Year 1080 (MLXXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire Autumn – Nikephoros Melissenos, a Byzantine general and aristocrat, seizes control of what remains of Byzantine Asia Minor (modern Turkey), and proclaims himself emperor against Nikephoros III. Melissenos makes an alliance with Sultan Suleiman ibn Qutulmish and recruits many Turkish mercenaries to his army. Europe January 27 – Battle of Flarchheim: Emperor Henry IV defeats the forces led by the German anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfelden, duke of Swabia, near the town of Flarchheim (modern Germany). April 17 – King Harald III dies after a 4-year reign and is buried at Dalby Church in Scania (modern Sweden). He is succeeded by his brother Canute IV (the Holy) as ruler of Denmark. October 14 – Battle on the Elster: Rudolf of Rheinfelden defeats the imperial forces led by Henry IV at the Elster River. Rudolf dies the following day at Merseburg of wounds received. Britain May 14 – William Walcher, bishop of Durham, is killed by rebel Northumbrians. King William I (the Conqueror) sends a punitive expedition led by his half-brother Odo of Bayeux to pacify Northumbria. Autumn – Robert Curthose, a son of William I, is sent to invade Scotland. He reaches as far as Falkirk and forces King Malcolm III to agree to terms while building fortifications at Newcastle-on-Tyne. Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, builds Devizes Castle in Wiltshire. Armenia The Rubenid Principality of Cilicia gains independence after its founder, Ruben I, succeeds in establishing his authority in the mountainous regions of Cilicia. Africa The Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, conquers Tangier, Badis and Hunayn. China Shen Kuo, Chinese polymath scientist and statesman, begins his defensive military campaign against the Tanguts of the Western Xia. He successfully defends the invasion route to Yanzhou (Shaanxi province). By topic Religion June 25 – Wibert of Ravenna is elected as anti-pope Clement III during the pro-imperial Synod of Brixen. Pope Gregory VII is deposed, signed in a decree by Henry IV. King Alfonso VI (the Brave) of León and Castile establishes Latin liturgy in the Catholic Church, in place of the Hispanic Rite. Benno II, bishop of Osnabrück, founds the Benedictine abby of Iburg Castle (modern Germany). Births Adelard of Bath, English philosopher (d. 1152) Adolf III, German count of Berg and Hövel (d. 1152) Alberic of Ostia, French