1075
Dictatus Papae issued
In a memorandum never formally promulgated but widely circulated, Gregory VII listed twenty-seven extraordinary claims: the pope alone could depose emperors, bishops, and even saints; no synod was ecumenical without his approval; the Roman church had never erred. It was a manifesto of papal monarchy. Whether a working document or a statement of principle, it articulated a vision of absolute papal authority unprecedented in Church history.
Seljuks take Damascus
Seljuk commander Atsiz ibn Uvaq captured Damascus from Fatimid control, consolidating Turkish dominance over Syria. The Turkmen hold on the cities of the Levant was tightening. Latin pilgrims found themselves in an increasingly unstable political landscape in which no single power could guarantee their safety on the road. Damascus under Seljuk rule became a base for further Turkish expansion toward Egypt and the Holy Land.
Vikramaditya VI takes Chalukya throne
The Western Chalukya king began a fifty-year reign that would push Chalukya power into a brief golden age in the Deccan. His court chronicler Bilhana composed the Vikramankadevacharita, a Sanskrit epic. He patronized the scholar Vijnaneshvara, whose Mitakshara became one of the fundamental Hindu legal texts, its authority on inheritance and property law enduring in Indian jurisprudence well into the modern era.
Rebellion of the Earls in England
Three of William the Conqueror's earls, including Ralph of East Anglia, plotted rebellion at a wedding feast and rose against the absent king. Lanfranc and loyal forces crushed them in weeks. The revolt was the last serious threat to William's rule in England and led to the execution of Earl Waltheof.