10th century

The 10th century was the period from 901 to 1000 in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the last century of the 1st millennium.

Millennium: 1st millennium
Centuries:
Timelines:
State leaders:
Decades:
Categories: Births – Deaths
Establishments – Disestablishments
Eastern Hemisphere at the beginning of the 10th century

In China the Song dynasty was established. The Muslim World experienced a cultural zenith, especially in al-Andalus under the Caliphate of Córdoba and in Samanid Empire under Ismail Samani. Additionally, there was cultural flourishing for the Byzantine Empire and the First Bulgarian Empire.

Medievalist and historian of technology Lynn White said that "to the modern eye, it is very nearly the darkest of the Dark Ages", but concluded that ". . . if it was dark, it was the darkness of the womb."[1] Similarly, Helen Waddell wrote that the 10th century was that which "in the textbooks disputes with the seventh the bad eminence, the nadir of the human intellect."[2] In the 15th century, Lorenzo Valla described it as the Century of Lead and Iron and later Cardinal Baronius as the Leaden Century or Iron Century.

Events
This statue of a yogini goddess was created in Kaveripakkam in Tamil Nadu, India, during the 10th century.
  • The beginning of the Medieval Warm Period
  • The Byzantine empire reaches the height of its military and economic strength

Africa

Americas

Eurasia

Asia
Divided China, 923

Europe
The Bulgarian victory at Anchialos.
  • Viking groups settle in northern France
  • 907: Loire Vikings overrun Brittany; Breton court flees to the England of Edward the Elder.
  • The Norse become Normans
  • The Hungarian army destroys the Bavarian forces under duke Liutpold and king Louis the Child in the Battle of Pressburg. All the German force is annihilated.
  • 911: Rollo granted County of Rouen by France: official foundation of Normandy.
  • Foundation of Cluny, first federated monastic order
  • Emperor Simeon the Great solidifies the First Bulgarian Empire as one of the most powerful states in Europe
  • In 917 (20 August 917) the Bulgarians destroyed the Byzantine army in the Battle of Anchialus, one of the bloodiest battles in the Middle Ages
  • 927: official recognition of the first independent national Church in Europe, the Bulgarian Patriarchate
  • 927: Kingdom of England becomes a unified state.
  • c. 936: Gorm the Old becomes the first recognized king of Denmark, and thus the Danish Monarchy is founded.
  • 936: Alan II, with support from Æthelstan, commences the reconquest of Brittany.
  • 955: The Battle of Lechfeld (10 August 955) sees a decisive victory for Otto I the Great, King of the Germans, over the Hungarian harka Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél (Lehel) and Súr.
  • 968: Battle of Silistra between Russians and Bulgars
  • Incursions of Magyar (Hungarian) cavalry throughout Western Europe (47 expeditions in Germany, Italy and France, 899–970)
  • Mieszko I, first duke of Poland, baptised a Christian in 966
  • Collapse of Great Moravia
  • The medieval Croatian state becomes a unified kingdom under King Tomislav
  • Swedish influence extends to the Black Sea
  • Volodymyr I, Prince of Kievan Rus', baptised a Christian in 988
  • Reindeer and bears become extinct in Britain
  • Lions become extinct in Europe by this date, with the last dying in Caucasus.
  • Second half of the 10th century – Page with David the Psalmist, from the Paris Psalter, is made. It is now kept at Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris.
  • Late 10th or early 11th century – Archangel Michail, icon, is made. It is now kept at Treasury of the Cathedral of Saint Mark, Venice

Oceania

Significant people
Half-section of the Night Revels of Han Xizai, by Chinese artist Gu Hongzhong, 10th century. A woman is seen entertaining guests with a pipa on the right-hand side.

Africa
  • Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah, founder of the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt in 909
  • Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, pivotal Fatimid caliph who promoted science and learning, yet discriminated against non-muslims in his empire. Was known as the “mad caliph” in the west.

Americas
  • Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, semi-legendaric Toltec ruler, (exact years of his life are unknown)
Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, known as Kukulkan in Yucatán.

Eurasia and Eastern Roman Empire
  • Nicephorus II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 912–969, reigned 963–969)
  • John I Tzimisces, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 925–976, reigned 969–976)
  • Basil II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, (lived 958–1025, reigned 976–1025)

Asia
The Hindu god Ganesha, made of sandstone, and discovered in Cambodia, exhibited Birmingham Museum of Art (Alabama, USA)

Europe
Almanzor of Córdoba

Oceania
  • 'Aho'eitu (early 10th century), first king of the Tuʻi Tonga

Inventions, discoveries, introductions
Earliest known representation of a gun (a fire lance) and a grenade (upper right), from the cave murals of Dunhuang, China, 10th century.

Notes
  1. Quoted in The Tenth Century: How Dark the Dark Ages?, edited by Robert Sabatino Lopez. Holt, Rinehart and Winston: 1959.
  2. The Wandering Scholars. Constable and Co: London, 1927.
  3. Soekmono, R, Drs., Pengantar Sejarah Kebudayaan Indonesia 2, 2nd ed. Penerbit Kanisius, Yogyakarta, 1973, 5th reprint edition in 1988 p.52
  4. Spuler, Bertold; F.R.C Bagley. The Muslim world : a historical survey, Part 4. Brill Archive. p. 252. ISBN 978-90-04-06196-5.
  5. Soekmono, R, Drs., Pengantar Sejarah Kebudayaan Indonesia 2, 2nd ed. Penerbit Kanisius, Yogyakarta, 1973, 5th reprint edition in 1988 p.51
  6. "Avicenna", in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Version 2006". Iranica.com. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  7. Corbin, Henry; Nasr, Hossein; Yahya, Utman (2001). History of Islamic Philosophy. Kegan Paul. ISBN 978-0-7103-0416-2.

Elephant

Further reading
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