The 960s decade ran from January 1, 960, to December 31, 969.
Year 969 (CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th year of the 10th century, and the 10th and last year of the 960s decade.
Year 967 (CMLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Year 968 (CMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
Pope John XIII was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 October 965 to his death. His pontificate was caught up in the continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperor, Otto I, and the Roman nobility. After long and arduous negotiations, he succeeded in arranging a Byzantine marriage for Otto II, in an effort to legitimize the Ottonian claim to imperial dignity. He also established church hierarchy in Poland and Bohemia.
The Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel is a Roman Catholic shrine on Mount Gargano, Italy, part of the commune of Monte Sant'Angelo, in the province of Foggia, northern Apulia. It has the dignity of a minor basilica.
The Catepanateof Italy was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 965 until 1071. At its greatest extent, it comprised mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Salerno. North of that line, Amalfi and Naples also maintained allegiance to Constantinople through the catepan. The Italian region of Capitanata derives its name from katepanikion.
Pandulf I Ironhead was the Prince of Benevento and Capua from 943 until his death. He was made Duke of Spoleto and Camerino in 967 and succeeded as Prince of Salerno in 977 or 978. He was an important nobleman in the fight with the Byzantines and Saracens for control of the Mezzogiorno in the centuries after the collapse of Lombard and Carolingian authority on the Italian Peninsula. He established himself over almost the whole of the southern half of Italia before his death in March 981.
Landulf IV was the prince of Capua and Benevento from 968, when he was associated with his father, Pandulf Ironhead, and prince of Salerno associated with his father from 977 or 978. In 968, his uncle Landulf III died, which lead to his rise, as Pandulf ignored the rights of Landulf II's son Pandulf II, his nephew, and instead associated his own son with the government.
Landulf III was Prince of Capua and Benevento from 959 as co-prince with his father, Landulf II, and brother Pandulf Ironhead. In 961, he would be co-prince with only his brother after the death of his father. His mother was Yvantia.
Landulf V was the prince of Benevento from May 987, when he was first associated with his father Pandulf II, to his death. He was chief prince from his father's death in 1014.
The Battle of Stilo was fought on 13 or 14 July 982 near Crotone in Calabria between the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and his Italo-Lombard allies and those of the Kalbid emir of Sicily, Abu'l-Qasim, who had declared a holy war against the Germans. Some sources claim that the Muslims received support from the Byzantines, in retaliation for Otto's invasion of their province of Apulia, but this is unconfirmed.
The Principality of Capua was a Lombard state centred on Capua in Southern Italy. Towards the end of the 10th century the Principality reached its apogee, occupying most of the Terra di Lavoro area. It was originally a gastaldate, then a county, within the principality of Salerno.
The Archdiocese of Manfredonia–Vieste–San Giovanni Rotondo is a Latin Church non-Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the civil province of Foggia, in Apulia, south-eastern Italy, which is part the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Foggia-Bovino
The Archdiocese of Benevento is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church. It currently has five suffragan dioceses: the diocese of Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia, the diocese of Avellino, the diocese of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant'Agata de' Goti, the Territorial Abbey of Montevergine, and the archdiocese of Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi-Conza-Nusco-Bisaccia.
Siponto was an ancient port town and bishopric of Magna Graecia in Apulia, southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a frazione of the comune of Manfredonia, in the province of Foggia. Siponto is located around 3 km south of Manfredonia.
The Marriage Charter of Empress Theophanu is the dower document for the Byzantine princess Theophanu. Written in Latin, the document was created after the marriage of Theophanu to Emperor Otto II in 972, which made her the empress of the Holy Roman Empire. The document was prepared by Otto II and exemplifies an instance of political and cultural contact between the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fiorentino, named after its see (Castel) Fiorentino, was a medieval Latin Rite bishopric (1059–1391). It was located about four miles southwest of the present 'commune' (municipality) of Torremaggiore. The name has been restored as a titular see.
An Exultet roll is a long and wide illuminated scroll containing the text and music of the Exultet, the liturgical chant for the Paschal vigil. The material was usually parchment, the layout that of a rotulus, the text in Beneventan script and the music notated in neumes. The illustrations were often upside down relative to the text. As the text was read by the officiant and the scroll unrolled over the pulpit (ambo), the images would appear right-side up to the congregation. The form was peculiar to southern Italy, mainly the area around Benevento and Montecassino, and the surviving examples date from between the 10th and 13th centuries.
