11th century in literature

Last updated January 12, 2026

This article is a list of literary events and publications in the 11th century.

Events

c. 1000–1025 – The only surviving manuscript of Beowulf is written.
1007 – The Book of Kells is probably stolen from the Abbey of Kells in Ireland for several months.^[1]
1016 – The Icelandic skald Bersi Skáldtorfuson is captured at the naval Battle of Nesjar and imprisoned.
c. 1022 – Nannayya, Aadi Kavi ("the first poet"), begins work on Andhra Mahabharatam , a translation of the Mahabharata into Telugu and the first work of Telugu literature.
1029 – Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni orders the library of Rey in Persia to be burned and all books to be deemed as heretical.^[2]
1070
- The Temple of Literature, Hanoi, is founded in the Vietnamese capital.^[3]
- King Bleddyn ap Cynfyn enacts new laws regulating the activities of Welsh bards and musicians.
1080–1086 – The Chinese poet and polymath Su Shi is sent into internal exile for political reasons. During this period he writes the first and second Chibifu (赤壁賦 "The Red Cliffs").
1086 – Poet-ruler of Al-Andalus, Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, kills his fellow-poet, former lover and vizier Muhammad ibn Ammar.

New works

1000
- Al-Tasrif (كتاب التصريف لمن عجز عن التأليف The Method of Medicine), by Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis)
- The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries (کتاب الآثار الباقية عن القرون الخالية Kitāb al-āthār al-bāqiyah `an al-qurūn al-khāliyah), by Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī
c. 1000 – The Battle of Maldon (Old English)^[4]
c. 1008–10 – The Diary of Lady Murasaki (紫式部日記 Murasaki Shikibu Nikki), by Murasaki Shikibu (in kana script)
1010: March 8 (completed) – Shahnameh by Ferdowsi
1011 – Manual (Enchiridion) by Byrhtferth of Ramsey Abbey
1012–18 – Chronicon Thietmari by Thietmar of Merseburg
By 1018 – Confessio Theologica by John of Fécamp
1019 – Legenda Sancti Goeznovii by 'William'
By 1021 – The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 Genji monogatari), by Murasaki Shikibu
1021 – Book of Optics by Alhazen
1025 – The Canon of Medicine by Avicenna
1027 – The Book of Healing by Avicenna
1026–46 – Historiarum libri quinque ab anno incarnationis DCCCC usque ad annum MXLIV (History in five books from AD 900–1044) by Rodulfus Glaber
c. 1040–44 – Wujing Zongyao (武經總要, "Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques") by Zeng Gongliang, Ding Du, Yang Weide and others
c. 1040–53 – Mukhtar al-hikam wa mahasin al-kalim (Choice Maxims and Finest Sayings), by al-Mubashshir ibn Fatiq
1041–42 – Encomium Emmae Reginae probably by a Flemish monk of the Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint-Omer
Mid-11th century – Sponsus
After c. 1040 – Le Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland), original version, perhaps by Turold
c. 1049 – Chronicle of Nantes (Chronicon Namnetense) concludes
c. 1054–76 – Cançó de Santa Fe by an anonymous clerk in a Catalan dialect of Old Occitan
After 1056 – Liber precum variarum by John of Fécamp
1064 – Liniantu (歷年圖 "Chart of Successive Years") by Sima Guang
1066 – by Sima Guang
- Leipian (類篇 Classified Chapters; Chinese dictionary)
- Tongzhi (通志 Comprehensive Records (of Chinese history))
1070 – Kutadgu Bilig (The Wisdom Which Brings Good Fortune), by Yusuf Khass Hajib of Balasagun in the Kara-Khanid Khanate (Uyghur language)
c. 1070 – Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari (浜松中納言物語), attributed to Takasue's Daughter
c. 1070 – Kathāsaritsāgara by Somadeva
1073–76 – Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum by Adam of Bremen
c. 1075 – Vita sancta Servatii and Miracula sancta Servatii (life and miracles of Saint Servatius) by Jocundus
1077 – Monologion (Monologue) by Anselm
1077–78 – Proslogion (Address) by Anselm
1084 – Zizhi Tongjian (資治通鑑; Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government) by Sima Guang
1086 – Domesday Book
c. 1087 – Almanac by Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Arzachel)
1088 – Dream Pool Essays (夢溪筆談, Mèng Xī Bǐ Tán) by Shen Kuo
1098 – Elucidarium by Honorius Augustodunensis
Late 11th century
- The Incoherence of the Philosophers (تهافت الفلاسفة, Tahāfut al-Falāsifaʰ) by Al-Ghazali
- Lebor Gabála Érenn
- Siyasatnama (سياست نامه) by Nizam al-Mulk (Persian)
11th or 12th century – Betha Meic Creiche (Life of Mac Creiche, in Middle Irish)
c. 11th century – The Records of Origin on Things and Affairs (事物纪原), by Gao Cheng
Heian period
- Sarashina Nikki (更級日記, a travel diary) by Takasue's Daughter
- Yoru no Nezame (夜の寝覚, Wakefulness at Night), attributed to Takasue's Daughter, but perhaps written after 1086

Births

c. 1001 – Wallada bint al-Mustakfi, al-Andalusian poet and princess (died 1091)^[5]
c. 1003 – Ibn Zaydún, Arab poet (died 1071)^[5]
c. 1033 – Anselm of Canterbury, Aosta-born scholastic philosopher, archbishop and saint (died 1109)
1037: January 8 – Su Shi, Chinese poet (died 1101)
1040: February 22 – Rashi, French rabbinical scholar (died 1105)
1048: May 18 – Omar Khayyám, Persian philosopher, scientist and presumed poet (died 1131)
1078: Ibn Quzman, al-Andalusian poet (died 1160)
1079: Peter Abelard, French philosopher, theologian, and poet (died 1142)

Deaths

1001 – Wang Yucheng, Chinese poet (born 954)^[6]
c. 1002 – Hrotsvitha, Saxon secular canoness and writer of Latin poetry and drama (born c. 935)
c. 1010 – Ælfric of Eynsham, abbot and religious writer in Old English (born c. 955)
1029 – Koshikibu no Naishi (小式部内侍), Japanese waka poet
1037 – Avicenna (Ibn-Sīnā), Persian polymath
1064: August 15 – Ibn Hazm (al-Andalusī aẓ-Ẓāhirī), Andalusian polymath (born 994)
1079: February 22 – John of Fécamp, Italian-born Benedictine abbot and spiritual writer

In literature

Paul Kingsnorth's novel The Wake (2014) is set around the Norman conquest of England.

References

↑ Annals of Ulster .
↑ Mackensen, Ruth Stellhorn (January 1935). "Moslem Libraries and Sectarian Propaganda". The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures . 51 (2): 93–94. doi:10.1086/370447. S2CID 170296340.
↑ Aquino, Michael. "Temple of Literature – Ancient University in Hanoi, Vietnam". About.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
↑ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. p. 47. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
1 2 Westfahl, Gary (2015). A Day in a Working Life: 300 Trades and Professions through History [3 volumes]: 300 Trades and Professions through History. ABC-CLIO. p. 418. ISBN 9781610694032.
↑ "王禹偁 954–1001". worldcat.org. Retrieved 1 July 2017.

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[1] Annals of Ulster .

[2] Mackensen, Ruth Stellhorn (January 1935). "Moslem Libraries and Sectarian Propaganda". The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures . 51 (2): 93–94. doi:10.1086/370447. S2CID 170296340.

[3] Aquino, Michael. "Temple of Literature – Ancient University in Hanoi, Vietnam". About.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04. Retrieved 2013-11-11.

[CBH-4] Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. p. 47. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.

[westfahl-5] 1 2 Westfahl, Gary (2015). A Day in a Working Life: 300 Trades and Professions through History [3 volumes]: 300 Trades and Professions through History. ABC-CLIO. p. 418. ISBN 9781610694032.

[6] "王禹偁 954–1001". worldcat.org. Retrieved 1 July 2017.

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