Political Events

Berber forces under the command of Ali ibn Hammud march into Córdoba in July and depose the Ummayad caliph al-Mustain (see 1013). Ali accuses al-Mustain of having murdered the previous caliph, Hisham, and has him executed; he proclaims himself caliph and becomes the first non-Ummayad Spanish caliph (but see 1018).

The Battle of Ashingdon (Assundum) in Essex October 18 ends in defeat for English troops under the command of Edmund Ironside, son of Ethelred (Aethelred) II, at the hands of Danish forces led by Knut Sveinsson (Canute) (see Maldon, 991). Ethelred dies at London November 30 at age 48 after an ineffective 38-year reign in which he has tried to buy off the Danes (he will be remembered as Ethelred the Unready, a word derived from unraed, meaning "evil counsel"). His son Edmund Ironside is chosen king by Londoners, while Canute is chosen by the witan at Southampton. Edmund's brother-in-law Edric deserted him last year in anger at his marriage to the widow of a Danish earl, and while Edric now rejoins the new king, his treachery has caused a rout of the English at Ashingdon. Canute permits Edmund to reign in the south until his death later in the year at age 26, whereupon Canute proceeds to conquer all of England.

The blind Japanese emperor Sanjo abdicates at age 40 and is succeeded by the 8-year-old son of the late Ichijo, who will reign until 1036 as Goichijo. Courtier Yorimichi Fujiwara, 24-year-old son of the strongman Michinaga Fujiwara, serves as regent for the new emperor and will control the government until 1068.

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