Basil follows his success at Philippopolis by laying siege to Vidin, which eventually falls following a prolonged resistance, the eight-month siege broken because of the betrayal of the local bishop.

Basil continues his ruthless campaign against the Bulgars, slowly penetrating year by year into Samuel's territory, campaigning in winter as well as summer, and reclaiming Greece and Macedonia for the empire in 1003.

Ermengol I, Count of Urgell, is a man of culture, open to influences from wider Europe.

He has made two voyages to Rome, in 998 and 1001, and has stimulated his nobles to make pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela or Le Puy.

He has also reformed the judiciary of his county to make justice more universally available.

Moreover, he has begun to reassert his authority over the outlying castles of his realm, whose lords are acting independent of his power.

He also maintains an intense war against the Caliphate of Córdoba.

In 1003, Urgell is invaded by Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar.

Aided by Raymond Borrel of Barcelona, Bernard I of Besalú, and Wifred II of Cerdagne, Ermengol defeats them at the Battle of Torà, followed by …

…the less conclusive Battle of Albesa, in which Ermengol surrenders and is taken captive.

He will be back in Urgell by March 13, 1004.

Ulric Manfred, immediately upon his succession, had begun to consolidate his power vis-à-vis Arduin of the March of Ivrea on one hand and the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II on the other.

The learned Pope Sylvester II allegedly visits the Nine Unknown Men, a secret society supposedly founded by the Indian Emperor Asoka around 270 BCE.

According to the legend, upon his conversion to Buddhism after a massacre during one of his wars, the Emperor founded the society of the Nine to preserve and develop knowledge that would be dangerous to humanity if it fell into the wrong hands.

The Nine were also charged by Asoka with manipulating the culture of India to present an image of a backwards and mystically oriented people to the outside world in order to conceal the advanced scientific knowledge that was being accumulated within.

Occult writers such as nineteenth-century Frenchman Louis Jacolliot, British-born adventure writer Talbot Mundy, and later Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier in their Morning of the Magicians, propagated the story of the Nine claiming that the society occasionally revealed itself to wise outsiders such as Pope Sylvester II who was said to have received, among other things, training in supernatural powers and a robotic talking head from the group.

Sylvester II dies in early 1003.

The patricius (an aristocratic military leader) John Crescentius III, a Roman noble who holds power in the city in opposition to Emperor Otto III, nominates a Roman native named Sicco who, before entering the priesthood, had been married and had three sons who also became bishops.

Sicco becomes Pope John XVII on June 13.

The previous legitimate Pope John is generally considered to be John XV (985–996).

John XVI (997–998) was an antipope, according to conventional wisdom, and thus his regnal number XVI should have been reused.

But this does not occur, and the sequencing will never be corrected.

The new pope dies within the calendar year, however, and his successor Fasanius, the son of a Roman priest named Leo, is also nominated by Crescentius: he will take the regnal name of John XVIII.

Robert II’s Expansionist Ambitions and the Failed Invasion of the County of Burgundy (1003)

Upon inheriting the Capetian throne in 996, Robert II ("the Pious") ruled over a relatively small and fragmented kingdom, with his direct authority largely confined to Île-de-France. To expand his power, Robert aggressively pursued vacant feudal lands, asserting royal claims wherever possible. This often led to conflict with regional lords, as seen in his failed invasion of the County of Burgundy in 1003.

Robert’s Territorial Aspirations

• The Capetian kings of the early 11th century had little control over the powerful feudal duchies and countiesthat made up much of what is now France.
• Unlike later French kings, Robert did not inherit a strong centralized monarchy but instead relied on dynastic claims and feudal conflicts to expand his direct influence.
• His strategy was to assert Capetian rights over any feudal land that became vacant, leading to military campaigns against rival claimants.

The Invasion of the County of Burgundy (1003)

• In 1002, the death of Otto-William, Count of Burgundy, left a succession dispute over the Free County of Burgundy (Franche-Comté).
• Seeing an opportunity to extend Capetian control eastward, Robert II launched an invasion in 1003.
• However, local resistance, likely led by Otto-William's allies and supported by Holy Roman Empire-backed forces, thwarted the Capetian advance.

Consequences of the Failed Campaign

• Robert II’s inability to seize Burgundy highlighted the limitations of Capetian power in this era.
• The failure of the invasion reinforced the autonomy of the region, which remained outside Capetian control.
• This setback demonstrated that Capetian authority was not yet strong enough to impose direct rule over the great feudal lords, a challenge that would persist for centuries.

Legacy

Though unsuccessful, Robert II’s aggressive feudal claims laid the groundwork for future Capetian expansion. Later kings, particularly Philip II Augustus, would adopt similar strategies but with greater success, gradually consolidating royal authority over France’s fragmented feudal territories.

Bernward’s term as Bishop of Hildesheim time in office falls during the era of the Saxon emperors, who have their roots in the area around Hildesheim and are personally related to Bernward.

Hildesheim is a center of power in the Holy Roman Empire and Bernward is determined to give his city an image fitting for one of its stature.

The column he plans on the model of Trajan's Column at Rome never comes to fruition, but Bernward has revived classical precedent by having his name stamped on roof tiles made under his direction.

Bernward has built up the cathedral district with a strong twelve-towered wall and erects further forts in the countryside to protect against attacks by the neighboring Slavic peoples.

Under his direction have arisen numerous churches and other edifices, including even fortifications for the defense of his episcopal city against the invasions of the pagan Normans.

He has protected his diocese vigorously from the attacks of the Normans.

The Vikings of Waterford have erected stone fortifications in the shape of an isosceles triangle, at the apex of which is the structure known as Reginald’s Tower, constructed in 1003. (After performing numerous functions over the years it is today is a civic museum. It is Ireland’s oldest urban civic building, and the oldest monument to retain its Viking name. To this day, it remains Waterford's most recognizable landmark. It is believed to be the first building in Ireland to use mortar.)

Sweyn Forkbeard, whose sister Gunhilde is reportedly among the victims of the Massacre of the Danes, in 1003 begins a series of retaliatory raids against England.

The Danegeld demanded and received by Forkbeard amounts to twenty-four thousand pounds of silver; a tax is collected to pay off the Danes to prevent invasion.