10th century

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Millennium:	1st millennium BC - 1st millennium - 2nd millennium

Centuries:	9th century - 10th century - 11th century
Decades:	900s 910s 920s 930s 940s 950s 960s 970s 980s 990s

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000.

1 Overview
2 Events
3 Significant people
4 Inventions, discoveries, introductions
5 Decades and years
6 Notes
7 Further reading

[edit] Overview

The tenth century is usually regarded as a low point in European history. In China it was also a period of political upheaval. In Islamdom, however, it was a cultural zenith, especially in Spain.

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."<ref>Quoted in The Tenth Century: How Dark the Dark Ages?, edited by Robert Sabatine Lopez. Holt, Reinhart and Winston: 1959.</ref> Similarly, Helen Waddell wrote that the tenth century was that which "in the textbooks disputes with the seventh the bad eminence, the nadir of the human intellect."<ref>The Wandering Scholars. Constable and Co: London, 1927.</ref> Even in the fifteenth century, Lorenzo Valla described it as the Century of Lead and Iron.

[edit] Events

Image:Yogini Goddess from Tamil Nadu.jpg

The beginning of the Medieval Warm Period
Viking groups settle in northern France - Norse become Normans
Foundation of Cluny, first federated monastic order
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
Khazar kingdom is attacked and defeated by Kievan Rus (965)
Vladimir I, Prince of Kievan Rus, baptised a Christian in 988
Collapse of the central lowland Maya civilization. End of Classic Maya period, begin Post-Classic Maya.
Rise of the Toltecs in Mexico.
Collapse of Great Moravia
Buddhist temple construction commences at Bagan, Myanmar
Laguna Copperplate Inscription, Kavi script, inscribed in Luzon, Philippines, dated Saka year 822 (AD 900).
The medieval Croatian state becomes a unified kingdom under Tomislav
Twentieth century Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus asserts that the orbits of all nine planets were within the same 90% arc of the solar system on 1 February, 949. The next time it is thought this will occur is on 6 May, 1492.
Coastal cities on the Malay Peninsula are the seed for the first recorded Malay kingdoms.
The Fatimid dynasty arises in eastern Algeria.
Swedish influence extends to the Black Sea.
The Christian Nubian kingdom reaches its peak of prosperity and military power. (Early history of Sudan)
The Mississippian culture begins in present day Southern USA.
The Byzantine empire reaches the height of its military and economic strength
Baile Átha Cliath (Dublin) was founded (988).
Reindeer become extinct in Scotland.
Lions become extinct in Caucasus.

[edit] Significant people

Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, semi-legendaric Toltec ruler, (exact years of his life are unknown).
Abd-ar-rahman III of Cordoba
Nicephorus II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 912 - 969, reigned 963 - 969).
Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 912 - 973, reigned 936 - 973).
King Edmund I of England (lived 921 - 946, reigned 939 - 946).
John I Tzimisces, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 925 - 976, reigned 969 - 976).
Hugh Capet (lived 938 - 996), first Capetian King of France
Géza of Hungary, ruler of the Magyars (lived 940 - 997, reigned 970 - 997).
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 955 - 983, reigned 973 - 983).
Theophanu, wife of Otto II, mother and Regent of Otto III, (lived 956 - 991, reigned 983-991).
Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria (lived 958 - 1014, reigned 976 - 1014).
Vladimir I, Prince of Kievan Rus (lived 958 - 1015).
Basil II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, (lived 958 - 1025, reigned 976 - 1025).
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 980 - 1002, reigned 983 - 1002).
Ferdowsi Persian poet
Erik the Red Viking Explorer, founded Greenland
Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah, founder of the Fatamid dynasty in 909.

[edit] Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Hop (plant) first mentioned in connection with beer brewing

[edit] Decades and years

890s	890	891	892	893	894	895	896	897	898	899
900s	900	901	902	903	904	905	906	907	908	909
910s	910	911	912	913	914	915	916	917	918	919
920s	920	921	922	923	924	925	926	927	928	929
930s	930	931	932	933	934	935	936	937	938	939
940s	940	941	942	943	944	945	946	947	948	949
950s	950	951	952	953	954	955	956	957	958	959
960s	960	961	962	963	964	965	966	967	968	969
970s	970	971	972	973	974	975	976	977	978	979
980s	980	981	982	983	984	985	986	987	988	989
990s	990	991	992	993	994	995	996	997	998	999
1000s	1000	1001	1002	1003	1004	1005	1006	1007	1008	1009

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

Heinrich Fichtenau: Living in the Tenth Century: Mentalities and Social Orders (transl. Patrick J. Geary; Chicago & London: 1991).

Millennium	Century
4th BC:	40th BC	39th BC	38th BC	37th BC	36th BC	35th BC	34th BC	33rd BC	32nd BC	31st BC
3rd BC:	30th BC	29th BC	28th BC	27th BC	26th BC	25th BC	24th BC	23rd BC	22nd BC	21st BC
2nd BC:	20th BC	19th BC	18th BC	17th BC	16th BC	15th BC	14th BC	13th BC	12th BC	11th BC
1st BC:	10th BC	9th BC	8th BC	7th BC	6th BC	5th BC	4th BC	3rd BC	2nd BC	1st BC
1st:	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
2nd:	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th
3rd:	21st	22nd	23rd	24th	25th	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th
4th:	31st	32nd	33rd	34th	35th	36th	37th	38th	39th	40th