Wikipedia / 953
Wikipedia / 953
Year 953 (CMLIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
Events
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By place
Byzantine Empire
Battle of Marash: Emir Sayf al-Dawla marches north into the Byzantine Empire and ravages the countryside of Malatya (modern Turkey). On his way back, he crosses the Euphrates and intercepts a Byzantine army led by Bardas Phokas (the Elder), near Marash. The Byzantines are defeated; Bardas himself barely escapes through the intervention of his attendants. His son Constantine Phokas, governor of Seleucia, is captured and held prisoner in Aleppo, until his death from an illness some time later.
Europe
Summer Liudolf, duke of Swabia, and his brother-in-law Conrad the Red rebel against King Otto I. Otto and his army fail to capture the cities of Mainz and Augsburg. He declares Liudolf and Conrad as outlaws in absentia. His brother Bruno I, archbishop of Cologne, restores royal authority in Lorraine, but some of the rebellious dukes receive support from the Hungarians. They seize the opportunity to invade Bavaria.
The town of Póvoa de Varzim is first mentioned during the rule of Mumadona Dias, countess of Portugal, under the name Villa Euracini.
Africa
March 19 Caliph al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah dies after a severe illness. He is succeeded by his 21-year-old son al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah as ruler of the Fatimid Caliphate. His authority is recognized over most of what later will be Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
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Births
September 14 Guo Zongxun, Chinese emperor (d. 973)
September 21 Abu Ishaq Ibrahim, Buyid prince
Charles, duke of Lower Lorraine (d. 993)
date unknown
Fujiwara no Korenari, Japanese courtier (d. 989)
Fujiwara no Michitaka, Japanese nobleman (d. 995)
Herbert III, count of Vermandois (d. 1015)
Kisai Marvazi, Persian author and poet (d. 1002)
Watanabe no Tsuna, Japanese samurai (d. 1025)
Xiao Yanyan, Chinese Khitan empress (d. 1009)
probable
Ælfheah, archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1012)
Al-Karaji, Persian mathematician
Bermudo II, king of León and Galicia
Deaths
March 19 al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 913)
November 18 Liutgard, duchess of Lorraine (b. 931)
date unknown
Abas I, king of the Bagratuni dynasty (Armenia)
Mastalus I, penultimate patricius of Amalfi (Italy)
Ma Yinsun, Chinese official and chancellor
Muhammad bin Musafir, Sallarid ruler (approximate date)
Wang Jun, Chinese singer and chancellor
probable
Rhodri ap Hywel, king of Deheubarth (Wales)
References