Year 1017 (MXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.

Events

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Europe

• Summer Melus of Bari, a Lombard nobleman, revolts and is supported by Norman mercenaries at Capua. He marches into Apulia to catch the Byzantine army off-guard. Melus defeats the Byzantines on the banks of the Fortore River and ravages the territory in Apulia.

• Winter Emperor Basil II ("the Bulgar Slayer") replaces Leo Tornikios with the new catapan Basil Boioannes and sends him reinforcements (including a detachment of the elite Varangian Guard) from Constantinople.

England

• January 6 Cnut ("the Great") is crowned king of England. In July he marries Emma of Normandy, the widow of Æthelred the Unready, securing his ties with Normandy.

• Cnut divides England into four earldoms: Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria.

Arabian Empire

• Summer Hamza ibn-'Ali ibn-Ahmad publicly declares the founding of the Druze religion, during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

Africa

• The Sunnis of Kairouan (modern Tunisia) revolt against the Shi'ite Zirid dynasty. The city is quickly retaken and sacked.

Asia

• March Fujiwara no Michinaga passes the title of regent of Japan (Sesshō) to his eldest son Fujiwara no Yorimichi.

September

• Prince Atsuakira of Japan, eldest son of ex-Emperor Sanjō, having been struck by a skin disease and under intense pressure from Michinaga, resigns the title of Crown Prince in favour of his younger brother, Prince Atsunaga who marries Fujiwara no Kanshi, daughter of Michinaga.

• Michinaga makes a pilgrimage to the Iwashimizu Shrine in Japan accompanied by many courtiers. The travelers divide themselves amongst 15 boats for a floating trip down the Yotogawa River. One of the vessels overturns and more than 30 people lose their lives.

• December 24 Michinaga is granted the honorary title Daijō-daijin of Japan.

• Rajendra I, ruler of the Chola dynasty (in modern India), conquers Sri Lanka and annexes the island.

By topic

Religion

• Construction of Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv is started (approximate date).</onlyinclude>

Births

• October 28 Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1056)

• Ahimaaz ben Paltiel, Italian-Jewish liturgical poet (d. 1060)

• Bermudo III (or Vermudo), king of León (approximate date)

• Floris I, count of Friesland west of the Vlie (approximate date)

• Ramanuja, Indian Sri Vaishnavism philosopher (d. 1137)

• Vikramabahu (Kassapa VI), king of Sri Lanka (d. 1041)

• Zhou Dunyi, Chinese philosopher and cosmologist (d. 1073)

Deaths

• February 5 Sancho García, count of Castile

• June 5 Sanjō, ex-emperor of Japan (b. 976)

• June 22 Leo Passianos, Byzantine general

• July 6 Genshin, Japanese Tendai scholar (b. 942)

• September 18 Henry of Schweinfurt, German nobleman

• October 6 Wang Dan, Chinese Grand Chancellor

• Eadric Streona, ealdorman of Mercia

• Eadwig Ætheling, son of Æthelred II

• Elvira of Castile, queen consort of León

• Emnilda, duchess consort of Poland

• Fujiwara no Junshi, Japanese empress (b. 957)

• Judith of Brittany, duchess of Normandy (b. 982)

• Ma'mun II, Ma'munid ruler of Khwarezm

• Ramon Borrell, count of Barcelona (b. 972)

• Renaud of Vendôme, French nobleman

References

Sources