1076
Synod of Worms
Furious at Gregory VII's attempts to dictate episcopal appointments, Henry IV summoned German bishops to Worms, where they declared the pope deposed. Gregory replied within weeks by excommunicating Henry and releasing his subjects from their oaths of allegiance. The Investiture Controversy had become open war. German princes, sensing opportunity, used the excommunication as leverage to extract concessions from their embattled king.
Almoravids conquer Ghana
Abu Bakr ibn Umar led Almoravid forces into the Sahelian Empire of Ghana, capturing its capital at Kumbi Saleh. The ancient African empire that had controlled the West African gold trade for centuries began to disintegrate. Its fall opened the door to the rise of Mali in the next century.
Vietnam Founds Its First National University
Emperor Ly Nhan Tong established the Quoc Tu Giam, Vietnam's first national university, within the Temple of Literature complex at Thang Long. The institution trained sons of royalty and nobility in Confucian classics, preparing them for imperial examinations that would - for the first time - select officials by merit rather than birth. Vietnam was building a civil service on the Chinese model, but the institution it created would outlast its Chinese inspiration by centuries.
Ly Thuong Kiet Launches Preemptive Invasion of Song China
Learning that Song chancellor Wang Anshi advocated annexing Vietnam, the Dai Viet general Ly Thuong Kiet struck first - crossing the border with a large army that captured Qinzhou and Lianzhou and besieged Yongzhou. The audacity was breathtaking: a small Southeast Asian kingdom attacking the world's most populous empire. The campaign was calculated less to conquer than to shatter Song illusions about easy annexation, and in that it succeeded spectacularly.