978

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated by the Byzantine army loyal to Emperor Basil II, commanded by General Bardas Phokas, near Pankaleia. Phokas regroups his forces and continues his march to the East, drawing Skleros away from Constantinople.

Europe

• War of the Three Henries: Emperor Otto II supported by his nephew Otto I, duke of Bavaria and Carinthia, attacks Passau, where the rebels have assembled. In September, the town surrenders due to Otto's siege tactics, which includes a bridge of boats. Ending of the revolt of Henry II against Otto II.
• Otto II has the three insurrectionists punished at Magdeburg. Henry II is stripped of all his possessions and imprisoned in the custody of Bishop Folcmar of Utrecht. The other two: Henry III loses his duchy to Otto I and Henry I, bishop of Augsburg, is arrested and imprisoned in Werden Abbey.
• Franco-German war of 978–980 begins.
• Almanzor, a court official and regent of Córdoba, becomes a chamberlain and seizes power from the 13-year-old Caliph Hisham II. During his reign, Almanzor will exercise strong influence over Subh and wages successful campaigns against the Christian kingdoms in Northern Spain.
• Fall - Mieszko I, duke and prince of Poland, abducts Oda of Haldensleben from the monastery of Kalbe and marries her. She becomes Mieszko's second wife and Duchess of the Polans.
• Pandulf I, a Lombard prince, annexes the Principality of Salerno into his domains. For the first time, the Lombard duchies of Benevento, Capua, Salerno and Spoleto-Camerino are united under one ruler.
• Pietro I Orseolo, doge of Venice, escapes from Venice and travels to the Benedictine abbey of Michel-de-Cuxa. He is succeeded by Vitale Candiano as doge of Venice.
• Winter - Vladimir I, grand prince of Kiev, returns from Norway with a Varangian mercenary army and re-captures Novgorod. On his way to Kiev, he marches against the forces of his brother Yaropolk I.

England

• March 18 - King Edward the Martyr is murdered at Corfe Castle upon the orders of his step-mother Ælfthryth. He is succeeded by his half-brother Æthelred II who becomes king of England. During his reign Æthelred tries to keep his realm from being overrun by Danish Viking invaders.
• English troops are deployed on the Llŷn Peninsula on behalf of King Hywel of Gwynedd in order to prevent his uncle, King Iago, invading with Viking allies from Dublin.
• The town of Guildford becomes the location of the Royal Mint.

China

• June 3 - Chen Hongjin, Jiedushi of Pinghai Circuit, surrenders his territories and pledges allegiance to the Song Dynasty.
• June 9 - King Qian Chu surrenders his territories and pledges allegiance to the Song Dynasty, saving his people from war and economic destruction. Qian Chu remains ruler and moves 3,000 members of his household to Bianjing. Wuyue is absorbed into the Song Dynasty, effectively ending the kingdom.

By topic

Literature

• One of the Four Great Books of Song, the Taiping Guangji, a Chinese collection of deities, fairies, ghost stories and theology, is completed. The collection is divided into 500 volumes and consists of about 3 million Chinese characters.

Religion

• The Badia Fiorentina, a Benedictine abbey in Florence, is founded by Willa of Tuscany, the widow of Hubert of Tuscany.