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Harold Godwine, earl of Wessex, gathers a large English force that forces Edward the Confessor to restore his lands and exile many of the foreign officials who have dominated his government. Godwine dies April 15 at age 60 (approximate) while dining with the king, his 31-year-old son Harold inherits the title, and the young man becomes chief minister to his brother-in-law Edward the Confessor, which makes him the most powerful nobleman in England.
Pope Leo IX declares war against the Normans in southern Italy, but the Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich III withdraws, leaving the pope with an army of about 6,000 Italian and German volunteers to face about 3,500 Normans, mostly cavalry. Geoffrey, duke of Lorraine, and Rudolph, prince of Benevento, command the pope's army as he watches his forces be defeated June 18 at the Battle of Civitate at Astagnum near Civitella. Most of the volunteers flee soon after the Norman cavalry come down from a hill onto the plain in front of the town, leaving the Swabian infantry to fight to the death. Norseman Robert d'Hauteville (later Robert Guiscard) gains victory with help from his half brother Humphrey d'Hauteville, count of Apulia, and takes the pope prisoner, but he permits Leo to receive visitors and maintain contact with the outside world. Now 38, Robert takes Benevento from the Byzantines and founds the Norman empire that will rule southern Italy until 1194 (see 1057).
Seville's Abbadid sultan al-Mutaid suffocates some Berber chiefs of southern Andalusia in a steam bath at the city and seizes their kingdoms, adding Arcos, Morón, and Ronda to his realm (see 1042; 1069).
England abolishes the Danegeld after 33 years.
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