950s

The 950s decade ran from January 1, 950, to December 31, 959.

950

This section is transcluded from AD 950. (edit | history)

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Arab–Byzantine War: A Hamdanid army (30,000 men) led by Sayf al-Dawla raids into Byzantine theme Anatolia. He defeats Bardas Phokas, but is then ambushed on his return and heavily defeated by Leo Phokas.^[1]

Europe

• November 22 – King Lothair II dies at Turin (possibly poisoned by Berengar of Ivrea). Berengar is crowned king of Italy and imprisons Lothair's now 19-year-old widow, Adelaide for four months at Como.
• Boleslav I, duke of Bohemia, signs a peace treaty with King Otto I of the East Frankish Kingdom. He becomes his ally, but he probably wasn't forced to resume the payment of tribute.
• Henry I, duke of Bavaria, attacks Western Hungary, taking captives and plunder. He enlarges his duchy in the wars with the Hungarians.^[2]

Wales

• King Hywel Dda ("the Good") dies after an 8-year reign in which he has established codified laws. His three sons Owain ap Hywel Dda, Rhodri ap Hywel, and Edwin ap Hywel divide Wales amongst themselves.

Oceania

• The Tu'i Tonga Empire starts to expand in the Pacific Ocean. The Tu'i Tonga kings establish the capital at Mu'a on the island of Tongatapu (approximate date).

North America

• The Mount Edziza volcanic complex in British Columbia, Canada, produces an explosive eruption that deposits the Sheep Track Member.

Africa

• City of Mogadishu is Established

By topic

Religion

• Page with Joshua Leading the Israelites, from the Joshua Roll, is made in Constantinople. It is now kept at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana in Rome (approximate date).

Significant people

• Abd al-Rahman III caliph of Córdoba
• Al-Muti caliph of Baghdad
• Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah of Fatimid dynasty
• Pope John XII
• Pope Agapetus II

Births

Transcluding articles: 950, 951, 952, 953, 954, 955, 956, 957, 958, and 959

950

• June 12 – Reizei, Japanese emperor (d. 1011)
• Bernard I, German nobleman (approximate date)
• Dedo I, German nobleman (approximate date)
• Egbert, archbishop of Trier (approximate date)
• Emma of Blois, duchess of Aquitaine (d. 1003)
• Erik the Red, Norse Viking explorer (d. 1003)
• Guy of Anderlecht, Christian saint (d. 1012)
• Herbert III, Frankish nobleman (d. 995)
• Ibn Yunus, Fatamid astronomer (d. 1009)
• Lady Finella, Scottish noblewoman (d. 995)
• Lambert I, French nobleman (approximate date)
• Lothair Udo I, German nobleman (d. 994)
• Masako, Japanese empress consort (d. 1000)
• Moninho Viegas, French knight (d. 1022)
• Notker III, German Benedictine monk (d. 1022)
• Odo I (or Eudes), French nobleman (d. 996)
• Otto I, duke of Carinthia (approximate date)
• Reginar IV, French nobleman (approximate date)
• Sarolt, Grand Princess of Hungary (d. 1008)
• Soběslav, Bohemian nobleman (d. 1004)
• William I, French nobleman (approximate date)
• Wolbodo, bishop of Liège (approximate date)

951

• Abu Talib Yahya, Muslim imam of the Zaydiyyah sect (d. 1033)
• Gaston II Centule, viscount of Béarn (approximate date)
• Gregory of Narek, Armenian monk and theologian (d. 1003)
• Henry II (the Wrangler), duke of Bavaria (d. 995)
• Ibn al-Kattani, Moorish scholar and physician (d. 1029)
• Liu Chenggui, official of the Song dynasty (d. 1016)
• Romuald, founder of the Camaldolese order (approximate date)
• Sidi Mahrez, Muslim scholar and 'protector' (wali) (d. 1022)
• Zhao Dezhao (Yi of Yan), prince of the Song dynasty (d. 979)

952

• Adelaide of Aquitaine, French queen consort (or 945)
• Adela of Hamaland, Frankish countess and regent (d. 1021)
• Fakhr al-Dawla, emir of Gurgan and Tabaristan (d. 997)
• Sa'd al-Dawla, Hamdanid emir of Aleppo (d. 991)
• Song, Chinese empress consort (d. 995)

953

• 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

954

• Fujiwara no Yoshitaka, Japanese waka poet (d. 974)
• Malcolm II, king of Alba (Scotland) (approximate date)
• Ōnakatomi no Sukechika, Japanese waka poet (d. 1038)
• Otto I, duke of Swabia and Bavaria (d. 982)
• Wang Yucheng, Chinese official and poet (d. 1001)

955

• May 10 – Al-Aziz Billah, caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate (d. 996)
• October 22 – Qian Weijun, king of Wuyue (Ten Kingdoms) (d. 991)
• November 9 – Gyeongjong of Goryeo, ruler of Korea (d. 981)
• Aboazar Lovesendes, Portuguese nobleman (approximate date)
• Ælfric of Eynsham, English abbot and writer (approximate date)
• Arduin of Ivrea (I), Lombard margrave and king of Italy (approximate date)
• Eido I (or Ägidius), German nobleman and bishop (d. 1015)
• Ezzo (or Ehrenfried), Count Palatine of Lotharingia (Germany) (approximate date)
• Gisela of Burgundy, duchess of Bavaria (approximate date)
• Gunther of Bohemia, German hermit and saint (d. 1045)
• Lutgardis of Luxemburg, countess of Holland (Netherlands)
• Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg, German princess-abbess and daughter of Otto I (d. 999)
• Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor ("the Red") (d. 983)
• Theophanu, empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 991)
• Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu, king of the Pagan dynasty (d. 1048)

956

• Siegfried II, count of Stade (d. 1037)
• probable
  • Adalbert of Prague, Bohemian bishop (approximate date)
  • Sampiro, Spanish bishop (approximate date)

957

• Fujiwara no Junshi, Japanese empress consort (d. 1017)
• Fujiwara no Kinsue, Japanese statesman (d. 1029)
• Fujiwara no Sanesuke, Japanese nobleman (d. 1046)
• Fujiwara no Yoshikane, Japanese nobleman (d. 1021)
• Lu Zhen, Chinese scholar-official (approximate date)
• Wang Dan, Chinese politician and Grand Chancellor (d. 1017)

958

• Basil II (Bulgar Slayer), Byzantine emperor (d. 1025)
• Otto-William, count of Burgundy (approximate date)
• Rinchen Zangpo, Tibetan Buddhist monk (d. 1055)
• Samuel, tsar of the Bulgarian Empire (approximate date)
• Vladimir I (the Great), Grand Prince of Kiev (d. 1015)
• Yang Yanzhao, general of the Song dynasty (d. 1014)
• Yaropolk I, Grand Prince of Kiev (approximate date)

959

• April 12 – En'yū, emperor of Japan (d. 991)
• Yeshe-Ö, Tibetan lama-king (approximate date)
• Zhao Defang, prince of the Song Dynasty (d. 981)

Deaths

date unknown

• • Abas I, king of the Bagratuni dynasty (Armenia)^[25]
  • Mastalus I, penultimate patricius of Amalfi (Italy)
  • Ma Yinsun, Chinese official and chancellor
  • Muhammad bin Musafir, Sallarid ruler (approximate date)
  • Rasso, Frankish military leader, pilgrim and saint
  • Wang Jun, Chinese singer and chancellor
• probable
  • Æthelgar, bishop of Crediton
  • Rhodri ap Hywel, king of Deheubarth (Wales)

Transcluding articles: 950, 951, 952, 953, 954, 955, 956, 957, 958, and 959

950

• January 15 – Wang Jingchong, Chinese general
• October 7 – Li, Chinese empress consort
• October – Al-Qahir, Abbasid caliph (b. 899)
• November 22 – Lothair II, king of Italy^[23]
• December 24
  • Shi Hongzhao, Chinese general
  • Wang Zhang, Chinese official
  • Yang Bin, Chinese chancellor
• Ælfric, bishop of Ramsbury (approximate date)
• Al-Farabi, Muslim philosopher (or 951)
• Hywel Dda ("the Good"), king of Wales
• Li Jinquan, Chinese general (approximate date)
• Ricfried, Frankish nobleman (b. 845)
• Sunyer, count of Barcelona, Girona and Ausona
• Zoltán, Grand Prince of Hungary (approximate date)
• Dharma Mahadevi, Indian Queen Regnant

951

• January 1 – Ramiro II, king of León and Galicia
• January 2
  • Liu Chengyou, emperor of Later Han (b. 931)
  • Su Fengji, Chinese official and chancellor
• January 25 – Ma Xiguang, ruler of Chu (Ten Kingdoms)
• February 24 – Liu Yun, Chinese governor (jiedushi)
• March 12 – Ælfheah the Bald, bishop of Winchester
• June 7 – Lu Wenji, Chinese chancellor (b. 876)
• June 8 – Zhao Ying, Chinese chancellor (b. 885)
• October 7
  • Shi Zong, emperor of the Liao dynasty (b. 919)
  • Xiao, Chinese Khitan empress dowager
  • Zhen, Chinese Khitan empress consort
• October 8 – Xiao Sagezhi, Chinese Khitan empress
• Cadwgan ab Owain, king of Glywysing (Wales)
• Cennétig mac Lorcáin, king of Tuadmumu (Ireland)
• Gofraid mac Sitriuc, Viking king of Dublin (Ireland)
• Wang Chuhui, Chinese chief of staff (shumishi)
• Wang Yanzheng, emperor of Min (approximate date)

952

• June 15 – Murong Yanchao, Chinese general
• July 17 – Wu Hanyue, Chinese noblewoman (b. 913)
• September 6 – Suzaku, emperor of Japan (b. 923)
• September 10 – Gao Xingzhou, Chinese general (b. 885)
• December 17 – Hugh the Black, duke of Burgundy
• date unknown
  • Alan II (Wrybeard), duke of Brittany
  • Constantine II, king of Alba (Scotland)^[24]
  • Li Jianxun, Chinese official and chancellor
  • Mansur ibn Qara-Tegin, Samanid governor

953

• March 19 – al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 913)
• August 1 – Yingtian, Chinese Khitan empress (b. 879)
• November 18 – Liutgard, duchess of Lorraine (b. 931)

954

• January 25 – Ashot II, prince of Tao-Klarjeti (Georgia)
• February 22 – Guo Wei, emperor of the Later Zhou (b. 904)
• May 21 – Feng Dao, Chinese prince and chancellor (b. 882)
• September 10 – Louis IV, king of the West Frankish Kingdom
• Abul-Aish Ahmad, Idrisid ruler and sultan (Morocco)
• Alberic II, princeps and duke of Spoleto (b. 912)
• Cellachán Caisil, king of Munster (Ireland)
• Eric I (Bloodaxe), Norwegian Viking king
• Frederick, archbishop (elector) of Mainz
• Fujiwara no Onshi, empress of Japan (b. 885)
• Li, Chinese empress dowager of the Later Han
• Liu Chong, founder of the Northern Han
• Malcolm I, king of Alba (Scotland)
• Nuh ibn Nasr, Samanid emir

955

• July 23 – He Ning, Chinese official and chancellor (b. 898)
• August 10 – Conrad ("the Red"), duke of Lorraine
• August 15
  • Bulcsú, Hungarian tribal chieftain (harka)^[26]
  • Lehel, Hungarian tribal chieftain^[26]
  • Súr, Hungarian tribal chieftain^[26]
• October 16 – Stoigniew, Obotrite prince and co-ruler
• November 1 – Henry I, Duke of Bavaria
• November 8 – Pope Agapetus II, Catholic Church pontiff (b. 905)
• November 23 – Eadred (or Edred), king of England (b. 923)
• Abu 'Ali Chaghani, ruler of Chaghaniyan (Turkmenistan)
• Bermudo Núñez, count of Cea (Spain) (approximate date)
• Gamle Eirikssen, Norwegian Viking ruler (b. 910)
• Hervé I, count of Mortagne and Perche
• Muhammad ibn Shaddad, Shaddadid ruler
• Parantaka I, ruler of Chola Kingdom (India)
• Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan, Kara-Khanid ruler

956

• February 15 – Su Yugui, Chinese chancellor (b. 895)
• February 27 – Theophylact, Byzantine patriarch (b. 917)
• April 8 – Gilbert, duke of Burgundy
• April 15 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch
• May 19 – Robert, archbishop of Trier
• June 4 – Muhammad II of Shirvan, Muslim ruler
• June 16 – Hugh the Great, Frankish nobleman (b. 898)
• July/August – Fulbert of Cambrai, bishop^[27]
• August – Ordoño III, king of León^[28]
• August 29 – Fu (the Elder), Chinese empress consort
• September/October – Al-Masudi, Muslim historian and geographer^[29]
• December 21 – Sun Sheng, Chinese chancellor
• December 26 – Wulfstan, archbishop of York^[30]
• date unknown
  • Ahmad al-Muhajir, Muslim scholar and imam (b. 873)
  • Congalach Cnogba, High King of Ireland
  • Gandaraditya, ruler of Chola Kingdom
  • Zhao Hongyin, Chinese general

957

• January 16 – Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Madhara'i, Tulunid vizier (b. 871)
• June 14 – Guadamir, bishop of Vic (Spain)
• September 6 – Liudolf, duke of Swabia
• date unknown
  • Arinjaya, king of the Chola Kingdom (India)
  • Istakhri, Persian traveler and geographer
  • Marzuban ibn Muhammad, Sallarid ruler^[31]
  • Ruzbahan, Buyid tax collector and general
  • Wilfred II, count of Besalú (Spain)^[32]

958

• May – Ibn Durustawayh, Persian grammarian, lexicographer and student of the Quran and hadith (b. 872)
• June 2 – Oda (the Good), archbishop of Canterbury
• September 17 – Li Jingsui, Chinese prince (b. 920)
• September 18 – Liu Sheng, Chinese emperor (b. 920)
• October 15 – Toda, queen of Pamplona (b. 876)
• date unknown
  • Ammar ibn Ali al-Kalbi, Fatimid military commander
  • Faifne an Filí, Irish poet and ollamh ("professor")
  • Finshneachta Ua Cuill, Irish poet
  • Fujiwara no Kiyotada, Japanese poet
  • Lashkarwarz, Daylamite military commander
  • Mastalus II, duke and patrician of Amalfi (Italy)
  • Ōnakatomi no Yorimoto, Japanese waka poet
  • Qingliang Wenyi, Chinese Buddhist monk
  • Sumbat I, king of Iberia (Georgia)
• probable
  • Drogo, duke of Brittany^[33]
  • Gorm the Old, king of Denmark. He was born before 900 and may have died as late as 964.^[34]

959

• July 27 – Chai Rong, emperor of Later Zhou (b. 921)
• October 1 – Eadwig (the All Fair), king of England
• October 3 – Gérard of Brogne, Frankish abbot
• November 9 – Constantine VII, Byzantine emperor (b. 905)
• Ælfsige (or Aelfsige), archbishop of Canterbury
• Chen Jue, Chinese official and chief of staff
• Donnchadh mac Urchadh, king of Maigh Seóla (Ireland)
• Han Yanhui, Chinese Khitan chancellor (b. 882)
• Pietro III Candiano, doge of Venice
• Song Qiqiu, Chinese chief strategist (b. 887)

References

1. Treadgold, Warren T. (1997), A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, p. 489, ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
2. Bóna, István (2000). The Hungarians and Europe in the 9th-10th centuries. Budapest: Historia - MTA Történettudományi Intézete, p. 27. ISBN 963-8312-67-X.
3. Timothy Reuter (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 250. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
4. Timothy Reuter (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 247. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
5. Early Sources, p. 451. The corresponding entry in the Annals of the Four Masters, 950, states that the Northmen were the victors, which would suggest that it should be associated with Eric Bloodaxe.
6. Vasiliev, A.A. (1968). Byzance et les Arabes, Tome II, 1ére partie: Les relations politiques de Byzance et des Arabes à L'époque de la dynastie macédonienne (867–959). Brussels: Éditions de l'Institut de Philologie et d'Histoire Orientales.
7. Bóna, István (2000). The Hungarians and Europe in the 9th-10th centuries. Budapest: Historia - MTA Történettudományi Intézete, pp. 51-52. ISBN 963-8312-67-X.
8. Ballan, Mohammad (2010). Fraxinetum: An Islamic Frontier State in Tenth-Century Provence. Comitatus: A journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Volume 41, 2010, p. 31.
9. The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 916–966, eds & trans. Steven Fanning: Bernard S. Bachrach (New York; Ontario, Can: University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. 60.
10. Timothy Reuter (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 247. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
11. Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 95–104. ISBN 978-0-304-35730-7.
12. Bóna, István (2000). The Hungarians and Europe in the 9th-10th centuries. Budapest: Historia - MTA Történettudományi Intézete, p. 54. ISBN 963-8312-67-X.
13. Timothy Reuter (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 248. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
14. Gilbert Meynier (2010). L'Algérie cœur du Maghreb classique. De l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (658-1518). Paris: La Découverte; p.28.
15. Timothy Reuter (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 591. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
16. Timothy Reuter (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 386. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
17. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Dunstan" Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
18. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Dunstan" Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
19. Antonopoulos, 1980
20. Shepard, Jonathan (2010). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 3, pp.151–152. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533403-6.
21. Gilbert Meynier (2010) L'Algérie cœur du Maghreb classique. De l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (658-1518). Paris: La Découverte; p. 42.
22. Bóna, Istvá (2000). The Hungarians and Europe in the 9th-10th centuries. Budapest: Historia - MTA Történettudományi Intézete, p. 33. ISBN 963-8312-67-X.
23. "Lothar | king of Italy". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
24. Lynch, Michael, ed. (February 24, 2011). The Oxford companion to Scottish history. Oxford University Press. p. 106. ISBN 9780199693054.
25. John M. Douglas (1992). The Armenians. J.J. Winthrop Corporation. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-9631381-0-1.
26. Kristó, Gyula (1985). Az augsburgi csata [The Battle of Augsburg] (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó. p. 94. ISBN 963-05-3838-5.
27. H. Platelle, "Fulbert, évêque de Cambrai", Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. 19 (Paris, 1981), 332-333.
28. H. E. L. Mellersh; Neville Williams (1999). Chronology of World History. ABC-CLIO. p. 276. ISBN 978-1-57607-155-7.
29. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Gale Research. 1998. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-7876-2550-4.
30. E. B. Pryde; D. E. Greenway; S. Porter; I. Roy (23 February 1996). Handbook of British Chronology. Cambridge University Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-521-56350-5.
31. Ibrāhīm ibn Hilāl Ṣābī (1995). Kitāb at-Tājī of Abu Ishaq Ibrahim bin al Katib as-Sabi. Pakistan Historical Society. p. 202.
32. André Vauchez; Michael Lapidge (2000). Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages: A-J. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Incorporated. p. 254. ISBN 9781579582821.
33. La Chronique de Nantes pages 109-110 indique qu’il aurait été ébouillanté dans son bain par sa nourrice sur ordre de Foulque II d'Anjou
34. "The Royal Lineage". The Danish Monarchy. 6 July 2015. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2019.