Alan II Barbetorte Expels the Vikings from…

The Viets, following recognition from the Chinese to form an independent state in 939, attack the Chams to the south.

Masakado, of the Taira family, has been gradually expanding his territory from his center in the eastern region of Kanto; in 939, he declares himself emperor of Kanto, establishing a government modeled after that at Kyoto.

Petar may have had to also face the incursions of the Magyars, who had been defeated and forced into Pannonia by his father in 896.

Perhaps after an initial defeat, Petar had come to terms with the enemy and now uses Magyar groups as his allies against Serbia.

Various Magyar clans and chieftains appear to have begun to settle in what was still Bulgarian territory north of the Danube, where they may have become Bulgarian federates, enjoying independence from the Árpád dynasty.

This arrangement paves the way for the eventual loss of the region to the Magyars, although that will happen over the half-century following Petar's death.

Petar apparently allows these groups to cross Bulgaria and raid imperial territories in Thrace and Macedonia, perhaps as an underhanded reaction against Constantinople’s support for the Serbian rebellion.

Palestine, after a brief restoration of 'Abbasid authority, comes under the rule of the Ikhshidids, an Egyptian-based dynasty of Sogdian origins.

A small Jewish enclave at Tiberias plays an important spiritual role in the far-flung Jewish community.

Tiberias had been revitalized in 749, after Bet Shean was destroyed in an earthquake.

An imposing mosque, ninety meters long by seventy-eight meters wide, resembling the Great Mosque of Damascus, was raised at the foot of Mount Berenice next to a Christian church, to the south of the city, as the eighth century ushered in Tiberias's golden age, when the multicultural city may have been the most tolerant of the Middle East.

Jewish scholarship flourishes from the beginning of the eighth century to the end of the tenth, when the oral traditions of ancient Hebrew, still in use today, are codified.

One of the leading members of the Tiberian Masoretic community is Aaron ben Moses ben Asher, who refines the oral tradition now known as Tiberian Hebrew.

Ben Asher is also credited with putting the finishing touches on the Aleppo Codex, the oldest existing manuscript of the Hebrew scriptures.

Most of Leo VII’s bulls are grants of privilege to monasteries, especially including the Abbey of Cluny.

Leo had called for Odo of Cluny to mediate between Alberic and Hugh of Italy, Alberic's stepfather, the King of Italy.

Odo had been successful in negotiating a truce after arranging a marriage between Hugh's daughter Alda and Alberic.

Leo VII has also appointed Frederick, Archbishop of Mainz, as a reformer in Germany.

Leo had allowed Frederick to drive out Jews that refused to be baptized, but he has not endorsed the forced baptism of Jews.

As pope, Leo VII reigns for only three years.

After his death in July 939, he is interred at St. Peter's Basilica.

Ramiro II’s Military Expansion and Frontier Consolidation

Despite setbacks against Caliph Abd ar-Rahman III, King Ramiro II of León proves to be an outstanding military commander, successfully expanding Leonese control southward.

• He pushes the frontier to include Salamanca and ...

• ....Ledesma, securing key strategic points along the Douro Valley.
• He founds and repopulates frontier strongholds, including ...

...Osma and ...

...Clunia, reinforcing Christian defenses against Al-Andalus. Through these efforts, Ramiro II strengthens Christian rule and lays the foundation for further expansion into Muslim-controlled Iberia.