1052
Banu Hilal invasion of North Africa
The Fatimid caliphate unleashed the warlike Arab Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes from Upper Egypt on the rebellious Zirid territories in North Africa. The resulting destruction wrecked Kairouan's agriculture for generations and fundamentally Arabized the rural population of what is now Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya. The great fourteenth-century historian Ibn Khaldun compared the invasion to a swarm of locusts, devouring everything in its path.
Edward the Confessor refounds Westminster Abbey
The pious king began rebuilding a small Benedictine monastery by the Thames into a grand Romanesque church with a nave longer than anything in England. He would be buried before its high altar fourteen years later, and his coronation church would remain the site of every English crowning since. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the completed abbey with its distinctive central tower, already a landmark on the London skyline.
Rajadhiraja Chola Falls at the Battle of Koppam
The Chola emperor Rajadhiraja I charged into battle against the Western Chalukyas at Koppam and was killed on his war elephant, a death mid-triumph - his forces were winning. His brother Rajendra II immediately mounted the elephant, rallied the army, and drove the Chalukyas from the field. The dynasty's succession held, but the ceaseless Deccan wars would grind on for another generation.
Godwin returns and reclaims power
Assembling a fleet in Flanders, Godwin and his sons Harold and Tostig sailed up the Thames and reentered London in triumph. Edward the Confessor restored their earldoms and dismissed his Norman advisers. The Godwin family were now the undisputed real rulers of England. Edward retreated into piety and building, and the stage was set for the succession crisis that would engulf the kingdom in 1066.