While Basil II was finishing off Bulgaria at Kleidion (1014), Rus' was getting its first law code, the Russkaya Pravda (1016).
The events
- Battle of Kleidion1014 · Belasitsa, Bulgaria. Byzantine Emperor Basil II crushed the army of the First Bulgarian Empire. Chroniclers say he blinded thousands of captives, leaving every hundredth man one eye to lead the rest home; Tsar Samuel died at the sight. Bulgaria soon became part of Byzantium, and Basil was called the Bulgar-Slayer.
- Russkaya Pravda of Yaroslav the Wisec. 1016 · Novgorod. The oldest part of Rus' law, the 'Pravda of Yaroslav', is traditionally linked to Yaroslav the Wise and dated to around 1016. Russkaya Pravda restricted blood feud and introduced a system of monetary fines.
More amazing facts
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- 1096 · 1325 Oxford University is older than the Aztec state: teaching at Oxford existed by about 1096, while Tenochtitlan was founded only in 1325.
- 1096 · 1147 Moscow is first mentioned in a chronicle in 1147.