940s

The 940s was a decade that started on 1 January 940 and ended on 31 December 949.

940

• Saadia Gaon makes his siddur (Jewish prayer book) in Iraq.
• Narita-san Temple is founded in Chiba, Japan.
• The Liao Dynasty stops the rule that a younger sister replace an older sister who died in marriage.

Births

• Abu'l-Wafa, Iranian mathematician
• Brian Boru, high king of Ireland

Deaths

• July 20 – Ibn Muqla, Abbasid vizier and calligrapher
• December 25 – Makan ibn Kaki, Dailamite warlord
• Taira no Masakado, leader of the Taira Clan

941

• The Rus'-Byzantine War is fought.
• Oda the Severe becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

Births

• Charles d'Outremer, son of Louis IV of France
• Brian Bórumha mac Cennétig, High-King of Ireland

Deaths

• April 21 – Bajkam, commander of commanders of the Abbasid Caliphate

942

• The Chavda Kingdom is overthrown in Gujarat, India.
• October 30 – Pope Marinus II succeeds Pope Stephen VIII as the 128th pope.

Births

• Pampa, Kannada poet in India
• Genshin, Tendai scholar

Deaths

• King Idwal Foel of Gwynedd
• December 17 – William I of Normandy
• Gaozu of Later Jin, founder of the Later Jin Dynasty in China
• Liu Yan of the Southern Han Kingdom

943

• King Constantin II of Scotland retires and becomes a monk. His cousin Malcolm I of Scotland becomes king.

Births

• Dayang Jingxuan, a Zen Buddhist monk

Deaths

• Wang Kon, founder of the Koryo dynasty
• Emperor Liezu of Southern Tang

944

• The city of Algiers is (re)founded by the Zirid king Buluggin ibn Ziri.
• Abu Yazid starts a rebellion against the Fatimids in the Aures Mountains.
• The Al-Askari Mosque is built in Samarra.
• King Edmund I of England takes Northumbria from the Vikings.
• Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos is deposed as Byzantine emperor. It was by his own sons, Stephen Lekapenos and Constantine Lekapenos.

Births

• Otto, Duke of Burgundy
• Minamoto no Yorimitsu
• Fujiwara no Sukemasa
• Fujiwara no Akimitsu

Deaths

• Flaithbertach mac Inmainén, abbot of Inis Cathaig, Ireland
• Wilgred of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne
• Abu Mansur Al Maturidi, Muslim theologian
• Ngo Quyen, Vietnamese prefect and general
• Wichmann the Elder, Saxon nobleman
• Donnchad Donn, King of Ireland

945

• The Buyid dynasty takes control of Baghdad.
• The Min Kingdom is taken over by the Southern Tang Kingdom.
• Edmund I of England conquers Strathclyde. He makes an alliance with Malcolm I of Scotland and gives Cumberland and Westmorland to him.
• Lothair II of Italy takes control of Italy.
• Romanos I Lekapenos is overthrown. Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII rules alone.

Births

• Abbo of Fleury, French monk

Deaths

• Igor of Kiev
• King Krešimir I of Croatia

946

• Eadred I becomes king of England.
• Emperor Murakami becomes Emperor of Japan.
• May 10 – Pope Agapitus II succeeds Pope Marinus II as the 129th pope.

Deaths

• May 17 – Al Qa'im, second Fatimid caliph.
• May 26 – King Edmund I of England

947

• The Later Jin Dynasty falls to the Later Han Dynasty in China.

Births

• Adelaide of Anjou, daughter of Fulk II of Anjou and Gerberg

Deaths

• May 18 – Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty
• Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, Toltec ruler
• Wulfgar of Lichfield, Bishop of Lichfield
• Sexhelm of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne
• Shi Chonggui, last Emperor of China from the Later Jin Dynasty
• Uchtred of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne
• Zoltán of Hungary, Grand Prince of the Magyars

948

• The Nri Kingdom is started by Eri. The kingdom was in what is now Nigeria.
• The Nallur Kandaswamy temple is built.

Births

• Gang Gam-chan, Korean government official and military commander
• Emperor Jingzong of Liao

Deaths

• December 16 – Romanos I Lekapenos, Byzantine Emperor
• Gao Conghui
• Gaozu of Later Han

949

• The Byzantine Empire starts another expedition against the Emirate of Crete.

Deaths

• Emperor Yōzei, Emperor of Japan
• Yunmen Wenyan, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk