Timeline 950-975 (Interference)

== 951-955 ==
951
Southern Europe:
John Curcuas dies in Messina; he is succeeded as Western Byzantine emperor by his nephew Theophilus. Otto I of Saxony stages an expedition to Lombardy, retaking Trento on the way, but Berengar’s forces bottle him up in the Adige valley between Trento and Verona and force him to withdraw. Count Sigifred of Lucca and his young son, Adalbert Atto, powerful vassals of margrave Guido of Tuscany from an ancient Lombard family, complete the building of the fortress of Canossa in the Apennines near Reggio Emilia: their descendants will take their name from the castle.
Arabia:
The Ismaili Fatimids of Caliph al-Mansur annihilate the Qarmatian power in central Arabia in the battle of the Ten Thousand Jinns ;) (in the al-Hasa region); the last Qarmatian Caliph, Ahmad Abu Mansur, is killed on the battlefield. The remaining Qarmatians take refuge in their last strongholds, Palestine and the northern deserts of Syria and Jordan.
Far East:
The Later Zhou take over the Chinese throne of Kaifeng from the Late Han.
952
Southern Europe:
Otto I of Saxony strikes a deal of alliance with the king Rodoald of Romancia (*OTL eastern Switzerland plus Valtellina), marrying his sister Hedwige
Northern Europe:
At the Diet of Augsburg Otto I of Saxony enforces his system of the count-bishops :cool: as temporal rulers of many important territories. They, having no sons, pose less a threat than the lay feudatories
953-954
Western Europe:
The Duke of Lorraine Conrad I the Red rises in rebellion against his father-in-law Otto I of Saxony in support of an invasion led by Adalbert of Burgundy; Otto quickly intervenes and overcomes the enemies at the battle of the Falkenberg, then appoints his brother, Archbishop Bruno of Cologne, as duke of Lorraine
954 
British Isles:
Edwy and Edgar, grandsons of the deceased king Athelstan, land in England and inspire the rebellion :) against the crule rule of Erik I Bloodaxe, who is thereafter defeated and killed :D at the battle of Burton Hill; Viking power is abruptly ended throughout England, whose capital comes back from York/Jorvik to Winchester. Liberated Northumbria is made a powerful and autonomous earldom under the Eadulfsons of Bamburgh
Western Europe:
Rodrigo VII of Spain dies without heirs, thus extinguishing the Earlier (or Visigothic) Rodriguez dynasty: civil war, feudal anarchy and fragmentation :confused: ensue.
Southern Europe:
Alberic II, king of Italy and ruler of Rome, dies after extorting from the Papacy a solemn oath of electing his young son Octavian, the new king of Italy, as Pope :eek: upon the death of Agapithus II; central Italy quickly crumbles into feudal anarchy. Despite showing little interest for Italy, basileus Simeon I the Bulgarian allows Conrad, son of the Marozia and Rudolf II of Upper Burgundy (both deceased by now), raised in Constantinople ;) , to land in southern Italy and overthrow Theophilus Curcuas, but the campaign is only a partial success, with Conrad conquering Puglia and ruling it as katepano and duke. Meantime Simeon feels secure enough to abandon Constantinople (not before having slain some dozen nobles of dubious loyalty :D ) and stages a most successful campaign in the Sklaviniai (*OTL Balkans), where the Magyars are routed on the Morava river and all the Serbs and Vlachs recognize Byzantine-Bulgarian overlordship up to Bosnia and the Danube
Arabia, Middle East:
The Fatimids repel at Gebel Ismail an Abbasid invasion instigated by the Wali (*TTL's Sunni "Pope") of Baghdad Abdurrahman III and crush at Bahrain the last Qarmatian stronghold in Arabia.
955 
Northern Europe, Central-Eastern Europe:
The Magyars, called by Berengar, ravage southern Germany until they are trounced :D by Otto I of Saxony at the Lech (where Henry I of Bavaria and Carinthia, Otto’s brother, dies in battle) and at Augsburg: in this second battle the northern Magyars of Slovakia are destroyed and their kingdom is annexed by Arpadid Hungary. Meantime emperor Berengar of Ivrea invades and overruns Romancia (*OTL eastern Switzerland plus Valtellina), where he kills king Rodoald :mad: , then advances to Swabia and Franconia. Otto cuts his way back :cool: and finally kills him at the battle of Gundelsheim on the Neckar river. Having Romancia no more rulers upon the extinction of the main Everardingian :confused: branch, Otto assumes the Romancian crown himself and divides local power between the Abbey of St. Gall in the north and the bishops of Coira in the south.
Middle East:
The Buyids wrest control over Khuzistan and western Persia/Iran from the Samanid Empire.
== 956-960 ==
955-956
Northern Europe:
the Slavic Wends of eastern Germany raid Saxony until they are heavily defeated at the Recknitz by king Otto I.
Southern Europe:
Guido of Tuscany gets the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Monza succeeding his father Berengar; his elder brother king Adalbert of Burgundy proclaims himself emperor of the HRCEW (*Holy roman Catholic Empire of the West)
956
Western Europe:
The Maurian chieftain from the Ruel (*OTL Rif) Marmazon nicknamed Rodrigo, born in Spain froma Maurian mercenary and a Visigothc noblewoman, crosses the Strait leading a powerful force made of rebel Maurians, Zenetes and North african Jews. He invades the Iberian peninsula crushing the two pretenders to the Visigothic crown, Louis of Mérida and Pedro Berengar of Valencia, respectively in the battles of the Frontera and of Linares, therafter conquers Toledo and Castilla; the remaining Visigothic forces submit or flee to Barcelona and Saragossa, ruled by Frankish dukes. The place where Marmazon/Rodrigo landed will be named Arx Roderici, whence Arrodriga (*OTL Gibraltar) :cool:
Southern Europe:
King Octavian of Italy, the grandson of Marozia :eek: , is elected as Pope John XI (*OTL John XII), thus establishing the formal rule of the Papacy over the whole of central Italy :cool:
North Africa:
The Christian Nubians from the kingdom of Mukurra invade Upper Egypt and take Asyut. The Byzantine stonghold at Tripoli is besieged by the Arab-Berber tribes of inner Libya but resists successfully :D
956-957
Southern Europe:
Duke Conrad of Puglia defeats the Western Byzantines of Theophilus Curcuas at Capua and marches on Rome, where John XI (*OTL John XII) accepts his suzerainty and protection. King Guido of Lombardy, fearing German power, doesn’t move :o
957 
Western Europe:
The powerful county of Hainault is carved into the counties of Mons and Valenciennes
SE Asia:
The Khmer Empire subdues the kingdom of Dvaravati (central Siam/Thailand).
958 
Southern Europe:
The Magyars raid Lombardy passing through German Friul with Otto I’s consent. :mad:
Byzantine Empire:
Simeon I the Bulgarian leads the imperial army, reinforced with thousands of Bulgarians, Albanians, Serbs and Magyars, in a successful campaign against the Hamdanids of Syria: Melitene (*OTL Malatya) is retaken :) after a harsh siege, northern Syria and Kurdistan suffer Byzantine raids. Thousands of Slavs and Magyars are resettled in Cappadocia as border guards (the “kleisuriotes”) :cool: . Princess Olga of Kiev is baptized in Constantinople, the first Rus’ ruler to embrace Christanity
Caucasus, Middle East:
The Rawwadid clan leads the Muslim revolt in southern Azerbaijan against the Samanids, who retaliate by razing Tabriz
959
Western Europe:
William III of Poitou, Auvergne and Limoges manages to retake Aquitaine from the counts of Toulouse with help from his king, Arnulf I of France
Arabia, Middle East:
The Fatimids vassalize Zaydi Yemen but fail an attempted invasion of Iraq; there the Abbasid-Waliid forces stop them at Nassiriya :rolleyes: , but can only defend central Iraq when the Persian Buyids occupy Basra and the south; the Abbasid Caliphate is de facto reduced to Baghdad and its neighborhoods :D , and comes to rely upon the Hamdanids of Mosul for protection.
960
Byzantine Empire:
A massive Byzantine campaign against the Hamdanids led by basileus Simeon I brings about the reconquest of Cilicia and the takeover of Edessa (*OTL Urfa) and, finally, Aleppo itself; humiliated :D , emir Saif ad-Dawla has to recognize Byzantine overlordship, for Constantinople this marks the apogee of power since centuries.
Southern Europe:
The prince of Raška/Kosovo Časlav Klonimirovič dies fighting Magyar raids; his Serbian confederation fragments into local chiefdoms under Magyar of Byzantine overlordship.
Western Europe:
Duke Ramiro II of Portugal submits to the king of Spain, Rodrigo VIII the Maurian
Central-Eastern Europe:
The Pechenegs, now put under pressure by the growing power of Russo-Varangian Kiev, set their base in Moldavia.
Caucasus:
The sultanate of Derbent annexes the other Muslim state of Ghazi-Ghumuq (inner Daghestan).
Central Asia:
The Karakhanids start their jihad (holy war) :eek: to spread Islam in Central Asia.
Far East:
General Zhao Kuangyin founds the Song dynasty :) of China at Kaifeng as emperor T’ai-Tsu; the Khitan/Liao abandon a sizable part of their northern Chinese possessions.
960 ca. 
Western Europe:
A web of matrimonial alliances ties together France, Lower Lotharingia, Burgundy and Lombardy, checking the power of Otto I of Saxony :cool: .
Central-Eastern Europe:
Refoundation of the Austrian March under duke Burchard of Regensberg. The Bohemians free Moravia from the Magyar yoke. Duke Wislaw dominates a mixed Slavic-Prussian state at the mouth of the Vistula
Caucasus:
The king of Abasgia/Abkhasia (NW Georgia) Leo II the Great breaks free from the double tutelage of the decaying Khazar empire and of the Alans.
== 961-965 ==
961
Northern Europe:
Harold II Greycloak, son of Erik Bloodaxe, defeats and kills his uncle Haakon I the Good and usurps the throne of Norway with the help of his other uncle Harold Bluetooth ;) of Denmark, who offered him refuge after the fall of Viking power in England.
Southern Europe:
Nantelmo founds the dynasty of the counts of the Seprio (NW Lombardy proper) ;) .
Middle East:
The Shi'ite Alì I ibn Mazyad al-Asadi founds the emirate of Hillah (southern Iraq), a buffer state between the Buyid empire and the pitiful shadow of the Abbasid Caliphate
Central Asia:
The Oghuz Turk Seljuk :eek: , escaped from Khazaria, enforces his rule at Jend/Hojent (Khorezm), south of the Aral lake, establishing there a Sunni Waliist emirate; his descendants will be the known as the Seljuks.
962
British Isles:
Stratchlyde again gains independence, but its rulers are by now intermingled with the MacFergus royal clan of Alba/Scotland
Southern Europe:
Oberto I is appointed as count palatine for Lombardy with his seat in Milan; he alredy is the margrave of a territory stretching from Genoa to Milan and western Emilia that will take the name of Obertingian March. Byzantine suzerainty over distant and rebellious Sardinia is “outsourced” :cool: to Tarkhanid Numidia by basileus Simeon I the Bulgarian in exchange for a matrimonial alliance and troops for the next Byzantine campaigns in Italy (against Theophilus Curcuas) and in the Middle East. The Magyars stage their last major raid in the Sklaviniai (*OTL Balkans), where the Byzantine army repels them
North Africa:
The Christian Nubians wrest Upper Egypt from the Omayyad Caliphate of al-Fustat.
Caucasus:
Vannadopolis/Kars secedes from Armenia under a branch of the Bagratids
963 
Western Europe:
The March of Luxembourg is founded under the two brothers Frederick (*OTL Frederick I of Bar) and Siegfried from the Ardennes family, sons of the late king Wigerich of Germany; it is intended as the main defense of Lower Lotharingia against German aggression.
Caucasus:
The ancient principality of Siuna (eastern Armenia) secedes from Armenia under Smbat I Orbeliani
963-975
Far East:
The Song emperor Zhao Kuangyin/T’ai-Tsu reconquers southern China; only Vietnam, Nanzhao (Yunnan) and Wuyue (Hangzhou and lower Yangtze) can resist the new imperial power
964
Southern Europe:
In Rome Pope John XI (*OTL John XII) is murdered by a jealous husband after the most shameful pontificate ever :o ; Benedict V succeeds him as both Pope and king of Italy, though this last title is mostly ceremonial and the local Spoletan feudatories largely ignore it; Conrad of Puglia, as half-brother of the deceased Pope-king, marches on Rome and reaffirms his overlordship, being awarded the coronation as Western Roman emperor in St. Peter with Byzantine approval. Moreover, Pope Benedict V declares the Holy Roman Catholic Empire of the West‘s title null and void :eek: , formally proclaiming the doctrine by which it is the Roman Church’s duty to acknowledge and crown emperors
Western Europe:
King Arnulf I of France dies, leaving only a grandson, Arnulf, two years old, under the regency of the Queen Dowager Adele de Vermandois, descendant of the other surviving Carolingian branch (descendant from Bernard, Charles the Great’s grandson), and her four brothers, Herbert, Adalbert, Robert and the archbishop of Reims, Hugh.
Middle East:
Basileus Simeon I the Bulgarian has the Hamdanid ruler of Syria Saif ad-Dawla murdered and crushes the subsequent Muslim revolt with great ferocity, razing Aleppo and Latakia.
965
Western Europe:
A chaotic conflict :confused: erupts upon the death of the Bruno, brother of Otto I of Saxony, archbishop of Cologne and duke of Lorraine. Adalbert of Burgundy overruns Lorraine in alliance with the marquises of Luxembourg, then Otto plays a trick card and suborns the regents of France into stabbing Burgundy and Lower Lotharingia in the back :D . Adalbert of Burgundy, in turn, calls for help Rodrigo VIII the Maurian of Spain :cool: , who first subdues the margraves of Barcelona and Saragossa/Aragon, then invades Septimania and Languedoc, taking Narbonne and Toulouse
Southern Europe:
Theophilus Curcuas’ sons, Stephen, Demetrius and Basil, move against emperor Conrad of Puglia but the three are trounced and killed at the battle of the Basento river in Lucania/Basilicata. Once lost any hope with his sons, Theophilus abdicates and retires to die :( in a monastery in Numidia; his niece Anna is forced to marry the widowed Conrad :mad: , establishing the Ghiffiotto (*German Welf--> Byxantine Greek Vilphiotis--> Sicilian Ghiffiotto) imperial dynasty of the Byzantine West. King Guido of Lombardy invades Romancia, Trentino and Friul wresting them back from German hands. Corsican pirates :D sack Pisa
Central-Eastern Europe:
Svjatoslav, prince of Kiev, allies with the Oghuz/Ouzoi Turks against the Khazars: he subdues inner Taurida (*OTL Crimea) and takes Bosporon/Kerč, then crosses the Don rivel and sacks Sarkel, Tamatarkha/Tmutarakan and Itil, the Khazar capital.
Middle East:
Basileus Simeon I the Bulgarian leads a 30,000 strong army against the Qarmatians, who had occupied Damascus, and takes the city after a long siege; then, while the Byzantine fleet blockades and takes the Syrian and Lebanese seaports, the basileus enters Palestine, crushes the Qarmatian forces at Ayn Mahil and conquers Jerusalem :)
== 966-970 ==
965-968
Western Europe:
The war over Lorraine continues unabated and senseless until a cunning compromise :cool: is reached between the Ardennes-Luxembourg brothers and Otto I of Saxony. Frederick is made king of Lorraine, just as his brother Siegfried is raised to king of Luxembourg; both agree to recognize a purely nominal :rolleyes: German supremacy. Hugh II of Lower Lotharingia (*OTL Hugh Capet) :cool: , besieged in Lovanio by Robert de Vermandois, is “liberated” :rolleyes: by Otto’s forces and has to pay feudal homage to the German crown :D , being reduced to be only the margrave of Flanders. In the final peace accords brokered at Metz by Pope John XII (*OTL John XIII) the outcome of the war is clear, with the destruction of Lower Lotharingia, Flanders made a border German march, Mons under Luxembourg and Valenciennes under France. Nothing is said over the contested German-Lombard border lands
Central-Eastern Europe:
The Pechenegs invade Byzantine-Bulgarian Wallachia and start raiding the Sklaviniai (*OTL Balkans)
SE Asia:
The Song army briefly overruns Vietnam, but Dinh Tien/Dinh Bo Ling ousts it and renames the kingdom Dai Viet
966
Middle East:
Basileus Simeon I the Bulgarian rechristens the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as the Church of the Holy Virgin
Central-Eastern Europe:
Svjatoslav of Kiev destroys the old capital of the late Greater Bulgaria of Kubrat, Bandja/Phanagoria (NE coast of the Black Sea). King Mieszko I of Poland converts to Christianity
967
Western Europe:
Rodrigo VIII of Spain tries to invade Auvergne and Aquitaine but is defeated at Tulle by the young count of Aquitaine William IV of Poitou; he however gets overlordship in Septimania and Languedoc, between the Rhone and upper Garonne
Central-Eastern Europe, Byzantine Empire:
Prince Svjatoslav of Kiev crushes Khazaria :( taking and razing its capital, Itil, then, called for help by Byzantium, turns against the Pechenegs. These, defeated, pour on Bulgaria, utterly devastating a sizable part of the country.
Byzantine Empire, Caucasus:
Coming back from his glorious campaign :) in the Middle East, Basileus Simeon I annexes the Armenian kingdom of Taron, making it an imperial theme (province).
968
Byzantine Empire:
Basileus Simeon I crushes the Pechenegs at Dristra/Silistra on the Danube, then pursues them up to Moldavia, ending their menace for some time onwards.
Central-Eastern Europe:
Svjatoslav of Kiev, the last heathen ruler of the Rus’, is ambushed and killed by the Pechenegs on the Lower Bug river; his skull will serve as drinking goblet :eek: for the Pecheneg Khan, Kurya. His three sons Yaroplk, Oleg and Vladimir will be raised in Kiev under strong Byzantine influence
969
Southern Europe:
The Magyars, in one of their last raids, invade Lombardy as allies of Otto of Saxony (and, secretly, of Adalbert of Burgundy, who has been promised the crown of Lombardy :mad: ). Guido of Lombardy tries to stem them at the river Piave but is beaten back and later killed in battle at Brescia; so Adalbert of Burgundy inherits from his betrayed brother the crown of Lombardy :mad: :mad: :mad: , and Otto I of Saxony gets back Romancia, Trentino and Friul plus mainland Veneto up to the Adige river. In Sicily empress Anna Curcuas poisons :eek: his husband Conrad, but is later killed by her stepson, the adolescent Theophylactus.
Western Europe:
Rodrigo VIII of Spain vainly tries to subdue Vasconia/Navarra, but is defeated at the battle of Logroño; margrave Ferdinand I the Righteous proclaims himself king of Navarra
Central-Eastern Europe:
Destroyed Khazaria is carved between the Volga Bulgarians and Alania.
Middle East:
The Fatimids overrun the Byzantines in Palestine and reconquer Jerusalem :( ; in the meantime the Hamdanids of Mosul raid Syria up to Cilicia and Cappadocia.
970
Northern Europe:
Harold Greycloak is defeated and killed in a naval battle off the Jutland coast By Harold Bluetooth’s Danes, allied with the rebels of the Trondelag (central Norway)
Central-Eastern Europe:
Basileus Simeon I the Bulgarian invades Transylvania campaigning against the Magyars (despite his wife is a Magyar princess) but is badly routed on the Tisza river :( and barely saves his life.
== 971-975 ==
970-974
Southern Europe:
Adalbert of Burgundy and Lombardy and Theophylactus of Sicily (*Sicily being the title now associated with the Western Byzantine throne) struggle heavily for the possession of Rome: the kingdom of Italy-Spoleto becomes a battlefield run by feudal armies, Rome itself is occupied and evacuated no less then five times :D and torn apart by factions. Adalbert installs Benedict VI as the new Pope and re-gets the imperial crown of the West in St. Peter, but in the end he is murdered by his vassal Adalbert Atto, count of Reggio Emilia and Modena and lord of Canossa. His “Lombard” Pope is thereafter strangled :eek: at the instigation of Crescentius the Elder, cousin of the deceased Alberic II and a powerful supporter of emperor Theophylactus. His successor, after the wise refusal :D of the saintly abbot Mayol of Cluny, will be Benedict VII, a relative of Crescentius
Middle East:
The Muslim populations of Syria rise in rebellion :mad: against Byzantine oppression; most of the country falls to Hamdanid reconquest or Fatimid aggression; the Byzantines defend themselves in key fortresses
ca. 970-980 
Byzantine Empire:
A Bogomil insurgence creeps through Bulgaria, gaining strength despite the official condemnation and repression. Meantime basileus Simeon I is hard pressed by the Patriarchate of Constantinople to abolish the autonomous Bulgarian patriarchate of Preslav, which he refuses.
Central Hesperia (*OTL America):
The Toltec prince Ce Acatl Topiltzin, nicknamed Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Snake, overthrows his uncle Ihuimatl, a fratricide usurper, and becomes a king-prophet, banishing human sacrifices :) . But the sacerdotal caste forces him into exile, and his figure will give rise to a popular Mexican cult.
971
Byzantine Empire:
Bardas and Nicephorus Phokas, exiled members of the Phokas family crushed by Basileus Simeon after the civil war, appear in their clan’s former strongholds in Anatolia on tow of a Hamdanid raid. They quickly gain the help of many Armenian princes, but their forces are crushed in battle and the two rebels return to their exile in Mosul.
Middle East:
The Fatimids defeat a Byzantine army at Samaria and vainly besiege Damascus. Alì Lashkari I of the Shaddadid clan founds at Gandža (Azerbaijan) the Shi'ite kingdom of Arran.
971-972
British Isles:
The Vikings fail another attempt to establish their power over Anglesey/Mona.
971-977
British Isles:
The Norwegian Vikings of the Orkneys, led by the Harold Greycloak’s widow and son, repeatedly try the invasion of Alba/Pictland (*OTL northern Scotland) but are finally repulsed
972 
Northern Europe:
Otto I of Saxony invades Danish Jutland, forcing Harold Bluetooth to recognize German suzerainty and accept baptism and Christianity
972-974
Middle East:
Two major Byzantine campaigns against the Hamdanids of Mosul are staged, with little success except for the consolidation of Byzantine control in northern Syria; Damascus is held against two Fatimid assaults
972-976
North Africa:
The Egyptian Omayyads enforce their rule over the Arab and Berber tribes of Tripolitania and eventually take Tripoli from the Western Byzantines
972-989
British Isles:
The Isle of Man regains independence under local Viking rulers, then it is subdued by the Jarls of the Orkneys
973
Northern Europe:
Otto I of Saxony dies leaving as heir and king of Germany his son Otto II, but Bavaria and Bohemia rebel against the succession supporting the claim of the duke of Bavaria Henry II the Quarrelsome, Otto II’s cousin: a harsh civil war ensues.
Central-Eastern Europe:
King Mieszko I of Poland, who conquered the lands between the Warta and Oder rivers, is defeated by margrave Gero of Brandenburg and made a vassal of Germany.
Western Europe:
The counts of Poitou take the title of dukes of Aquitaine despite their scarce control over the region
North Africa:
The Numidians of the Tarkhanid Empire trounce the Maurians at the battle of Cumana and destroy the kingdom of Mauretania, which is partly annexed or reduced to local petty states; tens of thousands of Maurians will relocate to Spain in the following decades.
India:
The Chalukya ruler of Kalyani Taila Avahamalla overthrows the Kannarese Rashtrakuta dynasty in SW India and annexes the eastern Chalukya kingdom at Vengi, fostering an era of renewed Chalukya power in the area.
974
Northern Europe:
Harold Bluetooth unifies Norway and Denmark under his own sceptre, leaving Norway to the regency of jarl Haakon the Great.
Southern Europe, Western Europe:
After “emperor” Adalbert’s assassination Lombardy falls prey to feudal chaos :confused: , while powerful bishops and rich abbeys emerge as factors of order; in Burgundy Adalbert’s son William takes over struggling with local lords, but he at first shows little interest for Lombardy
India:
Mularaja I founds the Chalukya kingdom of Anahillapura (western Deccan).
975
Northern Europe:
The German war of succession is finally resolved when Siegfried of Luxemburg and his brother Frederick of Lorraine throw the might of their armies in favor of Henry II; Otto II is besieged and killed in Mainz and the two brothers get the German part of Burgundy proper in exchange for their help.
Middle East:
Basileus Simeon I reconquers Jerusalem :) from the Fatimids.
ca. 975 
British Isles:
Alba/Scotland ousts the Englishmen from Dunbar/Lothian.