| abstract
| - British Isles: Death of Tostig Godwinson. With help from Olaf III of Norway Tostig's first son Skuli the Ruthless liquidates his three rival cousins, Godwin, Edmund and Magnus, the sons of Harold II, who were secretly supported by William the Conqueror, and secures the throne of Northumbria. Southern Europe: Ragusa/Dubrovnik escapes both Byzantine tutelage and Venetian influence and is set up as another independent sea-trading republic. North Africa: Theophylactus II is able to recover Ifrigia (*later Punia, OTL Tunisia) when the usurper Nicephorus Calavritanus dies and his Berber armies dissolve; Nicephorus' only son, Maximus, flees to Numidia. Black Africa: The Zenete Compact attacks and plunders Kumbi, the capital of the ancient Ghana empire. This marks the sunset of the fabled empire, whose riches in gold, salt and spices were known also into distant Europe. The Zenetes strengthen their hold on the slave trade, whereas the gold routes move east, benefiting Muslim trade from Libya and Egypt and fostering the penetration of Islam :( . The Sosso kingdom is established in western Mali on parts of the weakened Ghana empire. Byzantine Empire, Middle East: The Kurdish Marwanids of Amida/Diyarbakir conquer Melitene (*OTL Malatya) from the Rum-Seljuks, thus separating them from the remaining Turkic holdings, and crush the Hamdanid-Numayrid emirate of Harran/Carrhae Middle East: Baghdad finally falls to the Seljuks; their empire now stretches from eastern Anatolia and central Iraq to Central Asia and SW Persia. 1081-1084 Byzantine Empire: General Alexius Comnenus marries Romanus II's widow and is crowned as co-emperor for the 13-year old Leo VI. The last major wannabe basileus, general Bardas Botaniates (*OTL Nicephorus III), rebels in Asia Minor just a few months after the defeat of Nicephorus Melissenos, allying himself with the encroaching Rum-Seljuks :mad: . In the end Bardas dies on drinking and feasting :o and Alexius is able to assert his own power, but the Turks have gobbled up more than half of Anatolia :(North Africa: Pisan and Western Imperial fleets vainly attack the Muslim pirate nest at Djirva (*OTL Djerba), whence devastating raids on coastal town and sea trade are made Middle East: Tutush's Turks from Syria conquer piecemeal Lebanon from the Fatimids, also thanks to the help of the local Maronite Christians from the Marada states 1082 British Isles: Northumbria is invaded by Picto-Scottish forces, who ravage the land but can't take York/Jorvik. King Olaf III of Norway and his Northumbrians vassals crush them at Durham, while Norman forces are withheld by the Welsh, who harass Mercia, having signed a stable alliance with Northumbria 1082-1083 Southern Europe: Lombard forces loyal to the excommunicated king Pipino II invade the Canossa domains in Emilia and Tuscany, trying to march on Rome, but are routed in the battle of the Magra, where a miracle appearance of St.Peter is said to happen atop a hill, halting the bloodshed. The Serbian principality of Raška/Kosovo is revived under the great župan (prince) Vukan Vukanović and his brother Mirko, freeing itself from the Byzantine yoke 1083 Southern Europe: Bosnia is mostly conquered by Duklja/Zeta (Melanoria, *OTL Montenegro). The Normans from the principality of Dyrrachion (Albania) invade Byzantine territories and sack Arta (Epirus) India: Foundation of the Kakatiya kingdom of Warangal under Prola II, who secedes from the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani British Isles: Olaf III of Norway enforces vassalage on the double crown of Alba and Scotland by supporting the winning candidate to the throne, Constantine III, in a civil war between related members of the royal McFergus clan. Western Europe, British Isles: King William I the Conqueror of France and England vassalizes both Brittany and Cornwall, then dies, worn out by years of incessant campaigning and voyages. Just before passing out, he imposes a strict one-man system for the inheritance of his domains, making Normandy the appanage of the heir apparent to the thrones of France and England, which are to be run separately. William II, the Conqueror's second surviving son, is twice crowned as king of France in Reims as and king of England in Westminster Abbey; his older brother Robert the Courthose tries to assert his primogeniture rights from his place of exile in Aquitaine but is captured and killed in Blois Southern Europe: King Pipino II of Lombardy and Romancia (*OTL eastern Switzerland plus Vorarlberg and Valtellina) is murdered and replaced by his cousin Azzone I, who deposes archbishop Tedaldo of Milan and settles, at least for the moment, the investiture controversy with Rome. The new king also enforces a thorough purge :eek: against the Patarene heretics, who are slain in the hundreds even in their stronghold at Milan. A German army wrests back Romancia from the Lombard crown. Byzantine Empire, Middle East: Emir Tutush of Syria conquers Antioch from local Armenian rulers; the Rum-Seljuks conquer Iconium in the heart of Anatolia. India: The Chalukya ruler of Kalyani, Vikramaditya VI, recovers Vengi from the Cholas and sacks Kanchi Northern Europe: Inge Stenkilsson, king of Sweden, is deposed by the pagan party (still strong in Svealand), then comes back, kills his brother-in-law Blot-Sven, last pagan ruler of the country, and destroys the Temple of Uppsala, marking a turning point in the conflict between Christians and worshippers of the Norse Æsir gods 1085 Southern Europe: Pope Leo VIII (*OTL Gregory VII) dies. The French Odon de Lagéry is elected Pope-king as Urban II, and will prove to be another pillar of the Papacy. Also the count of Puglia Robert the Guiscard, senior member of the paramount Hauteville/Altavilla Norman family of southern Italy, dies, leaving his duchy to his youngest brother, Roger I (not to confuse with his own son Roger Borsa, count of Melfi). Southern Europe, Byzantine Empire: The Venetian fleet seizes the island of Corfu off southern Albania. The Normans of Albania, led by prince Robert the Bold, advance into Macedonia in a self-proclaimed attempt to “restore the Greeks to the only Holy Church” :rolleyes: and stage a terrible sack :eek: in Thessalonica, then advance towards Constantinople but are routed by Alexius I Comnenus at Adrianople. The Rum-Seljuks conquer the major Byzantine fortress of Angora :( . Black Africa: The Muslim Berber Hummay (likely a Zaghawa from the north) founds the Sefuwa/Saifawa dynasty of the Kanem kingdom and introduces Sunni Caliphist Islam (*maintaining there has to be no Wali or "Sunni Pope", only a Caliph concentrating both political and religious authority) there. British Isles, Western Europe: king William II of England and France begins an exchange of loyal noble families between the two kingdoms: French barons are settled in the hundreds in England, mainly in depopulated Mercia, and English lord are given feudal holdings in France:cool: .
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)