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Year 969 (CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th year of the 10th century, and the 10th and last year of the 960s decade.

Events

October 28 – Siege of Antioch: Byzantine general Michael Bourtzes (during a night attack) seizes part of Antioch‘s fortifications. The capture of the city from the Hamdanids is completed three days later, when reinforcements under the stratopedarches Peter Phokas arrive. The Byzantine army then moves deeper into Syrian territory — besieging and taking the city of Aleppo.
December 11 – Emperor Nikephoros II is murdered in the royal palace of Boukoleon at Constantinople after a 6-year reign. Former friends have acted on the instructions of his wife Theophano.^[1] Nikephoros is succeeded by his nephew John I Tzimiskes, who becomes co-emperor and regent. He sends Theophano into exile to the island of Prinkipo (Prince Islands).

Peter I, emperor (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire, suffers a stroke and abdicates the throne in favour of his eldest son Boris II. He arrives (after being an honorary hostage at Constantinople) in Preslav and is proclaimed as the new ruler. Boris regains lost territory from the Kievan Rus’ and recaptures Pereyaslavets, an important trade city at the mouth of the Danube.^[2]
Summer – Grand Prince Sviatoslav I invades Bulgaria at the head of a Kievan army, which includes Pecheneg and Hungarian auxiliary forces. He defeats the Bulgarians in a major battle and retakes Pereyaslavets. Boris II capitulates and impales 300 Bulgarian boyars for disloyalty. Sviatoslav assigns garrisons to the conquered fortresses in Northern Bulgaria.^[3]
Pandulf Ironhead, duke of Benevento and Capua, leads the siege of Bovino. He is captured by the Byzantines and taken in chains to Bari, and jailed in Constantinople. Neapolitan forces under Marinus II, duke of Naples, invade Benevento-Capua, capture the city of Avellino and then lay siege to Capua.^[4]
Otto I ‘the Great’, Holy Roman Emperor, assembles a large expeditionary force at Pavia, joined by Spoletan troops. He counter-attacks, relieves the siege of Capua and devastates the area around Naples. Otto enters Benevento, where he is received as ‘liberator’ by Landulf IV and in the cities of Apulia (Southern Italy).

February 6–July 9 – Fatimid conquest of Egypt: Caliph Al-Mu’izz‘s army under General Jawhar invades Egypt. Jawhar occupies the lands around the Nile from the Ikhshidids after a siege at Giza and the capitulation of Fustat.^[5]

September 27 – Emperor Reizei abdicates the throne of Japan (due to a mental illness) after a 2-year reign. He is succeeded by his 10-year-old brother En’yū, who becomes the 64th emperor.

Summer – Pope John XIII convenes a synod at Rome. He raises the bishopric of Benevento to Archbishopric of Benevento. The city is made a metropolitan see over 10 bishoprics in Byzantine Capitanata (Southern Italy).

^ Reuter, Timothy (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 594. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
^ Fine, John V. A. Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 184. ISBN 0-472-08149-7..
^ Reuter, Timothy (1999). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, p. 584. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
^ Gay, Jules (1904). L’Italie méridionale et l’empire Byzantin: Livre II. New York: Burt Franklin.
^ Brett, Michael (2002). “The Fatimid Revolution (861-973) and its aftermath in North Africa”. The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 2 ed. J. D. Fage; Roland Anthony Oliver. Cambridge University Press. p. 622.

Years
Millennium
1st millennium
Centuries
9th century 10th century 11th century
Decades
940s 950s 960s 970s 980s
Years
966 967 968 969 970 971 972