1041

Events

December 10 - Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian dies after a 6-year reign. His wife, Empress Zoë, elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, as Michael V Kalaphates. Shortly after, Michael comes into conflict with his uncle John, and banishes him to a monastery.

March 17 - Battle of Olivento: Norman troops and their Lombard allies, led by William Iron Arm, are victorious against the Byzantines at the feet of the Monte Vulture, near the River Olivento in Apulia.
May 4 - Battle of Montemaggiore: Lombard-Norman rebel forces, led by William, are again victorious, and defeat a Byzantine army on the hill of Montemaggiore, near the River Ofanto.
September 3 - Battle of Montepeloso: Lombard-Norman rebel forces, led by William, defeat the Byzantines at Montepeloso. During the battle, Boioannes, governor of the Catepanate of Italy, is captured.
Winter - Battle of Ostrovo: The Byzantines, with the help of the Varangian Guard, led by Harald Hardrada, defeat the Bulgarian troops, near Lake Ostrovo in Greece.

King Harthacnut invites his half-brother Edward the Confessor to return to England from exile in Normandy as his heir as king of England, with the support of Godwin, Earl of Wessex.
The city of Worcester rebels against the naval taxes of Harthacnut. He reduces the navy from 60 to 32 ships.

The Zirid dynasty rejects Shi'ite obedience and Fatimid domination, and recognizes the Abbasids as their overlords.

At about this time, the number of enlisted soldiers in the Song dynasty Chinese military reaches well over 1,250,000 troops, an increase since 1022, when there were a million soldiers.