1004
Treaty of Shanyuan between Song and Liao
After a nearly catastrophic Khitan invasion, the Song court under Emperor Zhenzong agreed to pay the Liao annual tribute of silk and silver in exchange for peace. The humiliating deal actually held for more than a century, letting China and its nomadic northern neighbor both prosper at length. The annual payments of two hundred thousand bolts of silk and one hundred thousand ounces of silver proved a bargain compared to the cost of war.
Pisan and Genoese fleets raid Mahdia
The Italian maritime republics, beginning a long turn outward, burned shipping at the Fatimid harbor of Mahdia on the Tunisian coast. Piracy and commerce were still the same activity in this age. The raid signaled that Christian sea power was awakening in the western Mediterranean basin, foreshadowing the naval dominance that Pisa and Genoa would assert across the region for the next three centuries.
Jingdezhen named for Emperor Zhenzong's porcelain
So impressed was Emperor Zhenzong by the translucent white ceramics produced in a Jiangxi kiln town that he decreed its wares should bear his reign title, Jingde, and supply the imperial court. The town, renamed Jingdezhen, would become the porcelain capital of the world for a millennium, its kilns eventually shipping celadon and blue-and-white to every continent.
Sweyn Forkbeard sacks Norwich
The Danish king's longships rowed up the Wensum and torched the East Anglian capital. Ulfcytel Snilling harried the raiders as they withdrew and nearly caught Sweyn himself. The chroniclers praised Ulfcytel's courage and blamed the king in London for everything else that had gone wrong that year. East Anglia's exposed coastline would remain vulnerable to Scandinavian raiders for the next decade.
Want 1004 in context? Print the whole 11th century as a one-sheet timeline chart.
Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1004?
Saeculum lists 4 curated events from 1004. The most significant is Treaty of Shanyuan between Song and Liao: After a nearly catastrophic Khitan invasion, the Song court under Emperor Zhenzong agreed to pay the Liao annual tribute of silk and silver in exchange…
What era was 1004 part of?
1004 falls within the High Middle Ages (1000-1300). Crusades, cathedrals, and the slow waking of Europe.
Which regions saw notable events in 1004?
The curated events from 1004 span East Asia and Europe.