944

Events

Arab–Byzantine War: Byzantine forces are defeated by Sayf al-Dawla. He captures the city of Aleppo, and extends his control over the Al-Jazira–Upper Mesopotamia region. Al-Dawla's rule is recognized by the Ikhshidids. With the recovery of Edessa, the Greeks also obtain the fabled Image of Edessa.
August 15 - The "Holy Mandylion" is conveyed to Constantinople, where it arrives on the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. A triumphal entry is staged for the relic in the capital.
December 16 - Emperor Romanos I is arrested and deposed after a 14-year reign by his own sons, the co-emperors Stephen and Constantine. He is carried off to the Prince Islands and forced to become a monk.

King Hugh of Provence dispatches an embassy to King Otto I of the East Frankish Kingdom, offering a large sum of cash if he promises not to provide assistance to Berengar of Ivrea. Otto refuses this offer.
Raymond III, count of Toulouse, travels to Nevers to declare his fidelity to king Louis IV. He is granted the title 'prince of the Aquitanians' by the king.
The largest recorded epidemic of ergotism, also known as "Saint Anthony's Fire, kills 40,000 people in France.

King Edmund I regains the territory he ceded to Olaf Guthfrithson. He conquers Northumbria and cedes Cumberland to Malcolm I, king of the 'Picts and Scots'.
A great storm sweeps across Wessex and many houses are destroyed, 1,500 in London alone.

In Tĩnh Hải quân, after the demise of Ngô Quyền, Dương Tam Kha forced Ngô Xương Ngập, Kha's nephew-in-law, to abdicate and installed himself as king, calling himself Dương Bình Vương.