1068

Quick facts

1068 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	1068 MLXVIII
Ab urbe condita	1821
Armenian calendar	517 ԹՎ ՇԺԷ
Assyrian calendar	5818
Balinese saka calendar	989–990
Bengali calendar	474–475
Berber calendar	2018
English Regnal year	2 Will. 1 – 3 Will. 1
Buddhist calendar	1612
Burmese calendar	430
Byzantine calendar	6576–6577
Chinese calendar	丁未年 (Fire Goat) 3765 or 3558 — to — 戊申年 (Earth Monkey) 3766 or 3559
Coptic calendar	784–785
Discordian calendar	2234
Ethiopian calendar	1060–1061
Hebrew calendar	4828–4829
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1124–1125
- Shaka Samvat	989–990
- Kali Yuga	4168–4169
Holocene calendar	11068
Igbo calendar	68–69
Iranian calendar	446–447
Islamic calendar	460–461
Japanese calendar	Jiryaku 4 (治暦４年)
Javanese calendar	972–973
Julian calendar	1068 MLXVIII
Korean calendar	3401
Minguo calendar	844 before ROC 民前844年
Nanakshahi calendar	−400
Seleucid era	1379/1380 AG
Thai solar calendar	1610–1611
Tibetan calendar	མེ་མོ་ལུག་ལོ་ (female Fire-Sheep) 1194 or 813 or 41 — to — ས་ཕོ་སྤྲེ་ལོ་ (male Earth-Monkey) 1195 or 814 or 42

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Events

January 1 – Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, wife of the late Emperor Constantine X, marries General Romanos Diogenes (a member of a prominent Cappadocian family) – who is proclaimed co-emperor as Romanos IV of the Byzantine Empire.^[1]
Autumn – Romanos IV begins a campaign against the Seljuk Turks, leading a Byzantine expeditionary force (which is in poor condition). He is successful in recapturing the fortress city of Hieropolis (modern-day Manbij) near Aleppo in northern Syria.^[2]
Winter – Romanos IV leaves a portion of his army as a rearguard at Melitene. The Byzantine garrison fails to check a Seljuk raid that manages to sack Amorium (penetrating deep in Byzantine territory). Romanos winters near Aleppo before returning to Constantinople.^[3]

Norman conquest of southern Italy: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard (duke of Apulia and Calabria) lay siege to the Byzantine city of Bari.
Battle of the Alta River: The Cumans defeat the Kievan Rus' forces of Grand Prince Iziaslav I, and his brothers Sviatoslav II and Vsevolod I.
Kiev Uprising: The city of Kiev rebels against Iziaslav I, in the aftermath of the Kievan Rus' defeat against the Cumans.
Rethra destruction: In the Annals of Augsburg, the Slavic city is mentioned for the last time under the year 1068. It is captured by bishop Burchard, who destroys their temple and abducts the sacred white horse living there.^[4]
Norman forces under Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I invade Sicily. Muslim ruler Ayyub ibn Tamim's forces oppose them. The Normans and the Muslim army meet at the Battle of Misilmeri. The Norman forces defeat the Muslim army. Ayyub ibn Tamim flees from Sicily. The Norman conquest of the island continues to expand.

Siege of Exeter: Norman forces under King William I (the Conqueror) take the city of Exeter after a siege of 18-days.
William I begins a campaign in the East Midlands to put down the rebellions at Nottingham, Stafford, Lincoln and York.
Edgar the Ætheling takes refuge with King Malcolm III of Scotland along with Edgar's sister Margaret, who marries King Malcolm.
May 11 – William I brings his wife Matilda of Flanders to England. She is crowned queen in Westminster Abbey.

September – Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah marries Abu Bakr ibn Umar, leader of the Almoravids, and becomes his queen and co-regent.

Spring – Emperor Yi Zong of the Western Xia (or Xi Xia) dies after a 19-year reign. He is succeeded by his 7-year-old son Hui Zong, who assumes the throne (until 1086).
May 22 – Emperor Go-Reizei dies after a 23-year reign, leaving no direct heirs to the throne. He is succeeded by his brother Go-Sanjō as the 71st emperor of Japan.

March 18 – An earthquake affects the Near East, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shock has a magnitude greater than 7, and leaves about 20,000 people dead.