Year 1008 (MVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
- Olaf Haraldsson, future king of Norway, makes raids in the Baltic Sea. He lands on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, wins a battle there, and forces the inhabitants to pay tribute.
- Battle at Herdaler: Olaf Haraldsson sails to the southern coast of Finland to plunder, where he and his men are ambushed and defeated in the woods.
- The oldest known mention is made of the city of Gundelfingen (Southern Germany).
- Unification of the Georgian realm.
England
- King Æthelred the Unready orders a new fleet of warships built, organised on a national scale. It is a huge undertaking, but is completed the following year.
Arabian Empire
- Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah sends a tributary mission to Emperor Zhenzong of the Song dynasty in order to reestablish trade relations between the Fatimid Caliphate and China (approximate date).
Japan
- November 13 – Kamo Special Festival: The poet Murasaki Shikibu is given her name from a famous court poet, Fujiwara no Kinto; this year she probably starts to write The Diary of Lady Murasaki.
- 42nd Birthday of Fujiwara no Michinaga, father-in-law of the emperor, is celebrated.
By topic
Religion
- Autumn – Bruno of Querfurt, a missionary bishop, and 18 companions sets out on a mission to spread Christianity among the Prussians.
- Olof Skötkonung, king of Sweden, is baptized in Husaby (Västergötland) by missionary Sigfrid, and makes generous donations on the spot.
Births
- May 4 – Henry I, king of France (d. 1060)
- October 12 – Atsuhira, future Emperor Go-Ichijō of Japan (d. 1036)
- Al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, Zirid ruler of Ifriqiya (d. 1062)
- Anselm of Liège, French chronicler and historian
- Di Qing, general of the Song Dynasty (d. 1057)
- Gothelo II (or Gozelo), duke of Lower Lorraine (d. 1046)
- Sugawara no Takasue, Japanese writer (approximate date)
- Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester (approximate date)
Deaths
- March 17 – Kazan, emperor of Japan (b. 968)
- April 7 – Ludolf (or Liudolf), archbishop of Trier
- April 10 – Notker of Liège, French bishop (b. 940)
- May 25
- Bishi, Japanese imperial princess
- Matilda of Saxony, countess of Flanders
- October 6 – Menendo González, Galician nobleman
- November 20 – Geoffrey I, duke of Brittany (b. 980)
- Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar, Andalusian court official
- Clothna mac Aenghusa, Irish poet (approximate date)
- Gunnlaugr Ormstunga, Icelandic poet (approximate date)
- Gurgen II (Magistros), king of Iberia-Kartli (Georgia)
- Ibn Zur'a, Abbasid physician and philosopher (b. 943)
- Madudan mac Gadhra Mór, king of Síol Anmchadha
- Poppo, Polish missionary bishop (approximate date)
- Raymond III, French nobleman (approximate date)
- Rotbold I (or Rotbaud), French nobleman
- Sarolt, Grand Princess of Hungary (b. 950)
References
