1017

Events

Summer - Melus of Bari, a Lombard nobleman, revolts and is supported by Norman mercenaries at Capua. He marches into Apulia to catch the Byzantine army off-guard. Melus defeats the Byzantines on the banks of the Fortore River and ravages the territory in Apulia.
Winter - Emperor Basil II replaces Leo Tornikios with the new catapan Basil Boioannes and sends him reinforcements from Constantinople.

January 6 - Cnut is crowned king of England. In July he marries Emma of Normandy, the widow of Æthelred the Unready, securing his ties with Normandy.
Cnut divides England into four earldoms: Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria.

Summer - Hamza ibn-'Ali ibn-Ahmad publicly declares the founding of the Druze religion, during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

The Sunnis of Kairouan revolt against the Shi'ite Zirid dynasty. The city is quickly retaken and sacked.

March - Fujiwara no Michinaga passes the title of regent of Japan to his eldest son Fujiwara no Yorimichi.
September
* Prince Atsuakira of Japan, eldest son of ex-Emperor Sanjō, having been struck by a skin disease and under intense pressure from Michinaga, resigns the title of Crown Prince in favour of his younger brother, Prince Atsunaga who marries Fujiwara no Kanshi, daughter of Michinaga.
* Michinaga makes a pilgrimage to the Iwashimizu Shrine in Japan accompanied by many courtiers. The travelers divide themselves amongst 15 boats for a floating trip down the Yotogawa River. One of the vessels overturns and more than 30 people lose their lives.
December 24 - Michinaga is granted the honorary title Daijō-daijin of Japan.
Rajendra I, ruler of the Chola dynasty, conquers Sri Lanka and annexes the island.