Byzantines repel the Russian attack of 941

Year 941 ( CMXLI) was a

common year starting on Friday A common year starting on Friday is any non-leap year (i.e. a year with 365 days) that begins on Friday, 1 January, and ends on Friday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is C. The most recent year of such kind was 2021 and the next one will ...

(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

* May – September – Rus'–Byzantine War: The Rus' and their allies, the Pechenegs, under the Varangian prince Igor I of Kiev, cross the Black Sea with an invasion fleet of 1,000 ships (40,000 men) and disembark on the northern coast of Asia Minor. While the

Byzantine fleet The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. Like the empire it served, it was a direct continuation from its Imperial Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than ...

is engaged against the Arabs in the Mediterranean, the Rus' forces reach the gates of Constantinople. Emperor Romanos I organizes the defense of the capital and assembles 15 old ships (equipped with throwers of

Greek fire Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman Empire beginning . Used to set fire to enemy ships, it consisted of a combustible compound emitted by a flame-throwing weapon. Some historians believe it could be ignited on contact w ...

) under the chamberlain ('' protovestiarios'') Theophanes. The Byzantines repel the Rus' fleet (nearly annihilating the entire fleet) but can not prevent the invaders from pillaging the hinterland of Constantinople, venturing as far south as Nicomedia (modern-day İzmit). In September,

John Kourkouas John Kourkouas ( gr, Ἰωάννης Κουρκούας, Ioannes Kourkouas, ), also transliterated as Kurkuas or Curcuas, was one of the most important generals of the Byzantine Empire. His success in battles against the Muslim states in the Ea ...

and Bardas Phokas ("the Elder"), two leading generals, destroy the Rus' forces in Thrace. Igor manages, with only a handful of boats, to escape to the Caspian Sea.

Europe

* Spring – Henry I, duke of Bavaria, plots to assassinate his brother, King Otto I, at the

royal palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Massa ...

in Quedlinburg (modern Saxony-Anhalt), but the conspiracy is discovered and Henry is put in captivity in Ingelheim. He is released after doing

penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of Repentance (theology), repentance for Christian views on sin, sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic Church, Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox s ...

at Christmas. * Fall –

Hugh of Provence Hugh (c. 880–947), known as Hugh of Arles or Hugh of Provence, was the king of Italy from 926 until his death. He belonged to the Bosonid family. During his reign, he empowered his relatives at the expense of the aristocracy and tried to estab ...

, king of Italy, leads a fourth expedition to Rome to dislodge

Alberic II Alberic II (912–954) was ruler of Rome from 932 to 954, after deposing his mother Marozia and his stepfather, King Hugh of Italy. He was of the house of the counts of Tusculum, the son of Marozia by her first husband, Duke Alberic I of Spoleto ...

. He proceeds to Lazio, preparing a campaign to capture the papal capital. Again the attacks fail and Hugh retreats to Milan. * Olaf Guthfrithson, a Norse-Irish chieftain, is killed while raiding an ancient Anglian church at Tyninghame (Northern Northumbria). He is succeeded by his cousin

Olaf Sigtryggsson Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" a ...

as ruler of Jórvik (modern Yorkshire).

Middle East

* March 9 – The famed Green Dome of the

Palace of the Golden Gate The Palace of the Golden Gate ( ar, باب الذهب, Bāb al-Dhahab) or Palace of the Green Dome ( ar, القبة الخضراء , al-Qubbat al-Khaḍrāʾ) was the official caliphal residence in Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate. Bagh ...

at Baghdad collapses, amidst heavy rainfall.

By topic

Religion

* Oda ("the Good") is appointed archbishop of Canterbury in England after the death of

Wulfhelm Wulfhelm (died 12 February 941) was Bishop of Wells before being promoted to the Archbishopric of Canterbury about 926. Nothing is known about his time at Wells, but as archbishop he helped codify royal law codes and gave lands to monasteries. H ...

. *

Kaminarimon The is the outer of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji (the inner being the Hōzōmon) in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. The gate, with its lantern and statues, is popular with tourists. It stands 11.7 m tall, 11.4 ...

, the eight-pillared gate to the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple in Tokyo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, is erected.

Births

* Brian Boru,

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned ana ...

(approximate date) (d.

1014 Year in topic Year 1014 ( MXIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1014th in topic the 1014th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 14th year o ...

) * Ibn Furak, Muslim

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

, jurist and theologian (d.

1015 Year in topic Year 1015 ( MXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Asia * October – Influential Japanese statesman Fujiwara no Michinaga is appoint ...

) * Lê Hoàn, emperor of the

Early Lê Dynasty The Early Lê dynasty or the Former Lê dynasty ( vi, Nhà Tiền Lê; Hán Nôm: ; ) was a dynasty of Vietnam that existed from 980 to 1009. It followed the Đinh dynasty and was succeeded by the Lý dynasty. It comprised the reigns of thr ...

( Vietnam) (d.

1005 Year 1005 ( MV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – The Republic of Pisa conducts a military offensive against the Saracen stronghol ...

) * Lothair III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (d. 986)

Deaths

* January 5 –

Zhang Yanhan Zhang Yanhan (張延翰) (884''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', vol. 21.-January 6, 941''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 282.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Dehua (德華), was an official of the Chinese ...

, Chinese

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

(b.

884 __NOTOC__ Year 884 ( DCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March 1 – Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, count of Castile, founds and repo ...

) * February 12 –

, archbishop of Canterbury *

April 21 Events Pre-1600 *753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date). * 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...

– Bajkam, Turkish military commander * Abu Bakr Muhammad, Muslim governor * Fujiwara no Sumitomo, Japanese nobleman * Gurgen II, prince of Tao-Klarjeti ( Georgia) * Jayavarman IV, Angkorian king ( Cambodia) * Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni, Persian scholar (b. 864) * Olaf Guthfrithson, Viking leader and king *

Órlaith íngen Cennétig Órlaith íngen Cennétig, was Queen of Ireland. She was executed in 941. Background Órlaith appears to be the only recorded daughter of King Cennétig mac Lorcáin of Thomond (died 951). Her siblings included Mathgamain mac Cennétig (King of ...

, Irish queen * Qian Yuanguan, king of

Wuyue Wuyue (; ), 907–978, was an independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Haiyan Qian clan (海盐钱氏), whose family name remains widespread in t ...

(b.

887 __NOTOC__ Year 887 (Roman numerals, DCCCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * November 17 – East Frankish magnates revolt against the ...

) * Rudaki ("Adam of Poets"), Persian poet (b. 858) *

Wang Dingbao Wang Dingbao () (870-941) was a Chinese military general, historian, poet, and politician of the Southern Han dynasty of China, serving as chancellor for less than a year. Background According to the ''Tang Zhiyan'' (唐摭言, "selected words fr ...

, Chinese chancellor (b. 870) *

Zhao Sun Zhao Sun (趙損) (died 941) was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Southern Han, serving for about a year as a chancellor. Background Traditional histories did not provide information on when or where Zhao Su ...

, Chinese official and chancellor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:941