A second and equally unsuccessful attack on…

King Ly Nhan Tong of Dai Viet, after a long period of mutual isolation, returns Yong, Qin, and Lian prefectures back to Song authorities in 1082, along with their prisoners of war, and in return Song relinquishes its control of four prefectures and the county of Dai Viet, including the Nung clan's home of Quang Nguyen.

Wang Anshi, as chancellor to emperor Shenzon, has implemented his famous reforms aimed at improving the situation for the peasantry and unemployed, which some have seen as a forerunner of the modern welfare state.

These acts become the hallmark reform of Shenzong's reign.

Shenzong's other notable act as emperor is his attempt to weaken the formative nation of Western Xia by invading and expelling the Xia forces from Gansu.

Shenzong's army is initially quite successful at these campaigns, but during the battle for the city of Yongle, in 1082, Shenzong's forces are defeated.

As a result, Western Xia grows more powerful and will subsequently continue to be a thorn in the side of the Song dynasty over the ensuing decades.

Emperor Shenzong has rewarded Shen with numerous titles for his merit in these battles, and in the sixteen months of Shen's military campaign, he has received two hundred and seventythree letters from the Emperor.

However, Emperor Shenzong trusts an arrogant military officer who disobeys the emperor and Shen's proposal for strategic fortifications, instead fortifying what Shen considers useless strategic locations.

Furthermore, this officer expels Shen from his commanding post at the main citadel, so as to deny him any glory in chance of victory.

The result of this is nearly catastrophic, as the forces of the arrogant officer are decimated; Xinzhong Yao states that the death toll was sixty thousand.

Nonetheless, Shen is successful in defending his fortifications and the only possible Tangut invasion-route to Yanzhou.

Shen's defensive victories are marginalized and sacrificed by the new Chancellor,Cai Que, who hands Yanzho over to the Tanguts as terms of a peace treaty).

Cai Que holds Shen responsible for the disaster and loss of life.

Along with abandoning the territory for which Shen Kuo had fought, Cai ousts Shen from his seat of office.

Shen's life is now forever changed, as he has lost his once reputable career in state governance and the military.

Oleg is again active in Tmutarakan, where in 1082 he adopts the title "archon of Khazaria".

Boleslaw has found refuge at the court of King Ladislaus I of Hungary, a future saint, who also owes his crown to the deposed King.

However, according to Gallus Anonymus, Boleslaw II's atrocious conduct towards his Hungarian hosts caused his premature death in 1081 or 1082 at the hands of an assassin, probably by poisoning.

A popular legend holds that Boleslaw proceeded to Rome to beg forgiveness from Pope Gregory, who imposed on him to wander incognito as a mute repentant.

On a summer evening in 1082, he reached the Benedictine Abbey at Ossiach in Carinthia, where he was received and did all kind of hard work for nine years until he finally was reconciled in the Sacrament of Penance and died.

At the walls of Ossiach, there exists a tomb bearing the depiction of a horse and the inscription Rex Boleslaus Polonie occisor sancti Stanislai Epi Cracoviensis ("Boleslaw, King of Poland, murderer of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop of Kraków").

Instigated by Countess Karolina Lanckorońska, in 1960 the tomb was opened and indeed revealed male bones and the remains of a Polish knight's armor dating from the eleventh century.

Emperor Alexios has already provided much gold to Robert Guiscard's deposed nephews, now living in exile in Constantinople, who now return to raise a revolt in Apulia.

Alexios has meanwhile pointed out to the German king Henry IV the danger of allowing Guiscard and his Normans to remain unchecked, and in the spring of 1082 the two rulers enter into an agreement in return for a mutual oath of alliance.

Alexios sends Henry three hundred and sixty thousand gold pieces plus many other extravagant gifts.

Having drained his treasury to bribe the German king, Alexios has no money to pay his mercenaries and he cannot press his citizens for more tax money.

After the royal family contributes all they have, the Church fathers finally contribute, enabling Alexios to raise a new army.

Seljuq vizier Nizam al-Mulk has developed the divan (imperial council) as the basic institution of government, and employs a bureaucratic hierarchy organized around a financial and administrative unit known as iqta.

He embodies these measures in his voluminous treatise on kingship titled Siyasatnama (The Book of Government) which had been written in response to Malik Shah’s request that his ministers produce books on government, administration and the troubles facing the nation.

However, the treatise made by Nizam is the only one to receive approval and is consequently accepted as law.

Nizam al-Mulk will leave a great impact on organization of the Seljuq governmental bodies and hence the title Nizam al-Mulk which translates as "Order of the Realm".

He is a pivotal figure who bridges the political gap between both the Abbasids and the Seljuqs against their various rivals, including the rival Fatimid Caliphate.

The Seljuq military is a heavy mixed different peoples, including Turks, Armenians, Greeks, Arabs, and Slavs.

Nizam, however, favors Iranian soldiers, such as the Dailamites, Khorasanis, and the Shabankara Kurds; he also favors the Georgians.

As the nomadic way of life of the Turkmens represents a significant threat to the political and economic stability of the country, Nizam al-Mulk seeks to create employment opportunity for those Turkmens who had migrated to the Iranian plateau during the Seljuq successes in Persia.

Ibn Bahmanyar, one of Nizam’s many enemies, tries to poison him in 1081/1082, but fails and is blinded by Nizam, after which enemies of Nizam spread false stories about him and his son, Jamal al-Mulk, who tears out the tongue of Ja'farak, one of the perpetrators.

Malik Shah has no power to intervene in the event, but instead has Jamal poisoned.

Durazzo manages to hold out until February 1082, when the Normans burst through the gates due to Venetian treachery.

In a few weeks, the whole of Illyria is in Guiscard's hands.

Constantinople, it seems, is within his grasp.

Kastoríá surrenders, despite the fact that its English garrison consists of three hundred fiercely anti-Norman members of Emperor Alexios' Varangian Guard.

Pope Gregory VII, however, suddenly recalls Guiscard to Italy to help him expel the German king Henry, who seeks a military decision in his struggle with the church.

Leaving his forces under the command of his son Bohémond, Guiscard sails for Italy.