Browse Historical Events by Month: What Happened in February?

Pope Leo VIII dies, ending the only reign by a layman in papal history.

Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas is murdered by his wife Theophano and her lover John I Tzimiskes, leading to Tzimiskes' ascent to the throne.

Pope Benedict VII dies after a reign marked by the struggle between the papacy and the Roman nobility.

Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, founding the Capetian dynasty.

Accession of Pope John XV, succeeding Pope John XIV.

Hugh Capet is crowned King of France in Noyon.

Otto III becomes Holy Roman Emperor at the age of 16.

Death of Emperor Taizong of Song, a significant ruler in Chinese history.

999 CE, February 14 - Gerbert of Aurillac becomes Pope Sylvester II.

Death of Pope Gregory V, the first German Pope.

Stephen I becomes King of Hungary.

King Sweyn I of Denmark reconquers England.

First known mention of the city of Gundelfingen, Germany.

Byzantine Emperor Basil II conquers Bulgaria after a long campaign.

Cnut the Great becomes King of England after the death of Edmund II.

Death of Romanos III Argyros, Byzantine Emperor, possibly murdered by his wife Zoe.

Death of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.

Pope Gregory VI resigns as pope amid the scandal of simony (selling of church offices).

The Great Schism: Patriarch Michael Cerularius of Constantinople is excommunicated by Pope Leo IX, leading to the East-West Schism.