1072

By place

Byzantine Empire

• June 29 - Romanos IV, deposed emperor of the Byzantine Empire, is blinded and sent into exile to the island of Proti at the Monastery of Transfiguration. A few days before his death, he receives a letter from Michael Psellos, congratulating him on the loss of his eyes.

  Europe

• January 10 - The Normans under Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I conquer Palermo. Roger receives the keys of the city, and Robert invests him with the title of Count of Sicily. The Emirate of Sicily rules only the southern part of the island, with Syracuse as the capital.
• January - Battle of Golpejera: King Sancho II defeats the Castilian forces of his brother Alfonso VI near Carrión de los Condes. Alfonso is captured, but released into exile, where he seeks refuge in the Taifa of Toledo.
• October 7 - Alfonso VI becomes king of León and Castile, following the assassination of Sancho II. He is bestowed with the title of "Emperor of Spain", and is forced by Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, the standard-bearer of Sancho, to take an oath denying any involvement in his brother's death.

  England

• May 27 - The Accord of Winchester establishes the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the Archbishop of York, in the Church of England.
• King William I invades Scotland and receives the submission of King Malcolm III. He agrees to sign the Treaty of Abernethy.

  Seljuk Empire

• December 15 - Sultan Alp Arslan dies after a 9-year reign. He is succeeded by his 17-year-old son Malik-Shah I, who is declared new ruler of the Seljuk Empire. Qavurt, a brother of Alp Arslan, claims the Seljuk throne for himself and occupies the capital of Isfahan.

  China

• Shen Kuo, Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman, is appointed as the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy – where he begins his work with the colleague Wei Pu on accurately plotting the orbital paths of the stars, planets, and moon three times a night, for a continuum of five years.
• Fall - Shen Kuo is sent to supervise Wang Anshi's program of surveying the building of silt deposits in the Bian Canal, outside the capital city of Kaifeng. Using an original technique, Shen successfully dredges the canal and demonstrates the formidable value of the silt gathered as a fertilizer.

  By topic

Literature

• Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, an informative book written by Mahmud al-Kashgari about the Turks, is presented to the ruler of the Kara-Khanid Khanate.