1050

By place

Europe

• Hedeby in Jutland is sacked by King Harald Hardrada of Norway, during the course of a conflict with Sweyn II of Denmark.
• King Anund Jacob dies after a 28-year reign. He is succeeded by his elder half-brother Emund the Old as king of Sweden.
• Macbeth, King of Scotland, makes a pilgrimage to Rome.

Africa

• Aoudaghost, an important Berber trading center and rival of Koumbi Saleh, is captured by the Ghana Empire.

By topic

Religion

• King Edward the Confessor unites the English dioceses of Devon and Cornwall. He moves the see from Crediton to Exeter and gives the order to build a cathedral. Leofric becomes the first bishop of Exeter.
• The brewery of Weltenburg Abbey (modern Germany) is first mentioned, thus making it one of the oldest still operating breweries in the world (approximate date).

• November 11 , Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1106)
• Amadeus II, count of Savoy (approximate date)
• Berthold II, duke of Swabia (approximate date)
• Bertrand of Comminges, French bishop (d. 1126)
• Frederick I, duke of Swabia (approximate date)
• Leopold II ("the Fair"), margrave of Austria (d. 1095)
• Lhachen Gyalpo, king of Ladakh (approximate date)
• Liutold of Eppenstein, German nobleman (approximate date)
• Li Tang, Chinese landscape painter (approximate date)
• Lope Íñiguez, lord of Biscay (approximate date)
• Michael VII Doukas, Byzantine emperor (approximate date)
• Muhammad al-Baghdadi, Arab mathematician (d. 1141)
• Muirchertach Ua Briain, king of Munster (approximate date)
• Olaf I ("Hunger"), king of Denmark (approximate date)
• Olaf III ("the Peaceful"), king of Norway (approximate date)
• Osbern of Canterbury, English hagiographer (d. 1090)
• Peter the Hermit, French priest (approximate date)
• Sophia of Hungary, duchess of Saxony (approximate date)
• Sviatopolk II, Grand Prince of Kiev (d. 1113)
• Vidyakara, Indian Buddhist scholar (d. 1130)

• February 10 , Anna, Grand Princess of Kiev (b. 1001)
• October 29 , Eadsige, archbishop of Canterbury
• Alferius (or Alferio), Italian abbot and saint (b. 930)
• Anund Jacob (or James), king of Sweden (b. 1008)
• Casilda of Toledo, Spanish saint (approximate date)
• Constantine Arianites, Byzantine general
• Einar Thambarskelfir, Norwegian nobleman
• Herleva, Norman noblewoman (approximate date)
• Hugh of Langres, French bishop and theologian
• Humphrey de Vieilles, Norman nobleman
• Michael Dokeianos, Byzantine general
• Suryavarman I, king of the Khmer Empire
• Wifred II, count of Cerdanya and Berga
• Zoë, empress of the Byzantine Empire