Year 980 (CMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.

Events

<onlyinclude>

By place

Europe

• Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-German war of 978–980. Lothair renounces his claim on Lower Lorraine, while Otto promises to recognize Lothair's son Louis V as the rightful heir of the West Frankish Kingdom.

• June 11 Vladimir I (the Great), grand prince of Kiev, consolidates the Kievan realm from modern Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. Vladimir is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus'.

• Fall Otto II sets off on his first expedition to Italy. He leaves the government in the hands of Archchancellor Willigis. Otto is accompanied by his wife, Empress Theophanu.

• Winter Otto II celebrates Christmas with his family at Ravenna. He receives the Iron Crown of Lombardy as the King of Italy.

• King Harald Bluetooth orders the construction of the Viking ring fortress of Trelleborg (modern Denmark).

England

• Viking raids from Scandinavia threaten the southern English coast after a pause of 25 years. Hampshire and the Isle of Thanet are ravaged.

Arabian Empire

• The Dari dialect (which will become the major language of Persia) is developed in the royal courts of the Samanid Empire in Central Asia.

Africa

• The Kilwa Sultanate, centered at Kilwa (an island off modern Tanzania), is founded by Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi, Persian prince of Shiraz.

By topic

Religion

• Notker (or Notger), Frankish Benedictine monk and bishop, founds the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (modern Belgium) which will remain an independent state inside the Holy Roman Empire for more than 800 years.

</onlyinclude>

Births

• July 5 Mokjong, king of Goryeo (Korea) (d. 1009)

• July 15 Ichijō, emperor of Japan (d. 1011)

• Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi, Persian scholar (d. 1037)

• Abu 'Ubayd al-Juzjani, Persian physician (d. 1070)

• Adalbero, German nobleman (approximate date)

• Avicenna, Persian polymath (approximate date)

• Baldwin IV of Flanders (the Bearded), French nobleman (d. 1035)

• Bardo, German abbot and archbishop (approximate date)

• Benedict VIII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1024)

• Einar Thambarskelfir, Norwegian nobleman (d. 1050)

• Ekkehard IV, Swiss chronicler (approximate date)

• Farrukhi Sistani, Persian poet (approximate date)

• Geoffrey I, French nobleman (d. 1008)

• Herman I, German nobleman (approximate date)

• Humbert I, founder of the House of Savoy (approximate date)

• Pope Nicholas II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1061)

• Olof Skötkonung, king of Sweden (approximate date)

• Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1002)

• Sviatopolk I, Grand Prince of Kiev (approximate date)

• Tancred of Hauteville, Norman nobleman (d. 1041)

• Theodora Porphyrogenita, Byzantine empress (d. 1056)

• Xuedou Chongxian, Chinese Buddhist monk (d. 1052)

Deaths

• February 15 Berthold, German nobleman (approximate date)

• September 28 Minamoto no Hiromasa, Japanese nobleman (b. 918)

• Dado (or Dodon), Italian nobleman (approximate date)

• Domnall ua Néill (or Donal O'Neill), High King of Ireland

• Eoghan Ua Cathain, abbot of Clonfert (Ireland)

• Gunnhild, Norwegian Viking queen (approximate date)

• Ibn Khalawayh, Persian scholar and grammar (or 981)

• Liu Chang, emperor of Southern Han (b. 942)

• Yaropolk I, Grand Prince of Kiev (approximate date)

References