1008 Explained

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.
• The oldest known mention is made of the city of Gundelfingen (Southern Germany).
• Unification of the Georgian realm.

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 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)

Notes and References

1. Stenton, F. M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 381–384. The Oxford History of England. Oxford: Clarendon Press. .
2. According to the "Annals of Magdeburg" (c. 1170) and some other sources.
3. Quoted in Mats G. Larsson, Götarnas riken: Upptäcktsfärder till Sveriges enande. Stockholm: Atlantis, 2002, p. 185.