet, Fujiwara no Kinto; this year she probably starts to write The Diary of Lady Murasaki.
• 42nd Birthday of Fujiwara no Michinaga, father-in-law of the emperor, is celebrated.

By topic[]

Religion[]

• Autumn – Bruno of Querfurt, a missionary bishop, and 18 companions sets out on a mission to spread Christianity among the Prussians.^[2]
• Olof Skötkonung, king of Sweden, is baptized in Husaby (Västergötland) by missionary Sigfrid, and makes generous donations on the spot.^[3]

Births[]

• May 4 – Henry I, king of France (d. 1060)
• October 12 – Atsuhira, future Emperor Go-Ichijō of Japan (d. 1036)
• Al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, Zirid ruler of Ifriqiya (d. 1062)
• Anselm of Liège, French chronicler and historian
• Di Qing, general of the Song Dynasty (d. 1057)
• Gothelo II (or Gozelo), duke of Lower Lorraine (d. 1046)
• Sugawara no Takasue, Japanese writer (approximate date)
• Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester (approximate date)

Deaths[]

• March 17 – Kazan, emperor of Japan (b. 968)
• April 7 – Ludolf (or Liudolf), archbishop of Trier
• April 10 – Notker of Liège, French bishop (b. 940)
• May 25
  • Bishi, Japanese imperial princess
  • Matilda of Saxony, countess of Flanders
• October 6 – Menendo González, Galician nobleman
• November 20 – Geoffrey I, duke of Brittany (b. 980)
• Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar, Andalusian court official
• Clothna mac Aenghusa, Irish poet (approximate date)
• Gunnlaugr Ormstunga, Icelandic poet (approximate date)
• Gurgen II (Magistros), king of Iberia-Kartli (Georgia)
• Ibn Zur'a, Abbasid physician and philosopher (b. 943)
• Madudan mac Gadhra Mór, king of Síol Anmchadha
• Poppo, Polish missionary bishop (approximate date)
• Raymond III, French nobleman (approximate date)
• Rotbold I (or Rotbaud), French nobleman
• Sarolt, Grand Princess of Hungary (b. 950)

References[]